To the Yorkshire Dales for Lady Slipper Orchid & Small White Orchid

Introduction 

I'd been wanting to see both Lady Slipper Orchid and Small White Orchid for quite some time now. These are the last two UK orchids that I need for my list (apart from Ghost and some of the Tongue Orchid species) but for several years now I'd never been at the right place at the right time. So this year I was absolutely determined not to miss them. For the Lady Slipper Orchid I was going to try to time the trip to coincide with going up to Yorkshire to fetch my son back from York University at the end of term. However, he was very non-forthcoming about when he wanted that to happen so in the end I decided just to go on my orchid trip anyway and wait for him to let me know when he wanted to be picked up. This blog post actually covers two trips with an intervening bird detour as well but for the sake of continuity I shall leave the latter for another post.

In preparation for my trip I did plenty of research. I started with Lady Slipper which was now only to be found at Kilnsey Park in the Yorkshire Dales having become extinct at the Gait Barrows site. The optimal time for visiting is usual at the end of May but I'd been caught out last year when they flowered two weeks early and I had missed my opportunity. Determined not to miss them this year I emailed at the start of May to find out what was going on. Having not had a reply I rang them in the middle of May only to be told that the plants had now already gone over and that I'd missed them. I couldn't believe it! That was extremely early for this species to have gone over and I was dismayed that despite all my preparation I'd once again missed my opportunity. Confusingly, the next day I finally got a reply to my email saying that Lady Slipper was now in flower along with an attachment showing one just coming into bud. Having had two conflicting reports, now I didn't know what to think so I asked SC ("Mr. Orchid") for advice. He said that he'd been sent pictures of them in flower from just yesterday so something weird was going on with what I was being told. So in the end I decided I would just have to go and see for myself. 

As for my second target, through Googling I had come across a few blog posts about some Small White Orchids to be found up in Yorkshire at Ingleborough National Nature Reserve. However, there was no proper information to be found anywhere beyond learning that the reserve was run by Natural England. So in the end I rang their number and, after waiting in a queue for a while, I told the operator that I was looking for information on the presence and flowering times for Small White Orchid at Ingleborough NNR. I gave them my contact details and was told they "would be in touch". To be honest I wasn't holding my breath but a couple of days later I got an email reply from someone at the reserve saying that they did indeed have Small White Orchid and telling me where precisely to go to see them. Result! What's more Ingleborough turned out to be not too far from Kilnsey Park in the Dales so it seemed like a no brainer to try to combine the two in some way. The only trouble was the timing of the flowerings. SWO would really only be getting into its prime in the middle of June which was too late for the Lady Slipper. Still it should at least be in bud at the time I was there and given the proximity of the two sites it was surely worth a look.

Part I 

So it was that on the 29th May I sallied forth for the Yorkshire Dales, some four hour's drive from Oxford. Having stopped off for a cup of tea en route, I arrived at Kilnsey Park at some time after midday. After tooling up, I checked in at the green hut where tickets were to be purchased. I held my breath. Now was the moment of truth: was I going to be told "you're too late, they're all gone and you've had a wasted journey" or were they still to be seen? The guy didn't say anything in particular and carefully explained where to go and marked on a map two locations where the flowers were. Then, looking at all the equipment I was carrying, he diplomatically said 

"If these two aren't what you are looking for then feel free to duck under the roped off area and walk over to here where you can find some more". 

Puzzled but somewhat reassured I headed up the hill the short distance to the Wildflower Trail. This turned out to be a rather short trail with a few stopoffs for various flowers with helpful signs next to them. This did include a couple of Lady Slipper Orchid plants that had clearly gone over with their flowers completely gone. That at least explained what I'd been told over the phone.

Disappointing first views - not what I came for!

I now understood what his coded message meant and ducked under the rope into a nice boggy bit of rough meadowland towards some trees as I had been instructed. At this point someone came over to intercept me and asked me what I was doing there. I explained that the chap at the ticket desk has said I could go off piste and that I was looking for the Lady Slipper Orchids. Again, all the equipment I was carrying clearly marked me out as an enthusiast and he soon realised what I was there for. He turned out to be Jamie, the person who had emailed me a few days ago, and, once he realised I was harmless and keen, we soon got talking. He explained all about how the Lady Slippers had been reintroduced here and what sort of habitat they preferred. He also took me round to show me where all the best ones were and lifted the cages for me so I could take my photographs. Thus I ended up getting a personal guided tour to the Lady Slipper Orchids and some expert knowledge on what they liked and didn't like in order to thrive.

