September 2010

Another September flies by, and here are some of the highlights...


1st-winter female Northern Parula, Tiree Argyll; 28th September
A morning flight from Glasgow on the 28th saw us spend 24 hours on this beautiful, yet wild, island. In addition to the obvious highlight above Buff-breasted Sandpiper, scores of Lapland Buntings, and superb views of Otters made for an excellent first visit out here.


1st-winter Alder Flycatcher, Blakeney Point, Norfolk; 27th September
Following a busy (and heavy) weekend, I eventually emerged from a pretty grim hangover to tackle the point on the bird's last afternoon. Being very mobile and active, it was perhaps not surprising there was no sign the following morning.



Adult drake Black Duck, Ventry, Co. Kerry; 16th September
A three-day trip over to Ireland over 14th-16th September yet again proved to be a general success. Whilst many of the sites around Dingle were quiet for birds, it was pleasant to see the Black Duck back near Cuan Pier after an absence of almost two years!


2CY American Herring Gull, Blennerville, Co. Kerry; 15th September
Although this bird is reported with some frequency (and has been since it first appeared in July), it can be very difficult to catch up with as its appearances are strictly determined by the tide. Low tide is essential, when it feeds in the channel upstream of the windmill, although it regularly disappears into smaller creeks for extended periods of time. High tide is a write-off as the bird seems to head off towards Tralee town over the period (where it goes exactly is still a mystery). In at least five attempts to see this bird, I've only connected twice. Photo is poor but at least illustrates how much the bird had moulted since August, and is now well on the way to acquiring a most striking second-winter plumage.


Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Leam Lough, Co. Mayo; 14th September
An impressive first day in Mayo saw myself and Oliver Metcalf heading south to Dingle with high hopes for the morning of the 15th - in hindsight, we perhaps should have stayed and focussed on the former! This was one of a couple of Pecs seen on 14th, the other being a find on Achill Island (alongside 2 Buff-breasted Sandpipers).


Adult drake Ring-necked Duck, Achill Island, Co. Mayo; 14th September
Our team found this bird back in late August, when plumage was much more drab (see older posts for a pic). Rapid moult has led to it acquiring a much neater appearance, and it won't be too long before this bird is back to it's breeding best. On this trip, the bird had moved to a small, crap-looking lough right by the R319 on the east side of Achill. It's still there as I write this (3rd Oct).

Ireland, 21st - 25th August

Just back from an Irish trip with Richard Bonser and Marc Read, which was a general success. To cut a long story short, the seawatching was very poor (numbers of even common birds very poor this year), although we did score a Fea's.

Most of the time was therefore spent doing anything but seawatching, with popular activities including drinking cheap, supermarket-brand continental lager, general pratting around and the occasional bit of birding.

After an overnight drive/ferry journey, our first port of call was Blennerville on 21st. Here, the American Herring Gull was located in the channel upstream of the windmill. Whilst it still looks pretty offensive, things look like they are on the up plumage-wise as the photo below shows.



That was the first of four lifers on the trip for Marc, and he seemed understandably overwhelmed by it. We headed southwest towards Dingle in the hope that the recent system had deposited some nice early waders, but it hadn't. The pool at Ventry is looking shit hot and was covered in Dunlin, although Baile an Reannaigh continues to degrade each year and now looks absolutely rubbish.

Realising the Nearctic wader dream wasn't happening on Dingle, we decided to head back north to Barrow Harbour. Tide was in, no birds. Carrahane was a bit better, although wader numbers were not at the levels one would expect in a couple of weeks. This streaky-headed beast was present, though:



Interesting bird; not sure it's a true Azorean atlantis, but presumably from an Atlantic population. Note the extensive head streaking, starting to extend down the nape. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the next couple of weeks. We then got bored and went to Clare, via the Killimer ferry where there was an adult Med Gull. At Kilrush, this 4cy Glaucous Gull was the only bird at Cappa Pier. Nice.



We then went to Bridges of Ross for a few days, saw a few seabirds including the aforementioned Fea's, but spent most of the time bored or in The Lighthouse. This was the first year the weather has been pleasant enough for me to seawatch for hours in flip flops and shorts. To be fair though, the Fea's was an absolute blinder in the close Manx line. Unfortunately, most present were gawping at a Sabine's Gull that went past just prior to the Fea's, and so it was only picked up very late. This meant that several members of the assembled crowd were at an angle where it would be too late to see it. Unfortunately, claims that suppression is going on by certain "satirical" members of the birding community have sprung up, although it was more to do with a bit of bad luck. The bird was called (loudly) pretty much instantly after being picked up. I was just lucky I was at an angle where viewed were most prolonged, and I thoroughly enjoyed all 15 or seconds of the bird before it went round the headland - Read was ecstatic.

