Spring Tickathon

Spring was in urgent need of a reboot. My efforts at trying to find my own ticks was turning into a predictable fiasco. Desperate time needed desperate measures so I went twitching. Fortunately this coincided with a wave of excellent migrants.

First up was a Hoopoe on 30th April. I am suspicious of spring Hoopoe records as for a colourful bird they can become very difficult to see, preferring private lawns and sitting in the middle of thickets, but fortunately one was pinned down between Hunsdon and Roydon on a decent size lawn of freshly mown grass, so I joined a line of other retired old blokes and ticked off this excellent local record. Thanks to Laurence for getting the news out to us. I did a dash locally and after a couple of blanks managed to get two of the local Wood Sandpiper influx at Amwell, with plentiful Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover to match. 

Then a trip to Rainham RSPB with David on 2nd May. We not only got good but distant views of the two Black-Winged Stilts but also with considerable help from other birders got very decent views of the Ring Ouzel sat quietly in a bush. As could be expected at this time of year we had a few other birds too; 3 Hobbies, Ruff, another Wood Sandpiper, a decent view of flying Cuckoo, and we got nice views of Green Hairstreak too. 

4th May saw Mike and David and myself at Old Hall Marshes for the American Golden Plover. This was bank holiday Monday so lots of Essex birders turned up. Surely the biggest assembly of Essex birders since the Thurrock Ross's Gull the previous day! The AGP co-operated by sleeping and occasionally lifting up its head. A splendid sight. We got a few repeat records with excellent Ruff, Cuckoo, but also had Whimbrel and some nice Grey Plovers in the estuary. 

Finally on 10th May I gave in to the temptation of nearby Dotterel and popped into Gamlingay, just an hour a few miles away. They were fine. It was a bit wind-swept and heat hazy, there wasn't a lot else, but another decent bird hits the list. 

A great few days and dignity restored to my year list! Now for some proper birding...

December 2025. Brambling at Santon Downham

Early winter often produces lots of birding opportunities and this December was no exception. Slavonian and Black-Necked Grebes and Scaup at Abberton, Black Redstart, Black Throated Diver and more grebes at Portland. But pride of place this month goes to a successful trip to the Brecks with Mike and David.

We started off with a Firecrest by the road at Lynford Arboretum. Along the road seems to be a good spot for them with lots of holly and smaller deciduous trees and we had prolonged and close views here. Then about 30 Crossbills, well established across the Brecks after a difficult few years, with some cracking views, and a couple of Hawfinches seen too. Very happy with these Brecks specialities we left Lynford and headed for the St Helens parking area at Santon Downham. In previous years we have had flocks of Brambling here but this winter they were in short supply. We searched high and low and eventually had a female type rooting around in the beech leaf-litter. Nice to get a proper view after a few glimpses and brief fly-over calls during the autumn. Overall a nice end to another good year. 

Cocking up spring; the wrong Matravers!

There have been some decent birds this spring, including ones near me, but I have contrived to avoid them all.

Portland Bill has been going through a 'difficult' patch, but eventually migrants such as Redstarts and Whinchats made an appearance. But not for me. I got 15 Wheatears, which was fun, but just didn't connect with anything more notable. 

27th April was a beautiful sunny day which did not have gale force winds so I persuaded Mrs D to take Derek the dog for a walk to Dancing Ledge for the Puffins. I parked up at Worth Matravers, checked my excellent OS Maps app, and I'd gone to the wrong Matravers! Should have been Langton Matravers!

We made the best of it and walked down to Winspit, along to Seacombe cliff, then back up. It was just beautiful. Like the Yorkshire Dales with cliffs and sea. There were lots of nice country birds, warblers, Stonechat, but no Puffins. I couldn't see any sign of Early Spider Orchid or GreenWinged Orchid either, but at some point a brown bird sat on a strand of barbed wire and boom! male Cirl Bunting. I spent a great ten minutes admiring this bird and his mate.

It's not a surprise to see this species here. They are pretty well established now all along this coast. But I find them hard to see so was very pleased to stumble across these.

Just a couple more outings; Lodmoor has had some decent days so I went down and found I had chosen a less productive day; Grey Plover, Bar-Tailed Godwit, then sat on the beach benches and found 3 Sanderling on a pontoon. Finally whilst scanning through the gulls I saw one with a marked W line on the wing. Quick check - black trailing edge, whiteish underwing, all black bill, but I couldn't get a decent view, and in all honesty the size was not ideal for Bonaparte's ... so I can't claim a previous sighting of the one that turned up the next day.

Then Ferrybridge. completely empty. No terns or waders. Just a single Wheatear and a Swift heading north. 

Time for a change in approach!

 

November 2025. Firecrest at Titchwell.

A decent month. Desert Wheatear at Wyke Regis on 24th was the top rarity, but it was an easy tick squeezed in at the end of a day. Increasingly I look for a mix of birding experiences; some rarity, some seasonal notables, and a period of looking for our own stuff and appreciating what's around.

The standout trip was Titchwell on 6th with Mike and Dave. It had everything. We arrived to hear of a few Firecrests in the wooded areas and went for them. We meet lots of people who'd just seen them, but of the birds themselves there was no sign. We connected with a Yellow-Browed Warbler, got a couple of Redpoll moving through briefly, and then headed for the lagoons and the sea. 

The lagoons held an American Golden Plover with a large flock of European Goldies. We were soon put on it and admired its greyish Wood-Sandpiper-like take on being a GP. They all went up , and as the flock flew around I remembered some old piece of bird-lore that individuals of different species will often fly on the edge of the flock of the carrier species, so I scanned the fringes and sure enough a slightly smaller bird was hanging out at the back of the flock. I called it out partly in jest, just for the fun of it, and it peeled off and landed revealing it was the bird! A happy punt. 

There were lots of waders including Curlew Sandpiper and several Ruff, then out on the beach we had a couple of Snow Bunting with more flying over. Pink-Footed Geese were flying over in number all day giving great autumn atmosphere.

We arrived back at the car our only disappointment being the Firecrests, when incredibly first one then a second Firecrest flew into bushes right by us! Close-up full views of Firecrest are always a stand-out birding experience, and we had a fantastic fifteen minutes close up with these awesome sprites. Just a terrific day that had it all.