This was what I came for. Pristine Lady's Slipper Orchids

After a while he had to go but told me I was free to have a look around at the various other orchid species in the "off piste" area of the Meadow. I needed no second invitation and was soon rummaging around looking at all the orchids. There were plenty of Early Marsh, Northern Marsh, Early Purple, Common Spotted and quite a few Pugsley's Marsh Orchid which I hadn't been expecting. I even found a single Common Twayblades. By now I was feeling hungry so I found a little rock to sit on and contentedly ate my packed lunch, surrounded by all these lovely orchids.

 

Above & below, Early Marsh Orchid

  

Early Purple Orchid

Northern Marsh Orchid

Above & below, Pugsley's Marsh Orchid

Common Twayblades

There were some other interesting plants around as well apart from the orchids, which were helpfully labelled.

Pyrenean Scurvygrass 

Bird's-eye Primrose

 

I next had a little walk up to the top off the park area where there was a fresh water spring. On the way back down I met a couple of other people working in the orchid area and we got chatting orchids again. They showed me another clump of Lady's Slippers that I'd not seen before. 

More pristine Lady's Slipper Orchids

After a while I felt I had done the orchids there properly so went back down the hill to the tea room for a welcome cup of tea and a flapjack. Then it was back to the car for my second Yorkshire Dales target, the Small White Orchid. It was now mid afternoon as I set off for Ingleborough which was a bit less than an hour away. The Sat Nav took me through some stunning Dales scenery with miles and miles of rolling hills, stone walls, sheep and nothing else. Truly balm for the soul! 

The vast emptiness of the Dales

Eventually I arrived at the little road that lead up to the reserve. There was no formal parking so I parked carefully so as to not block the single track road and set off on the walk up to the reserve. I'd been given instructions as to where to go but was a bit worried about how easy these might be actually to follow. I walked up through some lovely scenery with stony outcrops, scattered trees and lots of singing Willow Warblers everywhere. There were some interesting flowers to be seen that I didn't recognise and a lovely little stream running alongside the track for a while. It was all very pretty.

Mossy Saxifrage

I followed the instructions up past the stone barn to one of the Meadows where the orchids were supposed to be located. In the distance I could immediately see the taped off area I'd been told about so it was all straight-forward in the end. I walked through the rough grass, filled with flowers that were just starting to come into bloom until eventually I came to the taped off area which surrounded a little mound, about 10 metres long by five metres wide. This was the moment of truth!

High Barn Meadow with the taped off area in the distance. Access is via the gate on the left

I wondered whether the orchids would be advanced enough for me to see them and started to look through the various grasses and plants in front of me. It was one of those things where until you know what you are looking for it can be really hard to spot. I'd been around the mound completely once without success and was starting to think that I might be too early. I turned to watch a distant Cuckoo being mobbed by a distressed Meadow Pipit. Then I turned back to the mound and voilá there was a small different looking plant a few inches tall with little while buds - I'd found a Small White Orchid! I took a few shots as best I could with my iPhone. 

My first Small White Orchid, very inconspicuous as it is very much still in bud

 

Now that I knew what I was looking for, I went around the mound again and found three more plants. The most advanced one had the first flower fully out at the bottom so I could get more of a sense of what they actually looked like. There it was, my last orchid that I "needed".

 

The most advanced one

By now it was getting late and I was getting tired and hungry so after a while I headed back to the car and drove off to my AirBnB for the night at Bentham, some half an hour away. This turned out to be a very characterful old vicarage right in the heart of the town. My room was comfortable and the location was quiet which was all I wanted really. I got a local takeaway a few minutes walk away and then settled in for the night to dream of orchids and endless wild rolling hills.

Having done my orchids the previous day, it seemed rude not to take advantage of the stunning scenery while I was up in the Dales. I've been wanting to get back into hill walking for a while now and my trip up to the Lake District earlier in the year with my children had whetted my appetite further. So I decided to walk up one of the three peaks in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. This Challenge comprises walking a circuit of about 24 miles up three peaks of around 700m elevation all in one day with the average walking taking between 10 and 12 hours. Now I wasn't going to attempt anything like that but I decided to do Ingleborough (723m in elevation) which was the nearest one to where I was staying. It was absolutely perfect weather as I set off with bright sunshine and just a hint of a breeze. To start with I pretty much had the whole place to myself as I was walking up a path that was less used by the hard core Challenge walkers. There were Meadow Pipits, Curlew, Wheatear and Merlin all to be seen as well as some amazing scenery. 

The summit in the distance

 

A remote hillside farm

Getting closer...

In the end it took me two hours to get up to the top where I found a couple of dozen people resting on the large flat plateau that made up the summit. Most of them had come up the other way and some were doing the Three Peaks as well. The visibility was amazing - I could see Morecambe Bay in the distance. I had my packed lunch and enjoyed the scenery along with my sense of achievement. 

At the summit!

