White-fronted Geese Influx

 During December there was a large influx of Russian White-fronted Geese into the UK, mainly to the more southerly and eastern areas of England. There were a few located at sites in the county including Linford, Hillesden, Marlow Low Grounds, Dorney Common and the three pictured below at Jubilee River.

These birds were found by birder Kevin Duncan at about 14:00.  I managed to get over there about 15:00 and bumped into Dave Cleal who had the same idea.  We walked along the river west from the Marsh Lane car park checking all of the large fields where Geese are often seen.  In the end we found the three individuals on the Jubilee River itself making a close approach possible.  About 20 minutes later the three of them took off and headed east possibly towards nearby Dorney Common.

White-fronted Geese - adults

Dutch Black-headed Gull

 The colour ringed Black-headed Gull below was first ringed (as White EA4F) in May 2014 at Griend in Holland. It was then seen at Little Marlow GP in the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 winter before returned to Terschelling in Holland in April 2018 presumably to breed.  It then returned to Little Marlow GP in the winter of 2018/2019 and was also seen once on the nearby Jubilee River.  Then is was seen again at Little Marlow in the 2019/2010 winter before returning to Griend in Holland, where it was hatched, in June 2020.  Here it was caught and a new ring fitted (White EK8X) as the old ring was in poor condition.  The photos below were taken at Little Marlow in November 2020 although the firts character "E" does rather look like an "I".  See the map below.

Black-headed Gull White "EK4X"

The movements of this individual.

Calvert Bittern

 With the second Covid lockdown due to start the following day, I decided to travel a bit outside of my local area to try and see a Bittern in my home county before lockdown prevents it.  So I made the one hour drive to the Calvert BBOWT Reserve in NW Buckinghamshire and arrived about 9am.

It was a beautiful sunny, but very cold, morning and I quietly took up residence in the hide.  I was pleased that no-one else was present given social distancing issues!  

Calvert BBOWT Lake - As viewed from the hide. 
Click on the image to get a larger view of this panoramic photo.

There were Little Grebes feeding in the gaps between the reeds. Cetti's Warblers could be heard in song and I even manged to see one for a change!  Great Crested Grebes, Coots and a selection of Ducks, Geese and Gulls were present on the water but nothing of note.

Then at 10:15 a Bittern appeared in the right hand channel and swam/walked to the reed bed on the centre-right.  The light was against me so most of my photos were silhouette shots.  I quickly made a few changes to the settings in the camera but by then the Bittern was almost in the reeds.  I stayed another couple of hours or so but did not see it again.

Water Rail - After hearing it squealing, it decided to cross to a different reedbed. 

I was just about to leave the hide when Dick Seekins turned up.  We were suitably social distanced, so I stayed for a while.  I hadn't seen Dick for a some time so it was good to catch up with his recent birding exploits.  Dick stayed for a while after I had left but the Bittern apparently did not show, so I guess I was quite lucky to get my fairly brief view of the bird.

Dorney Lake walk

 I decided to take a walk along the causeway at Dorney Lake during a period of strong SW winds.  I was hoping for a wind blown vagrant but not really expecting too much!  What I wasn't expecting was this Wheatear which is one of the latest dates for the species in the county.  At first it was associating with three Stonechats but later on it's own.

Wheatear - A very late date for this species in the county.  A digiscoped image.

Wheatear - Taken 90 mins later when walking back. 
Taken with a handheld Panasonic micro4/3 camera.

Wheatear - A lucky shot!

This Pipit was hiding in the grass for a time.  

When it moved into the open it was clearly a Meadow Pipit

Roe Deer - There were nine present in total.

Little Marlow Late Afternoon

 A walk around the lake, firstly checking on the sand spit before walking around the lake and checking the sand spit again for Gulls arriving just before dusk.

On my first visit to the sand spit there were the usual species to be expected including 20+ Teal, 3 Wigeon, 6 Shoveler, a Common Sandpiper, some Lapwing and several hundred Gulls, 95% of them being Black-headed Gulls.  I walked down to the meadow, checked the cattle for Yellow Wagtails (none found) and the second fence line towards Marlow, where a Stonechat remained from a few days earlier.

The walk around the lake was quite uneventful but there were two Common Sandpipers flying around to the south of the island and something had flushed all of the gulls and ducks, including the diving ducks!  Whatever caused it was unseen by me.  There was not much else to see until I got to swim 10 on the north bank when I heard a bird calling from low vegetation in the water.  It sounds familiar but I was not 100% as to ID but then a Cetti's Warbler flew out, landed briefly nearby before going into hiding again.  My first here this year but probably the same bird seen/heard recently near the NE corner of the lake.

Just a bit further on a flock of about 120 Tufted Duck had gathered and were still very alert following the earlier disturbance.  In among them was a hybrid Ferruginous Duck which Adam Bassett had found that morning.  The light was poor but the birds reasonably close, so I managed a few photos.

Then back around to the sand spit where a lot more Gull had arrived including over 120 large Gulls.  I managed to find an interesting Gull on the near sand spit which had a mantle colour slightly paler than a Lesser Black-backed Gull and larger in size.  A faint shawl of pale streaks on the nape.  It had to be a Caspian or Yellow-legged Gull and I felt that Caspian was the more likely.  Adam Bassett later agreed with this ID.

