Gary Howard's birds and wildlife

Sunday 5th Feb Snow ...............

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:10:00 +0000

It snowed for much of the night and at dawn we had around 4 or 5 inches of the stuff lying all around. The garden feeders were dragging in plenty of birds so I spent a while photographing from the warmth of the bedroom.

Lesser Redpoll - still 10 around, one is ringed.

Jay

Fieldfare

We took the boys down to the Sevenoaks wildfowl reserve for a few hours in the afternoon. It looked rather lovely in the snow and the kids had a fantastic time. Bird-wise it was rather poor with wildfowl numbers quite low and little of note; not even a goldeneye or a goosander.

Chiffchaff

Saturday 4th Jan '12 East Kent

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:15:00 +0000

It was cold, barely above freezing all day and with a light to moderate easterly for good measure.

I started at Oare Marshes just before high tide around 0900. The east scrape was largely iced and the open patches held a few Teal, Wigeon and Pintail. The waders were on the Swale; around 200 Dunlin, 50 Avocet and a scattering of Grey Plover, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit and Turnstone were feeding on the exposed mud . A few Brents flew by and I could see a swirling mass of Oystercatchers distantly over Shellness. Having exhausted what Oare seemed to have to offer I drove off and had a look at Ham pits and was pleased to find a couple of "redhead" Smew on the main pit.

Lapwings

I then set off for Dover to look for the Kumlien's Gull that had been reportedly present for at least a week. I soon discovered that Admiralty Pier is the southernmost arm of the harbour and after eventually parking for free - no mean feat these days in Dover - I walked out to find Alan and Brenda Fossey and Keith Holland watching the Kumliens as it performed circuits of the pier. The views were quite good though a long way from ideal for photo's and then frustratingly it moved across and flew up and down the central pier in bright sunshine. The scope views were good but we all eventually decided to walk round to see if we could get closer looks.

Kumlien's Gull - 2nd winter

Dover Castle

By the time we walked round to the central pier it had disappeared - naturally! A Snow Bunting feeding under a crash barrier on the old hoverport provided some consolation. Eventually, around 30 minutes later, it reappeared from the north where there were hundreds of gulls feeding near the car ferrys but flew overhead and vanished again. Another 30 minutes or so passed before it appeared and spent a good while washing and preening on the old hoverport ramp giving great looks in the scope. It flew off into the sun around 2.30 and I headed off for some food and to warm up. Also of note in the harbour were around 20 Razorbill, a Shag and hundreds of Common Gulls and Kittiwake.

Kittiwake - adult

Rock Pipit

I had my lunch at Samphire Hoe but it was very quiet there so I drove off and finished the day looking around the Downs near Charing; plenty of Buzzards but little else of note.

Saturday 28th Jan '12 Hants again................

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Just a couple of days after I twitched the Dark-eyed Junco near Beaulieu in the New Forest came news that there was a Spanish Sparrow just a few miles away at Calshot! I saw the 1996-1998 Waterside in Cumbria individual but they are great rarities and when Mike Buckland said he "needed it" I said I'd let him drive me down for it!

There was a good supporting list of scarce and rare birds in Hampshire so we worked out an itinerary and started with the long-staying cattle egret at Warblington........and dipped! Plenty of Little Egret's but not a sniff of the cattle egret. An hour later we decided to move on and as it was close at hand we nipped over to Hayling Island and saw the wintering Shore Lark on the oyster beds. Seven Black-necked Grebes were scoped in the channel and there were a small number of Brent's present showing at close range. The Shore Lark spends most of it's time hunkered down on a tall, narrow shingle island, apparently often in the very same spot. It's not a great winter for them so it was good to see.

Brent -adult

Brent - 1st winter

Next on the itinerary was the long-staying (theme developing here!) Ring-billed Gull in Gosport. I'd seen it before Mike returned with the parking ticket - on a small boating lake in a small waterside park. It was lovely and sunny and we went down to get some shots. Our stay was shortened by a photographer with a huge tripod-mounted lens who exhibited no fieldcraft, flushing all the birds and walking towards the sun rather than taking the slightly longer more careful route to join us at a safe distance.

Ring-billed Gull

The morning was fast disappearing so we headed off to Calshot to look for the Spanish Sparrow which despite the news only breaking a few days ago may well have been present for many months. The next couple of hours went nothing close to plan but proved ultimately hilarious and a true British birding occasion. On arrival we duly parked in the beach car-park and walked the 500 yards back to an area of small houses with tiny gardens sitting behind a roadside hedge. Just a couple of other birders were present but the door of one of the terraced houses was open and a sign was pinned-up welcoming birders but asking for a £3 donation to the local Wildlife Trust to be dropped in the bucket provided. A chap came out of the house and said it was the time of day when the bird often laid low in a bush and pointed out a Russian Vine and the roadside hedge as favoured spots and said he'd call if it returned to his garden. He said he was off to check another favoured spot and would give a shout if he saw it. Over the next hour or so we didn't catch a glimpse though it was twice briefly in his garden. Eventually we accepted his invite to join him in the kitchen and found that he was a long-time birder and Hampshire resident very familiar with the New Forest and it's birds and had done a lot of birding and twitching over the years in a wide range of places. He had a great sense of humour and adopted the role of genial host, swapping stories, jokes and information with all and sundry. Eventually we got some very good looks at the Spanish Sparrow as it came into feed and we took some photo's, though shooting through glass is never ideal. We left around 14.00 -thankyou Clive and Vivien for your hospitality and good humour and well done with the collection which has now passed £1700.

