tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852533923829124862024-03-05T14:15:26.745+00:00Josh's BlogJosh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.comBlogger452125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-39353332720993305962018-03-19T23:49:00.000+00:002018-03-20T23:53:59.041+00:00The biting easterly returnsIt was bitterly cold again over the weekend. Although temperatures didn't quite plummet as low as they did a fortnight ago, nor did the snow return, the brisk easterly wind was absolutely awful to be out in.<br />
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Nevertheless, it did produce a nice adult Little Gull over the wader pit at BLGP. I say wader pit, as things stand there won't be many waders on here this spring as water levels are probably a good two feet above what they were at this time last year. Hopefully it's not the end of this site but things are presently not looking too good.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Little Gull, Baston & Langtoft Pits, 18 March 2018. Note storm petrel impression in the second image.</span></b></div>
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The Long-tailed Duck has also returned to BLGP for a second spring. At least, we presume it's the same bird, first seen on Deeping High Bank in January 2017, then at Deeping Lakes before moving to BLGP in May of last year. It was back on the High Bank this January, before turning up at BLGP on 16th of this month. It's been favouring the same corner of the (ex-)wader pit ever since.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Long-tailed Duck, Baston & Langtoft Pits, 18 March 2018</span></b></div>
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Other recent birds have included two adult Whooper Swans, Dunlin, Peregrine, up to three Ravens, several Red Kites and a male Marsh Harrier.<br />
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In other, sadder news, I found several Mute Swan corpses under wires just north-east of the wader pit. The birds have been commuting between the pit and a rape field, where they are feeding. Unfortunately the wires were not fitted with deflectors and it's made a mess of at least five swans. I reported this to Western Power Distribution on Monday and, within hours, they'd sent a team down to fit reflectors. A hugely impressive response for which the swans (50+ still in the area) will no doubt be grateful! Every cloud has a silver lining, though, and the corpses have been attracting a variety of scavengers, including both Raven and Red Kite.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red Kite eating Mute Swan, 17 March 2018. Not the strangest snack I've seen a kite eating here; in about 2006 I saw one eating the remains of a Barn Owl!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the dead Mute Swans below the offending wires, which have subsequently been fitted with hi-viz deflectors. Hopefully no more scenes like this.</span></b></div>
<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-82137618286188130052018-03-07T22:00:00.000+00:002018-03-12T14:52:30.480+00:00Red-throated Diver etcAn adult Red-throated Diver turned up in Peterborough during the cold weather last week, and I paid it a couple of visits. On my second visit, the bird spent its time exclusively floating motionless, closing its eyes, and I assumed it was a goner. It has since perked up and moved to Ferry Meadows, where it seems much healthier.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Red-throated Diver, Thorpe Meadows Rowing Lake, March 2018</b></span></div>
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Local birding has otherwise been reasonable enough, with a good passage of birds once the thaw set in, with species such as Pintail and Mediterranean Gull at BLGP and the returning adult Yellow-legged Gull at Deeping Lakes, which again seems paired with a Herring Gull.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Raven, Baston & Langtoft Pits, 6 March</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adult Yellow-legged Gull, Deeping Lakes, 7 March</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-74170006238589324472018-03-01T20:38:00.001+00:002018-03-01T21:00:07.760+00:00Birds in 'the beast'This week has become progressively colder in Lincolnshire, with up to a foot of snow having fallen in places by yesterday evening and the temperature having not risen above freezing for three days now. The so-called "Beast from the East" (vomit) has really tightened its grip over the past 48 hours.<br />
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I've not had chance to do any proper birding yet this week due to work, but a few bits of note. First of all, a single Lesser Redpoll visited my mother's feeders on Monday afternoon, just as the first few flakes of snow began to fall.<br />
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By Tuesday, the first good snowfall started to concentrate birds. Temperatures recovered slightly as the sun came out and the unfrozen pits at Baston and Langtoft held good excellent numbers of birds, including over 500 Wigeon, 16 Snipe, and around 350 Lapwings (with a couple of Golden Plovers), as well as three Pink-footed Geese.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Northern Lapwings and a couple of European Golden Plovers on 27 February - these birds have since long departed as South Lincolnshire has become a freezer.</span></b></div>
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Today has been utterly bitter. Snow is drifting, covering and closing even the main roads. In some places it has drifted up to a metre deep - quite astonishing to see in Britain, particularly on the first day of March. I've been busy working and haven't had chance to get out birding, although I've been watching a male Reed Bunting busy around mum's feeders for much of the day and then a Fieldfare came in late afternoon to feed on the apples we put out.</div>