 

The view from the top with Morecambe Bay in the distance

Eventually it was time to head down. Pleasingly, my knees, which can be a bit temperamental going down hills, held out OK. In the past, it had been this knee pain which had stopped me doing hill walking but using knee supports and hiking poles had made a huge difference in this respect. Finally back down at the car, I got ready for the long drive back home. I arrived back at Casa Gnome late afternoon, very pleased with my sortie up to the Yorkshire Dale and my last two orchid ticks.

 

Part II

As I mentioned earlier, my son was supposed to be coming back down from Uni at some point. He had in fact come down by train while I was up in the Dales but hadn't sorted out any of his packing so we would need to go back to fetch all his stuff. A couple of weeks later we finally agreed a date for this to happen with him going up there first to pack and then myself coming to pick him and all his stuff up. As usual I looked around for other things to see as part of this trip. First of all there was a certain rare bird up near Anglesey which was on my radar but that write-up is for a separate post. But, while I was going to be up in Yorkshire again, it seemed rude not to make a return visit to Ingleborough to see the Small White Orchids which should now be in full bloom. So after my Welsh birding, having stayed over in an AirBnB and spent the morning in Wales, I headed back up the M6 to Bentham to stay at the same AirBnB as last time. The traffic was a bit stop and start which I guess is fairly typical for the M6 on a Friday afternoon but eventually I made it to Bentham. I scored a takeaway and soon settled in for the night. 

The next morning I took my time heading off as I had a whole day set aside. Not only was I going to revisit the orchid but I thought I would do another of the Three Yorkshire Peaks. However, it turned out to be incredibly windy, blowing an absolute gale and didn't really fancy being up on the peak in that wind. Not that it would have been dangerous but just unpleasant. What's more I woke up feeling a bit under the weather anyway so, rather than exerting myself, I thought I would do something more low key. Anyway, first stop was definitely Ingleborough NNR for the Small White Orchids again.

At Ingleborough, it was amazing what a difference a couple of weeks had made to the flower meadow. Everything was now in full bloom with loads of orchids everywhere. To start with were several dozen Common Spotted and further on was a slope with getting on for one hundred Heath Spotted Orchids - I'd never seen that many HSO in one place before. 

One of hundreds of Heath Spotted Orchids

The Common Spotted Orchids were all this same rich pink colour

Eventually I made it over to the taped-off mound and low and behold the Small White Orchids were indeed all in full flower. I spent some time photographing them as best I could and even found a fifth (rather stunted) flower that I had missed last time round. I'd rather felt that seeing my last orchid species just in bud was a bit of an underwhelming way to finish my orchid list so seeing it again in full bloom was a much more satisfactory way to complete the set.

Small White Orchid - this was the largest one...

 

...the others were smaller

Having had my fill I ambled back to the car, stopping first to visit Salt Lake Quarry NR which was just by the side of the track. Here were some more lovely flowers, though only a few Common Spotted Orchids along with a few Twayblades. I'd seen some Early Purples here when I nipped in on my previous visit to Ingleborough but they had now gone over. I had a little rest and snack on a grassy bank, enjoying the sunshine in a sheltered spot out of the wind. Then it was back to the car to decide what to do next.

Wood Cranes-bill

Water Avens, actually in flower

Common Twayblades

Common Bistort

 

As I said, I didn't feel up to a proper peak. What's more, as I'd been driving to Ingleborough I had passed hundreds of walkers route marching along the road on The Challenge. One particularly enjoyable aspect of my peak walk last time had been more or less having the place to myself and I didn't fancy jostling with the crowds up a wind-blasted hill. So with a Peak off the menu, I decided to head over to Malham Cover which I had visited once many years ago. The drive there took me through more lovely scenery and with a stop off for some tea en route it was all very pleasant. Malham Cove itself, was rather touristy with lots of other visitors but still very pretty scenery. With very limited car parking, in the end I opted for the village official parking field at an eye watering £8 for all day parking. Then it was a very pleasant walk through the village (with a Spotted Flycatcher in one cottage garden) and along a nice stream up to the Cove. This is a large limestone escarpment, looking like a sheer cliff. House Martins were nesting on the cliff face and I heard a Redstart singing somewhere off to one side. I spent some time just sitting by the stream taking it all in.

 

Malham Cove

 

The stream through the village

Janet's Foss Waterfall

Back in the village I sat around taking in the vibes while eating my packed lunch. Then it was into a tea room for a welcome pot of tea. Finally back to the car where I headed off to my AirBnB for the evening near Harrogate. This involved more driving through some very pleasant scenery. There were miles and miles of small windy roads through the rolling hills of the Nidderdale National Landscape with the occasional Curlew standing on stone walls or flying about. What's not to like? Eventually I arrived at the AirBnB which was very pleasant and quiet and, after rustling up something to eat in the kitchen, I soon settled in for the night.

