'Can't See The Wood For The Tringas!'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 24th to Sunday 30th June 2013.......

Bird Of The Week...

Considering the time of year it was a fairly good week for birds, although for the second week running my bird id skills left a lot to be desired! It was while I was uploading my pictures of Friday and Saturday's 'Green Sandpiper' for this weeks' post that I realised it was in fact a Wood Sandpiper! To make matters worse there was no sign of it today! Now there was a Wood Sandpiper at Lodmoor RSPB on Thursday so when I found the expected first 'Green' of the season on Friday, 'Wood' should have firmly been on my radar but for some reason it wasn't. My only defence is that I'm used to seeing nice fresh juveniles later in the 'autumn', not summer plumaged adults this early!



Adult summer Wood Sandpiper on meadow pool this week.
Now that supercilium should have been a give away!



...And the large spots on the upper-parts and the narrow barring on the tail...
all good Wood Sandpiper features...Doh! ... What am I like?

And Runner Up...

A first-summer Arctic Tern...

Friday's first-summer Arctic Tern.

Now this too would have tested my id skills if it wasn't for the fact that last year's bird was still fresh in my memory and to help my growing self doubt a first-summer Common Tern was around today for comparison (although unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo of it).



 

The Rest Of The News...

Wildfowl...

There were no real changes from last week, with no new species in and numbers similar (see last weeks post).

Waders...

Apart from the aforementioned Wood Sandpiper the three Black-tailed Godwits remained to Monday with one to Tuesday; several Curlews flew west (with a peak of four on Tuesday); there were one or two Common Sandpipers most days; a single Lapwing lingered and of course the two breeding pairs of Oystercatchers and their young are still present.

The three Black-tailed Godwits on meadow pool.

One of at least half-a-dozen Curlews that flew west this week.
© Charlie Wheeler  wheeler-photography

Gulls & Terns...

Apart from the Arctic Tern, new in this week were four Mediterranean Gulls on Wednesday and one today...



Adult summer Mediterranean Gull today.

Otherwise the usual gulls and a few Sandwich Terns were seen and the Common Tern colony is still doing well with many chicks now present and, as well as the first-summer present today, the second summer lingers. There has however been no more sign of the dark-billed possible hirundo/longipennis intergrade.

 

Land-birds...

Very little to add to last week's list with no raptors of note and the only obvious passage birds being a few Sand Martins.

Other Wildlife...



Water Vole... still much in evidence thankfully since their return a few years back.

Male Banded Demoiselle...
the first so far this summer following on from the first Beautiful Demoiselles a few weeks back.

And Finally...

Despite the time of year there is still a good chance of a rare wader or tern... I just hope I can id it if one does appear!

'Augurs Of Autumn'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd June 2013.......

Summary...

This week saw yet more southward moving waders and local post breeding dispersal, while the claim of a probable Roseate Tern proved to be just wishful thinking on my part...


The tern third from the left along the perimeter fence (that I initially saw only distantly without the aid of my scope or the benefit of this heavy cropping of my photo) led to me texting to my 'contact group' that I had a probable Roseate but it was not to be...Sorry guys...

A return visit after work that evening, when I had more time to investigate, revealed only a dark-billed Common Tern...



Now this is presumably the same bird that I had a few weeks back and although I still don't think it is an 'Eastern Common Tern' of the race longipennis, I think it might well be an example of a nominate hirundo from the east of its' range i.e. Scandinavia to Western Siberia. It's not just it's dark bill but its' dark legs and feet too that made it stand out. 

While on the subject of terns it was with a degree of sadness that I read of the desertion of the Lodmoor RSPB colony last week. The Abbotsbury colony however are still doing fine with up to thirty pairs present and the first young in evidence this week. We have had similar desertions here over the years with no obvious reasons but with young now to feed, ours should now be past that danger. Even so, it doesn't follow that our fledging rates will be good, as last year very few if any chicks survived long enough to take to the wing, so fingers crossed!

Wildfowl...

It was the Wetland Bird Survey count today and The Abbotsbury results for wildfowl were as follows...

Mute Swan - 519
Black Swan - 2
Bar-headed Goose - 4
Canada Goose - 490
Shelduck - 13
Gadwall - 5
Mallard - 240
Pochard - 3
Tufted Duck - 25

In addition the Barnacle Goose has still been around and there has been actually up to eight Gadwall, twelve Teal and a single Shoveler.

Other water Birds...

The WeBS results for other miscellaneous water birds were...

Great Crested Grebe - 32 
Cormorant - 6
Little Egret - 7
Grey Heron - 1
Moorhen - 2
Coot - 123
Kingfisher - 2

Note that Moorhens are always under recorded on the count due to there furtive nature, whilst the Kingfishers were the first for several months (and obviously returning post breeding birds).