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Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-9558730172497557142018-02-18T23:30:00.000+00:002018-02-26T23:14:35.751+00:00A weekend in KuwaitI will try to produce a more lengthy photo-blog from my January trip to Kuwait with Sam Viles in due course, but in the meantime here is an article I wrote on the few days for the BirdGuides website: <b><a href="https://www.birdguides.com/articles/a-weekend-in-kuwait/">www.birdguides.com/articles/a-weekend-in-kuwait</a></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grey Hypocolius, Sulaibhikat, 13 January 2018</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-6245220835220650872018-02-11T22:22:00.000+00:002018-02-12T12:23:50.876+00:00A quiet weekendAll in all, a fairly low-key weekend. On Friday I joined <a href="http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/">Peter Alfrey</a> at Beddington for a couple of hours. We enjoyed the (very white) juvenile Glaucous, the regular juvenile Iceland and a chunky first-winter Caspian among the large numbers of gulls using the (for now) still-active landfill site. I also glimpsed a Mediterranean Gull, which I think gripped Pete off a bit as they've gone very scarce here in winter.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Glaucous Gull flies in front of the Beddington 'Death Star' - much more on this obscenity at <a href="http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/">Pete's blog</a>.</span></b></div>
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On Sunday I popped over to see the Horned Lark at Staines, but it was favouring the south side of the causeway and, on a bright morning, was therefore into the sun all the time. The drake Greater Scaup was on show at the north-west end of the South Basin. Then, in the afternoon, I headed over to the WWT, which was pretty quiet - a 2cy Yellow-legged Gull was as good as it got.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The only thing I photographed at Staines on Sunday - A380 aircraft always look impressive in the air!</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-36329463198380122022018-02-10T08:54:00.002+00:002018-02-11T16:11:36.919+00:00My best ever ringing recovery!While at Choshi Port, Japan, in late January I happened across a ringed, but somewhat unhealthy looking, adult Vega Gull. My assumption was that this might have been ringed locally but, when it transpired that it didn't belong to a Japanese scheme, my ears were pricked.<br />
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I've just had word back from the Bird Ringing Centre in Moscow that this is a Russian bird. It was ringed in the Chaunskiy district of Chukotka, Russia, on 22 July 2017 and my sighting at Choshi is the first since then. More impressively, Choshi is 4,107 km from where this bird was ringed - quite incredible, and easily my 'furthest' recovery. In London, where we deal mainly in Herring Gull rings, I usually see London-ringed birds, that have just about flown across the breadth of the capital, or, more exotically, birds from Suffolk or Yorkshire. Occasionally there's a more interesting Common, Lesser Black-backed or Great Black-backed from elsewhere in Europe.<br />
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To get such a recovery on this Vega perhaps isn't too surprising given where they breed, but I was nevertheless flabbergasted when I opened the email first realised just how far away from Choshi this bird had been ringed!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">How far the Vega Gull has travelled - so far that you can see the corners of the earth in this Google Earth screenshot!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Adult Vega Gull 'G4Y' - looking rather worse for wear. Perhaps not much left in the tank for this bird.</b></span></div>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-35773195393433846732018-02-04T21:00:00.000+00:002018-02-11T09:22:40.198+00:00Blackwit saves the weekendIt's been a particularly quiet weekend around my local spots, with precious little among the gulls. Aside the usual Bittern and Jack Snipe combination (which are always nice), the highlight of the weekend was a smart Black-tailed Godwit on the wader scrape at WWT London on Sunday afternoon.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Black-tailed Godwit, WWT London, 4 February 2018.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Herring Gull Y:G41 originates from Rufforth Tip, North Yorkshire, where it was ringed on 30 June 2017. Since then it's been seen intermittently along the Thames in west London, popping up again this weekend.</span></b></div>
<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-42283438770877678402018-01-28T22:00:00.000+00:002018-01-29T09:59:59.988+00:00Another shot at the Horned LarkI was out of the country when the American Horned Lark first appeared at Staines Reservoirs, Surrey, last November. Arriving back on the Tuesday after its initial appearance, I gave the lark a few hours before work that day, only to miss it - was seen again later that day, but then disappeared for the remainder of 2018.<div>
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So it was with mixed emotions that I read the news on 22nd that the bird was back. Pleased that it had reappeared, but less pleased with the fact that I was sat in north-eastern Hokkaido, Japan. Of course, its presence hardly detracted from where I was, having spent an afternoon enjoying superb views of Red-crowned Cranes, but it was still a little galling that it had chosen the exact week I was away to reappear. Given it had only lasted a few days at Staines on its last visit, I wasn't hopeful for it to hang on for my return on 27th.</div>
