The Metamorphosing/Intermediate Egret

Two weeks of largely patch birding on Portland have produced a few highlights, but overall a lot less than is to be expected at this time, particularly from common migrants.

There may not be many around, but there's nothing like a spring male Wheatear to bring a smile to your face after a long winter.

I've spent most my patch birding time seawatching from Chesil Beach, but this has brought only the occasional patch tick, and few better highlights. The ticks have been a pair of Canada Goose over Ferrybridge on the 15th, a Siskin north over with a group of Meadow Pipit on the 17th, a brief Sandwich Tern on The Fleet on the 18th (having just heard what I thought was the call of a juvenile sarnie, which turned out to be a mimicking Skylark!), a Grey Plover along the beach on the 23rd, a pair of Tufted Duck west on the 24th, and 2 Manx Shearwater through the Cove on the 28th.

Arguably the best moment was witnessing the eclipse of the sun on the 20th, complete with masking cloud-cover.

Whilst this was occurring, there was little to note in terms of change of behaviour in the birds, though I wonder if it was a coincidence that there was a preening Black-throated Diver offshore - the first time I'd seen one settled there.  A good chance to study one in flight.

Talking of bird behaviour, I've witnessed a couple of odd things recently.  First, a mob of Carrion Crow squabbling over a Pied Wagtail carcass at Ferrybridge, and second, a Sparrowhawk hopping about on posts and the ground at Reap Lane, as if hunting insects!

I'm going to analyse the events of yesterday and the 'Chesil Gull' in a separate post, but whilst waiting for that to show, it was nice to watch this Great Skua tearing into a carcass, possibly of a Fulmar.

Probably the overall highlight from the last fortnight was a very surprise Corn Bunting at Barleycrates Lane on the 25th.  I heard a single call on arrival, and then saw the bird, but couldn't be sure of the ID.  Luckily it stayed around long enough to creep up on and see properly.

 

As an aside, I've just got a new phone, so I've been experimenting a bit with its camera, and phone-scoping.  I'm encouraged by the early results, such as this Herring Gull with Pipefish at Ferrybridge.  It does look like an improvement on my last setup.

Now a bit of non-birds for those so inclined.  On my 3rd attempt (and with the help of Glen Maddison and Megan Shersby), I finally managed to locate the stunning troop of Snake's-head Iris at Broadcroft Quarry.  A naturalised introduction they may be, but they're still pretty rare.

The other thing going on is I've finally got back into moth-trapping, mainly at my new trap-site.  Not a lot happening to be honest, but seeing these are always nice. Early Grey and Hebrew Character.

The most interesting event to talk about (other than 'The Gull') is the subject of 'The Egret'. 

Just after 11 on the 19th, I was walking down the West Cliffs, when I noticed an Egret circling about off the cliffs towards the Business Park, which immediately struck me as 'just a Little'.  I'd never seen an Egret in this area or behaving as such, so felt I had to make 100% sure my first instinct was right, so watched it for a bit longer.  It soared up high and then headed inland a bit before dropping down and flying north through the centre of the island, mobbed lightly by a single Herring Gull.  It was mostly watched towards the sun, so assessing the colour of the bill was tricky, but it appeared dark, and lightly-built.  In direct comparison to the Herring, the bird was the exact same size.  The whole time I watched it, I was trying to turn it into a Cattle Egret. Not once did it appear massive, and the possibility of a Great White cross my mind. In the end, I was confident that it was a Little Egret.  Imagine my horror, when I later discovered that a Great White Egret had been reported to have flown south over Portland Castle at 11, basically fitting the trajectory and timing of my bird exactly.  The observer has since reported that he was sure of his ID (though didn't mention bill-colour). 

So, either one of us was wrong, or it was a coincidence!  I'm not a fan at all of the coincidence theory, simply for the sheer unlikeliness of it.  Did the bird transform between locations!? A mystery that will never be solved.

Well, in the end there was quite a lot of action to cover!  Lets hope the weather can settle down soon, so we can enjoy some better migration action! (No sign on the horizon, as I write :-(   )

AFONd Hello

Not a massive amount to catch up on up to the end of the year, with few birding opportunities. You might say I've been in hibernation (or you could just call me lazy!).

 

Either way, it was nice to pop back to Surrey on the 14th December to lead a walk at the picturesque Puttenham Common. It was even more so in the frosty conditions.

 

 



 Just the usual species of note, including 2 Kingfisher, lots of Mandarin, and 2 brief Raven.

It had to be whilst I was away that a longed-for Caspian Gull occurred at Radipole. I put a bit of time in the following couple of evenings, to no avail.  Just the usual alarming Herring Gull variation.

On the 21st, I joined a meet of the guys from A Focus On Nature - a group for young conservationists, at Slimbridge.  I hadn't been for quite a while, and I'd forgotten just how many birds the place holds! 

One of the highlights though was a glimpse, on a big screen (due to quarantine regulations), of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and a talk about Slimbridge's internationally important captive-breeding and release programme.

Of the wild birds though, the sheer numbers were breathtaking, especially at the evening feed...

The best species were a small flock of White-fronted Goose, 2 Marsh Harrier, a distant and brief Barn Owl, a Little Stint, and a Whooper Swan, which appeared late-on at the feed.

The best bit of the day for socially-inept me though, was meeting so many wonderful like-minded people. We are strongly-positioned indeed to preserve the worlds wildlife in the future. 

One of the sites at the forefront of wildlife preservation in my home county of Surrey is Tice's Meadow. I was able to pop back in there briefly on Boxing Day. Nothing of massive note species-wise, but great to see the place looking top-quality in habitat once again!

