Birding Braunie

Having a few days off before the Christmas break allowed me to indulge in a bit of last minute birding. And rather than create separate posts for each trip, I am lazily putting all the highlights into one post. 14.12.2011 Amwell Gravel Pits At the northern end of the Lee Valley, Amwell is a good place to find wintering ducks and bittern. Birds seen: siskin, goldeneye, wigeon, shoveler, gadwall, great crested grebe, common gull Great Northaw Wood Ancient woodland in Hertfordshire Birds seen: nuthatch, common treecreeper, coal tit, marsh it, great spotted woodpecker, tawny owl (heard only) Mammals: muntjac deer 17.12.2011 Connaught Water Local lake on the edge of Epping Forest Mandarin duck , Hooded Merganser (unknown origin) Mandarin Duck Mandarin Ducks

Following the blustery day at Rainham Marshes, the following day was calm, sunny and reasonably mild. The plan was to visit Fingringhoe Wick and Abberton Reservoir. Fingringhoe is on the Colne esturary and can attract a range of wintering ducks and waders. There was also still a long-staying Glossy Ibis which eluded me so we’ll skip over that one. Most action came from the esturary. There were 18 r ed-breasted Mergansers on the water with small flocks of Brent geese . Avocets, curlews, knots and dunlins ferried back and forth with redshanks and lapwings adding their voices to the scene. A single Slavonian Grebe drifted slowing up river providing another highlight. Pretty Map Brent Geese Red-breasted Merganser Slavonian Grebe From Fingringhoe Wick, I headed over to Abberton Reservoir. Abberton Reservoir is famous for a slightly different type of bird. In 1943, the RAF used Abberton reservoir as a practice run site for the Lancaster bomber and the bouncing bo...

This is the first of two back-to-back birding trips this week while using up my annual leave. Nothing was going to stop me, not even a little breeze coming in from the SW. Okay, so it was more than just a little breeze, more a mini hurricane to be dramatic. I hedged my bets and opted for the safety of Rainham Marshes. This wasn’t because it’s sheltered because it isn’t. It is however not far to bolt for home if the weather gets too much. The Thames from Rainham Marshes Fuck, it was windy. I walked along the sea wall west towards the landfill site scanning the sea for winter ducks. The wind nearly blew me over a couple of times and viewing through a scope was difficult as the wind turned my eyes to pools of water. Teal and Wigeon bobbed about probably having fun but not sure. The fun ended though when a Peregrine Falcon in the shape of an air to sea missile dived down towards the unsuspecting wildfowl. Luckily, the falcon, probably suffering from the wind in it’s eyes like me...