Barcombe & Warnham LNR

                                               9th & 13th  April :  Barcombe

                                                                 

White Throated Sparrow.

2 trips to Barcombe to see the superb looking White Throated Sparrow were taken in April and both times the bird was quite elusive, however with a bit of patience the WTS eventually showed really well on the 9th.

White throated Sparrow.

The WTS was alot more elusive on the 13th but was heard singing most of the time, some great views were obtained on the ground and i also saw it briefly on the picnic table.

White Throated Sparrow.

13th April  :  Warnham LNR

After enjoying the White throated Sparrow on the 13th i decided to head to Warnham LNR to hopefully see the long staying Little Bunting, and i was not disappointed.

Digi scoped Little Bunting

Little Bunting

I think these birds are really great looking Buntings and to see this bird so close was a real treat.

Little Bunting.

Other birds coming to the bird feeders included a smart ♂ Siskin and a  Marsh Tit.

Marsh Tit.

It was also very good to see a Wood Mouse & a Bank Vole.

Wood Mouse.

Bank Vole.

 

Some Local Birding.........

                                          April 7th  2021 :  Ashford Community Wood

      

                                                               

Pied Flycatcher.

A first time visit to Ashford Community Wood on the 7th April was rewarded with superb views of a ♂ Pied Flycatcher in stunning summer plumage, I only normally see them in their autumn plumage which is not quite as stunning.

Pied Flycatcher.

11th April 2021  :  Graveney Marshes

Grasshopper Warbler

News of a fresh in Grasshopper Warbler just down the road from where I live last Sunday morning was a welcome treat, Chidders had heard then saw the bird and put news out (good find mate) , on arrival it didn't take long for the Grasshopper Warbler to start 'Reeling' and eventually it showed well in front of it's favoured bramble bush.

Grasshopper Warbler.

There was also 2 Wheatear & 1 Common Whitethroat seen on the sea wall, plus several Sedge Warbler could be heard and seen in the nearby reed bed, a single Yellow Wagtail flew overhead and a female Merlin was briefly seen dashing over the seawall .

Wheatear.

 

Northern Mockingbird & American Herring Gull

                                     Iona Avenue, Exmouth Devon 

                   

                                                      

Northern Mockingbird

I finally gave into temptation and travelled down to Exmouth to see the long staying Northern Mockingbird , I didn't stay long, just long enough to see the bird and take a couple of photo's then left the site , the bird was in the Holly tree and showed very well.

Northern Mockingbird.

Newlyn Harbour  Cornwall

So after the Northern Mockingbird i carried on my trip to Cornwall to see what would hopefully be my 2nd Lifer of the trip American Herring Gull.

Thankfully this proved successful and very good views were obtained, here are a selection of photo's i took :

Blends in well with background.

Long Billed.

Long primaries

Black tail band & secondaries

Bulky bird.

Dusky underwing.

American Herring Gull.

                                                      

White Tailed Eagle at Stodmarsh

                                March 21st  :    Stodmarsh Kent

                                                         

White tailed Eagle & 2 Marsh Harriers.

News reached me last Sunday morning that a White tailed Eagle had been seen from the ramp at Grove Ferry and appeared to land somewhere near the Tower hide at Stodmarsh but was lost to view.

My normal Sunday morning routine is to top up bird feeders in garden and sit outside and watch them for a couple of hours, well this all changed when Martyn Wilson (who first saw the Eagle from the ramp) relocated it from the Lampen wall Stodmarsh.

So a quick dash over to Stodmarsh and i was soon enjoying wonderful views of this amazing bird of prey.

Here are a selection of photos of the White tailed Eagle :

With Greylag Goose.

Enormous size compared to the Magpie.

White tailed Eagle.

I have been asked if it is one of the Isle of Wight birds or a genuine wild bird ? , as far as i know the Isle of Wight project ring & satellite tag all their birds , however i couldn't see any rings or satellite tags on this bird, either way it's a fantastic bird to have seen and i have happily added it to my Stour Valley bird list.

A really great find by Martyn Wilson, well done mate !!

White Tailed Eagle.

EDIT :  The White tailed Eagle has now been confirmed AS NOT one of the Isle of Wight birds.

 

Blog Update........ Just Garden Birding

Sparrowhawk.

Just a short blog post about my recent birdwatching activities, well not much to tell in all honesty,  i haven't been out birdwatching since 2nd January , NO Mockingbird or Rare Sparrow twitch for me !!!! 

