GREAT GREY SHRIKE still wintering at Henlow

Lovely morning for a walk round Henlow Grange, frosty underfoot with, sunny and calm. GREAT GREY SHRIKE was again in the area just north of the sewage treatment works, perching on fence posts of the two newish fields. It made one sally out over the stubble, flushing a flock of 20 Skylarks before returning to its perch. It the dropped into the longer grass at the base of the fence. I was expecting it to again return to the fence but it never did. I did not see it fly away despite watching where it had landed and could not re-locate it. How can it be so elusive?

Spring would seem to be just around the corner: at least 4 Song Thrushes were singing; Mistle Thrush, Skylark, Corn Bunting, Chaffinch and Dunnock were also singing; at least three Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming;  and Great Crested Grebes were dancing. Although there is no activity in the rookery yet.

Also seen were a male and female Stonechat near the market gardens where there were also three Yellowhammers and a flock of c.40 Linnets.

When I got home and totted up, I had recorded 55 species in a couple of hours.

It may be of interest to note that I have recorded Great Grey Shrike and Stonechat more often than Coot from my patch this year!

cheers

Roger Hicks

p.s. A Robin is nest-building in our garden in Henlow as I type this.

Birding Bedfordshire in the heavy rain - LGRE highlights

Sunday 3rd January 2016

 

Spent the day in BEDFORDSHIRE, where heavy rain curtailed most of the birding bar the last hour of daylight....

 

Below is a list of the highlights, spent in part with Stuart Warren & MJP...

 

GREAT GREY SHRIKE briefly in rain perched high on the fragmented hedgerow on the opposite side of the railway line at TL 193 390 and viewable from the concrete track that leads to the sewage works - TL 192 390 (Poppy Hill Farm, NNE of Henlow)

 

Stuart & I put up 2 JACK SNIPES at G & M Growers Pits (Broom), with 2 Teal there and a Meadow Pipit but no sign of any Bearded Tits or Common Snipe. The early COMMON SHELDUCK was nearby at Gypsy Lane East (Broom) but there was no sign of neither Peregrine nor Merlin in the driving rain

 

Ten of the 13 LITTLE EGRETS were on show in the damp field adjacent to Stockbridge Close in Clifton (situated at TL 173 390, while at Upper Caldecote, I could only find 5 Yellowhammers, with no sign of either Tree Sparrows or Grey Partridges.

 

At the Hatch Turn, most notable were a mixed flock of 105 Common Starling, 39 Fieldfare and 8 Redwing, with not a single Corn Bunting or finch flock in the Moggerhanger area.

 

I spent a while in heavy rain looking at the entrance gate feeders at The Lodge, Sandy, but drew a complete blank on Bramblings.

 

At TL 094 487, opposite Octagon Farm, a massive flock of Lapwing and European Golden Plover, click-numbering 538 and 2,007 respectively!

 

On Rookery Pit North, both GREAT NORTHERN DIVERS were still present but none of the Scaup (a lot of Aythya's though) and likewise a wildfowl busy Quest Pit failed to relinquish the 5 Red-crested Pochard MJP had seen there on New Years Day.

 

Dropped in to Stewartby Lake to join MJP and his self-found adult winter MEDITERRANEAN GULL, with 38 Great Crested Grebe there, 35 Common Gulls, 8 Herring Gulls and a single adult Great Black-backed Gull; a single PEREGRINE was roosting on one of the chimneys (MJP had seen 4)

 

Brogborough Lake added 3 GREATER SCAUP in with a relatively small group of Aythya's by the Cormorant islands - an adult drake, a first-winter drake and an adult female (although NW tells me the adult has a hint of a tuft indicating some outside influence) as well as 384 Coot, 43 Common Goldeneye, 8 Great Black-backed Gulls and 6 Argenteus Herring Gulls.

 

I then rushed over to Upper Drakelow Pond in Woburn Park, where MJP's 3 GOOSANDER were still showing and waking (2 drakes and a female) before just arriving at a Woodcock roost for Martin to ring me with 2 Little Gulls!! I hastily raced back but alas to no avail - the light had gone - all 3 observers having lost them (MJP, Pete Smith & Bob Hook)

Two LITTLE GULLS at dusk on Stewartby

Initially sheltering under a brolly, I spent the last two hours of the day at Stewartby Lake gull watchpoint with some success. After the downpour passed through, the last hour was fine and almost bright.

