Today's most updated bird nationally is...

Four times! That's how many updates the Long-tailed Duck got today. Perhaps the most updated rarity in the country today, I shit you not. Aside from a couple of Marsh Warblers and a Bluethroat at a popular North Norfolk birdspotting venue, it actually was. A steady procession of London's birders presumably made it away from their desks to have a look at this Arctic waif. I made it back from my cesspit of toil for a mid evening papping session with London's most celebrated birding blogger.

No apologies for even more LTDs. They'll keep coming, perhaps punctuated by the odd Caspian Gull soon enough just to spoil you. Finally sorted out the 1000s that I took at the Polish colony the week before last...

A productive afternoon in Kent

It had been ages since I'd been out of London, and after checking that the female Long-tailed Duck was present on Canada Water (which it was), Karen and I headed out for the afternoon. Fortunately, just as we'd set off into Kent, there was news that a Black Kite seen yesterday was present again. To be honest, I'd pretty much forgotten yesterday's sighting, so it was a real bonus that after a short wait, the bird performed over a picturesque valley near Selling (southeast of Faversham). Excellent views, though the light was poor.

This was only my fifth Black Kite in Britain - following birds on Shetland in June 1997, Hampshire in September 1999, Cheshire in May 2005 and (the Black-eared Kite) in Lincolnshire in November 2006. Admittedly they're dross abroad, but still nice to see. The Yellowhammers and Skylarks singing across the rolling landscape, were also good to see/hear for someone like me stuck in London.

Nearby, after a quick stop in the pleasant town of Faversham, we headed to Oare where Mick S was papping some low flying swifts. I quickly located the 1st-summer Bonaparte's Gull as it roosted on an island on East Scrape. It was distant and inactive, but easily picked up nonetheless, amongst a load of Black-headed Gulls. A 2nd-summer Mediterranean Gull dropped in too, and a scruffy drake Garganey was also present. It must be a good few years since I'd been to Oare, and nice to see it hadn't changed much though the water levels seemed quite high.

Anyway, times have indeed changed as back in the day, I'd have been all over a Bee-eater within an hour or so of me. But today, I'd had enough of this twitching lark and headed back to London, where sure enough another check of the patch revealed nothing new though the Long-tailed Duck was still about this evening.

New for Rotherhithe - Long-tailed Duck

I had a relaxed morning, with just a brief look at the usual congregation of gulls on Greenland Dock. Having started to do a bit of writing up of the gulls section for the London Bird Report 2011, the fine weather tempted me out early afternoon. I needed to go to the shopping centre on my way to Crossness (to get some new passport photos as I've ran out of pages in my current passport!), so did my usual check of Canada Water in the unusually glorious sunshine. It wasn't on the first scan, but pretty soon after, that I picked up a Long-tailed Duck - patch gold! The same bird as seen in Peckham last Saturday to Monday, and then found on Greenwich Park yesterday evening, this mobile female was a welcome find and obviously the first for Rotherhithe.

Having found it mid afternoon, I returned later in the evening to get some photos in a different light. Like in Peckham, it showed well so I managed some decent photos in the changeable light. So as well as this Arctic duck, Rotherhithe was full of birds - four Common Terns on the platforms of Surrey Water, three Egyptian Geese, Reed Warbler, a couple of Sand Martins and plenty of large gulls.

No apologies that this one showy bird has monopolised the last three posts! And if it's still around tomorrow, sure it'll feature again.

Homage to Peckham's Long-tailed Duck

June in southeast London really isn't the time or place for a Long-tailed Duck. But this lost female was still about on the lake at Peckham Rye Park on Monday evening, still showing well, so I headed back there after school. Arriving at c.7pm, I was hoping that there'd be a little less glare than on Sunday where the white plumage was burnt out a bit on my photos. There was less glare, but there was also a reduction in light and shutter speed.

 

Yesterday I stopped off at Peckham Rye Park with Josh J before our weekly game of footy, and unfortunately the bird had done one. Mind you, you'd really have to know the size of the so called 'lake' to appreciate that any self-respecting Long-tailed Duck would have been long gone from there soon enough. It was fun while it lasted.

