April Brief, Part 2; An Easter Hamper Full of Goodies

Friday 15th April; Early Migrants

During the preceding week I saw my first Swallow on Monday and another two the next day, while working in Gloucestershire, and then added House Martin and Sand Martin on the Tuesday evening as I drove home. The arrival of the Hirundines is always eagerly awaited and heralds the beginning of spring and the return to our shores of many other summer visitors that follow over the next few days and weeks. With that in mind we headed up to Farmoor on Good Friday and more specifically to the Pinkhill nature reserve to see what had landed.

After only seeing our first Blackcap on the weekend before, the bushes and trees along the River Thames were now full of them and we counted at least twenty singing males although all were very elusive in the now lush foliage. Willow Warblers were easier to find, because they prefer to sing from lofty perches. We added our first Common Whitethroats and a Sedge Warbler to the year list as well.

Willow Warbler

The star bird of the day prize though went to a male Grey Wagtail that was holding territory on a narrow boat at one of the moorings. It would threaten any other bird that came close to its patch and even spent long periods attacking its own reflection in the boat windows. I'd never seen some of the poses that the Wagtail held when threatening a rival before. One of which was vaguely akin to a Bittern or a Woodpecker sky pointing. I spent a very happy few minutes photographing the Wagtail while enjoying the warm sunshine for once.

Grey Wagtail

Year List additions;

180) Swallow, 181) House Martin, 182) Sand Martin, 183) Willow Warbler, 184) Common Whitethroat, 185) Sedge Warbler

Saturday 16th April; A Lucky Change of Direction

One of our most sought after summer migrant birds is the Nightingale. It is real treat to hear our finest of all songsters again after enduring the quiet winter period. The rich, loud, and hard driven song impresses everyone who hears it.

Our normal port of call to listen to and to see Nightingales is a small part of Crookham Common which lies at the eastern end of Greenham Common near Newbury. For the past few years we have located as many as five singing males there although recently many more birders have learned of the site so it's become much busier and subsequently (I've found) harder to get good views of the birds. Early on the Saturday morning we pulled into the carpark which was deserted so for a while at least we'd be on our own, and all was quiet, bar the odd dog walker with their charges which be heard barking (both of them) across the common. Too quiet in fact since in two circuits of the favoured areas we heard absolutely zero Nightingales. This was unusual, there were normally a few around by now but it had been mooted that spring was slow to unfurl this year so maybe we had jumped the gun too early.

Temporarily at a loss for what to do for the rest of the day, I recalled from deep inside my puny brain that there was another place nearby where Nightingales could be found. I did a bit of quick research via the internet to get directions and, through further searching, noticed that a couple of Nightingales had been heard there already this year. It was a twenty minute drive and we found a parking space with ease. From there we walked up a private lane which was secreted beneath overhanging trees that seemed to be saturated with singing birds. We could hear Blackcaps, Song Thrushes, Robins, Dunnocks and more belting it out at the top of their collective lungs. 

Blackcap (male)

From the lane a path leads off between two flooded gravel pits. The whole area here, close to the M4 motorway, is comprised of old and new gravel workings. The old pits are flooded and become wildlife havens although their primary use is for angling and water sports. Birding itself is rarely considered first for using places that can make a lot more money by pandering to fisherfolk and sailors. But the birds don't care and will thankfully settle in places which prove favourable. Nightingales love scrubby areas close to water and it wasn't long before we heard a couple singing a short way ahead. I found the bird singing easily and another close by in a bush next to the water. I rattled off a few shots and reviewed the back of camera images. I'd taken photos of a female Blackcap! The Nightingale songster was still singing but was secreted in the foliage.

Blackcap (female)

It didn't take long for me to find the Nightingale in the bush but it was now in deep shade. It soon emerged into the sunlight but rather than sing as it had been doing when we arrived, it had resorted to making a series of curious croaks, and whistles that I'd never heard before. There were however, probably four Nightingales competing for our attention in just a small area and I soon realised that the strange noises were aimed at each other. It was clear that males were trying to establish territories and we often saw one Nightingale chasing another through the tangle of brambles and nettles. Getting clear views of them was proving very difficult.

