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.

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

Yellow Wags, Farlington Marshes - September 2014

August and September are the best months for catching Yellow Wagtails in Hampshire. Unfortunately we didn't manage to do any sessions in August, but we have managed two sessions so far in September. At Farlington Marshes the Yellow Wags spend most of the day in the fields with cattle, but at dusk they come into roost in the reed bed. We did our first session last week and another last night, and have amassed a total of 57 new birds so far.

Yellow Wagtail - Farlington Marshes

In theory Yellow Wagtails are pretty straight forward to age; adults undergo a complete post breeding moult and juveniles only a partial post juvenile moult. Adults therefore will have fresh plumage with the medium and greater coverts and tertials tipped a yellowish-green or buffish colour. Juveniles however have slightly worn medium and greater coverts and tertials, with white fringing.

Juvenile Yellow Wagtail - Note the white fringing to the greater coverts and occasional whiter fringed medium covert

Juvenile Yellow Wagtail - All of the greater coverts in this bird are juvenile, the medium coverts are post juvenile

Juvenile Yellow Wagtail - Note the white fringed juvenile medium coverts, which stand out from the buff fringed post juvenile ones. The greater coverts are all post juvenile

Adult Yellow Wagtail - Note the yellowish-green fringed medium and greater coverts and uniform generally warmer plumage

Adult Yellow Wagtail - Note the uniform yellowish-green fringing on all of the wing feathers.

Whilst waiting for the wagtails to come to roost other species of note that we recorded included three Whinchats, one Stonechat, a Green Sandpiper, 50+ Greenshank, Little Egret and at least 100 Black-tailed Godwits.

Farlington Marshes - 5th September 2014

It was a bit of  dreary start to the day this morning but I had the day booked off and so headed down to Farlington Marshes for a spot of birding. There have been occasional reports of Curlew Sandpipers on the marsh and yesterday an Osprey was seen, so I was quietly optimistic. I arrived just as the tide was falling and headed straight to the main lake to check on the high tide wader roost. The islands just off the car park were my first stop as there was a flock of 45 roosting Grey Plovers and three Black-tailed Godwits. All of the plovers were greys, but it was worth the look at many were still in summer plumage.

Grey Plovers

The last few times I have visited Farlington the water level on the main lagoon had been high, and today was no exception. A couple of Little Egrets and a roost of 24 Common Redshank were the only birds of note, although a Whinchat and three Common Whitethroats were flitting around the scrub. A quick scan of the horizon picked up the Osprey, but it was a long way off, roosting on trees on North Binness Island.

The quickest route to get a better view of North Binness was along the stream, and as this was also the most likely place for Curlew Sandpipers, I headed that way. There was a good sized flock of Black-tailed Godwits roosting and feeding along the stream, with around 50 Common Redshank and five Curlew Sandpipers. At least 10 of the godwits were colour-ringed but I was on a mission to get better views of the Osprey, so decided to come back this way later in the hope that they were still there.

Black-tailed Godwits

I did linger long enough to scope the Curlew Sandpipers and take a couple of pictures. All of the birds were juveniles with their neatly fringed upper parts.

Black-tailed Godwits and Curlew Sandpipers

Black-tailed Godwits and Curlew Sandpipers

Roosting Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpipers

I headed along the track, but was slightly stumped by the fence being across and cattle being moved. Fortunately the farmer had not really started herding the cattle and so I was able to get past. There were at least 100 Yellow Wagtails feeding around the cattle, but again I did not linger too long.

As I got up onto the sea wall the Osprey was still sat there and now the views through the scope were much better, but it was really to far for photos. I took a couple with my trusty old SLR before reverting to a bit of digiscoping with my very old Sony. 

Osprey on Tree on North Binness Island

The combination of poor light and a crap camera did not do the bird any justice, but at least it was a record shot.

Digiscoped Osprey on North Binness Island

I headed back along the stream and through the bushes, the Curlew Sands were still their but unfortunately all the godwits had gone. I watched the Curlew Sands again for a while until they took flight and headed over the scrape and out of sight. 

The bushes were bursting with birds with the majority being a flock of at least 1000 Starlings, but also good numbers of Blackcaps and Common Whitethroats.

Farlington Marshes - 7th August 2014

The tides weren't ideal but we decided to start this autumns wader ringing sessions anyway. The priority species, as last year, was Common Sandpiper. Any individuals captured were to be colour-ringed in the hope of learning a bit more about their migration patterns, and how they use the marsh. We arrived on site at around 18:30 and went out to set the nets straight away; we intended to put up five nets and on the scrape only. 

Once the nets were set it was a waiting game, so we took advantage and did a bit of birding. It was a bit of a breezy evening but there were plenty of Barn Swallows and Common Swifts around to keep us occupied. The swallows were feeding over the meadows and gathering around the reed bed in readiness for roosting.

Barn Swallows gathering in readiness to roost

Bearded Tits were very evident in the reed bed, constantly pinging as the flew back a forth across the reed bed. The stream was the best place for waders, with about 25 Black-tailed Godwits, 15 Northern Lapwing, five Common Sandpipers and a couple of Common Redshank and Common Teal.

Black-tailed Godwits, Common Teal and Mute Swans on the Stream

As the sun set over Portsmouth Harbour the wind began to drop and the tide neared its peak. The five Common Sandpipers on the stream began to call and circled around before heading out into the mid-marsh.

Sunset over Portsmouth Harbour

Our first net round produced two birds, and Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper, both of them juveniles. As I mentioned earlier the Common Sandpiper was a target species for us and was fitted with a combination of colour rings that would allow for the bird to be individually identified in the field.