The next morning I was up reasonably early as I had a rendezvous with my son at 9:30am in York, about an hour away. As it was Sunday morning the traffic was light and I made good time. He already had all his stuff piled up ready by the parking bay so it was a very quick turnaround and the car was soon loaded up. With a quick pit stop for refreshments en route we made good time going back to Oxford, arriving early afternoon. As I drove I reflected on my two trips. It had been a great couple of visits to the Yorkshire Dales with some cracking orchids and some great scenery. I also felt a sense of quiet accomplishment at having completed my orchid list at last. It had been quite a journey, taking me to some wonderful places over the years.  It had also been great getting to know the Yorkshire Dales a bit better - having now been I could see what all the fuss was about. With one more year ahead for my son at Uni , I was sure I'd be back to the area sometime soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

Oxon Odonata - Red-veined Darters!

It's the time of year when summery things such as Odonata and Orchids come to the fore in my forays into nature. Fortunately there is some good Odo habo close to home so I've been visiting the Trap Grounds on my local patch to see what was about on the local pond. So far Hairy Dragonfly has been the best find there this year. I also went on my annual visit to nearby Duke's Lock Pond. This is a known site for Variable Damselfly which is quite scarce in the county with just a couple of reliable sites for them. I chose a good day to visit as not only were there a few of my target Damselfly about but also there was lots of other species about. On the Damselfly front I found Large Red, Common Blue and Azure, all in modest numbers. On the main pond itself, views were very restricted due to the overgrown bankside vegetation. However I managed to spot a Hairy Hawker, a couple of Downy Emeralds, an Emperor, a Broad-bodied Chaser and a Black-tailed Skimmer. However, the most interesting sighting was a brief view of a "red" Darter species. I saw it only for a matter of a second or two but clearly enough to notice the relative straight, non-waisted red abdomen. So "not a Ruddy Darter" was my initial through given the abdomen shape. However, I also saw some red in the wings. Given the time of year, what I had seen and the weather conditions with a sweltering hot plume of southern air over the country, Red-veined Darter had to be a reasonable shout. The only problem was that the views has been so brief. For what would be an Odonata rarity, I really wanted something more concrete. I put the news out as a "possible" and left it at that. A couple of other enthusiasts paid visits over the next few days but without success. One that got away, seemingly.

Azure Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

Variable Damselfly

Two days later I was away up in Yorkshire doing some orchiding (that's for another post) when GB managed to find three definite Red-veined Darters on a quarry pit in the north of the county near Banbury. What's more he had the photographic proof that I had been lacking which even included an ovipositing pair. With very hot weather down in Oxon that day it was ideal conditions for dragonflies though, frustratingly, I wasn't going to be back home until after 7pm which would be too late to try to twitch them. Sadly, the weather forecast was much more unsettled for the following days. "Had I missed them?" I fretted.

The next morning I was in two minds about even trying for them given the "overcast with sunny intervals" forecast. However, a message exchange with our esteemed county recorder where he mentioned that while out surveying he'd already seen lots of Odo's was enough to push me to have a go for them. So in the end I set off for Wroxton Quarry sometime after 9am, arriving at around 10am. There I found GB himself and a few other enthusiasts. Initially there was no Odonata activity and a stiff breeze started to make me think it was going to be a wasted trip. However, after a while the sun came out enough to warm things up for things to start flying and we soon spotted the first Black-tailed Skimmer and then a red Darter species. We spent quite a bit of time between us trying to make out diagnostic features in flight and at a distance, either visually or photographically, before we all agreed that they were indeed Red-veined Darters. In the end we saw up to three of them which was great count though no ovipositing couples today. 

Red-veined Darter, above, courtesy of Ian Lewington, below courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

I stayed long enough for IL to arrive and see them and then decided to head back home again. In a contented frame of mind, I chose the scenic route home along the back country roads and through pretty Oxfordshire villages. This was a lovely county tick and a nice revenge for dipping one at Radley Lakes quite a few years ago. I imagine that they will become increasingly common in the county as global warming continues to do its thing.

 

Eastern Subalpine Warbler at Beachy Head

I've seen four Subalpine Warblers over the years, all of them down in Cornwall. Two were males and two were female types. Back in the day they were just Subalpine Warblers before being split into three distinct species: Western, Eastern and Moltoni's. Western (Sylvia iberiae), as it's Latin name suggests, is to be found in the summer on the Iberian peninsula and in southern France. Eastern (S. cantilans) summers in Italy and further east. Moltoni's (S. subalpina) is located in a small pocket in northern Italy and some of the Italian islands. Now my two male Cornish birds were both Westerns which meant that I still needed Eastern and Moltoni's. So when an Eastern turned up at Beachy Head and stuck around it was firmly on my radar of interest. Reports of it singing and seemingly being on territory were highly encouraging but due to a variety of things going on at Casa Gnome it wasn't until the weekend that I was going to be free to have a crack at it. Given reports of the bird showing best early in the morning, I decided on my tried and trusted tactic of heading up the previous night and AirBnB'ing it so I could be on site early after (hopefully) a good night's sleep. So it was that on Friday afternoon I hastily booked a room and then headed off after dinner on the familiar route down to Eastbourne. As I drove I thought back to past twitches here: the successful American Robin twitch back in February 2022 and the only partially successful Radde's Warbler trip in October 2022 where, in very windy conditions, I heard it but never saw it. Hopefully this trip would be fully successful - certainly reports I'd seen on-line seemed to indicate that if the bird was still there then there was a high chance of connecting.

