'A Wandering Willow?'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 20th to Sunday 26th May 2013...

Summary...

After the first full week of May saw a putative Pallid Harrier and the second a Black Kite, this week had a lot to live up to and basically it didn't! Birding wise, the first half was very hard going and even the second saw nothing to really get excited about.

 

Wildfowl...

A pair of Shoveler on the meadow pool today were the highlight (!) and six Gadwall remain (including two ducks) so maybe it's not too late for either or both to nest with us this year. A few drake Pochard remain with the Tufted Ducks, while Mallard and Shelducks are not surprisingly much in evidence.



A pair of Gadwall on meadow pool this week.

Canada Goose numbers are on the increase with the moult season looming and the 'feral' Bar-headed Goose is still present along with two Canada x Greylag Goose hybrids. The two 'feral' Black Swans remain and the Mute Swan hatching is now in full swing.

Little Egret on the meadow pool this week. There have been no rare/scarce herons so far this year.

Raptors...

There were reports of both Red Kite and Hobby but I saw neither, pity because the latter would have been a first of the year. I just had to console myself with regular Marsh Harrier sightings.

Waders...

Apart from the breeding Oystercatchers the only larger wader seen was a single Whimbrel, that is unless the single Grey Plover also falls into this category. Calidris waders were still passing through though with small numbers of Dunlin most days and on Friday sixteen Sanderling were on the Fleet shoreline of the Chesil opposite and three Knot were on the tern island...

 

Friday's three Knot.





The three (first summer?) Knot, with a sitting Common Tern.

The Tern Island with the three Knot just visible (on the perimeter fence)
along with around twenty sitting Common Terns. Still no scarcer terns yet this year though!



Adult (or just possibly second summer) Black-headed Gull on meadow pool.

Anything other than first summer birds are a bit of a scarcity in May at The Swannery but there have been two recent breeding attempts (both of which failed).

Passerines...

Along with a late flourish of Swifts a few Swallows, House Martins and a single Sand Martin were still (barely) trickling through but there was no evidence of any other passage until today when there was a very vociferous Willow Warbler present, the first for a couple of weeks (as they ceased breeding at The Swannery back in the early 90's)...





The singing Willow Warbler in the withy bed today (although actually in an Ash).

It's song was slightly unusual...although classic generally, every few phrases were much more varied... Still Willow Warbler like but with a few extra notes thrown in! Now I've heard mixed Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler singers before (at The Swannery and Bothenhampton) but this one wasn't one of those and I've heard Iberian Chiffchaff before (on Portland) and this wasn't one of those either. So I listened to the Willow Warbler songs on the Xeno-canto site concentrating on Northern acredula and Eastern yakutensis but these two races didn't fit either (in fact I couldn't really tell them from nominate). The recording that fitted best was of a nominate trochilus bird from European Russia but  maybe this is just a coincidence and the odd variation can probably occurr anywhere across it's range.



Today's Willow Warbler. Despite it's slightly odd song, it's plumage doesn't appear unusual.

So as expected passerine passage is now apparently petering out but I'm still holding out for a 'Spring' Spotted Flycatcher...especially as I've already seen them a stone's throw away at the beach car park and the Sub-tropical Gardens! The only other passerines of any note were a Coal Tit singing away in the grounds (an unusual May record as they don't normally breed any closer than the aforementioned gardens) and the continued presence of the Nuthatches that now appear to be feeding young.

 

And Finally...

The only rarity news this week actually concerns last year's rarities... A couple of tweets from the British Birds Rarities Committee reveal that both my Black-winged Stilt records have been accepted...

 

TheBBRC‏@_BBRC24 May

#BBRCdecision :Ref No 3781.1 Accepted same-Black-winged Stilt 11-April-12 Radipole Lake RSPB then Abbotsbury, Dorset

 

The adult Black-winged Stilt that was at The Swannery from 12th to the 18th April 2012.

This was the same bird that had been at Chew Valley Lake on the 10th and then Radipole Lake RSPB on the 11th. My first at The Swannery and the first official Abbotsbury record since 1956! Soon to be followed by...

 

TheBBRC‏@_BBRC24 May

#BBRCdecision :Ref No 4320 Accepted-Black-winged Stilt 24-May-12 Abbotsbury, Dorset

 

The immature Black-winged Stilt at Abbotsbury Swannery 24th to 27th May 2012. A third individual was at Lodmoor RSPB at the same time!