Common Sandpiper with colour rings

This juvenile bird was aged due to the generally brown but extensively buff tips and dark subterminal bands to the upper parts, and the coverts, were brown and with very heavy dark brown and bright rufous-brown barring.

Juvenile plumage of Common Sandpiper showing extensive barring.

Our second and final round produced four birds, three Dunlin and a Common Redshank, all the birds were once again juveniles. This time last year we were commenting on how we were only catching adult birds, so it was a refreshing change to be catching juveniles.

Dunlin 

The chestnut fringes on the wing and body feathers age this bird as a juvenile. Some juvenile feathers will be retained through to the next summer so birds should still be able to be aged up to that point.

Juvenile Dunlin showing buff fringing to feathers

The upperparts and coverts of the Redshank were extensively fringed buff and warm brown, thereby ageing it as a juvenile. The bill was a dull reddish colour, darkening towards the tip again a juvenile feature.

Juvenile Common Redshank with obvious buff tips to plumage

Bearded Parrotbill...Reedling or Tit.....Ringing at Farlington Marshes - November 2013

Despite the success of last weeks ringing session at the Haven, and our first Radde's warbler (sorry to mention it again!), today we decided to go to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's Farlington Marshes reserve to try and ring bearded parrotbills. We had been aiming to try several weeks ago, but the weather conditions have been against us. This morning it was forecast to be flat calm for the first few hours, then strong winds and squally showers moving in by lunchtime, so we decided to give it a go.

As you may have gathered from the title to this post, the bearded parrotbill is a species that has puzzled ornithologists for over two centuries. It is considered to be a member of the Paradoxornithidae family, but is thought to be an outlier in that family. It is the only parrotbill species to exhibit sexual dimorphism and a bill that bears no resemblance to other parrotbills. Subsequently the English name has changed from bearded tit to bearded reedling, and now to bearded parrotbill. There is no guarantee that this latest name will last long though, as according to molecular evidence the link with parrotbills may be a remote one.

We erected four nets at dawn and could hear bearded parrotbills calling their distinctive 'pinging' call almost immediately, but our first net round produced only three wrens. There have been at least 35 birds in the reedbed at Farlington and so we were hopeful of catching some birds, and and we didn't have to wait long.

Male Bearded Parrotbill

Male birds are striking and probably the most stunning breeding species in the British Isles. They are easily identified by the chestnut and white upperparts, grey head and throat and distinctive black moustache. The bright yellow bill and iris put the finishing touches to this beautiful species.

Male Bearded Parrotbill - Note the characteristic black moustache that
give the bird its name, grey head and rich chestnut and white upperparts.

Female birds are by contrast much duller and lack the distinctive moustache and the head is a buffish-brown colour. The wings are chestnut and white, as with the male birds, but not as bright.

Female - Bearded Parrotbill - The female is much duller than the male and
lacks the moustache and grey head.

Another striking feature of male birds are the black undertail coverts, which add to the overall stunning look of the species. Female birds lack the black and instead theirs are buff.

Male and Female Bearded Parrotbills - Note the striking black undertail
coverts of the male bird.

Ageing bearded parrotbills at this time of year can be tricky as both adult and juvenile birds undergo a summer complete moult and are therefore inseparable. Birds moult from mid-July through to late October and prior to that the 1st primary of a juvenile bird is longer than the longest primary covert, and its tip is rounded. In adult birds the 1st primary equals the length of the primary coverts  and its tip is pointed. A feature which is used by some ringers is the colour of the iris, which is paler in juvenile birds and richer in adult birds. Of course this feature is only any good if you have experience with the species, or have several birds for comparison. Fortunately we caught 17 birds, 16 were new and one was a retrap and so we had plenty of birds to compare. 

Comparison in eye colour of full grown birds - the bird on the right is undoubtedly
a bird of this year (age code 3), the bird on the left could be adult, or maybe a juvenile
from a first brood

The image above illustrates the difference in eye colour in two male birds. The right hand bird has a very pale, yellowish iris which would suggest a juvenile bird. In contrast the bird on the left, has an iris which is more orange in colour. This bird could be an adult, but the iris was still yellowish towards the outer edge which may indicate a juvenile bird but from a first brood. The image below illustrates two females, the bird on the right was an adult that was ringed at least two years before. Looking at the bird on the left, it again has a very pale iris indicating a juvenile bird. Another interesting feature is the colour of the bill, the adult birds bill is brighter, whereas the presumed juveniles bill is darker, this is not evident in the male birds.

Comparison of eye colour in female birds. The right hand bird was a retrap
that was at least two years old.

The session was not only memorable for the beardies but also for another species that I have not handled this year...a common stonechat. We had seen three birds feeding on the edge of the reedbed and suspected that there might be a chance of catching one or two. This bird was a juvenile (age code 3) male. 

Common Stonechat Saxicola torquata

Adult stonechats undergo a complete moult after breeding, whereas juvenile birds undergo a partial moult. Therefore birds can be aged by the presence of retained juvenile feathers, evidence of wear and fringing. This bird exhibited a moult limit in the greater coverts and also a fair amount of wear and fringing in the wing and tail feathers, as seen below.

Common Stonechat

The surprise bird of the day was a sedge warbler, a species that should by now be well on the way to Africa. We have caught a few late birds during October at Titchfield Haven, but to catch this species in early November is exceptional. I looked back at the previous latest date for the species in Hampshire, and other than a previous bird that was recorded wintering on one occasion, the latest date is 9th November and that was in 1963. The latest bird in Hampshire in 2011 (2012 data not yet available) was 16th October.

Sedge warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

By the end of the session we had caught 24 birds, 17 beardies, three wrens, and one each of robin, stonechat, Cetti's and sedge warbler. Looking at the forecast for the rest of the weekend it is doubtful that there will be anymore ringing.