Beardies, Buntings and Shorties

This morning I met Duncan at Farlington Marshes for a spot of ringing. The marsh was shrouded in fog, and it wasn't long before we were soaked, but at least that meant it wasn't windy. We set three nets in the eastern part of the reed bed, and almost immediately caught a Robin and a couple of Wrens. The next round produced a few Reed Buntings, followed by a few more and then a few more. Before we knew it we had ringed over 20 new Reed Buntings and retrapped one from a few years ago, and three Cetti's Warblers.

Reed Bunting (Male)

One of the reasons for going to the marsh was to try and catch some Bearded Tits. They have been very visible at the marsh in recent weeks, but have been showing at the top of the lake, and not where we were ringing. As it turned out we did not hear a single beardie, and were just about to give up when a pair suddenly appeared in the nets. Although we have been catching loads at the Haven, these are the first we have ringed at the marsh. There didn't seem to be any others around, but we well try again, when the weather conditions are right.

Bearded Tit (Male)

After ringing I headed home to dry out and warm up, before heading back to the marsh again. By now the fog had cleared  and the sun was occasionally breaking through. The main reason for going back was to try and catch up with some more Short-eared Owls. There have been reports of up to 4 birds and I was keen to get some photos. From the car park I worked my way through the bushes and towards the eastern track. I picked up a short-eared almost immediately flying over the main marsh, but decided to continue along the track to the sea wall. This turned out to be the right choice for me, as sitting in a meadow east of the track where 2 Short-eareds. They remained perched for about 10 minutes before starting to hunt and chase each other giving some cracking views.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

I spent a good 30 minutes watching the owls before they dropped down into the field and out of view. I continued around the sea wall heading back past the Deeps and was quickly onto two more owls. These were a bit more distant than the birds I had just been watching but were in view almost continuously, even when feeding on the ground. One bird (below) was much paler than the others and I am inclined to think that this bird is an adult, and probably a male. Apparently females have a distinctly deeper buff ground colour overall, and the dark markings are usually bolder in males.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

In the end I must of spent over an hour and a half with these owls, in light that was now just perfect. I continued around the seawall and stopped briefly to look over the lake. It was high tide now and there was a good variety of waders and ducks roosting. The most numerous wader species was Black-tailed Godwit, with Common Redshank and Grey Plover also present in good numbers. Other species included Avocet, Knot, Dunlin, Common Snipe and a lone Spotted Redshank. I could still see two Short-eareds hunting over the main marsh and another very distantly, that appeared to be hunting over the RSPB islands, could there really be five birds!

Black-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Common and Black-headed Gulls, Avocet, Shelduck and one Spotted Redshank

Black-tailed Godwits and Shelducks

A Short-eared Owl at Farlington Marshes in August!

After back to back early starts for ringing at the Haven, this morning I opted for a bit of a lie in and headed off to Farlington Marshes at 6:30am for a spot of birding. High tide was at 07:28 and so I started at the lake before walking along the stream and then around the seawall past the Deeps and back to the lake. It was a fantastic morning, absolutely still and glorious sunshine; Langstone Harbour was like a millpond. 

The water level on the lake was high and as such the high tide roost was not as I had hoped. There were 150 or so Common Redshank, around 50 Black-tailed Godwits a handful of Dunlin and a single Knot. The stream was not that much better with another 50+ Black-tailed Godwits, a dozen or so Lapwing and single Green and Common Sandpipers. 

Black-tailed Godwit on the Stream Farlington Marshes

I worked my way around towards the Deeps scanning for an Osprey or something on the sea but my attention was drawn to a couple of pipits on the sea wall that took flight calling just as I got on to them - Tree Pipits, the first of the migrants I had been hoping for. When I got to the Deeps single Whinchat and Northern Wheatear were feeding on the parched ground that normally forms part of the pool. 

