May 2019 : Summary
UK Species Year List to May: 161
Total UK Species in May: 128
New “Year Ticks” in May: 23
New “Life Ticks” in May: 0
May 2019 archive
May 31 2019
May 2019 Summary
May 28 2019
Birding Group at Burton Mere Wetlands 28th May 2019
The last birding group day of May was to Burton Mere Wetlands on the 28th. Early rain eased off to give us an overcast but mild morning. The highlights were a pair of Spoonbills in Summer plumage, preening on the bridge pool, flying overhead and roosting in the trees. Another good sighting was a pair of Reed Warblers at the Marsh Covert hide that appeared unaware of the group of people looking at them through the window at about six feet. At that dstance they looked surprisingly large.
May 21 2019
Goyt Valley and Dane Bower Quarry 21 May 2019
One of the birding group visits I look forward to most each year is our visit to the Goyt Valley looking for Redstart, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers and Tree Pipits. We usually also go to the nearby Dane Bower Quarry to look for Ring Ouzels and Wheatear. Were we going to be lucky this year?
May 14 2019
Birding Group Visit to WWT Martin Mere 14th May 2019
The first birding group day out after our holiday in Norfolk was to WWT Martin Mere. We changed our usual routine and decided to do the reedbed walk for the first time (at least my first time) This involves heading out to the Harrier Hide first and then going through the door in the middle of the ground floor.
May 11 2019
2019 East Anglia Holiday Birding Summary
Between 26th April and 10th May we had a birding holiday based on East Anglia and North Norfolk in particular. On the way there and back we also took in Rutland, Suffolk and Lincolnshire. Our itinerary was as follows :
May 10 2019
Frampton Marsh RSPB 10th May 2019
We drove from Thornham up around the wash and headed for RSPB Frampton MArsh. We had never been to this reserve before so we were very curious – especially since we had had such glowing reports of from a couple of birders we met once at Rutland Water. It looked very ominous all morning as it slashed with rain. Amazingly just as we neared the reserve, the rain stopped and the sun came out and it turned into aglorious afternoon and we had some glorious birding as well, starting with a year tick as soon as we entered the reception hide.
May 09 2019
Turtle Doves at Titchwell Marsh RSPB 9th May 2019
From Holmes Dunes we drove back past Thornham and on to RSPB Titchwell for our last visit of the holiday. The weather was a bit better today so we were hoping for one last chance of Turtle Dove that are known to purr near the car park. And that is exactly what we found.
May 09 2019
Grasshopper Warbler at Holmes Dunes NWT 9th May 2019
We had much better weather on our last day in Norfolk and we started out at Holmes Dunes NWT reserve, once again looking for Turtle Dove. We arrived an hour before the gate opened so we started to park up near the houses. As we approached we saw a couple of birders so we pulled up alongside them and asked if they had seen anything. To our great surprise the head that popped inside the car window was that of Andy Bunting, the main bird lister at Martin Mere and one of the two chaps who run the In Focus shop there. They hadn’t seen anything much yet and hadn’t heard any Turtle Doves.
May 08 2019
Chosely Drying Barns 8th May 2019
The weather took a turn for the worse this day and we abandoned all idea of any birding except a quick run out to Chosely Dring Barns where, on Chalkpit Lane, we found two male and three female Dotterel and a single Golden Plover. That was the sum total of birding that day!
May 07 2019
Thornham Environs and Castle Acre 7th May 2019
The weather had been pretty mixed so far during our stay in North Norfolk but the morning of the 7th was one of those mornings where all the birds are out singing and my morning walk along the marsh and down through the reed beds to the silted-up harbour was a beautiful start to the day.