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Surprisingly, it did. Daily messages of it showing well along the causeway were a little galling, so it was a pleasure to read it was still there on 27th and, early on Sunday, I headed over to Staines. Happily the lark was still there, and showing well on both sides of the causeway. It was also quite vocal, uttering a call reminiscent of 'our' Shore Lark but perhaps not quite the same. At a range of 15 metres, the views were fantastic through the 'scope, although just a tiny bit distant for my 400mm lens. It didn't help that there were about 50 excitable birders following its every move - I'm sure if there was a small crowd there it'd probably feed right up the bank, almost to the railings. What a great bird, too - clearly strongly reminiscent of <i>flava</i> but differing in size and shape (it appeared a bit smaller and slimmer) as well as plumage tones (more rufous/vinous, darker and colder browns/greys).</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">'North American Horned Lark' (presumably <i>alpestris</i>/<i>hoyti</i>), Staines Reservoirs, 28 January 2018</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-12422386778336879292018-01-07T19:55:00.000+00:002018-01-18T12:29:51.128+00:00Good birding at DungenessHad a nice day at Dungeness with Rich, Dante and Niall. En route we stopped at Crayford, where a Mediterranean Gull was seen among the good numbers of congregated birds at Jolly Farmers.<br />
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Then it was down to a rather breezy Dungeness fishing boats, where the regular Caspian Gull was still performing well - this bird is easily the most photographed Casp in Britain this winter and has probably been seen by hundreds of birders since it turned up in September. Still, it's a very elegant individual and always worth photographing.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">2cy Caspian Gull, Dungeness, 7 January 2018</span></b></div>
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Moving down to The Patch revealed thousands of gulls feeding around the outflow, although the light was challenging to say the least. Thankfully the regular juvenile Glaucous Gull performed well overhead, although the 3cy Iceland Gull was a little more difficult to pick out among the throng. An adult hybrid Black-headed x Mediterranean Gull was the first I've seen of this cross in Britain (I'd previously seen a couple in Ireland, both on the same weekend trip).<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">2cy Glaucous Gull, Dungeness, 7 January 2018</span></b></div>
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The RSPB reserve was somewhat devoid of gulls, yet the presence of a drake and redhead Smew, a female Ruddy Duck (my first in the UK for some years) and a bunch of Goosander were pleasant.<br />
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After a quick trip to Lade for some stodge from the local store it was back to the fishing boats, where Mick, Richard et al were photographing a very smart 3cy Caspian Gull on arrival. No hint of a p10 mirror, it was otherwise a very contrasted and crisp bird that was easily picked out from among the Herrings with the naked eye. It was blowing an absolute gale from the ENE, which made photography a real challenge given the position of the sun.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">3cy Caspian Gull, Dungeness, 7 January 2018</span></b></div>
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With nothing else on show, I took some photographs of the gulls floating in the gale. There was evidently quite a lot of food washing up on the beach as the gulls were actively feeding ... and ignoring the less appetising loaves we were chucking out!<br />
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-86351610644573682512018-01-06T21:03:00.000+00:002018-03-01T21:03:47.685+00:00A confiding HawfinchThanks to Lee Fuller and Ian Wells for their help in photographing this beautiful male at Romsey, Hampshire.<br />
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Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-13099103330234124412018-01-01T20:46:00.003+00:002018-01-01T20:46:52.062+00:002018 begins at WWT LondonA good first day of 2018 at the WWT - or rather afternoon, as I didn't get out until gone 1 pm (and not because of a heavy night).<br />
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One of the first birds on to the 2018 list was Greenfinch, a species which took me the best part of a month to connect with at the start of 2017. I've seen quite a few already this winter, so perhaps they've had a better year than of late.<br />
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Highlights throughout the afternoon included nice views of a Bittern sat up in the reeds, a pair of European Stonechats showing well and a Jack Snipe in full 'bob mode'.<br />
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Of course my attention is always drawn straight to loafing gulls on the main lake and wader scrape. With the tide right up throughout daylight hours making gulling on the river a non-starter, the reserve was my only hope. A reasonable initial tally of 80 Herring Gulls was logged, and among them I soon picked up what looked like a third-winter (4cy) Caspian dozing among those gathered distantly on the wader scrape. A couple of hours later and the bird became a bit more active, soon confirming its identification as a rather smart Casp.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">4cy Caspian Gull, WWT London, 1 January 2018</span></b></div>
