Nethergong Birding

It was around mid May last year that I found probably my best find to date at Nethergong, a Golden Oriole, well actually three of them. With a few being reported last week and with the weather looking ideal Thursday morning (no wind and quite sunny) I decided to have an hour before work in the hope of finding something or even hearing or seeing a Golden Oriole. Arriving just before 5am, I had an initial wander around the site passing by the Poplar plantation and spending some time listening with no success so moved on to see what was about. When I returned back the same way c30 minutes later, I thought I could hear a Golden Oriole call coming from the Poplars I had passed by earlier. I quickened the pace and indeed I was right. As I got nearer I could indeed hear the fluty call of a GOLDEN ORIOLE (110) singing. Wow! After last years success, I definitely didn't expect to get another but with the excellent habitat here, they may well pass through every year. Just imagine what's missed throughout the week when I'm at work. I made a few recordings of the singing before trying to locate the bird. Eventually some movement and I glimpsed an immature male bird flying along the tree line to another set of Poplars. This time the bird flew out and landed in the tree tops around the lake giving its raspy Jay type call. I still couldn't find it and then it flew again back to the original Poplar plantation giving brief flight views. The bird continued singing until I left just before 06:30. What an amazing start to the day and for once, the plan worked out well. Despite a good listen over the weekend, no sound or sign of it again. 

Singing Golden Oriole 

Poplar Plantation (Prime Golden Oriole habitat)

Other birds of note over the weekend included 3 Raven, 2 Shoveler, 2 Grey Partridge, 2 Cuckoo, 1 Swift, 1 Common Tern, 1 Hobby (111) flew through early morning, 4 Sedge Warbler, 8 Reed Warbler, 6 Sand Martin, 5 Chiffchaff, 7 Blackcap, 5 Whitethroat, 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Stonechat, 2 Yellow Wagtail and 3 Yellowhammer. Whilst walking around the area, I managed to find a Kingfisher nest and after some watching, have found where they are landing prior to going into the nest. After spending 3 hours on both Saturday and Sunday morning in my hide, I'm hopeful of my best ever Kingfisher photos which all being well, I will post in a few days time. It certainly was a magical experience. 'Nocmig' continues to still be very quiet with not much moving overhead at night. I'm hoping my perseverance pays off soon.