A celebration of birding and natural history, generally within a 10 mile radius of Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, UK.
It would be great if you wanted to share your Ely 10 birding news, experiences, photos, art and video through this blog. Please contact hairyfolkster@gmail.com with your post or to join the authorship, I'll get you on the list quicker than a fly over Alpine Swift.
We started our morning at the Beet Pits where a panicky flock of Lapwing gave us the heads up to look for a Peregrine and sure enough a very compact and small Peregrine flew across the back and away off towards Chettisham. Just outside the Ely10 there are regular wintering Smew along the Ouse Valley gravel pits, although this year they have been pretty scarce. A little gathering on the sailing pits at St Ives has included some smart drakes, White Nuns, alongside the redheads. We enjoyed distant views of a drake and 4 redheads as soon as we arrived and after a while in poor light we decided to leave them. Fortunately we met an old boy who described a few paths around the pits and we decided to explore a little further. It didn't take much exploring to find the path around the lake and were soon enjoying some great views in nice light.
After a while the trio took flight, circled the pit and left so we continued our exploration. We found 2 of the three Smew on the smaller pit and enjoyed them further from various vantage points, a Woodcock made a surprise fly past and Skylarks were singing their way into something that may have been a little warmth when the sun broke through.
On our return leg we decided to have a look at the Chiffchaffs at Ely Sewage Works. At least 3 collybita were nice and easy and then a very different beast popped up, a very good candidate for a tristis showed well. On field characteristics and plumage a classic buff and white bird, but my memories of last years bird at Titchwell which also looked the real deal but was reportedly recorded with a call within the collybita range. A bit of work and luck will be needed to get some vocalisations if a clear positive ID is to be possible.
In Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book a Dude is described thus "The dude is not into discomfort. He potters out after breakfast, stays in posh hotels and waits for the sun." I am getting much more dude these days and this is exemplified by the time it takes me to get around to looking for rare birds that are hanging around. Over Christmas we stayed in Whitby for a couple of nights and it took until the last morning to make the 15 minute walk onto the cliff top to look for the wintering Desert Wheatear.
Months after their discovery I managed to see the Parrot Crossbills at Santon Downham a couple of weeks ago, well worth the wait but very dude. I joined Rich and Ben for a day out, and we hit the Brecks.
I'm reading Nick Bakers book on rewilding yourself, quite dude again, and have just read about how to reduce your sonic footstep and improve your fieldcraft. We were much more social than mindful as we guffawed our way across Santon Warren. Over the frivolous banter I heard them. A long way off, suggested sound, stopped, silence, a lag period of a 5 seconds or so and then the first fruity calls became audible. 15 or so Crossbills, in chorus, appeared as dots and flew swiftly over and down towards the car park.
We did take a while to get there, mostly distracted by Ben's detailed account of how he had fantasised our finding of the birds, to more guffawing. When we finally arrived at the car park we did see a female Parrot Crossbill, huge billed, sitting a top a pine. It was grey and dark but hugely engaging as a view and, oh so quickly, the tree burst into life and the flock took to the wing and left and disappeared into the distance. We decided to amble down along the river and it wasn't long until we re-found the Crossbills in a tall deciduous tree. We were able to enjoy them on our lonesome for quite a while as they used this as a vantage point to drop down from into a little straggle of pines where they would snip off a pine cone with that big pair of secateurs and return to the bare branches to work their way in to obtain the seeds.
Once they had gorged they moved closer and into some riverside Alders and then tentatively down into a willow tangle overhanging the shallows that allowed them to drink from the Little Ouse.
We left the Crossbills after half an hour and continued our perambulation, Bramblings, a Merlin and tit flocks kept us amused. We pottered along to Lynford Arboretum where we enjoyed a couple of Hawfinches in the paddock trees and tangle and I duded out completely on Marsh Tits and Nuthatches coming down to feed on the seeded bridge.
A return to Santon, hoping for seconds on the Crossbills was unsuccessful but we found ourselves joining a small gathering watching a confiding Otter fishing and running around on the banks. A very pleasant way to finish a very pleasant day, although the sun didn't break the monochrome sky even once.
Admittedly under our own pressure, I nudged Ben into joining me on a full day's winter listing around the Ely10. It's a great excuse to mooch around and check in on what's about locally.
