Bob's a Good 'Un! Saturday 19th January

In each season of the year there are special birds that we just have to see. Spring offers Warblers, Nightingales and Flycatchers, in Summer there are Dotterel and Nightjar to find, in Autumn it has to be Yellow-browed Warblers and rare migrant birds and Winter brings Waxwings and Short-eared Owls amongst many others. A bird that took me ages to see but one that I now strive to see every Winter is the Jack Snipe, a diminutive cousin of the more widespread and well known Common Snipe. In fact Jack Snipe are not that scarce and large numbers winter in the UK every year but they are extremely well camouflaged in their chosen habitat of wet meadows, marshland and ditches so are difficult to observe. Mrs Caley and I have only ever had distant views of Jack Snipe and all I had were some very poor record photos so it was high time that we got a decent view. Throughout this Winter a Jack Snipe had been delighting birders visiting Slimbridge by showing off right in front of the Martin Smith hide there. Its appearances however were sporadic and a sighting was far from guaranteed.  We had already tried to see this bird at the end of November last year but had failed although we had connected with another at Calvert a few weeks before. 

Jack Snipe, Calvert 7th October 2018

Playing it cool we headed straight to the on site restaurant and enjoyed a relaxing breakfast sandwich and coffee before joining other hopefuls in the aforementioned hide. There were a fair few folk in the hide staring intently through the slats but none seemed animated enough to signal that they were watching anything good. I'm not a great fan of hides and birding from them but even I have to admit that they are sometimes essential if you want to get good close up views of tricky to see birds.
I took my place and scanned a short grassy island that I knew was the favoured spot for the Jack Snipe. Bingo! The first bird I found was the Jack Snipe! As easy as that. The bird was partially hidden in the grass and was preening, and I could only see the back of its head, but the absence of a central crown stripe eliminated Common Snipe so it had to be the Jack. As I beckoned to Mrs Caley that I had the Jack Snipe in view it turned to face us and then the shorter bill than that of a Common Snipe, still long of course, could be appreciated as well as the split supercilium, I liken it to an eyebrow. I rattled off some record shots, actually the best I'd ever taken of a Jack Snipe at that point by some way, and then set about getting Mrs Caley onto the bird. That took some time though owing to the birds camouflage which rendered it hard to see even in green grass if you didn't know exactly where to look.

Jack Snipe, Slimbridge 19th January 2019

Our own excitement at finding the bird had alerted the rest of the hide goers and they were all now training their optics onto the island in search for the bird and asking as to where it was. I was amazed that nobody was on it when we arrived since it was, to all intents and purposes, in the open! The Jack Snipe was standing stock still and not doing anything else so I started to look around at the other birds on offer. Of the ducks, Pintail and Wigeon were prominent right close up by the hide. Mallards and Tufted Ducks were already displaying and, in the case of a couple of drake Mallards, fighting. Also present were Shoveler, Gadwall and Shelduck. A few Bewick's Swans fed further out and we could see huge flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover.

Scrapping Drake Mallards

Drake Pintail

Drake Wigeon

Wigeon Duck bathing

My attention was diverted by a pair of Jackdaws pulling at the moss right in front of the hide. I love watching Jackdaws, they have a quizzical yet impish air about them. 

As I was admiring the Jackdaws Mrs Caley called to me "did you see the Jack run off?" Nope, missed that and it had disappeared into the reeds so now that was gone from the scene. "Did it bob?", I asked. "Yep, just before it scarpered" was her reply. Jack Snipe are famous for "bobbing" up and down like a yo-yo. They do it apparently to gauge a better view of things since, like most birds that have an eye set at each side of the head, they only see in monocular vision. It is a very comical and extraordinary habit and they bounce as they move. The football chant, "Bounce in a minute, we're going to bounce in a minute" came to mind. I soon refound the Jack in the Box bird tucked in behind a couple of sleeping Teal, further away but well hidden now. The Jack Snipe moved out from behind the Teal and settled down itself for a snooze.

That camouflage!

Before very long though the Jack Snipe was disturbed by a Mallard and disappeared into the reeds once more. Fortunately I have Mrs Caley as an extra pair of eyes and she alerted me to the bird walking back in to view, this time along the front edge of the island. I was hopeful that if it kept on its course then it would end up right out in the open but instead it chose to return to its spot in the grass next to the Teal where it resumed its dozing.

Ours and everybody else luck changed when the Jack Snipe rose up on its stumpy legs, bobbed for a few moments and then strode very purposefully back to the nearest muddy margin of the island. As I and the rest willed it on it then darted, surprisingly quickly, to a much better and more open viewpoint for us all to enjoy it . I rattled off frame after frame trying to coincide the press of the shutter with the bird being right out in full view. 

