A Few Siskins

So far this winter Siskins have been rather few and far between.  However with the sudden cold snap there seems to have a been an increase in numbers with about 30 feeding in Alders along the N bank of the lake at Little Marlow.  Picked up by their calls, it would have been quite easy to have walked right under them and not noticed them.

Not too much of note on this visit but plenty of wildfowl and a good number (30-40) to be seen.

Male Siskin

Female Siskin in Alders

Dusky Thrush Twitch

When Graham Smith contacted me ask if I fancied a trip to Beeley in Derbyshire to see the recently discovered Dusky Thrush, I thought why not.  So Graham, Martin Dear and myself set off early morning.  We arrived about 10am to find dozens of birders present with many saying they had seen the bird during the morning.  Encouraging!  It was not long before I had a glimpse of the bird as it landed in a tree but it did not say long but went to feed in the orchard, which I could not quite see from where I was.  A little later we moved to the orchard area and managed views of the bird as it fed on the ground, but it was only partly visible from where I was. A little later we moved to a better viewpoint for the orchard, waited there an hour or so but the bird did not appear.  Then we got word that the bird had been found in bushes on the edge of a field near the village, so we relocated there.

About two hundred birders were present and everyone focused on the bird as it sat in the bush for about ten minutes.  Then the bird took off and flew fairly high across the village.

We had seen the bird really well, albeit somewhat further away than at the orchard,so we decided to head home.

The species breeds in open woodland and forests in central and eastern Siberia.  So rather rare in the UK !

Dusky Thrush 

Birders dispersing after the Thrush flew off.

Brent Goose at LMGP

I had already seen the Brent Goose a couple of times during it's six day stay (so far). However the views were distant and the photos very poor.  After seeing that the bird was again frequenting the arable field just to the north of the lake, I thought it worth a go at getting a better view.  When I arrived I could not see the Goose with the naked eye and even with binoculars is was not that easy to see as it was right down the far (NE) end of the field.  Walking along the footpath I reduced the distance considerably and manged the photos below.

Brent Goose

Continuing on I walked down the E side of the lake checking on the wildfowl but not finding anything out of the ordinary.  Then as I walked under the "Sisken trees" (none present) I heard the distinctive call of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!  With very few records in recent years at this site I was certainly surprised.  It called again a minute or two later but I could not really pinpoint were it was. I walked into the field to the east of the lake and scanned the trees along the lake and in the car park in Coldmoorholm Lane.  Unfortunately there was no sign and as the light was fading I had to move on.

Fox - Looking for a meal on the back of the sand spit. 

Jackdaws - A small portion of the Jackdaws gathering before going to roost. 

Fieldfare - One of about 50 seen around the Brent Goose field.

The Gull roost turned up a 1st winter Caspian Gull again, plus a Great Black-backed Gull, plus the usual species.  Three colour rings birds were seen  Black-headed Gulls "White AJ66" and "White 507",plus Common Gull "Red AW22".
29 Snipe were feeding on the sand spit which is the most I have seen for a long time.

Kingfisher Again

The same Kingfisher in the same place as two days ago, again at very close range!  Light very poor.

One of four colour ringed birds seen today.  This Common Gull (Red AW22) was probably ringed in Germany.  Details awaited.

Little Marlow - Kingfisher at Close Quarters

I decided to visit to Little Marlow GP mid afternoon to check out the wildfowl and gulls.  As I drove down the concrete road a mass of birds were milling over the lake.  I later found out from Jackie Newcombe that I had just missed a Peregrine!  Unfortunately it was not to reappear but it did spook the birds for the rest of the afternoon.

Numbers of ducks and gulls have recently increased as the weather gets colder.  In particular Common Gull numbers now increasing significantly.  The four regular gull species were present in numbers, plus five Greater Black-backed Gulls and one Caspian Gull (I think!  See below).

I saw one colour ringed adult Black-headed Gull  "Green JY60".  This individual was ringed in Oslo, Norway on 10th April 2015 and is the first sighting away from Oslo.  A distance of 1172 Km!

I was stood with Kevin Holt on the end of the point on the west side when a Kingfisher landed in the bushes overhanging the water just 20 feet away!  It stayed there for perhaps five minutes or so.  We stood as still as possible while getting cameras ready.  Probably the closest I have ever been to a Kingfisher while it was fishing!  Incredible.

As I left large numbers of Jackdaws were arriving to roost, probably well over 1000 and two Snipe were still trying to hide along the edge of the sand spit.

Kingfisher - This digiscoped image filled the camera frame.

Caspian Gull (Hopefully!)- Possibly the same bird seen by Paul Watts yesterday.  Rather distant and in  fading light.

Dorney Lake

Another visit to try and see the long staying Velvet Scoter and hopefully to see the recently found Jack Snipe.  I arrived in bright sunlight which made viewing the return lake a little difficult.  An initial scan from the start end failed to find the target bird so I walked along the causeway.  There were a few workmen in a boat at the start of the return lake, so a search for the Jack Snipe seen yesterday by Adam Basset was fruitless.  A probable Stonechat at the start end was elusive but I did come across another two along the edge of the return lake.  Then a duck in flight, flashing white in the wings caught my eye and sure enough, it was the Velvet Scoter.  It landed and remained around the 250 metres mark on the return lake for a time before flying virtually the whole length of the 2km lake!  I came across it again at the 1250 metre mark while checking out the Wigeon and Teal and managed a few photos.  It was almost constantly on the move which made digiscoping difficult.  On walking back past the start of the return lake, I scanned for the Jack Snipe, not holding out a lot of hope, as it could have been anywhere along the 8km of vegetation covered lake edges!  However, there it was between the two groups of orange buoys where Adam had described.  No other birds of note but very happy with the two main target birds.

Velvet Scoter showing a foot which is not obviously webbed..

Jack Snipe Seen near the start end of the return lake.

Bucks MEGA - Velvet Scoters

A message about 10:20 that two Velvet Scoters were present on Willen Lake, Milton Keynes was certainly of interest!  There have only been four prior records in the county (plus one at Old Slade NR which is now part of Berks).  The last one was in 2006 which did not stay very long and I did not see it.  So I teamed up with Mike and Rose Collard for the one hour drive to the lake.
We arrived about 13:45 and soon found the Scoters feeding about 100 metres away.  For the first 30 minutes or so they were both actively diving but then this stopped and one went to sleep.
Thanks to Paul Moon for finding the birds and to Sion Nichols for getting the news out.

Immature male Velvet Scoters