The first time we have ever twitched!

I follow with interest the goings on up and down the country and like to know what rarities are about, but a long time ago we said that we would never jump in the car and do the twitcher thing. Our philosophy has always been to go to a reserve or just a walk somewhere and just see what turns up, but as we adore Bee-eaters and they were only just over an hour away, we set off for East Leake near Nottingham, taking the opportunity as well to meet up with our great friends Tim & Wendy who were in the area.

We paid our fiver to the RSPB volunteers who were controlling the parking then set off to the quarry where the seven Bee-eaters had taken up residence. The viewing area was a little way from the tree that they seemed to favour, but with bins and friendly people with good scopes we had really good views. The weather was overcast and I struggled get any decent shots, but here are some for the record.

RSPB Nagshead

At the end of our wonderful trip to Somerset and as we had to be out of our digs by 10am, we took the opportunity for a detour, crossed the Severn (paying an extortionate £6.70 for the privilege) and ended up at RSPB Nagshead in Gloucestershire (just!) luckily we still don't need passports for Wales, but with the way this barmy country is going who knows what the future may hold.

So we arrived at a very quiet Nagshead visitor centre, that was closed, we then discovered it only opens weekends and bank holidays! Hey ho!

We took the short walk up into the woods to the Campbell Hide, this overlooks a pond in a woodland clearing, we were surprised how busy the hide was as there were only a few cars in the car park. We had a great hour in here, with many fledglings coming down to the water for a bath and a drink, I didn't take any photos here as although warm it was overcast and the hide is raised very high above the pond, so I would be shooting into very poor light.

We did however see, Nuthatch, Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Spotted Flycatcher. One eagle eyed chap saw a Pied Flycatcher, but we couldn't find it, a shame as that would have been a new species for us, it's one of those birds that keeps eluding us. One day.

After a while it all went very quiet and we got chatting to the locals, (I have to say I could hardly understand a word, thick west country accents) But Tina got the gist of it and it persuaded us to walk down to the Lower Hide, we had intended to head home after coffee and lunch. But the chance of a Redstart made us stay longer.

So we took the 15 minute walk down, seeing Wren, Blackcap and Song Thrush on the way.

This hide was quiet we were the only ones there, brilliant just the way we like it, sorry to be so anti-social. Tina quickly spotted a Kingfisher at the big pond below us, it kindly put in a few appearances, but never showed that well, as you can see for yourself.

A female Redstart then arrived,

we were pleased with that one. First one this year and only the third time ever. A Great Spotted Woodpecker then turned up way to the left of the hide,

not the greatest of photos. This was followed by a Jay and great views of a Treecreeper or two.

It was certainly turning into a great visit. Then came our star of the show a male Redstart,

he stayed well away from the hide unfortunately, but you can't have everything. He was busy for a while catching various insects and we took this as the time to leave and go home. Always best to leave on a high.

So Nagshead a great place and I'm sure we will be back sometime.

An unexpected trip to Somerset

Following a tough week earlier in the month, my brilliant wife surprised me by booking us a couple of nights down in Somerset not far from RSPB Ham Wall. It was a much needed break.

We arrived early enough to spend a few hours at Ham Wall before checking in to our Hotel. The weather was glorious and stayed that way for the whole time we were there, in fact way to hot at times especially when walking the reserve. We stayed at Ham Wall for the duration, with our walk 'over the road' to Shapwick Heath as well.

I have to say that Ham Wall is one of our favourite places, nice and flat for walking and even after the birds have quietened down after the spring, still plenty to see.
Great White Egret,

 Young Great Crested Grebe asking for food!

 Distant Bittern in the reeds,

 Little Egret and Mallard,

 Speckled Wood Butterfly,

 Grey Heron,

 Great White Egret,

 Bittern flying past the Avalon Hide,

 Proud parents?

 Cormorant

 Little Egret,

Army Merlin,

 Dragonfly,

 Army Chinook,

 Glossy Ibis with Egrets and Lapwing (Shapwick Heath)

 Royal Navy Lynx,

 Tea Time,

 Great White Egret,

 Great Crested Grebe bring the lunch home,

 RAF Airbus A400,

 Male Marsh Harrier looking for lunch,

 Great Crested Grebe being very ambitious!

