randombirder

A bit gloomy out today but the returning ring-necked duck associating with tufted duck on Finger Lake was still present and seemed quite settled.

A glorious day for my first great northern diver in Herts drifting lazily across Abbotts Lake at Stanstead Innings. The sunshine also produced a Cetti's warbler, at least two chiffchaff and an encouraging count of 45 common pochard.  

The autumn that keeps on giving. There is no way I would have predicted that canvasback would be the next new bird I see in the UK. It didn't start particularly well though. Arriving at the Billet Farm watchpoint at around 10am and a large congregation of twitchy twitchers had already assembled in a kind of queuing system that would have satisfied many. I was a bit miffed as from my vantage point, I could only see a narrow band of water. No chance of seeing anything really. So I left, and headed for the causeway. It was grey, and rain had started to fall. All a bit bleak but Abberton is actually very nice and having parked at the Layer de la Haye causeway, got chatting to a couple of birders and well, it was all very convivial.  Not really knowing what to do, coffee and cake at the visitor centre beckoned. This was all very enjoyable, not much birding really, just nice views across the reservoir. The common pochard flock was out of view behind the spit distantly from the visitor c...

Cheekily messaged the boss to say that I needed to take the morning off, and headed up to Linford Lakes to see the little crake that appeared briefly after a 45 minute wait, disappeared, then reappeared providing slightly better views then disappeared again. Unfortunately I had to head back but was great to catch up with it and a really excellent record for Bucks.

Fully appreciating that at times, the solitary sandpiper had been difficult to catch up with, it was with some relief that after entering the Reedbed hide at Stodmarsh, this rare American wader flew onto the marshy fringes of the pool around five minutes after I had arrived. It was a real treat to watch it plodding around the shallow margins beautifully illuminated in the morning sun.

A truly exceptional day of what has been an exceptional autumn up and down the country. This time a trek up to Flamborough Head where over the previous days, an assemblage of eastern vagrants had gathered along the headland. Having to wait till Sunday, the early part of the morning was extremely wet, persistent heavy rain falling from leaden skies made for a rather forlorn hour or so. Gratefully, the weather was forecast to improve and by around 10.30am, the rain had relented somewhat, and it was time to go. The ground was sodden due to the extreme rainfall over previous days. The entire coastal path was reduced to a sludge. Embracing the conditions, I ploughed through the quagmire and headed for the bunting. Rain was still in the air, and the track down to the red-headed bunting had turned to a mud-bath. It was hilarious. The bird showed, quite well actually sitting along the fenceline in the company of the local reed bunting , yellowhammer and tree sparrow . A first-winter bird, apa...

 My first glossy ibis in Herts at Stanstead Innings on a gloomy evening.

So today was hometime - and what a few days it had been seeing some great birds with a few enjoyable socials which make Scillies in October a fabulous experience. But it was not over. I'd decided to head out at first light from Longstones and make my way down toward Old Town. Within the first half hour of light, the pallid harrier had been seen again flying over the Garrison and through Lower Moors. Weighed down with my camera and bins, I stuck on the afterburners (an awkward jog) and made my way down the Old Town Road. By the time I'd arrived, the bird had disappeared (apparently over Rosehill) once again and an agonising wait by the ISBG hide proved fruitless so I headed off for a search that might bring me something interesting. Smashing through the Standing Stones field, I checked my messages. The pallid harrier was at Shooters Pool. Legging it through the Moors, the organised scrum meant a short agonising wait before I established my position to the right of the screen wi...

So staying up at Longstones worked against me somewhat today when a pallid harrier initially found on St. Martin's cruised over to Lower Moors and plonked itself down in thick vegetation for around ten minutes. Not really knowing which way to run, I decided to look out over the moors from Rocky Hill. The vista was ideal but second guessing what was going to happen next was problematic. There wasn't any news for a few minutes, and I was feeling skittish. The yips got to me and I decided to run down Rocky Hill for Lower Moors. Within a minute of leaving, a message popped up, the harrier had alighted and was seen to pass Buzza through Porthcressa, over Hugh Town towards the Garro. I was stuck in an arboreal corridor with no chance of seeing anything. The moment had passed, and the bird was gone. The weather was grim today, really terrible, heavy rain set in and I was once again chasing my losses. The ruff was still present on Porthloo beach, a wryneck decided to appear right in ...

Another dismal day in dull conditions that later turned into a soggy affair with heavy rain during the early part of the evening. With the rustic bunting and arctic warbler having been found on St. Martin's the previous day, we were obviously drawn to the prospect of catching up with these two scarcities but neither were present on arrival. After 90 minutes of searching for the arctic warbler, I decided to head back to Mary's. Of course it showed an hour or so later but by then I had transferred to Longstones which provided an opportunity to see the confiding snow bunting at Giant's Castle. Further along from the turning circle at the airfield, a buff-breasted sandpiper (presumably the Aggy bird) was present with a flock of 20 golden plover and a single dunlin . They flew a little closer providing great views of the wader assemblage. A peregrine was seen flying through over the airfield. An impressive group of at least 70 common snipe  also circled the airfield. The rai...

A really lacklustre day in gloomy weather walking around St. Mary's failing to kick up anything half decent. With Matt Naylor, all we could muster was a single jack snipe and water rail at Lower Moors, a flyover great egret over the Old Town Road, a firecrest at Carreg Dhu gardens, cream tea at Longstones, a fly-through merlin at Porth Hellick, and then later a single black restart at the airport. All good birds for sure, but this is Scilly, and that was standard fare. Steps: 18101 (14.2 km)

A lot of walking for little reward today, but it was generally quiet across the islands but with a few bits and pieces knocking around. En route to the Standing Stones field, I found a lesser whitethroat within the willows at the end of Trench Lane. Two jack snipe were still present from the ISBG hide with one showing ridiculously well in front of the hide. Walking back toward the airport, a juvenile black redstart was present outside of the terminal. It was generally very quiet as I headed down the Tremelethen trail toward Porth Hellick. Heading up Carn Friars, I made for Normandy where a yellow wagtail flew over and the pink-footed goose was feeding within one of the set-aside fields. Surprisingly though was a turtle dove that flew in, paused for a couple of minutes before heading swiftly off. The pink-foot was seen again at Porth Hellick with two northern wheatear near Giant's Castle. Steps: 25,981 (20.4 km)

After the excitement of yesterday, today was a little more serene. The glorious warm sunny weather continued halting any significant movements across the Isles but there are still a few interesting things to catch up with. A quick walk around Penninis gave me the opportunity to connect with the dapper male common redstart present in a ploughed field along King Edwards Road. A really smart bird. Deciding to visit Bryher today, a good look around Popplestones didn't produce the hoped for melodious warbler so I took the coast path toward Shipman Head and without much searching managed to see the juvenile dotterel that was still present. The views weren't great as I was looking straight into the light so walked round and sat down on the spongey heather to enjoy the bird feeding along the crest of the ridge. Keeping still, the bird began to walk slowly in my direction, pausing briefly and then again, in staccatoed movements. It was an incredible moment to have this bird walk with...