Will there be a SFYL 17?

Has the award ceremony happened yet?
Looks like the diminutive Mr. Grimsey has taken the title? Is that right?
Are all the current runners and riders playing next year?
I will be happy to prop up the table again in 2017......................
Happy New Year to all of the esteemed SFYListers!

"Armchair" SFYL tick

It's not over yet folks - nearly spat my coffee over the kitchen window this morning when I looked out and saw these. I'm glad I did a mad dash for the camera, as they were seen off soon after by a Fieldfare guarding a stash of fallen apples.

Jim

Last orders?

No podium position for me again but a nice quality addition to my SFYL with a Smew found while visiting Cuckoo Bridge Lake for WeBS.  Worth pointing out virtually no one else goes birding here and WeBS is the excuse I need to visit.  Over the years I've had Great Northern Diver, Pintail twice, Scaup three times and Great White Egret.  Not bad for a quiet site.

Merlin

After a good view of the phalarope I thought it best to check out GLE in case everybody else had overlooked it. Good job I did, picked up this bird on the deck first right at the back of the pit, then chased by Kestrel, then back on the deck again at almost the same spot before the Kestrel chased it away again. Was very small compared with the female Kestrel so consider most likely a young male.

Smooth as Velvet

Two or three times a month, with the odd extra during migration season I take the short lunchtime trip from my Letchworth office to stroll across the field and scan over the Blue Lagoon at Arlesey just in case. Having seen Velvet at Broom on Tuesday, I thought immediately that I ought to pop into the lagoon the next day as I had not been yet in November. So there I was on Wednesday, more in hope than expectation with my bins. Not much on there as usual but Boom !

(Photo taken Thursday as did not have camera on Wed)

Wild

In as many weeks, another quality self-o with two Bewick's Swans at Broom.

Duck tick

Long time coming but these Common Scoters were a bit of welcome selfing quality.

Poaching

That's how I feel going "out of area", away from my usual haunts. After spending all morning trying to kick off a heavy cold by (not) finding a Shrike, I decided to give Stewartby and Brogborough a look, more out of curiosity than anything else. I believe the technical term for birds of interest on Stewartby is "bugger all", so didn't know what to expect at Brogborough, however even from the car on the way in it was evident that the place was covered in ducks.

There were probably about 500 Tufted and a couple of hundred Pochard resting fairly close together and the prospect of going through them all didn't exactly fill me with joy, so I went for my standard (lazy) approach in situations like this - anything good will be on the edges. Luckily, a fairly quick search found 2 female Goldeneye on the edge of the main raft, that then started chasing each other about, so job done. I reckon it would be a safe bet for one of you dedicated types to find something better amongst the main bunch but I really couldn't be bothered with the way I was feeling.

Jim

2 tick day

Like Andy, I also needed Stonechat for the SFYL and had a wander around Sandy Smith and Chicksands yesterday with no result. However, today was noticeably different with various birds on the move, such as dribs and drabs of Redwing, Swallows and Golden Plover.

Not a bird I needed for the list, but I was pretty surprised to see a Redstart on the path at Old Warden tunnel, so things were looking up. Moving on to Sandy Smith and there was a smart male Stonechat up by the silos, and then another 2 on the grassland where the public path cuts across the Chicksands MOD site.

I got a 2nd tick whilst watching and listening to a fairly large mixed flock of tits, Goldcrest and a few Blackcap at a site not very far away from the Stonechats (it's a private area, hence the vagueness). I was convinced I could hear a Firecrest in amongst them all but it took quite a while to be able to pick it up visually, due to the foliage and poor light. I didn't even manage to get a SFYL standard photo but did have the bird in the bins a couple of times for a good enough view to confirm the ID. This is only the 2nd Firecrest I've seen in Beds (I'm not a birder remember :-) ), so I may have to indulge in a small shandy this evening.

Chatting together

Needed Stonechat for my SFYL so with an hour to spare Sunday afternoon thought I would try Warden Hill as nearest bit of likely habitat, Seen more Stonechats on this hill over the years than Whinchats, Luck was in as within minutes caught up with a pair of birds; one of each.

Ahhh the joys of autofocus...

