January 2022
/After the whole last year of staring out from Rousse and seeing practically nothing in the bay, 2022 quickly yielded a few scarce sightings, with a Slavonian Grebe swimming off there on 3rd January and two Black-throated Divers on 7th, along with a regular Great Northern. Wader-wise there was a Purple Sandpiper with the Turnstones at Jaonneuse on 4th and a wintering Common Sandpiper at Cobo on 9th. A single Pochard was a visitor to the increasingly-difficult to visit Grande Mare lake on the same day. I drove past a few Cattle Egrets at Kings Mills a couple of times, peaking at 9 birds on 16th. The only other notable January sighting in Guernsey was a male Teal sat on Pulias Pond in the rain on 27th. So a nice selection but another winter month with nothing rare appearing.
Common Sandpiper - Cobo, 9 Jan 22
Cattle Egrets - King’s Mills, 16 Jan 22
I made a brief visit to Yorkshire late in the month and had a few hours spare on 23rd January to drive round a couple of spots. The main species that had been seen in East Yorkshire during the previous couple of weeks was a male Baikal Teal and I was keen to catch up with it. However, it had been a little elusive and irregular, moving between locations and going missing for a few days at a time. Luckily, I had the BUBO lads on stand by to text me if there was any news.
I first went to Hornsea Mere, which I hadn’t been to for 20-odd years. It was a little dull there but I was astounded to see so many Goldeneye. There was plenty of other wildfowl there but I couldn’t see anything rare, especially because the birds were constantly being flushed by fishing boats.
Hornsea Mere
I then drove to Tophill Low because the Baikal had sometimes arrived here to rest in the afternoon and it was now getting a bit late in the day so I thought it was my best chance. Just as I was driving into the car park, I received texts from Andy and Ian to say the bird had just flown in! Great news, and I dashed up towards the hide, passing a selection of birders who had just been watching it. However, entering the elevated hide overlooking the ‘D’ reservoir, there was just one guy looking with his ‘scope (who hadn’t seen it yet) and me with just my bins, trying to scan a huge, spread out flock of ducks on the lake. Apparently the bird was in the furthest corner and so it was impossible for me to see it and I had to rely on others picking it out. A few more ‘scopes arrived and I had to just wait for them to find it. I wanted to just grab one of their ‘scopes! However, it was going to be still there and I just needed to be patient. I scanned the rest of the closer ducks which included a pair of Red-crested Pochard and quite a lot more Goldeneye.
After what seemed an age, one of the guys finally located the bird and it was not quite as far out as it was initially. Following instructions, I could even make out which bird it was through my bins and, even though it looked pretty dark from this distance, I could just make out a white vertical stripe near the rear end of the flanks and a slightly paler face through the gloom. Of course, as people are kind, some guy offered me a look in his scope before it disappeared. I only had a quick look but it soon showed off its distinct face-pattern which is quite unlike any other duck. BAIKAL TEAL is a new species for me and makes number 406 for my British* List. Not exactly the best views of a new bird but I was grateful for any views at all.
Part of the duck flock at Tophill Low - its (probably) in there somewhere!
(Link below is a video by P Kinsella that I found on Youtube of the bird, which could even have been taken at the same day as I saw it )