Don Stone and I saw this WHINCHAT in Chenies today, in the paddocks behind the Red Lion public house.
Friday, 20 September 2013
Monday, 16 September 2013
Shardeloes Lake on Saturday
My first visit in a while but 56 NORTHERN POCHARD on the lake was a surprise - the largest number I have seen this early in the autumn. Other duck present included a single TEAL, 26 GADWALL and 8 Tufted Duck, whilst the 3 Mute Swans, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 13 Little Grebes and 97 Coot were also noted. Otherwise, 40 Barn Swallows, 6 House Martins, Wren, 2 Common Chiffchaff, Jay, 3 Red Kite and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull were seen.
Pictures to be added
Pictures to be added
Now a COMMON STONECHAT at Heronsgate
Male Common Stonechat (Alan Reynolds)
In exactly the same fields as last week at Heronsgate, Paul Lewis and I had a first-year male COMMON STONECHAT - the first in my Recording Area this year. Paul also had 4 NORTHERN WHEATEARS on the plough
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Chats still present at Heronsgate
Paul Lewis confirmed the continuing presence of the 3 NORTHERN WHEATEARS and 2 juvenile WHINCHATS at Heronsgate fields today...
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
WHINCHATS
TUESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER
The unsettled nature of the weather
continued today with long spells of rain at times and a lot of heavy cloud.
Temperatures struggled to reach 13 degrees C whilst the wind direction was a
brisk Northwesterly. The theme today was of more passage
waders...........
The pair of BULLFINCH visited one of the
birdtables in my LITTLE CHALFONT garden early morning, the first visit in a
while.
My first visit to WILSTONE RESERVOIR (TRING)
today was from 0930-1230 hours - the highlight being the arrival of 3 'new'
juvenile BLACK-TAILED GODWITS and a splendid performance by up to 5 HOBBIES.
Despite a long vigil, there was no confirmed sightings of the Spotted Crake all
day - just 4 WATER RAILS causing identification problems, particularly the
juveniles.
The roll call was thus -:
Great Crested Grebe (16 counted, including
an adult feeding two stripy juveniles)
Little Grebe (first-winter still present by
hide)
Sinensis Cormorant (37, including 1-2
juveniles in a late Drayton Bank nest)
Grey Heron (8 including one with a small Pike - see images below)
Little Egret (10)
Mute Swan (41)
Greylag Goose (68+)
Mallard (116)
Gadwall (increase to 21)
Shoveler (75)
Eurasian Wigeon (58)
Common Teal (370) (but no sign of 2 Garganey
nor of any Pintail yet)
Northern Pochard (38)
Tufted Duck (121)
Red Kite (1)
Common Buzzard (4)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk (1)
HOBBY (5 mobbing a Common Buzzard at one
instance, with a lot of practising from the two juveniles)
WATER RAIL (4 - 3 juveniles - all along SE
shoreline)
Moorhen (51)
Coot (772)
LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (juvenile still
present)
Lapwing (215)
GREEN SANDPIPER (2)
COMMON GREENSHANK (still present and
favouring 'crake' shore)
Common Snipe (5)
Black-headed Gull (300)
Common Tern (7)
Woodpigeon (75)
Stock Dove (1)
COMMON KINGFISHER (3)
House Martin (15)
Pied Wagtail (13)
Wren (1)
Robin (1)
Goldcrest (1 behind hide)
Great Tit (2)
Having still not seen a Whinchat in
Hertfordshire this year, I then set off for BEECH FARM/ELLENBROOK FIELDS, where
I carried out a thorough search. Acres of suitable habitat but just no birds to
be found - no redstarts, warblers or chats. All that was of note were 3 Green
Woodpeckers, Common Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Nuthatch and 2 Common
Chiffchaffs.
After just conversing with Alan Reynolds re:
King's Mead Whinchats, Steve Blake came up with a better option - Paul Lewis had
just found 2 near HERONSGATE - just within my immediate Recording Area. A quick
call to Paul revealed their exact location and after a swift walk, I eventually
located both birds (juveniles) along the fenceline at TQ 026 947, just under a
mile NW of Junction 17 of the M25. On the opposite side of the footpath (at TQ
031 946), 3 NORTHERN WHEATEARS were together in the ploughed field. I
successfully photographed all 5 birds (see below). Three Meadow Pipits were also
in one of the meadows.
