Saturday 22nd January 2022 - A visit to 4 locations

-

 With Jenny and Tim visiting Essex we decided to try to obtain a few more year ticks based on recent reported local sightings.  We began the day at Lea Valley arriving at about 8.45 with main target bird of smew as both drake and redhead had been seen there lately.  The other possibility was bittern which visits there in winter but it is always a lottery as to whether it can be found.  It did not take long before Tim spotted a redhead smew on the far side of one of the lakes and we walked round to the other side to get closer views.



We then walked further attempting to find the drake but after a while we gave up as we were having no luck and went to the bittern hide which only opens at 10 o'clock.  The hide had been renovated since my last visit and was quite impressive but unfortunately it was not the right time or place to see the bittern today and so we decided to move on to our second location which was Marsh Farm in South Woodham Ferrers. The target bird here was a red breasted goose which would be life ticks for all three of us if we could find it.  Jenny checked bird guides for the exact location of the last reported sighting which was earlier that morning and we set off  walking east along the path by the river Crouch.  After about half a mile we spotted a field with a large number of Brent geese feeding and there amongst them was the red breasted goose.  Conveniently it was situated towards the nearest edge of the flock and we were able to take photos from a distance. It was a beautiful bird with such bright markings.   

We returned to the car park to eat our lunch before setting off to Great Totham where a resident little owl is regularly reported on "the usual perch in Church Road" . Unfortunately when we saw it last year it was not on the usual perch according to a local woman so we still didn't know exactly where the usual perch is. Consequently we could not find it either where it was last year or in the general area which the woman had described to us and we had to admit defeat and set off for our final stop of the day at Abberton Reservoir.  Target bird here was scaup which I had not located on my last visit but this time we were lucky and managed to find it fairly quickly.


We returned home after a good day's birding and although I have concentrated on our target birds in this report, Jenny totted up all the species seen throughout the day which actually came to a total of 60.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday 5th January 2024: Pesky Parakeets

-
Image
 On our day out yesterday we had a fly past Parakeet, but I was not very satisfied with that as an annual sighting tick. With the feeders topped up, mum’s garden is a good bet for this species, much to her chagrin. So today we were thrilled, and mum dismayed, to spot no less than five birds on the feeders. Ring-necked Parakeets  Despite their bad press and dubious provenance, they are certainly attractive birds, especially the male with its rosy ring and contrasting black bib, and the orange-red bill and eye ring contrasting with the vibrant green plumage.  Less attractive is their screeching call as they descend on the feeders and announce their presence. Now, that’s a worthy tick!
Read more

Sunday 27th June: Roller in Suffolk

-
Image
 After daily reminders from Jenny that a Eurasian roller was still present in Suffolk I finally made the effort to go to see it and took advantage of the trip to visit several other local sites which were of interest to me.  My first stop was at the tiny village of Ampton where I normally find my annual tick for tree sparrow and this year was no exception as I saw one within 20 seconds of getting out of my car.  After watching it for a minute or so I quickly moved on to the next venue which was Lackford Lakes, a Suffolk wildlife trust reserve which had been reporting a juvenile glossy ibis for a few days.  I was told by someone in the car park exactly where it had been seen recently but he had not seen it that day when he had walked around earlier.  When I arrived at the hide 3 other birders were there but they had not seen it and so after 10 minutes I gave up waiting for it to show and moved on to try to see the roller. I had seen a number of birders along the A1101 as I drove past on
Read more

Wednesday 8th November 2023: Brazil Atlantic Rainforest 1

-
Image
 We arrived at Rio early in the morning following an overnight flight of 11 hours, and were soon en route to our accommodation at Itororo Lodge, set in the heart of the forest, close to Nova Friburgo. As we sped through Rio, a few distant egrets, Neotropical Cormorants and Magnificent Frigatebirds were seen, together with plenty of Black Vultures resting on lampposts close to the busy road. After around an hour of driving we stopped for coffee, noting Blue and White Swallows nesting under the eaves of the adjacent building, a Yellow-headed Caracara perched atop a tall tree together with a Kiskadee and a pair of stunning, bright Saffron Finches perched on the wires.  Our birding adventure had begun…! Brassy-breasted Tanagers We continued on to our base at the beautiful Itororo Lodge,  arriving mid-morning to tea and cake on the terrace, where a feast of birds met our eyes.  The feeding tables were arrayed with fruit, attracting beautiful tanagers with brilliant, rich colours and wonderf
Read more