28/10/2015 Pallas's Warbler near Beachy Head

Wednesday 28th October 2015
Horseshoe Plantation
Beachy Head, Sussex

I decided to twitch the Pallas's Warbler that was reported this morning on Rare Bird Alert.  Paul had arrived some 20 minutes before me and, along with the other birders, was fortunate to see the warbler at it's best in the bushes on the perimeter of the west side of Belle Tout Wood. 

• Unfortunately it decided to move around before I got there and it was some time before we found it again moving with the Long-tailed Tits and the Blue Tits.  It moved so quickly from place to place and I was not able observe it using my binoculars. 

• We followed it to the side of the wood and out onto the slopes but always unable to get a good, clear sighting.  After 90 minutes or so, feeling somewhat frustrated, I left to go home for lunch, intent on returning in the afternoon to try for better views.

• I invited Shaun to join me for the late afternoon session and we met up with Alastair who had come from work to twitch the warbler.  It had been showing well earlier but, like this morning, it had gone walkabouts before we got there.

Pallas's Warbler
Library picture

• Quite soon we were on to it but we were again unable to get good views as the bird moved rapidly around the low trees.  This time however we all managed to get several fleeting views of the bird in our binoculars - enough to see the key ID features, much to our delight.

• Other birds seen included a female/juvenile Blackcap, a Sparrowhawk, a couple of Peregrines and several Goldcrests .

Quite a chase but well worth it - this bird is a real beauty!  Satisfied but intent on getting longer sightings in future.






Addition to BUBO UK Life List of Birds:
Pallas's Warbler  (308)


Additions to BUBO UK 2015 List of Birds:
Pallas's Warbler   (269)




Pallas's Warbler

• The Pallas's Warbler is a rare  migrant to Britain, turning up in varying numbers each autumn.
• They should spend the winter in southern China but incredibly some make it to our shores.
• This arrival is normally associated with easterly winds which carry the birds to the east coast around mid-October to early November.

• The key features are the bold eye and crown stripe and the pale lemon yellow rump.

24/10/2015 to 27/10/2015 Norfolk Trip

Saturday 24th October to Tuesday 27th October 2015
North Norfolk Coast

This year's trip was similar to the previous two years.  An absence of NE winds meant that scarce migrant birds were not present and we had to work really hard for our year ticks and life ticks.  Only a week earlier there had been a glut of twitchable birds around in the more favourable weather conditions.   Nevertheless we had a great time and managed to see loads of birds.

• The only life tick I managed was a Little Auk which we saw on Monday afternoon on the sea at Titchwell.  Thankfully the seas were calm and the bird showed very well just below the horizon as it headed east.



Little Auk
Library picture



• I also managed a year tick when we called in at Caister-on-Sea on Saturday morning on the way up to our hotel.  A lovely male Siberian Stonechat sat very obligingly on the wire fence less than 100 metres away from the assembled birders and provided some brilliant views.

Siberian Stonechat
Library picture

• Norfolk in autumn would not be right without the geese.  On Saturday morning, after our twitch of the stonechat at Caister-on-Sea, we visited Horsey where we sighted our first big flock of Pink-footed Geese.

Each morning, starting at 06.15 and finishing at 08.00, we went on Paul's legendary pre-breakfast birdwatches.  We had varying degrees of success:-

• The highlight of the Sunday morning walk was watching a Peregrine take out a Teal from a small flock that were flying over the marshes at Holme Dunes NNR. 
• On Monday morning at Gypsy Lane, on the north-east side of Titchwell village, the main focus of attention was the Barn Owl seen hunting over the dunes at first light. 
• Amazingly, on our last morning at Titchwell, we had no success in our search for Snow Buntings or the Shore Lark but we did get excellent close up views of Sanderlings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast each day, we visted various well-known birding locations on the north Norfolk coast:-

 

• At Cley next the Sea, on the first day, we saw our first ringtail Hen Harrier of the trip and a Black Brant among the many Brent Geese on show.
• The main birds of interest at Burnham Norton, on Sunday morning, were the 50+ Egyptian Geese on show and the Bearded Tits seen flying over the reed beds.
• Unlike last year, we had no luck at Burnham Overy in our search for the Rough-legged Buzzard on Sunday morning.
• We took in the roost from Warham Greens on Sunday evening where we had spectacular views of ringtail Hen Harriers and Marsh Harriers. 

