Spotted Redshank at Wilstone Reservoir

A visit to Wilstone Reservoir before work this morning, 25 August 2005, was rewarded with views of the juvenile Spotted Redshank, reported earlier on HertsBirding. I had been in the hide for 10-15 minutes before the Spotted Redshank, accompanied by a Greenshank, landed on the shingle spit in front of the hide. The Greenshank promptly went to sleep, balancing on one leg. The Spotted Redshank immediately began feeding, patrolling the shallows on the west side of the spit, often in water up to its belly so that its legs were rarely visible. It seemed to be picking small items from, or just below, the surface of the water – whatever they were too small to see through a X22 telescope. It then caught a small, about ⅔ length of bill, dark (brownish or dark olive, I think) fish which it spent nearly a minute manipulating and ‘washing’ by shaking vigorously in the water before swallowing it head first. Another similar fish was caught almost immediately and treated in the same way.

The Spotted Redshank was only seen briefly in flight as it came into land and not long enough to note any details. It was slightly smaller than the accompanying Greenshank, with a similar graceful build as opposed to the ‘chunky’ juvenile Ruff also on the spit. The bill was long but noticeably finer than the Greenshank and black with some red at the base (less than ⅓ length of bill. The books say this should only be on the lower mandible but I did not notice this. The legs, when visible, appeared pinker than those of the Redshank seen earlier, but this may have been an effect of back-lighting. Colours and fine detail were not easy to see looking into the bright morning sunlight. The Spotted Redshank was slightly darker than the Greenshank, not so grey-and-white, with a pale supercilium, more marked in front of the eye and only faint behind the eye. Underparts seemed uniform grey, with no hint of white. Upperparts were mottled and slightly darker than the Greenshank. The rump was not seen.

When I left at 08:45 the Greenshank and Spotted Redshank were still in front of the hide. Also seen at Wilstone this morning were:

Shelduck 1
Barnacle Goose 1
Ruff 1
Redshank 1
Kingfisher 2
Grey Wagtail 4 on bank near car park.

Pied Wagtail Behaviour

Gardening has never been one of my favourite pastimes. On the evening of 13 May 2005 I was easily distracted from the task in hand, weeding the front garden, by the behaviour of a pair of Pied Wagtails Motacilla alba yarrelli. A female landed on the road less than three metres from where I was supposedly weeding and began walking, occasionally running, to and fro, picking something small from the surface of the road. Whatever she was gleaning was too small for me to see with the naked eye, let alone identify, even at close range. After a short while a male Pied Wagtail landed close to the female and began following her, almost beak to tail. The female continued to feed, seeming to completely ignore the male, who made no attempt to feed. The male must have followed the female in this way for more than a minute and for more than 10 metres across the road before giving a display that I had not seen before. He seemed to flatten himself into the road, spreading his tail and left wing wide while the right wing was kept folded close to the body. He took on a most unbird-like, startlingly black-and-white shape. The female continued feeding, walking away from, and still apparently ignoring, the male. He held the display posture for 5-10 seconds before standing up, shaking himself and then running after the female. Once behind her, he again flattened himself into the road. Sadly at that point a car came round the corner, disturbing both wagtails which flew away over the houses. I returned to my weeding.

A Six Warbler Walk

A fine, clear, calm night had caused the temperature to plummet and when I woke at 06:00 there was a crisp frost. The cold had not deterred the birds: Goldfinches and Greenfinches were breakfasting at our seed feeders while Wood Pigeon, Collared Doves and Dunnock fed on the ground below. After my own breakfast, I headed out on my regular walk (although not as regular as I would like) which takes me from Henlow via Henlow Grange to Langford then north alongside the River Ivel to Langford Mill before turning south-westwards and crossing Langford Meadows to Stanford Lock and then home by way of Clifton. Overnight the Collared Dove nest in our silver birch tree seems to have succumbed to the local moggies, as there was broken shell under the tree and the flimsy nest looked even more fragile. The Pyghtles, Henlow’s playing fields was white with frost, except for the close-shaved strip of the cricket pitch, prepared for the opening game of the season later today. A flock of 40 Starlings were the only birds but on the nearby school fields was a group of four Stock Doves and a lone female Mallard. My first warbler of the day was a Chiff-chaff, rendering its name from the plantation on the bank of the R. Ivel. In the cold morning air the fishing lakes were steaming, hiding any but the closest waterfowl that might have been present. I only saw Coot and Mute Swans but Blackcap and Willow Warblers sang from the scrub surrounding the lakes. Beside the northernmost pond, a water-side tree rising above the mist provided a perch for four Cormorants. Even though the sun was now up, the frost still remained. On the edge of Langford village a male Whitethroat was an incongruous sight as moved through the dense tangle of a frost-rimed bramble. Further Whitethroats and Blackcaps were seen and heard in shrubbery beside the R. Ivel. Now the sun was higher, the frost had disappeared from all but shaded areas and as I crossed Langford Meadows my boots got a soaking from the now very wet grass. Faint at first, the reeling song of a Grasshopper Warbler, often likened to the sound of fishing line being reeled in, was heard on the still morning air. The Gropper was eventually located in the middle of a large bramble on the bank of a stream but I never saw it, not even a flicker of movement. While I was in the area, for nearly 20 minutes, it reeled almost continuously with only short pauses, none longer than a minute. Nearby by in another streamside bush was a much more obliging Sedge Warbler, which was not only heard but also seen, bringing my warbler tally for the morning to six. Near Stanford Lock, I saw my only Swallow of the morning, a single bird following the R. Ivel north-westwards. Many summer visitors, including Swallow seem later arriving and/or less numerous than in previous years. Later perusal of the web suggested that Swallow numbers were down 90% compared with recent years (BTO’s Bird Track, www.bto.org/birdtrack/index.htm). Theories for this include problems in sub-Saharan Africa where large amounts of pesticide, used to quell last year’s locust plague, could have seriously reduced the insect prey available to migrant birds heading for Europe. Near Clifton I heard the unmistakable call of a Cuckoo, my first of the year. I was back in Henlow about 3-hours after setting out having recorded 47 species on my local patch.

