Partially
thanks to @AM_Winstanley efforts yesterday and his sightings of the Short-eared
Owl, a few of us decided that we should start early and grab a goodly haul of
species before the reservoirs opened, this plan sort of got out of hand, but
proved to be a winning strategy, as we finally got to the reservoirs about
11:00! In the past the emphasis has been to focus on the reservoirs and then
fill in the gaps elsewhere, perhaps doing it this way round is better, though I
suspect it will depend on the circumstance of the individual year.
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| Stuart's Very Technical Sound Recording Equipment - @leevalleybirder |
As
we arrived on Wildmarsh East shortly after 05:00 we saw a furtive figure with
an inverted child’s umbrella standing near to where the Grasshopper Warbler was
singing, we decided to give him a wide berth, not scared just respectful, it
was @genghisattenborough doing his sound recording bit.
Grasshopper Warbler Vid - @leevalleybirder
We
had a good wander around but drew a blank on the Short-eared Owl though
Pheasant gave itself up easily though as did the Gropper.
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| Grasshopper Warbler - @leevalleybirder |
Next
up was Walthamstow Marsh. A Goldcrest was heard by the Filter Beds in
Coppermill Lane and a few species were snatched from the reservoirs by peering
through the fence onto No.5 but we were to see all of them again once inside.
On
the Marsh proper @jarpartridge scored an early Hobby moving East which myself
and @leevalleybirder glimpsed moving away. Cetti’s Warblers were abundant on
the Marsh, five birds singing, mostly along the line of the railway.
Graham’s
efforts at cross-dressing (he’d crammed his feet into his wife’s Wellington
Boots) paid dividends when a Snipe was flushed from the reed bed, even better
was a calling Water Rail. A singing Willow Warbler was a surprise (another
couple were recorded during the day behind the Ferry Boat Inn and between nos.2
&3 reservoirs).
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| Walthamstow Marsh - @leevalleybirder |
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| Walthamstow Marsh - @leevalleybirder |
Three
Duck flew towards us going South along the line of the Lea, ‘wouldn’t it be
nice if they were Red-crested Pochard’ I said. They were, and it was.
Graham,
suitably shod, was delegated to walk through the Bomb Crater field but drew a
blank, until reaching the South-east corner where a very probable Whinchat flew
off, I caught the back end of it but couldn’t add anything to the
identification, very nearly the one that got away but Gavin W had it/one on the paddocks later, so we'll have it. Behind the line of Black Poplars, one
that definitely didn’t get away was a female Redstart, though it was only on view for a
matter of a minute.
As
we were on a roll we decided to extend our walk to the Waterworks, postponing
our visit to the reservoirs, a flyover Rook on the Pitch’n’Putt, spotted by
Jamie, made the diversion worthwhile. A Snipe in one of the beds made Grahams
Wellingtons a bit unnecessary but we weren’t to know that at the time. On
balance the Waterworks was a bit of a waste of time as we dipped most of our
targets, though @suzehu more than made up for that later.
The
front paddocks delivered Mistle Thrush to Graham but sadly I was blindsided by
a Tree and never did catch up with that tasty morsel all day. There is always
some easy bird that you don’t get on a big day, I find it strange in my case
that it is often Mistle Thrush!
The
back paddocks were a bit quiet but a male Wheatear looked spiffy. By now we
needed to put on a bit of pace as we were hoping to rendezvous with Pete L as
he opened the gate to the Banbury, a forbidden place for most of us (strictly
speaking). He did warn us that we wouldn’t see anything, he was right, apart
from another Wheatear and a couple of Common Sandpipers nada. Still nothing
ventured nothing gained, so thanks Pete. He had not seen the Short-eared Owl
either so we decided that it wasn’t worth giving that anymore time.
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| Walthamstow Birders - @leevalleybirder |
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| Lockwood from Banbury - @leevalleybirder |
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| Walthamstow Birders - @leevalleybirder |
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| Northern Wheatear - @leevalleybirder |
By
now I think we were probably on around 70 species and it was time to get onto
the reservoirs. As the weather was so fine we thought that there would be no
Waders and so decided to do the Southern section first, contra the usual format.
On the West Warwick a party of 4 Terns proved to be Arctic but swiftly moved
through. Mike M had another single later.
A
single Buzzard South and shortly afterwards two North gave promise of Raptors
to come but sadly apart from one more from the pub that was it. During the
course of the day a couple of Yellow Wagtails and Meadow Pipits were all the
flyover migrants we could muster. Swifts and Hirundines put in a reasonable
effort and were seen in small numbers throughout the day.
Five
Common Sandpipers were scattered around the Southern section with a further
eight on the High Maynard and three on the Lockwood, the only other Wader of
the day was a Green Sandpiper seen by Sue and Mark on the High Maynard early
doors.
After
a strategy planning meeting (sit down and a pint) at the Ferry Boat Inn, where
we listened in vain for a Kingfisher we tackled the Northern section. Pickings
were slim. A message from Sue helped us formulate a plan to go back to the
Waterworks as she had seen most of our, still wanted, targets, plus a Redpoll.
The latter had been seen and heard singing in there last week and is
surprisingly late for us.
The
traffic was a bit of a pain but we got down there about 16:00 and grabbed the,
up until now, missing Kingfisher and saw the previously reported Great Spotted
Woodpecker. We were unable to track down the Green Woodpecker, Teal or Redpoll,
but you can’t see them all.
Buoyed
up by our new additions and mindful that the previous patch watch record was in
reach we headed for the glories of Leyton Tip. @JW_Davies had drawn a blank
there this morning, pretty much like we had done at the Waterworks in the
morning, so nothing ventured, nothing gained we thought we’d have a look
anyway. Result. Straight off two silent (makes a change for them) Jackdaw were
seen feeding in a skip, nice. Then Jamie identifies a 2nd winter
Yellow-legged Gull. We thought we had broken the record; that is until we heard
about Alastair D’s two Sandwich Terns over Walthamstow Marsh this afternoon and
Mike M’s Little Gull on No.4, not broken, smashed!
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| Jackdaw - @leevalleybirder |
Last
year’s record breaking total of 83 species has to give way to this year’s 88. My
personal best of 78 was also topped and now stands at 81. @porthkillier has now
arrived back from sunning himself and is set to catch up with what we’ve all
had, I hope his returns are not the typical showing after the Lord Mayors Show.
@birdingprof
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