At the AirBnB I had hoped to be up and away really early but I was awake for part of the night before falling back to sleep so in the end I wasn't out the door much before 7am. As I left, I tried to lock the house door behind me as my host had requested but the keys somehow wouldn't fit in the lock so I left them just inside and messaged my host to this effect. I had carefully chosen my AirBnB to be on the right side of the town for Beachy Head so it was only a 10 minute drive before I was parking up at the Beachy Head Visitor Centre (which was closed at this time of day). Here I tooled up and, noting the chilly wind, opted for my winter coat. As I was putting away my car keys in my zip up trouser pockets I noticed that I seemed to have the AirBnB keys in my pocket rather than my own house keys. At this point the penny dropped that I'd clearly tried to lock the AirBnB front door with my own house keys and in my sleep befuddled state had left them there! Doh! I messaged the host again saying I'd drop her keys back off in a few hours after my (hopefully) successful twitch. Then it was on with my walking boots and my bins; as it was a warbler there was no need for a scope. I was soon yomping off down the unfeasibly steep grassy chalk downland slope that lead to the top of the chalk cliffs where the bird was hopefully still located.

I arrived to find just three other birders present. Having done my usual pre trip research I had a pin drop from Bird Guides that seemed to indicate that the bird was to be seen just below the cliff top along a short path down the cliff side to a small plateau some 20 feet or so below the cliff top. The other birders were at the top of the cliff but I elected to go down the track to the plateau to view the relatively small area of scrub in front of it and one of the birders decided to come with me at this point. Fairly soon after we heard our target bird sing briefly and I had the briefest of views as it dropped into the scrub before disappearing completely. My companion turned out to be a fellow blogger and, after striking up a conversation we more or less stuck together for the duration of the trip. He had a camera so I've used some of his photos to illustrate this post - you can see his blog post here. From trip reports of previous days, these brief glimpses was probably what was to be expected in terms of the quality of views. 

The "upper plateau" where brief glimpses of the bird were initially obtained

More birders arrived and a few more views were had as it buzzed back and forward along this relatively narrow section of the upper plateau. A singing Black Redstart was an interesting bonus - not a song I was familiar with though my companion ID'd it using Merlin. After a while a couple of birders who had been up on the cliff top hurried past us saying that the bird was now right at the bottom of the cliff and showing well. After some debate my companion and I decided to follow. We were half way down the path when we saw these two birders at the bottom looking intently at something and hey presto, there was our target bird in all its Subalpiney glory showing really well though somewhat backlit. We soaked up our first decent views of this exotic continental warbler as it sat right out in the open on top of a bush.

Our first (backlit) views. All bird photos courtesy of Paul Evans

This was all the incentive we needed and we hurried down to the bottom of the cliff where I was able to get a much better idea of the topography. From here I could see that the upper plateau was actually largely made up of the tops of small trees and scrub that were growing up a steep slope that lead down to the much larger lower plateau where we now standing. Actually "plateau" is a bit of a misnomer as it was still sloping though not nearly as steep as the cliff face itself. It was a large area with some deep hollows, with lots of deep cover for a wandering warbler to happily feed in. What's more, the sun was now behind us so viewing conditions were much better. Down here, it turned out that rather than offering brief glimpses every 20 minutes or so, it was instead "porning it". We would see it every few minutes or so when it would often pose quite well, though it was constantly on the move so my companion's photographic efforts were a bit hit and miss. Happily he managed to captured it well in the end. I knew that the way the bird was moving would be no match for my clunky superzoom camera so I didn't even bother trying. 

We happily followed it as it moved over a fairly large area down at the bottom, sometimes venturing as far as the lower cliff face that lead up to the upper plateau where we had been originally standing. It did rather make me wonder whether it had actually been showing well down here all along and the brief glimpses that people had obtained in previous days might have been the rare occasions when it ventured up to the top area. Who knows? 

