Morning has broken (sing along) like the ...

We were down the Grandborough valley before dawn searching suitable owl habitat but did not find any though we were treated to a stunning sunrise with plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing leaving their roost plus 3 Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff. The baseley smallholding had 15 Tree Sparrow, Coal Tit and Snipe.

Moved on to Napton Reservoir as it started to cloud over which was full of workmen awaiting the arrival of heavy plant so we had a quick look before the disturbance started and surprisingly had 2 Water Rail out in the open, Jack Snipe at the base of the exposed reed bed, 25+ Snipe, 2 Shoveler, 10 Teal, Grey Wagtail and 3 Reed Bunting. Once the class 5 mark 4, turbo boosted JCB thingy arrived we scarpered and as we passed Napton on the Hill there were 7 Raven over the quarry.

With the arrival of low cloud and persistent rain our look at the pond was brief and damp. Visibility poor so only had the Black-necked Grebe and 50+ Meadow Pipit.

BTD

Having spent the evening observing Jupiter and her moons near the Hyades open cluster I woke to the delightful sight of Venus very close to a slender crescent moon.

Unfortunately as is typical of this time of year visibility in the Grandborough valley was the opposite of my garden being down to 30 meters in places so Dave and I failed to find any owls. The pond was shrouded in mist which was burning off pretty quickly in places but by the time we had reached toft bay and had seen sweet FA we were thinking of giving up when a Black-throated Diver flew in and headed for biggen bay. Just our luck it decided at the last minute to continue further on and landed near the valve tower and become shrouded in the last slow clearing fog bank. Had to wait nearly an hour for visibility to improve and despite extensive searching we failed to re-locate it.

Bob Hazel had a BTD briefly on the 2^nd November which I presume was the one that appeared at Stanford Reservoir on the 3^rd and 4^th but no reports since so it could be circulating the area.

The only other birds of note was the Black-necked Grebe near M buoy, 50 Meadow Pipits and the unusual sight of a Great-crested Grebe on the grassy side of farborough bank when we first arrived.

Although we arrived at the Long Itch Diner later than usual the prompt service soon had us back out in the field in record time though all we found was 15 Raven, 2 Buzzard and a Peregrine on Napton on the Hill before the news of a Little Bunting in the county buggered up many a birders Sunday roast.

Great-crested Grebe pitched up on farborough bank

Smew

Brief visit to Brandon Marsh this afternoon produced the female Smew though she was elusive at times, also seen were 25 Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Kingfisher, 2 male Goldeneye, Snipe and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker. Did not have time to do Lawford Heath justice but the maise harvest has been completed and some areas looked quite birdy.

Bit more variety

There was a bit more variety at the pond today with 17 Golden Plover heading North West plus 100 Fieldfare and 60 Redwing on the move while 40 Fieldfare were in the field behind farnborough spit.

Between toft shallows and grays barn there were 17 Lesser Redpoll, 25 Siskin and Chiffchaff calling while on the water the Black-necked Grebe remained distant off hensborough bank eventually drifting towards toft bay. Also present were 10 Goldeneye, 2 Pochard 40 Meadow Pipit and a Raven flew over toft bay. Visibility was so good today another 10 Ravens could be scoped over Napton on the Hill from toft bank.

Vis mig peters out

A very similar morning to the 28^th October with a heavy overnight movement of thrushes, pigeons and starlings petering out to virtually nothing by 9am. From our vantage point at Grandborough Fields just after dawn we had 3000 Wood Pigeon, 1500 Fieldfare, 1000 Starling, 800 Redwing going over in one hour along with smaller numbers of finches and larks. Further along the Flecknoe road there was a flock of 30 Yellowhammer at Woodbine Farm plus 800 Starling feeding on the deck while the Basely smallholding had 20 Tree Sparrow and a distant female Brambling.

The pond unfortunately was dire and we only managed 10 Long-tailed Tit, 40 Meadow Pipit, 7 Gadwall and 3 Goldeneye till we met Bob Hazel who pointed out the Black-necked Grebe for us some distance away.

Napton on the Hill was full of birds with 300 Fieldfare, 300 Redwing, Green Woodpecker, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest and at least 30 Raven while Napton Reservoir had 8 Shoveler, 10 Teal, 17 Snipe, 6 Great-crested Grebe, 300 Fieldfare, Reed Bunting and single Raven.

Back on the patch

Bob managed a record shot of the Black-necked Grebe which was at least 300 yards off hensborough bank otherwise our visit to the pond was a bit quiet with female Brambling near the sewage farm entrance, 4 Goldcrest and 7 Siskin in the same area. Earlier we had 50+ Meadow Pipit on hensborough bank while the only duck of interest was 16 Goldeneye and 16 Wigeon. At least 5 Jays scattered around the site while 500 Starling flew over west in small groups plus one group of Skylark.

In the Grandborough valley the River Leam had broken its banks. There were 300 Fieldfare, 50 Redwing and a Grey Wagtail behind Kites Hardwick, 2 Brambling and 12 Tree Sparrow on the Baseley Smallholding, 60 House Sparrow and 3 Tree Sparrow Woodbine Farm, 24 Golden Plover over Grandborough Fields Farm and a day flying Barn Owl between Woolscott and the A45.

Black-necked Grebe by Bob Hazel

This evening while half of Rugby seemed to be burning their wage packets Jupiter was worth looking at before the mist and smog sets in. If you have a high mag scope its red spot is visible.

Alive

After being ill with food poising for a week I was bitterly disappointed that today’s effort in Cambridgeshire was washed out by heavy rain. Oh well – at least I’m back in the land of the living and not tied to the big white telephone anymore.

Common Gull with fishing line taken by Bob Hazel in the week at the pond