September 7th 2010

Decided to head to Shustoke this morning for a crack at the Little Stint in the good weather,however as i pulled into the car park a txt came thru from John Judge 'Red Necked Phal Draycote' Bugger so didnt even get out the car but made a steady journey over to Draycote & was soon at Farborough bank with JJ,Bob Hazell,Richard Mays,Terry Southgate already on the bird,a new Draycote bird,fantastic but distant!a late straggler 'Bob the birder' Duckhouse turned up & was soon on the bird after about 15mins Richard took a call to say Sandwich Tern off Draycote Bank a quick scan & a Warks tick for me in the bag(233)I decided to head off around the res to see if the Phal would come in closer (it did but not much,2 Record shots below! & before any of the photographers start panicking the bottom photo is a cheat from a few yrs ago of a juv i took in Norfolk) also had a flyover Grey Plover picked up superbly by Tim Marlow 1 Black Tern & 1 Arctic Tern (all in all a bloody good few hrs) got back home to an email letting me know the Stint had departed so the right move this morning!!!!

Red-necked Phalarope



Red-necked Phalarope

September 6th 2010

Started off at Draycote again this morning,but it appears most birds departed overnight! 2 Dunlin & 5 Ringed Plover still on Hensborough Bank,1 Common Sandpiper on Toft bank with 3 Swift & a few Yellow Wagtails being the best sightings!! So kept close to the computer for the next few hrs (Hoping for a biggie!!!) Nothing... then Sanderling came thru at Shustoke Res (Only a few mile up the rd) so off i set on arrival Little Egret just off the car park,carried on around & found a small wader which was most def not a Sanderling but Little Stint (2 bird theory?) spent a hr wiv it but the weather was terrible (so should be happy with what i've got)
Little Stint (Juv)






Grey Heron (Juv)



Little Egret

September 5th 2010

Missed my old mate Steve Seal due to work commitments y'day at Draycote (But glad to see that he had a good day & some of the birds stayed for him) On arrival at Draycote this morning i decided to head straight for Hensborough bank,i'd just got past the sailing club when i saw what i thought was a new lighthouse on the bank (My mistake it were a Brandon regular in a Daz white t.shirt on the bank, all the latest gear all with camo but in a dayglo outfit!! You gotta laugh..)Anyway after puttin on the shades & puttin the earplugs in i got myself into position & had a cpl of hrs in the mixed weather with the 1 Juv Curlew Sandpiper still present alongside 4 Dunlin & 4 Ringed Plover.. Other birds seen on site Yellow Wagtail in double figures 1(Juv) Little Ringed Plover on the outflow + the usual common stuff

Curlew Sandpiper (Juv)






Yellow Wagtail (Ad)



Yellow Wagtail (Juv)




Great Crested Grebe



Teal

September 2nd 2010

Another call into Draycote Water this morning to get some better pics of the ad Curlew Sandpiper,Y'days 4 birds still present with even more Ringed Plovers present at least 4 Dunlin,Common Sandpiper & Sanderling with no sign of the Ruff enjoyable cpl of hrs spent in the company of Richard Mays,Bob Hazell & Max Silverman

Curlew Sandpiper (Adult)





Curlew Sandpiper (Juv)



Ringed Plover





Sanderling (above & below)

September 1st 2010

After a mad dash up from Biggleswade along the M1 & M45 i was soon tearing along Hensborough bank loaded down with me gear to be met by Bob Hazell who kindly put me onto the birds (Yet another cracking find by Bob!!) The birds were confiding & allowed me pretty close with 8+ Ringed Plover,4 Dunlin,1 Sanderling & juv Ruff as backup (not bad for an inland Res) photos below with many more on my website.(Click on my Photo on the right)

Curlew Sandpiper (Adult)


Curlew Sandpiper (Juv)






Ringed Plover


Sanderling


Ruff (Juv)

September 1st 2010

After finishing my night shift & knowing the weather was going to be good i got a cpl of hrs sleep then headed down to Biggleswade,Bedfordshire for the Adult female Red-backed Shrike that has been present for a few days,after a short drive (about 1 1/2 hrs from home) I was soon on site,after about 1/2 hr of waiting i decided to try my luck on the other side of the railway 'bingo' the bird was just sitting there! spent about 3hrs watching it but was gettin twitchy for about 2 of them as i'd recieved a txt from John Judge informing me of the fact 4 Curlew Sandpipers were at Draycote (a bird iv'e never managed to photograph!) Shrike images below......