By Tuesday afternoon, the weather had deteriorated to absolutely hopeless (no winds), so we seized the opportunity to head north to my favourite Irish county - Mayo. We scored the Snowy Owl on Termon Hill (Read's third lifer) on the Tuesday evening, and even found some memorabilia to take home.



After a cracking meal in Belmullet, the night was spent at Dooniver, Achill Island. We awoke to a f**k load of midges biting us to pieces, and a few hybrid offspring before the boy - the drake Black Duck - swam into view at Sruhill Lough. An excellent bird (I really like Black Ducks), and great to see it has been spreading it's seed around the local ladies. Views were distant, and we decided to move on when it paddled out of view. On the way towards Doogort, Read suggested checking the lough just north of the road and east of the R319 crossroads. Just as I exclaimed that the lough looked "rubbish" and probably "never gets birds on it", we all caught sight of an aythya-shaped dark blob in the margin of the lake. We all raised out bins, and it appeared to have a rather arousing peaked crown. None of us actually said it at the time, but we were all thinking the same - rare. I cautiously suggested it looked like a Ring-necked Duck (although it was rather too distant to confirm with bins), so Read jumped out and 'scoped it. And it bloody was! The only bird there; wonder how long it's been around - if it had been October I'd have said not long but who knows at this early date. It did a bit of stretching, revealing that it did indeed have wings and so could feasibly have been a bird fresh in off the Atlantic, but who knows!



Then we went home via Sandymount Strand and a load of Roseate Terns.

Gulls 22/7

More gulls I'm afraid. 11+ Yellow-legged Gulls on Dogsthorpe Tip today (5+ ads, 2 3rd-s, 2nd-s, 3 juvs). Nothing at Tanholt.


3rd-summer michahellis



slightly bulkier juv michahellis


Confusing beast - you can probably forgive me for thinking that, when I saw the head only, I was onto a cachinnans. It then walked out from behind a crowd of Herring Gulls revealing itself to be, a Herring Gull with a most odd head and bill structure. You're always learning with these critters.

BLGP was quiet this evening; the showers did not produce much more than a Snipe and a Common Sand on the New Works.

More Gulls 21/7

I went gulling again today - it's about the only thing worth doing at the moment. In fact, it's probably the only thing worth doing in Peterborough at any time of year. Much improved on Monday, but that was presumably due to alot more gulls being present.

At Dogsthorpe Tip, I half-heartedly scanned the dump from the KFC car park and predictably saw nothing. However, I did get amongst the flock in the field south of KFC. Amongst the predominately Lesser Black-backed Gulls was this superb 2nd-summer Caspian Gull:





In addition to this beauty, there were at least six Yellow-legged Gulls in the same field. Who knows how many more were on the tip...


juvenile michahellis - these things are stunning when this fresh.

I moved on to Tanholt Pits, where a sizeable chunk of laridae was bathing/moulting/falling apart on the new pit. Amongst them was my first juvenile Mediterranean Gull of the year, as well as a couple more Yellow-leggeds (1st-summer and juvenile). Sadly my camera battery died halfway photographing the Casp, so no more pics!

I'll be back tomorrow.

Yellow-legged Gulls

Couple of juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls at Tanholt Pits this afternoon:




Bird one


Bird two

Also an eclipse drake Wigeon at BLGP today, but nothing else interesting. Been in Morocco recently; 16 WP ticks including Cricket Longtail, Pied Crow, White-faced Petrel and Black-crowned Finch Lark.

Red-backed Shrike, 7th June

Have had a really busy past few weeks; thankfully exams all over now (just got dissertation to sort out). Been at Download festival over the weekend so much more rock and metal than birds. The last mildly interesting beast I've seen was another nice bird just outside Sheffield; this extremely wet male Red-backed Shrike:



I realise I never got round to doing a write-up for the Ireland/Wales trip the previous week, but the Marmora's photos just about sum it up. Dipped everything but the Glossy Ibis in Ireland (that was meant to be no more than filler material anyway), and also missed the singing Ibe Chiff in Wentwood Forest. However, news of a possible Marmora's Warbler up at Blorenge, near Blaenavon, perked me up as I drove home along the M4 - when it broke I was between Cardiff and Newport! So, as I was only 15 or so miles away, a trip was more than necessary to check it out.

Initial panic trying to find the site, but this subsided when I located the right car park with a slightly shocked, slightly thrilled-looking crew who still weren't sure they could believe their eyes and ears. On seeing photos, it was quite clear the bird was indeed as suspected.

