Abbotts Hall Farm and, um, Morrisons Carpark

Another day out, another supermarket carpark in deepest darkest Essex with no waxwings. Morrisons this time, Maldon, so far nicer. A walk round nearby Abbotts Hall Farm EWT provided a bunch of waders/waterfowl and great views of an adult female marsh harrier. I'll write about this later.

I also took a walk round Berwick Woods and some nearby fields (Ingrebourne Valley) on the 31st which I thought I'd write about here. It was pretty overcast and not much was calling, but we did manage to coax a bullfinch into calling by playing calls at him. He didn't show. On the fields were 6ish yellowhammer, about 60 reed buntings, a flock of lapwing and 4 flyover snipe. In the woodlands we had a short view of an interesting woodpecker; very small (but silhoutted and distant), it clung on to the very top of a branch I'd not have thought would support a greatspot, had a lighter, higher and "wetter" call than greatspot, and just looked, well, different. I'm 95% certain it was a lesserspot, which would have been a very late (but good) year tick. I didn't count it, and didn't put any news out either, but one was seen the next day not very a great distance from my bird, in an area where any lesserspots are fairly exciting news. Of course, and as usual, we couldn't find it again.

Bumcakes.

Another edit; some photos from Abbotts Hall.

Rainham, again.

Rainham again, in a more official capacity today, which I spent lapping the site. Loads of finches, reed buntings and stonechats everywhere, the normal gulls and ducks, the geese and the lapwing... The scruffy mess of a blackwit I saw yesterday was still about, as were the piles of common snipe. No sign of Mr Lymnocryptes. Some more blackwits, 4 redshank and 31 dunlin on the river. Big numbers of some birds, 131 gadwall and 43 shelduck are both fairly high counts. Despite the east winds again and the decent tide still nothing good up the river. Best birds were a fat old (presumably female) peregrine on the pylons before flying off towards the silt lagoons and some skylarks feeding out in the open.

Rainham/Pitsea

Some birds have awesome latin names. Lymnocryptes minimus is about as good as they come. Bombycilla garrulus is pretty good too. Why is this relevant to anything? Because I just saw one and "dipped" on the other.

The ticks have been coming (relatively) thick and fast this last month or so, so I was pretty happy to have another today. Rainham was cold - really fucking cold - and not even the presence of boatloads of common snipe was enough to stop me turning round at the northern boardwalk and not doing the loop. Just before turning round we were watching several common snipe on a reedy muddy bank in the middle of the Aveley. I had a brief view of a smaller bird, with a short bill, feeding horizontally before it buggered off into cover. "Oh", I thought. "That looked suspiciously like Lymnocryptes minimus. I'd have liked to get a good look at his lack of median-crown stripe". Of course, I didn't see it again nor could I direct anybody else onto the bird. Still, a small snipe sp with a short bill... I later had a chat with a guy who had a definate sighting of a jack snipe in exactly the same place as mine just before I saw it. I've had so many probable sightings of this bird I've not ticked - knowing full well what they were - I decided that actually, yes, I'm having this one.

The moderate easterlies recently should have forced something pelagic up the Thames, but disappointingly nothing had been seen coming up with the tide. I shall try for something tomorrow when the wind should be higher. All the usual waterfowl, including 4 pairs of pintail, were nice to see, as was a flock of about 80 blackwits going over. The scrub around the centre held two flocks of linnet, totalling probably about 100 birds, and large numbers of green/gold/chaff finches. Apparently serin was amongst them but we didn't see it. Serins are decidedly boring and awkward things and as such holds no further interest for me until the new year. Yeah, I know that's stupid.

