More shots taken today at Amwell

The four Little Ringed Plovers and lingering drake Eurasian Wigeons

TURNSTONE at Amwell

WEDNESDAY 22 MAY

A moderate NE wind blowing, with fairly cool temperatures and a lot of cloud cover

Failing to locate any local Spotted Flycatchers again and dipping on CDRH's Roseate Tern pair at QMR which disappeared after 22 minutes, I made my way over to AMWELL NATURE RESERVE (HERTS) where Bill Last had located a transitional plumaged TURNSTONE on the increasing mud in front of the Watchpoint there.

Unlike Jay Ward's Wood Sandpiper (who incidentally arrived at Amwell the same time as me), this passage wader was still there and showing extremely well. I managed to get at least 30 decent images of it (see below), the bird staying until at least early afternoon when I departed (in fact it was still there at 1600 hours per Simon Knott). Four displaying LITTLE RINGED PLOVERS were also on the mud, as well as a pair of Common Redshank and a COMMON SANDPIPER, whilst two Eurasian Wigeon were still lingering as well as a pair of Shoveler. Also present were 15 Common Terns, COMMON CUCKOO, 2 male Blackcaps and the GARDEN WARBLER.

I then moved north into BEDFORDSHIRE and GYPSY LANE EAST, BROOM, where belatedly I connected with my first county WOOD SANDPIPER of the year (see pix below). It was furtively feeding along the southern edge of the main scrape. The transitional plumaged CURLEW SANDPIPER was also still present (fourth day), creeping through emergent vegetation on the east shore. Eight Little Ringed Plovers were noted, whilst 400+ Common Swifts were in the general area. Still no Hobby.

Record shots of both the Wood Sandpiper (top two) and Curlew Sandpiper

Events then unfolded in Woolwich curtailing my days birding abruptly....

Water End OSPREY

Hugh Insley and Mike Hounsome have kindly informed me of details of the colour-ringed OSPREY at Water End that Darin, Joan, Anna and I observed; She was ringed on 24 June 2011 as a brood of two in a nest near Loch Ness (Highland Region) and was resighted on 24 January of this year in SENEGAL at Somone Lagoon (Tim Mackrill)

SANDERLING briefly at Tyttenhanger

Steve Blake found this breeding-plumaged SANDERLING at 10am this morning at Tyttenhanger GP but its stay was less than a few minutes

WOOD SAND at Amwell briefly

SATURDAY 18 MAY


You just cannot afford to get any sleep with this game. After losing two night's sleep in succession, today due to a certain DUSKY THRUSH in Margate Cemetery, I returned home at 0900 hours to get some sleep. No sooner had I got under the sheets than Jason Ward texted with news of a Wood Sandpiper at Amwell Nature Reservoir, a species I still had not seen in Hertfordshire this year..

I jumped up, got dressed and drove over there, but after just half an hour, the Wood Sandpiper had departed and I dipped - solace being achieved in a singing male GARDEN WARBLER and a single male LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (other species on tap being 3 Common Redshanks, 40+ Black-headed Gulls on rafts, 8+ Common Terns, 100+ Common Swifts, Sedge Warbler and calling COMMON CUCKOO and CETTI'S WARBLER)

Feeling terribly knackered by this time, I again returned home to get some sleep. This time I recharged the phone downstairs which was a grave mistake. By 4pm, a succession of local birders had been frantically trying to contact me after Alan Stephens had discovered two TEMMINCK'S STINTS at Spade Oak Gravel Pits. My own fault of course.

Anyway, waking at 1830 hours, I checked the mobile and learnt of my mistakes. Graham Smith kindly filled me in. I was at SPADE OAK within 17 minutes and to my horror, the gathered crowd had just lost the two birds. Nightmare! I continued on to the east side of the pit and by a miracle, relocated both birds after they had been disturbed by a Red Fox. They then flew back towards the spit and continued to show reasonably well until at least 1930 hours, enabling me to get a series of record shots of the two birds. Both were in full breeding plumage and were accompanying a single TUNDRA RINGED PLOVER. Also noted were 6 Common Shelducks, 27 Egyptian Geese, 73 Argenteus Herring Gulls and 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

On the way home, driving through BEACONSFIELD (on the A355), I was saddened to see a dead Badger by the entrance to ROSECOPSE BARN.

OSPREY roosting in tree

Whilst Joan, Anna and I were birding on the Berkshire Downs, JT took a call from an excited Clifford Smout. He had just found an OSPREY at Waterend, Wheathamstead, and it was roosting in a tree above the footpath. Knowing that Darin Stanley was working nearby, I phoned him and sent him down, with he quickly relocating it at around 1730 hours. Darin then very kindly kept on it until we arrived, the bird roosting happily until at least 1915 hours. I noticed that it was bearing a black or navy blue ring with the inscription 'FW' but because of very poor light, I only obtained the following record shots.......

Bygrave: no Turtle Doves

Had a good look around Bygrave this afternoon but failed in my quest to find any Turtle Doves; highlights were 5 CORN BUNTINGS, several pairs of YELLOW WAGTAILS, a pair of Linnets and Brown Hares