Firecrest, Crossbills & Sandpiper, a great week of birding!

September 18th: I wasn't feeling great so I didn't go out early as planned. There wasn't anything on the hill so I headed down to the ponds to try and find the "interesting" teal I'd seen a few nights before. Within seconds of me wandering down to the concrete drainage thing I use to view the pond, a tiny shape shot out past me! I barely registered the clockwork like flapping wings and the blurred white wing bars as I frantically tried to get a conclusive ID. It dashed towards the wooden "raft" in the middle of the pond and for a blissful second I thought it was going to land. Instead the it kept on flying out of sight into the shadowy corner of the pond. I stood there puzzling over it, the only thing it could rationally be was a Common Sandpiper but I just wasn't satisfied with my views of of it. Then suddenly the whistling call of a Common Sandpiper stopped me in my thoughts and I looked up to see it rocketing over the rooves of the houses and then across the pond before disappearing! I've wanted to see a Common Sandpiper on the the Heath all summer so it was a relief to finally find one! What an awesome bird!

September 22nd: I hadn't planned to go out but having received a message from another birder that there were a fair few birds moving over Parliament hill, I got up and ran over to the heath. There were already plenty of people out enjoying the weather, dog walkers, joggers and a few people heading off to work. I arrived on Parliament hill at 7:30 and was greeted by plenty of meadow pipits shooting over the hill as well as two of the other local birders, Pete & Reuben. We stood and watched for a while as birds continued to fly over: a red kite drifting north, a yellow wagtail also heading north, siskins and a constant stream of meadow pipits. After a fifteen minutes, I noticed a wide group of meadow pipits rocketing south towards us. I called the others to them and as they got closer we all suddenly realized! A brief flash of the bright red males shooting across the path was all we needed to see, accompanied by the oddly quiet "chip-chip" call; they were crossbill! I lowered my binoculars to make a quick count and came to 12 before they disappeared. They had flown just above the ground, straight across the path, surrounded by people! Completely unexpected! 

A few more birds passed over in the next half hour but nothing amazing. Then suddenly, there it was again! "Chip-Chip-Chip!" I looked up and saw two more crossbill shooting over us calling loudly and happily. I wonder where they are now and where they came from. They could still be hiding in some quiet corner of London or they could have flown non-stop across the channel and found themselves in the Alps by now. It really is amazing the things you see here.

I continued on towards Kenwood where I was pleased to see my second Stonechat of Autumn perching on the wire fence around the Sphagnum bog. Always a brilliant bird to see! I also glimpsed my first Lesser Redpoll of Autumn shooting over the trees in Cohen's field. Not a bad morning before school (online school🙄)

23 September: I headed up Parliament hill for a bit in the morning but there wasn't much to see although it was cool to see a Spotted Flycatcher migrating over the hill and land briefly. I had a look around other parts of the heath but there wasn't much to see. Later in the day I was at home doing some chemistry work when I glanced at my phone to see Pete had found a Firecrest on Parliament hill! I quickly ate my lunch and dashed out. On first inspection there was nothing there, nor on the second or third inspection. But eventually I found a big mixed flock of tits and warblers. I spent a while searching through them without much luck. Then somehow, I lost track of the whole flock! Now it was really starting to rain too. I Spent a while wandering around searching without luck, even checking much further up the hill. After a damp and slightly annoying half hour, I decide to give in and head back. Then as I was wandering back I heard the sounds of the flock and looked up to see them in a oak tree. I decided to have a half hearted look. after a while a spotted a "crest" species hopping about in the Oak. I still wasn't particularly hopeful so it was a shock when it turned around revealed it's white eye stripe and stunning orange crest! I stood there in shock for a second as it disappeared before I jumped around and celebrated a bit. I was surprised when I looked up again to see it still flitting about and showing off. Of course now the rain started to bucket down on me but I still managed to get some good views of the little gem for a few minutes. It really is a perfect bird, one of my absolute favorites! What a brilliant day

  

August Birding on Hampstead Heath

 August birding Hampstead Heath 2020

August has been an absolutely brilliant month! I wasn't around for all of it so I missed out a little but I still found four new birds for my Hampstead Heath list! I'll go over a few highlights from month day by day.

