Isleham evening

The wind dropped, finally. The water at Isleham became suffused with warm cobalt, and olive reflected tussocks shimmered against the steely mud. The same peachy glow that hinted what was to come this morning, now shone from the opposite quarter, picking out the flanks of Little Ringed Plovers and Avocets. The unmistakeable silhouette of a Greenshank tracked across the far end, while a pair of Garganey slept. 

The drake Garganey is surely one of the most finely sculpted of all ducks. The flow of the scapulars across the back, echoed by the white flank crescent and broad eyestripe- the ripe plum tones of the head- all bathed in high definition light. My digiscope couldn't quite do them justice.

quinque torquatos in agro

There was a narrow band of peach light separating the hedgeline from the waves of turgid cloud rolling in from the east. Mepal airfield looked more or less the same as it had done the last time I was there in the winter, but it has dried out and now the hawthorn boundary was freshly green. My plan was to show Rich some of the good patches in the Ely area, since he has now moved here, and we had started at dawn down at Sutton Gault. Apart from a few Common Terns flying up the wash it was fairly quiet there, so we moved on to Mepal. We both decided that it was a perfect spot for Ring Ouzels, and even before we could finish considering the idea, we were conscious that five Ring Ouzels were ahead of us, hopping among the dried tussocks. Four were males, and one of them was particularly striking, and while we kept our distance they seemed perfectly content. The black and white magic continued with a splendid male Pied Wagtail, whose greater coverts were almost entirely white.
Further across the field, the scrubby corner was alive with Blackcap and Willow Warbler song, and a Common Whitethroat briefly hung above us chuckling to itself, happy, as we were to be there.

                               

It's not unrouseral 2

But when I see you hanging around with anyone

 

 

 

I was very keen to see the Ring Ouzels at Witcham again if I could so I was out at first light checking some likely spots on the way to no avail.  The sun had just pushed past the horizon when the first upland thrush hopped out into the paddock near the top of Hive Lane.  After a while a second bird joined it but they were quite flighty and kept returning to the bramble cover.  While 2 males preened in the top of the tangle a 3rd was out in the paddock but I wasn't able to capture an image of them all together, still using my phone as the new Lumix is still to arrive..........

 

 



It's not unrouseral

to have fun with anyone.......

 

 

I didn't manage to see the full complement of 6 Ring Ouzels that David Hopkins found in Witcham this afternoon but an evening diversion this evening did result in 3 males in the horse paddocks along with a Wheatear.  What a memorable spring this has become for this gorgeted beauty, I hope to see a few more before this movement is through.

 



New Kids On the Block

Several visits to the Wildspace in the last 2 days.  The migration window remains well and truly open and earl morning and afternoon trips have revealed migrants cascading in and very vocal. The hirundines are well and truly back and Chiff and Blackcap song syncopate and ramble mellifluously from most scrub and tangle.  Yellow Wagtail, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler are staking their claim while White Wagtail, Common Sandpiper and Willow Warbler have popped in on their way North.  The pair of Garganey are still present on the settling beds tucked up and almost invisible in the back corner, spending most of their time roosting as they are habitually night feeders.  Marsh Harriers are getting on with it and there's plenty of activity within the reedbed with Herons nest building still, and Cetti's Warbler bursting forth.  There's still time for a Bittern to start hoofing out a thump or two but for the near future it seems that Bearded Tit has failed to sustain itself as a breeder.

So with all this going on what should we hope for?  

The back fields look great for Plover and Wagtails so a Dotterel or continental Flava would certainly make someone's day, Osprey are undoubtedly passing through unnoticed so one of them would be very nice too.  Pied Flycatchers and Redstart also move through unobtrusively in very small numbers and it would be one of these that would be most realistic contenders to really brighten a birding session this week.  

All good fun in the most wonderful time of the year.

Communing with communis

Another look at Pymoor this morning and through the streaming Linnet chorus I heard an even scratchier phrase. Perched up on the hedge-line a Common Whitethroat struggled to be heard above the busy Linnets and Dunnocks. Three Song Thrushes hopped about in a loose group and I wondered if they were migrants too. They did seem a touch greyer than I would have expected from British birds but the light was harsh and the birds were fairly distant so I left the thought behind- soon more interested in a couple of Tree Sparrows and a Grey Partridge.

