Caspian Tern on my old patch

Mike Weedon scored heavily with an adult Caspian Tern at Baston & Langtoft Pits, my old stomping ground during my teenage years. Though a regular vagrant to Britain, it's an undeniably impressive species and, with a clear afternoon on the cards, I couldn't resist twitching it.

By the time I arrived it had been missing for the best part of 45 minutes but, after a nervous wait, was picked up fishing over some of the more mature pits in the middle of the (private) complex. Views were initially distant but it then had the decency to perform a close fly-by as it headed back to its favoured roosting spot on the new wader scrape on the north side of the pits - this fantastic site has been producing great birds for a couple of years now, and finally it's had its first true rarity.

Incidentally the bird bears a red ring, identifying it as the individual seen previously in Carmarthenshire and Northamptonshire. The red ring seems to suggest it's Swedish, though I'm not sure if anyone has managed to read the ring fully yet. It'll be interesting to see where it pops up next, assuming it doesn't hang around at BLGP.

A few grab shots below - hurriedly taken using sub-optimal settings and against a grey sky, and not really in focus. But you can tell what it is!

A little late to the party

After several days of northerlies, migration exploded back in to life on Sunday in quite impressive fashion. I moved house over the weekend and had no time to get out birding, this made all the more galling by the appearance of a Red-winged Blackbird on North Ronaldsay - which I knew I had absolutely no chance of doing anything about, even if I am a bit of a failed twitcher these days.

I was heading back to Lincolnshire on Monday to see family, so was quite excited to hit my old patch, Baston & Langtoft Pits - particularly as a moderate south-easterly was blowing when I woke up and, as I drove north, occasional showers were passing through. Actually, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment with the best birds of the morning being two adult Whooper Swans flying north and a Bar-tailed Godwit flying through in the evening - not a patch on the previous day's dynamism, and I couldn't help but feel that I was a little late to the party. That said, 13 Dunlin was a figure virtually unimaginable here in the days I used to watch BLGP (wader habitat was always in limited supply compared to nowadays) and there were good numbers of breeding waders plus the usual singing warblers and a Cuckoo - no Turtle Doves though.

I visited Barnack's delightful Hills and Holes reserve with my mother late morning. I remember going here as a small kid and being thrilled by Marbled Whites, Six-spot Burnets and so on, and it's been a place I've treasured ever since. Clearly a bit early for the above insects (and rather cold too!), but a good carpet of Pasqueflowers, Cowslips and Early Purple Orchids.

Early Purple Orchid, Barnack, 1 May 2017

Someone had found a Black Redstart at Deeping Lakes earlier in the day so, after a family meal, I twitched it. An area tick for me, this was a fairly confiding (and very vocal) bird. Pintail was a good May record there and another Cuckoo was singing plus plenty of Common Terns over the main lake.

Black Redstart, Deeping Lakes, 1 May 2017

Back at BLGP early on Tuesday morning, misty conditions had grounded singles of Greenshank and Eurasian Curlew but, most satisfyingly, a female Long-tailed Duck was present on the Corner Pit on the north side of the complex. This is the second I've seen here (following one in December 2006) and appears to be the bird last seen at nearby Deeping Lakes on 23 April.

Female Long-tailed Duck, Baston & Langtoft Pits, 2 May 2017

Black Swan - present intermittently on the same island on 1 and 2 May. No idea where it went when it wasn't there.

Taiwan stuff to come soon, hopefully.

Rescuing a Great Crested Grebe

I had a slightly bizarre start to yesterday. I was out the back of Langtoft, doing a circuit of my old patch, when I noticed this Great Crested Grebe sat by the side of a the road. Immediate reaction was that it had been attacked, hit by one of the many HGVs using this road or had collided with power lines, which it was sat below. It was trailing its left leg, which was covered in blood, and its left wing also looked quite badly bloodied.

Having returned home for a box, I went back to pick the grebe up. It was quite feisty but obviously couldn't move, so was easy to catch. After unsuccessfully trying to contact local RSPCA branches, I took it up to the exotic pet refuge in Deeping St James. Quite miraculously, they were able to confirm that it hadn't broken any bones in either wing and the leg seemed OK, if a little sore and bloody.

So with the prognosis positive I popped it in the car, drove it back up to Langtoft and released it at the gravel pits, at which point it gave me a rather sharp peck before swimming off - talk about gratitude!

Then it was back to the day job ...

Hot Mediterranean action

Adult Mediterranean Gull drifting over Langtoft Fen

I think I say it just about every time I blog about them, but adult Med Gulls are great. They're preposterously good-looking and sound the business too. On my old stomping ground around the pits at Langtoft, a pair or two can usually be found kicking about among the throng of breeding Black-headed Gulls every summer (though never yet confirmed breeding). That said, it's always great to actually see them and thus I was pretty chuffed to find a pair loafing around on one of the new roadside pits over the weekend. Disappointingly, though, there were no youngsters in tow despite some suggestive behaviour - for example, I got out the car and they decided to fly around my head, calling. Friday was a hot day, and the bird is actually panting in both images below, not exercising its vocal chords.

Ringed Med Gull in South Lincs

Each morning before heading over to Rutland, I spent half hour or so checking out some of the more likely spots around my old patch, Baston & Langtoft Pits. Despite some decent wader habitat, I managed nothing than a couple of Green Sandpipers. Wildfowl proved a little more dynamic, with nine Shoveler and a Wigeon on 19th, and five Teal in this morning (20th). Also this morning, among no more than 30 or so Black-headed Gulls, was this fine juvenile Mediterranean Gull:

As can be seen above, a white darvic was pretty obvious on the bird's left leg, with a small metal ring on the right. Creeping closer, it was possible to make out the code "E932". I'm guessing this bird will be from the Netherlands, but will confirm when feedback comes through.

BNG still

The Black-necked Grebe was still present at Baston & Langtoft Pits this morning. Although the bird was a lot closer, the light hadn't improved much. Some winter white coming through on the lower neck and the flanks are pretty faded, but otherwise still looking rather dapper.

Ten minutes back on the old patch...

... and this pops in to view:

Another example of how underwatched the Peterborough area is. This beauty of an adult Black-necked Grebe showed well in the miserable conditions today on my old patch, Baston & Langtoft Pits. It is the first BNG I've had here since a pair in June 2007, I believe. Sad to think that the reason it is here so early is that it must have failed breeding somewhere else, though.