Spanish Sparrow -male

Sparrowhawk - female - with 50+ house sparrows to target let's hope the Spanish Sparrow stays lucky!

We set off to Beaulieu next and Hawkhill Inclosure where the (yes you guessed it) long-staying Dark-eyed Junco had apparently been being very elusive all morning. Within a few minutes of leaving the car we strolled up and found it just a few metres away feeding on grain put down for it at the base of an old pine-stump. Fantastic ! We didn't venture anywhere else being content to watch the Junco and a small number of Crossbills before heading for home soon after 16.00.

Dark-eyed Junco - 1st winter male

Crossbill - male

Saturday 21st January '11 stormy south Kent

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:50:00 +0000

Mike Buckland and I headed down to the south coast with the weather forecast to be stormy, windy and wet at times. Luckily it barely rained and the wind increased steadily but was never unbearable. There were few people about but plenty of birds and we started at Hythe at 08.00 in gloomy conditions looking for the Purple Sandpipers.

martello tower and firing range at Hythe.

In the early light we found a single Purple Sandpiper feeding on the shingle beach with Turnstone. We got some ok pictures before heading off to search the rock-groynes where we eventually found another 7 that were typically confiding.

Purple Sandpipers

As we drove through Hythe we found a couple of Med Gull's feeding on playing fields.

We decided to meander across Romney marsh to get to Dunge and spent about an hour checking out the ditches, dykes, hedgerows and fields. We had about 200 Fieldfare, a Buzzard and several Tree Sparrows but it was really rather quiet and hard-work.

Our next stop was Dungeness and we went straight to the gull roosts on the point to search for the long-staying Glaucous Gull and Caspian Gull. Despite a good search we failed to find the glauc but Mike soon tracked down the 1st winter Caspian and we got plenty of pictures though probably because of the strong wind it just didn't want to stand up.

Caspian Gull - 1st winter

Greater Black-back - adult

Caspian Gull - 1st winter

A sea-watch produced lots of Guillemot, small numbers of Razorbills, Red-throated Diver, Kittiwake, Gannet and a single Little Gull.

rather them than me, I'm rubbish on boats, makes me sick just looking!

local boat returning with the catch and dragging plenty of birds in close

gannet in amongst the fishing boat followers

Kittiwake - 1st winter

It was now early afternoon and we headed inland. The ranges were closed so we checked out Denge Marsh where Mike glimpsed the Great White Egret and we were both appalled to see areas have been fenced in apparently to exclude predators but boy does it look ugly and spoil the look of the marsh.

Lapwing on Denge marsh

We turned our attention to the ARC pits next and saw Smew - a drake and 4 "redheads", a Long-tailed Duck and a Kingfisher.

Onto the reserve we bumped into Dave Walker and Gill Hollamby and spent the remainder of the daylight with them checking out the gulls as they came into roost. It was after 4.45 when we called it a day.

Sunday 15th January '12 East Kent

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:45:00 +0000

Mum was on a first-aid course with the Scouting Association so I took the kids for a long walk around Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry. It was sunny at times and rather productive with Bittern, Glossy Ibis and Water Pipit the highlights.

Bittern

Teal

Little Egret

Glossy Ibis

We left Stodmarsh at 3pm and drove across Chislet which was quiet though we had a Merlin on the northern edge. With the light fading we finished at Reculver on the request of the kids who say it's one of their favourite places.

Reculver Towers at sunset

Sunday 8th January 2012 Sussex....downland & shore

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Leaving home mid-morning we stopped at Burpham on the Downs near Arundel for an hour allowing me to catch up with the wintering Rough-legged Buzzard. I also had at least 8 Buzzard, Peregrine, Grey and Red-legged Partridge and Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting.

Once we got to Jenny's mums we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and took a walk to Climping Beach along the beach on a falling tide. I had at least 15 Med Gull's today (mostly 2nd winter and a few adults) and the usual selection of waders but the sea was very quiet.

Mediterranean Gull - 2nd winter

Oystercatcher

Turnstone

Sat 7th Jan 2012 New Forest

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

Weather dictates a lot of what birders do or should do! I’m happy to go out in any weather but I’m not happy to travel too far to experience bad weather so whilst I was hoping to get to Norfolk at the weekend the thought of 20+ mph westerly winds was not that inviting. I fancied a change from my usual haunts in Kent and when Paul Matson called it wasn’t long before we settled on the New Forest and a twitch for the Slate-coloured Junco and a search for other more usual residents and seasonal visitors.

Just after 0800 we were at Hawkhill Inclosure with around 50 other birders waiting for the junco to show. Whilst we waited we were entertained by displaying Crossbills which gave great scope views in the beech trees on the edge of the heath. Around 08.30 we got our first looks at the junco and thereafter we had a number of reasonable scope views as it fed around a couple of fallen pines. A Woodlark had a half-hearted attempt at singing from a lone pine on the heath and a Red Admiral flew about to add to the almost spring-like feel to the day.