Talking of stupid, we thought that Tescos at Pitsea would be a nice place to go birding. I really do go to all the nice places; twitching in Pitsea ("Pitching"?) was almost as nice as hunting pipits in a sewage farm. Not content with only working Tescos carpark, we also toured Homebase and Lidl before finally parking up by a service entrance facing the magical tree I'd read about on the corner of Parkhurst Road. People probably thought we were dogging or something. I rather felt that "road" was quite a strong word in this case. A road usually goes somewhere, and this didn't. It wasn't very long either. All in all, it was a pretty shit road probably lived on by pretty shit people. Waxwings must be classy birds. The tree itself was heavily laden with berries, but none of them had waxwings attached to them, which was a shame. We're clearly not the only people brave/stupid/naive enough to try birding in Pitsea either, three blokes with at least 10 grand's worth of optics between them rolled up just before we rolled out. I bet they saw them. Anyway, I so thoroughly enjoyed myself that I might very well return to the sea of pit before the winter is out and the waxwings leave.

life list = 193
year list = 178
essex list = 141

Yellowhammers

For the customary Boxing Day walk, Mum and I decided to go find the yellowhammer usually present in the fields just east of the Ingrebourne. We didn't want to go far, and didn't plan to be out long, so were happy when it was all surprisingly easy. We turned up, walked about 200 metres to where I'd seen them previously and there they were, just a little further up the hedgerow. Brilliant, if only all birding was like this.


We came across a large flock of yellowhammer and reed buntings, with a handful of finches thrown in. The fields were densely planted with a couple of types of kale in various stages of growth/harvest with a few patches of maize in between. The birds were active, moving a lot and feeding on the ground amongst the plants with small groups arriving and leaving all the time. Any meaningful count was impossible but we reckoned maybe 60 in total, about 40 of which were reed buntings. A moment of excitement was had when a smaller bird resembling a serin moved through the scope view - I didn't see it again, obviously, though there's absolutely no reason it couldn't have been one...

Also present along the field boundary were a flock of c20 mipits moving through, c20 long tailed tits, c110 lapwing over and single kestrel, green woodpecker and redwing.

In other news, I heard the tawny owl from home again on christmas eve and, apparently, the cettis I heard in Regent's Park on the 19th was the first ever record for the site. Um. Awesome.

Hanningfield - zomg.

Season's greetings, etc.

I was pleasantly surprised today. Hanningfield actually had good birds and wasn't just a nicer place for a walk than Rainham. I mean usually I like to go to Hanningfield once every while cos the forest there actually has trees (one up on Rainham's forest), it doesn't smell like landfill (one up on Rainham), is fairly pretty most of the time (one up on Rainham) and is often completely empty of people (c300 up on Rainham). Unfortunately, it's often completely empty of birds too, except a row of black-white-and-brown dots about a mile and a half away that might, if you squint hard, be pochards or tufties. Perhaps a canada goose. Score.

So maybe this is slightly unfair on the place - maybe I'm just too inept to find anything and on any given day it has more rarities per-square mile than St Marys in October. Unlikely, sure, but I'd probably not know about it. I've had a couple of nice birds there; I found a white-front there about a year ago (lifer), it has good numbers of pintail and goldeneye, always a pleasure, and though I've never seen them appears to be a decent site for long-tailed duck in the winter. Not to worry though, today it delivered.

Dull weather, I didn't check winds or temperature on the assumption that it wouldn't matter and if it did I'd not understand why. The first hide was probably fairly productive, but we (the girlfriend and I) didn't have much luck there. The bloke next to us was on about all sorts right at the back and with my 25x eyepiece this wasn't likely or even feasable. We contented ourselves with the goldeneye - loads today - which were far closer. Considering the number of them, and how close they were, that this represents my best effort at digiscoping them says nothing for my photographic abilities.


Further round, the usual bunch of teal/wigeon/shoveler/lapwing/tufties/pochard etc were all present and a single redshank was the only wader. From a later hide the first bird we saw was a female goosander. Literally a matter of metres from the hide, she gave good views for some considerable time. There were about 20 present, but most of them were right at the back of the lake and well out of scope range. Essex tick, and easily the best views I've had of this species.


A distant scaup and black-necked grebe were both life ticks for me. Yup, two in a day. There are some advantages to being a shit birder, and the high probability of multiple lifers on a trip out are one of them.