As I continued around the sea wall towards the point field a bird took of from a fence post and flew along the ditch away from me. I was a bit confused by its identity initially as it flew away from me, but soon the penny dropped, a Short-eared Owl!! I have to admit that I have seen Short-eared Owls many times at Farlington and regularly at the point field, but in August, never. The bird continued to fly away from me circling around the point then heading back along the sea wall north, right past another birder. It landed briefly on the bank then flew back across the point field towards me, but always at a distance, and landed in a bush and out of sight. Despite waiting for a while for it to re-appear it did not.

Short-eared Owl - Farlington Marshes 9th August 2015

Short-eared Owl - Farlington Marshes 9th August 2015

Short-eared Owl - Farlington Marshes 9th August 2015

I don't know when the last record of Short-eared Owl was in Hampshire in August, but suspect that there aren't that many. Regardless of that it was a cracking bird and and is definitely to first record for me in Hampshire in August.

Twitching the Hudsonian Godwit in Somerset

Last Saturday (25th April) when I was in Cornwall news broke of a Hudsonian Godwit at Meare Heath in Somerset. It was the third record of the species in Britain and a species that I had not seen before; obviously I was quite keen to connect with it. I had hoped that it would hang around and I would be able to call in on my way home on Monday. No such luck, the bird departed late in the afternoon and was not relocated. Around lunch time on 29th April it was back again at Meare Heath, which was great, but I would not be able to get there until Saturday. I suspected that most local birders would have already gone by then and intended to go on my own, but Dave Ryves was in a similar position to me. We decided to leave early and before there was any news in order to avoid the Bank Holiday traffic and were at the site before 8am. 

News of the bird being there had come through at 06:45 so we were feeling pretty confident, and when we arrived there were around 70 birders present. Unfortunately the bird had flown from the back of the wader pool to the front and was out of view behind a bank; we had a nervy 20 minute wait before it eventually appeared. We did scan through the Black-tailed Godwits on view, just in case the hud-wit had sneaked back out, but alas it had not. Despite our target bird not being on view there was plenty to keep us occupied; a drake Garganey, several Great White Egrets and booming Bitterns and a couple of Ruffs were the highlights. The Great White Egrets were in full breeding attire and looked quite stunning, certainly a much better view than the bird I saw at Marazion Marsh last week.

Great White Egret - a better picture than last week's attempt at Marazion Marsh

After what seemed an age and several false alarms as Black-tailed flew from the out-of-view area, the Hudsonian Godwit appeared and flew to the back of the pool where it fed in full view..........at last. Despite having seen so many images of this bird as I was scanning through the flock of Black-tailed's I had questioned myself as to whether I would have been able to ID it, but now it was there it all it's glory I had note doubt. My first impression was of a generally dark bird which lacked the orange colouration and pale underparts of the Black-tailed's, but as I worked my way around the bird there were many differences, some subtle and some much more obvious. In flight it really stood out from the other godwits. A summary of features I noted are as follows;

• Generally darker upper parts, lacking orange on breast and neck of Black-tails;
• Greyish tone to neck;
• Slightly upturned billed;
• Underparts dark, including vent and underrated coverts strongly barred;
• Under wing coverts dark and wing bar fainter than Black-tailed;
• Only feet project beyond the tail in flight (part of tarsus also does in Black-tailed)

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian (left) and Black-tailed Godwit - note the longer primary projection beyond the tail on the Hudsonian

Hudsonian (right) and Black-tailed Godwit - note the difference in the projection of legs beyond the tail

Hudsonian (right) and Black-tailed Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian (top) and Black-tailed Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit (centre) with Black-tailed Godwits

Hudsonian Godwit (top left) with Black-tailed Godwit - note the fainter wing bar on the Hudsonian as opposed to the very broad and white one of the Black-tailed's

We spent a good couple of hours watching the bird, which was an absolute corker, and decided it was time to head home. We stopped briefly on the way back to look at a Bittern that had been sat on the edge of a reed bed for a while, and were on our way. 

