Five Go on an Adventure

Enid Blyton couldn't have written a more exciting adventure if she’d tried! Late last night an anonymous tipster, who we will call Pete L, alerted me to news of a local Barn Owl. It had apparently been around for a while too. Some time was spent poring over satellite maps and the conclusion reached was: it could very well be visible FROM the patch.

A frantic spell of Texting, Emailing and What’sApping (is that even a word?) ensued and a plan emerged. Five intrepid patchworkers arranged to rendezvous tonight at various points along the route and finally converged on the locale.

@randombirder, @leevalleybirder (for whom this was an actual full fat tick), @porthkillier and I were on one side of the River Lea, we could see @stuartfisher16 (there’s a lot of them!) on the other side. To say we were all a Twitter would be an understatement.

Dave B caught the first glimpse of something white floating around the marsh and, after the synapses had connected blurted out ‘There it is’. Fortunately, a couple of minutes later, it reappeared and drifted around for a minute or so, enabling all of us to see it and send me racing for the bridge back across the Lea. Another minute or so and I saw it from the right (Essex) side of the bridge, it was on my patch list. #199 Jonathan N was fractionally behind me and Dave quickly followed but the bird had drifted off South over the bushes and out of sight. It finally did the decent thing and came back into view even allowing Graham H (who is far more laid back, and possibly stunned by his first Barn Owl, to add it to his patch list too.)

We were all basking in the post-tick reverie when Jonathan shouted ‘It’s coming back, it’s flying across the river,’ indeed it did and ended up sitting in a small tree on the East marsh, squarely ON the patch. The light was going a bit by then and my ‘Live Tweeted Photo’ drew the usual, and probably deserved, opprobrium. Hopefully the videographers in the party will be able to post something decent a mere few inches below this:

There have been one or two recent-ish claims of Barn Owl in the area but none have ever been substantiated and you would have to go back probably over 30 years before the last record, seen by a friend of mine, who has recently and sadly deceased. I’m not sure if I ever realistically expected to 'get this one back', but if I had, this is probably the scenario I would have envisaged. I expect I will be envisaging it again tonight, tucked up under a nice duvet and with a big smile on my face:-)

As we walked back to the car it was quite amazing how elated we all felt, a terrific ending to a long day for all of us (even if that was spent in bed by one of the party), such a simple thing but one that will live long in the memory. Given me a hankering for lashings of Ginger Beer for some reason?

@birdingprof

Barn Owl - GH

Barn Owl - Video - GH

GH - @leevalleybirder 

(the youngest and most inexperienced member of the famous five)

Barn Owl - Video - JN
JN - @randombirder
(the sleepiest member of the famous five)

In addition....

Still no summer migrants but plenty of helicopters. Breezy this afternoon on Lockwood where a Meadow Pipit had me second guessing it could have been something else. There were three Goldeneye and the continuing pair of Scaup roosted on the westside. A Chiffchaff called from the woodland on the north end, and a Goldcrest sang from the fir trees adjacent to the Lea.

East Warwick was much more exciting as the Mediterranean Gull reported earlier was still present on the southside. Scoped from the opposite bank, I then watched it fly toward the filter beds which I'm sure it has been all winter!

Also present there were a Common Snipe flushed from the now sparsely vegetated bank, three Goldeneye and three Shoveler.

@randombirder

Gone in 60 Seconds

Starting from the car park in Forest Rd this morning, my peregrinations around the patch bore more than a passing semblance to a walk around a building site. This was all the more ironic as on reaching home the local authority ‘free’ newspaper (paid for from my rates) told me, on its short journey from mat to bin, that work on the new Walthamstow Wetlands starts next week. It’s hard to imagine what more they can do to disrupt the site but I’m sure we will find out.

One of my highlights of the Spring is seeing the flowering Violets under the Copper Beech by the Meccano bridge near the Beam House (see, not really a grumpy old man). Good News: the workers have cleared off from that area, Bad News: the whole area between the Beam House and the weedy area to the North of the East Warwick has been cleared and is pristine raked earth, Good News: they’ve left the grassy bit under the Copper Beech, Bad News: the Violets weren’t out (yet?)

Ptarmigan habitat coming along nicely. Build it and they will come I say

There was not a lot on the East Warwick. A small party of Wagtails gave hope but all proved to be Pied. There were workmen at the Southern end and I nearly didn’t go any further but thought ‘What would Pete do?’ ‘He’d check every last bird right down to the end’. So I did. The first bird my scope rested on was a near full Summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gull. So that’s how he does it!

Now you see it

Naturally I have been extremely sceptical about every patcher and his Dog seeing Med Gull on Walthamstow this year, some of them multiple times, some of them not long after I left the site, but, maybe I have been slightly too hasty and in the spirit of now I’ve seen one magnanimity I think the records can stand.

Now you don't

I thought I had better try and get a photo, even at long range, thankfully I managed to get my act together and grab a shot, in fact two but that was the last I saw of it. (though I hear it returned and is now twitchable, typical!) In avoiding the multiplicity of workmen and diggers by the diagonal bridge I serendipitously stumbled across a patch of Violets under the large trees by the West side of No.5. Nice.

