I had to walk in to Basildon town centre this afternoon.
As I left my flat to walk down the grassy strip to the main road, I immediately saw the colourful spectacle of a Green Woodpecker and a Jay both foragaing on the ground close together. Both quickly saw me and flew off calling.
When I returned the same way, I saw a Grey Squirrel, also on the ground before it ran off into the trees.
Date: 12th September 2021
Time: from
7:30 a.m.
Weather: dry,
hazy sunshine, light wind, 12°C to 14°C
This was my first
visit to the site in over 2 weeks.
Immediately on
leaving the communal exit to the flats where I live, I heard a distant “barking”
male Reeves’ Muntjac. During the last week or so, I thought I heard this
deer “barking” briefly on 2 other occasions late at night although I could not
be certain.
I accessed the site
via the track from Larkins Tyres and, as I did so, a Reeves’ Muntjac sprang
out from the scrub to the side of me and ran off down the track, holding its
wide tail erect and displaying its white underside, a characteristic sign when
this species is disturbed or alarmed.
During my visit, I
saw another Reeves’ Muntjac when I was sat at St. Nicholas Church. It
slowly crossed the grassy area immediately beyond the car park to disappear in
to the wooded area but several minutes later presumably the same
individual emerged on the other side to cross Church Hill and again disappear.
After seeing the
first Reeves’ Muntjac, I saw a Grey Squirrel in the same area and
then another in the western section of the cemetery.
Whilst sat at St. Nicholas Church, I saw 2 Red Foxes cross Church Hill in quick succession.
It continues to be relatively
quiet with regard to birds although there were several highlights
during my visit.
The most notable
sighting was from my usual watchpoint overlooking the field, scrub and wooded
area in the north of the site. A Common Buzzard flew in pursued by
several Magpies and landed and perched at the top of one of the hedges.
It was continually harassed by Magpies for around 10 minutes before it
flew off in a westerly direction only to return almost immediately, still
pursued by Magpies, and then head in a south easterly direction towards my
flat.
Photo: heavily cropped record shot of distant Common Buzzard
From this viewpoint,
I also heard an almost continually but distantly calling Chiffchaff and,
on a few brief occasions, this bird or another, broke in to song although by no
means as loud and robust as in spring. In addition, I heard the brief alarm
calling of a Blackcap in the same area. I failed to see either species but evidently both of the common summer visiting and breeding warblers are still present.
The only other
notable records were 2 calling Great Spotted Woodpeckers (1 around
St. Nicholas Church and 1 in the wooded area adjacent to the viewpoint) and 2 fly-over
Canada Geese heading in an easterly direction and also seen from the
watchpoint.
In another sign that
autumn is here, Robins are singing again regularly around the
site and Jays have become far more conspicuous and noisy as they go
about their acorn foraging trips.
Species
recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Site totals to date
(2021 totals in brackets):
CR7 made his second debut and scored 2 goals and Man United won 4-1 and went to the top of the Premier League .... that was some present!
This is only the 12th record of this exceptionally rare bird in the UK. The last was in 2010, a famous, well-twitched White-tailed Lapwing that toured multiple sites in Lancashire, London, Gloucestershire and Kent during the summer of that year. I saw this individual at RSPB Dungeness in Kent on 17th July 2010 and only managed very poor long-distance record photos.
On 6th September 2021, I visited RSPB Blacktoft Sands and had exceptional views of this latest White-tailed Lapwing to visit the UK plus I achieved some rather better photographic results.
When I first arrived in the Xeros Hide, the White-tailed Lapwing was asleep on a small island in the lagoon amongst some Mallard and Teal but it was instantly recognisable.
It eventually returned to the same island although it was not joined by its previous companions.
Photo: White-tailed Lapwing at RSPB Blacktoft Sands, East Yorkshire
Photo: White-tailed Lapwing at RSPB Blacktoft Sands, East Yorkshire
Photo: White-tailed Lapwing at RSPB Blacktoft Sands, East Yorkshire
The White-tailed Lapwing or White-tailed Plover is a wader in the lapwing genus Vanellus. It is long-legged and fairly long-billed. Adults are slim erect birds with a brown back and fore-neck, paler face and grey breast. Its long yellow legs, pure white tail and distinctive brown, white and black wings make it unmistakable.
The White-tailed Lapwing breeds semi-colonially on inland marshes, flooded fields and lake and river banks in Iraq, Iran and southern Russia. The Iraqi and Iranian breeders are mainly residents but Russian birds migrate south in winter to the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and north east Africa. It is an extremely rare vagrant in western Europe.
BirdGuides - White-tailed Lapwing
I booked a rental car from 4th September 2021 to 7th September 2021 for a trip away from home and visits to a number of sites.
My trip provided excellent birding opportunities, especially the sighting of an exceptionally rare White-tailed Lapwing plus 3 further additions to my UK year list for 2021 (Cattle Egret, Little Stint and Water Rail).