 It took at least 20 minutes for this fish to be eaten, finally one of the youngsters managed to get it down.
Pochard,

 Starling tree!

It was a much needed and great couple of days. Ham Wall and the Somerset Levels are just top places to spend some time.

RSPB Blacktoft Sands

On the way back from Northumberland we made a detour to RSPB Blacktoft Sands, it was a scorcher of a day, so I suppose predictably the reserve was pretty quiet from a birding viewpoint and as it was really only a lunch stop, we concentrated on the hides to the right of the visitor centre.

As usual at Blacktoft (that makes it sound like we go there a lot, in fact it was only our third visit in 6 years) the stars are the Marsh Harriers. However photography is difficult on such a hot day with the heat haze and that they never really come that close to the hides.

There were of course other birds about, surprised thought that we didn't see any Avocets, not to worry though plenty of those at home at Upton Warren!

Grey Heron and Little Egrets were plentiful,

there were also plenty of Sedge and Reed Warblers about, getting a photo though was a bit more challenging until one Reed Warbler stopped for a microsecond to the right of the hide.

A Bittern did put in a very brief appearance unfortunately I was looking the other way and only saw it drop into the reeds, but that was well worth the stopover for our (late, as usual) lunch.

A few ducks were spotted, Mallard, Shoveler, Tufty, Teal and Gadwall, plus Little Grebe and of course a must at Blacktoft, Tree Sparrows near the visitor centre.

A lovely lunch stop, although it did add nearly an hour onto our travel time, but worth it!

A much belated Northumberland Part 4

After a difficult few weeks I have finally got around to getting up to date with the blog. First up is to finish off our trip to Northumberland last month.

After the day on the Farne Islands we changed tack and went inland, firstly to a small reserve not far from Seahouses, run by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust at West Fleetham, third is made up of five very small sites of which we visited three, Long Nanny Wood, Farm Pond and Quarry Meadow.

While Lang Nanny Wood was lovely and only a short walk, I think the only birds we saw were Woodpigeon and Blackbird, plenty of bird song but couldn't see a thing!

Farm Pond was great with two easily accessible hides and again only short walks, the views over the pond were limited at this time of year due to the foliage, but we did see a Kingfisher, briefly, plus Little Grebe and Tufted Duck.

Quarry Meadow again had a nice hide, overlooking what may have been a badgers set, but now totally obscured by nettles. Not much to report other than, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Buzzard, Swallows and Martins. I guess visiting here earlier in the year would prove a much better prospect.

From here we drove on to a National Trust property at Wallington in search of Red Squirrels. Since we last visited in 2009 they have built a nice woodland hide in which we spent a few hours, well it would have been rude not to! So did we see any Squirrels? I think that's a yes:

The hide also provided us with some great bird sightings,

Towards the end of the afternoon we wandered down to the river, saying that it would be lovely to see a Dipper, of course Wallington came up with the goods!

However the day wasn't over yet! We decided to head back with a longish detour via Cresswell Pond and Druridge Pools, the former for Barn Owl and the latter for Long-eared Owl as we had spoken to locals at both spots previously who had told us about them. We stayed from about 7.30 until gone 10! but there was no sign of the Long-eared Owl, but we had a few sightings of the Barn Owl and an obliging Stonechat,

 Barn Owl going in!

 and mission accomplished!

So as not to make a 5th post for Northumberland, I will briefly add a few pics from a walk down to the National Trust Reserve at Beadnell to see the Little Terns (and Arctic Terns)
These are the Little Tern 'nests' raised onto crates and pallets, so that action can be taken in the event of tidal surges and spring tides, one of which was due the week after, so fingers crossed all went well and the nests survived.

 Little Tern after having had a wash in the river.

In addition to the Little Terns there were many Arctic Terns nesting near the Rangers huts, plus plenty of wild flowers.

So that was Northumberland. We did make a stop on the way home, but I will cover that in a separate post.