The first week of August was pretty quiet as expected but I did see my first Willow Warblers of the Autumn. I also picked up a few other warblers like Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat. On the 7th three Yellow Wagtails flew over Parliament Hill. After that I headed off to Norfolk for a bit.

On the 20th of August I headed over to Kenwood to have a look for flycatchers. At first glance there was nothing to be seen so I decided to spend some time photographing the Willow Warbler that were piling in from out of the woods. Then just at the moment I'd forgotten about seeing a flycatcher, a stunning Pied Flycatcher hopped out in front of me! It gave a few good views before I rushed off to get my GCSE results. 

Pied Flycatcher

On the 22nd I found my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year in Kenwood

On the 23rd I went out to search for a tree pipit as they were arriving all over London. But after several hours the only one I saw was a distant view shooting over the playground that I wasn't 100% sure on. Later in the afternoon on a casual walk with my family, we flushed a pair in the Kenwood bog which then perched nicely for a few photos! 

Tree Pipit

The 24th was also a very exciting day! After a relatively boring walk up to Kenwood, I immediately found a warbler flock just up from the pond. As I was looking through it, a male Common Redstart hopped into a dead tree nearby! It gave me a few brief views before disappearing back into the bushes. Next I found another Pied Flycatcher with the same flock as it moved closer to the bog. Another mystery flycatcher sp added some excitement as well as my first shoveller of the Autumn

Common Redstart

On the 27th of August I saw two Spotted Flycatcher and a Crossbill flew NW over Cohen's field. I also had one possible Wood Warbler on Parliament hill: "Initially picked up with some willow warblers, the bird seemed to have a brighter yellow throat relative to the rest of it's body. It also had a fairly uniform white underside. However it looked slightly small compared to what I'd expected and did not have the shiny, almost metallic look I've seen in photos. Before I got a photo, it flitted away and didn't show again". (My description, could have been an odd willow warbler of course!)

The 28th was certainly the busiest day of the month. Migrant birds included Wheatear, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, 2 Hobby, Little Egret (very rare to land), Peregrine, a probable Garden Warbler, Common Buzzard, Flycatcher sp and my first Grass Snake on the Heath for two years was a nice bonus

Northern Wheatear

Whinchat

Little Egret

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On the 29th August I flushed the first Teal of the year (a scarce bird here). Other nice birds around included two Wheatear, Siskin, Peregrine, Yellow Wagtail (Fly-over) and a spotted Flycatcher

Eurasian Teal

On the 30th of August a Siskin landed on Parliament hill.

In all it was a very exciting month and there looks to be a good autumn ahead! The Pied Flycatchers (and others found by other birders) were the first records I know of for seven years! What a great few weeks of birding! It was a shame not to find any sandpipers however.

Oare marshes

Oare Marshes, August 2nd 2020

I’d been meaning to visit this reserve for quite a while but because of lockdown i wasn’t able to visit in spring. However my visit in August was by far my best days birding in 2020!

As we began to walk along the river out of Faversham I was already scanning for any waders but without luck. In the fields on the side of the path something caught my eye and I yelled “sparrowhawk!” To my brother.  But as I watched it seemed a bit odd and I suddenly realised I was getting my first proper view of an adult cuckoo! Not a bad start! At the reserve entrance we were greeted by a yellow wagtail and a pair of hobby rocketing about. I was a bit annoyed to hear my parents had seen a pair of bearded tits perched in front of them though! Continuing along the river wall I picked out common sandpiper, whimbrel and with a bit of help a few bearded tits in flight. 

