A Bit of a Gamble!

Monday morning and the day of the forecast storm, so, up early and off to Dungeness. Gamble no. 1 would I get there? Gamble no 2: would the M25 QE2 bridge be open and gamble no 3: would the M20 be functioning. Answers in order, yes, no, yes. So, off at 5.15 in breezy conditions on to a fairly empty M11 and M25. A short wait to get through the tunnel as the bridge was closed and on to the M20 by 6.15. Very windy conditions were knocking lorries about a little but, after a coffee at Maidstone, a non eventful journey to the sea at Dunge. I was greeted by an amazing roar and electricity arcing all around Dungeness power station B. The noise was deafening, the wind plus all pumps going full blast at the power station. I found it difficult to walk on to the shingle and shelter on the leeward side of the sea watch hide. Gulls shot by backwards, but cormorants were making steady progress into the head of the gale. Incredible to watch as I was finding it difficult to stand, never mind hold camera or telescope still. The radio 4 news reported the powercut at the power station stating wind gusts had peaked at 90mph. No wonder walking wasn't easy!

cormorants flying into the gale

adult great black backed gull (top) and juvenile lesser black backed gull

dodging the 8 foot breakers

hard work

amazing sight, using the waves to aid flying

The wind battered on unabated but my gamble no 4: birds would be everywhere due to the storm was not materialising. Very little on the sea and the fact that the warden, David Walker was not out at the sea watch hide was a good indication that it was not worth being there. By now, I was covered in salt spray, as were my optics, especially glasses that were caked in salt. The waves were certainly powerful.

spot the cormorant, centre.

By now, time for a little shelter, so off to the ARC pit near the RSPB reserve. Few birds, including my 204th species for the year, a glossy ibis, somewhat distant photos here, next to a cormorant resting after being bashed about in the turbulence.

A greenshank, plenty of pochard, tufties, shovelers and gadwalls present, but little else, so off to the reserve for a coffee. As I pulled into the car park, the only car!! the wind was still bashing about but the sun was out and I chanced upon a fox enjoying a little shelter and some warmth.

After another shot of coffee out onto the trail. Good birds were hard to come by and all small ones were settled, invisible at the bottom of the masses of willows. Marsh harriers, a kestrel (see below), a solitary and very brief male hen harrier were noted along with more wildfowl including  some splendid pintail drakes; always a stunning bird.

great crested grebe

kestrel

too windy for take off and holding on tightly

distant marsh harrier

pintail

Finally, back to HQ to give a brief report of sightings to the manager and a quick check of the hide next to the office. Great stuff, a great white egret, firstly skulking in reeds and then perched in a tree, being observed by a grey heron. Also, a rainbow appeared so all was great and the wind was slowly becoming less powerful; I could walk without difficulty.

great egret with  5 little egrets

trying to climb the vegetation

peaceful shot, with great egret in distance!



definitely a tufted duck!

By this time the storm had passed and so back to the bird obs and the sea watch hide. This time I got into the hide and observed more gulls, kittiwakes, grebes and common scoter heading into the strong breeze, but nothing unusual. After an hour I decided to beat the traffic and head home. So did everyone else and I joined a long queue for the tunnel, which was free to help alleviate congestion.
A worthwhile trip even if the gamble of hoping for some rarities didn't pay off. Glad I made the effort. Finally, a study of a passing juvenile great black backed gull



Glorious weather wander

After a coffee at Tescos, I set off for a walk around the parish, via Cradle End, Green Street, Hoecroft Lane and down Brick kiln Hill to home. About a 4 mile wander in superb light and warmth. Birds were in short supply, but quality rather than quantity. Towards Cradle End the highlight, a flyover red kite. Reasonable shots here as it glided south, attracting the attention of a few corvids.

As I wandered along Green Street, bullfinches called from deep inside vegetation and pied wagtails, skylarks and redwings called overhead. In Millfield Lane another good sighting, a peacock butterfly, one of my latest. Yellowhammers, corvids and finches were in the hedgerows along the lane before I traipsed across the polo fields and into Hoecroft Lane.

noisy carrion crow

peacock butterfly

starlings

Into Hoecroft Lane and along with wonderful colour, a pair of great spotted woodpecker posed distantly for a photo. The female shown here.

All in all, a wonderful walk with green woodpeckers, magpies, jays and a distant common buzzard also recorded. Here, a selection of the colour on show.

Green Street living up to its name

Muggin's Wood

Nag's Head, Little Hadham from Brick Kiln Hill

Evening Wander

A dusk walk in threatening conditions didn't give the hoped for views of the local barn owls. Too late for most birds;  redwing were heard overhead along with a pied wagtail. On the ponds around Hadham Hall were 3 tufted duck and the resident pair of little grebes. A single chiffchaff called from the willows, now almost void of their leaves. A large party (25+) of lesser black backed gulls headed south over Cradle End, but that was about it.
However, the highlight was the rapid sunset, shown here through the trees around Hadham Hall. Very spectacular, but only lasting 10 minutes. The others show the tufted duck, the barn at Hadham Hall and the wonderful colour of some autumnal leaves. Hopefully I shall find time to photo these in really good light before the southerly breezes remove them all.

