birdsofberkshire

Siberian chiffchaff [tristis]: Dorney, February 7th – 18th still

birdsofberkshire — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:05:27 +0000

The positive identification of siberian chiffchaff (trisits) may be fraught with difficulty relying as it does on the effect of different qualities of light on gradations of hues in the mantle etc but with up to five in the county it’s certainly a good time to check them out.

The two most popular birds are at Dorney Common just on the Berks/Bucks border. These have been given the seal of approval of the county recorder

Click here for a Google map of the site

You can park either on the common, near the east entrance cattle grid, in Eton Wick or at the Jubilee river car park

The birds have been seen in the “reed beds” half the way along to the entrance to the river (do go and have a look along the river for a mass of ducks and water rail. A special treat at the moment are a group of goosander (a mega for the site)

If you prefer the north of the county there are two at Streatley sewage farm. These have been OK’d by the Oxon county recorder (click here for Oxon Bird Log - Feb 16th entry)

Click here for a Google map of the site

Clicking here links to an OS image with an arrow pointing at the place the birds have been seen (though they can disappear at times)

This link takes you to a street view of the area south of the sewage farm. I’ve seen the birds in almost all the trees/hedges you can see if you move the view through 360 degrees. The hedge at “NW” has been severely pruned and you can now see through to the clinker beds where they can also be seen

BTW the “possible” fifth is at Sandhurst STW. A regualr site for “grey” chiffchaffs & the only site in the county to have a bird accepted by the BBRC (Dec 2007- March 2008). There are very limited parking options here. You can park in Sandhurst high street and walk …

Clicking here links to an OS image with an arrow pointing at the place the bird have been seen

This is the 2008 tristis (BBRC accepted) http://www.birdsofberkshire.co.uk/Tristis.htm

The plumage of tristis, as described by Svensson (1992)
1.It lacks yellow entirely away from the underwing coverts, the axillaries and the marginal coverts near the bend of the wing, and
2.lacks olive on the crown and mantle.
3.The upperparts are grey-brown to drab-brown while
4.the underparts are off-white, with a
5 rich buff suffusion of variable extent on the breast and flanks.
6.Rich buff also infuses the supercilium and the ear-coverts, where it can assume a rusty buff hue.
7.The scapulars, lower back and rump show limited olive streaking, while
8.the remiges and rectrices are edged with olive.
9.The bare parts are somewhat less consistent in appearance but most individuals have
10.a relatively slight bill which is predominantly black while
11.the bill, legs and upper surface of the feet are also quite intensely black

Glaucous gull: Knoll Hill quarry, February 1st – 12th still

birdsofberkshire — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:21:59 +0000

The bird which showed so nicely at South lake before Christmas was found at the rubbish dump in Knoll Hill. These are instructions given by Peter Newbound (finder, after some excellent detective work):

“The Quarry can only be viewed by telescope from the public footpath in the NW
corner at SU814799. Access is from the A4 at the Seven Stars pub up Star Lane for 700m and then left along the Knowl Hill Bridleway Circuit up the hill for another 400m.
Star Lane is residents access only. Please park near the Seven Stars on the A4.
The gulls are feeding on freshly dumped landfill and are being constantly disturbed.”

Click here for a street view of the Seven Stars pub and

Here for the entrance to Star lane from the A4

Click here for a map with a red arrow at the suggested viewpoint

Tree sparrow: Remenham, January 12th – 21st still

birdsofberkshire — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:37:39 +0000

Although not a scarce bird it can be hard to connect with in Berkshire. This was the first “twitchable” site for years last January and a single bird has been seen again this January. It’s been quite distant this time. It can be tricky to park on weekends.
Click here for a Google map of the site
Try to park sensibly near the centre of the map and look NE along the hedge to the distant trees (you’ll probably need a scope)
See a street view by clicking here

Great grey shrike: Slough sewage farm, December 3rd – 29th still

birdsofberkshire — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:31:01 +0000

A Great grey shrike was found inside the perimeter of Slough Sewage Farm at the start of December and has shown occasionally since. It is by no means an easy bird to connect with however
Walk along the north bank of the river and the bird is most often seen north of the weir area – see the site guides below to view maps of the site (More info)

Great grey shrike in Berkshire

Jubilee River/Dorney wetlands site guide

Slough sewage farm site guide

Glaucous gull: South lake, Dec 10th – Dec 14th still

birdsofberkshire — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:09:55 +0000

Glaucous gull is pretty rare in Berkshire and usually hard to connect with at one of the big gull roosts so it’s a real treat to get such an “easy” bird
This bird was found on a suburban lake in Reading on the 10th and a photo sent to the webmaster of Berksbirds
To see the bird you can park in The Thatchers tavern on Fairwater drive, Woodley Click here to get the Google map
To get sun-behind-you photos you need to get to the south side of the lake

Bearded tit: Lavells, Oct 15th – Dec 2nd still

birdsofberkshire — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:58:41 +0000

Bearded tit is a scarce visitor to Berks. First reported on Oct 21st (3 birds) a single male has been seen off and on since. It was ringed behind the northern shore of the lake on 15th Nov. It’s been seen for a few minutes every few days so you’ll need a bit of luck to catch this handsome reedling …

Lavell’s website

A homage to the site here

Slavonian grebe: QMR & Theale Main pit – Nov 9th

birdsofberkshire — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:33:42 +0000

Slav grebes at QMR tend to stay quite close in so should be a better bet if you want decent views. Both birds were reported in the morning. QMR isn’t that busy mid-week so there should be a reasonable chance of it being there for the rest of the day. They can hang around for a day or so but …

QMR site guide

Theale site guide

Here’s link to a bit of background on Slav grebes in Berks

Purple sand QMR Nov 8th

birdsofberkshire — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:46:06 +0000

Another great Autumn bird at QMR. News of this bird came out around 10am. A scare visitor, this bird didn’t seem to hang around very long and wasn’t reported after 10:30 …

Site guide

You really need a permit from the BOC to access the site. If you have a permit, rather than unlock the gate to get out you can get a “Day pass” from the Sailing club and use it to get out the easy way ;o)

Common scoter (reported by Paul “Birdingovermyhead” BT) and Dark-bellied Brent goose were also seen at the site today. Showing just how good the site is and how putting bodies on the ground there is always fruitful!

Snow bunting at QMR – 9th to 24th December still

birdsofberkshire — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:12:26 +0000

Mike McKee found a female which has been resident between the car park and the pier and will show down to 25-30 feet

You should join the BOC to get a permit to have access to the site

QMR site page

Ferruginous duck: Oct 1st – Dec 2nd still

birdsofberkshire — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:42:56 +0000

Ian Paine found a 1st winter male at Dinton Pastures on October 1st
Click here for a link to the site guide

Update
The bird is now spending its time on White Swan lake – at The south end (and Tufties corner). Park at the Dinton overflow for a short walk (£1)

The bird first seemed to be at Sandford lake mostly. There are a few places to park including a couple of “pull-ins” along Sandford lane – one just near the western entrance to Sandford lake. You can see the bird from the new-ish hide

Here are a flight photo from berksbirds
And a close-up

Click here for a link to info about Fudgers in Berkshire
including my Birdguides prize-winning fudger pic from 2001 – I got £150 worth of BG DVDs. Shows how much (amateur) bird photography has come on since then!