Dark-eyed Junco - record shot, great scope views !

As we drove round to Beaulieu Road we passed Hatchet Pond and stopped to look at a small party of Goosander.

Goosander -drake

We walked out across the heathland at Beaulieu Road in lovely weather and found the Great-Grey Shrike already staked-out by birders on the far side of the bog. It gave good scope views hunting from birches in the sunshine. Nearby woodland proved productive for a number of species including Nuthatch,Treecreeper and Marsh Tit.

Beaulieu Road

Early afternoon saw us driving across to Ringwood and searching Blashford Lakes for the long-staying Ferruginous Duck. Unfortunately it wasn't on show but we saw Green Sandpiper, Goosander and a host of common duck before we headed back to the New Forest for the late afternoon.

Along Rhinefield Ornamental Drive we stopped for a showy Buzzard before finishing the day at Blackwater Arboretum where we had 5 Hawfinch, 3 Brambling, several Crossbill, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and 4 Bullfinch.

Buzzard

Monday 2nd Jan 2012 Sheppey

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

What a contrast! After yesterday's grey, dull weather and torrential rain we had a beautiful cold, dry sunny day to follow.

With Jenny and the kids we ventured onto Sheppey and had a great day exploring Shellness and Harty Marshes.

We had Short-eared Owl's at Shellness and at least 3 along Capel Fleet. We also had a Barn Owl near Harty Marshes. I only noted one Hen Harrier today; an immature female on Harty. Plenty of Marsh Harrier's around and Peregrine and Sparrowhawk were both seen at Harty Ferry. It was a very low "high-tide" today so there wasn't a roost of waders and we saw no snow bunting at Shellness. Around 300 Brent Geese were in fields near Muswell Manor.

Shellness looking east.

Shellness looking north

Shellness looking rather muddy..............

Harty Marshes looking east towards Shellness

New Years Day 2012 North Kent Marshes

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

New Year's day started grey and overcast but dry and we decided to have a family outing to clear the cobwebs and shed a few calories after the usual Christmas excesses. After a very lazy start we headed out to the North Kent marshes largely because it was the closest place likely to provide some decent birds and the kids like running along the sea wall. We didn't actually get there until 11.00 so our day out had quickly been halved before we started!

We walked out to Cliffe Creek and then followed the footpath to Cliffe Fort before looking at the Alpha Pool, Higham Bay and then retraced our steps back to the edge of the Flamingo Pool on the RSPB reserve. At this point I left Jenny to stroll the short distance back to the car with the boys whilst I birded my way to the car park alongside the pools. As I got to the car soon after 14.00 heavy spots of rain were falling.

Cliffe Creek

Overall Cliffe was rather quiet. An extremely mild start to winter has left most duck numbers at a low ebb and scarcer species largely absent. I had a Red-breasted Merganser on the Alpha Pool, 340 Avocet in Higham Bay and rather low numbers of duck on the other pools incuding 18 Goldeneye, 4 Pintail and a scattering of Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall. I had 4 Rock Pipit at the mouth of Cliffe Creek and small numbers of passerines including about 50 Fieldfare.

The rain got heavier and heavier and though we drove round to the other side of the reserve to look for owls from the track that passes the Black Barn it soon seemed rather pointless. Anxious to see something now that we were out I drove the short distance to St Mary's Island through the Medway tunnel and searched the old dock basins for the long-staying long-tailed duck but without success!

We drove home in some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen in the UK with traffic almost at a standstill at times on the A2 and M25.

Christmas 2011 garden birds..................

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:40:00 +0000

Christmas found us mostly at home this year so for a change I got to see a bit more of what eats the various bird foods that are scattered around the garden, mostly hanging in a variety of squirrel-proof feeders. I was especially pleased to see that the Lesser Redpoll numbers had risen from the 2 that had been around since late November to 4 on Christmas Eve and then 10 on Christmas Day.

Ring-necked Parakeets are getting increasingly numerous in Orpington; I've had flock of over 50 flying over late summer. In the garden at least 4 are now occasionally trying to raid the feeders though rather unsuccessfully. I saw no Blackcap although most winters they start appearing in January. Goldfinch numbers are quite good - up to 10 birds, and Greenfinches look to be recovering from the slump with up to 6 present.

Lesser Redpoll

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Ring-necked Parakeet

Saturday 17th Dec 11 Dungeness & nearby.......

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:30:00 +0000

It was good to assemble a car load for a Christmas social followed by beer and even more laughter. Mike Cottrell, John Tilbrook, James Hunter, Andy Lawson and I met in a rather frosty Petts Wood and headed south to warmer climes.

It wasn't a bad day's birding either with the weather nowhere near as bad as forecast; it barely rained and was sunny, bright and really rather still.

Little Egret

Our first stop was the Royal Military Canal at Hamstreet where we failed to to find any Great White Egret's but had at least 4 Little Egrets and a Kingfisher. Then it was onto Hythe and a frustrating search for the Rough-legged Buzzard which we all saw but not for long enough nor as well as we'd hoped.