 

In terms of Portland birding, the only notable sightings during this period were a Firecrest or two still at Penn Castle Woods, and a few birds in the Harbour including a surprise pair of Velvet Scoter which flew in at Portland Castle on the 29th, dropped their landing gear, but changed their minds and flew off. Could've been an unrivalled photographic opportunity in the sunshine! Oh well.

 



So, I failed to add to my patch list in December, and finished on 177 species and 278 points. It'll be tough to keep up with that in 2015!

 

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and may I wish you a spiffing and bird-filled new year!

Deja Hoopoe

After the success of the previous week, things continued in a similar vein, very much against expectations.

'My' Hoopoe was re-found by myself a few days after my initial discovery. I flushed it from the path at the back of the big horse-field along Weston Street (and I've since seen it again, at Avalanche Road).  Unlike my first encounter, the bird actually hung around long enough for others to connect.

Whilst I watched it, the most extraordinary moment was when it appeared flying around in the air, crest erect, being pursued by a Sparrowhawk!  They circled around each other a few times, before the Hoopoe saw its opportunity and escaped.  This was the most notable of a string of spectacular bird of prey hunting episodes I witnessed over a few days that also included a Peregrine plunging through, and scattering, a flock of Redwing, a Sparrowhawk carrying a Blue Tit, and a pair of Peregrine stooping in perfect harmony on a Feral Pigeon.  I love raptors!

Birds of interest in Portland Harbour have included a male Eider, a 1st-winter Velvet Scoter today (I was disappointed to see its white wing-panels, bearing in mind there has been a Surf Scoter nearby!), a number of Great Northern Diver and Black-necked Grebe, as well as the usual Black Guillemot.  This is the first time I've seen it out the water.

Also, on one day there was a nice flock of 5 Shelduck hanging around, later joined by two others.  Unusual in the Harbour.

A few other notable birds found mid-island during the period included a Golden Plover over Watery Lane, 6 Lapwing over Barleycrates Lane on two days, and a Mistle Trush at Weston Street whilst looking for the Hoopoe - a Portland tick!  Also Black Redstart continue to be a daily occurrence.

On the 19th, I was having a casual look at Blacknor, when I heard a familiar 'tack' call coming from near some Brambles. 'Not a Dusky surely. Mmm, could've been a Stonechat' I thought. Sure enough, there was a female Stonechat on the fence, so I about turned and started to move off.  Then, I suddenly heard the bird again, and flushed a Dusky Warbler from some Brambles!  It flew off, and sat on the side of a bush for me to see (in similar circumstances to my first find!).  My second in exactly a week!  It's nice to get some luck, but I can't help wishing I could find something different!

Gulls are building up on the flooded and stubble fields of Barleycrates lane currently.  Among them have been this 2nd-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull...

 

 ...and this American Herring Gull-like Herring Gull with its streaky head and chest and tertial marking.

 

On a day in which I narrowly dipped Barnacle Goose and Snow Bunting, I was compensated reasonably well when this ringtail Harrier flew over Blacknor, a presumed Hen Harrier.

 

 

 A big advantage of the coming of winter, are the spectacular sunrises.

 

Hoping to get on-patch for the Cameron Bespolka memorial bird-race at the weekend, and possibly also for a rare off-patch excursion.

Glorious(!) Gulls

Not a massive amount to relate in the last week.

17th

A Great Skua was a bit of a surprise sitting in Portland Harbour, though it appears this wasn't the only out of position Bonxie around that morning. 

The only other notable sighting was of a couple of adult Little Gull again in Chesil Cove.

This dark Gull stood out like a sore thumb among the Herring Gull at Ferrybridge, though I'm assuming it's just a dark argenteus.

18th

There was still a number of Kittiwake knocking about the place, this one at Ferrybridge.

But, the most notable sightings was still a Little Gull in Chesil Cove, as well as a Great Skua, Red-throated Diver, plus the patch tick of a pair of Common Scoter past.

The other notable (for Portland) sighting was a Lapwing, which was on the shore of Chesil Beach a fair way down The Fleet (so not quite at Ferrybridge!).

19th

A walk around the Suckthumb/Reap/Barleycrates triangle produced a cracking Firecrest at the former, which one hopes is a primary migrant, on this spring-like day.

Chesil Cove was still sadly littered with dead Auks, a great number with their heads missing. What's doing that?  Perhaps a Fox?  Not sure it was the Carrion Crow which I watched feeding. 

I am determined to get some decent stuff pass through the Cove, and today saw glimpses of quality with 5 more Common Scoter and a Black-throated Diver.

20th

On what was a very foggy and soggy day, I rather embarrassingly mis-ID'd an Eider in Portland Harbour.  It held it's head up straight for much of time, and looked all the world like a Velvet Scoter neck and head shape!  The visibility and choppy waters didn't help! 

The fourth Glaucous Gull (a 1st-winter) of the year was found scything through Chesil Cove, which had just previously dropped into Radipole Lake.

21st

A beautiful day, that produced nothing of interest bird-wise, except my first Linnet at Ferrybridge since the autumn, undoubtedly a migrant.

I had a walk round Blacknor, and it was worrying to find all the Alexanders looking damaged by salt-spray, clearly caused by the recent storms..

This is unfortunate as this plant is vital on Portland for providing food and cover for passerine migrants.

23rd

It was nice to see the adult Glaucous Gull once again, this time lurking in Chesil Cove.  A shame however to see it sporting some sort of line coming out the side of it's bill.

It may look like another white-winger at the back, but in fact it's just a Herring Gull that's let it's wing-tips droop into the water.

Gulls have very much been at the centre of my attentions recently (although I've now missed three Icelands!), so it was nice to (just!) get five species in one shot. Although I couldn't quite get a Great Black-backed Gull in it too!  Great to have some adult Lesser Black-backed Gull back from Spain/North Africa.

Spring is very much in the air now.  I can smell the first Wheatear round the corner!