20th November

 A nice walk in the morning down my stretch of the River Teme at Leintwardine for the first time in ages produced all the usual suspects although the highlight was a Great White Egret which flew high upstream along with 3 Kingfishers, 2 Dippers, a Green Sandpiper, 4 Little Egrets, 3 Grey Wagtails and 30+ Siskins.   

The rest of the day was quiet with good views of the long-staying Red-throated Diver at Brockhall Gravel Pit (always scarce inland) with two drake Pintail and 193 Wigeon the only other birds of note here and 10 Mandarin at Bodenham.

Green Sandpiper

Heron

Dippers

Red Kite

Buzzard

(not) LANDGUARD - 1st August

 A good few hours at Bawdsey Quay first thing produced some good birds highlighted by a Great White Egret which flew south down the coast and a Wood Sandpiper on the saltmarsh at high tide; other birds comprised 13 Barnacle Geese oddly roosting with gulls on the shingle islands at the river mouth, a Cuckoo, at least 9 Mediterranean Gulls (six juveniles), a Red Kite circling over the other side of the river, a Little Owl in old building and single Redstart and Willow Warbler with a good number of more locally bred Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Reed Warblers.   

There was little new at East Lane which was highlighted by a lovely, pristine, fresh juvenile Red Kite right over my head and a Common Sandpiper before a look at Hollesley RSPB produced a nice little array of waders including single Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper and Greenshank, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Avocets and 4 Knot.

Great White Egret over my head at Bawdsey

Little Owl

Peregrine

Red Kite

Juvenile and adult Sedge Warbler

Grayling

LANDGUARD - 30th April

 Calm and chilly first thing, developing into the standard ‘sunny but still with a cold edge to it’ rest of the day; there was a little upturn in grounded migrants in the compound which included 3 Blackcaps, a Chaffinch, a Chiffchaff, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, a couple of new Robins, 9 Wheatears and 4 Willow Warblers.   

Overhead and on the sea, birds of note comprised 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Kittiwake south, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, a Marsh Harrier high south, 8 Swallows, a Yellow Wagtail and the female Peregrine soaring around the dock cranes.   

A walk in the afternoon to Trimley Marshes via Loompit was pretty productive; Loompit was similarly packed with singing migrants as yesterday including 4 Nightingales, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and an increase in House Martins while there was a nice array of highlights at Trimley consisting of a Swift, 3 Whimbrel, 46 Black-tailed Godwits, a beautiful, black Spotted Redshank, 2 Wood Sandpipers, a Red Kite and a Short-eared Owl which oddly spiraled up high together and headed upriver, a big female Peregrine from the VP (I don’t think it was the dock bird), lots of hirundines including 150 Swallows, 10+ Yellow Wagtails and an increase in singing warblers, notably Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats.

Short-eared Owl and Red Kite

Turnstone

SWEDEN - 3rd September

 A very different day with early morning light rain delaying the start of ringing at Fågelsjön for a couple of hours but when we did get started it was a decent session with the big flock of Siskins feeding on the thistle heads along the path producing most of the birds but the total also included 2 Bluethroats (both young females, with two other seen along the path), a Savi’s Warbler and a smart juvenile Whinchat.   

There wasn’t too much else flying around in the heavily overcast conditions with 2 Golden Plover with the Lapwings the first for a while, 2 Spotted Redshanks flying about and single Tree Pipit and Wheatear along the path.   

A walk in the afternoon to Rysjön and back in the still overcast weather (becoming drizzly by mid-afternoon) was also fairly quiet with an increased 68 Barnacle Geese and 9 Taiga Bean Geese on Rysjön along with a Little Grebe, a tatty adult Red Kite which flew east and probably 3 Hobbies hawking over the reedbeds.   

Bluethroat and Savi’s Warbler

Whinchat

Red Kite

SWEDEN - 30th August

 The nets had a bit of life in them at Ason in the morning as bits included single Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Garden Warbler and Treecreeper while other birds in the calm, overcast conditions comprised a group of 11 Taiga Bean Geese which appeared from nowhere on the lake with some Greylags (the first returning birds), a single Grey Wagtail south, a Common Sandpiper, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Black Woodpeckers, 3 House Martins and 2 Tree Pipits.   

A productive walk round the eastern part of the reserve, over by Sörön from lunchtime in the still calm and overcast conditions (feeling a bit autumnal!) produced a notable influx of c40 Pintail and 30+ Wigeon, a few waders flying around with Dunlin and Ringed Plover heard and 5 Spotted Redshanks and 2 Greenshanks seen, a few raptors comprising 2 Ospreys, 2 Sparrowhawks, a Hobby and most notably 2 Red Kites together over by Sörön (rare here and only my second in Sweden), my first Long-tailed Tits on the reserve (heard on the edge of Sörön) and a few migrants scattered around including a Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Goldcrests, 4 Spotted Flycatchers, a Whinchat, 5 Wheatears, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Tree Pipits, a Brambling  and a single Hawfinch by the house.   