Down at the bottom, looking back up the cliff - the "upper plateau" is the green area just below the top white cliff. The bird roamed widely over this lower plateau area

I spent my time enjoying regular views of the target bird, soaking up the warm sunshine and generally feeling at peace with the world. It would sing from time time to time or make its call so we could often keep track of it as it worked its way around the lower undercliff. Also present were some Whitethroats, a pair of Lesser Whitethroats and various other bird bits and bobs such as Wrens and Dunnocks. Given the nice weather I did keep half an eye on the sky for any incoming Honey Buzzards though my main focus was on the undercliff scrub area and it was hard to look at both of them at the same time. On the sea there were a few seals dotted around and various gulls were flying about. It was all very pleasant.

  

Birders who braved the scramble down were able to get excellent views

Eventually I felt that I had had my fill and it was time to face the scramble back up the path to the cliff top and then the endurance test which was the long slog back up the steep grassy slope to the top of the hill where the car was parked. I'm used to scrambling and have done a fair bit of hill walking over the years but the grassy slope was brutal - my thighs ached for three days afterwards!
 

On the way back up - showing the topography

I found this Dingy Skipper on the way back up the cliff

Then it was back to the Gnome mobile where I de-tooled and drove back to the AirBnB to swap over the keys. After that it was time to set the Sat Nav co-ordinates back for home. Unfortunately some horrendous traffic jams on the way home added about an hour to my journey time but as my trip had already been a success I didn't really mind. Instead I basked in the warm glow of another successful outing and another shiny new tick on my list.

 

 

 

Black-winged Stilt at RSPB Otmoor

Back in the day, Black-winged Stilt was a real rarity. I remember twitching my first ones back in May 2011 down at St Gothian Sands NR in Cornwall on one of my trips down there. My first Oxon ones were back in 2012 at Pit 60 in Standlake. I remember dashing down there with great excitment for what was a real county blocker back then for the relatively new county birders such as myself. There wasn't another one until May 2023 when one turned up at Otmoor as part of the bonkers county spring purple patch. I duly went to pay homage - there's something altogether exotic about a Stilt that it's always worth the effort. 

So when Max Buckley found one in April of this year, it would have been rude not to go and take a look. In fact I went the morning that it had been found on a rather blustery and overcast day. As the bird was on Big Otmoor I parked up at the Noke end in order to walk in from that end. As I was parking up I met SM who told me that the bird was very hard to see on the ground and was usually seen in flight. "Hmmm" I thought, "maybe this won't be the quick and easy visit I was hoping for". Still I was there now and headed off towards the bridleway that runs along the southern edge of Big Otmoor hoping that I would be rewarded for my effort.

Once there, I soon discovered that actually I was feeling a bit under the weather with what felt like the ominous onset of a cold brewing. There was indeed no sign of the Stilt with just some rather cold looking younger birders standing around wondering what to do. BM and AS were also there but no one knew where to look. In the end, rather than just standing around in the cold I decided to work my way eastwards along the bridleway, stopping and scanning at every gap in the hedge that afforded a viewing spot.

I had almost reached the eastern end of the Big Otmoor when I managed to find it by scanning diagonally from the south east corner of Big Otmoor (where it was a little bit higher) all the way across to the north west corner. There it was, picking its way over a marshy vegetated area in all its Stilty glory. I put the news out and headed back to the western end now that I knew where to look. En route I picked up BM and AS again and eventually we managed to see it from the western end though it took a surprisingly long period of time before we could all get on it as there were so many hollows and dips that the bird would often be completely hidden. Still it looked very exotic in amongst the drab greens and browns of the marshy habitat, and well worth the effort it took actually to see it. 

The Black-winged Stilt courtesy of the original finder, Max Buckley

In the end it stayed for about a week, usually distant and partially hidden except for one afternoon when it showed well on the new Noke Pool. I expect they will become more common in this county in the coming years which can only be a good thing.

The Stilt on Noke Pool courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

Red-spotted Bluethroat at Swineham GPs, Dorset

There had been a very showy (or "confiding" as birders often like to say) Red-spotted Bluethroat down in Dorset. It had been around for a while and, judging by the photos to be found on various blogs and social media posts, it was showing very well (or "porning" it in birder parlance). Now as a species, I've seen three previous Bluethroats with a first winter in Cornwall back in October 2008, the returning Slimbridge bird last May, and then the first winter bird at Otmoor last autumn. That's plenty of Bluethroats and would normally mean that I wouldn't be particularly tempted by this bird. Also, as someone who is not really a photographer, I wouldn't go out of my way to try to get some good photos of a bird that I've seen a few times before. However, as regular readers will know, I am increasingly interested in sub-species ticks and indeed include all birds species and sub-species that can reasonably be identified in the field on my most inclusive of the various lists that I keep. So while this would be my fourth Bluethroat it would be only my first definitive Red-spotted one since, apart from the two first winter birds, the Slimbridge one had been a White-spotted subspecies. So this would be a sub-species tick and therefore a Gnome "Maxi List" tick. Still, that fact that I didn't race down there at the first opportunity was a testament to the fact that a sub-species tick doesn't quite have the same pull for me as a new species one. Still, last Saturday with nothing better to do, I decided to make a day of it and headed off mid morning on the 2.5 hour drive down to Dorset.

