Bittern at Barnes.

It was a chilly but clear morning on Sunday when I joined a Surrey Bird Club field-trip to the London Wetland Centre at Barnes. Some of the shallower parts of the extensive pools showed how cold it had been overnight with a thin layer of ice enabling this Coot to 'walk on the water'.

There were a number of species on our wish list and it wasn't long before the star attraction, a [Eurasian]  Bittern, (Botaurus stellaris) was located on the edge of a distant reed bed.

Typical of this well camouflaged species it stood stock still for many minutes before adopting its upright pose to scan the vicinity for a possible meal before disappearing into the reeds.

Other species logged included Lapwing, Mallard, Teal, Pochard, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Cormorant, Little Grebe, Northern Shoveler, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Canada, Greylag and Egyptian  Geese, Gulls (Herring, Black-headed, Common and Lesser Black-backed), Grey Heron, Robin, Stonechat, Tits (Blue, Great and Long-tailed), Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Ring-necked Parakeet, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Blackbird.

Whilst high up in the Peacock Hide I watched a male Sparrowhawk dashing low over the marsh scattering the wildfowl, Pigeons and Starlings before coming to rest in a tree close by but getting a clear shot through the foliage was near impossible.

On returning to the WWT Hide with one of my colleagues we were both fortunate to get another view of the Bittern that had reappeared in almost the same spot.

After walking up through the reeds it eventually decided to fly off to another distant reed bed. 

For many of my fellow birders this was probably the best ever views they had experienced of this elusive species and I'm pleased to have got a few record images to share for this weeks edition of Wild Bird Wednesday.  FAB.

Bittern at WWT Barnes.

So here is the scenario which I'm sure many of us have experienced. You enter a bird hide and one or more of the occupants says "There's a Bittern out here" (inwardly I think great ... that's one of the reasons why I came here today) and then one of two options ... either you are left to scan everywhere or you are given some sort of directions ... such as "It's in the reeds, over there on the right".

So above is the general view that greeted me out of a hide window at W.W.T. Barnes today and a similar greeting (as detailed above) from another visitor, who then waited a few moments before adding "Have you found it?". Well for anyone who knows what a Bittern looks like (it is  one of the ultimate camouflage species) you then scan the reed margins for a slightly darker shape that is usually absolutely stationary within the similarly coloured reed stems.

It didn't take me long to locate my quarry but the dull overcast conditions and distance were far from ideal for my set up but I'll share these 'record' shots (heavily cropped) just to show how difficult this species can be to locate for the inexperienced. 

One day I'll capture one out in the open on a nice sunny day ... lol!

Needless to say that when some other visitors joined me in the hide I was more than happy to provide them with far easier instructions in order to locate this winter visitor and one guy was overjoyed to get a close up view through my scope.

Of course there were plenty of other species on view including lots of Northern Lapwings plus a distant view of a single female 'red-headed' Smew.

Male Gadwall (Anas strepera)
For more information on this species, please CLICK here.

Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata).

Well at least a couple of ducks came close enough for the lens before the dark clouds rolled in. The forecast doesn't look particularly promising for the next few days so I may have to revert to looking through some of last years images for the next post.   FAB.

Linking up to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

Barnes WWT bathed in sunshine.

Earlier this week (Tuesday) I enjoyed a few hours in the sunshine at WWT Barnes. 

Whilst the centre was alive with school children enjoying various activities including pond dipping the hides were very quiet probably because most of the birds were fairly distant. 

After half an hour in the hide overlooking the waterlogged scrape the only close visitors were a pair of Canada Geese who settled for a few minutes before taking flight.

and a couple of male Tufties.

The view from the Peacock Tower over the grazing marsh was somewhat similar so I headed towards 'Wildside' on the other side of the reserve.

Coot with some damaged feathers strutting across the grass.

Moorhen enjoying a cool drink.

I stopped for a while to capture some of the 'collection' species including Red-crested Pochard, a male White-headed Duck and the Goldeneye with a red head Smew in tow. As I wandered the pathways the striking call of a Cetti's Warbler pierced the air and Goldfinches twittered above my head.

Once again there was very little activity from the furthest hide apart from a couple of Dabchicks (Little Grebe). On my return route there was a small collection of people staring across one of the water channels at the distant reedbed. A search through the bins (I'd decided to leave the scope at home!) and I eventually located the distinctive brown camouflaged outline of a BITTERN well hidden in the reeds. It maintained its station while occasionally preening for some 20 minutes but then decided to move out into the open.

Unfortunately it was really too far for the 70-300 lens and the overhead sun didn't help focussing but I managed a cropped record shot that will have to do for the time being. Within a few moments this elusive species was out of sight .... until another day perhaps.  FAB.

Reunion in Kent.

On Tuesday I arranged a day out with David, an ex-RHS work colleague, who has moved to Kent to restart his life again. Our day started at Oare Marshes where I  met David, his wife June and most unexpectedly Rob, one of their sons, who has got the birding bug. 

With a nearly clear blue sky and not a breath of wind we headed out along the sea wall and scanning the bushes around the car park produced Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits. The mudflats were littered with Redshanks but our attention very quickly turned to a pale ghostly shape quartering over the inland marsh.

The direction of the sun and the flight path of the Barn Owl failed to provide a very close encounter but we watched this individual for over half an hour as it searched for a meal and I managed a few record shots.

Our eyes soon returned to a search of the sky over Sheppey and we soon latched onto several Marsh Harriers and possibly a Buzzard. Bearded Tits were often heard as we wandered slowly but never showed themselves. At the sea wall hide we added Avocets (40+), Shelduck, Cormorant, a female Sparrowhawk mobbing a Harrier plus the usual Gulls. 

The East Flood held the expected Mallard, Tufted Ducks, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Shovellers, Coot, Moorhen, Redshank, Lapwing, a single Ruff, a dozen Common Snipe and masses of Golden Plover (pictured above). The waders took flight as a Peregine flew fairly high over the marsh heading westwards without stopping to hunt for a meal. On the western side we added Greylag Geese, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Kestrel plus Starlings, Dunlin and Pied Wagtails.

David & Rob.

After consuming our packed lunches we headed inland towards 'Stodders' and my hosts stopped on the edge of an area of farmland to enable me to scope out two Whooper Swans (tick for 2010) distantly amoungst a group of Mute Swans but no sign of any Bewick's. Our afternoon was spent at Grove Ferry.

Scanning from The Mound we found the usual Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal and Mallard on the pools but no other waders. The chat soon got around to our chances of finding a Bittern and scanning with the scope along one of the furthermost reed banks I located the camouflaged 'head up' shape standing partly hidden by the reeds.

This digiscoped image has been heavily cropped but you should be able to make out the browner shape of the Bittern just off centre-right. It soon started moving and then disappeared from view. During our leisurely stroll to two of the hides we heard both Water Rail and several Cetti's Warblers. A number of sightings of Marsh Harriers, mainly males and just when neither of us had our cameras ready a fly past by another Bittern!

 

Unfortunately this was all I could manage as it disappeared to our left in the fading light. My day in Kent ended at David's new home with a fish pie supper which was greatfully appreciated after a glorious day out on the Kent marshes in good company before I made my way home in the dark.  FAB.