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There's always turnover here during the afternoon although, a couple of Herring x LBB hybrids aside, nothing else of interest was seen until after sunset, when a flurry of gulls of arriving gulls revealed a second-winter Yellow-legged Gull and then what immediately looked to be a familiar face, soon confirmed by a red ring inscribed 'G0UT'! This was the first time I've seen G0UT since July and my, what a disappointment. There's no doubt it's got Caspian in it (and that predominates), but it must be a bird from one of the mixed colonies in Germany - look how generally retarded the plumage feels (a la 3cy Herring rather than Casp), and those extensively pale-fringed tertials, as well as the rather stubby bill. All a bit grim, but nice to know it's still around and I look forward to watching how it develops in the coming months.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">3cy Caspian Gull (or hybrid) 'G0UT', WWT London, 1 January 2018</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">3cy Yellow-legged Gull, WWT London, 1 January 2018</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-40211276902079571692017-12-16T23:15:00.003+00:002017-12-16T23:49:54.777+00:00Day out at Dungeness 16/12Had a good day out at Dungeness with <a href="http://rothandb.blogspot.co.uk/">Rich</a> and Dante today. We had a six and a half Caspian Gulls - two first-winters (a really nice one and a less nice one), two third-winters and two adults plus a hybrid first-winter.<br />
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Most of these were scattered around Burrowes Pit at the RSPB reserve during the day, although the better of the two first-winters showed well near the fishing boats for a little while in the morning, albeit not long enough to really blow it away - but thanks to Martin for letting us know about it. Numbers were generally quite low around the fishing boats today, presumably due to the settled weather conditions.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">First-winter Caspian Gull, Dungeness, Kent, 16 December 2017</span></b></div>
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I also managed a few photos of the hybrid, a bird that I assume is, as Rich would say, 'German muck'. At a distance it looked quite Casp-like but, on better views, clearly wasn't, looking much more like a Herring with some Caspian qualities at closer range. It's quite a washed out bird and, in flight, looks pretty Herring-like with a huge window on the inner primaries. Underwing was pale, being a latte colour.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Caspian x Herring Gull, Dungeness, Kent, 16 December 2017</span></b></div>
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It was otherwise a very pleasant, if cold, day's birding around the Dungeness peninsula. We enjoyed singles of Long-tailed Duck and Slavonian Grebe at Lade Pits, a pleasing 16 Bewick's Swans and a flyover Merlin from Cockles Bridge and Great Egret, two Ravens and six Goosanders on the RSPB reserve.Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-42158766164347900292017-12-11T20:46:00.000+00:002017-12-12T10:46:40.150+00:00Fuerteventura, 8-10 DecemberFuerteventura is a cheap place to visit in the depths of winter and, with its targets all relatively easy to see, it can comfortably be cleaned up in a weekend. With little else on for the second weekend of December, I'd booked flights with Jet2 from Stansted (£130 return including a hold bag) at the end of November.<br />
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Fortuitously, a few days after booking, the Western Palearctic's fifth Dwarf Bittern was found just a stone's throw from the airport, and it was no surprise then that this proved the first target on arrival on Friday afternoon. I was accompanied by <a href="http://godalmingareabirds.blogspot.co.uk/">Ed Stubbs</a>, who'd been tempted to book his flights when the bittern broke, and we were enjoying this mega Afrotropical vagrant within minutes of arriving on site on Friday afternoon.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dwarf Bittern, Llanos Pelados, Fuerteventura, 8 December 2017</span></b></div>
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Also here were a couple of pairs of the local race of African Blue Tit, at least five Fuerteventura Chats (the first I'd seen since I was a young lad on holiday with my parents), several Egyptian Vultures and a variety of waders including Green Sandpipers and Little Ringed Plovers. As it transpired, this was actually one of the birdiest spots we visited on the entire island - no wonder it's produced both the bittern and (apparently) Allen's Gallinule in recent weeks.<br />
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Ed had booked a very reasonable apartment in Puerto del Rosario (£20 pppn) - dodgy door aside, it was excellent value. After some tapas and a few cervezas with Ed and Alan Lewis, we got our heads down.<br />
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We were at Tindaya for first light and had soon bagged a couple of Houbara Bustards - a new bird for both of us. We saw a total of five, but none was really close enough to be well photographed. Just a single Cream-coloured Courser was seen plus a handful of flyover Black-bellied Sandgrouse and the usual Southern Grey Shrikes, Berthelot's Pipits, Lesser Short-toed Larks and Trumpeter Finches. It was then back to the airport to collect <a href="http://rothandb.blogspot.co.uk/">Rich Bonser</a> and chauffeur him to the bittern which, again, was showing on arrival - sounds like we've been quite lucky as there are stories of birders waiting for hours. The bittern showed terrifically, albeit in the strong early afternoon sunshine, as did a pair of Fuerteventura Chats.<br />
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<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dwarf Bittern, Llanos Pelados, Fuerteventura, 9 December 2017</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fuerteventura Chats, Llanos Pelados, Fuerteventura, 9 December 2017</span></b></div>
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We spent some time searching sites along the coast, all of which turned to be absolutely pants, so we headed over to the reservoir at Los Molinos. Here there was a throng of noisy Ruddy Shelducks, a male European Stonechat and a few Spoonbills and Snipe.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruddy Shelducks at Los Molinos, 9 December 2017</span></b></div>