 
 Bring on the next BBRC rarity!


'Rare Raptor Renaissance'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 13th to Sunday 19th May 2013...

The Swannery's third Black Kite!

In last week's post I declared there was still time for a good bird and I was for once proved right. Not only that, unlike last week's rare raptor, I was able to clinch it! The local Carrion Crows alerted me to the presence of the bird as I was walking down the Swannery track to work at around eight on Friday morning but unfortunately (and unusually) my camera was still in it's bag at the bottom of my rucksack. I knew that if I'd attempted to retrieve it I'd not only fail to see the bird well but also probably still miss the opportunity to photograph it well too. So at least I had excellent views even if I didn't get a photo. It was over the lower car park when I first picked it up and pursued by a crow it flew right over my head before banking right in front of me and then heading off towards Abbotsbury Hill. It was only then that I managed to extract my camera and rattle off a few shots but it was by then far too distant. Despite tipping off local birders down at the beach and at nearby West Bexington/Cogden it was not seen again until it reached West Bay, Bridport around fifty minutes later and there too it was only a brief fly-by.

Now as I want to give you a feel of the sighting and as I don't have a photo of the Black Kite, or even a photo of a Black Kite, below is an image that work mate Charlie took in Botswana in 2012 of the African form, now recognised as a species in it's own right, Yellow-billed Kite ...




Just imagine it without the yellow bill! Yellow-billed Kite, Botswana 2012
© Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

The first Black Kite for The Swannery was in May 1994 which I observed flying over my head while I was strimming around the edge of the Decoy Pond (and which also promptly headed off west). The second was found by local birder Cliff Rogers and his wife Ann in June 1999. This latter bird roamed between Portesham Hill and Abbotsbury Hill before (yet again) flying off west but crucially at one point it was also seen over Chapel Hill where it would have been clearly visible and identifiable from The Swannery (and therefore countable) if only I had been there that day to see it! If I remember rightly I had actually gone to Devon for the day which is rather ironic as it was later seen in Devon too!

The Rest Of The News...

Wilfowl...

No real surprises this week but several Pochard and Gadwall and a few each of Teal and Shoveler were a little unseasonal if not totally unexpected, while the Bar-headed Goose re-appeared and is proving popular with the non-birding visitors as are our first cygnets of the year...
 

 

Some of our first Mute Swan cygnets of the year. © Charlie Wheeler  wheeler-photography
Sorry a bit cutsie I know but I promised our PR colleagues!



Waders & Terns

Sanderlings were seen on the Fleet shoreline of Chesil (opposite) on Monday (one) and today (nine), as were two Ringed Plovers on Saturday - the latter - like the four that flew through the day before were also clearly migrants as we have unfortunately had none nesting here for several years now. Dunlin were not surprisingly regular with a peak of twenty plus at the beginning of the week and Whimbrel peaked at ten plus on Friday. A Greenshank was heard on Tuesday, the day an Avocet was on meadow pool, while  three Turnstones and three (Icelandic) Black-tailed Godwits (the first for several weeks) flew through on Saturday. With no gulls of note it's on to 'sternies' and around twenty pairs of Common Terns appear to have settled on the tern island and are still pulling in a few passing Sandwich Terns but so far this spring no Arctics, Roseates or Blacks! 



The Avocet on the meadow pool...

And while on the subject of pied waders one of the breeding Oystercatchers this week.
We have two pairs nesting again this year.

Migrant Land-birds...

A few more Sedge Warblers arrived this week to join the single remaining singing male from last week and they are now doing their best along with several Cetti's Warblers to out-sing the more numerous Reed Warblers. Several singing Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Whitehroats are on territory too of course but apart from a couple of Wheatears (which by their timing and plumage were presumably Greenland bound), another fly-over Yellow Wagtail and a mere trickle of Swallows, House Martins and Swifts there has been a distinct lack of passage migrants. In fact I still await my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year (despite sightings elsewhere in Abbotsbury) and have resigned myself to having to wait to the autumn now for the likes of Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, Garden Warbler and Tree Pipit... but perhaps next week will prove me wrong...and some!

And Finally...



