Blow's Downs had a male Ring Ouzel, but it wasn't showing during my search. There were six Wheatear on the paddocks slope. Nearby a Chiffchaff was feeding between bouts of singing. On the local patch, a few Swallow and Sand Martin were still present.
Today a singing Willow Warbler was my earliest in Bedfordshire. Other migrants included two Barn Swallow, a single Sand Martin and two Chiffchaff. Wetter weather moved in mid-afternoon during which a pair of calling Redshank circled the site but quickly moved north. One (perhaps two) Water Rail were on the scrape and five Common Snipe came out to feed in the rain. A male Reed Bunting sat out the worst of the heavy downpour.
Spring is stirring, but today was tempered by a cold wind. Near Woburn, at Lowe's Wood, a sizeable flock of Siskin fed in the Larches.
Spent a few hours looking for a Common Crane, unsuccessfully, which was tracked around the Great Ouse/Ivel river systems.
Stonechat seem to be scarce after the hard winter, so I was pleased to see this male feeding around a farm on Biggleswade common. The common itself was full of birds - Linnet, Skylark, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting. Disturbance from dog walkers was a problem so photography was limited.
The sun was out though it was quite breezy, so I decided to check on some woodland adjacent to Swiss Gardens, near Old Warden (TL147447). The hoped-for Yellow-browed Warbler or Firecrest never materialized, and the wood was generally quiet. On the small lake were single Wigeon and Mandarin, whilst overhead a Raven was heard 'cronking' and I was lucky enough to see it through a small break in the tree canopy above. Two Tawny Owls hooted, but I failed to locate them among the Ivy-clad trees.
Another pleasant 'twitch' with a not-too-large gathering. Now in to its eighth day, the first-winter Brown Shrike was showing well, although sometimes distant. Initially it was thought to be a Red-backed Shrike. However, questions were asked, and the ID nailed.
I did manage to find a couple of fuzzy images among all the sharp ones (:-) and those of you with really good imaginations may even be able to make out some salient features which distinguish this bird from other shrikes !!
Images details:
c.100m @400mm; f5.6; tripod; sized 135%
[1] iso.100 @1/200th sec.
[2] iso.400 @1/800th sec.
Still in 'twitch' mode today, so I headed over to Lathbury, near Newport Pagnell, where a Wryneck had been found yesterday on some allotments. The light was reasonable, but the bird was elusive. After some time it showed well, but a little distant for the camera. It spent a few minutes in a hedge-line, eventually returning to the allotment where it became elusive once more.
1/100th sec, f/6.3, iso400, sraw, with tripod.
Plenty of images around at the moment of the recent Glossy Ibis bonanza. However, starved as we are of them in Bedfordshire, combined with the pull of Buff-breasted Sandpiper on the same pit, it was a late afternoon hop over the border to Diddlington pit, near Little Paxton, Cambs, to see one. The sandpiper was too far for the 400mm, but the ibis was down to c.20m albeit in low light. Images were 1/80th - 1/100th sec hand held !!
Spent four hours today in the vain hope of finding a mega passerine, but it didn't happen. I did, however, find a 'mega' gull - mega in the context of little 'ole Dunstable STW - a juv/1st w Little Gull ! This patch 'tick' only spent two minutes after discovery, in distant view, before heading off south.
A Water Rail on the scrape was another good discovery - this one actually flew towards the camera !
The pair of Ruddy Shelduck are still on site, despite spending the odd day at other venues such as Tring and Luton Hoo.
A moulting male Pintail was discovered by JL on the lagoons yesterday.
A pair of Ruddy Shelduck appeared on the lagoons at Dunstable STW. The light, however, was atrocoius ! These birds were seen at Wilstone reservoir, Tring, on sunday, and prior to that, the same pair (probably) were seen at Uttoxeter Quarry, Staffordshire.
The female has a whiter face, and the male has all but lost its black neck collar.
The origin of Ruddy Shelduck in the UK is always controversial, and perhaps we'll never know where this pair came from.