Bittern

Back Birding on the South Coast of Hampshire

Rainy and breezy conditions put paid to any bird ringing this morning, so instead I took the opportunity for a bit of local birding. The plan was to start at Farlington Marshes to look for the long staying Spoonbill, then to Walpole Park for the Ring-billed Gull, Titchfield Haven, for nothing in particular, but hopefully to see the Marsh Harrier and then finish up back on my patch at Curbridge.

Farlington Marshes
There was a bitterly cold north-westerly breeze, which I had expected but the occasional driving rain I had not, and it made for quite an unpleasant walk around the seawall at times. The tide was high when I arrived, and Dark-bellied Brent, Canada and a couple of Greylag Geese were feeding on the reserve. Duck species were represented in good numbers, with Pintail, Wigeon, Teal and Shelduck all present. The water on the main lake was quite high and as a result there was no wader roost to speak of, a few Redshank, a couple of Snipe and an Avocet was about it. Five Bearded Tits were giving great views whilst feeding in the reed bed right next to the sea wall, and a Reed Bunting perched up briefly before flying off.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese - Farlington Marshes

There must have been well over a thousand brent geese on the marsh, with most of them on the middle marsh. I was scanning through them on the off chance of picking up a Black Brant, I did not find one but did pick up the colour ringed individual below. This is now the third colour ringed brent I have found in the last couple of weeks so will send them off soon to see where they are from.

Colour ringed Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Farlington Marshes

As the tide was dropping, hundreds of waders were leaving their high tide roosts and starting to feed on the intertidal. The majority were Dunlin, but also Knot, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plovers. A flock of Black-tailed Godwits were roosting on the stream, two of which were colour ringed. Unfortunately, they were both roosting on one leg so I was unable to get a full combination. The stream is where the Spoonbill has been hanging out, but it was not there today. 

Black-tailed Godwit - Farlington

By the time I returned to the seawall the tide had dropped considerably. Waders were feeding all over the intertidal but the highlight was a flock of 47 Avocets, that were feeding in the Broom Channel to the west of the reserve.

Walpole Park, Gosport
My visit to Walpole Park was in the hope of ticking off the Ring-billed Gull for the year. I pulled up and immediately picked it up sat next to the lake. Well, I say lake, but work is currently being carried out on them so both lakes have been drained to leave just mud. Luckily this work hasn't deterred the ring-billed as it was sat in its usual place. I couldn't resist taking a few more pictures.

Ring-billed Gull - Walpole Park, Gosport

Ring-billed Gull - Walpole Park, Gosport

Ring-billed Gull - Walpole Park, Gosport

Titchfield Haven

I didn't stop long at the Haven, just enough time to scan the exposed mud around the seafront and look up the valley for the Marsh Harrier. There was nothing really of note, a few Great-crested Grebes were on the sea, and Teal and Pochard on the river. A Buzzard was perched on a post by the south scrape, looking for an easy meal no doubt. A few hundred gulls were on the foreshore, at least 20 each Common and Herring Gulls, a couple of hundred Black-headed and one Mediterranean Gull.

Curbridge

When I got to Curbridge the tide was low and Little Egrets, Redshank and Greenshank were feeding in the creek by the Horse and Jockey pub. In the main estuary there were another three Greenshank, 11 Redshank and five Curlew. My main reason for going though was to check out the low tide gull roost, as you never know what might drop in. There was a good sized flock present, at least 250 birds, that was made up mainly of Black-headed Gulls, but there was also 67 Common Gulls, four Herring and three Mediterranean Gulls. I have been birding this creek since I was a teenager and had never previously recorded Med Gulls until last year when over 200 were present.. Three times this week I have visited and recorded at least one on each visit. One of the Meds was colour-ringed with a red ring, with white numbers, Unfortunately I could only make out the last two numbers, which were 99, before the whole flock was flushed by a Buzzard.

Common, Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls - Curbridge

In search of winter birds, Day 2 - Norfolk 2015

After the now traditional hearty breakfast we planned our day and prepared to head off. There were a few bits and pieces on the feeders in the garden but nothing of much note, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Coal Tit were probably the most notable. 