Heading to Dungeness we searched St Mary's Bay en-route where Andy picked out an adult Yellow-legged Gull and we had a good number of common waders.

Yellow-legged Gull

Turnstone

Lade Sands was next; several hundred Knot, small numbers of Sanderling,Ringed Plover,Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew.

Finally we got to Dungeness and drove to the point to look for the long-staying Glaucous. We found it quite quickly and a first-winter Caspian Gull; both were subjected to long scrutiny and the light was quite good for photos.

Caspian Gull - 1st winter

Glaucous Gull - 2nd winter

Onto ARC we birded from the road and then walked to Hanson Hide where we had 2 Bewick Swans and a Great-white Egret flew across in front of us. Not much else of note from there though so we drove to Denge Marsh where we had a few Marsh Harrier and another Great-white Egret. We finished with a drive across Walland Marsh but it was nearly dark and we saw no owls.

Saturday 10th December '11 Bromley..............

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:50:00 +0000

I lived in the London Borough of Bexley for the first 31 years of my life and growing up I cycled to local gravel pits and rivers and meadows to look for birds, amassing quite a good list for places like Ruxley Gravel Pits and Footscray Meadows. Back then (sound like an old git now!) there were plenty of Spotted Flycatchers and I was seeing Tree Sparrows, Corn Bunting, Bullfinch, Lesser-spotted Woodpecker and many birds that are now far less common and widespread. By the time I moved to Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley in 1997 I was far too involved twitching and birding Kent to bother taking much of a look around locally and so when a Long-tailed Duck was reported on a fishing lake just a few miles away it was a case of where ? (I have never seen a long-tailed duck in Bexley either).

I spoke to Barry Wright who gave me good directions and then set off to take a look in the early afternoon sunshine.

It was a quite tiny lake, probably only an acre or so but there it was, diving frequently and looking rather smart in the sunshine.

Long-tailed Duck

Sunday 4th December Sheppey again...........

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:40:00 +0000

Having spent Saturday in the office I was rather keen to get out for at least a few hours today but firstly we headed off to buy a Christmas tree, squeezed it into the car and took it home.

Eventually I got away around midday and so decided upon Sheppey again. I spent time along Capel Fleet, at Harty Ferry, on Harty Marshes and around Muswell Manor and out to the car park at Shellness. It was quite cold, around 5C, and threatening rain but with the odd brighter spell.

Highlights were a total of at least 7 Short-eared Owls, 2 Barn Owls, 2 ring-tailed Hen Harrier's, 15+ Marsh Harriers, Merlin, 1 probably 2 Great White Egrets, Green Sandpiper and around 30 Corn Bunting.

Short-eared Owl, Muswell Manor, Sheppey.

Sunday 27th November Sheppey at last.......

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:15:00 +0000

I'd intended to go out birding on Saturday afternoon but my work in the garden, as usual, took longer than I'd expected.

On Sunday morning I woke to rain and stayed in bed. It was sunshine and showers and I found myself watching thrushes feeding in the hedgerow opposite my bedroom window. A Fieldfare appeared and I dashed off for my camera and got some reasonable images as it fed in a hawthorn.

Fieldfare

After yet more household chores I finally got out early afternoon and headed to Sheppey with the kids in tow leaving Jenny at home nursing a cold. I concentrated my efforts in the Capel Fleet area and saw 6+ Short-eared Owls, 2-3 ringtail Hen Harriers, Merlin, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier and Kestrel. Around 50 Corn Bunting were feeding by the fleet and I had small numbers of thrushes and a Green Sandpiper.

The Short-eared Owls were superb and on show continuously giving great scope views but not close enough for pictures.

Sunday 20th Nov 2011 tea with the finder..........

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:20:00 +0000

I drove through thick fog to deepest darkest Tunbridge Wells for dawn in an attempt to see Kent's first Blackpoll Warbler found late Saturday by local resident and Kent birder Andy Appleton in trees behind his garden! As expected it was an almost exclusively Kent Listers affair, a chance to catch up with old friends and wait for the mist to clear and the bird appear. Only a handful of people had seen the bird on Saturday as the bird wasn't found until after 3pm. I alternated between checking the tit flocks and chatting to mates before enjoying a cup of tea with the finder and getting the full story on this amazing "find". However, by the time I left, around 09.30, neither the bird had appeared nor the mist fully cleared and I had the sinking feeling it would be found when I was down at my mother-in-laws birthday "party" on the coast in Sussex and probably too far away for me to get to it!

However, the bird was not seen on Sunday despite much searching.

Saturday 19th Nov '11 Dungeness..............

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:35:00 +0000

November's incredibly warm, dry, settled weather continues and I decided to spend the day at Dungeness in the absence of any particularly good reason to go anywhere else. I drove slowly across Romney Marsh and started near Hythe where a Rough-legged Buzzard has been present for several weeks. I was hoping to get some photos but I was rather unsuccessful as the bird decided to spend much time sitting out of view and then flew out onto the ranges to hunt where a live-fire exercise was in progress and I quite expected to find the police turning up to question me any minute so I quickly left the area.

