Bunting hunting

The birding world is, by and large, a wonderful community, with word of interesting bird sightings usually shared generously and quickly through various social media and internet services. 

Which is a wonderful thing - unless you happen to be in an afternoon of meetings when word reaches you of a rarity (or three) on your local patch. As happened yesterday, when reports arrived at my desk of a Red Knot, a Red-breasted Merganser and, best of all for me at least, a Snow Bunting - which not only be a county tick for me, but also my second ever and first for many years.

So I tried to reach it, I really did. But as I sat in traffic I realised I wouldn't get there by sunset (and car park closing time) so I diverted to the nearer Napton Reservoir and watched an unprecedented 120+ Lapwing circling lower and lower to roost at or around the reservoir. That, plus 60+ Starlings and lots of other early evening roosting activity made a pleasant end to a long working day - but really, it was scant consolation.

So, up at 6.30am the following morning for a 7.30am arrival at... an incredibly fog-bound Draycote. Disappointing, but I could at least see across the boulder edges to the shore, so I spent a couple of cold hours scouring every nook and cranny from car park to Toft Bay for a bunting or knot (having given up instantly on the idea of finding a merganser lurking somewhere in the foggy reservoir interior).

Sadly, a Dunlin seemed to be all that remained of yesterday's sightings (once I'd managed in the thick fog to rule out Knot, a not dissimilar bird at this time of year). So it was with a slightly heavy heart that I started to think about calling it a day. 

But then, further back down the track, I saw a gaggle of four newly arriving birders all pointing cameras at the wall near them. Sure enough, it had popped up on Farborough Bank as soon as they had arrived, and proceeded to give everyone amazing views - on the wall, along the water's edge, all while seemingly unconcerned about the growing numbers of birder and non-birder admirers. 

The unmistakable and utterly lovely Snow Bunting is a very rare breeding bird in Britain - Scotland only I believe - and even with numbers swollen by birds coming across from Scandinavia in the winter it remains scarce even at the east coast hotspots. In a Warwickshire reservoir so very far from the sea, it is a very special bird indeed.

Note: This photo, as with everything on this blog, is first and foremost for my personal notes and reference, rather than being 'of record'. In this instance, I have AI enhanced my original snap to 'remove' some of the fog. I know there will be many amazing and 100% AI-free photos of this bird available to view online, so definitely use one of those for reference, not this one. You have been warned!
 

Summer Leys has all too short a date...

I was lured off the patch today by the prospect of Glossy Ibis - a bird that has eluded me throughout the autumn. Wherever I've been, from Norfolk to Dorset, the message has been the familiar: "Well, it was here yesterday (and the day before, and the day before that, etc.)

So, this morning it was off to Summer Leys LNR in Northants - less than an hour's drive from home, and host to a Glossy Ibis for about as long as anyone can remember. 

Well, apparently not today. 

I arrived at 9am in thick fog, which was quite a surprise since it had been all clear at home. After a friendly face was kind enough to give me a bit of local intel, I worked my way from one side of the wader scrape to the other, and then on to a viewing screen at the far end, and ultimately around the whole circuit and back for a final hour in the first hide. 

It's a lovely reserve, based around a deep central lake with a sizeable wader scrape, well appointed with hides and the surrounding habitat carefully managed by a flock of rare-breed sheep. 

Good numbers of wildfowl were evident - mainly Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall and Tufties - along with notably large numbers of Cormorant and Coot, plus a Great White Egret and at least one Little Egret. The woodland edge was lively with tit flocks and a few thrush species - Redwing numbers are starting to grow, ditto Blackbirds, joined by one each of Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush.

But the real highlights were waiting for my final hour in the Pioneer Hide from where I'd started my day. 