Whimbrel

Eurasian Hobby

While My family stopped for lunch, I headed to the car park to see if anyone had found the bonapartes gull. Unfortunately they hadn’t. I spent the next hour or so searching through waders in the company of two helpful and more experienced birders. Or more accurately I stood there while they found me curlew sandpiper, Ruff, Greenshank, Water Rail, Snipe, Little ringed Plover, Turtle Dove and much more!

Golden Plover & Dunlin

Spot the Curlew Sandpiper!

Then a marsh harrier put in an appearance and sent the waders up in the air which was pretty impressive! I headed back to the river wall to find my family where I saw plenty of Yellow Wagtails and Linnets as well as black tailed godwits feeding out on the mud. We walked along towards a pool which I’d been told was good for grass snakes although not expecting to see any. When I arrived I was amazed to see two young grass snakes barely a foot long each, basking and swimming about among the weeds in the company of Marsh Frogs! Although Marsh Frogs are an introduced species I do love them as they add a bit of a southern vibe to the Kentish marshes and lets face it, they’re awesome! We watched the snakes for half an hour while yellow wagtails streamed overhead and corn buntings sang in the distance. 

Grass Snakes 

As we walked back along the sea wall a med gull flew a few metres over my head which was a nice surprise. At the car park I sat down for a bit and scanned across the mud absent-mindedly not expecting to see much. Imagine my surprise when I came across the moulting bonapartes gull! 

Bonapartes Gull

What a stunner! The walk back gave me a few ringed plover and an oystercatcher (my second favourite wader!).

What a brilliant day it had been; no fewer than four lifers while surrounded by some of my favourite animals like Grass Snakes and Hobbies. I definitely plan on going back in autumn!

May 2020 birding Hampstead Heath

May has so far been my most exciting month of birdwatching here on Hampstead Heath! I finally pretty much managed to get the hang of skywatching or “vizmig” and learned to identify most finches and other migrant passerines by flight call although I’m still missing a definite tree pipit! The beginning of the month started well with two hobby on the 2nd of may as well as house martin and a huge arrival of swifts. I even had a very high up bird which may have been an osprey but oh well. The next few days also brought the first six common terns of the year, a pair of Reed Warblers as well as  kestrel and little egret from my flat!

There was also quiet a few peregrines about with three sightings in the beginning of the month. Another hobbywent over my flat on the 9th and yellow wagtail flew over on the 12th.  Greylag geese made a few appearances too which are still uncommon here. The best bird of the month was a crossbill that flew over Parliament hill on a windy bitterly cold morning at 6:30am on the 13th. Luckily I managed to record the call to be identified later! The second half of the month was quieter with the highlights being a long staying pair of common terns, kingfishers showing occasionally, seven great spotted woodpecker nests and a sparrowhawk nest which unfortunately appeared to be destroyed by magpies only a day after I first saw it. When Kenwood reopened I had hobby, willow warbler and brilliant views of the new common buzzard pair!

Two other possible good birds which got away to soon were an egret sp which flew over at a ridiculous height and a possible female redstart which disappeared before I could get a real look!

Sheppey & Hampstead Heath Jan 2020

Sheppey & Hampstead Heath January 2020

By the end of January I was getting desperate to find a short eared owl, I was sure I was the only person who’d never found one now! So when a friend offered me a lift to Elmley I accepted the offer straight away!  The plan was for me to try and see all five owl species in a single day. 

First thing in the morning I headed onto to Hampstead Heath to have a look for the tawny. I soon found 3 meadow pipits hiding in the damp grass and a huge flock of at least sixty siskin. I then met Sam Levy and we headed to towards to kenwood to have a look around. Imagine my disappointment when, on the one day I really wanted to see it, the tawny owl wasn’t there! Despite this we found seven goldcrest ,a few gadwall and a kestrel but not much else. While Sam continued his walk I headed off to Charing Cross to catch the train. I arrived in Sevenoaks half an hour later where I continued the journey by car with my friend Henry who I’d met at rainham a few months before.