I eventually had some fair looks at the Rough-leg, a Merlin and several Common Buzzard's.

I drove to Dungeness along the coast road picking up some lunch which I took out to Denge Marsh. I bumped into Marcus Lawson and we chatted and were watching the Marsh harrier's when the Glossy Ibis flew across Hookers towards the viewing mound. We also had Merlin, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Raven and a few Corn Bunting. I left him heading to the gully whilst I drove down to Galloways and then over to the ARC. I walked out to the Hanson Hide and saw 2 redhead Smew, a Long-tailed Duck and was searching through the duck when Marcus phoned to say Andy Appleton had found a Blackpoll Warbler near his house in Tunbridge Wells ! It was 3.15 and with sunset just after 4.00 I decided against dashing off and instead carried on birding. Three Berwick's Swans flew in to roost on ARC - 2 adults and a juv.

I finished the day wandering across Walland Marsh, connecting with a few winter thrushes before walking out to the reedbed by the Woolpack Inn. Nine Marsh Harrier's went to roost and at nearly 4.30 a male Hen Harrier appeared, circled round a few times and dropped in at the back. A neat finish.

Sunday 13th November '11 Margate...............

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:55:00 +0000

I got back from a fabulous 10 days in Ghana on Saturday morning and found that the big news was the presence of an Eastern Black Redstart in East Kent at Margate. I'd have been pushing my luck to have ventured down on Saturday afternoon so I waited until after the boys cubs church parade for Remembrance Day and then we all headed down.

I timed it quite well because the light was still good enough for photos and it showed very well when we arrived but within an hour it was misty and dull. We wandered off and showed the kids North Foreland lighthouse where I had a Black Redstart and then soon after 4pm headed home.

Eastern Black Redstart feeding on the beach below the chalk cliffs at Margate.

Sanderling roosting at high tide.

Ghana 2nd-12th November 2011

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Picathartes ! What a name, what a bird !

I was a kid when I saw a re-run of a David Attenborough black and white Zoo Quest wildlife documentary about an attempt to see a little-known species of bird with a fabulous name in Sierra Leone. I was looking for a last-minute break when I saw that Sunbird had a space on a trip to Ghana which had a very good chance of seeing Yellow-headed Picathartes (the one in Sierra Leone is White-headed). Now, it's dangerous to set off with one bird as the main objective but I'd done it in February with Spoon-billed Sandpiper so I thought why not! Also, there were a lot of good forest species on the menu so with luck it would be 10 bird-filled days in forests that have not been greatly visited by birders.

Wednesday 2nd November

I travelled with KLM to Accra via Amsterdam which made for a long day though the main leg of the flight was only 6 hours. I had the good fortune of bumping into fellow tour participant Hu Gallagher almost as soon as I arrived at Heathrow and we linked up with another of our group - Jeremy Rewse-Davies- as we got on the plane to Amsterdam. We had lunch together in Amsterdam and managed to find plenty in common to pass the time as we waited for the flight to Ghana.

Stepping out of the aircraft in Accra into a hot, sultry dark tropical night I was fairly quickly through passport control and into the chaos of the cramped, poorly-lit baggage reclaim area. Thankfully re-united with my baggage I soon met tour leader James Lidster and local tour guide and well-respected Ghanaian birder Robert Ntakor. Just after 22.00 we were out of the chaos of Accra and travelling east to Tema and the Hotel Alexis.

Thursday 3rd November

After a 05.00 breakfast we drove the short distance to Shai Hills Resource Reserve, a 50 kilometer square patch of coastal savannah with granite outcrops. We spent the next 5 hours birding slowly along a track into the reserve as the heat steadily increased. Highlights were Stone Partridge, Red-shouldered Cuckoo-Shrike, Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, White-shouldered Black Tit, Mosque Swallow, Piapiac, Quail Finch, Veillot's Barbet and Lesser Honeyguide. Both Lanner and Shikra showed well. Reminders of home included Honey Buzzard and Spotted and Pied Flycatcher.

Shai Hills

Shikra

Hooded Vulture

After lunch back at the hotel we boarded our bus for what turned out to be a long and tortuous journey west to Kakum National Park broken by brief stops at the Sukomona Lagoon just west of Accra and Winneba plains.

At the lagoon we soon assembled a long list of species just by scanning from the disused railway that ran alongside the main coastal highway. Scenic it wasn't! We saw Black Heron, Squacco, lots of egret, Glossy Ibis, Marsh Harrier, Grey Kestrel, B W Stilt, Collared Pratincole, African Wattled Plover, Spur-winged Plover, Wood Sand, Curlew Sand, Black Tern, Little Tern and Pied Kingfisher.

Sukomona Lagoon

Our stop on Winneba plains was also brief but produced Black-shouldered Kite, Red-winged Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike, and Yellow-crowned Gonolek.

Winneba Plains

Black-shouldered Kite

Collecting Mark Williams, owner of Ashanti Tours (our ground-agents) we arrived at the Rainforest Lodge in darkness. Very comfortable rooms, en-suite with air-con and tv's at every turn, all showing English Premiership or Champions League football! Reasonable food, beer, lots of chat, a great evening passed quickly.

