The Great Reed Warbler chase - Albert Village Lake in Leicestershire!

Great Reed Warbler is a species I’d not yet managed to catch up with in the UK – not quite mega enough to warrant a 4 hour trip to Norfolk or Suffolk but sufficiently rare enough that only a small sprinkling of records occur in Britain each year. Bar a 1 day individual that took up residence in the West Midlands back in May 2015 (unfortunately on a weekday!) there hadn’t been any other birds nearby to twitch in recent years which meant Great Reed Warbler had remained off my list. 

Great Reed Warbler - a master of hide and seek!

Therefore, when reports surfaced of an individual found singing in the reeds at Albert Village Lake in Leicestershire a few weeks ago, I was keen to get down there to see if we could connect. Making the 2 ½ journey down to the midlands, we were soon approaching the southern reedbed the bird had been found in that morning, reports of it being extremely elusive playing on our minds and eyeing the grey rainclouds overhead ominously, hoping they would hold out until the evening.

Spotting several scopes on the opposite bank trained towards the reedbed, it transpired there was a 50/50 chance of picking the right viewpoint – heading over to the other side for distant views as the bird flew between the reeds or stick on the main reedbed side and hope the warbler revealed itself! Immediately hearing the distinctive scratchy and deafeningly loud song emanating from a nearby Hawthorn, we gathered round and hoped this impressive warbler would shortly make an appearance. 4 hours later, we were still waiting….

Tantalisingly close and a metre or so away at one point, it’s fair to say that the Great Reed most definitely won the game of hide and seek, teasing us with its song but refusing to show.

The reedbed at Albert Village Lake that the Great Reed Warbler favoured

As the afternoon wore on and with silence on the singing front for the past half an hour, we were just about to throw in the towel when our songster started up again, a brief glimpse obtained as it bombed down in to the bottom of the reed edge right next to the lake. Frustratingly we could see the reeds moving as it worked its way along, but just couldn’t see it due to the thick vegetation! Luckily at this point, fellow birder Jake Gearty (who had been watching it from the other side of the lake) ran back to the let the crowd on our side know it was on view and visible from the opposite edge – cue a frantic dash around the lake! 

After a few tense moments when the bird had disappeared, the Great Reed finally gave itself up, proceeding to work its way along the edge of the reeds, occasionally perching on an exposed stem to belt out its song, audible even at this range. Luckily I managed a handful of distant record shots – extremely hard when the bird was constantly on the move! Despite the distance, the extreme size difference from our regular Reed Warblers was apparent, as was the huge bill as it stopped to sing. Success, relief, and after 4 hours patiently waiting we had finally nailed our target. Proof that perseverance does eventually pay off! 

With the rain now threatening to break and the Great Reed retreating back in to the reedbed, we decided to call it a day, admiring the displaying male ducks in the bay as we passed and feeling exceptionally glad that we’d took a chance and tried our luck! 

Blue-winged Teal at Donna Nook

Sunday saw us head over to Donna Nook on the east coast in Lincolnshire so Alex could catch up with the drake Blue-winged Teal that had been present there for a couple of weeks now. Arriving at the main car park we were met with considerable negativity, with a group of birders telling us the bird wasn’t about that morning, that the pond was extremely hard to find (with us needing to wade through thick reeds and quick sand to get to) and that the walk was horrific with the pool miles away from the car park! Not fancying our chances, we made the walk over to the pool, which in all honesty was no way near as bad as everyone made out – merely a 30 minute journey along the beach!

After following the directions we had been given, we tracked down the pool the teal had been favouring, and we joined the 4 or 5 assembled birders on the large grassy bank who had already located the bird on the island in the middle of the water just in front of us, well hidden and camouflaged in the vegetation.

Spot the teal!

After a while, this attractive American visitor swam out on to the open water where it proceeded to feed around the other side, venturing to the left and right of the trees and giving good views as it dabbled in the small reeds.

Having seen a drake already at Inner Marsh Farm in Cheshire back in 2013, it was nice to catch up with a second, and with a cast of gorgeous showy Yellow Wagtails and my first Lesser Whitethroats of the season trilling happily and flitting around in the scrub, a good day’s birding was had.