The forest was, as usual, quiet. No siskin/redpoll/etc. Several large flocks of long tailed tits probably totaled over 100, and we counted well over 20 goldcrests. An incredibily tame and agressive robin provided a good few minutes entertainment. After trailing us it came within a few metres, so I played some robin song at it. It responded by divebombing my phone. Awesome. This brings the total number of birds I've been physically attacked by to three: a swan at slimbridge when I was about three, a swallow defending a nest, and this guy. Clearly the best bird on site.


I didn't take this photo, I was too busy playing calls at it to think about photographicality.

life list = 192
year list = 177
essex list = 140

This has been a boring update; my apologies to you all.

Nothing hugely interesting.

Went up to Cheshire to do the annual Christmas Present-swapping. Nothing very interesting happened, except for 3 red kites over the car in Cambs on the way up. That was interesting - and a year tick - as I've managed to not see one for years. I had no idea they were present in that area either, so it was a nice surprise. The pile-up-thing on the motorway on the way back was a less nice surprise.

Looking forwards to getting out to Hanningfield on the 24th - hoping for some decent ducks and maybe a few birds in the forest too. Oh, and belated news involves a harbour porpoise I saw in the river from Rainham on the 15th.

year-list 175

Shit birding, shit update.

I cleverly cocked up the timing completely, and arrived at Wat Tyler CP as the tide reached its very highest, which was pretty damn high. Managed to see almost no birds; a single curlew heard in flight, 10 flyover wigeon and a single drake teal with half his feathers missing was everything available. Hundreds of chavs, dogwalkers and piles of shit made us decide to quit the site and head to Belhus Woods. A far nicer walk produced a fair selection of waterfowl and woodland species, highlights being 7/8 lesser redpoll (see, I've learnt that one now) and a siskin in birch/alders by the carpark. Siskin = Essex tick, woot.

Should have gone to Hanningfield though - all 5 grebes, long tailed duck and a scaup. ffs.

essex-list 138

Romford produces the goods once again...

About 3 minutes and twenty-two seconds past midnight, I heard a Tawny Owl outside my bedroom. My room faces into London, and so the sky is always pretty light and I figured I might see it. I didn't, but it dod call again, loudly - very loudly. So loudly that I checked it wasn't my computer, or a cd. The thing must have been sitting on top of the house. It called another couple of times, then went silent or left. Why bother going to the Ingrebourne Valley to hear them when they sit on top of my room? Talking of, apparently the owl/s I heard/saw in the valley were a fantastic sighting - EssexBirders group seemed more impressed and interested by that than by the firecrest.

Also, I'd arranged to go ringing with the Rye Meads Ringing Group today. The god of weather in Hertfordshire obviously didn't think I'd be any good though and made it so windy there was no point setting up the nets at all. No ringing for me. Still, a walk round the Rye House Sewage Farm with the ringing trainer (I bird in all the nice places) produced two water pipits, along with 5 green sandpipers, numerous mipits/pied wags/grey wags, flyover skylark, various ducks, a sprawk etc etc... Water pipit's another lifer; I've found birds before I was pretty sure were water pipits, I just wanted to be really sure. Spent a couple of hours with the ringing group, discussing various bits, then went off round Rye Meads RSPB, just next door. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the total lack of any birds, but it was a pretty shit place. I'm sure that in good weather, in spring, it's fantastic. Today, it wasn't. And they had no tea, and my flask was empty D:

There is no image to go with this post.

life-list 190
year-list 174
essex-list 137

I like spoonerisms.

I have been re-reading this. It really is quite good, and its fantasy. Um. Yes, I just said "good" about a fantasy novel.

People usually sneer when you mention Fantasy as a genre; as if the fantastic impossibility and unreality of the worlds contained within a book somehow make that book less real as a piece of literature and language. They tell you that actually, what you're reading there, is the equivalent of reading "Thomas The Tank Engine" at 24. That it makes you stupid, and not well-read, because what you hold in your hands is not actually a real novel, no, it's far, far less. Because it's not set in the real world.