 

 

 

 

 

The best birding experience of the whole trip was at RSPB Titchwell on Monday afternoon.

 

• After a pretty uneventful morning on the reserve, we were about to go for lunch when Chris spotted a Bittern flying west in front of the Parrinda Hide.  In near-perfect lighting, we enjoyed superb views of this special bird. 

• At lunch, news came through of a sighting of the Great Grey Shrike on the east bank on the autumn trail, where we had no luck earlier.  We returned quickly to where we were and lo and behold there it was displaying from the dead tree away to the east of us. 
• While we were admiring the shrike we witnessed an altercation between a corvid and a Rough-legged Buzzard.  The buzzard looked majestic in the bright sunlight as it moved around before disappearing behind some trees.
• We abandoned our plans to go to see the roost on the high tide at Snettisham to stay at Titchwell and boy were we rewarded for this!  We saw 8 Red-crested Pochards on the Freshwater Marsh and the Little Auk on the beach.

•  We took an hour to go the short journey from the beach back to the car - such was the rich pickings we made.  There were Short-eared Owls, ringtail Hen Harriers and a Barn Owl to see and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was a huge let down for us.  After drawing a blank on the pre-breakfast jaunt up and down the beach at Titchwell we headed home, calling in at Breydon Water for an unsuccessful attempt to twitch the American Golden Plover and also visiting Waxham for another "dip" with a Pallas's Warbler. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Despite the disappointing end to the trip we had a great time overall with well over 100 birds seen and some memorable moments!







Addition to BUBO UK Life List of Birds:
Little Auk   (307)


Additions to BUBO UK 2015 List of Birds:
Siberian Stonechat   (267)
Little Auk   (268)

Trip Species List:
Avocet
Bar-tailed Godwit
Barn Owl
Bearded Tit
Bittern
Black-headed Gull
Black-tailed Godwit
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Brambling   (10)
Brent Goose
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Cetti's Warbler (h)
Chaffinch
Coal Tit
Collared Dove
Common Gull   (20)
Common Scoter  
Coot
Cormorant
Curlew
Dunlin
Dunnock
Egyptian Goose
Eider
Feral Pigeon
Fieldfare   (30)
Gadwall
Gannet  
Goldcrest
Golden Plover
Goldfinch
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Crested Grebe
Great Grey Shrike
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit    (40)
Greenfinch
Greenshank  
Grey Heron
Grey Partridge
Grey Plover
Greylag Goose
Hen Harrier
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Jackdaw   (50)
Jay
Kestrel  
Knot
Lapwing
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Redpoll
Linnet
Little Auk
Little Egret
Little Grebe   (60)
Long-tailed Tit
Magpie  
Mallard
Marsh Harrier
Marsh Tit
Meadow Pipit
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Oystercatcher
Peregrine     (70)
Pheasant
Pied Wagtail  
Pink-footed Goose
Pintail
Pochard
Red Kite
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-crested Pochard
Red-legged Partridge
Redshank    (80)
Redwing
Reed Bunting  
Ringed Plover
Robin
Rock Pipit
Rook
Rough-legged Buzzard
Ruff
Sanderling
Shelduck   (90)
Short-eared Owl
Shoveler  
Siberian Stonechat
Siskin
Skylark
Snipe
Sparrowhawk
Spoonbill
Spotted Redshank
Starling   (100)
Stock Dove
Stonechat
Tawny Owl (h)  
Teal
Tufted Duck
Turnstone
Water Rail (h)
Wigeon
Woodpigeon
Wren   (110)
Yellowhammer  
Yellow-legged Gull  

