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

Marazion Marsh, Cornwall - 26th April

My birding today was limited to about an hour at Marazion Marsh this afternoon. We arrived just after lunch, which was slightly fortuitous as the Great White Egret was feeding in a distant ditch, and just about in view. I must admit that I was not really bothered about seeing it, as I regularly see the individual at Blashford Lakes, but stopped for a quick look anyway. A quick look was about all I got, as the bird was deep in a ditch and obscured by reeds, but it was possible to make out that it was a Great White Egret….honest.

Great White Egret deep in the reedbed.....honest

I decided not to wait for a better view and headed along the road scanning over the reserve. There were several Reed Warblers singing, along with the occasional Cetti’s, a single Wheatear was feeding amongst the rabbit burrows and about 50 Sand Martins fed over the reedbed.  

Northern Wheatear

A small willow in the middle of the marsh seemed to be supporting a Grey Heron nest, a single nestling was present in the nest; what I assumed to be the parents were busy feeding on the water’s edge, occasionally taking flight to see off intruders.

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

There was very little going happening on the marsh so I crossed the road and began looking out to sea. Thirty Whimbrel were roosting on the beach, but they were soon flushed by dog walkers and headed off north. I started to scan out to sea and picked up a flock of another flock of around 50 waders that included 48 whimbrel and a single Bar-tailed Godwit. This flock was quickly joined by another 30 Whimbrel, all of them settling on the beach to rest.

Whimbrel and a single Bar-tailed Godwit

Whimbrel and single Bar-tailed Godwit

Resting Whimbrel, except for the one fighting with an Oystercatcher

There was a degree of bickering between individual Whimbrel and some of the Oystercatchers, and the Herring Gulls seemed intent on giving the Barwit a hard time. After about 30 minutes resting the whole flock took flight and headed off north, this seemed an appropriate time for me to head back to St Merryn.

Birding in the West of Hampshire

Over the last few weeks bird ringing activity has been non-existent, mainly due to the waves of torrential rain and high winds that have been sweeping the country. Even just getting out to do a spot of birding has been difficult, unless, that is, you are covered from head to toe with waterproofs. However, over the weekend of 8/9th December I did manage to get in a spot of birding in the west of County.

Wetland Area with Lapwing, Wigeon, Black-tailed Godwit and Glossy Ibis (the small black dot in the middle)

I had not recently been birding in this area and with the arrival of a few unusual birds it seemed like a good place to go on the one day it wasn't raining, although it looked like it was going to at any minute. My first port of call was Bickerley Common, a flooded meadow to the south of Ringwood. Most of the river valleys in Hampshire are swollen at the moment, and the River Avon is no exception. Water has spilled from the main river channel into the adjacent floodplain creating some interesting wetland habitat for birds. On the plus side this has created sanctuary areas that have become inaccessible to humans thereby limiting disturbance, but on the negative side, there are so many of these flooded areas that birds are widely spread and often difficult to find. But this is not the case at Bickerley Common, where the flooded meadow has become a haven for wetland birds, with the two most noteworthy species being glossy ibis and great white egret.

Great White Egret

Arriving at the site the closest bird was the great white egret, this species has become semi-resident in the area over the last few years, with a colour-ringed bird, originally of French origin, spending most winters at the nearby Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT), Blashford Lakes reserve. Unfortunately this bird spent all of its time feeding in thigh deep water and so it was not possible to see if it was the colour-ringed individual.

Great White Egret

In contrast the glossy ibis was happily feeding right at the back and was virtually the furthest bird, giving acceptable scope views but useless for photography (as can be seen in the first picture). There was also a good mix of other wetland species including black-tailed godwit, snipe, green sandpiper, lapwing, kingfisher, Canada and greylag goose, teal, wigeon, gadwall, shoveler and tufted duck. So a good variety of species to start the day. I next headed up to the Avon causeway and Harbridge in search of a Bewick's swan, a species which used to winter in large numbers in the Avon Valley, but those days are long gone. With no sign of the Bewick's and not much else to see in the area I headed back to the HIWWT's Blashford Lakes reserve.

Little Grebe

I started at Ibsley Water and more wetland birds. The middle of the day is not the best time to visit since all of the goosanders will have dispersed across the valley, but nonetheless there were still birds to see, pochard, tufted duck, goldeneye, pintail and good numbers of shoveler. Another noteworthy species for its scarcity these days was ruddy duck, an introduced species  from North America into the UK, that has recently undergone a massive decline due to a licenced cull. The species' fate was sealed due to its interbreeding with the closely related and much rarer white-headed duck in Spain. Ruddy ducks are the more dominant species, as with many North America species, and have been identified as one of the causes of the decline of the now endangered white-headed duck. The licenced cull has been very effective and now only very small numbers of this species exist in the UK.

Wigeon, Gadwall, Coot and Red-crested Pochard

My next stop was Ivy Lake, and the usual location for a very obliging bittern, but not this day. A drake red-crested pochard was causing some interest among the local birders but otherwise the species present were much the same as seen on Ibsley Water. One of the highlights of visiting Blashford Lakes is the excellent views of lesser redpolls and other finches and woodland birds drawn in by the abundance of food provided by the Trust. Identification of the different redpoll types can be very tricky when they are feeding at the top of an alder tree, but here the birds are drawn down low to the feeders.

Lesser Redpoll Carduelis flammea cabaret

Lesser Redpoll Carduelis flammea cabaret

Lesser Redpoll Carduelis flammea cabaret

The redpoll sub-species cabaret, which is the common race in the UK, is generally smaller and darker than the flammea race, which occurs in Fenno-Scandia. Occasional birds of the race rostrata have been recorded at Blashford lakes in recent years, these birds generally larger, darker and more heavily streaked than the race cabaret.

Lesser Redpoll Carduelis flammea cabaret

Lesser Redpoll Carduelis flammea cabaret

Lesser Redpoll Carduelis flammea cabaret

The variation in colour and size of individual birds can make identification of the different races very subjective, and things are not helped by variations in lighting conditions. I did not see any birds that even vaguely resembled a common (mealy) redpoll, maybe one will turn up later in the winter.

Brambling Fringilla montifringilla

Of course redpolls are not the only species visiting the feeders bramblings, chaffinch's, siskins and nuthatch's are all attracted in and give excellent views.

Female Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea caesia

So if you are visiting Hampshire and want to get to grips with identifying lesser redpolls, there are not many better places to visit than Blashford Lakes in the winter.