Here and There.

The clear, bright still morning revealed the April freshness at Roswell Pits. Blackcaps sang in the open- not yet the skulkers of Summer, and the Harriers swung high overhead. there were no new arrivals as far as I could tell- and no sign of the Treecreeper seen the other day. A Cetti's Warbler busily patrolled up and down the length of his territory, and in nearby bushes, three Great tits squabbled, chasing each other like out of control electrons in orbit around a nucleus.

Out on the fen, one field in particular seemed to attract more activity than elsewhere. Yellowhammers, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were dotted over the bare soil, and with them were six Wheatears and a Yellow Wagtail.

Owls and ouzels

With the sudden influx of Ring Ouzels in the country, I thought it a good time to explore a little country lane just outside Ely that I've been meaning to have a look at for ages. It runs north from the vets, parallel to the bypass and passes by a small golf course, a fishing pit and a smallish meadow- all linked by mature hedges. A Barn Owl hunted- as per usual it seems these days, and the now ubiquitous Linnets sang in brambles, but the only signs of fresh migration were a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap.

I didn't want to go home without having seen an ouzel, so I drove further out to Pymoor to see if the bird that Dunc had found yesterday was still about. At first the only thrushes I saw were a couple of Fieldfare, a Song Thrush and three or four Blackbirds- but just as my eye was wandering towards a pair of Grey Partridge in the adjacent field, the ouzel- white blaze shining- appeared on top of the dividing hedge about two hundred metres away. A few brief and distant views were all I could get, but Ring Ouzels seem to be designed to be easily enjoyed at any range, with their simple but eye-catching outfit and alert posturing.

Having to go into town this afternoon I took the opportunity to drop into Roswell Pits to see if the Treecreeper had stayed. No luck, but there was a pair of Great Crested Grebes building their nest raft in full view, and seven Snipe and a Little Egret on the watermeadow.

Ring Ouzel

Brilliant name, brilliant bird.  There's been a fair few Rouzels in the Ely10 this weekend with 5 found before I added a sixth following a lazy car bound hunt when the children conveniently fell asleep in the back of the car and gave me a precious hour to pootle about.  I was chuffed to bits when this beauty popped out from the brambles in the very likely looking paddock at Pymoor bridge.  I'm awaiting a new camera so had to use the phone instead to get a grab shot, which I feel has a charm and captures the bird well as it hopped about beneath the tangled brambles and disappeared for some spells within the thorny protection.  Hopefully more to come....

Spring rising

Before the rain came, this morning was fairly calm in the garden, and a Willow Warbler briefly sang in the corner before flitting across to the copse. At last the migrants are arriving- for the last week or so I've heard Chiffchaffs everywhere, but yesterday there were four or five Blackcaps around Roswell Pits adding their cheery song to the Dawn Chorus. An unexpected pleasure was the quiet thrilling voice of a Treecreeper down near the smallest pit. I have never seen or heard one of these woodland sprites at Roswell in spring or summer before, and I hope that it may hang around for a while.

Later on as the sun warmed the day, Isleham watermeadows was the site of our first Common Tern of the year. There were a few Redshank, Avocet, Snipe and one summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit, and while one of the feral duck pairs escorted a brood of new ducklings across the water, a distant straggle of twenty-six Fieldfare was a distant reminder that winter is now behind us. Three Redwings back at Queen Adelaide and a couple of Sand Martins added to the feeling of seasonal flux- the short period where one set of birds is leaving and another set is arriving.

The rain held off long enough this morning for a short visit to the settling beds where the harriers were more active than usual. A male that I have not seen before drifted across the reedbed, causing the resident birds to take flight. The two males tangled and tumbled while the females swung around behind. Having seen off the intruder, a brief shower stopped all activity, but the male was up soon afterwards sky dancing and mewing high up over the village.

First swallow.

Finally the first hirundines are arriving. A lone Sand Martin over the Settling Beds was joined by nine others by the evening, as well as two Swallows. They circled over the reeds in the cool blue air while about eighty wagtails came in to roost.

Meanwhile in the middle of the reedbed, something odd was happening. A pair of adult Grey Herons were bringing in reed stems as if they were harriers building a nest. There was a younger heron already there and the three birds continued this strange behaviour throughout the evening. 