Wolferton

We started the day at Wolferton in search of the elusive Golden Pheasant. We have tried for this species in previous years but without success, but this year Paul's local knowledge gave us hope. We headed for the northern road that forms the Wolverton triangle and slowly  searched the area. Our first circuit was without success, but on our second circuit we flushed a stunning male bird, who was feeding right on the edge on a clearing. This was our second new species for our annual Norfolk trip and one we were very pleased to get.

Hunstanton

Our next destination was Hunstanton and the coach park opposite Tesco's. Two Waxwing had been visiting trees in the car park all week, but not today. We searched the area for a while but failed miserably. Our next stop was the cliffs at Hunstanton; this would give us a view of the sea in search of ducks and also views of Northern Fulmars. The sea was very quiet and other than a couple of flocks of Sanderling passing by there was nothing of note. We did get some cracking views of Fulmars though as the hung in the stiff breeze.

Fulmar - Hunstanton

Holme Beach

We are fortunate in that when we stay in Norfolk we stay in the home of a birder and are able too enjoy his choice of artwork. One of my favourite artists at the moment is Darren Woodhead (http://www.darrenwoodheadartist.co.uk/) and it was a very pleasant surprise to see one of his pictures hanging on the wall in the cottage. The painting is of a flock of Fieldfares, and a lone Waxwing, feeding in a clump of Sea Buckthorn. 

Darren Woodhead Painting of Fieldfares on Sea Buckthorn 

Our next stop of the day was Holme Beach and here the image on the wall came to life as we were greeted with a flock of Fieldfare, minus the Waxwing, feeding in a clump of Sea Buckthorn. As we enjoyed the birds we could just imagine Darren sat with us painting the scene.

Fieldfare - Holme Beach

Fieldfare - Holme Beach

Our main reason for going to Holme was to look for the flock of Snow Buntings that were known to be present. After spending a few minutes with the Fieldfares we headed on in search of our quarry. We first stubbled across a few Knot that were feeding in the nearby pools, they were extremely approachable, the individual below was the tamest.

Knot - Holme Beach

There were good numbers of Skylark feeding in the sand dunes and as we homed in on the Snow Buntings we stubbled across some pretty of approachable individuals.

Skylark - Holme Beach

There were about 20 Snow Buntings present but they were constantly moving back and forth along the beach. We eventually pinned them down and were able to get some cracking views before they took flight. 

Snow Buntings - Holme Beach

Snow Bunting - Holme Beach

Thornham

Thornham Point has been a regular site for Twite and Rock Pipit over the last few years, except last year that is. After Holme we headed there and were quickly on to a few Rock Pipits. A handful of wader species were present, mostly Redshank but also Grey Plover, Ringed Plover and Curlew. 

Redshank - Thornham

Curlew - Thornham

We eventually picked up the Twite flock, about 30 birds were feeding on vegetation on the salt-marsh. Typically they come to the gutter of the nearby building to drink, but that was not to be the case today.

Titchwell

Our next stop was the RSPB's Titchwell reserve, this is usually a great place for a variety of wader and duck species but also a good place to look out to sea for divers and sea duck. We arrived at Titchwell and headed straight out along the footpath to the beach. The scrape on the north had the best to offer with several Ruff, Snipe, Dunlin, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits present. At the back of the scrape there were several pipits, including two Water Pipits, four Rock Pipits and a couple of Meadow Pipits, a Bearded Tit joined them for a while and gave good but distant views.

We continued along the footpath adding a few more species to our trip total and then picked up an Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit, both of which had colour rings. As regular readers will know I am constantly on the lookout for colour-ringed birds, so will endeavour to find out where these were from.

Colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit - Titchwell

A quick check on the sea was disappointing, with only Common Scoter and Goldeneye recorded. It has been suggested that the storms of last years have changed the dynamics of the seabed and therefore there are no sea duck present, hopefully things will be back to normal next year.