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Another pleasant evening of Spanish cuisine and beers followed, with another early morning start at Tindaya on the Sunday producing at least four more bustards and, finally, a showy one that walked across the track in front of us.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Houbara Bustard, Tindaya, Fuerteventura, 10 December 2017</span></b></div>
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The less said about the rest of the weekend (i.e. waiting in airports for delayed flights), the better.Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-51015402425348008472017-10-29T21:12:00.000+00:002017-10-30T21:48:21.902+00:00A quick tour of Lincolnshire and NorfolkIt's fair to say that, twitching aside, there have been rather too many gulls cropping up in my birding in autumn 2017. It's a bit boring, admittedly - but when you live within the boundaries of Zone 2 on the Tube Map, there's generally not much else to look at. I'm happy to admit that I don't have the patience to sit and hope for (at best) a Hawfinch in a several-hour vis-migging session in Chiswick Park, when I can go and feed the gulls on the Thames.<br />
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For once this weekend, I found myself outside of the M25 yet not twitching. I visited my old patch, Baston & Langtoft Pits, and saw little more than a scattering of returning wildfowl. I dipped a Bee-eater on the south side of Peterborough. Then I went to Norfolk, where a blasting northerly gave hope of a decent seawatch. I should have known better than to try the exposed position of Salthouse beach, yet I could see plenty of Gannets, auks, gulls and a few Great Skuas passing by as my scope shook in the gale. The light was pretty nice, though.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Salthouse beach, 29 October 2017</span></b></div>
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A walk along the beach with my father and his dogs was bracing and birdless, but walking back along the landward side of the shingle bank produced the usual Stonechat at Gramborough Hill and, more excitingly, a single Shore Lark, which bounded westwards low to the ground, out of the wind and almost landing on a couple of occasions, before continuing past the beach car park and seemingly dropping in some way to the west of there. As far as I can recall, this is a self-found tick for me - not an easy bird to find if you live away from the east coast.</div>
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In Cromer, the first-winter Caspian Gull performed beautifully on Sunday morning. After only showing briefly a couple of times in four hours on Saturday afternoon, I had to go back for better photos. In terms of views, it's the best Casp I've seen in Britain. It's no exaggeration to say it virtually walks round your feet. It's also a really smart bird plumage-wise, bearing more than a superficial resemblance to a first-winter Common Gull - check out the scaps and coverts.</div>
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From Saturday ...</div>
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... and from Sunday:</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">1cy Caspian Gull, Cromer, Norfolk</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-58371218036134692272017-10-23T17:03:00.000+01:002017-10-28T07:56:01.297+01:00Caspian Gull X574My fourth Caspian Gull of the season (adopting Rich's 1 July - 30 June cycle) was along the River Thames at Fulham late morning on Sunday 22nd. Like several other Casps in London in recent times, it bore a German ring and originates from the famous Grabendorfer See colony, where hybridisation with Herring Gull is quite prevalent.<br />
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The ring read X574, which quickly confirmed it as the same bird seen by <a href="https://perdixbirding.wordpress.com/">Jamie Partridge</a> over at Thames Barrier Park the previous day. Ironically, while watching X574, I received a message from Jamie to say he'd got the first-winter I saw in Fulham back on 19 September! A fair swap, I'd say.</div>
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Although some of the 'Casps' from this colony can look pretty questionable, it's fair to say that X574 looks fine for a pure bird. A big and aggressive beast (presumably a male), it was very vocal and gave a full range of classic <i>cachinnans</i> calls, which made it very easy to pick out as it swooped in to the melee attracted to my wholemeal bread offerings.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">1cy Caspian Gull X574, Fulham, London, 22 October 2017</span></b></div>
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So, as mentioned previously, my fourth Casp of the season here. Though I'm already well behind Rich, Dante and Jamie's nine (as of 23/10) in the Thames Barrier/Greenwich area, I can't ever really expect to keep up with this East London hotspot given the greater number of gulls moving up and down the Thames Estuary. However, I'd be very happy if I make it in to double figures by spring (last winter I had a total of four, although at least a couple of extras were recorded by other birders).</div>