What we believe is a Blue Mint Beetle at The Swannery today.
Apparently a recent colonist from the continent. © Charlie Wheeler  wheeler-photography

 

'What's Hit Is History, What's Missed Is Mystery'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 6th to Sunday 12th May 2013...

A Putative Pallid...

The only accepted record of a Pallid Harrier in Dorset is of one shot near Blandford in April 1938. In those days, of course, the production of a specimen was often only the real proof of an occurrence. Thankfully things have changed and if a decent description does not pass muster then a good quality photograph usually does. If only the 'ringtail' harrier seen and photographed from The Swannery on Monday had not been so distant then the Dorset tally of Pallid Harrier records may have been doubled...

 

'Ringtail' harrier sp. Abbotsbury Swannery 6th May 2013 © Charlie Wheeler

I found the bird on Monday (6th) while I was  on my usual lunchtime round of the hides... I had just left the 'Fleet Pipe' hide when I heard a call that I couldn't quite place or workout from whence it came. I heard it several more times en route to Helen Hide and when I reached the swan feeding area the penny dropped...it was a harrier. I began to scan the sky with my naked eye for one of the regular Marsh Harriers and sure enough picked up a harrier way up over Shipmoor Point. When I lifted my 'bins' for a confirmatory glance however I quickly realised that this was no Marsh Harrier but a 'ringtail'. From its' structure I was pretty sure it wasn't a Hen Harrier so was most likely a Montagu's but with a recent increase in Pallid Harrier records in Britain that too was a serious contender...



'Ringtail' harrier sp. Abbotsbury Swannery 6th May 2013 © Charlie Wheeler

I quickly got my scope on it which convinced me even more it was not a Hen Harrier but for the life of me, beyond a bolder head pattern and obvious collar, I couldn't remember what else to look for and the distance was so great that I couldn't even count the number of obvious primary tips. At this point I switched to my camera but in the strong light I couldn't find the bird on the screen or even in the view finder. Thankfully at this point work colleague Charlie arrived and with his superior camera and skill he managed to rattle off a few very distant shots of the bird as it flew off northeast...



'Ringtail' harrier sp. Abbotsbury Swannery 6th May 2013 © Charlie Wheeler



Examining the photos (after the bird had faded into the distance) it appeared much stockier than it had in real life and I even began to think it may have been a Hen Harrier after all. I emailed a selection of Charlie's shots to an excellent well respected local birder who quickly ruled out Hen Harrier and after sending him a few more full sized shots (that he was able to blow up and tweak) he called me with the news that in his opinion it most probably was a Pallid! Another excellent well respected local birder (that saw the pictures) was also apparently of that opinion too. Obviously though, with the images we have, the identification simply can not be clinched...another one for my 'Ones That Got Away' list! Thank you Brett and Paul for your perusal and opinions of the images and of course thank you Charlie for their use.

 

The Rest Of The News...

Today's Swannery WeBS Results...

Mute Swan - 452
Black Swan - 2
Canada Goose - 20
Shelduck - 47
Gadwall - 4
Teal - 2
Mallard - 139
Mallard (domestic) - 3
Pochard - 7
Tufted Duck - 62
Great Crested Grebe - 18
Cormorant - 4
Little Egret - 6
Moorhen -  3
Coot - 39
Oystercatcher - 7
Dunlin - 2
Whimbrel - 4
Common Sandpiper - 1
Turnstone - 3
Black-headed Gull - 10
Herring Gull - 12
Great Black-backed Gull - 12
Sandwich Tern - 4
Common Tern - 31
 

Today's three Turnstones.

In an otherwise fairly quiet week the only additions to the above list were the ('feral') Egyptian Goose that lingered until Wednesday; the (escaped/'feral') Bar-headed Goose also to Wednesday; a single Shoveler; a freshly dead (un-oiled) Gannet in the meadow(!); several more Whimbrel; at least seven Bar-tailed Godwit; a Greenshank and over a hundred Dunlin.

Passerine Migrants...

In what was a rather disappointing week for this category at least the first Grasshopper Warbler of the year was heard (first by mate Alan, then by me) and the first two Whinchats arrived...



The male Whinchat at 'Ditchmoor' on Wednesday.

A few more Swallows, House Martins, Swifts and the odd Yellow Wagtail flew overhead and there were one or two fresh in Willow Warblers. Any other common migrants however were lost among the now local breeding birds...


