Fishers Green Lee Valley Country park

Met Sue Barry at Cheshunt station just before 11-00 today we set of towards the bittern hide on route had small selection of common birds with some good views of Long Tailed Tit, When we got to the bridge over the cannel there were some birders watching the male and female Smew which we had good views of we then continued on to the bittern hide on our way we had a Cetti’s Warbler we then spent just over an hour in the hide sadly no Bittern but we did have good views of a Water Rail, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Great Crested Grebe, 

We then walked back to the bridge but the sun was in the wrong position so we walked alongside the pit where we had the Smew and met a birder coming the other way just after we passed him he called there is the Male Smew so we had better views of the Male and Female again.

We then continued on to Friday Lake here we had a few more ducks to add to our list today plus a Kingfisher flying across the lake. We then headed back to the station

Some of the birds seen today included Cormarant, Little Egret, Mallard, Gadwall, Pochard, Shovler, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Canada Geese, Grey Lay Goose, Black Headed Gull, Greater Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Wren, Blackbird,

So ending a nice pleasant days birding

Pagham Weekend

Hi all

Now I am in to my four day weekends will be updating blog a bit more

Well last weekend will call it the Pagham weekend

Friday 08-08-2014

Got the bus to the information centre then set of on a walk that I have done many times take the path down to the sewage farm not a lot to see then the footpath behind the sewage farm a few Yellow Hammers / Linnets / Corn Bunting then took the path across the fields but come to a halt as some of the footpaths are closed due to the work going on at the new reserve so ended up doing a circle walk back to the information stopped off at the hide to have lunch just as I was leaving the Pec Sand dropped in for a few minutes then flew off towards the harbour I then continued along the old tram way back to the centre had a Clouded Yellow Butterfly but no pic plenty of Gatekeepers and Large Whites so back to the bus and the journey back to the caravan

Saturday 09-08-2014

The sister came down last night so today we set of for Church Norton and again a walk we do often  start at the church car park and walk down towards the harbour a few gulls but not much else so we headed towards the beach then decided to walk out along the spit here we had 10 Wheatears all sitting in a line along the posted then back along the coast to the path between the several’s and back through the farm to the road and back to the car park we had Sandwich Tern / Common Tern / Cormorant / Little Egret / Linnet / plus some butterflies Comma / Gatekeeper / Large White / Common Blue /Speckled Wood / Small Skipper   

Sunday 10-08-2014

Day of leisure today just chilling out (but late in the day the news came through that the Long Tailed Skua was back at Church Norton so I decided to stay and see what happens tomorrow after the storm that was predicted

Monday 11-08-2014

Woke up and it was pouring down now was it wrong to have stayed over had decide to go out early no went back to bed then decided might as well go to Chichester and see what the weather was doing got there and it was sunny so decided to head for Church Norton and see if I could see the Skua well had Fab views and got some nice pics so ended a Pagham Weekend

 

29th-30th March

Saturday

Had a look at Waltham Brooks had the Shrike but distance not a lot else did have Yellowhammer, Next stop Chichester Cathedral looking for the Peregrines we did hear them calling as we got there where told the male had gone into the nest box so we sat and had lunch then off for a coffee after I returned to the spot where we had lunch and the male came out and flew behind the Cathedral then returned then as we were leaving the car park had a Swallow flyover as we were driving back I checked the pager to find there was a Hoopoe at Climping so we set of parked in the car park then walked to the hotel where there where a group of birders who said the bird had just flown over to where it had been most of the afternoon so we all set of and found it had some good views then back to base .

 

 

Sunday

Decided to have a look at Pagham Lagoon soon found out the car park at the end of Harbour road is now closed so after parking near the shops we went for a coffee and tea I then checked the map to see if we could get to the end of the lagoon we set of and after a chat with a local he put us in the right direction on arriving at the lagoon I soon found the Iceland Gull which I got some good pics of.

 

 

The Forest of Dean 8th March 2014

Both buses where on time arrived at my mates for a 7 – 30 leave on route along the M40 we had 7 Red Kites we would have had more but it was misty and we were hoping it would burn off before we got to the forest after breakfast at the normal spot just after we set of we had another Red Kite plus 2 Common Buzzards on arriving in the forest we headed for our first stop

Fancy New Watch Point

We arrived at ¼ to eleven as we got to the watch point where there where some birders already set up they were on a Goshawk off to the left a nice start to the next 40 minutes we then had another Goshawk of to the right we also had Common Crossbill flying over with one that sat on top of a tree but by the time I got the camera ready it had flown, then a male Goshawk appeared in front of us we also had Raven, Brambling, Common Buzzards (4) then just to round it of we had a pair of Goshawks displaying so ending up with 5 Goshawks then off to our next spot.

Cannop Ponds

Here we had Mandarin Duck, Buzzard we had a look at the stream but there was a lot of water we did not see much else here so on to the next spot.

Parkend

Here we spent some time walking along the stream for about a mile should have realised the water level here was high so no sign of the Dipper, we the headed for Parkend church for Hawfinch with no luck but we did have another Goshawk here making 6 for the day we were told we might find Hawfinch behind the cricket ground so we spent some time there but again no luck so onto our final spot.

