Rarity Finding, From Dawn to Dusky

It seems that what I said at the end two posts ago was somewhat premature!  In the last few days I've learnt that you cannot predict what birds are going to do, but most of all, I've learnt never to write off Portland!

These few days were already pretty good with a Long-tailed Duck seen a couple of times in Portland Harbour, lots of Thrushes and Finches, a Short-eared Owl at Barleycrates Lane, and 6 Pale-bellied Brent Goose at Ferrybridge.

Plus, I got some of my best views yet of the Yellow-browed Warbler at the hump, on the 10th.

On top of those, there has been a bit of an influx of Black Redstart in recent days, with at least 6 seen myself, including this bird at Barleycrates Lane.

On the 12th, I shunned my usual walk round mid-island in favour of a look at Ferrybridge and Portland Harbour.  After seeing a few titbits, I still had loads of time till lunch so thought I may as well drive up to the Avalanche Rd hump to see if the Yellow-brow, or indeed anything else, was there.  I don't know why, but I decided to take the long way round, along the public footpath. 

As I was walking along, I became aware of a call coming from some close Brambles, that I nearly dismissed as a Wren. Almost immediately, I flushed the bird, and it flew off to a more distant Bramble patch.  At this point, still not sure it wasn't a Wren.  'Better go and check it out', I thought.   A few more calls, but still nothing which shouted anything other than Wren to me.  Then I flushed the bird again.  It flew back to its original Brambles, but this time sat nicely on the side of the bush for a split second.  Enough time for me to see a large dark warbler, and it clicked. DUSKY WARBLER!  I had heard the species once before, at the Bill last year, but I didn't know the call off by heart. Only on seeing the bird did the pieces of jigsaw come together!

After putting the news out, I had to wait a bit for others arrive, but they did eventually.

I've seen the bird a few more times subsequently, though it's being largely typically elusive. Some of its favoured bushes:

 

Getting any sort of documentation of the bird has been tricky with its skulking nature, but here's footage of it calling (shortly after I found it), and some footage from today of it showing (just!). Turn the sound down on the second, and play both together for the full 'experience'!

 

 

 

 

Yesterday afternoon, I wanted to put some time in at the Dusky, so walked there from home via Weston Street.

 

I was just walking along the path by the former Weston Craft Centre when I spotted a bird flying straight at me over the adjacent horse field, with a bounding flight.  A HOOPOE!  Was I hallucinating, seeing a Hoopoe in November?  It immediately dived down into a front garden along the road.  I rushed over there, only for it to pop over the fence and land on the roadside verge!  I grabbed my camera (though dropped it on the wet grass in my excitement, hence the spots on the lens!).

 

  

 

As you can see, it disappeared over the houses, but despite an extensive search, particularly of the Watery Lane area, it couldn't be re-found.  Perhaps it went into a back garden.   

 

Wow, what a purple patch. Can it continue? Not likely! Oops, there I go again, writing off Portland. Punish me birding gods, I dare you!

 

Quite Franklin's, a Disappointment

Almost 2 weeks since I last posted, and a few things to catch up on.

 

I was able to see the Pallas's Warbler on a rare visit to the Obs on the 30th Oct, only for it to relocate to Avalanche Rd on my patch.  A big bonus to see it there on the 2nd Nov.

 

Also here, was a nice showing of Shaggy Inkcap.

 

Around the turn of the month it was incredibly warm, and that meant a number of butterflies still on the wing, including Red Admiral...

...and Clouded Yellow, including this of the pale form 'helice' - a first for me.

Tilleycombe was visited a few times recently, and produced a few nice things, with a good number of warblers present.  I feel it always looks like a promising spot.

Although I had an interesting-looking Chiffchaff here earlier, I had a much better candidate for Siberian Chiffchaff at Portland Castle recently. Visually, it looked spot-on, though I failed to hear it.

Also here on the 6th, I spent a bit of time with several Black Redstart, including this young male.

Also at this site, I had a frustrating moment spotting a raptor over Portland Harbour on one morning, but I only had my bins with me so couldn't get any more on it.  My gut feeling was a ringtail Hen Harrier though.

To continue the theme of 'ones that got away', I had a Pipit fly over at Barleycrates Lane on the 5th which called like a Tree Pipit.  But on this date, a tripit would be exceptional indeed.  It didn't sound quite right either, with a slight metallic quality to it - a pretty good description of the call of Olive-backed Pipit.  A search around nearby sites produced nothing.  Frustrating!