Nightingale

The Nightingales were also battled for vocal supremacy by the Blackcaps which appeared to be singing from every tree. One very obliging male picked a dead branch as its song post. A few weeks ago we were wondering if we'd ever see a Blackcap this year. Now we literally had them crawling up our arms.

The trade off with this site was that we were sharing it with a few less than savoury characters who at times became a bit of a pain and annoying. I assumed they were there to fish the gravel pits but in reality most of them appeared to be using the angling as a ruse to get stoned instead. There was a strong and sickly sweet smell hanging in the air and a couple of the "anglers" became more than a little bit intrusive and disruptive. We backed off a bit to find a bit more space away from them, and luckily walked into another Nightingale territory. Remarkably the bird we discovered there was again subdued and only sang softly in short sporadic bursts and only from deep cover. 

As is often remarked in the literature, it's the song that makes a Nightingale special. To look at they are nondescript, plain rusty brown coloured birds with few discerning features. They do have large black eyes, an adaptation to living in the shadows and for being active during the darkest hours of the night. The Nightingale, essentially meaning to sing by night, does exactly what it says on the tin. They also have beautiful red tails, and the one barely singing in the bush was fanning it's own tail out for us to enjoy.

We hadn't had the best of views of Nightingales but then it was still early in the year and the birds themselves were clearly still settling in. We'll visit again but maybe during the week when most of the stoners will be at work or elsewhere.

Year List additions;

186) Nightingale

Sunday 17th April; Smitten Bittern

When there isn't anything decent to twitch we tend to head to Otmoor or Farmoor. On this fine Sunday morning we chose Otmoor, knowing that the summering Warbler species would be arriving ready for inclusion on our year list. One of our most sought after birds of the spring, and for me even more desirable than a Nightingale, is the enigmatic and unusual Grasshopper Warbler. Groppers as we birders call them to save precious talking (and typing) time, are small fairly plain birds that blend into their habitat so as to be invisible. They do possess however, a very extraordinary song, a long drawn out mechanical whirring referred to as reeling. As we stood by the carpark feeding station we could hear our first Gropper of the year but it was faint so must have been fairly distant. Sometimes Groppers will creep onto an exposed perch, such as dead branch or umbellifer when they sing but will also reel from hidden song posts. I've found lots of Groppers in the past and consider myself almost an expert in finding them since I can usually pin them down. I've learned their habits and know where to look for them, even when I know they're a hundred odd metres away. Thus, when I picked the Gropper out, on the side of a bush a few minutes later, I just accepted it as routine. No photos but there would be more of the distinctive songsters to find in the coming weeks.

Before we'd set out on the walk, there were three birds that we'd set our sights on. The Gropper was in the bag already and five minutes later a Cuckoo followed it onto the year list when one flew distantly across Big Otmoor. A few hundred metres further on along the bridleway and the third was added when we joined a gaggle of Otmoor's finest birders stood watching a Bittern that was hunting in a shallow reed filled ditch.

Bittern

The Bittern was the first photographable bird of the day and was attracting a lot of attention from birders and walkers alike. It's not often that you see Bitterns so openly. We watched the Bittern slowly walk across from the ditch to a clump of reeds. Exposed in the green grass of the field, it stood out like a sore thumb but once it reached the reeds then its fantastic camouflage soon rendered it much more difficult to see and after a while it just melted away into its favoured habitat and disappeared.

Our friends left to explore other parts of the Moor, but we stayed listening to our first Reed Warbler of the year, gaining a couple of fleeting views through the reeds. I had a hunch that the Bittern would reappear and sure enough within five minutes it emerged at the front of the reedbed. Last summer it was thought that Bitterns bred in the smallest, and the closest to the path, clump of reeds and it seems as if they may be again since this Bittern exploded (if Bitterns ever explode into anything, they are so deliberate and patient) into flight and made the short journey between the two reedbeds. I was primed of course so put my camera into overdrive. I've photographed Bitterns here many times over the past few years and they are always just on the edge of the reach of my lens but it's automatic to keep trying for the shots. The shutter was pressed constantly for the thirty-seconds of flight. Naturally I grabbed the same standard of images that I always get but hey, it's a Bittern and who isn't smitten by one!