(112)















Siberian Stonechat

• The Siberian Stonechat is migratory and insectivorous.
• It breeds in open rough scrubland and rough grassland with scattered shrubs. The breeding range covers most of temperate Asia, from about 71°N latitude in Siberia, south to the Himalaya and southwest China, and west to eastern Turkey and the Caspian Sea area. It also breeds in the far northeast of Europe, mainly in Russia, but occasionally as far west as Finland.
• The wintering range is from southern Japan south to Thailand and India, and west to northeast Africa.
• On migration, small numbers reach as far west as western Europe, and exceptionally as far east as Alaska in North America.

• It resembles the closely related European Stonechat, but is typically paler, with a white rump and whiter underparts with less orange on the breast, and with distinctly longer primary feathers in the wing.

• In this last feature it more closely resembles the Whinchat, in both an adaptation to long-distance migration.
• The summer male has black upperparts, lacking the brownish tones of the European Stonechat, a conspicuous white collar, white scapular patch and white rump, a restricted orange throat and black head

Little Auk

• The little auk is a small seabird, the size of a starling. It is black above and white below, and in flight it shows dark underwings. It has a black stubby bill, and a short neck and tail.
• It flies with very fast whirring wingbeats low over the sea.
• It is a winter visitor to the waters around the UK in small numbers each year.
• It breeds in the Arctic and winters in the North Atlantic.
• Some birds enter the North Sea in autumn and large numbers can be seen passing offshore during gales.

20/10/2015 Weirwood Working Party Mandarins, Snipe and Kingfisher

Tuesday 20th October 2015
Weirwood Reservoir

On my usual Tuesday stint at Weirwood Reservoir I took time out to admire the birds on show in the delightful lighting conditions that prevailed.   The highlights were:

• Two brightly coloured drake Mandarins that stole the show for me, alongside their female compatriots.

• At least 4 Snipe seen feeding on the muddy edges of the water opposite the viewing hide.

• I managed to see one of the 4 Kingfishers that were about.

Just the job to get me ready for our Norfolk trip starting this Saturday.

15/10/2015 Grey Wagtail in our Garden

Thursday 15th October 2015


A rare, but very welcome, visitor to our garden this morning  -  a Grey Wagtail.  It wandered around our patio in the rain.

14/10/2015 Pagham Harbour with the Brighton and District RSPB Local Group

Wednesday 14th October 2015
Pagham Harbour, West Sussex
Brighton and District RSPB Local Group Monthly Outing

Spent a lovely 4 hours or so on the south coast at Pagham Harbour - one of our best sites in West Sussex. 

Right from the start we saw some really good birds:

• On the Ferry Pool there was a Green Sandpiper, 10+ Golden Plovers and 25+ Black-Godwits as well as the usual suspects.  With a low tide there was no sign of the Avocets.

•   A lovely Kingfisher halted our progress as we tried to move out into the reserve.  It perched on the pipe spanning the inlet, providing us with lovely views for some considerable time.

• A Spotted Redshank, in one of the channels, was a delightful find as we made our way out towards the spit at Church Norton.

• At least 14 Avocets were seen, hunkering down in the muddy reed bed.

• My bird of the day was a Little Grebe, in stunning plumage, among the reeds, again as we walked out towards Church Norton from the visitor's centre.

• Over 40 Red-legged Partridges were seen in the fields.

• The Brent Geese were out in force with 40+ seen.

• A smashing Whimbrel was seen from by the concrete blocks by the spit.