Friday 4th November

We spent the day in Kakum National Park, and most of our time was spent in the trees on the fantastic canopy walkway suspended a good few metres off the forest floor. You can't really watch from the walkway but instead we spent our time on the platforms built around giant trees from which the walkway is suspended. We got in early and had nearly 5 hours on the platforms before stopping for lunch and because the walkway was getting busy. Our morning highlights were many with a wide range of species seen including Yellow-billed Turaco, White-crested and Brown-cheeked Hornbills, Melancholy and Fire-bellied Woodpeckers, Sharpe's Apalis, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Sabine's Puffback, Black Bee-eater, Cassin's Spinetail and Yellow-mantled, Maxwells' Black and Preus's Weavers.

Robert Ntakor

White-crested Hornbill

Forest Chestnut-winged Starling

Yellowbill

Black-winged Oriole

Harrier Hawk

Mona Monkey

Olive Colobus

After lunch and a break for the heat of the day we returned to Kakum and spent an hour or so birding the forest around the canopy walkway seeing Little Greenbul and Cameroon Sombre Greenbul. The car park area held some common birds like Pin-tailed Whydah which were quite approachable. Around 4.30 we returned to the canopy walkway and stayed until dark. It was wonderful and very atmospheric being up with the birds as dusk rolled in. The afternoon session was dominated by hornbills, especially Black-Casqued and we had a number of Blue-throated Rollers. After dark both Brown Nightjar and Fraser's Eagle Owl were heard but did not respond to taping.

African Pied Wagtail

Pin-tailed Whydah

Pied Crow

Brown-cheeked Hornbill

Saturday 5th November

After the now familiar 05.00 breakfast we were soon loaded on the bus and heading into another area of Kakum NP. We passed through much more denuded forest with clearings and plantations and stopped to watch the odd flock of mannikins and a large group of Black-winged Bishops.

Black-winged Bishop

Vieillot's Black Weaver

After half an hour we stopped at a village -Antwikwaa- and continued on foot birding scattered trees, forest edge and cocoa plantations. It was very good birding with a wide range of species and the action was virtually non-stop. Of the many highlights were Cassin's Hawk Eagle, Red-necked Buzzard, Black and Rosy Bee-eaters, Bristle-nosed, Naked-faced and Hairy-breasted Barbets, Golden Greenbul, Western Nicator, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Forest Penduline Tit, Fraser's Forest Flycatcher, Ashy Fly, Buff-throated Sunbird (a stunning male), Johanna's Sunbird and Pygmy Kingfisher.

African Pied Hornbill

Forest Penduline Tit

Honey Buzzard

Red-necked Buzzard

Around 10.30 we left Antwikwa and drove back to Rainforest Lodge via a river crossing at Twifo Praso where in the heat of the day we eventually enjoyed good scope views of both Rock Pratincole and White-throated Blue Swallow. The swallows appeared to be nesting under the bridge - I only saw 2 birds- and the river was running so high that the Rock Pratincoles were resting on the concrete bridge supports.

Twifo Praso

Rock Pratincole

Cattle Egret

The afternoon session was spent again in Kakum National Park, at a spot called Abrafo. There was good forest here and we birded from a wide track though at the start all you could hear was the buzz of chainsaws! Eventually we left that behind and a different buzzing heralded fantastic scope views of a displaying male Rufous-sided Broadbill. Chocolate-backed Kingfisher was seen well and Blue Cuckoo-shrike. After dark we eventually connected with Black-shouldered and Long-tailed Nightjar's that we scoped with the aid of spotlights.

We returned to the Rainforest Lodge to a now familiar meal of chicken,rice,fish and beans with plenty of beer.

Chocolate-backed Kingfisher

Sunday 6th November

We returned to Abrafo first thing and spent until late morning birding patches of forest and plantation edges. It was challenging but quite rewarding and I saw Grey Longbill, Green Crombec, Puvel's Illadopsis, Sooty Boubou, Red-faced Cisticola, Paradise Flycatcher and a superb flock of 14 Rosy Bee-eaters.

White-throated Bee-eater

Soon after 10 am we were back on the bus and heading west to Takoradi, a busy seaside town, for lunch. We stopped at a large modern hotel for a good meal in the company of rather a lot of what appeared to be American missionaries.

Takoradi

Back on the bus we drove for another couple of hours in increasingly torrential rain to the small seaside town of Half-Assini where we located our hotel -the Gracia - dropped our bags and swapped over to 2 four-wheel drive vehicles for our hour long trip to Ankassa Protected Area. Once there we found the reason we had the 4x4's was to get a few miles into the park along a track which had a number of deeply rutted and muddy sections. By the time we stopped it was close to 17.00 and we had a bit of a route-march to check a series of forest ponds for several hoped-for birds; Finfoot, Hartlaub's Duck, Spot-breasted Ibis and kingfishers. Despite our efforts we drew a blank and so walked back as darkness fell and the strange sound of Nkulengu Rail came from the depths of the forest. As we approached the vehicles a Nkulegu Rail was calling not too far into the forest and Robert walked off the path and disappeared to take a look. Just a few moments later he gave a shout and we all literally dived into the forest and I quickly found myself getting good looks at a slightly stunned looking and floodlit Nkulengu Rail ! Amazing, and very rarely seen. What a finish.