We only made it as far as the cross tracks and the bridge. We met our friends again and stood having a good old chinwag for a while but when they decided to walk to the screens, we just couldn't be bothered. Instead we watched a Curlew fly past and entertain us with its rich bubbling song. The Moor would be far poorer if the Curlews disappear in the same way that the Turtle Doves seem to have.

Curlew

The Grasshopper Warbler was still reeling but could no longer be seen but another Warbler burst into song right next to the bench that overlooks the feeders and field. The loud staccato burst of noise emanated from a Cetti's Warbler which for once wasn't deeply secreted within a bush or nettle patch and instead was perched right out in the open at the top of a hawthorn. Just a shame that only ten percent of the thirty odd frames that I rattled off were in focus, and none of those had captured the bird actually singing!

Cetti's Warbler

Year List additions;

187) Grasshopper Warbler, 188) Cuckoo, 189) Bittern, 190) Reed Warbler

Chiffchaff

Monday 18th April; That Didn't Take Long!

Late on Sunday evening I discovered, via a tweet from a friend, that a Grasshopper Warbler had been singing and showing well by the River Thames at Benson in the south of the county. Normally finding out news of an interesting bird on a Sunday evening would be annoying because I would be back at work on the Monday. But the next day was Easter Monday so there'd be no work to do and we'd be able to take our sooner then expected chance at seeing a Gropper at closer quarters than at Otmoor the previous day. We arrived early by the riverside, parked on a wide grass verge and walked past the cafe, boats and chalets of a small holiday resort to reach the overgrown field where the Gropper was reported to be. Our search was made easier by the presence of our county recorder who was already stood watching and listening to the Gropper, I knew that because he was aiming his camera into the long grass.

We joined Lew, exchanged greetings and he related that the Gropper had been singing but had proven largely elusive since he'd been there. And so it was for us too, over the next hour all we had, was a brief flight view as the bird moved from one patch of grass to another. Instead of the reeling song there was silence, the sun was warming the day and it seemed unlikely that we'd get our decent view of a Gropper again. Lew had left for home so we watched the other birds on offer, Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat and Reed Bunting sang from the bushes and grasses while a small flock of House Martins patrolled the river.

Reed Bunting

Just as we considering going in search of a bacon butty, the unmistakeable reeling of the Gropper started up. Not close but about fifty metres further downstream. Grasshopper Warblers hold all the aces, they are able to skulk and creep through dense vegetation, undetected by us and we are left staring at empty clumps of grass. But when they reel, and when they hop up into view then they can be seen. Not that easily though since you still have to locate them and they are well known ventriloquists, able to throw their voices and confuse the listener of where their actual position is. Hence anybody walking along would have wondered why I was stood there and cupping my hands to my ears and doing my best Big Ears impression (which is pretty rubbish). The stupidity worked though and I found the Gropper, further away than I thought of course, but at least it was rattling away at full throttle.

Grasshopper Warbler

Now we had the Gropper in our sights, but mainly because the bird itself had decided to be less secretive, we were able to follow it as it stalked through the grass. Whenever the Gropper popped up into view I took photos, most of them were hopeless and I deleted most of them, but a few were worthy of keeping.

Then almost two hours since we'd arrived the Gropper cut us a break by finally perching openly and close to the path in the tallest patch of grass, and where we had expected to see it when we first arrived. It didn't sing its reeling song full on, just snatches of that, but mostly called with a strange and angry sounding croaking noise, similar to the Nightingales but more weird. Possibly indicating the presence of a second unseen bird but equally it could have been calling against the Sedge Warblers that seemed to want to spoil our fun by harassing the Gropper until it fled. Which the Sedgies achieved and we were left staring at empty grass again.