A picture of the area
I then returned to WILSTONE RESERVOIR from
1800-1930 hours where just 2 of the 4 juvenile RUFF discovered by JT and Jeff
Bailey mid afternoon were still present left of the Drayton Bank Hide. This
makes this autumn's total 9 individuals - the largest influx in over 20 years. I
photographed both birds (below). A 5th juvenile BLACK-TAILED GODWIT had also
arrived, all 5 birds wading in shallow water in the NW corner. A YELLOW WAGTAIL
was to the right of the hide, with 3 GREY WAGTAILS along the North Shore, whilst
30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew east at dusk.
Exciting times currently at the reservoirs.
What will tomorrow bring?
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
First WHINCHAT of autumn
Two hours spent in Pednor on Sunday proved rewarding, with the Whinchat
still at Herbert's Hole. While along the top road a Hobby spooked a mixed flock
of Finches and Starlings at the horse paddocks, where four Yellow and ten Pied
Wagtails were present with a Spotted Flycatcher in the hedgerow. Short clip here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIZKuI-ip2A&list=UUCQm4GYvT4HTAfbmU_k7mKQ
Don Stone
Friday, 23 August 2013
Yesterday's LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
A very quick response on my adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at Shardeloes Lake...
Ringing Details below _;
Heringsmöwe Larus
fuscus
Ring-Nr. : Helgoland 4305061 Farbring: H851
Beringungsdaten: 12.07.2009 Helgoland / Düne 54 o 11 ' N 7 o 55 ' E
nicht
flügge Gruppengröße :
bisherige Wiederfunde
Datum Beobachtungsort Koordinaten (in Grad u.
Min.) Finder
23.07.2009 Helgoland
/ Düne 54 11 N 7 55 E Farbring abgelesen Wischniewski
01.08.2009 Helgoland
/ Düne 54 11 N 7 55 E Farbring abgelesen Wischniewski
07.08.2009 Helgoland
/ Düne 54 11 N 7 55 E Farbring abgelesen Dierschke, J.
22.11.2009 ESP
- Madrid, Colmenar Viejo 40 39 N -3 43 E Farbring
abgelesen Gonzalez
16.12.2009 ESP
- Madrid, Pinto 40 15 N -3 42 E Farbring abgelesen Marchamalo
05.01.2010 ESP
- Madrid, Colmenar Viejo 40 39 N -3 43 E Farbring
abgelesen Juan
02.05.2010 ESP
- Madrid, Pinto 40 15 N -3 42 E Farbring abgelesen Gonzalez
08.05.2010 ESP
- Madrid, Pinto 40 15 N -3 42 E Farbring abgelesen Ruiz
27.09.2010 GB
- Surrey, Badshot Lea 51 14 N 0 45 E Farbring
abgelesen Duncan
07.10.2010 GB
- Gloucester, Bishop`s Cleeve 51 56 N -2 5 E Farbring abgelesen Sanders
11.10.2010 ESP
- Coruna-Provinz, Valdovino 43 38 N -8 7 E Farbring abgelesen Gutierrez
03.06.2011 Helgoland
/ Düne 54 11 N 7 55 E Farbring abgelesen Jachmann
11.07.2011 Helgoland
/ Düne 54 11 N 7 55 E Farbring abgelesen Dierschke, V.
20.01.2012 ESP
- Madrid, Pinto 40 15 N -3 42 E Farbring abgelesen Marchamalo
25.01.2012 ESP
- Madrid, Manzanares River 40 24 N -3 43 E Farbring abgelesen Fernandez
03.05.2012 Helgoland
/ Düne 54 11 N 7 55 E Farbring abgelesen Krug
03.05.2013 GB
- Buckinghamshire, Marlow 51 34 N 0 47 E Farbring
abgelesen Rose
22.08.2013 GB
- Buckinghamshire, Amersham 51 40 N 0 37 E Farbring abgelesen Evans
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