First a Marsh Harrier showed well in the now-lifting mist, mobbed for a minute or more by two Carrion Crows before settling down beyond a clump of reeds and not reappearing. Then a dozen or so Golden Plover appeared and wheeled away in the near distance, sadly not stopping to set down. It was the explosive call and sudden kerfuffle with nearby Lapwings which alerted me to a just-arrived Green Sandpiper, a late migrant and the first I've seen for a few weeks now. And finally, one of the few birders who had by now joined me for the improving weather spotted that one of the newly arrived gulls latest gull arrivals looked suspiciously pale - and a quick gander through the scope confirmed it as an adult Mediterranean Gull. 

So, four decent day-defining finds, any one of which would have been a highlight had I stayed on patch. But no Glossy Ibis, so the search continues...

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Below, record shots of the Med Gull, showing the characteristic pale back, absence of black on the primaries, and winter hood at the back of the head. Flight revealed completely white underwings.

 

A long, dry summer into autumn at Napton Reservoir

 

Napton Reservoir has long been the most productive part of my patch, excluding the hotspots of Draycote Reservoir (a much, much bigger body of water) and Brandon Marsh. So it has proved to be again this year.

In all I made 16 visits over the summer and early autumn, recording 400 bird sightings and a good variety of species. It's a modest reservoir, but its mix of open water, muddy margins and surrounding farmland makes for an interesting combination, particularly when birds are on the move.

My first visit of the year wasn’t until 17 May, when I recorded 41 species. A return on the 29th produced 43 species, with a single Barnacle Goose, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Yellow Wagtail among the highlights. But the best of that visit was saved til almost last, when two Cuckoos put on a memorable show. First one, then two came flying loudly in, circling before settling in nearby trees at the back of the field. After a few moments the male dropped to the scrub beyond, still calling loudly – and after a minute of that, the rufous form female dropped to the reedbed, disappeared for 30 seconds or so, and flew back to the tree, where she was joined by the male. After 20 seconds of celebratory calling they flew off together, no doubt celebrating the successful parasiting of another nest.

Several flyby Curlews were among the June highlights, and on 28 June I heard a  Grasshopper Warbler, loud and clear from that scrub at the back. Always a good bird to find, and this only the second on my patch (the first since a very quiet lockdown walk).

As the summer drought wore on, attention turned to the increasingly prominent muddy margins and the possibility of passage waders.

August was particularly productive. On consecutive visits on the 9th and 10th, I found Common Sandpiper, with Little Ringed Plover and Snipe also recorded on the second day. A few weeks later, on 29 August, I connected with the best bird of the summer: a Wood Sandpiper. September continued the wader theme. On the 10th, Black-tailed Godwit and Ruff were both recorded, alongside Snipe and a good selection of other waterbirds. Common Sandpiper was also present on the 15th.

The changing cast of birds was becoming quite noticeable. Summer visitors were thinning out, while occasional Teal, Meadow Pipit and a remarkable highest count of 20 Yellow Wagtails among the signs of autumn movement getting underway.

By October, the character of the reservoir had changed again. My visit on the 19th produced 35 species, including Kingfisher, Great White Egret and the first Redwing of the autumn. The Common Gull, always a strong winter presence at Napton, had also returned in good numbers.

The final visit in the period covered here, on 30 October, was equally productive, again producing 35 species. Red Kite and Sparrowhawk (presumed – see separate post on the question of sizing birds at distance!) were among the more notable sightings, while 20+ Redwing flying overhead, two Snipe and a good selection of resident birds provided a fitting end to the autumn catch-up. Water levels are still astonishingly low for the time of year, so it will be interesting to see how much wet weather is needed to replenish things.

 

Working the micro patch

 

Radford Semele and the Leam Valley make up what I’ve come to think of as my micro patch: the bit of countryside I can reasonably walk to and explore without getting in the car. It isn’t always the most productive of places, and there are days when the birding can be fairly quiet. But it has a habit of producing something memorable when I put the time in.

One of the year's highlights came on an early morning visit to the Leam Valley meadow. For a minute or so, a Barn Owl quartered over the grass, hunting in the open before dropping down onto the scrub mound at the far end. It didn't reappear. A brief encounter, but a wonderful one.