By way of some background info, the Bluethroat is a migratory member of the Old World Flycatcher family (which is a rather large taxonomic family encompassing many species). It is widespread across Europe and overwinters further south in northern Africa and Asia as well as the Iberian peninsula. I guess that global warming is only going to make this species more common here in the UK as they start to colonise the country. There are 11 subspecies but the two main ones that are considered here in the UK are the White-spotted and the Blue-spotted. The other subspecies tend to be variations on this - e.g. the Spanish subspecies has no spot (or sometimes a very small white one). I think in terms of my Maxi Listing these two will be more than enough for now.

The journey was uneventful though with a fair amount of traffic. I arrived at the specified road for parking to find the whole end of the street rammed with cars. Fortunately the local rugby ground was open for a match (Swanage & Wareham vs Devizes) and I was able to park discretely by the entrance there. Having done my research I knew where to go and set off on the 25 minute walk to the far side of the nearby Swineham gravel pit. It was a lovely sunny day and the scenery was interesting. Initially it was along a road lined with Scotts Pines (with calling Siskins in the canopy) with a stream and a marsh on the other side (with distant calling Redshank and a singing Reed Warbler). This gave way to the reedy banks of the tidal River Frome on one side with some high hedging bordering the gravel pit itself on the other side (with singing Cetti's Warblers). Finally the path got narrower as I turned a corner and after about 100 yards I came across the twitch site. Here there were less than half a dozen birders, sitting or crouching down and peering intently or trying to photograph something on the path ahead. The "something" of course was the Bluthroat which was porning it every bit as much as the internet photographs had suggested. It was hopping about ahead of us no more than a few yards at time, seemingly oblivious to its assembled admirers. I busied myself with trying to take some photos though in the strong sunlight, the shade cast by the hedge meant that half the time it was in deep shade and half the time in bright light. This, coupled with the fact that I have just a crappy Superzoom camera meant that my photos weren't going to be on a par with some of the stellar shots seen. Still they were good enough for me. 

 

At the twitch site waiting for the next showing

Soon, the bird disappeared into the reedbed for a while. I was told that it would do this for up to 10 minutes at a time though it would soon come back. At this point four people left having had their fill and it was just myself and one other chap. The bird came back for a while, we papped away, then it left again. Some non birding walkers passed through and another birder (a senior gentleman) came and "collapsed" next to us. Apparently the long walk in the heat had taken its toll and he spent the next twenty minutes recovering with his eyes closed. After a while he perked up and was able to partake in enjoying the Bluethroat which continued to come and go periodically. While we waited I kept one eye on the skies on the lookout for Osprey or White-tailed Eagle - both would be real possibilities in this location though all I saw were a few gulls. On the ground the Bluethroat would be joined by a Robin and a couple of Chaffinch from time to time. I'm guessing that they'd all learned to look out for the inevitable mealworms that the toggers had been putting out there though there were none that I could see at the time.

More birders arrived. The Bluethroat came and went and everyone got to see it. It was all very relaxed, easy and enjoyable. After about an hour or so I decided that I'd had my fill and started to head back towards the car. I took my time, enjoying the scenery and feeling content with life. Then it was back to the Gnome mobile and back off towards Casa Gnome. I had toyed with the idea of stopping off somewhere else but in the end I decided I just wanted to head home. After a pit stop for some food, it was an uneventful journey back home for my usual celebratory cup of tea. It had been an ejoyable day out with a very showy bird and a new sub-species tick under my belt. As a footnote, a couple of days later it departed so I'd gone to see it just in time.

American Golden Plover at Otmoor

Last Saturday news "broke" of an American Golden Plover at Otmoor. I say "broke" because it was initially a very confused affair. Somone on a local Facebook group posted a photo of a Golden Plover species that they weren't sure was a Eurasion or an American. They reported that "multiple people" had seen it but no one was sure what it was. This was certainly news to the county's birding WhatsApp group and started off a rather confusing period of time where those nearby converged on the Wetlands Watch Hide, took some photos and tried to ID the bird. The trouble was that this was a first winter bird at a reasonable distance from the hide in bright hazy sunlight so initially the photos were less than conclusive. Eventually somone posted a decent phone-scoped photo during a time when the sun went behind a cloud and at last the photo was clear enough for everyone to be certain that it was an American Golden Plover. This kicked off a mass twitch with many of the county's finest converging on the hide that afternoon. 