 

Today's Species List
Avocet
Black-headed Gull
Black-tailed Godwit
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Brent Goose
Buzzard
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Chiffchaff
Coot
Cormorant
Curlew
Dunlin
Dunnock
Gadwall
Golden Plover
Goldfinch
Great Crested Grebe
Green Sandpiper
Grey Heron
Grey Plover
Greylag Goose
Herring Gull
Jay
Kestrel
Kingfisher
Lapwing
Little Egret
Little Grebe
Magpie
Mallard
Meadow Pipit
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Oystercatcher
Pheasant
Pied Wagtail
Pintail
Razorbill
Red-legged Partridge
Redshank
Robin
Rook
Shelduck
Shoveler
Spotted Redshank
Starling
Stonechat
Swallow
Teal
Turnstone
Whimbrel
Whinchat
Wigeon
Woodpigeon
(56)

Quite a species list today indicating a great range of birds on view.

10/10/2015 Twitching! Long -billed Dowitcher.

Saturday10th October 2015
Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marshes, Hampshire

I finally found time to travel to Hampshire to twitch the Long-billed Dowitcher at Pennigton Marshes.  The weather was just right with dry, clear conditions and little or no wind.

• Just as I got there, at 13.30, most of the birds on the water took to the air - something had obviously spooked them.  A group of 30 or so birders had been watching the Dowitcher but it had disappeared in the large flying group.  Just my luck - 10 minutes earlier and I would have had excellent views.

• Not to worry because I stayed when all the others departed, waiting for the bird's return.  It took over 90 minutes of patience and diligent birding but I finally got my reward when just on 15.00  the star bird showed 100 metres in front of me.  It was busy feeding so I watched it for fully 5 minutes before it swam away and entered the vegetation in the lagoon and disappeared again.

Long-billed Dowitcher
Courtesy of D.K. @aves_bird

• This was my second twitch of the week.  Last Sunday I "dipped" on the Wilson's Phalarope at Vange in Essex - this time I was a day late and the bird had left.

Well worth the effort!

 

 

 

 

 

Addition to BUBO UK Life List of Birds:

 

Long-billed Dowitcher   (306)

 

 

 

Addition to BUBO UK 2015 List of Birds:

 

Long-billed Dowitcher   (266)




Biology 

• The birds, which hail from North America, often reach Western European coasts during their migration. 

• Every year those sorts of birds are migrating so they're going from north down to the south.  

• Depending on the seasons they bump into various different weather patterns.  It's very easy for a bird to get shifted... if it made its trajectory just a couple of degrees off, over several thousand miles that could throw it a long way out of its range.

03/10/2015 East Grinstead RSPB Outing to Beachy Head

East Grinstead RSPB Group

October Outing to Beachy Head

On a fine, sunny, day 10 members ventured down to the south coast at Beachy Head. The itinerary included a visit to the bird-ringing station at Whitbread Hollow prior to a walk down to Cow Gap.  We then relocated to Birling Gap for a walk out to Horseshoe Plantation before finishing off with a quick visit to the mature gardens at the top of Birling Lane.

 

·         Bob Edgar and his team gave us an excellent insight into the workings of the ringing station and we were then privileged to witness several birds being ringed, weighed, sexed and measured before being released.  Pick of the bunch had to be the lovely Goldcrests - weighing just 4 grams.

 

 

 

 

·  Blackcaps dominated the scene at Whitbread Hollow with at least 10 seen as we walked from the ringing station down to Cow Gap.  There were also good numbers of Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Song Thrush.  Perhaps the rarest bird seen was the Lesser Whitethroat on the way down to the ringing station.

 

 

·         Throughout the trip we were accompanied by large numbers of Swallows and House Martins flying around us as we went on our way. 

 

 

·         At Horseshoe Plantation a superb female Whinchat had to be the bird of the day.  We had excellent views of it as it flitted from bush to bush.  Surprisingly we only saw one Wheatear flying by as we returned to the car park from the hill top – perhaps the large number of walkers had caused them to move.

 

·         There was not too much action by the sea with only Herons, Little Egrets, Redshanks, Cormorants, Great Black-backed Gulls and Oystercatchers on view.

 

·         Larger birds seen included a Raven, a Buzzard, several Kestrels and a couple of Sparrowhawks.

