A Good Day Out

The White-billed Diver that turned up on the River Witham in Lincolnshire stirred my interest when it turned up just over a week ago.  With a clear day in my calendar and reasonable weather forecast, I teamed up with Dave Cleal to see the bird.  On the way up we encountered fairly thick fog which was a concern, but by the time we approached Kirkstead Bridge, it had gone.  The bird had ranged several miles up river, so we expected a long walk.  However the bird had moved southwards towards the bridge saving a lot of legwork!
We stayed with the bird for about an hour as it moved up and down the river, frequently diving and presumably catching fish.  Anything it caught it presumably ate before surfacing.  A few other birders were present with perhaps a maximum of 10.  No doubt a lot less than over the weekend.

A noisy jet fighter flew over and the Diver turned it's head to look up skywards.  It got noisier and it decided to dive!

A massive bill!

Peering into the water just before diving.

Checking us out

After leaving the Diver in peace we decided to head to Deeping High Bank (Lincolnshire) where a Great Grey Shrike had been reported that morning, along with four Short-eared Owls.

It took an hour or so to reach the site which consisted of a narrow road that runs along the bank of the river Welland.  After driving up and down much of the bank, we evenutually found the Shrike site.  Along the way we saw a Great White Egret, a flock of about 50 Swans which included about 30 Whoopers, two Scaup, three Goosander plus a lot of common ducks and Little Grebes.  A good haul!  We did however miss a Long-tailed Duck.

As we pulled in to park by the footbridge that crossed the Welland to where the Shrike was we flushed a Short-eared Owl from the side of the road.  An encouraging start.  We crossed the bridge and there in a field of tall grass and herbage and bushes was the Shrike.  It had apparently only just reappeared after being missing for most of the day.  As we watched the Shrike a Short-eared Owl was hunting around the same area and perched briefly to enable a few distant photos.  Finally as we drove away from the site two Barn Owls put in an appearance finishing off what was definately a good day out!

The light conditions in the afternoon was very poor and some of the birds were fairly distant, so below are a few record shots of what we saw.

Great Grey Shrike - Close to the River Welland at Deeping High Bank

Short-eared Owl

Whooper and Mute Swans - The Mutes are mainly the closer birds.

Whooper Swans with a juvenile Mute in the foreground.

Great White Egret - We just came across this bird as we drove along Deeping bank.

Goosander - A nice male photographed from the car.  We also saw two redheads.

Scaup - A juvenile male coming into adult plumage.  We encountered a female Scaup further down the river.

Barn Owl - OK a rubbish shot but it was from the car and getting dark!

Bobbing Jack Snipe

A much milder day than of late and the ice that covered most of the lake was gradually thawing.  No doubt the edge of the vegetation had also thawed somewhat allowing this Jack Snipe to feed in view of the bench on the west bank of the lake.  The bird was found by Kevin Holt and also seen by Alan Stevens, Dave Ferguson and myself.

Jack Snipe - Not great photos due to poor light and distance.
The video below is perhaps better.

The Barnacle Geese found two days earlier were still present and flying between the lake and the riverside meadows.  Many of the wildfowl that had left the site during the freeze had returned.  This included Shoveler, Wigeon and Pochard.

Icy Cold at Little Marlow

The weather said it would feel like the coldest day of the winter so far and they were correct.  The wind was coming from the east and added a severe wind chill to the already freezing temperature!  This sort of weather always add an expectation that something may have dropped in and that was to be the case when I was confronted by 21 Barnacle Geese on the sand spit.  After doing a quick count and checking the legs for rings (none present), I took a few photos and put the news out.  These were all adult birds.
They looked rather unsettled when I appeared in their view and did not stay more than about 10 minutes before they flew off.  However I soon refound them on the Thames side meadows.  Again they were a bit wary and watched closely as a lady and a dog walk past on the footpath about 150 yards away.  After about 10 minutes here they took to the air, circled around and left to the north.  I did not see them again.