Photo courtesy of Steve Sansom

I had been doing various household chores but with everyone else out of the house for the afternoon and with nothing else planned it seemed like a no brainer to go and take a look. Not that I "needed" Anerican Golden Plover (or AGP as it is often abbreviated to) for the county having already seen two previously, but as it was only the third county record (yes I've seen all the previous county records) it's a really good Oxon bird and definitely worth paying homage to. So I set off in the Gnome mobile, electing to park at Noke and walk in from the west giving the likelihood of the main carpark being rammed. It was a pleasant sunny afternoon and after a brisk walk while being serenaded by warblers, I arrived at the Wetlands Watch Hide to find surprisingly few people there but everyone looking relaxed with the bird on show and looking settled. A quick "for the tick" peep through someone's scope and I was able to relax and set up my own optics. There it was, my third AGP for Oxon in all its plovery glory, looking very much at home as it fed along the distant shoreline. I passed a very pleasant hour or so watching the AGP, trying to take some video footage and chatting to the various county birders as they came and went. It was very interesting to tune into its jizz: it's long attentuated rear really gave it a different feel from a Eurasian GP - it felt very different to watch.  

 

A record shot videograb of the bird above; below showing the diagnostic dark underwing

 

Some video footage courtesy of Jason Coppock

At one point quite soon after I arrived, SS who was sitting next to me spotted a White Stork circling in front of us. For more than five minutes we watched as it circled overhead, constantly being harried by Red Kites. At one point it looked like it wanted to land but the Kites kept buzzing it and eventually it drifted off to the east. This was probably the same bird that had been seen in the west of the county the previous day but was a very nice bonus bird to get. Photo analysis determined that it was ringed and had probably been released from a West Country release scheme.

The White Stork overhead courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

After I'd had my fill of the AGP I went for a little walk to take a look at the resident Glossy Ibis trio down by the first screen. Apparently they tend to commute between the first screen and the pools just on the other side of the path in the north east corner of Big Otmoor. Indeed I soon found them at this latter location feeding away busily and looking very much at home. Then it was time to amble back to the car and to head homewards for my usual celebratory cup of tea.

At this point I should wheel out some backstories about the history of this species within the county. Local birders will already know this but the story of how the first one was found is so extraordinary that it certainly bears repeating. Back in the day before AGP had been recorded in the county, our esteemed county recorder had told me to be on the lookout for this species in the large Golden Plover flocks that used to congregate on my local patch of Port Meadow back in the day. Sadly these days these flocks no longer grace the patch but at that time you could get several hundred easily in a flock. Back then I was inexperienced and fairly useless at bird ID ("what's changed?" I hear you ask!) but IL the county recorder patiently tried to explain what to look out for. My tiny brain was only able to take in the bare gist of it so basically I just tried to look for something that was "different". One day not long after this conversation back in October 2008, I indeed found a Golden Plover that looked "different" and stood out from the crowd. I phoned IL and told him I'd seen an unusual Plover so he thought he'd better come and take a look. I'd left by this time but a while later I got a call from him that he had indeed found an American Golden Plover in the flock. I hurried back down and was treated to great views of a juvenile bird in amongst the rather restless flock that kept flying up and resettling. After a short period of time the flock got spooked one time too often and flew off so only a handful of county birders managed to see it. Now, it turned out that the AGP wasn't anything like the "different" bird that I'd picked out. I had noticed one that was unusually pale whereas this bird was a classic dark juvenile with strong supercilium. So I'd completely got it wrong and had dragged the county recorder down to take a look on a wild goose chase only for him to find the real deal in amongst the flock. What are the chances of that happening? Needless to say after this I soon learned how to ID them properly.

Record shot of the 2008 American Golden Plover at the back courtesy of Nic Hallam

I did manage to redeem myself four years later. I had since made a habit of always scanning through the Golden Plover flock on the Port Meadow looking out for rarities. One evening at last light in November 2012 I was looking through a flock of only about 30 birds when at the back I found a genuine American Golden Plover. This time I knew exactly what to look for and was pretty certain of the ID. IL confirmed it from the video footage I'd taken but it was too late for anyone else to twitch it that day. The next morning the great and the good of the county were at Port Meadow at first light. By all accounts the Plover flock gave them the run-around. They all circled high for several hours without ever landing before finally settling mid morning with the AGP still in amongst them. It didn't stay that long though and quite a few county Big Listers managed to miss it for one reason or another.

2012 American Golden Plover courtesy of Jason Coppock

This year's bird did the decent thing and stayed three days, allowing just about everyone in the county who needed it to connect. It had been really nice to have one that was so comparatively easy to see. There was no big flocks to sift through, no being spooked and then having to refind it. Just one settled bird on its own, almost constantly on view (it did disappear for short periods of time but would always return). Come Tuesday morning it had gone on its way. What a nice bird to have seen!