Later on in the day, it seems the gods were keen to rub it in...

No doubt the highlight of this period came on the 2nd, with a twitch to Blashford Lakes.  The hoped-for lifer of a Franklin's Gull did show eventually, but not till it was almost totally dark!  Some in the hide failed to locate it, so I was lucky to see it at all!

The main disappointment that I refer to in the blog title was that of seawatching.  At least 3 days of decent to strong south-westerlies in early-November should produce most, if not all, of the 'big 4' storm-driven seabirds (Little Auk, Sabine's Gull, Leach's Petrel, and Grey Phalarope) in Chesil Cove.

I spent a great many hours there in total, with 1 Pomarine Skua, 1 Great Skua, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Pintail, 1 Teal, 1 Red-throated Diver, 2 Black-throated Diver and 8 Little Gull (including one lingering inshore) to show for it.

 

This is despite 3 of the big 4 occurring at nearby sites.  Last year I saw two of them (Sabs and Leach's) without trying that hard, so to get none this year would be frustrating to say the least, particularly as two have occurred this year, but I missed them (Leach's and Grey Phal).

 

Not too late to get at least one of those hopefully!

Provence Trip - Day 1



I had the most photos and videos for this day, so the other posts will be shorter, I promise!

16^th

The night before I left for France, I had a great evenings moth trapping near Guildford, at the workplace (which happens to be a large garden) of an old friend from college.  We got one new macro moth for me, in the shape of an Ochreous Pug, and had great sightings of a roosting Tawny Owl, and a probably bat-hunting, Hobby.  As we packed up, my first Nightjar of the year was heard from the adjacent Whitmoor Common.  This evening may have caused me to have been sleep-deprived for my trip the next morning, but it was worth it!

17th

The next day, After a 10 hour journey involving four trains and a minibus, I was quite knackered.  I’d already noted Black Kite and Hobby from the train by the time we got to Valence.   Spirits were high in anticipation amongst our group of 11, as we approached the heart of The Barronies, on the edge of the Alps.

 

As we were driven by our guide Andrew, into the small village of St Jalle, it was just getting dark, but we were still welcomed by a singing Nightingale.  On the short walk down to our accommodation, in a number of ‘gites’, we heard the odd call of the Scops Owl going on.  A promising start!

 

18th 

I attempted to have a lie-in in order to catch up on sleep, but my body clock wasn’t having it, and I couldn’t get back to sleep once I awoke at 6.  Oh well, may as well go birding then! 

It was a beautiful morning, and all the birds were singing.  The most prominent being the very numerous Serin…

…and the Black Redstart, which seemed to be singing from every roof-top throughout the week.

 

On top of those, an odd song led me to some pines towards the centre of the village.  The two notes at the beginning of this Common Redstart song, was unlike what I was used to, and heard on their own in the distance sounded like nothing I immediately recognised.

 

Also just around the village, I saw a distant Turtle Dove, heard a Melodious Warbler, and saw Woodlark, Black Kite, Corn Bunting, and Cirl Bunting. What a place!

On arrival back at the gites ready for departure, I found out that someone had found a Scorpion in their accommodation!  Rather than being disgusted as many people would be, us nature lovers considered this to be brilliant!  What a strange lot.  The beast was only about 2 inches long, and I later discovered it to be a young Euscopius flavicaudis, which is often found inside buildings.

 

We did eventually tear ourselves away from the village, and headed for the first proper wildlife stop close-by in the lower Barronies.  Worth the visit for the view alone.

 

As soon as we rocked up, I spotted a Tawny Pipit sitting on a post by the road.  Lifer number two (if you count the heard-only Scops)!  We went on to see a few of these throughout the walk, often giving their rather unimaginative song.

 

Also right by the van, Andrew heard a Western Orphean Warbler singing, sounding like an unenthusiastic Blackbird.  It eventually showed well, or be it distantly.  This turned out to be the only one of the week.

 

 

This area is the place to see vultures, so it was no surprise that almost as soon as I started scanning the mountain ridges, I picked one up.  What was a surprise though, was that mine was in fact a Black Vulture, by far the rarer of the two larger species, identifiable at long-range by its drooping wing-tips.

We started walking through some lovely scrubby, rocky, and grassy habitat, and soon came across a number of interesting butterflies.  These included the bright orange Spotted Fritillary, as well as more familiar species like Small Heath and Speckled Wood, or be it the more rufous southern form.

