Arctic Terns Passing Through

Arctic Terns were reported at sites in the county the day before and then news came through from Adam Bassett of several just having arrived at Little Marlow GP.  So I decided to take a look and was soon on site where I was joined by Adam.  We watched about 34 Terns in total, with about 7 of these being Arctic Terns.  It was useful to stand on the east bank of the lake and to be able to compare the species.

At times the Arctic Terns showed just how manoeuvrable they were.

And for comparison.......

Common Tern 

Common Sandpiper

A cold dull day in late April with a lot of birds passing through the county.  A couple of Arctic Terns had been reported at Little Marlow GP.  I got there late afternoon and a lone Common Sandpiper flew from the bank and perched in a tree that had fallen into the water.  This may a great opportinity for a photo despite the poor light conditions.  The following were digiscoped using my Nikon P6000 camera.

Common Sandpiper

Marlow Low Grounds

A short visit to Marlow Low Grounds and to see if anything new had dropped onto the new flood relief scheme.

A view of the new Marlow Flood Relief Scheme.  It certainly looks good for waders!

I was greeted by a Little Egret and Grey Heron on the marsh pool.  Then a scan around the flood relief pools turned up the yellow Wagtail pictured, as well as a Common Sandpiper, a pair of Little Ringed Plover and several pairs of Lapwing apparently breeding.

Yellow Wagtail on the new flood relief scheme

Walking back I saw a rather nice family party of Tree Creepers along Lower Pound Lane but they were on the move the whole times so no photos.

Gallows Bridge and Quainton Hills

I joined in with the Bucks Bird Club trip to Gallows Bridge Farm (BBOWT reserve) and Quainton Hills.  We did not see lots of species but did see some nice birds.

Gallows Bridge produced 3 Whimbrel which had been present the previous day.  In the area were 3/4 Curlew which were flying around with the Whimbrel at one point.  Warblers were thin on the ground but we did see a Raven, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Reed Buntings etc.

One (and a bit) Whimbrels at Gallows Bridge Farm.

Then at Quainton Hills a small group of us were led by Laurie Bryant to where a female Ring Ouzel had been hanging around for a few days.  After about 20 minutes to flew into view but did not keep still and soon went back into cover.  WE also saw the stunning male Wheatear below.

Male Wheatear.

Three Avocets Drop In

A message at 7:30am from Adam Bassett alerted me to the presence of three Avocets on the sand spit at Little Marlow GP.  So I got my birding gear together and headed off.  I only had a short time due to a prior commitment, so no time to waste.

When I arrived Adam was just leaving to head off to work.  I important news was that the Avocets were still present.  I moved down to the point on the west side of the lake and sure enough there were three Avocets on the far side of the sand spit.  Over the next 15 minutes the birds moved around a lot.  Two of them stayed close together and at one point one of this pair flew over to the single bird and was aggressive towards it.  So I  am assuming a pair and a single male.

Two Shelducks and two Oystercatchers were present but nothing else out of the ordinary.

Rather distant in this photo.  Not easy to get all three in one photo.

Common Scoter at Little Marlow

A message from Adam Bassett to say that he had just seen two Common Scoter fly into the lake at Little Marlow was perhaps not too surprising considering the amount of overland movement going on in drizzly conditions.  I arrived about an hour later and the birds were in the middle of the lake.  What with some drizzle and the distance it was hard to get any decent photos!

I did not even attempt to get a photo of the lone Arctic Tern that was present!  Plus the singing Sedge Warbler was all but invisible!