Flashback #1; June 2022

For various reasons a whole load of my birding experiences went unrecorded last year (and indeed so far this year too). In the highly unlikely event that I should ever put some of my birding memories together into a book, I decided to do a series of flashback blogs. There won't be much in the way of text but there will be a few photos.

Elusive in the Reeds!

Friday 24 June 2022; Langford Lowfields

Our first outing after a long three week holiday to Northumberland and Scotland was to the RSPB's fledgling reserve at Langford Lowfields near Newark. A Great Reed Warbler (GRW) had established territory there and had been showing really well to all comers. We had seen a very showy GRW just a few miles away the year before and were hopeful that we'd get good views again as well as adding the bird to our year list.

We could hear the Great Reed Warbler singing heartily as we approached the spot. Viewing was actually tricky because of high reeds and bramble bushes but you could see from the trampled grounds where folk had viewed the bird from. We stood listening to the bird for almost three hours but couldn't see it at all. The breezy weather was probably to blame for the bird being more reticent. We were gearing up to give it up as a bad job when a short burst of sunshine encouraged the Warbler to finally bounce up a reed stem and show itself. Our relief was palpable!

Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus)

Year List addition;

244) Great Reed warbler

Horsing around!

Saturday 25 June 2022; Hinxworth

While we were away a very rare bird was discovered at Bempton Cliffs but we were still too jaded from our travelling to go for that so we chose instead to seek out a Hoopoe that had been gracing some horse paddocks in the village of Hinxworth in Hertfordshire. Everybody loves a Hoopoe and we're no exceptions. 

Parking was easy in a churchyard right next to the paddocks. Unfortunately I managed to make a complete hash of positioning myself for the best views of the Hoopoe mainly owing to not realising that the church and the nearby stables had all coordinated the viewing permissions. So when I looked from a public footpath at the bird, it was at the far side of the paddocks next to the stables. I could see people photographing the Hoopoe from the stables but thought that they were "in" with the owners. Only later did  the penny drop and I learned that I could also watch from that place. By the time we'd gotten round to the other side the Hoopoe had moved into the middle of the paddocks. So, no close photos of this particular Hoopoe. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

I almost managed to get a couple of decent flight shots but ultimately failed with those as well. But we had a nice few hours out and topped it off with a good lunch in the local pub.

Year List addition;

245) Hoopoe