Showing posts with label Common Snipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Common Snipe. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 February 2015

Patch Birding and Ringing - February 2015

I haven't had much spare time since my last post, but have managed to squeeze in one visit to Curbridge, on 9th Feb, and also one ringing session in my garden. My visit to Curbridge was another lunchtime dash and as usual I only had my Panasonic FZ200 bridge camera, just in case. The tide was rising fast and as such there was very little exposed mud left. A Greenshank was making the most of the last opportunity to feed in shallow creek water as I pulled up into the Horse and Jockey car park. I grabbed a couple of photos making use of the digital zoom, so not the best quality but a good record shot.

Greenshank - Curbridge

My regular visits to Curbridge of late have not produced any new species recently but there have been some good records. This week there was a peak count of six Greenshank, a good count for this time of year and the second time I have recorded six birds this winter, and a Common Snipe was only the second one this year. The usual fare included one Common Sandpiper, five Redshank, three Teal and a Little Egret.

Six Greenshanks - Curbridge
Common Snipe - Curbridge. A record shot on full digital zoom

There were only a handful of gulls around due to the state of the tide, which included 10 Black-headed and one adult Mediterranean Gull. It is interesting to see Mediterranean Gulls making regular appearances this year after so many years without recording them at Curbridge.

On Sunday 8th in the morning I opened a net in the garden. I only had a couple of hours before going out, but that was enough time to catch 21 birds. The majority were as expected, Blue Tits, with 10 birds trapped, the next most numerous species was Long-tailed Tit, with six birds ringed. The highlights were single Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Chaffinch and Coal Tit.

Male Chaffinch 
Tail of Male Chaffinch showing pointed tail feathers suggesting 2cy bird. 
This bird also had two retained greater coverts in the wing.
Coal Tit 

Friday, 12 September 2014

Lesser Yellowlegs, Titchfield Haven - August 2014

News broke yesterday of a Lesser Yellowlegs at Titchfield Haven, and as it was still there today I nipped down this evening to go and have a look. The bird had been frequenting the North Scrape and so is best viewed from the Pumfrett Hide but I thought I would check the South Scrape first, just in case it was present. The light was fantastic and in front of the hide a couple of Pied Avocets, several Common Snipes and a Black-tailed Godwit were feeding.

The Avocets were both juveniles, and one of them was wearing some colour rings. I have yet to find out where this bird is from, but suspect it was ringed in the west of the County as Graham Giddens apparently colour rings them. One of the issues with colour rings is the way that they discolour, on the Haven bird the upper ring on the right leg is discoloured, I suspect it is white. The ring below appears to be light green, but appears to have faded and looks to be a similar colour to the discoloured white ring above. Maybe coloured darvic rings, with letters would be a better idea for a species of this size.

Avocet, Titchfield Haven - August 2014
Avocet, Titchfield Haven - August 2014

The snipe were also feeding just in front of the hide, at least six snipe were present with another 20 scattered around the scrape. Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwing were the other wader species present, with ducks, including Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler and Common Teal also on the scrape. I scanned around the south scrape but could see no sign of the Lesser legs, but then I spotted it feeding in the North Scrape.

Common Snipe - Titchfield Haven, August 2014
Common Snipe - Titchfield Haven, August 2014
Common Snipe - Titchfield Haven, August 2014
I headed round to the Pumfrett Hide to view the scrape and there it was. The Lesser Yellowlegs was towards the back of the scrape, and although giving great scope views in excellent light, it was bit too far away for decent photos. Given that there has been a Lesser Yellowlegs at Keyhaven for the last few days, I suspect this bird has come from there, as that bird has not been seen the last couple of days. It is great to see another bird so soon after the one that wintered last year.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Titchfield Haven - August

So not a bad week for the Haven, Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler on Saturday, Lesser Yellowlegs yesterday and today, what will tomorrow bring!
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