BARRED WARBLER remains on Blows Downs for a third day

Spent some quality time with the BARRED WARBLER again today, the bird showing well on and off for around two hours from midday. It was still frequenting the Half Moon Slope, just 100 yards walk up from the road - munching away on Elder and Blackberries. Around 25 birders came and went. COMMON STONECHAT numbers on the slope had increased to 10, while other species noted included Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 9+ Meadow Pipit, Bullfinch, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Song Thrush and a Green Woodpecker.

JOHNNY LYNCH comes up trumps again.........(First-ever Bedfordshire BARRED WARBLER)

At around 10am this morning, Johnny Lynch came upon a large Sylvia warbler on the Half Moon Slope at Blows Downs (Dunstable). To his amazement, it turned out to be Bedfordshire's first-ever BARRED WARBLER - showing well in the isolated clumps of Elderberry and Blackberry scrub on the hillside. He quickly contacted county recorder Steve Blain and Blows regulars Lol Carman and Bob Chalkley and within the hour, all three observers were connecting..... Lol then phoned me so that I could get the news out nationally.

The bird remained present on Half Moon Slope for the rest of the day, delighting just under 80 observers by dusk, including the majority of Bedfordshire's listers. I arrived mid-afternoon and spent the next three hours trying to photograph it - my results lie below -:

The slope also held at least 4 COMMON STONECHATS, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and 4 juvenile Willow Warblers, as well as over 40 Meadow Pipits and a Sparrowhawk

GARGANEY present for its eighth day at Dunstable Sewage Works

Showing well today........

Finally caught up with a GARGANEY...

Thanks to Stephen Northwood, I finally managed to see a GARGANEY in Bedfordshire today (22 September) - feeding with 10 Common Teal, 2 Wigeon and 2 Shoveler on Wetland 3 at Marston Vale Country Park. Nothing much else noted there other than 8 Long-tailed Tits and 4 Bullfinch.

Another CASPIAN GULL

I visited Stewartby Lake for the gull roost again y’day evening from 6.50 to 7.50pm. Although the gulls were disturbed from time to time by water-skiers heading directly at the roost – completely contrary to their permitted zones – I found amongst a roost of circa one and half thousand gulls a splendid juvenile Caspian Gull already assuming some first-winter features. I found this gull within a few minutes of my arrival and, having satisfied myself as to its identity, rang SCB, PH and NW plus Rare Bird Alert who quickly broadcast the news over the pagers. Pip was able to join me from around 7.30 and we watched the bird until dusk fell. We separately and quickly relocated this striking gull when the flock flew up and resettled. I took a few very distant (optimistic) photos of this bird and will send them to RIB/SCB shortly with a few field notes of the bird.

At last light there were at least 1060 Lesser Black-backs present and at least 13 adult/near adult Yellow-legged Gulls plus a juvenile amongst them. A few hundred B H Gulls were also present but I didn’t see any Common Gulls or G B Backs and only a couple of Herring Gulls – I was though concentrating on the Caspo for nearly all of my visit.

This is the second Caspian Gull in Beds this autumn following the juvenile identified by SCB at Gypsy Lane East and the adjacent G M Growers fields from 18^th to at least 22^nd August during when also seen by a few others inc myself.

MJP

First LITTLE STINT in the county this year....

Johnny Lynch discovered this juvenile LITTLE STINT this evening at Grovebury Sand Pit enabling Lol Carman, Bob Chalkley and I an opportunity to connect in the following hour of daylight. It remained until dusk.

The large gull roost also harboured at least 17 YELLOW-LEGGED GULLS, as well as 190 Lesser Black-backed, 44 Herring and at least 400 Black-headed; also 7 Teal

COMMON REDSTART at Marston Vale

I caught and ringed a 1st year male COMMON REDSTART at the Country Park on Saturday 6th Sept. It was in the wetlands area. Totally unexpected and not seen before I ringed it (or afterwards). There are still good numbers of Reed and Sedge Warblers. One of the Reed Warblers ringed was still growing its outer primaries, so it cannot have fledged that long ago. Some of the Sedges also looked very young (short bill, soft looking legs) (Mark Fitzpatrick)