4th September 2021
On 4th September 2021, apart from catching up on various things that required a car, I had a brief visit to Wat Tyler Country Park in Pitsea to hopefully see the Cattle Egrets that were being reported regularly there. These typically southern European herons are being seen in the UK in increasing numbers and this seems to be a sustained range expansion with the species now breeding, albeit very rarely.
I have seen large numbers of Cattle Egrets in southern Europe but I had my first UK record at Blythburgh in Suffolk in September 2001 when the species was still very much a rare vagrant. From 2014, I have recorded Cattle Egret every year for my UK year list, including previously at Wat Tyler Country Park in September 2017.
My visit to Wat Tyler Country Park on 4th September 2021 proved to be successful and it was very easy to see 4 Cattle Egrets moving across the saltmarsh on the other side of Timbeman’s Creek. Whilst watching these birds, I had the unexpected and welcome sighting of a Spoonbill flying through. Cattle Egret was an addition to my UK year list for 2021 but I had already previously recorded Spoonbill.
The Cattle Egrets were too distant for photos but here are some that I have taken in Spain ....
Photo: Cattle Egret at Corredor Verde dos Bahias near Benalup, Andalucia, Spain
Photo: Cattle Egret at Corredor Verde dos Bahias near Benalup, Andalucia, Spain
Photo: Cattle Egret at Corredor Verde dos Bahias near Benalup, Andalucia, Spain
5th September 2021
During late August
and early September each year, I usually visit RSPB Titchwell Marsh in north west Norfolk and RSPB Frampton Marsh in east Lincolnshire, principally
for the autumn return wader passage migration and specifically targeting Little
Stint and Curlew Sandpiper as additions to my UK year list.
After an early start from home, I arrived at RSPB Titchwell Marsh at around 9:15 a.m.
Compared with previous years, my visit was slightly disappointing. However, after more than an hour and after much repeated scanning, I finally found a single Little Stint which was a further addition to my UK 2021 year list.
In addition to the Little Stint, I recorded the following wader species amongst the large numbers of eclipse ducks: Black-tailed Godwit (c.100), Avocet (c.50), Ruff (c.50), Dunlin (c.20), Ringed Plover (2), Lapwing (c.100) and Golden Plover (1). Unfortunately, I did not see the hoped for Curlew Sandpiper and nor did I see Spotted Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper or Common Sandpiper.
Other highlights at RSPB Titchwell Marsh included: Marsh Harrier (7 birds in the air together), Bearded Tit (several heard calling only), Chiffchaff (4 heard including 2 males still singing), Blackcap (2 heard alarm calling) plus several Ruddy Darters and Migrant Hawkers and Reeves’ Muntjac (2 “barking” males heard near the visitor centre).
Here are some photos of Ruffs from my visit ….
Photo: Ruffs at RSPB Titchwell Marsh
Photo: Ruff at RSPB Titchwell Marsh
Photo: Ruff at RSPB Titchwell Marsh
Photo: Ruff at RSPB Titchwell Marsh
6th September 2021
After staying overnight at Premier Inn Kings Lynn, it had been my plan to first visit RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire and then move on to RSPB Blacktoft Sands in east Yorkshire for the White-tailed Lapwing that had been present for several days.
However, the early morning weather was not as had been forecast so I drove directly (albeit slowly due to the typically dreadful experience of the A17 in Lincolnshire) to RSPB Blacktoft Sands where I had a very successful visit.
Apart from seeing the exceptionally rare White-tailed Lapwing (see here), I recorded the following: Bittern (1 “booming” male heard on several occasions), Little Egret (13), Grey Heron (2), Little Stint (2), Greenshank (5), Green Sandpiper (3), Common Sandpiper (1), Ruff (c.30), Black-tailed Godwit (c.10), Ringed Plover (1), Common Redshank (2), Lapwing (c.20), Common Snipe (11) and Water Rail (1 heard only but another addition to my UK 2021 year list).
Other highlights at RSPB Blacktoft Sands included: Marsh Harrier (1), Common Buzzard (1), Sparrowhawk (1), Bearded Tit (c.10), Reed Bunting (1), Reed Warbler (3), Cetti’s Warbler (1 heard singing), Chiffchaff (1 heard calling) and several adult and juvenile Goldfinches feeding on thistles in front of one of the hides.
Like RSPB Titchwell Marsh, my visit was slightly disappointing compared with previous years primarily due to the fact that the whole marsh surrounding the 360 degree hide was completely dried up. Normally, there is plenty of wet mud which proves to be a huge attraction to waders.
Nonetheless, other areas of the reserve did prove to be productive and I recorded the following: Spoonbill (20), Great White Egret (1), Little Egret (5), Little Stint (5), Greenshank (1), Ruff (4), Common Sandpiper (1), Dunlin (c.30), Black-tailed Godwit (c.100), Common Snipe (8), Avocet (1) and Lapwing (c.100).
Other highlights at RSPB Frampton Marsh included: Yellow Wagtail (7), Whinchat (1), Swallow (c.20) and, amongst the large numbers of eclipse ducks, c.10 early returning Wigeon.