Lovely lotta linnets little lotties lichen liking.

I've been watching Spring happening along Thistle Corner Drove for the last couple of days. A goodly flock of Linnets have been feeding in a cover strip over the winter, and it looks like a fair proportion of them are staying to breed. At least three pairs have staked out territories, and I saw one female bringing nest material to a patch of brambles. Interestingly, one of the Linnets was a partial albino.

                                      

Nearby a pair of Long-tailed Tits were also building, and I managed to take one pretty poor shot of the half-built nest when both birds were away.

The Searchers.

The Sun disappeared behind a cloud just as the Marsh Harrier drifted towards me. It pivoted in the air and came down at the edge of the reedbed in a clump of last years bulrush stems. Moments later it was up in the air again and out across the nearby farmland. A Barn Owl patrolled the bank and made its way along the road before crossing it just in front of my van. For the second time this week I experienced an owl at close range as it hunted, oblivious to my presence, unaware of the shear joy it brought.

Perfect performance

 Pace, power, skill- he's got airything other buds heet, cuz ye just canny defend agenst that. He picks his target and goes for it, the other buds have got noo chance.

                                     

Right- thats enough football pundit speak, however apt it is for a description of this young Peregrine out on the washes yesterday afternoon. It swung down towards a passing Marsh harrier as I was watching a pair of Cranes feeding in the rough grass, and then shied at a Coot before scattering gulls and wildfowl in its wake with a low pass through the heat haze. Up until then the scene had been one of slumber, with masses of Wigeon, Pintail, Teal and Shoveler hard to discern out on the muddy quads and silt covered vegetation as they roosted like so many brown lumps and tussocks, the occasional white breast or emerald head the only things to stand out amongst the earthen tones of the after-flood.
A Merlin suddenly alighted in a bush just across the drain. It remained for a few minutes and then skipped off along the bank, making forays over the washland, darting low to the ground and landing briefly, head bobbing, alert, wary.
In the distance a Great Egret preened, and then a small flock of Teal flushed from beyond a small reedbed.
Looking along a drain bank, the unmistakeable shape of Peregrine. Blue backed and brown winged, it was the same young bird that had been bullying all the other birds, but now it was on the recieving end, as Black-headed gulls carefully swooped down and forced it up into the air. The peregrine slowly circled, gaining height all the time, but before it had gained the advantage, a Buzzard appeared from nowhere and stooped from the upper levels, putting the falcon on the defensive once more. The acrobatic display of the two raptors was played out in front of a huge flock of Golden plover that spread out in the distant blue.

                                         When the wind stops there are few better places to be.

Apologies to Mr Townshend

Yesterday, myself and Rich bore witness to one of the great displays from a team of Linnets flying in a well drilled formation over some seed crop, as well as a good performance from a Yellowhammer, who sang his praises at the railway end of Thistle Corner Drove.
This morning promised a repeat performance, but the 'Hammer just wasn't at the races today, and the Linnets were all over the place- there was no cohesion , no pattern.
There was one surprise however as I got to the railway, a bird that showed just why he 's a great addition to any field-side.
Cometh the hour, cometh the Owl. He's got that grace that others just can't emulate- you can't teach that, its just something you're born with and its a great skill to have in your locker.

He's worked the field beautifully, marauding down both sides. Then he's held his run along the railway line and went up on the fences with aplomb- I must say I wasn't expecting that Clive. What I love about this lad is he's direct, he comes right at you and he's gone through you with a little shimmy before you can turn. He's got a trick, but it's his surprising pace thats taken him across the railway line and into the rough grass. He's manouvred well out of a tight corner, and, having no joy there, he's not afraid to track back. There's only one thing on his mind, and that's the vole.
The return leg was a disappointing affair after that, but to be fair it did liven up towards the end.
Of course there were your Dunnocks and Blue tits of this world, but it was only when a pair or two of Linnets turned on the charm and stood up to be counted that things got interesting.
They might lack the flair of your Redpolls or even your Bullfinches, but they've got Character, which is just as important at this level. The thing I like about the Linnet is they do the simple things well, and are not afraid to stick their head above the parapet. This one sat in the hole, created by some bramble-tangle, then dropped back in a deeper lying role before shutting up shop, parking the bus and going for an early bath.

 He's no Lionel Messi of course.