New camera to North Norfolk

Having treated myself to a new camera body, a 2nd hand Nikon D2x, a monster of a machine, I was keen to get to Norfolk to begin learning how to use it successfully. Leaving at 5.45 I stopped off at Lyndford Arboretum to check for the 2 barred crossbills that are still reported as present. No sign, but good numbers of common crossbills, nuthatches and siskins. Then, off to Wells Woods, parking in the beach car park just past Pinewoods caravan site. To start with I took photos of any bird, beginning with this cormorant on the boating lake. A little later, a redwing, distant, drinking at a puddle. 2 female crossbills came down to drink, but a dog walker flushed them before I had the camera ready.

cormorant



redwing

There were quite a few birders checking the woods, but nothing was being reported. However, along with large numbers of redwings, there appeared to be blackcaps and blackbirds every 10 yards. A particularly pleasing female blackcap photo, taken through leaves from the footpath. With my previous D40 this would have been very difficult to get due to the focusing set up. However, the new camera permits very precise focus and so I could get on to the bird, rather than focusing on the nearer leaves.

female blackcap

Not too much else seen and I had missed the 4 flyover glossy ibis that headed west between Brancaster and Happisburgh so Off to Garden Drove just east of Wells.

Here, after a muddy drive down the track, I came across the first yearlister of the day; a male ring ouzel on the concrete at the end of the track. Unable to get a photo as I was still in the car. The bird flew off into the adjacent stubble field, not to be refound. A walk down to Warham Greens gave views of brambling, chaffinch, chiffchaff and more blackbirds and redwings but no rarities so I returned to the car. Another birder confirmed he, too had not seen anything out of the ordinary. I headed off to Cley, checking the hides first before a wander around to the beach carpark.

Not too much from the 3 centre hides, but a good opportunity to test the camera and adjust the settings. A selection of results here in what was becoming fading light.

lapwing/peewit/green plover.

lapwings and wigeon

take off

shelduck

female shoveler

3 shoveler and teal

pair of teal

At the beach carpark I noted 100+ brent geese in the Eye Field before I set up for a sea watch. Gannets and gulls were ever present but eventually I caught on a small bird on the water some way out. A grey phalarope. 2 others got on to it but it was difficult to describe its whereabouts as there were no lobster pot buoys etc to guide other sea watchers. Flocks of common scoter headed west. In one, flashes of white wingbars signalled my 3rd year lister of the day: velvet scoter, the 2nd being the phalarope. By this time the light was very poor, heavy overcast conditions. A marsh harrier ventured over the reserve and surprisingly everything went up so maybe a peregrine had made a move as birds were distracted by the harrier. I have noted this before, where a peregrine fires into a flock of rising birds concerned by the harrier. Watched a wigeon hit this way at Old Hall Marshes several years ago. Very spectacular.

brent geese

brent goose

A coffee and some bread buns filled with my standard fare for Norfolk: double gloucester and chorizio and I was good for a trip to Titchwell before the drive home. Here, bramblings were on the feeders, but too dark for a worthwhile shot along with usual daylisters like greenfinch, tits, thrushes etc. Several siskins called from the trees around the centre. The beach path was full of birders, but again, not too much on view. A stonechat on Thornham Marsh and, I suspect, in excess of 5000 golden plover on the Fresh Marsh. Usual waders: snipe, redshank, dunlin, ruff, and 100's pf teal and wigeon. I carried on for another beach watch where good waders were added to the list; black and bar tailed godwit, oystercatcher, curlew, sandering, a flyover grey plover + more scoter out to sea. 2 sandwich terns headed east. Several skua sp were called but all I saw were juvenile lesser black backed and herring gulls. Gannets were loafing around and a very distant shearwater remain unidentified.

Titchwell chiffchaff

chiffchaff

teal

wigeon

migrant hawkers

common darter

female migrant hawker

teal

wigeon

gadwall

little egret

moorhen

So, with the time approaching 6.30, I set off for home with over 170 photos. Once deleted they were reduced to 40, some of which I share here. Not great, but some pleasing clarity and with some, good sharpness. The ones at Titchwell had light compensation going on as it really was very poor conditions. The chiffchaff, as they are prone to do, would not stay still, so please to fire off a couple that captured the bird reasonably well.

The 3 year listers take my annual total to a respectable 203, still 15+ to get and with a day at Dungeness and then the following day at Sandwich bird obs, should be able to get these.