Final stand

27/9/08 North Norfolk - Simeon and James
Today was one of James' very last birding outings before he goes to uni. So it had to be good. With a nice fall during the week things were set for the weekend and rares had already been found. We started early and were at Burnham Overy by 6:30am!
It felt good. We were flushing Robins and Song Thrushes from every bush and also the odd Redwing. Goldcrests called but stayed invisible. By the time we had hit the dunes, we had already seen about 40 Robins and 20 Song Thrushes. Little Egrets seemed abundant with a total of 25 flying over (one flock of 18 birds)!
The dunes seemed devoid of birds for some reason but still a few Robins, Dunnocks and millions of Meadow Pipits. We then headed quickly for the pines after the Radde's came out on the pager for the first time that morning. On arrival about 30 people were positioned in a line and we joined the ranks just in time to see it go up and down again in the bracken! It was calling but we hadn't had good views so we stayed.
Over the past hour or so we eventually got good views of the bird (I saw it on top of a bush for about 10 seconds). We also had a Crossbill flying over and a Yellow-Browed Warbler, but it didn't show very well.
On the way back to the car we met Penny Clarke and after talking for a while we headed back through the fields towards the main road. Just at one of our regular scans James spotted a lovely adult Honey Buzzard flying quite low. It headed East quite quickly and we lost it over the pines.
Once back at the car we left for West Runton to try for the Blyth's Reed Warbler. It had last been seen at 9:35am and by the time we got to the deserted buildings it was 2:00pm.
I thought it rather odd that everyone was talking and no-one was really looking for the bird. A few people had gone round the sides of the buildings to search, but for the majority of the birders present, even if it had showed, they probably wouldn't have noticed. Fed up of "standing in line" James and I went round the side ourselves, only to find it 'tacking' in some reeds in a ditch! The first views I had of the bird were undoubtedly the best, with the bird about 3m away and unobstructed by reeds!
We alerted another birder and once positive of the ID I went round to tell the others. After the hordes decended on the ditch it never showed very well again, but enough for most people to be happy with the ID. The bird called a few times but mostly stayed well hidden at the bottom of the reeds.
Feeling very happy that we had saved some birders' day, James and I headed to our final site for the day, Titchwell.
On arrival we went straight along the path and found loads of birders on the bank. Someone kindly showed me the Pectoral Sandpiper in their scope and I then got James onto it. It was showing well but quite distantly. James then spotted the Red-Necked Phalarope which showed very well on the deck and in flight when it flew closer towards us and showed even better! It was associating with a Little Stint as a bonus.
The day ended with a visit to our old patch where we used to live. We didn't see any decent birds, but memories of finding Ring Ouzels came flooding back as we walked down the path.
A cracking end to a wonderful day with some awesome birds seen!

Titchwell, Sunday 7th September, James and Simeon

Having learnt the basics of pressure chart reading we had been watching the weather forecasts all week and continually changing our weekend plans accordingly (It's astounding how vastly incorrect the forecast can be, even 5 days beforehand!). Simeon wanted to do Blakeney Point as it looked reasonable for migrants, but I managed to persuade him to do Thornham Point, as it is near Titchwell so we could visit the reserve afterwards and seawatch (seawatching looked good for the afternoon). This turned out to be a good decision since the county was almost devoid of rare passerines - all we could come up with was a warbler which flew from a bush, realised it was raining, and promptly dived back into cover never to be seen again. We took shelter in the watchtower (my dream house!), which gives a great view over the surrounding area and has an absolutley amazing garden list! A lone Brent Goose in Thornham Harbour was early.

Realising there were no rarities to be found, and spotting an Arctic Skua flying along the beach, we walked back to Titchwell feeling a little dejected. The mood didn't improve when a couple told us they'd only seen a few Eider, but then Dave Hawkins appeared from behind the dunes and gave us his totals which included good numbers of Arctic and Great Skua and an adult Long-tailed Skua! We joined him out of the wind, and began racking up the skua totals. Simeon locked onto a large pale-brown shearwater but was unable to confirm its identification - in hindsight it was probably a Cory's, which would have been a lifer... The action died down, and we were beginning to get bored, when suddenly Dave located an extremely distant shearwater. I managed to get onto it, though Simeon did not - this time it was definitely a Cory's, though the extreme distance meant that it looked to me more like a Gannet, save for its banking flight. One of the worst ticks I've ever had! However, matters were complicated by the fact that a party of 4 Sabine's Gulls appeared in Dave's scope view as he was following the as yet unidentified shearwater! It was mayhem as he tried to get the 50+ observers onto the birds whilst calling the other wardens. 2 summer plumaged Red-necked Grebes put the finishing touch to a memorable seawatch.

