AE, not A&E

So yet another low pressure system pushes through and a certain globe-trotting angel appears at gravel pits across England on the back of it. John Marchant nipped down to Lackford at lunchtime, scoring 9, whilst I held out for the predicted arrival at Livermere - sure enough, by 3pm the news came through and after a post-work record-breaking dash, Arctic Tern (129) now graces my list - and 20 of the sumptuous beauties at that! I believe my text to Mr Mills may have included the word bitchin'. NB: I would have found 'em, Pete, had they chosen to do what they never do and appear at the weekend - predicting from my desk then hitting the tarmac at the first available opportunity was the next best thing though!

A casual glance at the sky then paid off as a typically Corvid-harassed Short-eared Owl hove into view, my 3rd non-motorised one of the year (this one being entirely self-found, Pete!). And having been greeted on my arrival by a hunting Barn Owl, I finally got directions to the regularly-mentioned 'stunted oak between the 2 plane trees' (easy to find - when you know where to start looking!) for a 3-owl evening, thanks to the resident Little Owl (130).

What's the post title all about though? Well for the infidels among you, AE = Arctic Tern in BTO 2-letter code. The potential irony of ending up in A&E in pursuit of AE didn't escape me (again I find myself thinking back to those quiet Abu Dhabi dawns and wondering if a gentle cycle over to the Mushref Palace Gardens, via the back streets, of a Saturday morning is any worse than - or even remotely comparable to - running the weekday evening rush-hour gauntlet down the A134...). Other post title options included "Livermere or Die" [all hail Jonny Rankin].

Percentage of target to date - 84%

Distance cycled - 266.1mls / 428.2km

Latest addition - Little Owl (130) 24 April

Reeling 'em in

Took the kilometres pedalled past the 400 mark yesterday, thought the target bird (Sunday's Redstart) failed to oblige. Hardly surprising really, given that it was a lunch hour blast up to East Wretham, leaving me <10 minutes to try to locate the bird(s), and in a stiff breeze at that. Another time.

A very damp mooch down to the flood (of dipped Whimbrel fame) this morning revealed more activity than the weather might have predicted, including several Whitethroats finally finding their voices, and a Grasshopper Warbler (128) barely finding his.

ps Simon - are you reelly telling us that gropper isn't annual in your circle?!

Percentage of target to date - 83%

Distance cycled - 249.7mls / 401.9km

Latest addition - Grasshopper Warbler (128) 24 April

Aden express…

…hits 5^th gear. Generally the best thing to do when things slacken off a bit, as they inevitably do after a run like last Saturday – Sunday is to find somewhere else to point your bins. So I did that at the end of the week and had a late start on Saturday after a 20-hour day away on the Friday. However my glamorous assistant had been out keeping an eye on things for me in my absence and found what sounded like it had to be a White-throated Robin on Friday morning, albeit best seen from the back of a horse. Even as late as 0930 next morning, a stealthy approach on foot was tolerated and that was Saturday’s first, if not quite best, bird well and truly in the bag. Another one followed Saturday late afternoon, and a third on Monday morning; I’ve now seen more of these this year than in all springs 2007-2011 combined, bar 2008 when, at exactly the same time, we had a glut, reaching up to 5 per day.  These robins were part of a real flood of birds to hit the island this weekend, with some marked surges in numbers: Ortolans and Nightingales suddenly becoming common after a very lean spring so far, lots of Sylvia warblers, including several Barred singing daily, over 10 Rock Thrush in the last three days and Spotted Flycatchers really getting going, plus the season’s first Roller, Whinchat and Common Whitethroat. Shrike flavours have reached 7, with the first Lesser Grey and Red-backed overlapping with late a Woodchat and Steppe Grey. Along with the robins, there has been a fair sprinkling of local scarcities: another Cuckoo (grey this time), Turtle Dove (I still have less than 10 island records for this one), Wryneck (4^th this year: more than ever) and even a Wood Sandpiper – fairly straightforward in autumn but very sparse in spring. Best of all was a female Quail that I found gliding in over the canopy and then had at 10 feet for 15 minutes and second male Semi-collared Flycatcher, present 3 days and counting. 

Proof that I could do no wrong came on Sunday afternoon, chasing the flycatcher, I ran into two Red-whiskered Bulbuls, a celebrated local denizen of Category C that would have been declared extinct at least a year ago had one not mysteriously been seen once last October. But not again until now; these were my first since May 2009. It was on my target list, but only with some misgivings. But with Baillon’s Crake and even a Radde’s Accentor appearing on the lawns in Dubai in the last week or so, there has got to be something out there more monster than this, or any of the above, with my name on it…

OSCAR

Total so far - 160 (91%)

Last addition – Whinchat (22^nd April)

Strange hybrid

What do you get when you cross a Bonxie with an Ant-thrush? Answer to follow.....

Miscalculation

And a quick check of the spreadsheet tells me I'm actually on 134 - I ticked Whooper Swan for the 5km list, but not the main NMYL list! So now I'm on 81%, with some "easy" migrants to find in the next few days.

The Jetlagged Commando

Back from Hong Kong at 0650 this morning, home by 0900, feeling pretty grim from two long haul flights (highlights: Fight Club and Shutter Island - one good, one not very good), in the field at 0945 after a text message from Simon Ingram - needed to get up to Ibsley Water. Unfortunately, I had just put all (and I mean ALL) my pants in the washing machine - so it was either do a David Beckham and borrow some of Julia's, or.......GO COMMANDO (also this....). Well, guess which I did. In heavy rain and freezing cold. Mai Po Blashford ain't, but I did quickly lock my heat-seeking surface-to-surface bin sights onto the required target acquisition asset: Black Tern (129). Nice.

Also to be had today were another four year ticks - House Martin, Garden Warbler, Dunlin and Common Tern (130-133). Back in the swing of things, then (not referring to the contents of my shorts) - and now I'm going to bed for a bit.

Jack of Diamonds

It's a funny old spring. March more like July, April more like February, migrants conspicuous by their absence. A few better-late-than-nevers notched up in my circle this weekend (namely Tree Pipit, Nightingale, Cuckoo and Redstart) but with sister, bro-in-law and their nipper staying, all 4 were carbon-fuelled. I was just mustering the enthusiasm for a late afternoon shower-dodging pedal somewhere or other, to try to make non-motorised amends, when Richard Thewlis rang to say he'd pulled something special out of the bag down at the Nunnery Lakes. 10 minutes, 1.2 miles later and I was scoping the following:

...or to make it a little easier:

Like Chris, I can now officially hang up my wellies! Fantastic Jack Snipe (127) OML - altogether more 'winter' than 'spring' but no complaints here!

Percentage of target to date - 82%

Distance cycled - 238.2mls / 383.3km

Latest addition - Jack Snipe (127) 22 April