Brambling in Henlow

Since we moved to Henlow in June 2002, the first week of the Beds Bird Club Summer Garden Bird survey has seen a new species added to our garden list. In 2003 it was a pair of Grey Partridge feeding on our front lawn and in 2004 it was a male Siskin visiting the peanut feeder. This year it was a male Brambling which joined the local Chaffinch flock and fed on seed that had been put out on the shed roof. It was first seen on Saturday morning (26th March) and was present regularly throughout the day, usually in the company of Chaffinches but once on its own for 10 minutes. It even fed during the heavy rain in the afternoon. At one point we had four species of finch feeding in the garden, Brambling, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch). The Brambling also visited other nearby gardens that put out food for the birds. It was seen briefly on Sunday 27th March.

It was a male Brambling, moulting from winter to summer plumage. It was noticeably larger than accompanying Chaffinches. The bill was pale with a dark tip and its head was mostly black but heavily mottled with brown/grey. The breast was pale orange and clearly separated from the white belly. This was a very noticeable feature when the bird was perched facing you. The upper scapulars were a similar colour to the breast while the lower ones were paler but not quite white. The back was mottled like the head. The rump was a large white oblong and the most noticeable feature when the bird flew.

It seemed to favour the stripy sunflower seeds, which it picked up flat. With a flick of its head, it turned the seed until it was held on its thin edges and then cracked the husk between its mandibles. The seed was then dropped and the seed heart eaten.

Waxwings in St Albans, continued

I drove into work via Mayne Avenue, St Albans, at 08:30 this morning. TheWaxwings were again present and behaving in a more ‘typical’ Waxwing-like manner. 22 were perched in one tree beside Mayne Avenue, making quiet trilling calls. I checked through the flock, but could see no rings on any of the birds that showed their legs. After a while the trilling calls became more insistent (louder?) then half the flock circled over the houses to land in a small tree on the north side of Glevum Close where the other 11 birds joned them shortly. From this perch the birds flew across the road in ones and twos, to a berry-bearing tree (identified as a Sorbus, by Alan Gardiner in an earlier email to HertsBirding). I could happily have spent all morning watching the Waxwings, but when I left to continue on my way towork all the birds were in Glevum Crescent. Some were perched in the tree on the north-side of the street while others fed on the Sorbus berries (fruit?)There was a regular movement to and from the two trees .I have driven home via Mayne Avenue each evening (at about 16:30) since first seeing the Waxwings on Monday (31/01/2005), but have not seen them on eitheroccasion.

Waxwings in St Albans

While on a lunch time mission (13:30-14:00), I was lucky enough to come upon 11 Waxwings perched in tree tops along Mayne Avenue where it runs alongside Bedmond Lane in NW St Albans (map ref: TL128064). The Waxwings were not in a flock but rather one or two perched in each tree, none of which was berry bearing. Indeed there were no berry bushes in the immediate vicinity.(although various berry-bearing ornanmental shrubs were seen when I later drove further into the estate). All the Waxwings were apparently fly-catching, flying out from their perch before turning and gliding back to the same perch, or moving along to the next tree. It was mild at lunch time, about 11oC and calm, but I could not see, even with binoculars, what the Waxwings were catching (if anything). I have not seen too many Waxwings previously but all have been feeding at berry-laden bushes and usually in a flock.