Brierley

We parked up and headed for Serridge ridge a nice steep climb where early this morning some of the Two Barred Crossbills had been seen plenty of Common Crossbills but no sign of the Two Barred we spoke to someone who had been there over 3 hours and had seen none of them we then continued back down of the ridge to a spot we normally do on the way down we had Siskins and Lesser Redpole we had been told there where some Hawfinch’s in and around the hornbeams on arriving at the spot we could hear them calling and after a short time had a glimpse of one flying of behind the trees there was no sign of any Marsh Tits

So it was now time to call it a day and start heading home we had a nice meal on route after being dropped off at my mates I got my 2 buses home arriving just after 11 so ending an enjoyable days birding

London Wetland Centre

Spent some time at the London wetland centre today on arriving we headed to the Dulverton hide where we had the pair of Peregrines displaying over the hospital here we had Shovler tufted duck, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, and a selection of gulls we then head for the Lagoon Walk where we had Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Great tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Hedge Sparrow, then off for a coffee. Then we headed for the Headley Hide here we had more Tufted Duck, Canada Goose, Cormorant, Little Grebe, and more gulls we were told the Bittern was showing to our right seen from the Peacock Tower we did not see it then there was a report of Mandarin Ducks which we did not see we then had a look from the observation area where we found the Caspian Gull that had been reported so ending a very pleasant time at the centre

Beddington Farm Land & Park

Spent this afternoon at Beddington Farm Land and Beddington Park on arriving the first bird I was put on was a Peregrine, Could not get to the areas that I wanted to have a look at due to the footpath being closed due to flooding so had a look at the two lakes plenty of water birds lots of Teal plus Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Canada Geese, Little Grebe, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, plus a selection of Gulls Black Headed, Herring, Lesser Black Backed, Common. Then I had a look at the wooded area of Beddington Park Great & Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Ring Necked Parraket, but no sign of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker  

2014 so far

Not done a lot to report about so far this year but hope to as soon as the weather gets better

Updaate

I have spent most of the summer looking for Orchids and will be putting up some pictures soon so it is now back to birding for a month then of to Kenya so hoping to get some good photos

First and Second of June

We spent the weekend in Peterborough


Saturday

We headed for the Rex Graham Reserve in Suffolk this reserve opens one day a year so you have a chance to see the Military Orchid where we had some good views we also had Common Twayblade we spoke to a couple who told us about the Otters in Thetford so after leaving the reserve we headed for Thetford where we spent some time looking for the Otters but with no luck so will have to go back our next stop was Weeting Heath where we had Stone Curlew and Spotted Flycatcher so a good end to a good day

Military Orchid

Military Orchid

Military Orchid

Military Orchid

Military Orchid

 

Common Twayblade

Common Twayblade

Common Twayblade

 

Sunday

We started of by going to Rutland Water to see the Ospreys we parked up and headed to the spot by the bridge where is a good spot to watch from as we approached some one said hurry up or you will miss them as I was a bit ahead I got there first I looked through the chaps scope wich was on 2 Red Necked Phalaropes but they where to far away for any pictures we then watched the Ospreys for a while then it was on to a site for Orchids but no luck so it was off to another site Barracks Hills and Holes again looking for Orchids and flowers here we had Fragrant Orchid and the Pasceflower so ending a good weekend

Fragrant Orchid

Fragrant Orchid

Fragrant Orchid

 

 Pasceflower

 Pasceflower

 Pasceflower

 

 

Bank Holiday Weekend

Saturday

Today we headed for a site in Sussex looking for Orchids decided to have a look a bit further up the track than we normally do where we found Early Purple Orchid, we then tried for Birds nest Orchid with no luck think this was due to the fact we could not get into the wood will have another look in next couple of weeks after a quick look at the meadow we then headed to a site for Southern Marsh Orchid but with the spring as it is we found one plant just coming out so off to do a bit of shopping then back to the van for the evening

Early Purple Orchid

Early Purple Orchid

Early Purple Orchid

Sunday

Today we started by heading up on the south downs to a site for Orchids and Butterflies no Orchids and very few Butterflies we had a look at the field where we found 2 butterflies a large white and when I had reached the top of the field Carol called me back down and said what is this my first thought was Pearl Border Fritillary I managed to get one shot of the butterfly when I looked at in the evening I thought it was a Duke of Burgundy (latter check on the net and got confirmation that is what it was) so a good find, After here we then headed of for as pint not going to say much but if you see my Face Book Page you will know what happened and finally after getting a pint we headed for Pullbourough Brooks RSPB reserve here we had a nice Hobby and 5 Nightingales which we saw 2 off other birds included Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Raven, Carrion Crow , Rook, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, a selection of Tits after a coffee and cake it was back to the van

Duke of Burgundy

Monday

After a nice relaxing morning we headed for Climping Beach not a lot going on so we started for home stopping of at South water Country Park where we had a coffee and a cake ( got to stop the cake ) we then had a stroll around not a lot but a pleasant walk so then home ward bound