Flashback #4; The rest of July 2022

I am determined to complete blogging up past days out so this series of 'Flashback' posts is my effort to do so. Probably only for my own interest but should I ever write a book then I need these memories recorded ready to use a prompt. I hope they'll still be interesting for anybody landing on them even though some are well over a year late!

Saturday July 16

Our 250th bird of the year turned out to be a Caspian Tern which had taken to roosting on the banks of the River Severn at Epney. The Tern made us wait though, we spent over an hour baking in the hot morning sunshine before it appeared. While we waited we watched some surfer dudes ride a meagre wave up the river, which was a bit of a bore.

Caspian Tern (hydroprogne caspia)

Far better views were obtained of a Turtle Dove that had taken up residence behind the pub next to which we had parked. Turtle Doves are getting far too hard to find, the decline in their population is both massive and sad. Soon we will have to twitch them.

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

We spent the afternoon at WWT Slimbridge. I don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary.

Year List addition;

250) Caspian Tern

Friday 22 July

A report of an adult White-rumped Sandpiper had us scurrying down to Dorney Common, just a stone's throw from Eton College. The Sandpiper had been found feeding on a rapidly drying-out pool in the Northern corner of the large grassy common and was keeping company with a single Dunlin. In the heat shimmer of another warm day, good photos were impossible but views were decent of the summer plumaged bird, usually we see juvenile birds later in the year.

White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) & Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

More bird interest was provided by a flock of twenty-five Egyptian Geese and we appeared to be interesting to Daisy the Cow which wandered over for a nose.

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

"Daisy"

Back at home, the partially leucistic male House Sparrow paid us another visit. He seems to be getting less distinctive with age but is still a smart bird.

leucistic House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Year List addition;

251) White-rumped Sandpiper

Saturday 23 July

We hit the road again and headed north-eastwards to Alkborough Flats on the southern side of the Humber estuary. This would be our first ever visit to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve. We travelled to twitch our second Stilt Sandpiper, the first was seen at Frampton Marsh in August 2018. That was a very hot day and so was this. We managed to squeeze ourselves into a baking hot hide which was far too small for the twenty or like-minded birds that had already crammed into it. The Stilt Sandpiper was hard to find at first, secreted in amongst hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits, Ruff, and Redshanks. Thankfully it awoke from its own slumber to feed and showed well if somewhat distantly on another day ruined by heat haze.

Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)

Alkborough Flats is a well known spot for seeing Bearded Tits which inhabit the vast swathes of reeds that surround the pools and scrapes. Desperate to get out of the suffocating conditions in the hide , as well as seeking some quiet time away from the endless chatter and commentaries, we took a walk along the main track and found a pair of juvenile Beardies easily. Over the next half hour or so we saw at least five young birds plus an adult female. The species was new for the year as well and showed a whole lot better with good close views had. We even watched the birds fly overhead at times.

Bearded Tit (Panurus biarmicus)

One of the juvenile birds showed great interest in a wasp that flew close past its nose and I almost got one of those prize winning shots, but didn't. As usual.

When we walked back to the hide, our intention to have another quick look at the Stilt Sandpiper was soon abandoned when we saw two chaps seconds away from coming to blows in the doorway. Tempers were running high in the heat of the day and of the moment. We strode straight past instead and reclaimed our air-conditioned car. Thank goodness for modern technology sometimes.

Year List additions;

252) Stilt Sandpiper, 253) Bearded Tit

Sunday 24 July

Now that we've finally admitted that we are eager to achieve the magic "Big Year" total of three hundred different species, we don't get much chance to go birding locally. But there was a bird on Otmoor that would count towards our own year list, even though the purists wouldn't touch a Ruddy Shelduck with a barge pole. Personally I don't see the problems with Ruddy Shelducks, there are loads of them moving freely around the country and indeed the whole of Europe. Many are migratory spending time in several different countries through the year. I have no idea where the one swimming on the Southern lagoon in front of the first screen had come from, and to be honest, I'm not that bothered.

Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea)

There was a rare treat in store on Ashgrave. Viewing from the Wetlands Watch hide, we were able to see one of the resident pairs of Cranes and their surviving chick which looked to be growing strongly. There are many dangers for Crane chicks to face so it would still be touch and go for them to reach adulthood. For now though it was great to see them being tended to by their parents.

Common Crane (Grus grus)

Year List addition;

254) Ruddy Shelduck

Saturday 30 July

Any birder wanting to build a year list has to plan their trips out carefully. As well as taking advantage of twitching scarce and rare birds on the hop, there will also be some birds that have to be "mopped up", birds that will reliably be at a certain place but probably only for a certain time each year. One of those birds is 'Napoleon', a Bonaparte's Gull that has summered on the Oare estuary in Kent for the past half a dozen years. That bird is a staple on any Big Year list. we travelled down early on the Saturday morning to add it to our list. We've been to see Napoleon three times now but this year the bird had been favouring the muddy banks of the estuary rather than the marshes. It took us less than five minutes to pick him out feeding on the mud about fifty metres out from the river wall path. So it was distant views yet again.

Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)

There was more to come on this day. A Squacco Heron had been discovered at Pagham in West Sussex. Remarkably it was favouring the exact same fields near the North Wall that one had in August 2019 (read here). With most of the day ahead of us we decided that rather than stay in Kent we'd cut across the country and try for the Squacco instead. We knew exactly where to go and park this time, and three hours after we left the Bonaparte's Gull we were looking at a Squacco Heron, and more Cattle Egrets than you could shake a stick at. To begin with the Squacco was difficult to see because it was feeding in long grass next to a small ditch and bushes, and a few cattle, obscured the view. Eventually though it crept out into the open field to give us another year tick. 

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

In much the same fashion as the bird of three years ago although much quicker this time, the Squacco flew off in the direction of the nearby farm where I understand there is a pond and where the previous bird spent much of its time roosting when not feeding. Unfortunately the Squacco wouldn't reappear that day.

While we waited in vain for the Squacco to reappear, there were the Cattle Egrets to enjoy. We counted over forty of them feeding amongst the cattle in the same field. Cattle Egrets have colonised parts of the UK and breed in large numbers here. There are a few at Otmoor too and a few pairs have breed at Blenheim. It can almost be expected to see Cattle Egrets whenever visiting a coastal or marshy region nowadays. Here at Pagham there were a few juveniles, with black bills, feeding along with adults, proof of another good breeding season.

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Year List additions;

255) Bonaparte's Gull, 256) Cattle Egret