However i have enjoyed Garden birdwatching and feel lucky to have a garden to do so, the obvious highlight was a 'Ringtial' Hen Harrier on the 20th February and also a Woodcock flyover on the 7th February which were both new species for the Garden bird list !!!!

Sparrowhawk .

Another highlight was a superb Sparrowhawk which caught & killed a Starling , not so superb for the Starling i would think......

Goldfinch.

There's been plenty of the regular garden birds to enjoy including the above Goldfinch i have nicknamed ' Goldylocks ', don't know why i named it that but hey ho..., i see this particular bird every day perched between these two branches and it has a distinctive long claw which must hinder it, poor bird.

Here's a selection of some of the other regular birds seen recently.

Blackbird.

Blue Tit.

Dunnock.

Robin.

I am really looking forward to be able to go back out birdwatching as soon as it's possible to do so safely (I will be having my 1st dose of  the vaccine  this weekend) , so for the time being garden birdwatching will do for me.

The latest new garden bird species was 2 Linnets heard & seen flying other the garden on the 27th February which brings the Garden bird list total to : 70 . I include any birds seen or heard in or flying over my garden.

 

RSPB GARDEN BIRDWATCH

                                              31st January  2021  :  9am  -  10am

                                         

Grey Wagtail.

I once again took part in the Rspb national Garden Birdwatch this weekend , here are my totals , i have also compared them to the previous 2 years totals :

1.  STARLING      30   Normally have many more birds , up to 200+.

     2019 :  27     2020  :  200

2.  CORMORANT  :  1    A regular bird seen most days flying over the garden.

     2019 : not recorded   2020 :  not recorded

3.  HOUSE SPARROW  :  11    Small breeding flock.

     2019 :  7   2020 :  10

4.  ROBIN  :  1    Normally 3 birds visit garden , including  regular breeding pair.

     2019 : 2   2020 :  1

5.  DUNNOCK  :  1  Normally 2 birds visit garden & are a regular breeding pair.

     2019 :  1    2020 :  2

                                                        

Dunnock

6.  BLUE TIT  :  2   Normally 4 birds including a pair prospecting nest box.

     2019 :  5   2020  :  4

7.  GREAT TIT  :  2   Regular local breeding pair visiting feeders

     2019 :  4    2020 :  2

8.  BLACKBIRD :  1♂ 1♀ 1 1st w    Been up to 5 birds in garden recently.

     2019 :  2   2020 :  3

9.  GOLDFINCH  :  30   Had a flock of 53 birds yesterday , average is 25+.

     2019 :  9   2020 :  27

10.  WOOD PIGEON  :  4    Normally can be up to 15+ birds.

      2019 : 24     2020 :  7

                                                         

Goldfinch.

11.  COLLARED DOVE  :  8    Normally can be up to 15+ birds.

      2019 :  7    2020 :  17

12.  SPARROWHAWK  :  1♂   A regular breeding pair seen daily over garden.

      2019 :  1♀  2020 :  Not recorded

13.  GREY WAGTAIL  :  1    A new record for garden this year , now seen daily.

      2019  :  Not recorded   2020 : Not recorded

14.  HERRING GULL  :  7   Normally 20+ birds seen over garden daily.

      2019 :  6    2020 :  11

15.  WREN  :  1     Normally only heard, but seen this morning.

      2019 :  1    2020 :  1

                                                         

Wren.

16.  SONG THRUSH  :   1   Only seen flying over garden (1st sighting this year).

      2019 :  Not recorded    2020 :  1

17.  CHAFFINCH  :  1♂  2♀   A regular visitor to garden feeders.

       2019 :  1♀    2020 :  Not recorded

18.  MAGPIE  :  3   Often seen in garden, also currently nest building.

     2019 : 1    2020 :  1

19.  FERAL PIGEON  :  10   Seen daily but rarely come to feeders.

     2019 :  4     2020 :  6

20.  CARRION CROW  :  4   Regular breeding pair seen daily.

      2019 :  3    2020 :  5

21.  BLACK HEADED GULL  :  9   Seen daily over garden.

     2019 :  3     2020 :  3

That concludes my totals for the 2021  Rspb Garden Birdwatch.

EDIT :   4 of the above species were fly overs and therefore i could not enter them into the Rspb Garden Birdwatch survey but have included them on my personal Garden list. 

                                        TOTAL SPECIES SEEN

2021  :   21  Species seen.

2020  :   20  Species seen.

2019  :   24  Species seen.   

 

Goldfinch & Chaffinch ♀