The murmuration of Starlings over Rookery North was brilliant but then I picked out not one, not two, but three Peregrines passing them, two of which did a food pass. A fourth Peregrine was atop one of the old brickworks chimneys as well – amazing!!

Earlier I’d found a splendid winter adult MEDITERRANEAN GULL, not too large compared to the BHG’s so presumably a female, some dusking to head already appearing, thickish red bill with pale distal end and nice white primaries and tail etc. LGRE twitched the Med and one of the Peregrines successfully but then left as did the Med just as Bob Hook arrived. Pete Smith was parked up in the sailing club carpark and I was on the mobile to him when Bob saw the Kingfisher zap past.

Late on, I found 2 LITTLE GULLS, nearer PS than Bob and I and Pete managed to see them to -  both with white wing tips and puny alongside a couple of Common Gulls, one had a winter head pattern but the other already had some extensive black to the ‘hood’. The light was fading now and unfortunately when some late BHG’s arrived we lost them too view, only a few minutes before Lee dashed back in the interim having scored with 3 Greater Scaup at Brogboro’ and the pair of Goosander I’d seen on Drakelow, Woburn Park earlier today.

Many of the few hundred BHG’s lingered here merely for a ‘wash and scrub up’ before heading over the north corner towards Grafham, ditto the likely 50 or more total Common Gulls. 2 Great Black-backs, 5 Lesser Black-backs and 22 Herring Gulls completed the 7 species gull roost tonight.

39 G C Grebes were noteworthy, also 5 Dabchicks and a Little Egret.

At Eversholt Lake in the mire this morning, I found a flock of 60-100 Siskins by the lakeside but failed to find any Mandarin, Goosander, Woodcock, Raven, Bullfinch or Marsh Tit there or thro’ Milton Wood in very muddy, slippery conditions.

MJPalmer

New Years Day with Martin Palmer Birding

Hi all,

had a day of two halves y’day – brilliant in the morning but tailing off dramatically in the afternoon. Thanks to directions from Stu Warren, I caught up with the Roger Hick’s Poppy Hill Farm Great Grey Shrike and left there at 1.25 with my day’s species tally on 73 then, in the next 3 hours, I visited Langford Mill, Gypsy Lane E + W, Broom Lake, lanes from Southill to Houghton Conquest, Quest ClP, Chimney Corner South ClP, Brogborough Lake and Stewartby Lake but only added another half dozen species ~ Long-tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Red Crested Pochard, Great Black-back and Goldeneye then Feral Pigeon on Kempston Keep as I passed by at dusk.

Nonetheless, a very satisfying day out – 5 raptors, 2 owls + GGS being one highlight; finding G N Diver and Scaup on Rookery North being another and getting some great views of the c60 strong flock of Lesser and Mealy Redpolls by Broom Village Pond being a third. Very satisfying were a small flock of 3 mixed bunting sp with Linnets at Pasture Farm entrance track south of Cardington. I totalled 79 species so (only) just pipped Roger’s tally despite covering a good few more miles.

I could, perhaps should, have had at least another 11 species to reach a magic 90 but I failed to find any Common Snipe, Jack Snipe or Green Sandpiper at up to 4 suitable sites I visited, neither, surprisingly, could I find any Red-legged Partridges, Stock Doves, Kingfisher or Bullfinches, nor any Egyptian Geese along Harrowden Lane nor the recent Pintail at Broom Lake.

My diversion to Poppy Hill and Langford Mill meant I didn’t visit The Lodge so I could have had Brambling, Siskin and, perhaps Raven and Woodcock there – there were none of the latter pair in suitable habitat I visited in the Old warden area. A walk along Meadow Lane/BSTW failed to produce the hoped for Chiffy and maybe Firecrest and I ran out of “passerine” time to visit MVMP or MSTW for e.g. Chiffchaffs, Stonechat and possibly Bearded Tit – also Water Rail. Overall finch numbers were very poor throughout the day – apart from the Redpolls -  and my only House Sparrows were a few in Southill.