Waders...

The WeBS results for waders were...

Oystercatcher - 4
Lapwing - 1
Black-tailed Godwit - 3
Curlew - 2
Common Sandpiper - 1

Note that the Oystercatchers are the two breeding pairs that both still have unfledged young (that until they fledge don't count on the survey) and the Common Sandpiper is the first since early May so no doubt already heading south! In addition during the week there was a Redshank, a Bar-tailed Godwit and a peak of seven Black-tailed Godwit...



The Bar-tailed Godwit (far left) with the seven Black-tailed Godwits on the meadow pool (along with a Black-headed Gull).

Gulls & Terns...

The WeBS results for gulls and terns were...

Black-headed Gull - 16
Herring Gull - 2
Great Black-backed Gull - 5
Common Tern - 65

In addition, during the windy conditions this week, there have been at times larger numbers of the two large gulls along with the odd Lesser Black-back. Also there have been a few Sandwich Terns and a single Mediterranean Gull...



First summer Mediterranean Gull... a different bird from the one present a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks as usual to all the count volunteers.

Land Birds...



As I fairly regularly list all the water bird species seen on my weekly posts (as this week), I thought maybe for a change I'd list all the land birds seen this week too (rather than just the highlights). This time of year virtually all are breeding within the grounds or nearby so it will give an idea of the regular breeding species. So, in varying numbers, this week's tally consisted of non-passerines...Pheasant, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Tawny Owl, Swift, Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker...and passerines...   Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Cetti's Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Wren, Nuthatch, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet and Reed Bunting. Presumably weather related a few usually fairly regular breeding species are missing this year... Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit and Bullfich though most are breeding elsewhere in Abbotsbury and so  hopefully will return next year!

Male Kestrel over The Swannery meadow this week.



 

'Seaward Or Leeward'?

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 10th to Sunday 16th June 2013.......

You Win Some, You Lose Some...

There is very little to report this week but things could have been very different...On Tuesday morning I had a couple of tip-offs (thanks Brett & Mike) that a Caspian Tern found at nearby Radipole RSPB had flown off and might be heading my way. Unfortunately I was tied up with a school group all morning and wasn't able to keep much of an eye out for it. So it was with slight frustration that I then received a couple of further texts to say that Mike Morse had relocated the bird on his patch at nearby West Bexington. The tern therefore had almost certainly flown west through or at least past Abbotsbury some time in the morning. The only question is, did it fly up The Fleet passing through The Swannery (and therefore my patch) or did it fly along the seaward side of the beach (and therefore not on my patch)? Equally frustratingly, despite it being seen off and on at West Bexington until Wednesday evening, I never did see it at The Swannery even though it flew off east on several occasions and was gone for  an hour or so at a time. Thankfully it wouldn't have been a 'Swannery tick' as I saw an adult and juvenile in The Swannery embayment on the 13th September 1991 not knowing at the time that they too had already been seen earlier at Radipole. These birds then ranged along the coast between Weymouth and Abbotsbury for the next couple of days.

All this brings back memories of a few similar scenarios...

On 26th December 1995 mate Brett Spencer found a Forster's Tern flying down The Fleet at 'Littlesea'. It later emerged that there was an unconfirmed report of an unidentified small tern at The Swannery earlier that day, seen distantly from New Barn Road, but I wasn't at The Swannery that day to see it. The Forster's then lingered in the area until the 10th February 1996 ranging from Overcombe/Lodmoor RSPB in the east to West Bexington/Cogden Beach in the west. Unbelievably, despite it being seen flying up and down The Fleet on numerous occasions and also being seen off Abbotsbury Beach, I (and nobody else for sure that I'm aware of) ever saw it at The Swannery!

The remaining tales all have more successful outcomes...

On the 15th July 1998 I had a tip-off to say that a Laughing Gull seen at nearby Radipole RSPB had flown off west. Unfortunately I was tied up with a school group all morning and wasn't able to keep much of an eye out for it. Sound familiar? Remarkably though while supervising the kids during the swan feed I was fortunate enough to see the gull fly right past me! I was also able then to get word to Ian McLean (then resident) at West Bexington and he then connected with it there too!

Skipping forward to the morning of Saturday 6th March 2010 I had a phone call at home from Brett to say that mutual friend Alan Barrett had had a probable Bufflehead on the sea off West Bexington earlier that had flown off east, so I should check out The Swannery. For one reason or another I didn't actually get round to looking for it until late afternoon and, after several scans of the embayment drew a blank, I was amazed when, some way out, among a group of 'Tufties', an adult drake Bufflehead suddenly surfaced! A few local birders managed to twitch the bird that evening but thankfully it was relocated the next day further down The Fleet off Herbury Gore. It remained in the Langton Herring area until the 21st March moving back to Abbotsbury on the 22nd where it remained until 30th.