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Also on show on Sunday were at least five Yellow-legged Gulls, a very decent tally for October given that there were 'only' about 150 large gulls present (100-200 individuals is about average here at weekends). Monday's session was nowhere near as impressive - reduced numbers included 'just' three Yellow-legged Gulls and at least one Lesser Black-backed x Herring hybrid.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1cy Yellow-legged Gulls, Fulham, 22 October 2017 - the top bird has a distinctive bill and should be easy to track around London this winter. The bottom bird is regular along 'my' stretch of the river at present.</b></span></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-49549712070749512482017-10-15T22:12:00.000+01:002017-10-28T09:12:44.275+01:00X307 reappears in HammersmithWhile watching the Rock Thrush at Blorenge, Gwent, on Saturday morning, I was a little bit gripped to see a tweet from BTO head honcho Andy Clements that he was watching a second-winter Caspian Gull circling Hammersmith Bridge - argh! Fortunately the tides were good for an afternoon's gulling session and so Rich and Dante dropped me at Baron's Court on their was back through to east London, and I hired a bicycle to get down to the Thames. One of the first birds I looked at was a 2cy Casp, which quickly transpired to have a yellow ring. The bird's demeanour looked quite familiar, and it was no real surprise when close views revealed it to be X307.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Caspian Gull X307, Fulham, London, 14 October 2017</span></b></div>
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I've seen X307 here on one occasion previously, in late July. As can be seen in the above, X307 is a quite demure and 'cute' bird with a dainty bill and lightweight structure. So, presumably a female. Curiously, there is only a tiny hint of the 'diagnostic' p10 mirror, which is just about detectable on the left wing. Perhaps not too surprising for a bird from Germany. Plumage otherwise looks pretty good.<br />
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The odd Yellow-legged Gull was seen over the weekend, including a couple of 1cy birds and this regular near-adult.<br />
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-61412604864308488192017-09-19T21:31:00.002+01:002017-09-19T21:50:59.608+01:00First Caspian Gull of the season in HammersmithThe first Caspian Gull of the season appeared on my regular Fulham/Hammersmith stretch of the Thames on Sunday evening. Tides weren't exactly ideal and with low tide well after dusk, mud was only just appearing as I arrived at 17:00 and consequently gull numbers were pretty low, with only about 50 large gulls. That didn't stop this beauty dropping in during a heavy rain shower, and it remained present until I left over an hour later, coming to my offerings and flying past within just 10 metres or so. Not being the biggest bird, it's not the most structurally outstanding Casp you'll see but plumage is pretty nice with a very pale underwing.<br />
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Unfortunately the light is never great here in the evenings as you're looking in to the sun, and changeable conditions (showers and low sun) only allowed for half-decent images.<br />
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<b style="font-size: small;">1cy Caspian Gull, Hammersmith, 17 September 2017</b></div>
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Both of the regular 3cy Yellow-legged Gulls were again in residence; their respective plumages have come on quite a bit in recent weeks and one posed nicely during a calm and sunny spell.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>3cy Yellow-legged Gull, Fulham, 17 September 2017</b></span></div>
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-68269544645245618662017-08-18T17:59:00.000+01:002017-09-06T17:59:27.784+01:00Juvenile Caspian Gull in PeterboroughIt's almost inevitable that I see my first juvenile Caspian Gull of the season in Peterborough around the Birdfair weekend. Here's the 2017 offering, with a strikingly dark tail and mucky underwing but otherwise looking pretty classic.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Juvenile Caspian Gull, Dogsthorpe Tip, Peterborough, 17 August 2017</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-84558458816983072792017-08-11T18:25:00.000+01:002017-08-14T18:25:47.235+01:00A big lump of a Yellow-legged Gull<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A real bruiser of a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at my regular gulling spot in Chiswick - comfortably the best views I've had of the species so far this summer, this beast showed no fear as it came to within just a few yards.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, Chiswick, 10 August 2017</b></span></div>
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This 3cy bird is also regular in Fulham at the moment; its plumage is pretty advanced and it likes to sit on the old moorings by The Crabtree pub.</div>
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Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-5392535172241037062017-08-08T17:28:00.002+01:002017-08-12T18:31:54.784+01:00Not much to look at but ...... gulls.<br />
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Still a steady turnover of Yellow-legged Gulls on the Thames near me, including this juvenile which obligingly flew around a few times and allowed the opportunity for some half-decent flight shots. The gulls tend to be very lazy near me at low tide, preferring to waddle rather than fly.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, Fulham, 7 August 2017</b></span></div>
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G0UT remains in situ, favouring the river at low tide and then heading to the wetland centre (and presumably elsewhere too) as the water rises.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>2cy Caspian Gull 'G0UT', Fulham, 7 August 2017</b></span></div>
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-38299900135469821092017-08-01T22:35:00.000+01:002017-08-02T22:35:28.455+01:00More gulls, I'm afraidUnless I go to the wetland centre, the mid-summer period totally lacks in decent birding opportunities in West London. Apart from the gulls, of course.<br />