Owls proved less co-operative and so we headed back to Half-Assini and the Hotel Gracia. Arriving at about 2100 we were hungry and so went to eat straight away. It was a rather dingy, badly lit and cramped dining room but hot food - rice, chicken etc usual simple fair- was OK and beers duly arrived to toast our success. Then it was off to get a few hours sleep and do it all again.

Ankassa

Monday 7th November

Ankassa all day; breakfast at 04.30 and then straight to the forest by four-wheel drive starting at the exact same spot as yesterday.

We went straight to the line of pylons cutting through the forest and spent a good while watching birds on the forest edge and those crossing from one side to another. As unsightly as they are these man-made breaks in the forest often afford good looks at birds that otherwise might prove quite difficult to see and so I've birded along many a pipeline trail / pylon line. We had a long list of birds here, the highlights were Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Grey Parrot, Great Blue Turaco, Square-tailed Saw-wing, Red-billed Helmet Shrike and Crested & red-vented Malimbe.

Then as it was still early we walked briskly down to look at the 3 ponds we'd checked last night. Once again no Finfoot, Hartlaubs Duck or Ibis but we struck lucky with kingfishers seeing White-bellied and Blue-breasted within a few minutes of arriving at the first pond. The morning passed quite slowly as the pace slackened and we staked out the waterholes. Soon after mid-day we walked back to the vehicles, which had moved to where there were a few park buildings, and had lunch and a break.

Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch

White-bellied Kingfisher

Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Woodland Kingfisher

We intended to re-start around 3pm but that got moved back a bit by rain and the threat of a really heavy downpour which never materialised. The rest of the afternoon just got better and better. Right after lunch we got good looks at Black Cuckoo, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk and Red-billed Dwarf Hornbills. Cassin's Honeyguide , Slender-billed Greenbul and Honeyguide Greenbul were also seen before we started out on our third stroll to the ponds. This time pond 3 came up trumps. As we arrived a couple of us saw a female Finfoot but it swam into cover quite quickly. James got a glimpse of a Hartlaubs duck. We stayed and watched quietly. James lured out a White-spotted Flufftail on the other side of the path then it was back to watching the pond. As it was getting late and we'd glimpsed Black Crake and a Jacana a female Hartlaub's Duck swam into view at the back with 6 ducklings! Fantastic. Some of the group even had Spot-breasted Ibis fly over as they left the pond. A great finish.

Back at the hotel we found no electricity or water but at least they cooked some food so we went to bed dirty and tired but not hungry.

Tuesday 8th November

Western Reef Egret

Yellow-billed Kite

Orange-cheeked Waxbill

Common Fiscal

Bronze Mannikin

Bar-breasted Firefinch

Wilson's Indigobird

Western Grey Plaintain-eater

Fraser's Eagle Owl

Wednesday 9th November

Village Weaver

Yellow-headed Picathartes

Thursday 10th November

Friday 11th November

Dusky-blue Flycatcher

Blue-headed Bee-eater

MORE SOON..................................

Saturday 15th October '11 Norfolk...............

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:15:00 +0000

News broke late Friday afternoon that a Rufous-tailed Robin had been found in Norfolk, at Warham Greens near Wells. Only the second record for Britain following an untwitchable one-dayer on fair Isle in 2004, twitchers everywhere geared up for a major event.

At 04.00 under cold cloudless skies that shouted "surely it's not going to be there", Mike Buckland, Barry Wright, Andy Lawson, James Hunter and I climbed into my car and travelled north in the darkness. The temperature dropped steadily to a low of just 1C as we drove through the Brecks, the skies remained cloudless and star-filled.

Just before 06.30 we arrived and bumped along tracks in the Warham Greens area until we eventually found the "designated" parking field with Lee Evans on hand to martial the traffic and supervise the crowds!

It was the first cold snap of the autumn and we stood shivering chatting quietly to each other in the dark, catching up with old friends and mostly saying "it won't be here but you just had to come for that 1% chance.................".

It wasn't ...........

The dawn was a stunning orange blaze and as the light came up a small search-party set off to scout the hedgerow-lined track. They drew a blank and birders slowly spread out to flank the hedgerow standing in empty fields in long lines. I'd say there was around 350 people present, perhaps a few more.

Small numbers of Brambling, Redwing, Siskin, Redpoll, Blackbird and Chaffinches flew overhead. Skeins of Pink-feet and Brents flew along the coast. A few Lapland Bunting flew over and Golden Plover, Lapwing and Curlew appeared but no sign of our quarry.

It was a beautiful morning but really that was the reason we'd dipped. Fog, heavy rain, maybe just drizzle might have kept it from leaping but not a cloudless, calm night. At around 10.30 we headed off. Surely Norfolk in October could not fail to provide us with loads to see ?

We started at Wells Wood at the Dell. A few Brambling and Redwing flew over as we walked in and split up to bird the area. Two hours later I'd had a few Treecreepers, Goldcrests and Jays but not a single warbler. Andy and James had the same experience, Mike and Barry a single Yellow-browed Warbler.