Around Radford Semele itself, the farmland continues to be rewarding. Lesser Whitethroat was recorded again, with the behaviour suggesting possible breeding, while Linnets were present in good numbers, presumably benefiting from the winter SFI fields. Skylarks were also a regular feature, and Yellowhammer was recorded on all seven visits to the area.

September brought a different sort of interest. Early autumn was dominated by westerly winds, but a brief spell of easterlies gave me the chance to get up to the Crown Hill trig point early one morning. The result was some modest, but thoroughly thrilling, visible migration – or vismig, as it is generally known. Meadow Pipits and Skylarks streamed overhead, with plenty of the pipits dropping into the field around me. It was a lovely opportunity to watch migration unfolding in real time.

The autumn arrivals continued. Redwing appeared first, and then on 28 October came Fieldfare, with 30-plus recorded on one morning walk. That same morning produced another little surprise: a pair of Stonechats in the fields nearest my house. Remarkably these are only the second and third Stonechats I’ve recorded on the micro-patch.

The micro patch may not compete with the bigger reserves and habitat hotspots for species totals, but that isn't really the point. Its rewards are more personal: a Barn Owl appearing over a familiar meadow, the first pipits of autumn passing overhead, or a pair of Stonechats turning up in a field you walk past all the time. The more attention I give it, the more it gives back.

A stilt-ed start to summer

 

There are days when birding throws up something slightly unexpected, and then there are days when it throws up something so completely unexpected that you find yourself running across a nature reserve.

This was definitely the latter.

I'd been enjoying a pair of Garganey at Brandon, cracking little ducks in their own right and always a pleasure to see, when something caught my eye. Two black-and-white shapes were flying away from the East Marsh, off to my right. It was a brief, fleeting look but definitely the triggered the ol’ spidey senses!

A quick mental trawl through the possibilities. Avocet? Nope. So that just leaves… Black-winged stilt? Surely not?!

Beyond unlikely at Brandon, to put it mildly, but I was confident enough not to hang about. I literally ran round to the East Marsh track and the hide overlooking Teal Pool. There, to my considerable relief, was a small group of birders, all looking in the same direction and admiring two Black-winged Stilts.

What a bird. Or, in this case, what birds.

The elegant proportions are extraordinary, those impossibly long pink legs giving them an almost comical appearance, offset by the crisp black-and-white plumage. They looked entirely at home picking their way around the shallow margins of the pool, although their presence at Brandon was anything but ordinary.

It was my first Black-winged Stilt since seeing the famous ‘Sammy’ at Titchwell in the early 2000s, and a particularly satisfying addition to my Brandon list. In fact, this was a first for the reserve, and naturally for my own patch.

And the spring kept on giving

The Stilts were always going to be difficult to follow, but the subsequent visits to early summer visits to Brandon produced plenty to keep things interesting.

A return on 30 May produced 46 species, with Cuckoo still very much in evidence and a good selection of summer visitors. Lesser Whitethroat was a particularly welcome addition, alongside great views of two Garden Warblers, and Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler. There were also Redshanks and several Little Ringed Plover on the pools.

June brought more of the same, with the reserve continuing to hold a good variety of birds. My visit on the 16th was particularly productive, with 53 species recorded. Cuckoo was still present and calling around the site (one brief flight view over the golf course), and there were some good raptor sightings, including both Hobby (cracking views from the Carl Lewis Platform) and Red Kite. A Great White Egret was also on the list, along with another sighting of Garganey.

A further visit on the 21st produced 42 species. The summer warblers were still making themselves heard, while Grey Wagtail and a good selection of waterbirds added to the day's tally.

Looking back, it was a cracking few weeks at Brandon. The Black-winged Stilts were undoubtedly the headline act, but they were part of a much broader picture of spring migration, returning summer visitors and the gradual shift into summer.