 

 

·         Try as we did, we were unable to find any Yellow-browed Warblers despite at least 2 reports of them being seen earlier in the day at the top of Birling Lane.

 

A great day out, in gorgeous weather, with at least 40 birds seen.  The early (08.00) start, to take in the bird ringing, did not deter anyone and everyone seemed to gain something from the experience.

 

Today’s Species List:

Black-headed Gull

Blackbird

Blackcap

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Chiffchaff

Cormorant

Dunnock

Goldcrest

Goldfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

Green Woodpecker

Grey Heron

Herring Gull

House Martin

House Sparrow

Jackdaw

Jay

Kestrel

Lesser Whitethroat

Linnet

Little Egret

Magpie

Meadow Pipit

Oystercatcher

Pheasant

Raven

Redshank

Robin

Rook

Song Thrush

Sparrowhawk

Stonechat

Swallow

Wheatear

Whinchat

Whitethroat

Woodpigeon

Wren

(42)

25/09/2015 to 02/10/2015 Unst and the Shetland Mainland

Friday 25th September 2015 to Friday 2nd October 2015
Unst and the Shetland Mainland

The weather was warm and dry with clear skies so we were able to fly out of Fair Isle in a 7 seater plane for Lerwick on the mainland of Shetland. 

Excitement levels were running high with news  that a Thick-billed Warbler had been seen at Quendale by Graham when he left the previous day.  Unfortunately this extremely rare bird had left overnight - so near yet so far!.

After picking up our hire car in Lerwick we headed up to Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland islands and 2 ferry rides away! 

• En-route we managed to spot a Whooper Swan, our first of the autumn and several Tysties (Black Guillemots).

• By far the best bird of the first day was another, different, Pallid Harrier, seen at Northdale in the evening as it came in to roost.  We watched from an elevated position on the hillside as it swept in over the farmhouses and settled on a fence post 200 metres from us.  We returned to this area several times during the week for further views of this very special bird.   

Pallid Harrier
Courtesy of Shetland Nature

• We saw our first Brambling of the trip as we drove home. 

• Our last port of call of the first day was Haroldswick where we saw an Otter close to the seaweed, a few metres from the shore-line - the first of several visits to see it.

• An Arctic Warbler was present at Uyeasound but it turned out to be a tricky bird to locate.  We missed out completely on the first day and things were looking bad on the second day as we braved the drizzle and scoured the bushes and hedges.  After an hour or so Paul spotted it and from then on we got some smashing views.  This particular bird had little or no tail!

Arctic Warbler - sans tail
Courtesy of Neil Simpson

• We visited Hermaness NNR, principally to see the Gannet colony but also to see Fulmars and Bonxies but also to appreciate the spectacular views from this most northerly point on the most northerly isle in the Shetlands



Hermaness NNR Gannet Colony
Library picture

• The Keen of Hamar is a local nature reserve overlooking our cottage at Keenlee.  From here we saw mainly Golden Plover flocks but Paul, on his pre-breakfast walks also saw Snow Buntings and Pink-footed Geese.

• Most of the waders were seen at Uyeasound including Easter Loch and Baltasound. 

• We were still seeing Yellow-browed Warblers but not the numbers we had on Fair Isle.

• On the high grounds of Skaw we saw 12 Snow Buntings and at Norwick we latched on to a Barred Warbler, a Redstart and a White Wagtail.

• By Tuesday, the Arctic Warbler appeared to have left and no new rare birds had been sighted so we decided to twitch the Pechora Pipit on mainland Shetland near Loch Norby. A 2 hour trip, complete with 2 ferry rides, was rewarded with good flight views of the Pipit but only a very fleeting view of it on the ground. 



Pechora Pipit
Courtesy of  @GarrityPete

We also spotted 2 other rarities on mainland Shetland when we left Unst to spend our final night at the Sumburgh Hotel.

• An inspired bit of birding by Paul enabled us to locate the Red-breasted Flycatcher at Wester Quarff . 

