Grafham Water (17 Viewers)

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 22 Jan 2023; a Smew (redhead), two Drake Scaup (still) and two Bewick's Swans (still) worthy of posting in a very slow 2023 so far. Three Dunlin remaining with a small flock of Redshanks.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 5 Feb 2023: two Scaup drakes still; one off Plummer and one off Mander, they don't seem too keen to stay together! Many 100's of Teal still.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 11 Feb 2023; a Caspian Gull (or hybrid), feeding on a dead fish in Valley Creek today. Still a Scaup off Dudney point.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 12 Feb 2023; prolonged study of the Caspian Gull today at Valley Creek plus both drake Scaups still present.
Scrutiny of the gull can be found from here: AU0I1965c1 | Matthew Rodgers | Flickr

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 18 Feb 2023; two Bewick's Swans and two drake Scaup plus the same 'Caspian' Gull as above.

 

[Matthebirder]

25/26 Feb 2023; drake Scaup still off Plummer carpark and the regular Caspian Gull imm. at the west end.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 5 March 2023; a couple of hours watching the regular Caspian Gull at Valley Creek feeding on a fish finally allowed some close-ups photos. How pure Caspian this one is might be debatable though. The best feature to pick it out from the many Herring gulls currently is a distinctive laughing call. AU0I3385c1 | Matthew Rodgers | Flickr
Also 2 Scaup and 4 Common Scoter.

Caspian Gull call | Flickr brief noisy clip here!

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 12 March 2023; another new American duck.........
A rapid twitch from Marlow to Plummer early morning had the American Wood Duck on my Grafham list!

Always a controversial species as almost certainly a European bird from captive or feral origin, but then again anything is possible at Grafham it seems, shearwater from South Atlantic and a gull from Africa (or further) both found their way here!

The bird appeared to be a young female and was attracted to the groups of Mallard around Gaynes Creek until disappearing late morning when there were a lot of fisherman appearing around the shoreline.


A few more shots here:

AU0I4122c1 | Matthew Rodgers | Flickr

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 31 March 2023; a Yellow Wagtail on the dam and two Little Ringed Plovers. A Swallow at the west end.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 1 April 2023; 15 Kittiwakes resting up for most of the day as part of a national inland movement. Difficult to count due to the associating Common Gulls.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 3 Apr 2023; nine Yellow Wagtails on the dam in the evening.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 4 Apr 2023 evening as yesterday, no further arrivals? Barn Owl along base of dam the highlight.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 6 Apr 2023; 14 Yellow Wagtails on the dam this evening.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 7 Apr 2023; 4 White Wagtails on the dam early morning and 17 Yellow Wagtails in the evening. a Grey Wagtail too to add to the colour mix.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 8 Apr 2023; 3 White Wagtails and at least 23 Yellow Wagtails on the dam in the evening. Male and female Common Scoter off the Sailing club late afternoon still.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 9 Apr 2023; 20+ Yellow Wagtails and 3 White Wagtails this evening on the dam plus what appears to be the 'Channel' Wagtail for the third year.

A few more images here:
AU0I6039c1 | Matthew Rodgers | Flickr

The bird from 2022 that was seen feeding two juveniles can be seen here:
AH4I9797c2 | Matthew Rodgers | Flickr

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 10 Apr 2023: Little Gull early morning in the rain; 8 Yellow Wagtails, 1 White Wagtail and 1 Grey Wagtail on the dam in the evening. No sign of the Blue-headed/Yellow Wagtail (hybrid) today.

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 12 Apr 2023: 12+ Yellow Wagtails, one White Wagtail and a 'Channel' type hybrid bird again on the dam. Also an Immature bird showing similar grey head but much less advanced than the adult. The adult may be a different bird to the one seen on 9 April. The lighting is very tricky in the evenings and the birds are continuously moving. Also a Dunlin.

 

[tonyfenn]

The supercilium on the two adult birds does look different, but maybe it's just the light

 

[Matthebirder]

Grafham 13 Apr 2023; the Blue-headed/Yellow wagtail from 12 Apr again on the dam this evening. Showing well but very difficult to get good photos due to the heat and sun; the head can vary from a blue to grey depending on the conditions.