:(

I was planning on Rainham today as it was such a nice day, but unfortunately domestics and job-hunting had to take priority. I'll try and set aside a few hours next week to get some birding done - really missing it at the moment!

Of 'wings and Winged Things

I headed out to Rainham yesterday for some scope usage as I've commandeered the thing for the time being from Dad.

Before I went to Rainham, I took a short detour and passed by West Thurrock, where there had been ~225 Waxwings the previous day in the Costco car park. Since I was in the area, this sounded too good to pass up so I headed straight there. I was greeted by a nearly empty car park and an immediate sighting of 8 Waxwings simply perching in a tree, being completely ignored by any Costco customers walking by. I got the scope on them and they changed tree, flying a long way distant. But then they came back again and swapped from tree to tree until they decided to fly off for good. It was still a great sighting, for 15 minutes or so! And with the scope on them, they were utterly beautiful, again so weird to see them in the 'feather' (or flesh). Three of the car park attendants came over to have a look and seemed really interested and excited to see the things, which was good.

So onto Rainham, having seen my second lot of Waxwings in a totally different location within two days of seeing my first ever lot...

It was a relatively quiet day at Rainham, bird-wise. That said, there were still thousands of birds, but even that can still constitute a quiet Rainham day! Highlights would include Pheasant by the cafe feeders, Shelduck, female Great Spotted Woodpecker, beautiful views of a Redwing, hundreds of Greylag Geese (including one messed up hybrid that almost had me convinced it was a White-fronted...) a lovely pair of Stonechats, at least 3 Ringed Plover - another newish find for me here, a Little Grebe, a small flock of Redshank - something else I don't see overly often at Rainham, and a flock of Linnets.

There was, on the way back to the main cafe, a Pipit of some kind perching on a fence wire as I approached, nearby 3 Pied Wagtails feeding. I got the binoculars onto it but didn't get much chance to see it properly before it flew off. From what I saw, I would have pegged it as a Water Pipit, due to the highly prominent eye-stripe. This isn't concrete evidence though, and I didn't get to see much more before it took off. It also made a high-pitched but feeble 'tsuiit' as it flew off, which isn't exactly a decided feature in my opinion. Therefore it unfortunately remains a mystery. No tick for me.

'Till next time then!

Waxwings

There's no other title I could choose for this post really - just Waxwings.

I saw 11 beautiful Waxwings perching in the fairly low trees along a road in South-Western Aylesbury, in Fairford Leys. I had been searching for about an hour and a half, had one birder with a camera mention his colleague had seen some within the last couple of hours, and (most peculiar) had a chav ask me if I was looking for the Waxwings. Yes, even the chav had seen them. Full of resolve, I decided after this lengthy period to drive a short way through Fairford Leys from Gatehouse Industrial Estate where they had been reported as being 'habitually' in a particular set of trees, and keep my eyes peeled for Waxwing-shaped birds in the trees.

Sure enough, after about 2 minutes of driving, there were some perfect candidates. I swerved up the steep kerb onto the pavement, wheels be damned, and leapt out with the binoculars. There were 11 in total, although it took me several counts to be completely sure. They were performing quite well, doing a bit of posing, preening, feeding, flying, and trilling away quietly to one another.

It was like something out of a dream!

There I was watching these birds that I had only ever dreamt (very much so, lately!) of seeing since I first laid eyes on them in Dad's old bird book. And there they were, getting as close as 4m away, affording me perfect views of their stunning good looks - especially when the sun came out every now and again! I watched for around 45 minutes before I had to go, just enjoying the sight of these birds and taking it all in. You never know, there may not be an eruption of Waxwings for a long time, and these are potentially the last ones I'll ever see! You just never know.

But I hope I'm wrong. This was one of the highlights of my birding life - topped only by the Firecrest in Lynford Aboretum, the Snow Buntings, Brent Geese, Water Rail and Jack Snipe at Titchwell, and the Shore Larks, Short-Eared Owl and thousands of Starlings at Dunwich. Just one of those moments where you say "wow" to yourself and feel a little overwhelmed. Even then, it's on par with these in other aspects! I suppose this was mainly down to the fact that I'd tried and failed continuously this winter to find Waxwings, and it was a moment of sheer relief along with the joy, that I didn't have to wait until next year for them to migrate back and avoid me all over again. It was a shame Dad wasn't there to enjoy this with me, but at least he'd seen them a week previously.

So, on from Waxwings, the other highlights of the trip included Rook, Redwing and Common Gull (first of the year of each, the last a first for Aylesbury) and a party of 10+ Siskins giving good, prolonged views in a not-too-tall-for-once-tree. The flock, I'm sure, was added to later on, increasing the number to about 20 or so, as a party of that number flew over later on making very Siskin-esque noises. Could have been a different flock entirely. Who cares? They're beautiful birds!

It's a shame that winter is going to be over soon and these fabulous birds shall depart (and the bloody leaves will grow back, making seeing anything nigh-on impossible) but with spring comes new growth, new birds, and new trips to see them. Roll on April birding trip in Suffolk, that's what I say!