Red-breasted Flycatcher
Courtesy of Shetland Nature
 

• The Bluethroat we spotted at Quendale Quarry near Sumburgh was the icing on the cake for this superb trip.

Bluethroat
Courtesy of David Aitken
 

Additions to BUBO UK Life List of Birds:
Arctic Warbler   (303)
Pechora Pipit   (304)
Bluethroat   (305)

Additions to BUBO UK 2015 List of Birds:
Arctic Warbler   (262)
Pechora Pipit   (263)
Red-breasted Flycatcher   (264)
Bluethroat   (265)


Species List for Unst and Mainland Shetland:
Barred Warbler
Black Guillemot
Blackbird
Blackcap
Brambling
Chiffchaff
Common Gull
Cormorant
Curlew
Dunlin
Fulmar
Gannet
Golden Plover
Goldeneye
Great Black-backed Gull
Grey Heron
Grey Wagtail
Greylag Goose
Herring Gull
Hooded Crow
House Sparrow
Kestrel
Lapwing
Mallard
Meadow Pipit
Merlin
Osprey
Pied Wagtail
Raven
Red-throated Diver
Redshank
Ringed Plover
Rock Dove
Rock Pipit
Ruff
Sanderling
Shag
Skylark
Snipe
Snow Bunting
Sparrowhawk
Starling
Swallow
Teal
Tufted Duck
Turnstone
Twite
Wheatear
Whooper Swan
Wigeon
Willow Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Wren
Woodpigeon
White Wagtail


(57)



Despite the lack of favourable winds I still managed to add 3 more birds to my life list and 4 to my year list. 

Unst is a beautiful place and well worth a visit.  It has the added advantage of offering the chance to bird on mainland Shetland if and when rarities show up.


Arctic Warbler Biology

• The Arctic warbler (Phylloscopus borealis) is a widespread leaf warbler in birch or mixed birch forest near water throughout its breeding range in Fennoscandia and northern Asia. It has established a foothold in North America, breeding in Alaska. This warbler is strongly migratory; the entire population winters in southeast Asia. It therefore has one of the longest migrations of any Old World insectivorous bird.

• The nest is on the ground in a low shrub. Like most Old World warblers, this small passerine is insectivorous.

• This species occurs as an autumn vagrant in western Europe and is annual in Great Britain.

Pechora Pipit Biology

•  It is named after the Pechora River Valley in northeastern Russia, where it breeds and nests.

• Pechora Pipit: Breeds in the tundra of northern Asia, eastwards of Russia. It is a long-distance migrant, moving in winter to Indonesia. Rarely in September and October, the Pechora Pipit may be observed in Western Europe.

• Although the call is generally helpful when identifying pipits, this species calls far less than most.

• It creeps mouse-like in long grass, and is reluctant to fly even when disturbed.

• The Pechora Pipit was first described in 1863 by Robert Swinhoe, an English naturalist.

• This, combine with its skulking habits, makes this a difficult bird to find and identify away from its breeding grounds in the Arctic.

• The Pechora Pipit was first described in 1863 by Robert Swinhoe, an English naturalist.

Red-breasted Flycatcher Biology

• Scarce passage visitor to the UK.

• Birds breed in central Europe and winter in Asia.

•  Most likely to be found along south and east coast of England, less common in Scotland.

• Open forest and mixed woodland areas provide habitat.

Bluethroat Biology

• Bluethroat: Occurs widely across Europe, Asia and in some parts of North America. Main breeding grounds found in Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, some parts of west and central Europe, to the Himalayas. Migratory species, overwintering in Africa, Europe, mainly Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, and in some parts of Asia.

• As Siberian populations have increased with the recent warming trend, this species has been able to spread across the Bering Strait into Alaska.

• Spends winters mostly on salt marshes, or around the edges of reed beds.

• They were discovered on June 5, 1851 by Edward Adams, a surgeon and naturalist aboard the British ship Enterprise. He was traveling overland from Norton Sound to the Koupac River in northwestern Alaska.