Step one: get the news out.

A few frantic phone calls followed and the news went out, and Britain's twitching fraternity was mobilized and heading for Gwent. Problem now was that the bird hadn't been seen or heard for almost an hour. Then, by magic, a rattling sylvia song filled the air, and shortly later up it popped - fuck! Marmora's Warbler!! Massive relief all-round, and what a privilege to be one of the first to see this bird. The bird even indulged in a few song-flights, and appeared to be occupying a territory. Brown remiges readily aged it as a 1st-summer, but that wasn't the most important part of the bird - a beautiful yet small bird, slate-grey all over, prominent red eyering and long tail gave it real character. Then people started to arrive; the bird wasn't showing and there were shed loads of Whinchats and Tree Pipits all over the place.

Step two: lay down the law.

Seeing that the twitch was a recipe for absolute carnage, a message was quickly relayed to the news services to restrict birders to the road (which most people did, does seem a few have strayed since - shame on you).

Long and short was that the bird continued to show, on and off, very well throughout the afternoon until I left. At the time of writing (14th), it is still present and building a nest. Lovely stuff.

Marmora's, 3rd June

Full write-up of the week's festivities (including 2nd June in Wexford) to follow in the next couple of days.

Strange week - Broad-billed, Savi's and a right tart unblocked; 23rd - 30th May

Title says it all really..!

The week just gone was the most important of my second semester at Uni, with two exams (one going well, the other not) sandwiched amongst a shed load of 'revision'. I say 'revision', as much of it was spent pacing around my room, drinking, or twitching.

Things kicked off on a very hot Sunday 23rd, when a Broad-billed Sandpiper was located some 13 miles away from home in Sheffield. A pretty chilled post-work drive up to Old Moor RSPB produced rubbish views of a very pleasant bird - views were even worse than my last, a distant beast in Cambridgeshire some four years ago. The bird was a proper yellow-belly, looking absolutely terrified and freezing every time anything got anywhere near it, particularly if flying over. It loosely associated with a single Dunlin.

So, what's strange about that? Well, nothing. Apart from when I thought I started hearing things (more specifically, odd locustellas). No less than four or five times did I hear a locustella give short bursts (c.2-3 seconds at most) whilst sat in Wath Ings Hide. It sounded very interesting indeed, and I was pretty convinced about what it was. However, the bird didn't sing again and no-one else heard it, so I decided I was going mad. Now, imagine my absolute horror when a message comes out on Thursday, "Savi's Warbler singing from Wath Ings Hide, Old Moor for second day".

Shit.

More like fifth day... at least! Absolutely gutted I didn't make more of it now but, as one friend pointed out to me, it would be a brave shout to claim a Savi's in South Yorkshire on a few brief bits of song. Never mind eh?! Didn't get back for it either so never saw (or heard) it again, sadly. Looks like it did show well once or twice from the pics.

Only other bit of news was a little better; eventually saw an Icterine Warbler on 25th. Those who know me will know I've had an ongoing battle with the species which has lasted some years (and seen me spend ALOT of money on dipping countless individuals). News of a bird trapped and ringed at Spurn early in the day didn't have me chomping at the bit, but further reports of it still showing on and off eventually got me off my arse and down to the coast for late afternoon. The warbler was singing occasionally (what a song!) in an isolated elder and hawthorn thicket, but was typically invisible. Just prior to me acknowledging yet another dip and heading home, I caught the briefest couple of glimpses of it flicking about low in the elders in between bursts of song. Shit views, but it'll do for now - next target is to find one.

Off to Ireland in the next few days; reports back soon.

Improvements

Well, at least the spring has picked up slightly. Weather's still pretty awful, though seems to be warming up at last. Hurrah! Last 10 days has seen me cruising about all over the place; down to Cornwall for a grotty House Finch last Saturday, followed by Oriental Pratincole half an hour from home in Lincs on the Sunday. Last week I had the Iberian Chiffchaff at Potteric Carr, and then the singing male Great Reed Warbler near Ilkeston. Yesterday I had shit views of the spotty Spotted Sandpiper at Stocks Reservoir, Lancashire. Lovely stuff. Not sure why I've got my twitching boots back on; presumably something to do with getting out of revision.


Oriental Pratincole - my first for 17 years


Great Reed, obscured as ever - see here for some absolutely outstanding images of it.


Confrontational Red Grouse by the Woodhead Pass


Now, where are those pesky Icterine Warblers...

Yesterday...

... I saw the first decent bird I've ever seen in the Sheffield area - incredibly brief views of a delightful Red-rumped Swallow at Rother Valley CP.

And that's about it... hopefully more to update on by the weekend.