And finally... On the late afternoon of the 29th June 2010 I had just finished my feeding round and was 'taking five' when briefly out of the mist a tern loomed. Now I had been seeing Sandwich Terns on a daily basis and although my views of this particular tern weren't great, alarm bells were ringing, especially as I was aware a couple of Gull-billed Terns had been reported recently from the neighbouring county of Devon on The River Exe. I put the news out as a probable G-b T and was then informed that Mike and Alan had photographed a tern earlier that day at West Bexington and it was a Gull-billed! This bird was then seen erratically at The Swannery and off the beach throughout the following day allowing me to connect with it on a few more occasions.

The Gull-billed Tern off Abbotsbury Beach June 2010 © Luke Phillips Welsh Birder In Dorset

Thank you Brett and Luke for the use of your photos.

Now Back To This Week's News...

As I said, very little to report (hence my above ramblings). Both wildfowl and wader numbers dropped in both number and variety. The only new wader was a Curlew flying east today (with the only other waders being a few Dunlin and the breeding Oystercatchers and their young - even last week's Lapwing have moved on). The only new wildfowl were three Bar-headed Geese, in addition to the one already in the feral goose flock...

The three Bar-headed Geese on the bund.

This goose, along with Black Swan is the most regularly encountered non-established 'feral' species at The Swannery. How long is it before these two species are classed as being properly established and are placed on 'Category C' of The British List?

As for land birds there is not much to report either. Spring migration not surprisingly seems to have all but come to a standstill but there were more signs of post-breeding dispersal as there were reports of Barn Owl, Jay and Bullfinch none of which I have seen for a month or two. Also a family of Nuthatches have appeared in the lower Swannery grounds, which I assumed were the birds that nested 'up the top' by the shop but I can quite clearly hear those birds calling from my open cottage door as I write in adjacent Grove Lane (or are they just getting around a bit?). It should also only be a matter of time now until other local breeders (that did not actually breed in the grounds this year) reappear such as Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Treecreeper and then it will only be a few weeks before the first Willow Warblers begin to filter back and autumn migration starts in earnest!

 

One of our colony of Bee Orchids that are now beginning to flower.
Unfortunately I have been unable to find any Southern Marsh Orchids this year.



'Spring, Summer, Autumn'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 3rd to Sunday 9th June 2013.......

Summary...

I borrowed the title of this week's post from a Jake Fluckery (alias Paul Weller), Style Council song as I think it's rather apt... a few late spring migrants are still arriving, summer-moult movements are in full swing and post breeding dispersal is already well underway...all this and the May (Hawthorn) is still in full bloom!

Bird of the week was an Arctic Tern around the tern island on Monday and Tuesday...



Arctic Tern, off Bum Point, Monday.



Arctic Tern, off Bum Point, Tuesday, in better light!

It has a slight dark tip to the bill and the one tail streamer present is not as long as might be expected. However it called like an Arctic and the rest of its plumage and its jizz seemed fine so although a mixed pair have produced hybrid young at nearby Lodmoor RSPB I think this is pure paradisaea!



Wildfowl...

Much as last week really...the Feral Goose flock still occasionally held the Bar-headed Goose and the Barnacle Goose, whilst less expected ducks (for the time of year) included at least six Gadwall, four Teal, seven Shoveler and several Pochard.

 

Waders...

Both pairs of Oystercatchers now have young but migrant shorebirds (heading both north and south?) included a peak of twenty-five Ringed Plovers and two Bar-tailed Godwits on Monday; the first returning Lapwing arrived on Wednesday along with a Greenshank; a Redshank was seen on Thursday; twelve Dunlins on Friday and eight Sanderlings today.

Ringed Plover, Bum Point, Tuesday.

Apart from the twenty-five that flew through on Monday there were between one and three settled birds on several other days. Now I'd like to think that the migrating flock were northern tundrae but the lingering birds, like the one above, didn't particularly look small, slim and dark and so are probably just nominate hiaticula?



The returning Lapwing 'flock' had grown to three by today.

Gulls & Terns...

Along with the more expected first summer Black-headed Gulls there are now many adults arriving too (presumably failed breeders) and associated with this arrival were two adult Mediterranean Gulls. These stunning birds were seen intermittently in the week and were joined by a first summer at the weekend but another unseasonal Common Gull was the only 'white-headed Gull' of any note. Meanwhile the nesting Common Terns not only drew in the aforementioned Arctic Tern but almost as scarce here these days... a Little Tern, plus of course a few more expected  Sandwich Terns.




The first summer Mediterranean Gull. Unfortunately the adults were not so obliging!

