Very nearly almost dip of the year - a Black Stork at Frampton

Black Stork

My radio silence in the past 4 weeks reflects the fact that I’ve done precisely zero birding since my last twitch to see the Western Sandpiper. Some weeks back I lost my beloved Red Setter, Dillion, who finally succumbed to the cancer we have been battling for the last two years. At only just 8 years old to say we were devastated would be an understatement!

 

So 4 weeks ago an 11 weeks old Weimaraner called Loki was welcomed into our household. Why Loki? Well, for those not into Marvel characters, Loki is the Norse god of mischief! As someone said to me on learning his name, be careful what you wish for! Weimaraner are know as the ghost dog due to their grey fur and steely blue eyes.

 

I’ve spent lots of time in the past 4 weeks looking after and starting to train him. Luckily, this has coincided with a summer lull in “lifers” to twitch but last week a first summer Black Stork was found on the Lincolnshire coast. So on Friday, as soon as the Stork was reported, I left Loki in my wife’s very capable hands and set off East.

 

The books say that the Black Stork is a shy and weary species and very easily flushed if humans try to approach it. It is said to be a widespread but uncommon species, breeding predominantly in Portugal and Spain and east across the Palearctic to the Pacific Ocean. It is a long-distance migrant, with European populations wintering in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asian populations in the Indian subcontinent. The Colins bird bible gives it a two star rating equating to one or a few records per year.

 

I had been messaging my good friend Nick on Thursday evening who said that, although not a lifer for him, he was also tempted to go for the Stork. The Stork had been alternating between the RSPB reserves at Frampton Marsh and Freiston. While, as the crow flies, they are only separated by the river Haven, crossing the river entails a 40 minute drive into Boston where the only bridge is located. The Stork was reported at Freiston first thing so I put the post code in my shat (sic) nav and a fairly uneventful 2 hours later, punctuated only by a stop to get a coffee and buy a sandwich for lunch, I stopped 20 miles short of Freiston and consulted RBA. It was a good job I did as the bird had flown over the river to Frampton. Some 30 minutes later I parked at Frampton and was getting my gear out of the car when I saw my birding friend Ian from Nottingham who had captured some excellent phots of the Stork a few days earlier. The Stork had been reported flying towards the reservoir so Ian and I set off on the 20 minute walk to it but when we arrived there was no sign of the Stork. I walked back to the visitors centre only to be told the Stork had just flown over head before heading out Southeast! The path from the reservoir to the visitors centre runs through a thick hedge on both sides so I had missed it! Now what to do? 

 

I had my sandwich lunch, messaged Nick, who was on route, with the latest news and set off for the sea wall  as I reasoned that this provided the best views over the whole reserve. There was the added attraction of one of the Pacific Golden Plovers on the salt marsh and two Little Stints nearby.  The Plover had moulted considerable since I had first seen it 4 weeks ago but was still very attractively attired in a sparkly gold coat. After 30 minutes or so Nick and Anne arrived and we spent the next couple of hours doing a mixture gossiping, birding and catching up on the comings and goings of Oxfordshire birding. It was now approaching 3 o’ clock and I had committed to being home by 6 so I  reluctantly accepted that the Black Stork was going to elude me, said my goodbyes to Nick and Anne and made my way back to the car with my tail firmly between my legs.

 

Little Stint

Little Ringed Plover

I packed the car and was about to leave when I saw a couple of birders looking up at the clouds through their bins. Luckily, I enquired what they were looking at and there was the Black Stork distantly leaving stage right towards Freiston. Not a very satisfactory view but at least it was my sought after UK life tick, my fifteenth new one of the year. I checked my phone to see that Nick had called me earlier to say that the Stork had just flown over their heads and was heading my way but I had turned my phone onto silent when I left them! I grumpily headed towards the  toilets at the visitors centre before the 3 hour drive home. For some unknown reason I took my bins with me and when I came out there was the Stork flying overhead again. This time I had pretty good bin views but my camera was packed away in my car. I watched the bird which appeared to land in a field to the left of the reservoir some way off. Now I was feeling distinctly hard done by so phoned Carolyn and begged forgiveness for getting back much later in exchange for me picking up dinner on the way home and set off again towards the reservoir. I walked by the reservoir and up onto the bank at the far end all the time scanning the fields and water filled ditches for the bird of which there was no sign. Back on the sea wall I caught up with Nick and Anne who were heading back to their car. As I paused to photograph a Little Ringed Plover, Nick, who was a little way up the road, shouted Jim and pointed to the sky where the Black Stork was circulating on a thermal. I rattled off a few record shots and Nick and I joked that he would now not get his £15 petrol money, the going rate for a bird photograph, as I no longer needed his pictures for my blog. We said our goodbyes and departed separately for what turned out to be two very arduous Friday night drives home.

 

Black Stork

The first gardening season in Pirton has been an educational one. Although the soil is clay based like the Thames basin, it has a completely different consistency. In the winter it is soggy wet slime which rapidly dries to a stone hard brick like consistency in the spring. Luckily, the horses produce an endless source of soil conditioning material and many wheelbarrow loads have been transported to the flower and vegetable gardens in an attempt to open up the soil. The veg garden has produced mixed results with the root and bean crops doing particularly well but the brassicas really struggling. It’s been a funny weather year with a very cold late spring and a mainly overcast summer so I’m not sure whether the weather or the soil has inhibited the brassicas. At the back of the house there is an area which we call the courtyard where I have transformed a pile of gravel into a late summer hot border. I love the late summer colour of the bishop style Dahlias, perennial Lobelias and Helenium’s. The Dahlias and Lobelias have the added benefit of getting better year on year as long as they are lifted and protected from winter frosts. When I dug out the border I discovered a concrete slab beneath it some 20 cm down. I assume this was the base for a past agricultural building of some sort. I was concerned that the shallow soil would inhibit the plant growth but the Dahlias have grown strongly to almost 7 foot high, much higher than the 5 foot or so they ever achieved in Standlake.

 

The football season is upon us again and I watched my beloved seagulls beat the newly promoted Watford on Saturday. They played particularly well in the first half and now, after winning their first two games, lie second in the embryonic premier league. As Nick rightly pointed out, the only way now is down!