After quite a good spring for passage Sedge Warblers - only this one remains on territory!

So a real up and down week and we are now into mid-May...still not too late to find a good bird of course but hopefully I'll clinch it this time!

'An Elusive Luscinia'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 29th April to Sunday 5th May 2013...

Wildfowl...

The Egyptian Goose that arrived last Sunday lingered all this week and for a few days was joined by another exotic - a Bar-headed Goose...

This week's Bar-headed Goose...

Most years one or two (sometimes more) of these 'feral' visitors occur at The Swannery. This attractive goose is fairly common in wildfowl collections and escapes now regularly breed in the wild in Britain. At present though it's population is deemed to be not self-sustaining - not reaching the criteria for it being classed as an official naturalised species (i.e. placed in category C of the British List). Therefore 'The Listing Police' do not count it as 'tickable'. In a true natural state they breed by upland lakes in Central Asia and migrate over the Himalayas to winter in the Indian Sub-continent.

The three Greylag Geese that my colleagues inadvertently flushed off the Swannery nest site first thing on Wednesday  (while I was having a Birthday lie-in) just kept on going, so were far more wary than either of the aforementioned geese or the local Canadas. They were most likely to be 'feral' birds too of course, albeit rather wary ones, but could their nervousness actually point to the possibility that they were late migrants - truly wild Scandinavian breeders en route from their Spanish wintering grounds? If the latter then they were certainly well on their way north by the time I got down to The Swannery later in the day.

Despite a good selection of (all dodgy?) geese this week, unsurprisingly wild duck numbers (apart from Shelduck, Mallard and Tufted Duck) continued to drop, with for instance no Shoveler by the end of the week and very few Teal, Gadwall and Pochard, while the only Pintail left was the resident 'Mallard-loving' male. The biggest surprise though was the re-appearance of a female Long-tailed Duck on Tuesday evening...

The female Long-tailed Duck on Tuesday evening (with a Canada Goose)...

...and the female Long-tailed Duck (with a Mute Swan) on Wednesday morning.
Always distant it was last seen on Friday.

Raptors...

The occasional Marsh Harrier continued to be seen off and on but the best 'BOP' this week was an Osprey on Monday...

The Osprey being mobbed by a Shelduck...

And once the Osprey got the message that it was not welcome Shelducks escorted it out of Swannery airspace .

Waders...

There was no significant passage this week but eight species made it into the log... Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Turnstone and Whimbrel, all but the latter in single figures.
 

Gulls & Terns...

Once again there were no real surprises on the gull front and this week only two species of tern... Common Terns finally making it into double figures, with at least sixteen today but in what has been a poor spring for them Sandwich Terns dropped off with less than ten present daily.

Land-birds...

With clear skies for most of the week grounded migrants were hard to come by. However most of the commoner species already seen this spring were present in small numbers but several mostly less common species still haven't been added to the year list as yet (Garden and Grasshopper Warbler, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Whinchat and White Wagtail). Therefore a real surprise was only my fifth ever Luscinia for my patch...a Nightingale...



The Nightingale that spent Monday skulking in my garden (which just qualifies as my patch as it adjoins The Swannery).

Regrettably it defied confirmed identification until nearly dusk when it popped out briefly allowing this quick shot to be taken through my bedroom window. Unfortunately it never sang and was not seen again! Of my four previous Swannery Luscinia records - one was an autumn Bluethroat in the reed bed: one was an autumn Nightingale flushed off the withy bed path: one was a heard only, sub-singing, 'Nightingale sp' one late spring from deep within nettles and the fourth was actually Dorset's second ever Thrush Nightingale that I saw being released after it was pulled out of a mist net!



Other wildlife...

The highlight was a belated first Adder of the year...

 

Adder in the lower Swannery car park this week.

There was a time when any visit to the drier banks of the reed beds on a warm spring day would reveal numerous individuals, a high percentage being black (or even red), but this male is of the classic light grey variety. Sadly sightings of any at all nowadays are few and far between.



Next week...

So the hoped for flocks of Swallows and House Martins 'carrying' a Red-rumped Swallow never materialised (just twos and threes) nor did any significant falls of nocturnal migrants. So lets hope it's not too late and something as noteworthy as a Nightingale or even better arrives this coming week too!