Unfortunately the rain had managed to enter my battered eyepiece and prevented wader watching on the reserve, although the 3 Spoonbills were gorgeous as they demonstrated their characteristic feeding action known as 'spooning'. A false White-rumped Sandpiper alarm had us excited for a few minutes, but it turned out to be a Dunlin (try and get your head around that one!). It was incredibly small and slim-bodied, giving it a vaguely attenuated appearance, although the black underside gave it away.

An amazing day, even if it wasn't what we were expecting!

Scotland!

Scotland 16th-22nd August - James and Simeon

See gallery soon for photos of the trip...

This summer James and I decided to go to Scotland. The aim was to try and see as many British ticks as possible as we had never been to Scotland before. Planning ahead and asking people who either lived there or who had visited before gave us more sites than were possible to visit in the time we were there!
Target species;

Capercaillie
Ptarmigan
Black Grouse
Red Grouse (Simeon only)
Crested Tit
Black-Throated Diver
Scottish Crossbill
Parrot Crossbill
Golden Eagle
Sooty Shearwater
Surf Scoter

Saturday 16th August
We got up quite early and had left home by 7:30am. On the journey up we stopped at Fairburn Ings near Leeds, where there had been a Black-Necked Grebe. It would have been a lifer for me (Simeon), but sadly we had no luck. After an 11 hour jurney we finally arrived near Aviemore, where we stayed the night on a campsite. The journey had been exciting as we got closer and closer to our final destination. The only birds of note on the journey were a small total of 9 Kestrels and a few Buzzards.

Sunday 17th August
We got up when we woke up, as we were very tired after the journey the day before. By about 9:00am we were at Lochindorb for Black-Throated Diver. On arrival there were only a few Red-Throateds on the loch, but before long some Black-Throateds appeared and we counted 4 birds, including 1 juv. Suddenly a strange call behind us alerted us to the presence of a Grouse and on peering over the small crest, we saw 2 Red Grouse quite close to us! Within the first morning we had seen 2 target species.
A trip to nearby Loch Ruthven revealed 4 Slavonian Grebes, 1 Red-Throated Diver, and 6 Red-Breasted Mergansers. 2 Crossbills flew over several times, but we didn't get good enough views to call them anything other than common!
The 3rd stop was the Findhorn Valley where we failed with Golden Eagle, but had amazing views of an Osprey fishing. A female Hen Harrier quartered the long grass for a bit beore moving south. There was also a Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary on one of the hills.

Monday 18th August
If Ptarmigan was to be "had", a climb of Cairn Gorm was in order! On reaching the summit in the afternoon (we didn't start early!) we hadn't had Ptarmigan but there were 3 juv. Snow Buntings hopping around. Seeing a flock on Cley beach is one thing, but seeing juvs. in their breeding grounds was a completely new experience, and a very nice one too.
We walked down a different route from which we climbed, and about 200m above the car park we suddenly came across 4 "moving rocks" - Ptarmigans in summer plumage! It was brilliant to have finally caught up with this elusive species. I would have taken pictures, but let's just say the 70mph winds didn't help the shake...
In the evening we tried for Black Grouse on Tulloch Moor, but to no avail. A walk onto the moor produced 17 different species of Mushroom, but nowt else except a Spotted Flycather!

