A surprise this morning on checking my Twitter - 2 Glossy Ibis had just been reported and were well worth seeing, particularly in my local area. They represented my third UK sightings, the first in Lincs and second at Marshside, Lancs. I was able to be there, within thirty minutes.
They were located a fair distance away on Cell B of Dryham Ings and were most likely the birds seen 'up north' yesterday. The state of the Ings at the moment looked ideal feeding ground for the Ibis and reminded me of similar looking fields, where they frequent in the Algarve. Let's hope they stay for a while. My arrival at Sammy's Point around 7-00am started well with a Cuckoo calling nearby. It was the first of three seen today, including two flying together over the Humber at Kilnsea. The paddocks were quiet with few birds on the ground. Watching the river side of the track, I noticed a single Wheatear among the rocks and found this bird to be extremely confiding, allowing me within a few metres which I thought quite unusual. Yesterday's Icterine Warbler sang occasionally but could not be found - the hawthorn foliage is pretty dense now. Whitethroats were more showy, a couple of Chiffchaffs sang and a Spotted Flycatcher was seen low under a bush. It was a fairly grey morning and as I returned to the car, two Yellow Wagtails flew towards Easington. My next stop was at Kilnsea Wetlands where the pair of Garganey still remain, but didn't show well in the poor light. One of the Avocet pairs has two young as far as I could see and the adults are busy keeping everyone at bay. Mid-morning and news came of a Red-backed Shrike trapped at the Warren. This was a fine male and a welcome addition to my year list! It posed for a while before having a go at Adam's finger! Off the Warren it was high tide on the Humber and a good number of Brent Geese still remain, including Pale-bellied and the Black Brant(s). The images show the Black Brant and again, with a Pale-bellied Brent Goose. Also present on the tide line were a few nice summer-plumaged waders, including this Red Knot and some smart Dunlins. I went back into Kilnsea, finding another Spotted Flycatcher in Kew and getting a very brief view of a difficult Red-breasted Flycatcher. A good Spring record for me. One of the highlights of today must be this Roe Deer with a fawn, which was still being licked by its mother and can't be very old at all. It was so small as to be hidden in the grass most of the time, and that would be what its mother would be trying to achieve. So, a brilliant day really and a few more shots of that confiding Wheatear before leaving!
A walk at Faxfleet this morning gave me my first views this year of the returned female Montagu's Harrier. Obviously at some distance across the river, it flew briefly in the RSPB Blacktoft Sands area. Four Marsh Harriers were seen along with a Peregrine and Kestrel there too. At Faxfleet, Sedge Warblers are singing well and with less wind today, a total of five Bearded Tits flitted over the reedbed but not too close. 4 pairs of Little Grebe are very noisy and the Coots have produced several young. 6 Swifts were nice, accompanied by both Swallow and House Martin and one of three Whitethroats made a good photo! The Cetti's Warbler is also present. Yellow Wagtails pass over fairly regularly and I have found, the approach road to Faxfleet has yellow wagtails in the fields on either side of the road. On returning home, I found a female Blackcap having a bath in the garden. There are two singing males here now, so hopefully some breeding nearby. I've been able to see our young Robins but they're keeping well hidden in our bushes. The female has returned to the same nest for a second brood which is great. Young Greenfinches are also about and a Common Buzzard flew North late afternoon.
My plans for today were to go to Spurn, in view of recent good migrants. However, the arrival of a Thrush Nightingale at Sammy's Point seems to have caused some problems between birders, photographers (birders with cameras?) and the Obs Team. I'm not one for expressing views normally and shouldn't have to regarding an enjoyable hobby, but some of the advice/comments on Twitter regarding 'disturbance' and 'welfare' may be slightly over-zealous. I have 'attended' a Thrush Nightingale twice at Spurn, both occasions involved watching a bush in excess of an hour, and eventually seeing an eye! This can be frustrating for the watcher and does, undoubtedly lead to people wanting to get closer, or coax the bird out by some means. On the other hand, Thrush Nightingale is an extremely skulking bird even when singing and 'may' be preening, sleeping etc, regardless of it's surrounding entourage. To my mind, often the rarer the bird is, the less concerned with human activity it is. The Great Snipe at Spurn, walking between people. The Lincs Steppe Grey Shrike, sitting on a scope! Remember, the bird doesn't know it's rare - that's our perception. With disturbance and welfare still in mind, it does seem strange that They will encourage us to line up, clap our hands, tangle a bird up in a net, hang it up in a bag for quarter of an hour, prior to pushing a ring on its leg! At the moment we are having another break in the Algarve, and have travelled across from the Coto Donana National Park in Spain where we spent four days. Our stay was based in the town of El Rocio by the Boca del Lobo lagoon and marshes. Those who have visited here will know the town resembles a 'Western' filmset, with roads of hard sand and the bars have posts, to tie your horse to! The town centres around a fine church - Blanca Paloma where thousands of 'pilgrims' will arrive next week for a religious festival, held each year at this time. Black Kites constantly menace the local pigeons around the church roof. A wide promenade runs the length of the lagoon on its northern side, good numbers of Greater Flamingos and hundreds of Glossy Ibis were present. The marsh was not teeming with birds, in fact there wasn't a single gull or tern present at this time and there is great concern regarding the constant water extraction by the fruit growing industry, which encroaches nearer to the Park. At the east end of the promenade is the SEO Bird Life Centre with a viewing gallery over the lagoon. To the left of the centre is an area of tall tamarisk bushes which, towards dusk, becomes an incredible roost for the herons and egrets. Hundreds of Glossy Ibis fly in, together with Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Night Heron and a few Squacco Herons. Just before dark, six Purple Herons joined the roost, with Grey Herons and Spoonbills nearby. The bird I was most taken with was the Great Reed Warbler, of which two were in reeds along the promenade. The loud, raucous call is unmistakable and they would often sit in an open position. Waders were few on the lagoon, mainly Black-tailed Godwits, Black-winged Stilts and the odd Common Sandpiper. Wildfowl consisted of Greylag Geese, Red-crested Pochard and Gadwall. We faired a lot better with raptors, the ever-present Black Kites numbered eight together at times and a Red Kite was seen too along with two Common Buzzards. Two Booted Eagles were seen and a Spanish Imperial Eagle was found on two separate occasions. Late one evening, a Griffon Vulture was at height over the north of the town. A visit was made to the La Rocina visitor centre and a walk through the woodland produced Cuckoo, Serins, two Short-toed Treecreeper and two Spotted Flycatchers. Nearer the lakes, the swampy undergrowth was alive with singing Nightingales and Cetti's Warblers. The reedbeds provided my first views of Savi's Warbler and Melodious Warblers were calling in the trees. Coto Donana is a vast National Park and too much time can be spent travelling in order to reach specific areas. One area we did cover was around Dehesa de Abajo, here we encountered a pair of Marbled Duck which are still in small numbers. Also on this small lagoon were two Black-necked Grebe, both Purple and Grey Heron and, an Olivaceous Warbler was a good find as small birds were pretty scarce. Overall, Coto Donana showed us some excellent birds with very little difficulty however, I feel it is struggling with numbers compared to some years previously. Also as we reached the end of our stay, the weather deteriorated quickly and, as we are at present in the Algarve, a low pressure system is giving us some really bad weather. A few more images are shown below.
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