Aaaaaah, satisfying Waxwing '1' for my spreadsheet. No-one can take that away from me.

How late/lazy am I?

So I'm writing this a whole week after visiting Rainham last Sunday. Probably because there wasn't much to tell! I won't go into huge amounts of detail, but I was of course looking for Waxwings and saw none.

Highlights included, amongst the hundreds and thousands of waterfowl and waders there, one or two Shelduck, a new bird to the site for me (and for London), a Curlew (not new but nice to see) standing alone in a field, a lone Fieldfare flying over (and possibly some Redwing but I couldn't tell). Good sightings of upwards of 6 Snipe, the Pintails (around 6 or so of them as well), huge flock of Golden Plover, two separate flyover Skylarks, a Little Egret, and a very distant but definite Ringed Plover!

This, although not being spectacular, more than doubled my current year list which now stands at 53. Not had a lot of chance for birding recently, which I've missed (although I can't bring myself to care enough to visit Rainham to tick the 'Slaty-Backed Gull' which isn't even on my spreadsheet anyway if I did bother due to being so rare!)

I will be out there soon though, seeing wonderful birds and having fun.

Spoonbilled Crane*

Fantastic life-tick this one!

Last night I was with my mother and father in beautiful sunshine high in the green mountains of Austria not far from Gondor. Having failed to see any Waxwings from our ledge on the mountainside, we waited for birds to fly past, patiently.

Luckily, this very short wait paid off and we were treated to superb views of what my Collins bird book identified as a Spoonbilled Crane that flew slowly past, at very close range. The identification was made easily due to the dark green, smooth head like that of a Shoveler, a long black bill like that of a Spoonbill, the bright gold ring around the long (up to 1 metre) neck, and the graded blocks of grey getting lighter down the back. This one appeared to be in extremely good condition and was definitely a male bird - the female is very much smaller, with a head reminiscent of a Capuchin Monkey but with buff edges to the face.

Incredible bird to see, and I hope to get many more stunning views of birds such as this in the future.

*Disclaimer: this sighting was, in fact, a dream. Bugger.

Hampstead Heath

So I was invited to go to Hampstead Heath to Kenwood House, a stately home of sorts. I opted out of this in order to frolic with my binoculars in Hampstead Heath park where I had heard there were many birds.

What I had heard was correct!

Considering that this is the first birding experience of 2011, and the first full year I shall be keeping records for (2011 ticks), I had a ridiculously productive day. Indeed, I didn't manage to gain any life ticks but in terms of first-day-listing, today was superb! And as I still actually enjoy watching birds, there were one or two 'magical' moments too...

It all began with a Jay. There were dozens of them overall, never more than three at a time, but beautiful views and relatively tame. Not 5 minutes into the walk, I lost the pleasant company of two women that I was keeping to a gorgeous Treecreeper right at eye level on an exposed oak tree. Up the trunk, eating what it found, fluttering back down and then up the trunk again. This very obliging little bird even allowed me within about 15 feet and continued to feed for a while! What a bird, not just for London but just to experience! Featured 4th for the year 2011, nice. During my Treecreeper extravaganza, I could have sworn I saw a Goldcrest, but couldn't count it as I didn't see it properly due to being distracted by...

... a flock of ~40 Siskins! They all landed high up in a tree nearby, making a terrible noise as they did so. After a quick check, I identified and tried to count them. They stayed around five minutes or so, then flew off in a panic - didn't see what caused it though. A nice flock of Long-tailed Tits announced itself and then flew through the canopy.

After a bit more walking, I caught sight of another Blue Tit flying across the trees. Checked it to be sure and oh my goodness me, it was actually a Nuthatch! Followed it for a while until it flew off for good. This was no problem however, as I came across a quaint stone bridge, where there were two more Nuthatches feeding on old seed and bread etc. that someone had left for them, amongst the Robins and Great Tits. I even heard a call I wasn't used to, and, with the magic of modern technology, have just confirmed that it was a Nuthatch calling. They fed within 5 or 6 feet of me at times, which could be described as nothing less than 'magical' (again)! A Coal Tit also frequented this feast, but not quite as tamely. There was a rat down in the water under the bridge that was less appreciated by the onlookers. I was promptly driven off by a large group of people meeting another large group of people ON the bridge where I was TRYING to birdwatch, and they decided they needed to talk EVER so loudly about THIS and THAT and the OTHER, forcing me onwards and compelling me to TYPE IN CAPITALS.

Stress attack averted, I caught sight of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker, then minutes later heard and saw another. A Ring-necked Parakeet was heard but not seen, ticked anyway as there really is no doubt, and then nothing much happened for a while. I reached a bit of frozen water where there were a few Shoveler amongst the Mallards and a beautiful pair (male and female) of Mandarin Ducks. A first for London (and a first for a very long time indeed, therefore a life tick according to the more recently created spreadsheet).

And that was that. I had to hurry back to Hampstead to rejoin my two fellow walkers for a delicious pizza at Pizza Express.

PS. New year's resolution is to capitalise the names of all birds in my blog, as I do on my Twitter feed. You may have noticed this already. Don't say I'm not wild.