On arriving at elmley we were greeted by several marsh Harriers, a very pale buzzard which I mistook for a rough legged buzzard, plenty of lapwing, a pair of shelduck, redshanks, brown hares and thirty or so curlew along the entry road.

Within seconds of getting out of the car I had two lifers! First a long eared owl hiding in the trees through someone’s scope followed by the brilliant sight of a short eared owl perched only thirty metres away! While still in the car park we had fly over black tailed godwits and a raven

Short eared owl, a long awaited lifer

Spot the long eared owl

We then proceeded towards an old building where we could apparently see little owl. long before we made it there we were stopped by several incredible short eared owls hunting along the side of the path who showed incredibly!

Short eared owls being kinda friendly

We’d feared the grey weather might bring rain and ruin our chances of seeing owls but instead it had put the whole island in constant dim dusk-like state which meant the owls were hunting all day! At the end of the path we were treated to the grim view across Sheppey towards the river. By the riverside was a large reedbed where we could make out distant marsh harriers hunting.

Distant marsh harrier 

Eventually someone picked out the little owl on the ruined building (a school I believe). 

We spent another hour watching the short eared owls battling along the edge of the path giving some amazing photo opportunities (all of which I missed out on)

My incredible action shots

Then we headed over towards the sea wall where I hoped to see some waders. We didn’t get very far before we were distracted by owls again though! The bay was full of wigeon but the high tide meant the only waders visible were a few turnstone and a redshank.

Turnstones

We decided to head back towards the car park in the hope of finding a barn owl rather than continuing along the sea wall. Near the car park another helpful birder put us onto a pair of peregrine perched around a kilometre away! I was amazed that anyone had seen them from so far off and even more so when they then found a merlin at a similar distance. I had a look through the scope and decided I’d have to take their word for it that the distant blob was even a bird. For that reason, merlin isn’t on my year list. We failed to find any barn owls but as we drove out of the reserve we were treated to awesome views of a short eared owl alongside the car! In all it was a very successful day and I’d got my two target birds without any trouble at all!

France birding August 2019

Southern France August 2019

A trip to the Pyrenees was something I’d been looking forward to for months and I was just getting into birding I was excited to see what I’d find! I saw a lot more than I’d hoped with around 30 lifers (some more basic than others).

Having completed the 9 hour train journey from London to Perpignan, we stayed the night in the city. Even as we got out of the cab there were a couple of moorish geckos running around street lamps and windows! The next morning we went for a quick walk around town before we got the bus towards the mountains. By a little canal we saw our first lifer of the trip, a white wagtail (although I didn’t realise it was a separate species at the time). Other than that the city was fairly quiet for birds.

The bus left us at Vinca, a town next to a huge reservoir (which I foolishly ignored) in the tet river valley. I had a look in the woods before lunch but finding nothing but a blue tit I felt a bit disheartened and wondered if perhaps my expectations had been too high. 

After a misunderstanding which left us waiting for lift in town for a couple of hours, we ended up at the house we were staying at. Perfectly positioned at the bottom of a valley in the mountains, it looked out over kilometres of unbroken forest but all seemed quiet for birds aside from a kestrel. I sat there feeling a bit annoyed, how could I be here and be disappointed! But it didn’t last long, a short toed eagle over the distant peaks caught my interest, followed by a distant pair of serin in a dead tree, a black redstart in the neighbors garden and best of all a hoopoe which my brother spotted flying over the garden! All this without leaving the garden! The next day we had a two day hike planned so we headed to bed early.

The next morning we started on a beautiful damp sunrise surrounded by swallows. No sooner than we’d stepped onto the road the only bee eater of the trip flew over our heads. The next couple of hours walking were fairly uneventful with golden eagle, green lizard and a flock of crag martins (I think).