 

Interesting birds continued to show left, right, and centre.  A fantastic Ortolan Bunting sung its Yellowhammer-like song, and a Red-backed Shrike came increasingly closer.

 

I continued to scan for raptors, finding a distant Goshawk (merely an also-ran on a day like this!), two brief, probably migrating, Honey Buzzard, and finally some of the enormous Griffon Vulture.

Butterflies were everywhere, even though it was only mid-morning.  The Blues were particularly mesmerising, but those I did ID were Mazarine, Adonis, and Common Blue (one of which rested on my scope, and then my hat, for half the journey!), as well as a few Small Blue.

 

As we were scanning the wheeling groups of Griffons, someone spotted a whiter bird with them.  An Egyptian Vulture!  It drifted closer and closer, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get it in the camera in the featureless blue sky.

I was briefly distracted watching a Dingy Skipper, and found myself left behind by the group.  I took one last quick scan of a nearby mountain-top, and found not one, but two Short-toed Eagle circling around!  I had to film them even though they were distant.  But, what should appear out of the blue, but the Egyptian Vulture!  The 'Shorties' showed well in the end.

 

The Egyptian was the only one of the week.

Moving on, we entered a small wooded area, mostly made up of young Oaks.  This had a Southern White Admiral flicking around, and several singing Western Bonelli’s Warbler. 

There was also this pretty Jewel Beetle.

 

We’d already heard a Subalpine Warbler earlier, but finally, a male posed on a bush for us.  Also, I managed to spot some distant Alpine Swift.  They did eventually come closer, but not easy to film!

 

The plants were impressive also, with Lady, Lesser Butterfly, and Woodcock Orchids.

We made it to the ‘Rock of Cairo’, so called because it looks like a pyramid at some angles.

 

 From here, we had amazing views of the Griffons flying beneath us, and Andrew showed us one of their nests on the adjacent cliff.  Around this nest, I noticed a lot of hirundines flying about.  These were Crag Martin, which were also nesting in the vicinity.

On the insect side of things, I had this unidentified Scarab Beetle land on me…

 

…and there were a lot of both Scarce and Common Swallowtail butterflies flying around, though they were hard to capture on film.  This one a Scarce.

 

We made our way back to the bus for lunch, but I was constantly being distracted by various insects, and got left behind somewhat! 

There were a lot of these impressive Carpenter Bee about the place.

 

 

More of the familiar butterflies noted were Wall Brown and Brown Argus.  I also however, identified this Red-underwing Skipper.

 

On the way back past a stand of pines, I could swear I heard a Crested Tit, but it remained hidden.

Finally back at the bus, and there aren’t many places where you can eat lunch surrounded by the songs of Western Orphean Warbler, Ortolan Bunting, and Tawny Pipit, whilst circling over you are Alpine Swift, Short-toed Eagle, and these impressive beasts…

 

It was at this point my camera battery went flat!

Later, we had a short walk up a mountain track, where the wind was a tad stronger.  Indeed, we struggled to see any small birds at all.

Nonetheless, in a meadow by the van was a smorgasbord of interesting insects, including these Ant-lions, Libelloides coccajus.

 

We were supposedly heading for a viewpoint overlooking a Golden Eagle nest, but as it turned out, we needn’t have gone as far as that.  Because, we had views of the pair of eagles interacting distantly over a nearby mountain, before drifting off.

Also among the interesting insects here were a Small Purple-barred moth, a Bath White butterfly, and an unidentified small yellow butterfly/moth with a black border which baffled me.  More Spotted Fritillary were about, as well as the more familiar Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

 

Also here were a lot more Lady Orchid.

 

After that successful stop, we headed back to base through some beautiful farmland.

 

We came to a halt in the middle of some cereal crops, where this rare Pheasant’s-eye grew.

 

The main reason for stopping here though was for the farmland birds.  A Red-backed Shrike and two Turtle Dove were immediately in view.    A bit more scanning and the vice-leader Craig found a Montagu’s Harrier quartering nearby.  It was a young male, and it put on a bit of a show for us, or be it fairly distantly.

While at this spot, I noticed a distant sand-bank, and I could swear the two birds flying about over it were rather Bee-eater-shaped.

We drove on, only to come to a quick stop again, as the two Bee-eater were flying around over the road!  What stunners!