Time then to go in search of that breakfast. Unfortunately the cafe was now rammed so we'd have to look elsewhere. We did linger to look at some beautiful Swallows that were hawking insects over the river and particularly to marvel at the gorgeous individual that momentarily rested on an aerial of one of the moored boats. It's alway a joy to welcome the Swallows back for another summer.

Swallow

Thanks to an ignorant driver who had parked his car behind mine and blocked my view, I had great difficulty in seeing in order to rejoin the road. Once back on the tarmac I had a choice, either hit the speeding motorcyclist that came careering toward me at probably twice the speed limit of forty miles per hour, or drive into the branches of a fallen tree. I obviously chose the tree but I was far from pleased with the ugly car length scratch that now adorned the nearside of my car! At least I hadn't killed someone but it was a good job the driver of the parked Audi wasn't around or I may have done. And we couldn't find anywhere for breakfast either. A real day of ups and downs.

Tuesday 19th April; A Quick After Work Twitch Tick

A Black-winged Stilt had been discovered halfway through the day at Hosehill Lake near Theale, just a few miles away from where we'd watched Nightingales on the Saturday. Birds are hardly ever in the right place at the right time. So after work it was another trip southwards to connect with a species that I'm still to see in Oxon. Our friends Kevin & Karen had already set out earlier and had arrived ahead of us, and had confirmed that it was still present as we hit the road. Driving on the A34 in the early evening is never a good idea and it was slow going for the most part but we finally arrived just after six o'clock. It would be getting dark by seven so we had to work fast. Luckily there is a pub and carpark opposite the lake and the Landlord is happy for folk to park there, and it is just a short walk to the viewing screen from where the Stilt could be seen.

There were a few other birders there, Kev was in the pub having seen the bird already, but I wanted to pick the bird out myself which shouldn't be difficult since a Black-winged Stilt is a black and white bird with very long red legs. So how I didn't see it until it took to flight and then landed out of view behind a small island was a mystery. Mrs Caley had found it without any problems. I must have been tired after working! Fortunately a few minutes later it emerged back into view and the year tick was complete. When we saw "Sammy" the famous Black-winged Stilt at RSPB Titchwell Marsh back in 2001, the species was extremely rare in the UK. Now we have breeding pairs in a few places each year and many are observed throughout the spring and summer months. We've probably seen over twenty in total now.

Black-winged Stilt

There were other birds on the lake and one of those, a fine drake Red-crested Pochard, treated us to a flypast allowing to me to gain some flight shots of the species for the first time. After just an hour the light was failing so we took off ourselves. A quick twitch indeed but worth it to get another name on the year list. Hopefully a Black-winged Stilt will grace Oxfordshire soon and I can add it to my county list as well.

Red-crested Pochard

Year List addition;

191) Black-winged Stilt

Friday 22nd April; Out for a (Double) Duck!

An interesting discovery of a pair of Lesser Scaup at a gravel pit near Burton-on-Trent was made on the Tuesday. Lesser Scaup is a type of Duck that is native to North America and is rarely found in the UK. In fact we'd only seen the species on one occasion before, a long time ago when we saw two males and a female together at Drift Reservoir in Cornwall. We had dipped out on seeing the ducks a few times since so if the ones at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Tucklesholme remained then we would finally get a good look at the species again. I couldn't go until Friday so was delighted when they were seen on Wednesday and Thursday. Good photos had been posted online too. We took our chance on a very breezy Friday morning but were too late. The birds had gone! I am not a lucky duck when it comes to Lesser Scaup.

The blow was softened a little by finding our first Little Gull of the year which battled away against the strong wind and the unwanted attention of several bullish Black-headed Gulls. Little Gulls, as the name suggests are the daintiest of all the Gulls that can be seen here and are frequently encountered at inland waters. We usually see a few each year at Farmoor.

Little Gull

Year List addition;

192) Little Gull