While the weather seems ideal for some genuine wild Barnacle Geese to arrive, it is also ideal for naturalised populations to be forced to move around.  I checked the Berkshire Goingbirding website and see that a group of 22 were seen at Moor Green Lakes in December and then 21 on 12th January.  It would be interesting to know if these were all adults and un-ringed.  Anyway they still looked great in their smart plumage in the icy conditions.

Little Marlow GP almost covered in ice.

Barnacle Geese - 21 rather appropriately photographed in a snow flurry.

Feeding briefly on the meadow

Heading NW.

After doing a walk to the river, back up Coldmoorholm Lane and then back into the southern half of the lake, I concentrated on the remaining birds.  Teal numbers have held up well (over 130) but most of the other species of ducks have either left or have been severely reduced in numbers.  So just a handful of Wigeon, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Pochard.  Three Shelducks remain as does one Black Swan.  The whereabouts of the other Black Swan is unknown.

About 200 gulls of five species were present, mostly Black-headed Gulls, but two colour ringed gulls were present.  The fact that they were stood on the ice at times made reading the rings a little easier.  See photos below.

Colour ringed Herring Gull "Orange Z1NT" on the left and Great Black-backed Gull "White P:82B" in the centre.
The Herring Gull was ringed by the North Thames Ringing Group.
The Great Black-black was ringed on the outer break water at Portland Harbour in June 2015.

Great Black-backed Gull - "White P:82B" - A 2nd winter bird. 

Click image to read colour ring.

Photo Opportunities at Little Marlow GP

A walk around most of the lake turned up good views of a couple of species that we tend to take for granted.  Firstly I heard a Treecreeper in full song about half way down the west bank.  I tried to get some photos but it went very high up a tall Willow.  Then another Treecreeper arrived and this did allow me to get a few OK photos.

I then walked to the SW corner of a lake were a few Goldcrests were feeding.  One came quite low and was not concerned by my presence.  I assume the need to continue to feed in the freezing conditions was important.  The light was good for a change and I manged to get the photos below.

On the lake about 50 Black-headed Gulls were standing on the ice.

Bearded Tit at WTR

A report from Pete Weisner of a male Bearded Tit at Weston Turville Reservoir on 18th Jan caught my interest.  I informed Dave Evans, who lives near the site, and he said he was visiting the site the following day.  I decided to visit anyway as the site is always a pleasant place to go birding.  I was half way there when a message came from Dave to say he was watching the bird!  15 minutes later I was on site with Dave only to be told that the bird had flown into the large expanse of Phragmites reeds.  We decided to follow the track along by the Phragmites and soon saw the bird in the large reed bed.  Fortunately it decided to fly back to the area of Reedmace that was right in front of the old hide along the south bank of the lake.  We moved back towards the hide and soon saw the bird as it fed on the stems of the Reedmace.  Graham Smith soon turned up with two other local birders (Carl and Clive) and we were all treated to extended views of the bird as it continued to feed.  By about 12 noon the bird disappeared and we left.

According to one of the local birders, what was do doubt this bird was seen 2-3 weeks earlier!  Unfortunately it was not reported at that time but hopefully it will hang around for a while.

A steady stream of birders were arriving as we left and we pointed them in the right direction for the hide.

See video at bottom of page.

The lake was largely frozen

View from the old hide.  The Bearded Tit was in the closer Reedmace

Little Marlow on Ice

This was a brief walk along the east and south banks of the lake in very icy conditions.  About 80% of the lake was frozen and the majority of birds were gathered to the west of the main island where there was a fairly ice free area.  I had visited the site the previous evening and could see nothing new of note.  Two Shelducks were still present.  The most exciting event was when a Sparrowhawk flew across the sand spit causing hundreds of birds to panic.

The ice stretched from the south bank, 75% of the way to the sand spit.

Mainly Black-headed Gulls on the ice.  The sun had already melted some of the ice.

Grey Herons and Cormorants are already present on the main island and many are stood or sat in the nests from last year.