Nethergong Birding

A visit on Saturday early morning produced 2 Turtle Dove, 3 Cuckoo, 1 Swift, 1 Coot, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Hobby, 2 Ring necked Parakeet (112) dropped in briefly making their presence known to everyone, 2 Jay, 3 Skylark, 4 Sedge Warbler, 11 Reed warbler, 2 Swallow, 4 Chiffchaff, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Long tailed Tit, 3 Blackcap, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 Linnet and 8 Whitethroat. I am pleased to announce that the pair of Raven successfully fledged one youngster this year which is excellent news. There are also a pair of Stonechat which have been seen carrying food for their young as well as a pair of Yellow Wagtail which seem to have nested in the wheat fields this year. With sunny skies and very little wind early on Sunday morning, I arrived for a walk around to listen for Golden Oriole in the likely places. On my first walk around, I heard nothing but as I started walking the site again just before 6am, I could hear what I thought was a distant Golden Oriole calling. I walked a little quicker until I was nearer where the noise had come from. A few minutes later I heard the obvious call of a male Golden Oriole singing. This is the second bird I have found here this month and makes you wonder how many are actually passing through. With everyone still asleep as there were tents under the trees in question, I carefully got into a position where I could hear it better and maybe even see it. I text Jed to let him know a Golden Oriole was singing in trees out of the back of his house and it wasn't long until he replied that he and Christine could hear it from their balcony. They even managed to get the 'Merlin' app on it to record the song which thankfully worked well. It sang on and off for about 20 minutes and then seemed to move further away. I walked around the other side of the trees to see where the bird had moved too and again it sang briefly. This time however, I caught sight of some movement in the tree tops and only using my 150mm lens (my other lens is being fixed) I took a few shots in the hope I might have caught something. Zooming in on the back of the camera and there it was. a young male Golden Oriole which I suspect is a first summer male. I won't win any prizes for the shot but it's better than nothing. To find one Golden Oriole is amazing on the patch but to find 2 in a month is off the chart. I was more pleased when I met Jed later on to see how happy he was to have heard a Golden Oriole singing effectively in his back garden. Amazing stuff. I did see the bird eventually fly out of the tree and it could be heard occasionally singing and giving the Jay type call as it seemed to be moving up the lane towards Upstreet. I walked around for a few more hours noting a good range of species before making my way back to the car and home. An excellent session once again which can't be said for recording at night which seems to have been a poor spring for species flying over. 

Sunrise over the Lake

Juvenile Raven

Golden Oriole (circled - honest)