A crazy Long-tailed Duck in Peckham today

The day started with apathy, turning over when the alarm went off as I saw the bright sunshine coming through the curtains. Sunny weather usually means nothing at Crossness, but eventually I rose and got my sorry butt out there. And nothing was what I got, unsurprisingly given the sunshine and time of year. Well, I head a Mediterranean Gull somewhere above and a couple of scummy looking Yellow-legged Gulls dragged their sorry selves along the Thames foreshore. John A also found a Green Hairstreak, a first for the site which was nice enough.

Back in Rotherhithe, large gulls peaked at 125 on Greenland Dock including a NTGG ringed bird. And that was it, so I thought. But while doing the weekly shop in Tesco, I got an email saying that a local guy had seen what he thought was a Long-tailed Duck on the small lake at Peckham Rye Park yesterday. And the photo attached showed he was right... so after a couple of hours of chilling, Karen and I made our way  the 10 minutes or so there. Easy enough, there it was straight away just chilling out on the lake though outrageously unseasonal, but a full set of wings and no leg rings suggest its occurrence is just one of those things. John A arrived a short while later and we both papped this confiding bird, though the bright sunlight and dark water ensured too much glare unfortunately.

Long-tailed Duck - favouring a park lake in Peckham over the Arctic. Total madness!

 

Nutcracker showing well

Heading south from Krakow on Monday, the plan was simple - drive into the Carpathians, staying in the lovely town of Zakopane. A nice ski resort turned hiking centre during the spring/summer months. After dumping our stuff at the hotel and despite the relatively inclement weather, we were set for Morskie Oko.

This 'top choice' in the Lonely Planet for the Zakopane area was an easy sell to Karen - a 9km descent up and down a pine clad mountain, with a mountain lake view at the top. Thing is, it's also the best spot in Poland to watch Nutcrackers at close range: -

Nutcrackers at Morskie Oko, Poland 27th May 2013

There were up to four of these inquisitive beasts on show at a time, literally coming to within a few centimetres and feasting on the leftovers of tourists' food. I'd only ever seen the species on one occasion previously - in the Italian Alps a few years ago - so seeing them at such close range was a new, quality experience. These birds are of the relatively sedentary thick-billed race caryocatactes - would be nice if another one of the slender-billed irruptive race macrorhynchos made it to Britain sooner rather than later. Nutcracker is the most regular species I've not seen in Britain and Ireland... managed to miss the Kent bird in 1998 by a rather fine margin after pegging it down from Spurn with Tom Lowe.

Morskie Oko and its Nutcrackers

Birding in Krakow

This is the first of a few short write ups from a short and very enjoyable, relaxing trip to Poland. Unlike most birders, I didn't venture to the northeast, and stayed distinctly in the south-central area in the region of Małopolskie. First up was the picturesque city of Krakow, the number one destination for tourists in Poland. It didn't disappoint (and wasn't that packed either), but with just one full day, it was a little hectic and only a bit of leisurely birding done between the tourist attractions.

The first thing that strikes you compared to London is the different composition of species - first and foremost, Fieldfares. Displaying, whirring their wings as well as feeding young, this species was present on pretty much every area of parkland. Cracking birds, severely underrated: -

 

Surrounding the old city is an area of parkland called 'Planty', and though busy during the day it's still possible to see Icterine Warblers and Serins here, as well as the more numerous Blackcaps.

Black Redstarts were also around central Krakow too, even in the Wawel Castle grounds and feeding young in a small church just off the main square.

While I tried my best to endure one of Krakow's museums, after an hour the tedium got too much, and so leaving Karen to it I walked to some nearby riverside bushes where I was happy to find both Marsh and Great Reed Warblers singing. This area was on the south side of the River Wisla; head south on Starowislna and over the bridge and then immediately left (east) and along the river path a couple of hundred metres to an area of bushes and reeds near a turning circle where the asphalt road stops. Nothing ground breaking, but a real bonus within this urban environment.

Meanwhile, Jackdaws are a common sight in the city, and seem to be rather mixed in their appearance - too dull for 'eastern race' soemerringii and lacking the obvious neck collar (though remarkable how this varies in changeable light), but still more contrasting that British birds with a greyish hue to the mantle in many birds - presumably these birds are of the race turrium according to this and this.