When we stopped for lunch I saw my first ever firecrest and a Pyrenean Brook newt. The next seven hours passed without many interesting birds aside from crested tits and despite obvious sign of black woodpeckers there were none to be found.

When we finally got out the woods and above the tree line we were greeted by an odd group birds foraging in the grass in varying shades of brown and yellow. They were remarkably tame and we stopped for a couple of minutes to watch them. I looked them up that night and discovered that they were citril finches. One final surprise that day was a couple of southern chamois below the mountain refuge we were staying at.

The next morning the second I went out the door, there were birds. Alpine accentor on the steps outside the door,crossbill and citril finches showing feet from the refuge ! On the terrifying climb up to the peak we saw ptarmigan, alpine chough and griffon vultures. The climb back down the mountain passed without much event. 

View outside the refuge

Citril finch and crossbill 

The next day we had a couple of golden oriole from the balcony, some great spotted woodpeckers and one lesser spotted woodpecker that landed in the garden. Calling regularly in the woods were what I believe was wryneck although we never found one.

On the way to the next location, we ended up waiting 3 hours for a train but it was a wait well spent with serin,golden oriole, black redstart, cirl bunting and griffon vultures In and around the station.

At the the next train station we saw a couple of golden eagles and when we arrived the garden was stuffed with black redstart. It was bitterly cold and mist hung around all the mountains that evening but by the morning the sun had burned it off.

An early walk in the woods revealed 17 black kite and a couple of goldcrests. The next morning we had a spectacular fly by from a short toed eagle only a few metres away! 

I also saw red backed shrike on the way to the shops. A hike in the valley d’eyne nature reserve had us find bullfinch, firecrest, dipper, red backed shrike, golden eagle, griffon vulture, short toed eagle and alpine marmots.

Short toed eagle, dipper, red backed shrike and firecrest 

 A walk at night saw two juvenile fire salamander. 

There was also a common redstart In the garden.  A couple more bullfinch and spotted flycatcher on the edge of town were nice too. The final day in the mountains had plenty of griffon vultures, crested tits and ravens but not much else. On the return journey back to Perpignan I came across another dipper!

Finally before going home we were to spend two days at the beach but surprisingly I had several more lifers. It was just the same place as I’ve always gone to with the family but only recently did I find out it’s one of the best migration viewpoints in France and gets thousands of honey buzzard, as well as pallid harriers and red footed falcons etc. Unfortunately for me I didn’t know this at the time and migration hadn’t started yet anyway.

When we arrived we decided to walk over to the beach across a rocky plateau. The moment we stepped out of town we were greeted by the scratchy calls of various warblers. The most obvious were Sardinian warblers but I’m fairly sure I saw Dartford and spectacled warblers too!

The next two days we did the same thing of walking across the plateau to the beach. We saw a nice woodchat shrike, a family of wild red legged partridge ,Algerian sand racer lizard (one of my favouritess) and best of all an enormous ,green, glistening ocellated lizard! I also saw a dark, low flying, falcon like bird that I concluded must have been a nightjar flushed by a tourist (there are signs warning about nightjars there so they are present).The beach had a decent tidal lagoon in which I was overjoyed to see my first great egret as well as yellow legged gulls and a pair of Kentish plover. I also saw a couple of terns at the beach but stupidly ignored them!

Kentish plover and great egret just behind the beach!

On the train journey home we passed a couple of good lagoons and saw a flock of greater flamingos, several hundred egrets including my first cattle egrets and 10+ marsh harriers!

In all it was a brilliant trip given that it wasn’t planned to do any birding in particular and my knowledge of birds was fairly limited and therefore I missed the chance to see species like snowfinch, zitting cistocola , basically any waders terns or pipits! However I did learn several new species that’d I’d never heard of before like citril finch! A very enjoyable trip with more than thirty lifers! In fact the only good birds that weren’t lifers were golden oriole, bee eater and golden eagle pretty much! I hope to return this summer! 

Thanks for reading if you actually finished all this👍