Bit of catching up to do

11 January 2012

We stayed local today for our birding and went to Coombe Abbey Country Park near Coventry by a roundabout route.  My Nikon scope has a plate screwed onto the bottom of it and one of the screws has been lost somewhere.  Anyway, I took the scope to Focus Optics in Chorley to see if Tim could fix it.  He couldn't and needs to contact Nikon to get a replacement.  Seems a lot bovver for a screw.

Anyway - on Saturday I went for a ride around Riversley Park here in Dorktown, just to get me out of the house for an hour or two mainly.  However, I still 12 birds on my travels including a long tailed tit, which believe it or not, I didn't get last year.  Sunday was a London day for me.  As the M6/M1 interchange was closed on Sunday I left Dorktown and headed to Lutterworth before taking the Foss Way which took me to the A45, onto the M45 and then on to the M1 southbound.  It's a lot longer route really but I expected some major hold ups on the A45 round Coventry, that's why O took that route.  It paid off too with me getting a pair of barn owls just before the A45. 

While at Focus Optics today we had a look at the fed table and got a brambling and a bull finch and loads of other small birds.  Then it was off to Coombe.  On the way we got tufted duck and fieldfare, we were hopeful about Coombe then and we did pretty good really, adding nuthatch, tree creeper, redwing, pochard, dunnock, cormorants, great crested grebe, grey heron, cettis warbler, jay and starling.  Also at Coombe today there were three hybrids showing well.  I got photos of two of them, the third on was all black but with a white chest.  I think they were hybrid mallards.  Anyway, here's a few from shots from today ...      

Cley and a mega ... Supposedly,

2 January 2012

Yesterday was big success for us both.  We were up at 6.30 and on the road for 7.45.  Our  birding begins as soon as we leave the house, but of course it was still fairly dark at that time.  We didn't see our first bird until we were on the A14 heading east.  And what was our first bird of 2012 ... a crow!  How exciting :-(((  We made good time even with a half break just after Cambridge and arrived at WEX Photographic at 10.20.  Jan's lens was ready for us to collect and we were soon back on the road using Jan's sat-nav to get us to Cley from Norwich.  From Dorktown to Cley we ticked crow, magpie, woodpigeon, rook, kestrel, jackdaw (Jan's favourite bird), mute swan, black headed, greater black backed and herring gulls, red legged partridge and blackbird.  I'm sure I saw a fleeting yellowhammer fly across in front of us but it wasn't a good enough view to claim it.

Once at Cley we had a coffee before heading off on our scooters.  There's little chance of us seeing and bearded tits while on them because of the amount noise they make.  Still, we went on and as we past one couple, a father and daughter by the look of it, I heard dad say, "I can't believe it!  A new birdwatcher out for the first time and she gets a mega!"  I didn't worry too much because I thought he was just being encouraging.  We got the first hide and got settled and started scanning round when one of the guys in there asked, "Have you got the western sandpiper yet?"  We hadn't but it didn't take long to get it.  he had it on his scope and we both had a clear view of it.  It would have been nice to have found it myself but in reality I know I'm not a good enough birder to do so.  If I had seen it I'd have put it down as a green or common sandpiper.  It wasn't till I got home and looked up the western in Collins that I saw just how bad a mistake that would have been!  So a bit thank you to the kind gent who put us onto that very nice bird.  But I have to ask, is it a mega though?  Perhaps one my readers will know.

We wanted to get to Titchwell too so we didn't hang about at Cley really but still got lapwing, shellduck, moorhen, Brent geese, greenfinch (one we didn't get last year would you believe!), widgeon (lots of them about at both Cley and Titchwell), redshanks, black tailed godwits, mallard, teal, dunlin, gadwall, shoveller, avocet, coot (my favourite bird), curlew, marsh harrier, pheasant and collared dove as well as the 'mega'.  There was supposed to be a lot of ruff there too but we didn't see them.  So it was off to Titchwell.

By the time we got there it had got very cold and we were both feeling it badly.  We did get down to the beach but it was far too cold for us to hang about there but we did get turnstones and oystercatchers there.  On the way down we had got the little egrets and after all the fuss there has been in some of the birding mags about the new hide there we went to have a look.   

Good job really because we picked up golden plover and I found a snipe too.  The one of the wardens approached and told us of a yellow legged gull and a female mandarin duck which we both saw.  Another guy asked to have a look at what he thought was a Mediterranean gull.  It was very large, very white, with head markings like a blacked headed.  I told the guy it was too close for me to call.  Anyway, the warden guy sorted it without even looking through the blokes scope.  He said he'd already been studying it and claimed it was large black headed.  As we were on our way up and down we heard of a scaup somewhere about as well as an artic redpoll, we didn't see either sadly but by the time we got back to the car we were well frozen and needing a pee.  In addition we also got most of those we saw at Cley as well.  I suppose I ought to keep a note of those as well but didn't think of it at the time ... I claim a cold brain by the time ;-))) 

At Titchwell then we also got blue and great tits, chaffinch, goldfinch, pintail, robin and lesser black backed gull.  The day's total was 46, not great as far as birding days go but being January 1, everyone was at least a year tick!  And don't forget, we also got a very nice life tick too.  Here's just a few of what we saw, the best from 66 shots, and these aren't all that brilliant either!   

Oh yes ... I removed that massive photo of me ... far too big ... ... ...