Streaky Med

Usually manage to pull one out somewhere from the brick pits on one of the shorter days of the year but, with a nice streak of luck, a late afternoon walk on Sunday added Med Gull to my Sharpenhoe Clappers list as well as my SFYL. (Always said that place was good for rares...). The field at the bottom of the east facing slope often has gulls and there was a nice wet patch in one corner Sunday from which up flew the adult winter bird which moved off south following the A6 and gaining height presumably off to roost somewhere. My second in the area after one on a ploughed field at Streatley (which currently also holds a few gulls) in August a few years back. Still in the game but looks like the action is for the silver medal this year.

Slow times

With just some Yellow-legged Gulls to add over the summer, my next SFYT was this morning.  Catching up with a first winter period miss - 2 Pintails at Radwell during my WeBS count.

Super Saturday Seabird Surprise

Mooching around Peacock's hoping for a Pintail when a Hobby shot over my head in hunting mode after some House Martins. It failed on this pass and drifted up over the wood to the south of the lake, by the "Village Pit", where it started spiralling upwards, presumably to gain height for another attempt. As I was watching it I noticed a fairly large bird drifting fairly lazily behind it and almost dismissed it as a Cormorant but then it jinked slightly and the wing shape made me reach for the camera. Going by the meta data from the 18 or so pictures I managed to fire off before it drifted off south out of sight the bird was on view for about 10 seconds and I would never have seen it but for the Hobby. How many other birds like this do we blissfully miss over our heads?

Blown it

For the first year since about 1863, I have failed to find a Redstart. I am utterly useless.

I set myself a target of 150 self-found this year, and that is a target I will now struggle with. [As I will also struggle with my other resolution to never end a sentence with a stranded preposition.]

Despite it being a notable autumn for Curlew Sandpiper, I have failed to find one. Also, no stint spp., Spotted Redshank, Mediterranean or Caspian Gull, or Ring Ouzel (time yet though).

My best find of the year was uncountable - a White Stork of Polish origin was not considered genuinely wild despite being genuinely wild. Bizarrely, the Goshawk I found (and was accepted) was probably less wild than the former. Oh, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...

An odd year: a good spring, a poor autumn. I predict a winning score this year of 148, although winning in 2016 (as with 2015) would be a bit like Macclesfield Town winning the Champions League as a result of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid refusing to take part. Or, in the case of Steve Blain not competing in the recent SFYLs, because he thought there was a chance that he may not win. His excuse of ''concentrating on other projects'' being a euphemism for ''I think I might not win.'' ;-)

I hope you all have a splendid and productive autumn.

D

Necky

I must admit to not having much hope of seeing anything good these days on Peacock's Lake at Broom but I thought I'd give it a go, as I was in the area anyway. However, almost straight away a grebe out in the very middle with a distinctly long neck and its body size between that of Little and GC Grebe caught my eye. After pretty much walking around the whole lake to try and get a decent vantage point and also looking at all the other variations of Great-crested and Little Grebes on offer to discount a duff ID, I decided to stop dithering and put them (another one had joined the original) out as BN Grebes.

Jim

Autumn ahoy!

Chewing the fat with Andy Jackson at GLE, Broom GPs, when these suddenly appeared in the far corner from nowhere. After a bit of deliberation, and a lot of self doubt between us (due to being a bit early etc), we were pretty happy to start putting these out as Wood Sands but it was still good to quickly get a fresh set of eyes and agreement from Stu W to confirm.

The water levels at GLE have dropped considerably, which means birds can be tucked away in various nooks and crannies without showing, unless disturbed, or moving about to feed like these did.

Juvenile Cuckoo also floating about on the GLW side but no sign of the Whinchat by Peacock's Lake from yesterday.

Jim

Black n' Red...

...same as the brand of my notebooks:

Images courtesy of Peter Nash and Steve Blain, hence the superior quality.

Two Turtle Doves...

Great to see a couple of TDs as I cycled back from work across Tempsford airfield. Too fast for a photo but here's where they went!

Stewartby fly through fun

33 Arctic Terns and a Kittiwake Saturday morning were a real bonus, but got to get one or two of those "seashore" waders to stay with the leaders...

Sweeping 'em up!

Despite the human traffic and lack of time on weekends at my favoured patch, I seem to be getting lucky. Latest conquests of Greenshank, Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Turnstone and today Sanderling and Garganey have really bolstered the list. All to play for over the next week or so. Good luck all.............just need some Terns.