Going Solo : New Year’s Day, 2005

For the first time since I started my New Year’s Day (NYD) big birdwatch I would be going out alone. My constant companion since 1994 has been eldest son, Andrew but he now has job at Henlow Grange and was shifted to work on New Year’s Day 2005. As usual, my aim was to record as many species within 10 km of home, in the Bedfordshire village of Henlow and try to better the 65 species I had recorded on NYD 2004. My home range, the area within 10 km Henlow, stretches from the chalk downland of the Chilterns, rising to 183 m at Telegraph Hill in the south across the flood plain of the River Ivel and its tributary the Hiz to the greensand ridge in the north from which Sandy, HQ of the RSPB takes its name. The A6 trunk road between Luton and Bedford forms the western boundary while the eastern border is a line on the map passing through the village of Ashwell. Three towns, Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock, all in Hertfordshire, occupy the south-eastern quadrant while the smaller towns of Stotfold and Biggleswade lie on the route of the A1 which runs north-south across the area. The larger towns of Luton and Bedford lie outside our range, to the SW and NW respectively.

By 06:15 I was preparing to set off on a mild, calm, dry morning (another first for me on NYD in Bedfordshire!). At least two Robins were singing by the lights of the Henlow street lamps as I packed the car. And then I was off, touring the Southhill – Old Warden area in a search for owls before daybreak. First stop was Clifton cricket ground where the quacking of Mallard from the ornamental pond was interrupted by the tremulous hooting of a Tawny Owl (06:25). Rabbits were numerous on the roadside verge by Stanford plantation and a Muntjac stood frozen in the headlights. Next a very pale bird was seen perched in a sapling beside the Stanford – Ireland road. There was no other traffic about at this time on new year’s day, so it was safe to reverse and there watching me watching him was a magnificent Barn Owl (06:35). It eventually tired of looking at me and drifted off over the fields to the north of the road. A good bird to get this early. Wood Pigeons roosted in the roadside trees and other Tawny Owls were seen flying over the pub at Ireland and across the road into Keeper’s Warren where another Muntjac was seen on the edge of the woods. Another Tawny Owl was heard to the west of Old Rowney Lane, but try as I might I could not find a Little Owl, probably one of the commoner owl species. As the sky began to lighten in the east Carrion Crows and Pheasants were heard calling followed soon after by the chuntering of a Red-legged Partridge.

Last year after visiting Swiss Gardens in mid-morning, Phil Whittington had suggested this would be a good place to be first thing, so taking his advice, I headed through Old Warden, disturbing a Blackbird from the verge and pulled in at the green box lay-by. It was still not properly light and I was still hearing more birds than I was seeing. Robins and Wrens were singing, a Moorhen squawked, a flock of Greylag Geese honked and a mixed flock of Rooks and Jackdaws headed north-west, silhouetted against the lightening sky. As I made my way towards the woods, the thin whistle of a Redwing was heard, a Dunnock joined the weak dawn chorus and a Great Tit (20th species at 07:35) called from the roadside trees. On the Swiss Gardens pond there were two Tufted Ducks and 29 Mallard (17 males and 12 females). It was still quite gloomy under the trees and I was still hearing more than I was seeing. The calls of Nuthatch rang out and a Fieldfare ‘chakked’ as it flew over, then a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming and a Green Woodpecker yaffled. As I wandered through the damp woods Chaffinch, Goldcrest and Magpie were heard. Back at the pond, a pair of Mandarin Ducks swam out from beneath the overhanging trees and a Dabchick, drab in its winter plumage, dived repeatedly at the far end of the pond where there were also a couple of Coot. A second circuit of the wood in conditions more conducive to seeing the birds only added Blue Tit and Long-tailed Tit but there were now two drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers. I left Swiss Gardens with 30 species and had picked up Nuthatch (missed last year) but not Treecreeper.

I now retraced my earlier owling route seeing a Sparrowhawk glide across the fields near Old Warden church, several Collared Doves in the village and a couple of Buzzards perched in oak trees near Warden Street. Nearby a flock of Starlings were feeding in a horse paddock. I was just about to close the car window, it had been opened to get a better view of the Buzzards, when I heard a familiar call, but one to which I struggled to put a name until I suddenly realised it was Tree Sparrow. I scanned the nearby hedges and eventually located two near the stable block. I think that is the first time I have recorded this species on a NYD birdwatch in this country and certainly a surprise to get it before House Sparrow! Along Old Rowney Lane was a single Stock Dove, a flock of seven Goldfinches feeding on teasel heads. Black-headed Gulls drifted over and Coal Tits were heard calling form the conifer woodland of Warden Warren. Eight Pochard seemed to be the only waterfowl on Southill Park lake where there was a solitary Grey Heron perched in bushes on the south side of the water. Between the lake and Southill village a field of sunflowers was attracting a large flock of seedeaters including Yellow Hammers, Greenfinches and numerous Wood Pigeons.