For anyone going, the pool has seemed quite hard to find for some – see directions below:

Blue-winged Teal map at Donna Nook

Parking at Donna Nook car park (LN11 7PD) off Marsh Lane, take the walk to the right on the boardwalk and follow the gravel track past the salt marsh to Point A. Once the track runs out, turn left through the wooden fence and onto the sand, following the beach right. MOD debris and a broken down helicopter will be on your right, with a dead seal further up the beach to the left. Continue along the beach and follow the path where stated on the signs due to the MOD Firing Range. You will need to count the tall brown Quad Towers on the right hand side in the dunes – once you reach the third one at Point B, turn right in to the dunes and immediately left there is a large, rusty gate to stop the cattle leaving the field (Point C). Enter this field walking along the flat grass, then head right at Point D through the small dune scrub until you reach a large grassy bank, with a large pool and several smaller pools adjacent. The Blue-winged Teal can be found on either the large flat pool on the right, or one of the smaller pools to the left with the small shrubby islands, where it can hide in the vegetation on either side. If wanting a close approach and to cross over to the other bank on the seaward side of the pools, wellies is advisable as the surrounding mud can be quite sticky!

Harlequin Duck makes landfall in Aberdeen!

Whilst sat in TGI Fridays tucking in to my birthday meal of Jack Daniels chicken at the start of the month, an alert popped up on my phone announcing that a Harlequin Duck had been seen and photographed at Seaton Park in Aberdeen – one of my personal ‘must see’ birds and an incredible record for Britain! Originally put out as a female but later re-identified correctly as a first winter male, this proved to be a great ‘unblocker’, being the first really twitchable one in my lifetime after the Wick bird of 1991 and the two first summer females in Ayrshire 5 years later. With a handful of birds making it to the remote Hebridean islands in the past 15 years, this mainland bird was extremely welcomed and it was fingers crossed he would stick around until the following weekend.

With several previous birds overwintering there was a good chance it would, and sure enough, after a tiring 6 hour journey up to Aberdeen in less than ideal weather conditions and an overnight stop in a hotel, we arrived at the site and immediately locked on to this arctic wonder as he happily went about his business – a long way from home in the unexpected location of a stretch of river in the local park!

Like its Icelandic counterparts, this Harlequin Duck tended to favour the fast, rough torrents of the rapids, flying from point to point as it continued to dive for food in the depths of the icy flows, plunging down to take advantage of the clear rich pickings in the river below. A pair of displaying Dippers were a nice sight on the rocks, as well as several drake Goldeneye in their beautiful black and white plumage and up to 3 Goosander – again highlighting the rich food source available in this small stretch of river.

Representing just the 19^th record of this stunning duck for the UK, this individual tended to favour both the reeded area of the river to the left of the toilet block as well as the rapids immediately to the right, providing great views as he dived down on the river in front of us for a prolonged period before flying downstream past the development works to the furthest point of the river, where sadly there was no access.

With the nearest population being Iceland, where over 5,000 pairs breed each year, it is highly likely that, due to the fierce Northerly gales experienced lately and the bird’s location on the East coast in Aberdeen, the most likely source of origin for this Arctic dweller will be from these rocky coastlines – displaced after the fierce storms that battered the North Sea. The Harlequin Duck’s range also expands further afield, with birds found in Greenland, Eastern Russia and NW and NE America, and birds sometimes wintering further south in California and North Carolina.

Distinctive in their breeding plumage with their fantastic showy orange and slate-grey colouration, this first winter male sadly looked more like a female, with an overall appearance of dark chocolatey-brown feathers. However, the distinctive round white spot behind the ear was clearly visible, as was the white patch in front of the eye and clear cut white line on the breast. Obviously not yet in his full breeding finery, it would be great if this male sticks around to develop his full breeding plumage – where a second visit to tie in with our planned Scottish Highland trip at Easter may well be on the cards!

Drake Smew at Draycote

Having never seen a Drake Smew before and actually dipping on an individual in the midlands on our way to Norfolk (which frustratingly was actually reported after we’d left!) I was keen to try for the drake that had been hanging around at Draycote water.

Arriving at the site and with rain threatening, we hurried to the bank where it had last been reported, stopping to admire a female Common Scoter that was also present. Turning the bend, the shining white drake was apparent even at a distance, and we approached where it was stationed on the water, relatively close by to the bank and providing some great photo opportunities.

This was my first drake, having seen 3 females, and was a much sought after bird for me. This individual was also particularly obliging, not tending to dive down too much as Smews usually do, and he seemed content to sit on the water and show off his spectacular white and black plumage!