Tuesday 19th August
After sleeping in the car (much warmer than a tent) we got up early and drove around the roads of Abernethy Forest. We dazzled plenty of Robins, a Woodpecker sp. and a few Song Thrushes, but no Capercaillies, which apparently come for grit there.
The next stop was the Osprey centre at Loch Garten where we sat in the car for 2 hours due to the pouring rain! After it cleared up, we had a quick look at the Red Squirrels and Siskins on the feeders, and took a walk through the forest round Loch Garten. After distinguishing the call of Crested Tit, we eventually had about 6 birds, along with multiple Treecreepers and Goldcrests, and millions of Coal Tits! We also met some birders who told us of a nearby private site at which to get Crossbills. It contained a Loch surrounded by pines. The loch itself had a lovely summer plumaged Slavonian grebe and another Osprey which perched for a while. As we were about to leave, a group of Crossbills perched in the top of a nearby pine, and on getting them in the scope, we could both immediately tell they were Parrot Crossbills, due to the massive "bull-neck" and huge bill! They also called, and as there was a nearby Common Crossbill flying over, we had great comparison between the 2 species. It was great to have finally ticked off one of the most difficult species to get!
Alas, our time in Speyside was over, and that evening we moved on to Deeside, near Balmoral. A quick glance at Glen Muick looked good, but didn't reveal any Black Grouse.

Wednesday 20th August
Getting up relatively early we went to a nearby site called Glen Tanar, where there was a drinking pool for Crossbills, but sadly the only ones we saw were flyovers! We met 2 walkers who also knew a bit about birding. They gave us a nearby top secret site for Capercaillie and said there was a 60% chance of getting them at this time of year! We rushed off in anticipation and after getting lost in the forest, suddenly heard very loud wing-claps from what appeared to be very large birds...we had to get a closer look. Using ultimate tracking skills (the power of hearing) we knew they had flown right. We walked to a fence and just as it started to rain a male Capercaillie flew up about 50 yards off. Then its mate flew up and they both went right, giving ok views, but only in flight. We didn't want to disturb them, so we retreated back to the car, wet, but very happy!
So by now we had both had several British ticks and were feling very pleased, despite the weather!
That afternoon we drove to Peterhead on the East coast of Aberdeenshire, where we stayed the night...

Thursday 21st August
With light onshore winds we had planned a morning seawatch at Rattray Head. On arrival a few birds were moving, some very close Fulmars, Arctic and Great Skuas. From our position in the dunes we had a great vantage point. Suddenly James spotted a Shearwater going North. I got it in his scope and confirmed it as Sooty Shearwater - another British tick for both of us! Another Sooty and a Manx were also seen. Then a small skua went past close in, and brilliant views of the bird for a prolonged period confirmed it as an adult Long-tailed Skua - a British Tick for James. So now we both had 7 British ticks from the trip so far.
A four hour scan at Blackdog in the afternoon revealed plenty of Velvet Scoter, but the sea was too rough to be able to pick up the Surfie that had been present the day before! The odd possibles dived before conclusive views were had.
That evening we started the long journey south, and slept overnight in the car in a quiet village near Scotch Corner.

Friday 22nd August
Today was the final day of the trip and we were to get almost home, but stop at Chapel Point in Lincolnshire for the Audoin's Gull. After about 9 hours we (Connor, Ray Roche, James and I) had walked down the beach a short way to get closer to some distant gulls. We were about 200m from the main crowd and about 1 and a half miles from Chapel Point car park. Suddenly I noticed everyone running along the beach away from us. Something had happened and we knew what. We half ran half walked the distance and eventually caught up with some of the crowd. The gull had come up on the pager from Chapel Point car park. We got there and had brilliant veiws of it standing on the beach on its own. It flew up a couple of times but was on the beach when we left. It was a cracking end to the trip which ended with James and I having 8 lifers each including a 5th for Britain which was very unexpected.

Saturday 23rd August
Sleep... Marsh Sandpiper Hickling Broad! Left early afternoon and arrived at Hickling not actually knowing whereabouts the bird was at the reserve. We met a man that worked at the visitor centre and he told us it was seen from Rush Hill Scrape the day before! We went anyway and on arrival met a birder just coming away from the hide who told us it was still there!!! Our chances had increased dramatically. We got to the hide and scanned. A few Green Sandpipers. Then James saw it fly into an inlet, behind the reeds. I missed it! After about 20 minutes a third Green Sandpiper went behind the reeds and probably chased them all out, I got the Marsh Sandpiper in my scope in flight - lucky - with 3 Green Sandpipers. It landed on the near bank and showed excellently for quite a while before flying back into the inlet about 20 minutes later. See gallery for a record shot in fading light - well thats my excuse anyway.
A cracking round-off to the Scotland trip...it was well worth the effort.
9 lifers each.