I reached Broom at 09:45 and got out of the car for my second walk of the day. The weather was still fine, cold (2oC), overcast with a light breeze. A flock of Lapwing had settled on the pit nearest G&M Growers while Pied Wagtails fed on the old out-wash pit. A single Skylark flew over calling. Another birder, ahead of me on the track disturbed a Green Sandpiper which circled the pits flashing its dark underwings and white rump while making its distinctive call. On the deeper pits, closest to the Biggleswade – Caldecote road, were the hoped for waterfowl including Teal, a pair of Mute Swans, a single Shelduck (50th species at 10:07) was an unexpected species, and a male Gadwall. Canada Geese stood on the banks between the pits and a solitary adult Cormorant flew over. In the woods near the moat house a Treecreeper was seen in a mixed flock of tits (we thought we had heard one hear last year, but did not manage to confirm it). The water in the new workings, between the moat house and Broom village, was much more extensive than on my last visit. An adult Lesser Black-Backed Gull bathed in the shallows as a flock of 7 Golden Plovers flew SW over the pits. As I walked round the new workings a single Meadow Pipit was disturbed. A small flock of c.20 Wigeon fed on the grassy banks of the landscaped pit closest to Broom village while on the rough ground of the new workings was a flock of c.30 Linnets. I left Broom at 11:06 having seen 59 species and high hopes of beating last year’s score.

From Broom, I drove by way of Holme (Jordan’s) Mill (no sign of Grey Wagtail around the various weirs and sluices) to Langford Mill where a Mistle Thrush fed on the playing fields and House Sparrows (61st Species at 11:40) were seen in the surrounding gardens. Again I missed out on Grey Wagtail and the Water Rail which I have seen on a couple of occasions below the mill weir. I had intended parking by the mill and having my lunch overlooking the water but the parking spaces were filled so I decided to head south-east to Clophill and Cainhoe sand-pits. The only species of note on the 20-mile drive were a Buzzard soaring over the fields to the north-west of Rowney Warren and a Common Gull among a flock of Black-headed Gulls on fields near Haynes Park. As usual most of the waterbirds at Cainhoe were on the easternmost (and furthest from the village) pit. There were disappointingly few new species, two pairs of Shoveler and a Great Crested Grebe in breeding plumage. I felt the time spent driving could probably have been better spent closer to home. I retraced my route to Swiss Gardens, seeing my first Kestrel of the day, characteristically hovering over the roadside. Another circuit of the Swiss Garden woods added nothing new although the Great Spotted Woodpeckers were still drumming.

I decided to spend the last light of the day on Biggleswade Common and Warren Villas nature reserve. Parking in Biggleswade, I followed the River Ivel north and almost immediately heard a Kingfisher, which was seen perched briefly in a willow over-hanging the water before disappearing along one of the numerous drainage ditches. Among the many gulls flying north-east over the common was at least one Herring Gull but no Great Black-Backs. At Warren Villas, I saw all the species I had seen at Cainhoe, including a Kestrel hunting over the fields, so could have saved myself that round journey and spent more time in the field. Among a flock of Greylags feeding in a field to the north of the pits was a single Barnacle Goose, which I am not certain can be counted, so have omitted from the final tally. In the pond side alders a flock of 20 Goldfinches extracted seeds from the small cones but no Siskins or Redpoll which seem rather scarce this winter. As I reached the furthest point of my walk, the sky darkened, threatening rain so I decided to make haste back to the car. As I walked back a Snipe flushed from a damp patch on the common was my first of the day. Meanwhile, as the light dropped, numerous Starlings and Pied Wagtails flew west over the common to their roost at Sainsburys. I beat the rain back to the car, just and in worsening conditions (well, it wouldn’t be New Year’s Day in Bedfordshire without some rain) decided to wend my home. Near the Shuttleworth collection a covey of 6 Partridge flew across the road and landed nearby. With no traffic on the road, I was able to stop and was pleased to find they were all Grey Partridges which turned out to be my 69th and last species of the day.

My third NYD in Bedfordshire had been blessed with better weather than the previous two and with longer in the field I had recorded four more species. However, after a good morning (59 species by 11:08) I had only added a further 10 species in the afternoon. Better planning to pick up some of the trickier species is required for the afternoon session. I had stayed within Bedfordshire, mostly to the north and west of Henlow and driven 72 miles (30 miles further than last year!). As usual there were several species that I hoped/expected to see including Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon (which I probably did see but not note down), Little Owl, Grey Wagtail, Song Thrush (which I seem to miss each NYD), Jay, Siskin, Redpoll, and Reed Bunting. Five species, Shelduck, Green Sandpiper, Barn Owl, Linnet and Barnacle Goose (if the latter can be counted) were recorded for the first time on a NYD big birdwatch in Bedfordshire. On three New Year’s Day birdwatches in Bedfordshire, I have recorded 75 species – not a bad target to aim for next year!