Roses are Red my love, Violets are...well Violet

Sounding a bit like a dental check-up the rest of the Southern section was: No.5 nothing, No.3 nothing, No.4 nothing, No.2 nothing. Duck numbers were definitely down, just a couple of Shoveler and hardly any Shelduck. A chatty fisherman tried to engage me ‘I bet you would have liked to have taken that picture of the Stoat on the Woodpecker? We get plenty of Stoats over here’ I didn’t bother correcting him on either count. He then went on to describe the all black large Stoat and the four smaller ones trailing behind it that he had seen. Oh dear! I knew we had Mink but they are clearly breeding now. If I was a Woodpecker I would be very worried. Another fisherman sensing that his mate had trapped a birder now chipped in with ‘Have you seen the Rhea? I’ve seen it in the Reeds.’ When pressed, the description of a pointy brown Moorhen with blue sides helped me realise that I should not bother looking for an enormous flightless Ratite poking about on the edge of the reservoir. Presumably he thought the L was silent in Rail?

I pressed on up to the Lockwood where my notebook remained fairly untroubled. A Peregrine near last year’s nest site and 5 Goldeneye  were the highlights, but it could have been so much better, I scoped a perky beige Passerine along the concrete edge on the top of the bank, it was almost at the far end so I set off to claim what could surely be only one thing at this time of the year, unfortunately it could be two things, and the one it was was flushed. Repeatedly. A couple of walkers pushed it further and further but then got off the bank and dissapeared, I continued my pursuit only to see a workman clad from head-to-toe in day-glow fluorescent overalls walk along the bank exactly where my quarry had been. Had, being the operative word.

I felt certain that today would have produced a Summer migrant and it felt good for a Red Kite too (on checking, my first last year was on the 14^th March) still it can only be a matter of time.

@birdingprof

Bleary Eyes

Slightly later than yesterday but was on the ressies by 7am. Another lovely morning as the early morning sun shone through high cloud as it lingered just above the horizon.

Nothing really inspiring early on, Onto No.4 first flushing a Common Sandpiper from the banks, and then watching a Kingfisher near to its traditional breeding site on No.5. Two Meadow Pipit flew over East Warwick, where a pair of Goldeneye were present.

Onto Lockwood a 1st year Greater Black Backed Gull sat preening on tern raft. I may have missed the pair of Scaup seen later on in the day but I preserved toward the top end. Sitting on the far bank was a lovely drake Goosander that once alerted to my presence took to the water.

On the overflow beyond Lockwood, a decent count of 35 Teal, 11 Gadwall, two Shelduck, and two Little Egret made for a day saving congregation.

@randombirder

The Hour of Silence

So an early start today and I was on the reservoirs by 6.30am in the hope for some early migrants.

Well the early migrants didn't appear as hoped but what I did have were six Goldeneye, three on East Warwick, a drake on No.1,and a pair on Lockwood. A lone Jackdaw was a nice surprise flying low over the Lockwood.

A Common Sandpiper was seen flicking its wings low over High Maynard, a Cetti's Warbler called from near to the gatehouse, two Kingfisher were present and active near to the sluice at the Lockwood entrance.

A male Sparrowhawk flew low along the stream adjacent to the Lea, and a Reed Bunting flew into reeds on West Warwick.

@randombirder

Off to Church

A leisurely stroll down to the Valley bumping into a couple of regular fellow patchers - was great just to hang out and chat about life both human and wild. This was Sunday. This was my church.

The Waterworks had a singing Chiffchaff, a nice starter on a lovely still sunny morning. A Small Tortoiseshell then emerged and settled in close proximity.

Out on the beds, a Cetti's Warbler called and made a brief appearance as it shot passed the hide. An earlier sighting of Common Snipe produced a single bird that roosted at the edge of the reedbed from Bed 15. A pair of Shoveler and a dozen Teal were present here, and six Tufted Duck flew onto the main pond.

@randombirder

Started with a Skylark

I begin todays walk at the waterworks. As I crossed the bridge I heard a skylark, looked up and watched it fly north. Patch year tick for me and the patch i think. There were 17 stock doves feeding in the fenced off area. A singing Linnet in "nature garden" and a mixie rabbit along with many baby rabbits. A water rail called from bed 17 but no cettis.

The front paddocks held five species of thrush and the Little Egret was basically feeding on by the road side!

The Marshes were quiet. I hopped over the fence and checked Res' (Hoping for Medgull) There is so much work going on. No scaup, no wigeon that I could see.  However both the Warricks and the Lockwood had low water levels!  Worth checking for waders. No such luck today, but pied and grey wags were enjoying the exposed mud.

A pair of Golden eye were on the Lockwood.


Oh and this strangely plumaged Reed Bunting, had me going for abit, Seemed pale, funny mask, wouldn't call and refused to show it self nicely at first,

JP @jarpartridge