Farmoor Réservoir
A Red-necked Grebe had been seen recently at Farmoor Reservoir recently so I took a trip to see if i could locate this rare Grebe. Arrived at Farmoor and I took the walk along the Causeway between F1 and F2 Here I photographed a few Little Grebes and a showy cormorant that was drying itself on a buoy.
I carried on around F1 and the usual suspects were around the Reservoir. There was a huge flock of small birds in some Hawthorns these turned out to be Great Tits, Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits and 5+ Chiffchaffs
Heading back towards the Car Park i found 2 Common Sandpipers and amongst the duck flock was a Female Shoveler and a Female Teal these gave pretty good views feeding on the edge of the reservoir.
Female Shoveler
Female Teal
I then headed across to F1 to look for the Red-necked Grebe which had been reported earlier in the morning. There was a lot of Little Grebes and Coots about but no sign of the Red-necked Grebe. A Large flock of Greylag Geese were feeding on the Grass and a lone Kestrel sat on the Fence post.
A Tuffed Duck caught my eye and bingo next to the Tuffed Duck was the Red-necked Grebe i then spent the next two hours watching this bird and on the few times it came in close to shore feeding i managed a few decent shots. Unfortunately the sun had now gone and had been replaced by dull clouds.-crested GrebeOther birds of note were about 20 plus Great
Other birds of note were about 20 plus Great-crested Grebe, 2 Flyover Ravens, Rock Pipit and a fly over Red Kite. The drive back to Bristol produced at least 10 Red Kites.
New Passage
Early finish from work and a lovely autumn afternoon meant a few hours out and about. After yesterdays report of a Pectoral Sandpiper at New Passage a visit was on the cards. A drive down to New Passage through the lanes to see if anything was about drew a blank.
No sightings had been reported today of the Pectoral Sandpiper but thought i would give it a try anyway. I arrived at New Passage to see Paul Bowerman and a few other birders scanning the in coming tide!! A Pectoral Sandpiper had been spotted minutes before. It didn't take long for someone to pick it up in their scope. It was close enough for good bin views and kept coming closer with the tide. I had the pleasure to spend about 20-30minutes watching this North American Wader feeding on the Mud with a flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. There was also a Little Stint and a few Curlew Sandpipers around.
The pictures i managed weren't of a great quality as the bird was a bit distant for my Lens but happy to see my first Pectoral Sandpiper. This bird was predicted by local birder Paul Bowerman last week. His next prediction is an Ortolan Bunting lets hope he is right!!
Upton Warren Nature Reserve
Thought i would pay a brief visit to Upton Warren Nature Reserve to catch up with the reported Temmincks Stint. After seeing Vern Wrights stunning photos over the last few days i thought i would give it a go.
I only had a few hours in the morning due to work commitments in the afternoon. I arrived at Upton Warren and some fellow birders pointed the bird out which was very distant. Within 5 minutes it relocated to just in front of the hide but as soon as it had landed it flew off again. It spent most of the morning on the far side of the flash. Also at the site were 3 Green Sandpipers, 1 Dunlin, 2 Ruff, 3 Ringed Plover, 30+ Lapwing 50+ Black headed Gulls and a Common Sandpiper.
The light was very poor at times but the sun was trying to push through the cloud. Vern arrived in the hide and boom the Sun shone and the Temmincks flew right in front of the hide. Some people are born lucky lol!!! I managed a few half decent shots of this tiny bird. Just a shame my flight shot was when the sun had gone back in. Hopefully this bird will stick around as i would like another shot at this bird.
Cheddar Reservoir
Dull early start to the day for a trip with Lee Gardner to Cheddar Reservoir for the Little Stint and then hopefully onto Berrow for some more waders and hopefully something interesting.
Arrived at Cheddar Reservoir at just after 8am and quickly located the Little Stint and the friendly Ringed Plover. We located the birds just as the cloud broke and this created a stunning light that made photographing these birds a little easier. Also the fact that you could you get very close to both birds helped. Spend an hour laid on my stomach but managed a few Little Stint, Ringed Plover and a close to shore Little Grebe.