Heading out across Wicken Fen in the dark starts to tune you in to everything you can't see. Little micro-climates of warmer air, pockets of dampness, smells from the vegetation and ground all become more "visible" in absence of meaningful light. Jackdaws are already leaving their roost and varied wildfowl keep nervous contact by quack and whistle. A Tawny Owl "keevicks", a Water Rail gives a piglet squeal and the first of several Woodcock return from nocturnal feeding to hunker down invisible in the shrubby under storey. A bundle of Redpoll are vocal but hard to see and a couple of Marsh Harriers lumber out of their roost. Late to rise, we finally see a ringtail Hen Harrier while Bearded Tits ping in the phragmites. A loop out across the Fen on our way to Fordham Woods failed to find Corn Buntings or Grey Partridge but a Stonechat did perform on cue.
In the woods Marsh Tits accompanied us and a flurry of Nuthatch activity provided further evidence that these birds are doing well in the area currently. A Treecreeper wound it's way around a trunk but no Siskin could be found on this visit.
We headed across to the research park lake to look at the gulls. We saw a couple of Caspian Gulls and spent most of our time enjoying a confiding adult.
A trip to Ely Wildspace revealed wintering Chiffchaff and an immature drake Goldeneye on Roswell Pits which qualifies as surprise of the day as they are very unusual at the site, the Shelduck on the Beet Pits was also noteworthy.
And on to the Washes.....
A surprise was in store as we peaked over the cradge bank at Pymore to be greeted by the flood shrouded in a localised mist, hanging low over the water. Wild swans bugled through the murk and drew in others flying between feeding fields. It wasn't going to be easy picking out anything but a very enigmatic stop.
Along the Washes to Welney where we enjoyed the spectacle of thousands of waders and wildfowl going about their business. A little posse of Tree Sparrows entertained at the visitor centre and a couple of Curlew sadly cause a bit of excitement these days. A Great White Egret lazily winged past just about finishing off the day. Over 95 species seen both a respectable total and a great day out.
We spent a lovely weekend on the Norfolk coast in late November. It was cold and overcast for much of the time but with an extra layer or 2 the girls were ok. At Cley the highlight was the 80 strong flock of Snow Buntings, ever mobile, a flurry across the shingle and grazing marsh.
At the visitor centre I got talking to a chap about Gull ID as there was a scope set up looking out to the loafing gulls on the pools, it turned out to be the exhibiting artist Steve Cale. As I have one of his pictures of a Woodcock flying out through woodland on my office wall I enjoyed the connection and we did talk for longer than was reasonable with the kids eager to be amused somewhere else.
Leaving the girls to tea and cake at the café, I enjoyed the last half hour of the day taking in the sights and sounds of the seawall at Titchwell. Marsh Harriers were virtually flocking with over 20 in the air at one point, there were lots of geese grouping before taking to their roost flights onwards to Scolt Head and The Wash. The sky turned to deep peach, purple ad pink - gorgeous.
Next morning I was out before sunrise and enjoyed dawn along the same stretch of seawall. It was cold and bright and blustery and a Black-headed Gull followed me optimistically hoping for an easy hand out. I would have shared any food I'd brought with me but I had a plan to build up an appetite for breakfast back at the cottage so my pockets were bare and the gull's optimism slowly waned.
In the blink of an eye 6 months has gone by - wow.
What to tell....
A summer trip to the southern heaths ill judged in rain and roaring winds, yielded Keeled Skimmer and White-legged Damselfly, both new to me.
A muggy August walk across Burwell Fen with a Hobby accompanying us all afternoon
Ben giving the bird the bird - alternatively known as the Blackcap balancing act
Our Cranes on the Washes peaked at 36 with 6 or more young and were a joy to watch as they danced their merry dance
Hawfinches invaded and morning watches produced several birds over the last weeks of October including 8 over the garden over a week and 3 at Roswell Pits. Hawfinch was a new bird for me in the Ely10 and the same day I checked out Fordham Woods and managed to see Nuthatch and Marsh Tits too - not a trio I thought possible in the area a few years ago.
Early November saw another Ely10 tick in the shape of a fine Shorelark at Burwell Fen. I waited in the dark for light to come and in the gloaming began picking out birds. Not long after dawn in the gloom I managed to watch this fantastic bird in snatched minutes before work.