This Common Tern appears to be a second summer, which...

                                                          ...like first summers, are supposed to rarely stray this far north! 

Raptors...

A Kestrel hawking for flying insects on Thursday instantly drew my attention as this behaviour is more associated with 'Lesser' than it is 'Common'. It proved to be an adult male however and with no grey in the wings was clearly the latter. Not all was lost however as it was then joined by my first Hobby of the year! Unfortunately though there was again no sign of either of the Marsh Harriers.

Passerines...

The only signs of passage were another Spotted Flycatcher and a few Swallows (and Swifts), House Martins and a lone Sand Martin flying through. The latter quite possibly being a dispersing post-breeder rather than a late arrival.

Other Wildlife...



Beautiful Demoiselle this week. The first male of the year.
This species and Azure Damselfly are still the only two odonata on the wing here so far.

Brazil 2 - England 2 - Blog 0

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 27th May to Sunday 2nd June 2013...

I'm a bit late posting this week (or should that be last week) as I worked until gone six on Sunday and then by the time I'd sorted out some photos, I didn't have anytime to post anything before the footie came on!

Wildfowl...

The feral goose flock continues to swell, mostly Canadas of course (plus two Greylag x Canadas and a white domestic x Canada) but the 'Bar-head' lingered to Wednesday and a Barnacle dropped in briefly on Saturday...



Saturday's Barnacle Goose

Slightly unseasonal ducks included three Teal, seven Gadwall and several Pochard along with the usual Shelducks, Mallards and 'Tufties'.

Waders...

One of our two pairs of Oystercatchers have now hatched young...

One of the adult Oystercatchers feeding one of the three chicks.

Adult and chick Oystercatcher.
This pairs breeding attempt failed last year when their nest was flooded out.

Another five species of wader made it in to the log, all passage species of course... five tardy Whimbrel and a Snipe on Monday, seven Black-tailed Godwits on Tuesday plus three on Sunday, a Redshank from Friday and several Dunlin.

Tuesday's seven Black-tailed Godwits on the meadow pool (along with Moorhen and a Teal).

I tried to string these into Continental limosa but no, I think they are just Icelandic islandica, their retarded summer plumage possibly due to them being first-summers? Now are they headed north, south or just nowhere in particular?



The three Black-tailed Godwits at Bum Point on Sunday.. bills up!..



Bills down!..The three Black-tailed Godwits at Bum Point on Sunday.

The three Black-tailed Godwits with a Redshank.
Now these 'Blackwits' are clearly islandica. I'm not going to hazard a guess on the Redshank though!

A close-up of this week's Redshank, the first for a few weeks. This species regularly nested at The Swannery until the early 90's and still occasionally over-summers.

Dunlin on Bum Point on Sunday.
This bird seems to best fit Northern alpina (but I wouldn't like to  totally rule out Southern schinzii)
© Charlie Wheeler  wheeler-photography

 

Gulls & Terns etc...

The best 'gull-like' bird of the week was a Fulmar over the Decoy Pond (!) on Wednesday. Almost as unexpected was a very unseasonal Common Gull...

This week's first summer Common Gull.

The only terns were Common, with sixty over the island at one point (so possibly now up to thirty pairs) and a few Sandwich...



A couple of Common Terns on Bum Point.
Not surprisingly both bearing rings as many of our fledglings have been ringed over the years.

Common Terns bathing.




Common Tern

This dark-billed  bird has been a regular here over the last few years. Although it appears rather dark overall here, this is just a photographic effect and regardless it doesn't have the distinctive look of Eastern longipennis.

Among the few Sandwich Terns this week was this apparent first-summer.

 

 

Raptors...

There were no birds of prey of any note this week, not even any Marsh Harrier sightings, so it's beginning to look like, as last year, their nesting attempt has failed.

 

Passerines...

Tuesday saw the largest arrival of hirundines yet this spring... most were House Martins (around 2,000) with smaller numbers of Swallows (around 200) but there was a good number of Swifts too (around 500). Unfortunately none of the swifts had white rumps, none of the swallows had red rumps and none of the 'martins' had blue rumps!







Despite not finding any Tree Swallows in this weeks hirundine influx this (Barn) Swallow was doing a good impression!



The first Swannery Spotted Flycatcher of the spring finally arrived on Saturday which is probably not surprising seeing there were around a thousand passing through Portland that day but apart from the aforementioned swallows and martins there were no more obvious signs of passage. However having lost them as a breeding species back in the 90's the first Starlings for a month or so, with noisy young in tow, was a welcome sound of summer! 

Other Flora & Fauna...



A female Beautiful Demoiselle. One of two this week.
Along with a male Azure Damselfly the first Odonata of the year.



Ragged Robin.