Put a few mealworms down with both birds seemed to enjoy
Ringed Plover
Little Grebe
After spending nearly 2 hours at Cheddar we moved onto Berrow. Berrow was alive with wildlife lots of Dragonflies and Butterflies on the wing including a Large White and Clouded Yellow. We reached the beach 90 mins before High tide and located the wader flock. It included nearly 100 Sanderling, 100+ Dunlin, 20+ Ringed Plover, 3 Little Stints and 6 Curlew Sandpiper. Also along the beach were 5-10 Curlew and well over 100 Oystercatchers.
We had just settling down to photograph the waders when the news came in that a Red-backed Shrike had been found at Sand Point less then 30 minutes away. It was a no brainer as i had not seen one of these in the UK before. Boom we were off to Sand Point.
At Sand Point Lee and I meet up with another local photographer Brian Thompson and the 3 of us set off in search of our first Red-backed Shrike. It took us nearly and hour before we got our first glimpse of what we though was the bird and probably another 20 minutes before we had long enough views of this bird to confirm we what thought was the Shrike. This was my 3rd Shrike species in the UK along with Great Grey Shrike and Woodchat Shrike.
The Bird was very flighty and photographing this bird was hard managed a few shots but nothing to really shout about. Below is a couple of photos i took of a Red-backed Shrike in Cyprus
Also in the area were 3 Clouded Yellow Butterflies, a Rock Pipit and a Wheatear. Oh and a couple who were enjoying enjoying a romantic afternoon who were probably unaware that a rare bird had turned up right next to were they had decided to have a passionate embrace!!
Great day out and some photos that i was really happy with. Thanks to Lee for showing me the Little Stint.
Farmoor Reservoir
Travelled across to Oxfordshire in search of the reported Curlew Sandpipers at Farmoor Reservoir. This is a place i have not visited before so Curlew Sandpipers aside it should be a good day out.
On arriving at Farmoor I was told by a few locals that the Curlew Sandpipers hadn't been seen today. I began with a walk around the Edge of Farmoor 2. The water level here was a lot lower than Farmoor 1. Farmoor is a man made reservoir spilt into two by a causeway that runs through the middle of Farmoor 1 and 2. There was a lot of Canada Geese and Greylag in and around the water. There was a large number of Hybrid Greylag all had a lot of white in them.
First bird of note was a Common Sandpiper that was always one step ahead of me. There were large numbers of Coot, Mallard and Black-headed Gull on the water. There were also a few Cormorants and Great Crested Grebe about. Whilst walking along the bank i noticed a Green Woodpecker feeding on the grass, no chance of a photo as it was to far out in the open.
Next bird of note was a Ruff that was feeding up and down the waterline i spent about half an hour photographing this bird hoping the sun would come out and add a bit more light. Unfortunately not.
I moved further around the reservoir and it wasn't long before i spotted my first Dunlin it was feeding along side a Ringed Plover. Again like the Ruff they didn't seem bothered by my presence and i could get quite close to them. I continued on and walked down the causeway here there were large numbers of Pied Wagtails, 2 more Ringed Plover and a couple a groups of 2-3 Dunlin. I spent sometime photographing these birds as i was able to get really close with out disturbing the birds who were quite happy feeding up and down the shoreline.
As I walked further along the causeway the next bird i saw was a Black-tailed Godwit these again was happy to feed very close to me. Guess most of these birds are in fact Juveniles so haven't had much in the way of human contact.
After some time with the Godwit i though with the improving weather (didn't last long) I would try again With the Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Ruff. Unfortunately the Ruff had gone, but i did managed some more Dunlin and Ringed Plover shots. I also managed a few decent shots of a Great Crested Grebe being very successful fishing around some boats. Close by was 2 Yellow Wagtails but no photos of these flighty birds.
All in all a good day out. Stopped on the way home at Aust Warth on there were 5 Whinchats and 2 Wheatears around the Area