Crowd Pleaser!

Crowd Pleaser! 

We arrived at Winterfield Park in Dunbar at around 9:00am with Dave in hopes of seeing a rare shrike. As soon as we got out of the car, we immediately spotted a big, pale bird perched on top of a wall. It was our target bird, the Steppe Grey Shrike.

We then made our way over to the crowd where at first the bird was sat up on a wall a few feet away. However, it then decided to come down from the wall and feed only a few metres away, giving us all incredible views. It then sat back up on the wall long enough for me to get a record shot through Dave's scope, capturing almost every little detail of the bird's head. Since this bird is a subspecies of the Great Grey Shrike, it is not a proper lifer for me. However, it is still an armchair bird, in case the bird gets split and it is certainly a great bird to see!

We then decided to scan the sea, spotting two Shags, a Great Black-backed Gull, a Goosander and an Oystercatcher. Suddenly, the Steppe Grey Shrike dropped down into the bushes next to us, followed by a big crowd of birders. After a few minutes, the bird popped back up again, showing well and in one spot, long enough for me to get some footage of it. Satisfied with our views, we decided to try for a Slavonian Grebe nearby, dipping Quail along the way at Reston but spotting a nice, big Sparrowhawk and a few Sand Martins.

We arrived at Maiden's Hall Lake at around 12:00pm in hopes of seeing an adult Slavonian Grebe. We were hoping the bird was in it's beautiful summer plumage as well. We made our way along a track which eventually opened up to a large lake. On the lake, we spotted two Little Egrets, along with a few Little and Great Crested Grebes. Eventually, I spotted a small grebe close in. I grabbed a quick record shot of it before calling Dave over, who confirmed it as the Slavonian Grebe, just before it dived. 

We then spotted the Slavonian Grebe again, however it was much further out. It did give much more prolonged views though. These were surprisingly my first views of a Slavonian Grebe in winter plumage this year, after seeing two different birds in summer plumage in both England and Scotland.

We then made our way back to the car, when I spotted a small hoverfly nectaring on top of a flowerhead on the way back. After getting a record shot of it, the hoverfly was later identified by an expert as a Marmalade Hoverfly. We also spotted around 20 Speckled Woods in one patch of brambles, which was an impressive sight!

We arrived at Cresswell Ponds at around 3:00pm in hopes of seeing a reported Bittern and Curlew Sandpiper. On our way to the hide, I spotted a small, slender mammal run across the path. It had a small tail which lacked a black tip meaning it was a Weasel, one of my most wanted mammals and a mammal I had dipped by mere seconds in the past. Once at the hide, I spotted a Migrant Hawker hunting right in front of the hide. After scanning through the waders for a while, I spotted a few Golden Plovers mixed in with the Lapwings, along with many Dunlin and Redshank, yet no Curlew Sandpiper. 

I then spotted one of my favourite waders. It was a Curlew. There were at least two of these birds out on the pool, however this one was showing extremely well. After a bit more scanning, we were unable to find the Bittern. We then exited the hide and were bid farewell by a vocal Goldcrest and a Blue Tit. 

As we made our way back to the car, we spotted a small solitary bee nectaring on a flower. After getting a few record shots of the bee, I sent the photos to an expert who soon identified it as a bee I had only seen once before, a Yellow-legged Mining Bee. We also spotted five Stonechats along with a large flock of Pink-footed Geese which flew overhead and landed in a nearby field. 

We then decided to end the day at Shotton Pools to try to find a wader which I had only seen once before, and only had brief views of. As soon as we arrived, we spotted a Hare running around the pools, but not much else. We also saw a birder driving around the pools, however it seemed neither of us had seen the bird. After a while, two birders joined us in scanning, when one of them mentioned there was a much better way to view the pool. We then followed them in the car over to Northumberlandia, where we took a track down to view the pools at a much closer range. Once at the right spot, one of the birders started scanning, and after calling out two Ringed Plovers, he said he had the bird! Dave then followed the birder's directions and put the Pectoral Sandpiper in his scope, allowing me to finally get some great views and digiscoped images of this beautiful American wader. Since the light was fading, we decided to call it a day and head home.

Overall, a great day with one semi-lifer (Steppe Grey Shrike) and a few new year ticks and interesting insects!