A third trip to Abberton

I'm sure there are decent birds at other places, but for Dave and myself, a couple of old folks with walking sticks, Abberton is at the moment an absolute no-brainer.

A Pectoral Sandpiper had been seen posing at a ridiculously close distance on Layer Breton Causeway yesterday. This morning it was reported from Wigboro Bay, but for some reason we decided to go straight to Layer Breton Causeway. As we turned the corner and saw cars parked all the way along and crowds of birders peering at a spot on the causeway we concluded it was back. And it was, in the company of ruff in a range of plumages for comparison.

You'd have to be completely clueless with a camera to end up with only one half-decent photo. And here it is.

This isn't birdwatching. This is going to the zoo.

As if a Pec Sand on the causeway wasn't enough we had a lovely dark Spotted Redshank flying around. It seemed to fly with its head up at a strange angle. Will look out for that as a characteristic sign.

Otherwise back to LDLH Causeway and a close up Black-Necked Grebe, a Garganey again, but no Ring-Necked Duck. We ended up having a very pleasant two hour vigil in Hide Bay Hide where we chatted to other birders also waiting fruitlessly for the Osprey. We had two possibly three Marsh Harriers, and yet more Spoonbills. There must be fifty plus between here and Old Hall. Very nice. 

Two trips to Abberton

A spare Saturday morning, a car just returned from the garage needing a run to test the repairs, so off to Abberton.

Started off parking at the Church at Layer de la Haye and with help from a couple of photographers got an Osprey sat happily on a dead tree about 500 m away. A nice start. Then Billet's farm/Wigboro Bay, a few common passage waders but 5 Ruff the best, then Layer Breton Causeway and a Green Sandpiper. A lady put me on to a distant Black-Necked Grebe which was very dusky, a nice sighting, and we chatted about what was about and commented on how nobody at Abberton bothers to mention the flock of 15 Spoonbills in front of us or the 30+ Great Egrets around just this stretch of the reservoir as they are just part of the everyday fauna here now. That was about it apart from a Greenshank at LDLH Causeway. But I wasn't trying that hard.

Then today and a trip with Mike. We started at Old Hall. Nice views of Spotted Redshank in the breach, somewhere between 8 and 20 as they spent most of their time in a hidden ditch, then just the usual Old Hall stuff - 3 Hobbies, Ruff, Golden Plover, Greenshank, Mike had a cuckoo, then a decision to try and get some specialities back at Abberton.

I am such a better birder with company. Or perhaps I am just much worse without company. Mike directed me to some interesting ducks and I found through the scope an even more interesting one behind it; a Garganey, which I think was a juvenile due to its orange breast. We kept searching for the female Ring-Necked duck. I thought I had it, although it was asleep, and just as I realised it wasn't it, I noticed that the duck behind was actually it! So we had a good look at that, nice big eye-ring etc, very reasonable views for a duck on an inland sea, and headed off for Coffee. We finished by calling in at the church again to check on the Osprey, and there it was on top of the tree eating a fish. Very impressive even at 500m. A nice start to autumn.