A149 at Burham Overy Staithe
We intended to finish the day Lady Anne's Drive, but on the way we headed past Burham Overy Staithe on the A149. As we headed towards the lay-by there were a group of birders appearing to be watching something, so we pulled in to have a look. As it turns out they weren't watching anything but we stayed for a while. It was a good choice as we soon picked up a Short-eared Owl, several Marsh Harriers, three Common Buzzards, including a very pale individual similar to others I had seen on the continent, a Barn Owl and a Rough-legged Buzzard.

Lady Anne's Drive
We eventually arrived at Lady Anne's Drive and had another couple of Barn Owls and four Woodcocks, which was in fact our target bird.

We ended the day on 85 species bringing our total for the trip to 101.

Ice Cold in Hampshire

If the weatherman is to be believed, and I have no reason to doubt him, last night was the coldest night of the year. The sub-zero temperature had produced a heavy frost and I was unable to get the solid ice out of the bird baths, and so had to fill up some saucers with water and place them around the garden. 

It was frozen at Titchfield Haven too, the first time I think I have seen that this year, and the waders and gulls were roosting on the ice at the southern  end of the River Meon. However, it was not the roosting gulls that drew my attention, but the waders feeding on the intertidal. In the 35+ years that I have been visiting Hill Head, things have changed, the intertidal area has become more sandy, and this in turn has attracted small flocks of Sanderling. The numbers remain fairly small, this morning I counted only nine birds, that were feeding with a single Dunlin and a handful of Ringed Plovers. Because the beach is well used for recreation at low tide the birds are generally quite approachable, and these were no exception.

Sanderling - Hill Head

Sanderling - Hill Head

Dunlin - Hill Head

I spent a good half an hour with the Sanderling, despite having only seen, and photographed them recently at Southsea, and then moved on around the foreshore. There wasn't much of note to report, Oystercatchers were common, as were Ringed Plovers and Turnstones, but other than the Sanderlings, Dunlin and single Grey Plover and Redshank, there wasn't much else.

Black-tailed Godwits - Titchfield Haven

Before heading off I had a quick scan over the frozen river, there were mainly Black-headed, but also Common and Herring Gulls. Four Black-tailed Godwits were also present, but they must of got cold feet and flew up the valley. A cheeky Fox was soaking up the sun on a south facing slope. It was clearly visible from the roadside viewing area and seemed unperturbed by my presence, although it did occasionally have a quick peak to see who was watching it.

Fox - Titchfield Haven

After my visit to the Haven I headed up to a site in East Hampshire where there was meant to be a Red Kite roost. Apparently up to 40 birds have previously been recorded there but recently it has numbered around the low 20's. It was still bitterly cold but the clear sky meant the light was excellent. I parked up on the corner of a farm track and almost immediately three Red Kites drifted over. Several Common Buzzards were also milling around, at one point I counted seven, but there was most likely more.

Red Kite - East Hampshire

As I waited for more kites to show I was entertained by a couple of Robins, who were being typically territorial, and several Brown Hares that were showing occasional signs of their March madness.

Robin - East Hampshire

Brown Hare - East Hampshire

There were several Red Kites coming into the roost by now but most of them were distant, which was a bit disappointing, the local Buzzards were coming much closer and enabled me to get the odd photo. The kites were generally just flying leisurely towards the roost and perching up, but just when I though that they had settled down, they would all take flight and chase each other briefly before settling back down.

Common Buzzard - East Hampshire

Red Kites - East Hampshire

Roosting Red Kites - East Hampshire

As the light, and the temperature dropped the kites settled down, and so did the level of bird activity, although a male Pied Wagtail continued to feed on the frozen farm pond. It seemed to be a very unlikely place to be feeding, when the farm yard appeared to have much more to offer, but it was actively picking up little morsels from the surface. Eventually it too flew off to roost, but as it did the moon put on a spectacular show.

Skating Pied Wagtail - East Hampshire

The Moon