My list is below – Roger, I wonder how many we got between us? Thanks to all friends I met out and about y’day and messages of sightings from Pip, Richard, Steve, Martin G, Stu W etc All the best to all for 2016,

Martin

1. Great Northern Diver
2. Great Crested Grebe
3. Dabchick
4. Cormorant
5. Little Egret
6. Grey Heron
7. Mute Swan
8. Greylag
9. Barnacle
10. Canada Goose
11. Mallard
12. Gadwall
13. Wigeon
14. Common Teal
15. Shoveler
16. Tufted Duck
17. Greater Scaup
18. Common Pochard
19. Red Crested Pochard
20. Goldeneye
21. Coot
22. Moorhen
23. Pheasant
24. Grey Partridge
25. Red Kite
26. Common Buzzard
27. Sparrowhawk
28. Peregrine
29. Kestrel
30. Lapwing
31. Golden Plover
32. Great Black-back
33. Herring Gull
34. Lesser Black-back
35. Common Gull
36. B H Gull
37. Carrion Crow
38. Rook
39. Jackdaw
40. Magpie
41. Jay
42. Wood Pigeon
43. Feral Pigeon
44. Collared Dove
45. Little Owl
46. Short-eared Owl
47. Green Woodpecker
48. Great Spotted Woodpecker
49. Skylark
50. Meadow Pipit
51. Grey Wagtail
52. Pied Wagtail
53. Great Tit
54. Blue Tit
55. Coal Tit
56. Long-tailed Tit
57. Treecreeper
58. Nuthatch
59. Goldcrest
60. Wren
61. Dunnock
62. Robin
63. Starling
64. Blackbird
65. Song Thrush
66. Redwing
67. Filedfare
68. Mistle Thrush
69. Great Grey Shrike
70. House Sparrow
71. Chaffinch
72. Greenfinch
73. Goldfinch
74. Linnet
75. Lesser Redpoll
76. Mealy Redpoll
77. Reed Bunting
78. Yellowhammer
79. Corn Bunting

GREAT WHITE EGRET in Woburn Park

GREAT WHITE EGRET still in Woburn Park this morning (10:30). It flew from small pools immediately south of Park Farm to a tree in the general area called Henrietta Gardens. If you stand with your back to Shoulder of Mutton Pond the tree is about 40-50 yards in front of you, to the west. It is within a small fenced area with rushes and is a favourite loafing spot for Grey Herons. It was with two herons this morning.

Also 3 Red Kites, 74 Gadwalls, 266 Wigeons, 23 Cormorants, 9 Shovelers and two Egyptian Geese.

Barry Nightingale  

DARK-BELLIED BRENT GOOSE at Stewartby Lake

Martin Green discovered a DARK-BELLIED BRENT GOOSE in Scrapyard Corner, Stewartby Lake, late morning - the bird relocating to the sailing club green and remaining until dusk (see images below). Whilst watching the Brent, Martin phoned me again to say that Paul & Neil Wright had found a SIBERIAN-TYPE CHIFFCHAFF with the 6 or so wintering Common Chiffchaff at Marston Sewage Works and all four of us (plus Stephen Northwood) studied it shortly later. A pair of Common Goldeneye was also on the lake, plus Common Kingfisher and 47 Great Crested Grebe.

At nearby Brogborough Lake, I counted 55 Common Goldeneye at the west end, while the juvenile GREAT NORTHERN DIVER flew east to join the Stewartby Lake long-stayer......

GREAT GREY SHRIKE at Henlow Grange

Highlight of this morning's walk round my Henlow Grange patch was a GREAT GREY SHRIKE!!!! Not only a patch tick; not only a SFYL tick but (probably) the first GGS I have found for myself. There was a commotion of Linnet and Corn Bunting alarm calls as they chased something across the horse paddocks alongside the railway. It took me a while to realise it was a shrike, but when the penny dropped I'm sure I had a big smile on my face. The smaller birds chased the Shrike until it landed on a hawthorn bush alongside the railway where it stayed for about 5 minutes before it was flushed by a train. While perched, it was not mobbed by any smaller birds. After another 5 minutes the Shrike reappeared on top of another hawthorn bush on the far side of the railway. This time it remained in view for about 10 minutes, occasionally dropping into the bush where it could be seen moving about. It was flushed by another train and this time flew east towards the solar pa nel farm, landing in a hedge (alongside the track to the farm) where it was lost to view (Roger Hicks)