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The first juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls have started to appear. Each session on 'my' stretch of the Thames between Craven Cottage, Fulham, and Chiswick Pier produces up to five <i>michahellis</i>, usually always involving a different selection of birds. I've had at least three different juveniles over the past couple of weeks, although most of the birds seen have been 2cy and 3cy, with the one or two older birds thrown in for good measure.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, Fulham, 23 July 2017</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">2cy Herring (left) and 2cy Yellow-legged Gulls, Fulham, 23 July 2017</span></b></div>
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You don't really expect to see Caspian Gulls in July but I've been fortunate enough to be blessed with two scraggy first-summers on the river near me over the past two weeks. The first was a bird I've not seen before, German-ringed 'X307' - this bird having been noted regularly in East London since it was first seen by Jamie Partridge at Thames Barrier Park on 25 September 2016 (<a href="http://rothandb.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/two-familiar-casps-from-sunday.html">here are a couple of nice photos of it</a> taken by Rich in March). It's from a mixed (predominately Caspian) colony on the Polish border but to me this bird doesn't obviously stand out as a bird of mixed heritage, I thought it looked fine as a first-winter and still think the same looking at it now.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">2cy Caspian Gull 'X307', Fulham, 21 July 2017</span></b></div>
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The second bird, first seen just two days after X307's appearance, was a more familiar face - 'G0UT', a Thames-ringed Casp that first visited this stretch of the Thames back in late March, a few days after it was ringed at Pitsea. <a href="http://joshrjones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/blackwits-glauc-and-more-goodies.html">Here are a few pics of it</a> from back then. I'd say this one is a bit less impressive than X307, showing a few more hints that Herring Gull might be mixed in somewhere down the line. A few images from recent visits below, it seems pretty regular at the moment so here's hoping it hangs around here for a while.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> 23 July</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">31 July</span></b></div>
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And a few bits of 'interest':<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">4cy Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull, 29 July</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Juvenile Great Black-backed Gull, 29 July. This species must breed somewhere along this stretch of the Thames - I see at least one pair of adults throughout the year and two youngsters present last week were very fresh. There are usually a few immatures hanging around as well.</span></b></div>
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-80013681429223695942017-07-16T23:20:00.000+01:002017-07-21T08:15:10.576+01:00Yellow-legged Gulls are back!With a handful of lingering immatures mincing around throughout the spring and early summer, I guess it's fair to say that Yellow-legged Gulls have never actually left London. However, the annual mid-summer build-up of<i> michahellis</i> is now well underway and my first visit to the Thames for a couple of months revealed a handful of these entertaining birds. Curiously, none were juveniles - in fact most were 3cy.<br />
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Black-headed Gulls are also coming back in numbers - no Med yet though.<br />
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And, as always, it's worth keeping an eye out for rings. Here's a North Thames Gull Group bird that I'd not seen before.<br />
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-65073234268605610262017-07-15T22:30:00.000+01:002017-07-18T10:38:04.958+01:00Caspian Tern on my old patch<div>
<a href="http://weedworld.blogspot.co.uk/">Mike Weedon</a> scored heavily with an adult Caspian Tern at Baston & Langtoft Pits, my old stomping ground during my teenage years. Though a regular vagrant to Britain, it's an undeniably impressive species and, with a clear afternoon on the cards, I couldn't resist twitching it.</div>
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By the time I arrived it had been missing for the best part of 45 minutes but, after a nervous wait, was picked up fishing over some of the more mature pits in the middle of the (private) complex. Views were initially distant but it then had the decency to perform a close fly-by as it headed back to its favoured roosting spot on the new wader scrape on the north side of the pits - this fantastic site has been producing great birds for a couple of years now, and finally it's had its first true rarity.</div>
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Incidentally the bird bears a red ring, identifying it as the individual seen previously in Carmarthenshire and Northamptonshire. The red ring seems to suggest it's Swedish, though I'm not sure if anyone has managed to read the ring fully yet. It'll be interesting to see where it pops up next, assuming it doesn't hang around at BLGP.</div>
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A few grab shots below - hurriedly taken using sub-optimal settings and against a grey sky, and not really in focus. But you can tell what it is!</div>
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<br />Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-86862663060486789562017-07-12T17:41:00.001+01:002017-07-12T17:41:45.054+01:00On the wrong side of the planet ...Time is not really on my side at the moment due to various ongoing work commitments (the fruits of which should be available to see soon at birdguides.com), but here are a few record shots of the Grey-tailed Tattler that I was fortunate enough to come across in the famous quarry at Cabo da Praia, Terceira, Azores, while leading a tour there last Friday. Unfortunately we only had an hour in the strong mid-afternoon sunshine to watch this East Asian vagrant before our early-evening flight back to São Miguel. This represents the first for the Azores and Portugal as well as being just the fifth for the Western Palearctic.<br />