A report of a bluethroat at Stiffkey had us heading back east. We parked by the coastal footpath and walked for about 30 minutes to view an area of saltmarsh where the bird had been reported. Arriving we learnt that it hadn't been seen for at least 90 minutes, an hour later we'd not seen it either and decided to cut our losses. On the way back to the car I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler but it was well past 13.00 and that was little consolation for 6 hours birding!

James searches for the bluethroat.

Our next stop was Holme where they'd trapped a Red-flanked Bluetail in the early morning. After negotiating the ridiculous dual-ownership ritual of the site - NWT/NOA - we parked and found large numbers of birders in the pines looking for the bird. After 30 minutes I'd seen nothing as the bluetail flicked between clumps of pine trees in the dunes. If it did settle for a few seconds I couldn't see past the crowds of people.

After 10 hours of birding I'd still seen nought of note!

Eventually it took to feeding in an area of more open pines and I got a good look, scope views and was more than satisfied. After watching it for around 30 minutes it retreated into cover once again.

Red-flanked Bluetail - record shot.

We walked back out into the sunshine and discussed our options. It was nearly 16.00 and dismissing Titchwell we headed to Wells woods and parked on Lady A Drive and walked west along the pine belt.

It was quiet, as expected really. No warblers, no firecrest, just a few Goldcrests and Coal Tit's.

As darkness fell we returned to the car.

We'd had a lot of laughs, seen very little but enjoyed a good day out catching up with mates and bumping into old friends.

Amazing that a Red-flanked Bluetail, once the stuff of legends, barely raises an eyebrow now.

Saturday 8th October '11 Reculver to start.......

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:05:00 +0000

It's been an autumn to be in the West Country!

Well unless you saw the Long-toed Stint. Though most who did would'nt have really known it was one ! Sour grapes........

Pallid Harrier's ? I dipped the Cliffe bird and didn't see the Sussex one because I was twitching the Sandhill Crane in Scotland which eventually flew south and gave itself up in Suffolk!

That's not to say I didn't really enjoy the trip north because we saw lot's besides including great looks at the Black Scoter.

Anyway. I digress. I got to Friday night and started considering my options. For many Kent birders what was on their mind was the news that the Sandhill had flown south from Suffolk. People were already visualising it on Sheppey, on Walland, flying over Reculver or Bockhill. But it was now dark and there had been no reported further sightings. Was it on the continent or about to give someone the shock of their lives on Saturday? I spoke to Andy Lawson and we reflected on it's possible whereabouts. I called Mike Buckland and he said he'd been off birding all day, largely at Reculver where he too had spent time looking skywards for a certain vagrant crane! He'd had a few seabirds and a confiding Grey Phalarope on Coldharbour lagoon just east of Reculver. As he'd been out all day he wasn't keen on a full day out Saturday whereas I was so we agreed to stay in touch in case news of "the big one" broke.

So, soon after 08.00 I found myself at Reculver finding out from Marc Heath and others that the sea-watch might already have peaked! I carried on watching for an hour or so with Mike Cottrell and John Tilbrook joining me for the later stages. The wind was quite strong, around 15 mph, and It was blowing broadly westerly with a hint of something more north but only just! I had a few Arctic Skua's, a few Arctic terns, a distant Little Gull and a few waders and Brents, all heading into the wind. Marc got a call to say the Grey Phalarope was still on Coldharbour lagoon and so with the sea decidedly dull Mike, John and I headed off to see it.

We were in luck. The views were good but just as I was starting to get some photo's a female Sparrowhawk flushed it off the lagoon and over the shingle ridge to the sea! Luckily it returned and in fact flew off twice more in the two and a half hours that I sat watching and photographing this beautiful little wader.

Sitting quietly by the waters edge the phalarope often approached to within 20 feet and whilst there were very few breaks in the cloud I was happy with my results.

Grey Phalarope

Chris Bond joined me for a while and then happy that I would probably take no better photo's given the light conditions ( I discovered at home I'd taken 827 photos!) I set off back to the car park at Reculver in company with Chris, arriving around 13.30.

A quick look out to sea revealed a few birds passing and within just a few minutes Chris and I had 10 Bonxies and a couple of Arctic's but it was soon over and around 14.30 I headed off in search of lunch which I duly ate at Oare Marshes.

Oare was rather quiet but the tide was falling and even the Black-tailed Godwit heading out to feed. There were no smaller waders and just a single Golden Plover and around 150 Avocet. Much as at Reculver the windy conditions kept passerines at bay and I saw just a few Meadow Pipit.

With options limited I decided to dash over to east Tilbury and look for the Semipalmated Sandpiper which had been reported a couple of times already on the day. I bumped into Murray Orchard and in the 2 hours before dusk we worked hard but failed to find it on the foreshore in front of Coalhouse Fort. We had 3 juv Little Stint, 3 juv Curlew Sandpipers, c70 Dunlin and small numbers of Knot, Grey Plover, Bar-wits, Curlew and Ringed Plover. A single Arctic Skua chased up the Thames but alas no yankee waders to crown an otherwise very enjoyable day out.