 

We finally made it back to the accommodation that I appreciated properly for the first time.  This was part of my room, based in an old Nunnery.  Rustic!

 

And the view from my veranda.

 

Just outside the building were a number of Lizard Orchid, or be it none of them in flower yet, as well as this huge Prickly-pear Cactus.

 

After a lovely meal at the local restaurant, we retired for the night, and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!  What will tomorrow bring?

Merg in Turn

8th

In my usual 2 hour window after work, I checked out Ferrybridge, Portland Castle, and The Bill, as per my developing routine.

Little of note till I got to the Castle.  From here I finally got the female Eider onto the patch and year lists, though it spent it's entire time dozing by the breakwater.

A sudden glimpse of a bird disappearing round the corner towards The Aqua hotel had me puzzled.  It looked all the world like a Kingfisher, though I failed to see the usual 'flash of blue' from the bird.  Just a Starling?

I whizzed round the corner, and as I got to the water's edge, I flushed a Kingfisher from the rocky wall!  A Portland tick.

Otherwise, the usual stuff in the area including Great Northern and Black-throated Divers.

Once at the Bill, I moved over towards the Obs Quarry to see if the usual Little Owl was enjoying the brief sunshine, and it was!  That was the only highlight, as the sea was dead as the sun began to set.

Yesterday

The wind has finally died down!

Ferrybridge was again rather quiet today, but I was happy to finally get Rook and Curlew on the Patch list, though I had to get the latter by scoping halfway down the Fleet!

The sun was shining, and that made watching from Hamm Beach rather an attractive proposition, especially as water sport activity was fairly low.  It seems that this little corner of the harbour is excellent for Grebes and Divers etc, when they're not disturbed that is.  Today, there were 3 Great Northern Diver very close in, including one literally just off the rocks!  They were too close for me to phonescope!

Moving round to Portland Castle, I found a photographers dream, with the sun shining on the birds, which were mostly close-in.  With nothing particularly notable in view, I just relaxed and enjoyed the commoner birds.

Even with the conditions, my photography set-up still struggled with some of the distances, and I managed my best photo of the Black Guillemot yet(!).

Closer in (though still not close enough for my phone camera) was a Guillemot.

 

 

 

The female Eider was still present, though as yesterday, it was sleeping!

 



 



But, the star of the show were the Red-breasted Merganser, which were displaying, and calling.  Not something you hear everyday.  There were two particularly boisterous males displaying to a female...

 



...but the female was having none of it!

 

I finished the day with a rather uneventful stroll round Verne Common, producing only the patch tick of Bullfinch.

 



Today

 I had the day off, so immediately headed out for a circuit round the Barleycrates, Reap, and Suckthumb area, in very mild and pleasant conditions.

The first sign of spring on Portland, is the Alexanders sprouting, and here's some in Barleycrates Lane.

The first bit of the walk had produced just the patch ticks of Collared Dove and Stock Dove, till I got to Reap Lane.

I was delighted to find a pair of Stonechat here, as they'd been hard to find during the strong winds.  But, better still, a Black Redstart was apparently associating with them.  I made yet another attempt to photograph one, but I was hampered by a pair of overly-friendly Horses, one of which had a nibble of my binocular case (oooer)!

So, I had to make do with a video grab.

 

The bird was, as usual, being chased by the local Robin.

 

On the way back home, I witnessed a pair of Peregrine co-operatively hunting a Feral Pigeon.  Something I have seen once before, but it was no less exciting for that.  I failed to see the outcome on this occasion.

 

Onwards to Ferrybridge, where things were again quiet on the mudflats.  But, scoping further down the Fleet, I managed to see a pair of Shelduck, and two male Goldeneye.  Both uncommon closer to the island, and both valuable patch ticks.

 

A look from Hamm Beach produced the usual stuff, including a distant group of 3 Black-throated Diver, and a Grey Heron in flight. 

 

Also this rather large family group of Brent Goose with 6 youngsters!

 

 

 

Portland Castle was quieter than in recent days, but I again attempted some photography.

 

This Shag was very helpful.

 

 

Which cannot be said for a fourth Black-throated Diver!

 

 

After a great deal of thought, I have decided to change my Patch boundaries for the Patchwork Challenge.  The shape that I posted before was just too unconventional.  My patch now no longer includes The Bill.  I'll do a blog post on it shortly.

 

Under these new boundaries, I'm up to 77 species for the patch.