This view is as stupid as it is arrogant - every novel is fantasy, to an extent - and it displays an abject lack of imagination. Effectively, fiction novels, they're all the same. They all ask you "hey, let's play a game of PRETEND AND MAKE-BELIEVE" and by reading that book you are agreeing to enter the universe you find inside, and pretend that it's real. Without this leap of imaginary faith you're unable to take part in the book, become attached to the characters, or feel anything when one of them dies, or a relationship fails. If you just don't like the genre that's fine, but the people who are somehow "better" than fantasy, who refuse to read it on principle surely prove only that they're not imaginative enough to suspend reality and create in their heads this Fantasy world? And yet, by displaying this lack of imagination/willingness to imagine they're better than you? I don't get it. This is unrelated to anything really, and I'm not sure who, if anyone, it's aimed at, it's just what came out when I typed.

Anyway, a book's content, message and quality are unrelated to it's genre. There is good fantasy worth reading (imaginative, thought-provoking, deep, moving, socially relevant etc) and bad fantasy useful for keeping you warm in the Winter (David Eddings). Mieville is definately the former.

I also walked through the park today. Even less water than last time - it seems that they're letting more out and about 18 fewer redpoll. The Egyptian Goose and Muscovy are still together. I'm hoping for some kind of awesome hybrid in the spring. I'm going to call it the "Muscoptian Gooseduck". It's going to be almost as awesome as Gooders are. About 400 starlings flocking by the roost, which is a good number. A single grey wagtail was on the small island and I heard a great spot in LFPark, but couldn't find it, which surprised me given the sparse nature of the habitat. Still, a pretty good record, and the first I've seen there since March.

Also still 42 cormorants, 2 herons, 16+8 long-tailed tits, 3 goldcrests with the tits, 12 greenfinch, 4 chaffinch, 14 tufties, single common gull with the BHGulls, and a fingkisher. Yes, a fingkisher, in central Romford. Female, and wary. Didn't let me get a great photo, but there's probably a smudge of blue in the pic that might be a bird. Or a crisp packet. Also, I've always thought the "no swimming" sign was just a little pointless. Like anybody would try swimming in there. Srsly. I've included a helpful zoomed in blowup of the bird, and drawn a little box to show you where it is.


I'm going to have to start naming parts of the park. So far, I've got Fingkisher Pool, Redpoll Tree, and Mistletoe Copse. This is getting a bit twee, actually. I might stop. Talking of Mistletoe I found some in a tree in Lodge-Farm Park. In the true spirit of christmas, I took a photo and 'shopped it to look like a cock.


Seamless shoopan, don't you think? I think I've just solved my christmas card problem this year.

EDIT: I have been informed that it actually looks more like a bird, possibly a crow. You decide.

D:

ohnoes! Carnage! Curse you, foul goblin ambush!

Also;
"A kidnapper has made off with baby Dastot Dolushdegel!"
"The Engraver Vucar Zonkadol has organised a party at Rhyolite Table."

Redpolls, Raphael Park/Lodge Farm Park

Another quick walk up and down the parks. Once again, the best sighting is the first sighting, with a loose flock of up to 18 redpoll feeding in a silver birch tree, just inside the north entrance to Lodge Farm Park. I was unable to make a definitive ID, and was almost leaning towards their being mealies, based on markings on some undertail coverts. However I am reliably informed they are in fact lesser redpoll; the more common (likely) answer. I'm not too bothered - either would be a lifer for me. No, really. Apparently both lesser and mealy can show a single, large central streak and clearly I need to read more. Yeah, I should have caught up with redpoll of any kind years ago, but I didn't. Pics of these birds are at the bottom of this post.