Hybrid Ferruginous Duck

Caspian Gull - A 3rd winter bird.

Caspian Gull - with Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Caspian Gull 

This Fox is a regular on the sand spit.  Hoping for an easy meal.

Roe Deer - Also regular here just before dusk.  A female with two of it's offspring

Reed Warbler - This photo was taken a few days earlier when it was sunny and very little wind.  Most Reed Warblers have already left the site for their migration.

Doonfoot - Ayrshire

 I was hoping to post a photo of the long staying Spotted Crake at Doonfoot, but while I did manage to see it, I was unable to get a photo.  Maybe another day.

However there were plenty of birds to see, albeit none of them as scarce as a the Crake.

Doonfoot - The river estuary viewed from the south bank.  Plenty of gulls and waders present.

Turnstones and Black-headed Gulls - Over 12 Turnstones present.
Note the colour ring on the Black-headed Gull.  I did not see this until I reviewed these photos.

Herring Gull Orange A:B73
This bird was ringed as an adult on Lady Isle, near Troon on 24/5/2014.
There are eight previous sightings, all except one on Lady Isle, the one exception being at Doonfoot.  However it has not been reported since 05/07/2017

Great Black-backed Gull Orange F:F12 was ringed as a chick on Lady Isle near Troon on 26/6/18.  There are thirteen sightings since ringing but all in the Troon area.  This is the first report of this bird away from this area but still no great distance involved.

Red-necked Grebe - Hogganfield Loch

 This bird has apparently been at the Loch since 30th June and still in it's smart summer plumage.  I saw the bird soon after I arrived but it disappeared when I moved further along the bank.  No sign of it during a walk around the lake and then as I was about to give up Marco, a more local birder found it again.  Always distant so just a few record shots.

Red-necked Grebe

Hagganfield Loch birding

Pontoon in the middle of the loch

Goosander - Perhaps 20 around the loch.

Grey Heron

Lammergeier - Derbyshire

 This individual Lammergeier (or Bearded Vulture) arrived in the UK at the end of June and soon took up residence in the Peak District.  There is a Birdguides article with more details at Tracking down the Peak District Lammergeier

I have seen Lammergeiers in the Pyrenees previously but never one in the UK, not that there have been many and those not regarded as truly wild.  However is is clearly a bird that is tempting to a lot of birders as there was a constant stream of people with binoculars, telescopes and cameras making their way to the best viewing point.

When I arrived I met a local birder walking his dog who said "you should have been here 20 minutes ago"! He apparently had the bird directly overhead but had flown off.  So a slightly worrying start but I walked along one of the tracks that led up the valley eyes peeled.  I realised that I had followed the wrong path so started to cut over to where I could see a group of birders.  A short time later I looked up and there it was, soaring fairly high above my head and then landing on a crag above where one of the groups of birders were stood.  It's huge wing span was impressive! This was apparently a well known roost site.

I soon reached the group of birders and set up the telescope on the bird.  Unfortunately it had a few bits of foliage in front of it's face but other than that is was a great view.  The bird was looking around and at one point seemed to sleep.  I tried a few places to try and get a better view but none improved it much.  I stayed about an hour partly hoping it might fly again but it remained on the crag.  At one point a Ring Ouzel was sat on a twig in front of the Lammergeier but is barely blinked!

On the way back I passed several birders making their way up to where the bird was.  It is certainly a big attraction for a lot of birders.

An impressive bird in flight! 
Unfortunately no time to adjust the camera settings, so just a silhouette.

The bird partly hidden on the crag.

The bird was clearly keeping an eye on the birders that were gathered on the path.

Fantastic scenery near Crowden.  The vast area is no doubt attractive to Lammageiers!

Black-tailed Godwits at Little Marlow

 A group of 13 Black-tailed Godwits were seen to land on the sand spit at Little Marlow Gravel Pit at about 8:15am.  I did get a brief view with binoculars mid morning but the birds were feeding in the vegetation and not easy to see.  I returned in the afternoon with my scope and was pleased to see that they were still present and in full view.

Black-tailed Godwits - 13 were present on the sand spit for most of the day.  This is possibly the largest flock recorded here.

Cattle Egrets on my Local Patch!

The news broke of two Cattle Egrets at 7am on 21st July.  Surprisingly found by Nick Marriner from Thame, who does not usually bird in this area.  Many birders got to see the birds during the day but I was unable to get there until mid-afternoon.  Fortunately they were still present when I arrived and I saw them move from the lake to the meadow and back again.

There are only two prior records for this species at Little Marlow GP.  I was fortunate to see one in May 2014, so it has been a long wait for another.  However this increasingly common species in the UK is likely to turn up here again before too much longer.

Two Cattle Egrets are in there somewhere!  This meadow is only a hundred metres from the lake at Little Marlow.

One of the pair dropping into the meadow.

Hard to see in the tall grass.

Under the feet of a cow.

The pair moved to the sand spit on the lake at Little Marlow. 
A bit distant for sharp photos.

Both birds were in breeding plumage.