Black Tern

I'm spending almost all my free time on the patch at the moment, and its paying off.  A slightly hungover late morning trip to the reservoirs found me a summer plumaged Black tern feeding with around 12 common terns on no4.  I thought perhaps there was an Arctic amongst them but couldn't refind it and concentrated on trying to get shots of the Black tern. There were a few swifts about when i arrived, and many hirundines feeding low over the water.  The tern stayed pretty distant in the middle of the res. I watched it for an hour and left it there, unfortunately however by the time Paul had arrived it had gone. 

There were a couple of Wheatears on Lockwood, and four common terns flew North, two common Sandpipers flew from the east bank, also the 2nd calender year Yellow Legged Gull was amoungst a handful of gulls at the nw end.

Over the channel at the North east end of the reservoirs were a few hundred hirundines, mainly swallows. It was wonderful to stand an scan through them, looking for something rarer and just enjoying their movement.   @jarpartridge

Time For a Swift One

Overnight rain clearing early morning, with a low to the South-west producing light Southerly winds. You couldn’t write a better script. A plan was hatched.

Myself, @jarpartridge and @porthkillier arrived at the Lockwood shortly after 07:00. Dave raced a fisherman all the way to the top hopeful that he wouldn’t flush all the Waders, he didn’t neither did the Fox that beat them both to it, mainly because there were none. Jamie and I decided that, even with his gammy leg, we weren’t going to catch him so legged it up the other side also flushing no Waders. We met at the North end but decided a vigil for the Barn Owl (yes it’s back in the same place as last year, or if you’re Pete L, it’s coincidentally the second one in 40 years that just happens to be in the same place as last year’s one:-) ) in the drizzle was a bit of a non-starter, but hopefully more of that anon.

We wandered down to the blockhouse on the East side and the rain eased, as it did 4 dark shapes materialised silently out of the murk and resolved themselves into Whimbrel, I only get Whimbrel every other year, though often get them a few times in the years that I do, strange! They flew off WSW. No sooner than had disappeared a lithe, long-tailed Tern flew North, clearly heading for the Arctic – a simple identification, Arctic Tern.

Whimbrel - four

There were a group of 3 Yellow Wagtails, resplendent in their Lemony-ness, on the bank and a few more flew over during the morning as did a group of 8 Meadow Pipits and some singles. There were plenty of Hirundines, of all three flavours, moving through too, the first big push of the Spring.

Yellow Wagtails -three

Jamie decided that he had to go to work but Dave and I pressed on to the Southern side of the complex although neither of us could give it long either, Jamie lingered by the gate, pretending to do his shoelace up, or something, clearly nervous to leave us unchaperoned. I did the decent thing and shouted ‘Swift’, for one, the first for London for the year no less, had just flown over the Ferry Boat Inn, he saw it and departed.

We pressed on and almost instantly found a Lesser Whitethroat by the Meccano Bridge, though it turns out Pete L had seen it yesterday (he also saw the 4 Red-crested Pochards fly onto the East Warwick, pesky things).

The West Warwick held a couple of new Reed Warblers and the Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat were still singing along the railway line. The male Peregrine was sitting on the pylon above the Spider infested hide. The female remained unseen, sitting on eggs with any luck, though no one can work out where.

No.5 gave up nothing in a brief scour but we really wanted to walk the trail between Nos. 1,2 & 3 to find a Pied Flycatcher but due to some sponsored Fishing match the trail had been turned into the M25, we re-named the ‘Magic Circle’, the ‘Magic Turning Circle, certainly no self-respecting Flycatcher was going to give itself up in there today. Apart from a couple of showy Cetti’s Warbler we gained nothing.

Yellow Wagtails - Tree

We had been glancing across at No.4 from various vantage points during the morning, half expecting that there would be Terns, when we finally reached there, there was, one Common Tern. Nothing to set the earth on fire, but five new additions for the patch year list doesn’t happen every day, apart from January 1^st, and almost certainly won’t happen again in 2016, though the 4^th Annual Walthamstow Patch Watch (AWPW4) is being held on Saturday 30^th April so never say never…

@birdingprof

Oyster-caught

            I have had to watch with envy from a distance how well the patch has been doing in recent weeks - and with few chances for visits the rest of this month, when I woke early I  decided on a quick trot round Lockwood before work. Having got halfway round on a beautiful morning and seen nothing, I was kicking myself for not choosing to visit the Warwicks instead. But a female Wheatear right at the top end, a rather comical Pheasant running towards me and two Barnacle Geese flying south cheered me up a little.

          I was watching the Wheatear which had moved to the west bank when I looked at the assorted Coots and Mallard feeding halfway down and, to my astonishment, saw an Oystercatcher with them. I took a couple of very long-ranged pics and turned back to walk the way I had came only for it to fly off leisurely and low with a single peep towards the south. I did not have time to check whether it had landed on the Warwicks but did hear and briefly glimpse my first Sedge Warbler of the year by the weir. And I was only a little late for work......

DB @porthkillier

Catch Up

It's been fairly busy on the patch since the 6th, Stuart found another Redstart at the waterworks, My Sibe Chiffy has been singing and showing well around the entrance bridge, I managed to hear it call for the first time too, and get better photos.  

 Common Redstart

Siberian Chiffchaff

There have been wheatears and hirundines moving through, But not in huge numbers yet, The sandmartins at the SW corner of Lockwood are on territory already, I've had two white wagtails in the past week, and I know Pete L has had at least two also

White Wagtail

I also came across this stunning intermedius Lesser Black Back on the east warwick on the 10th, a fairly uncommon bird on the patch.,Such saturated orangey yellow bill and legs and striking posture really gets me going!

Intermedius Lesser Black backed Gull

Today was a good day on the patch,  whilst paul and I were waiting in the traffic queue on ferry lane, I spotted a Short Eared Owl from the car window, It was high and drifted ENE, good bird to get in spring.

 SEO

When we were up on Lockwood, we joined Mike M, and had our first Yellow wags fly over, Also flyovers were a Rook, 2 Barnacle Geese, (another single barncle goose flew over the car earlier with 2 candadas, so there's three about!) and a single Jackdaw, all North (ish)

A Coal Tit Called briefly from the allotment, where I had one singing, calling and showing niecly a couple of days before. Later that day I went on to see a Low Red Kite, 2 Wheatear and at 7pm over the marsh, The third Osprey of the spring for me, It drifted NE up the Leabrige road.

Rook

 Shelduck

 Barnacle Geese

Greylag...liked the shot

Common Buzzard

Back to today and about midday, we started getting a few large Raptors over, a Redkite and a fewBuzzards were drifting about,  we then had our first common Whtetroat of the year, which was my 100th bird for the patch so far this year.

Then whilst listening to a distant sedge warbler, Paul shouted "Sandwich Tern!"  Five sandwich terns came in low and circled the west warwick and then left within about a minute, we were very lucky to catch them!!

Sandwich Tern record shots

@jarpartridge

Redstart

A late afternoon visit to the Waterworks produced a snazzy male Redstart, one of my top five birds certainly.  It showed well, although my new camera is giving me a hard time,  I'm getting there slowly.

Also present of note were 4 or five willow warblers, lots of singing blackcaps and chiffys and a buzzard over north

@jarpartridge

Wheatear

A male and female Wheatear were in a playful mood early afternoon today on the east bank of Lockwood. I spent a good hour watching and photographing them - and now I'm sporting the birder's classic 'caught out by the deceiving Spring sun' pink face.

@leevalleybirder