Also in the park, a loosely associating flock of about 20 chaffinches, hordes of blue/great tits, a couple of goldcrests, 42 cormorants, 2 herons, at least 9 pairs of tufties (numbers building up, perhaps?) and this:


It was associating closely with the muscovy. Someone I met in the park informed me that it had been doing this a fair bit of late but I'm not sure how true this is as its the first time the bird's been present in a while. There have been earlier reports of this bird, but it had appeared to have left a while back. Either way, it's a nice thing. Not too tame, about as wary as the feral canadas, unringed, unpinioned... I'd be tempted to tick this one for the year if I didn't have one already. It's clearly wild enough to have made its way here under its own steam. Notable only by their absence, all the grebes from last week were gone. Heading back home were 2 jay, single jackdaw, and the redpolls still in their tree.

life-list 189
year-list 173
essex-list 136

Lesser Redpolls:

The Ingrebourne Valley is awesome and you should go there.

Displaying something worryingly like motivation I was up well before Dawn showed her crack, and out when it was still dark. I got to Hornchurch CP in under 15 minutes on the bus, arrving at about 620am. In retrospect, this was a mistake - it was far darker than I had anticipated and I couldn't really get very far until closer to 700. Walking down flooded icy paths in pitch darkness with no torch is both difficult and stupid - I was however surprised by the numbers of fairly old, fairly infirm people doing the same with their dogs.


The first bird was, as is the recent trend, a pretty good one. A tawny owl hooted over the woods by Newmarket Avenue and I got brief glimpses of something ghosting over the treetops. Further down the path a tawny glided in front of me - barely visible in the dark - towards where the first one had been. Possibly two birds, then. As I went on and light began to appear in the sky (just) I scattered whole flocks of grey wagtails, dunnocks, robins and blackbirds on the path. Surprisingly, no winter thrushes - none all morning, in fact.

There was almost enough light to see my hands in front of my face by the time I reached the viewing area overlooking the river. Three lapwing, some teal, a single redshank and some canada geese were all the area offered me. Common finches and tits were all around, and after some waiting I heard the squeaky bicycle of a bullfinch. This was shaping up to be a good trip. I counted 4 singing cettis in this area and two chiffchaffs moved through.


Crossing the river I headed out to the farmland. I had seen the stubblefields and thought "hmm, I might go huntin' buntin's". I disturbed two green woodpeckers in short grass, a cloud of green and goldfinches, and got to the corner of the field. Skylarks were beginning to move about, and there was this bird with a forked tail sitting in a hawthorn next to me... A closer look revealed a yellowhammer, but not a very yellow one. Getting too close, I flushed it up the hedgerow where it joined a group which grew up to about 20, some of which were very yellow indeed. I had my best views ever of one of the best birds, a good spread of different aged birds from various angles as the very mobile flock moved about me. I assume they bred here and aren't just a wintering flock - I've seen singing/territorial males just a few miles E/SE of here. A single corn bunting kept them company. A flock of rooks and jackdaws were shot at by the local farmer, and everything scarpered. With nothing to watch, I did too.


Down to "Berwick Glades", an area of landscaped new planted forest with a spine of older woodland in. I chased a female bullfinch through the scrub and watched a great spot overhead.

I'd heard recently about a bittern at Berwick Ponds. There's a shitload of reedbeds there, so I knew I had no chance but I gave it a good look. Several cettis were about, a cloud of long tailed tits, a couple of reed buntings... but no bittern. Having a quick explore towards Abbey Wood, there were endless fields of reedbeds. I had no idea there was so much reed in the area - no wonder it has regular winter bitterns. Water rails were going off left right and centre - far more than I have ever heard in one place before. Green and great spot woods here, too.


Back up towards Hornchurch, a quick bash through the patches of gorse/brush and spruce revealed neither dartford warblers or siskins/redpolls, but it did net a handful of goldcrests. At the picnic benches overlooking the river in daylight this time, Everything seemed to have left. I saw a BHG - biscuit holding gull - and then things got really good.