Like Jack Snipe off a ducks back!

Amazingly the Jack Snipe then flew up and towards us and landed on the bank just feet from the hide.  It stood up as high at it could on those short legs for just a few moments and then promptly disappeared into the vegetation right before our eyes! There was only a small clump of short reedy grasses but try as hard as you like the bird was now invisible. Until it started bobbing again that is, then it could be picked up in the grass once more. It briefly emerged into a small gap in the grass and settled down for a snooze once more.

Anybody entering the hide for the last hour or so since I'd first called the whereabouts of the Jack Snipe didn't need to worry about finding or seeing it because the bird had been adopted by a "Hide Guide" or more accurately "Hide Bore" who very helpfully informed everybody who wanted to see it and those that didn't, that it was "in his scope" or "it's just to the right of the sleeping Pintail" or "if you can't see it, I have it in my scope" and so on. He was doing my head in so we left. They should leave a roll of Duct Tape at the entrance.

Water Rails are guaranteed at the Willow Hide and we paid a short visit there. The Water Rails have learned to take advantage of the food dropped by other birds from the feeders and are extremely confiding although the slightest noise can frighten them back into the undergrowth. We stayed just a couple of minutes in which time I took probably my best ever set of Water Rail photos. 

Next stop was to the Robbie Garnett hide which looks out over a different part of the "Tack Piece", an area of short grassland where there is usually a flock of White-fronted Geese. Not today though so we'll need to wait to add those to the year list. There were more Bewick's Swans and the feral Greylag Goose flock. We were treated to a family of Bewick's flying in and landing on the water enabling us to get close views of the grey but beautiful juveniles.

Juvenile Bewick's Swan

More Pintail were seen and a female Pochard drifted past along with a Shelduck. I spent a bit of time watching and photographing Jackdaws again. Incredibly though in over an hour and a half we hadn't seen a single raptor bar a Buzzard in the distance. 

Female Pochard

Shelduck

Pressed for time now, we had other birds on the itinerary in other places, we wandered back past the Martin Smith Hide where we could hear the resident drone still droning on so swerved on going back in there and went for a brief look from the Rushy Pen where we found a couple of Dunlin and some sleeping Lapwing in addition to the usual Pintails and Bewick Swans. 

Dunlin

Lapwing

Female Pintail

As we left we were wished on our way by one of the very healthy and well fed Wood Pigeons. There's a little bit of me (quite a lot actually) in a Wood Pigeon!

Our next stop was to get a Tawny Owl on to the year list. Despite being the UK's most common Owl species, Tawny Owls can be hard to find and we lack the wooded areas in our part of the world that they need as habitat. A couple of years ago I learned of a Tawny that spends its days roosting in a void high up in a tree close to Slimbridge and we now make an annual pilgrimage to see it. The views are always the same, The Tawny Owl will be asleep in the hole in the tree, simples. Views are not close but through the scope are very good. The visit has to be made in the Winter since later on in the year branches and foliage will obscure the roosting place.

There is a large lake nearby and we wandered over to see if any of the reported  Cattle Egrets that roost on an island were about but this early in the afternoon there was no sign. We did find a Great Egret though. We made a quick drive around the surrounding village roads looking for the Cattle Egrets to no avail so called it a day.

Great Egret

Halfway home we made a spur of the moment decision to visit a site close to the Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire border where Short-eared Owls spend the winter months. These wintering quarters are well known and attract many birders and photographers throughout the period when the Owls are present. We visited last April right at the end of the Owls stay and had success with both the Short-eared Owls and a Great Grey Shrike that had set up its own winter territory in the area. As we approached closer to the fields where the Owls hunt, the fog that had been forming as we drove into the higher parts of the Cotswolds had become much thicker and it was clear (hardly!) that this wouldn't be a good afternoon for Owl watching. But we carried on anyway and arrived in visibility of probably around 50 yards at best. Unsurprisingly as we patrolled the narrow roads around the "Owl fields" there wasn't anybody else stupid enough to try looking for them in such conditions! It was hopeless so we stopped in a gateway to change footwear for the drive home. Just as we started up the car for the drive a Barn Owl flew right past us and pounced on an unseen quarry in the long grass. We were now partially hidden from the Barn Owl by a tree between it and us so when it emerged again it mustn't have noticed us since it flew directly towards us only veering off as it passed the tree. It was too close to get the whole bird in the frame!

Too close!

Seen us so turned tail...

...and into the fog

Then to top the day off as we took one last circuit around the fields, a Short-eared Owl graced us by flying across the road ahead of us. A three Owl day plus the bobber jobber!