Local Mega - SLAVONIAN GREBE at Marlow

FRIDAY 4 NOVEMBER

Some long-needed rain at last - buckets of it. Throughout the morning and overnight, southerly winds bought heavy showers leading to some localised flooding. Still very mild though.........

SPADE OAK PIT, LITTLE MARLOW GP (SOUTH BUCKS)

After a plea for help from David Ferguson, I and others went down to Spade Oak to check out the small grebe that DF had discovered. Alan Stephens, Mike Wallen and others arrived there first however and confirmed the birds identity as a winter-plumaged SLAVONIAN GREBE. I watched the bird until dusk, favouring the east end of the pit.

Two GREEN SANDPIPERS were also present, a Common Snipe, 8 roosting Little Egrets and 21 Great Crested Grebes...

SLAVONIAN GREBE is a rare visitor to Buckinghamshire with just 62 previous records, the most recent being in November 2002 -:

There were just 8 records (of 9 birds) prior to 1973 -

1) One shot at Great Marlow in the 1860's;
2) Two shot at Weston Turville Reservoirs between 1874 and 1880;
4) One present at WTR from 29 January to 10 February 1924;
5) One present at WTR from 6 February to 6 March 1937;
6) One at Bletchley Station Pond on 14 February 1937;
7) One at Foxcote Reservoir on 29 November 1964;
8) Another at Foxcote Reservoir from 31 August to 1 September 1969;
9) An adult in full breeding plumage at WTR from 18-21 May 1972.

10) One was seen at Linford GP on 16 & 26 December 1973;
11) One was on floodwater near Great Linford GP on 24 November 1974;
12) One remained at Willen Lake from 21-30 January 1977;
13) One remained at Hyde Lane GP from 5-9 March 1978;
14) Two were at Calvert on 27 January 1979;
16) One remained at Tongwell Lake from 18 February until 5 April 1979;
17) One was on the River Ouse at Tyringham Bridge on 25 February 1979;
18) One was noted at Willen Lake on 14 February 1979;
19) One appeared at Willen Lake on 8 November 1980;
20) One was at Calvert on 4 January 1981;
21) One was at Hyde Lane on 7 November 1982 and was possibly that present at Haversham from 27 November to 4 December 1982;
22) One remained at Willen lake from 5-28 November 1983;
23) No less than a flock of 4 appeared at Caldecott Lake on 13 November 1984;
27) One was at Linford GP on 13 December 1986;
28) A wide ranging bird of Milton Keynes Waters from 28 February to 8 April 1987, being seen mainly at New Bradwell but also at Haversham and Linford NR on at least one date and at Willen lake on 18-21 March;
29) Another bird at Willen from 19 November until 8 December 1987;
30) One in breeding plumage at Willen on 16 April 1988;
31) Two birds at Willen on 9 November 1988;
33) One remained at Caldecott Lake from 15 December 1988 until 3 March 1989 and was presumably the same bird that reappeared on 29 November 1989 and was last seen on 29 March 1990;

1990-1999

34) An early individual at Foxcote Reservoir on 19 September 1990;
35) One was at Emberton Lakes on 17-19 February 1991;
36) One was at Willen on 26 February 1991;
37) One appeared at Willen on 26 October 1991;
38) One was at Foxcote from 30 September to 2 October 1992;
39) One visited Caldecotte Lakes on 14 October 1992;
40) One was seen in the Bucks section of Startop's End Reservoir on 29 October 1992;
41) One remained at Caldecotte Lakes from 11-14 January 1993;
42) One remained on the Blue Lagoon at Bletchley from 14 January until 4 February 1994;
43) One visited Spade Oak Pit, Little Marlow, on 6 January 1995;
44) One remained intermittently on Tongwell Lake from 3 February until 12 March 1995, visiting Linford Lakes from 4-10 March;
45) One was at Foxcote on 12 November 1995;
46) One visited Emberton Lakes on 17-18 March 1996;
47) One remained at Spade Oak from 1-23 December 1996;
48) One was at Thorney CP from 15-31 December 1996;
49) A first-winter visited Willen on 23 December 1996;
50) One was observed on the River Thames at Boveney Lock on 11 January 1997;
51) One was present at Willen from 17-20 December 1997;
52) One visited Thorney CP on 20 December 1997;
53) One remained on Dorney Lake from 11 January until 1 February 1998;
54) One was seen at Linford on 19 November and 5-6 December 1998;
55) One was at WTR on 14 November 1998;
56) A party of 3 birds was discovered at Linford on 31 January 1999, with one remaining until 13 February.

2000 and beyond

59) An adult in transitional plumage at Willen on 31 March 2001;
60) One at the Jubilee River near Slough on 21 November 2001;
61) One at Caldecotte Lake on 2 February 2002;
62) One at Newport Pagnell on 11 November 2002;