Treecreeper – not bad for a familiaris but kind of an intergrade I guess, it had a nice, pale, frosty back and bright white underparts but the supercillium could have been better

Spotted Flycatcher

Red Kites

Wheatear

SWEDEN - 12th July

The morning’s ringing at Rysjön was quiet but did include a notable increase in juvenile Willow Warblers (21 caught), another juvenile Thrush Nightingale and four juvenile Blackcaps; other birds seen included 3 Cuckoos, 2 calling Wrynecks, 2 Green Woodpeckers, a male Red-backed Shrike (my first in Kvismaren) and a steady southward passage of 300+ Black-headed Gulls in the first few hours until a front moved in a halted them.   

A look at Löten mid-afternoon then produced a Little Ringed Plover, 14 Ruff, 10 Curlew Sandpipers, 28 Dunlin, a Green Sandpiper, 10 Spotted Redshanks (an increase), 12 Greenshank and 30 Wood Sandpipers all flushed repeatedly by a very bleached, pale looking 2cy male Peregrine which failed to catch anything despite several full-on, hardcore dives into the flocks.   

A Red Kite was following the tractors cutting the silage in the fields near the Obs on my return – scarce but regular round here and this far north in Sweden.

Peregrine

Red Kite

LOCKDOWN - Week Seven

5^th May

                Just walk up and down the lane at Wyke a few times where birds seen included 2 Swifts, 8 House Martins, 3 Sand Martins and a Peregrine over the woods.   There was a cool little dancing group of c12 Gren Longhorns at the gate to the Cart-track – all males, waiting for a female to pass by.

6^th May

                A decent walk round the Benthall loop in the bright, sunny, warm conditions produced the first Spotted Flycatcher of the year at Benthall Pools where the male Redstart was still giving little snatches of song and the first Greylag Goose goslings were out and about; other birds included a singing Garden Warbler at Watery Lane, a Swift, a Red Kite (with a second one in the afternoon) and two new Lesser Whitethroats singing at The Vineyards with a few more Whitethroats on territory as well.   The dancing swarm of male Green Longhorns at the Cart-track gate rose to at least 25.

7^th May

                There were three Peregrines over the woods at Farley in the morning along with 3 House Martins, a Swift, several singing Lesser Whitethroats and a Grey Wagtail.   A Sand Martin went over Wyke in the afternoon where there was also an adult female Sparrowhawk, full-on displaying to a 2cy male and a Silver-Y up the lane – the first migrant insect of the spring.

8^th May

                Not too much of note on the Benthall loop with a couple of House Martins over, two Swifts high over Benthall Edge and the usual singing warblers; there are now two broods of small Coot chicks out on Benthall Pools along with two broods of Greylag Geese.   The first Large Red Damselfly had emerged on the second Benthall Pool and there was another dancing swarm of 15 Green Longhorns near the Vineyards as well as a smart Scorpion Fly.

9^th May

                The highlight of this lovely, warm, calm day was a surprise Sedge Warbler singing in the cover crop just down the lane to the south of Wyke; a Sand Martin went north, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls went west and a couple of Lesser Whitethroats were singing further to the south of Wyke.

10^th May

                A complete change in the weather with overcast conditions and a chilly, brisk and increasing NE wind; the days highlight came straight away with a Quail heard singing in fields to the east of Wyke, early in the morning as I was checking the moth trap – it was later tracked down to the corner of the Rape field, right by the gate to the Cart-track.   The Benthall loop then produced a Spotted Flycatcher at Benthall Farm and a pair of Garden Warblers at Watery Lane with at least 26 Canada Goose goslings at the pools.   Another Spotted Flycatcher was then at Woodhouse Farm.

11^th May

                Partly cloudy with a very cold NE wind still; not too much to mention with a 2cy Red Kite heading purposefully NE into the wind over Benthall Hall looking like a real passage bird (wishful thinking that it is connected to the big numbers moving along the south coast at the moment) and two Swifts over Wyke the only birds of note.   There were 30+ Canada Goose goslings on the main Benthall Pool along with one brood of Greylags and four broods of tiny, ugly Coot chicks while the Little Grebes have probably hatched as well judging from the adults change in behaviour but I didn’t see any chicks.

Kestrel

Swallows

2cy Red Kite

Canada Geese