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As and when time allows I hope to feed back a bit more on recent trips to Taiwan and Colombia, as well as the Azores tour.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grey-tailed Tattler, Cabo da Praia, 7 July 2017</span></b></div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-485253392382912486.post-76689389494419577052017-05-10T19:00:00.000+01:002017-05-12T10:24:50.333+01:00Mallorca weekenderIt had been over 15 years since I last visited Mallorca and a return visit was in order to connect with two specialities: Balearic Warbler and [Balearic] Tyrrhenian Flycatcher. Though I'd seen the flycatcher previously, this was as an uneducated 10-year-old and long before the potential split had been suggested, so it was as good as a tick.<br />
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I found the island to be much busier and more developed than when I'd previously visited with my parents in the 90s/early 2000s. There were also literally thousands of cyclists! Of course by no means a bad thing, but quite extraordinary to see so many people dedicating time to this ever-more popular hobby. It also meant you had to be pretty careful driving around corners on the winding mountain roads ...<br />
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Despite the increased development, many areas of the island remain beautifully unspoilt. It's always nice to see more traditional farming methods being practised and field edges full of Corn Buntings, Stonechats and larks (among others) - a stark contrast to the largely barren wastelands of the South Lincolnshire fens. The weather was also brilliant - although a little breezy on the Saturday, the sun shone throughout the weekend and the temperature was very pleasant in the low twenties (apart from at dawn, when it was positively chilly).<br />
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Bird-wise, I struggled a little with Balearic Warbler but eventually found a confiding bird at the Boquer Valley late morning on Sunday. Unfortunately the light was very strong by this time and my photos aren't what I'd hoped for on the outward journey (having dedicated two early mornings to finding them).<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>♂ Balearic Warbler, Vall de Boquer, 7 May</b></span></div>
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Occupying a similar niche to the warblers were both Thekla Larks and Tawny Pipits. I hadn't seen the former for a few years, and the views of the latter were perhaps the best I've ever had.<br />
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Migration wasn't as prevalent as it had been the previous weekend when, by all accounts, the island was littered with passerines after heavy storms. Nonetheless small numbers of nominate Spotted Flycatchers, Willow and Garden Warblers and a single Common Redstart were seen. Best passerine was a Melodious Warbler at Formentor lighthouse on the Saturday evening, apparently a fairly uncommon bird on Mallorca (but presumably overlooked?). I was also pleased to see a female Pallid Harrier over Portocolom on Saturday morning - I guess this would have been a big deal 10 years ago, but it seems to be recorded annually on Mallorca these days.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">♀ Pallid Harrier, Portocolom, Mallorca, 6 May</span></b></div>
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It was also great to see a few Red-footed Falcons. I had three (ad ♂, 2cy ♂, 2cy ♀) at Vilafranca de Bonany and two (ad ♀, 2cy ♀) at Maria de la Salut. Heat haze was always a problem for photos as I saw both 'groups' in the middle of the day, but a few records below.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Adult ♂ Red-footed Falcon, Vila Franca de Bonany, 6 May</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> 2cy ♀ Red-footed Falcon, Maria de la Salut, 7 May</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adult ♀ Red-footed Falcon, Maria de la Salut, 7 May</span></b></div>
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After seeing them fairly poorly in Corsica a few years ago, it was nice to reacquaint myself with the vocalisations and appearance of Moltoni's Warblers, with three singing males at Embalse de Cuber, as well as locally breeding Tyrrhenian Flycatchers there. Overhead in the mountains produced 20+ Griffon (these must be a recent thing on Mallorca - I never remember seeing them before?) and a handful of Cinereous Vultures and Booted Eagles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFl8y_OgKLmoRdXKBVrQpuhqlHzSVb2bhyphenhyphenosHEwQugoo-cor24MxYJkuGD69RrtZk5TV-rA2qtPaejrYavoXA2i6SBAI52tXA5er1kVS_MFQUxcpCo9enKDkV7wVUVv15hx9H_yV3TQslt/s1600/IMG_4818_2000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFl8y_OgKLmoRdXKBVrQpuhqlHzSVb2bhyphenhyphenosHEwQugoo-cor24MxYJkuGD69RrtZk5TV-rA2qtPaejrYavoXA2i6SBAI52tXA5er1kVS_MFQUxcpCo9enKDkV7wVUVv15hx9H_yV3TQslt/s640/IMG_4818_2000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eurasian Griffon & Cinereous Vultures, Embalse de Gorg Blau, 6 May</span></b></div>
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It was a truly enjoyable couple of days away, and a cheap trip to boot - my return flight cost me £80 with Easyjet. I did the trip alone, but two or three up would make it an particularly inexpensive weekend trip, and very much recommended for some reasonable and relaxed birding in pleasant surroundings and weather.</div>
Josh Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16117895699800185488noreply@blogger.com2