Hoping for views of water rail I found instead a pair of common snipe in reeds in the centre of the channel, which were nice to watch for a while, and I took a few photos. The teal had all gone to sleep, and were being boring. I removed the camera from the scope, and settled to watch the snipe through the cutting in the reeds. Nature filming/photography, in particular digiscoping, is predictable in that the second you take the camera off the scope something awesome happens. In a moment I'll wish forever that I'd managed to record somehow, the snipe was attacked (yes, attacked) by not one, but two water rails. After a few seconds they left - snipe are apparently pretty hard birds - and I hurriedly shoved the camera back on the lense. I filmed a few minutes of the snipe preening and generally being rubbish but nothing happened.


Not having learned from my mistake and just when I thought things couldn't get any better, I packed my scope up and intended to head home - about 1000am. Everything shouldered and ready to go, I picked up another 'crest moving through scrubby hawthorns. I followed it through the cover and then, for as much as a whole second, caught sight of the humbug head. Firecrest. A life bird, and self found too. Shortly afterwards it flew south, directly into the sun and I was unable to refind it.

There was still more to come though. As I negotiated the flooded and still frozen path back up to the bus route I almost bashed into a kingfisher on a bush. Peeved, it moved off up the path and as I rounded the next corner, there it (she, I think) was on some reeds. The best views I could have hoped for, and everything was packed up. I advanced on it two steps at a time, taking photos as I went. The day's only raptor - a female kestrel - appeared on a nearby tree. Eventually the kingfisher left, and I pretty much chased her up the river to the road.


All in all, fairly good then. Good views of scarce birds, and a life tick. Surprisingly few waterfowl species, only one raptor and no thrushes, but pretty much every else I could have realistically hoped for, and more. Quite possibly the best birding walk I've ever gone on.

At home in the garden, house sparrows, dunnock, a pied wag, the regular grey wag and a goldcrest were of note. I'd photograph them, but my camera's plugged in here downloading photos. And the little shit's in a patch of bright sun, dead still as well.

life-list 188
year-list 172
essex-list 134

lol, regulus ignicapillus.

I see Rainham!

See? I see? Icy? Hurr.

It are cold.


Lots of excitment at Rainham today, though I missed yesterday's fun with penduline tits. A heavy frost remained throughout the day, and the Purfleet Scrape/Aveley Flash/perimeter ditch were frozen solid despite constant sun. Clear blue skies all day, bright, low winter light, birds everywhere - it was all rather pretty. This was especially good because I was trail-walking all day.


I didn't bother with the scrapes, got bored with a pair of redwings in the forest, and barely stopped in the hide - my plan was to sit on the northern boardwalk for a few hours and find me some pendulines and beardies. While this didn't really work out, it was pretty awesome nonetheless. First birds were a flock of lapwing on the ice with about 50 snipe in various flocks circling the Aveley.





Mist/steam/some kind of water vapour made the Aveley look like some kind of Icelandic hot spring. A few snipe and a pair of pintail played at being atmospheric for a while. Three blackwits came down onto the back of the pool/icesheet, with three male tufties and the usual hordes of gadwall/teal/wigeon/mallard also present. Reed buntings everywhere on site. The northern reedbeds themselves provided a lot of action. At least 5 singing cetti's warblers (one seen in the usual way, a glimpse of a dark thing disappearing into cover), a few scrapping robins, bluetits following and pretending to be reed buntings, stonechats everywhere, and c6 chiffchaffs, all seemingly moving east through the reeds. A couple of watervoles were heard eating, c5 water rail squealed nearby (one was seen skidding over ice on the Aveley at the end of the day). A good site record (site tick for me) was had when a single brent goose flew up with the greylags and canadas. Only seen in silhouette; no idea about belly colour.

A later walk out as dusk fell provided the only raptors of the day - a sparrowhawk and a 1w kestrel of some gender. I didn't stop to watch either, I was enjoying the reed buntings. A pair of parakeets went over high, presumably to their roost somewhere in Kent., and a kingfisher went off behind some reeds.

Scenery was fantastic today, all great wintery atmosphere. The site looked pretty good.



And these are pretty cool. Badly cropped, but pretty cool. I have the originals so I can crop some decent christmas cards from them should I need to.