August WeBS

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 19th to Sunday 25th August 2013.......

Wildfowl...

Results of Sunday's Wetland Bird Survey at The Swannery re wildfowl were as follows...

Mute Swan - 620
Black Swan - 2
Canada Goose - 520
Barnacle Goose - 1
Shelduck - 6
Teal - 145
Mallard - 457
Shoveler - 2
Pochard - 7
Tufted Duck - 37

In addition the two Bar-headed Geese were around most of the week and there were at least four Gadwall mid-week. Sunday afternoon however, after the count was done and dusted, the first twenty odd Pintail and first eight Wigeon of the autumn arrived...


One of the first Wigeon of the autumn, an 'eclipse' male, sleeping after it's long journey.



Other water Birds...

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

Little Grebe - 6
Great Crested Grebe - 36
Cormorant - 16
Little Egret - 7
Grey Heron - 1
Moorhen - 5
Coot - 330


Little Egret fishing. 

I have often seen them frozen in this pose but never realised until I watched this individual that they actually vibrate their bill on the water's surface to attract prey, much as they vibrate their toes in the mud on the bottom!

Juvenile Grey Heron taking a more direct approach to fishing.
© Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

Waders...

As the WeBS results for waders were less representative of the week, below are the week's peak counts...

Oystercatcher - 1
Lapwing - 6
Ringed Plover - 1
Dunlin - 7
Snipe - 2
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1
Black-tailed Godwit - 4
Whimbrel - 1
Common Sandpiper - 5
Green Sandpiper - 6
Greenshank - 6
Redshank - 5


This week's two Snipe.

Two juvenile Black-tailed Godwits.

A 'Blackwit' with an itch!

Three of the week's Common Sandpipers © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography ...

And three of the week's Green Sandpipers.

Gulls & Terns...

The WeBS results for gulls and terns were...

Black-headed Gull - 201
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Herring Gull - 12
Great Black-backed Gull - 32

The last Common Tern chicks fledged mid-week and all adults and chicks alike had departed by the weekend. There were no other tern species seen but there were one or two Mediterranean Gulls most days.

 

Raptors

The highlight this week was the appearance of the first Osprey of the autumn but there were also sporadic sightings of our regular male and female Marsh Harriers.



Migrant Passerines...

Firsts of the autumn included two or three each of Tree Pipit and Redstart, while single figures of Yellow Wagtails continued to be seen or at least heard daily. There was only one Wheatear however and a check of the Swallow roost mid-week produced around thirty along with thirty Sand Martins (thanks Steve). With local bred warblers still in evidence the only obvious passage birds were a trickle of Willows and Sedges...



Willow Warbler.

Sedge Warbler.

A Couple Of Swannery Insects...

A rather worn Silver-washed Fritillary. 

Having only ever seen a handful at The Swannery over the years, it was a pleasant surprise to have several individuals visiting the Buddleia outside the Swannery Shop this summer (nice find Judy!). Constantly dipping on these however I was pleased to see this individual on the Buddleia by our 'Mess Hut' (nice find Charlie!).




Vapourer Moth caterpillar © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography
Thanks as always to Charlie for the use of three of the above pics.



'Déjà vu (trios Guifette noire)?'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 12th to Sunday 18th August 2013...

No it wasn't my brain playing tricks today... I apparently really did miss three Black Terns for the second time in just over a month! I saw the report late morning on the RBA website and having done a thorough round of the hides just before and found nothing of note, I was rather bemused. We also hadn't had any birders in as far as I was aware. Then I remembered that while I was cutting the overflow car park earlier, I had seen the regular two Sunday morning birders scoping the meadow and embayment from New Barn Road, so it was they, presumably, that saw the terns while I was otherwise engaged.



Last month's three Black Terns that I also dipped on by minutes.
© Charlie Wheeler.wheeler-photography



It was a pity I missed the terns as there was little else of note in the week...

 

Wildfowl...

Nothing 'new in' to report... The variety and numbers of duck were basically the same as last week, while the feral goose flock, although dispersing now that their moult is complete, still contained a couple of Bar-headed Geese and the Barnacle Goose...

Two of the four Bar-headed Geese remain, along with the Barnacle Goose...

The Bar-headed Geese often keep close company with two Domestic x Canada Goose hybrids.



The three surviving Tufted Duck'lings' from our only brood this year.
 

While on the subject of Diving Ducks it looks like my hybrid from last week may have been just a pure Pochard after all... In my defence I have just never seen such a young juvenile before, they're usually well on the way to first winter when they arrive... Whoops!


Waders...

This group were again a bit more inspiring than the former... The odd Oystercatcher was around; a few Lapwings lingered; there were two Ringed Plovers (on Tuesday); a single Whimbrel (today); a few Black-tailed Godwits including the first juvenile of the year...

The first of this year's juvenile Black-tailed Godwits (apparently of the race islandica).

...also one or two Sanderlings; several Dunlins...


One of this week's Dunlins, a juvenile.

... Common Sandpipers were seen daily, with at least seven on Tuesday...


One of this week's Common Sandpipers.

... Green Sandpipers reached three on a couple of days; whereas Greenshanks peaked at six...


Greenshank in the meadow, now that the water level has dropped.

... Redshanks peaked at ten and one or two Snipe were seen most days.

Gulls & Terns...

Apart from the aforementioned Black Terns there was little to write home about... There was still around fifty Common Terns in evidence, including one or two late unfledged young, whilst the only gulls of any note were Mediterraneans, with single figures most days.

 

Other Water Birds...

A Kingfisher was unusually the first since June and much less expected, on the landward side of the beach, were singles of Gannet over The Fleet and Fulmar over Chapel Hill!


Passerines...

A rather quiet week for this category although having missed the Black Terns a Pied Flycatcher was most definitely my bird of the week. The only other obvious migrants, excepting those that bred in the near vicinity, were a few Willow Warblers, several Wheatears, fewer Sand Martins than of late and only one or two fly-over and heard only, Yellow Wagtails.



'Pishing' (yes pishing) by a stand of reed produced this Reed Warbler. If the winds had only been south-easterly we could have been looking at an Aquatic Warbler. Ah well there's still time!

'Holiday And Highwater'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 5th to Sunday 11th August 2013.......

I was on leave all week but despite day trips out and long overdue chores I still managed to pop down to the patch most evenings. Inexplicably, in my absence,  the water-levels in the meadow steadily rose all week, something I will have to remedy on my return tomorrow. Even so, the sole patch of remaining mud in the meadow on Monday held a Little Ringed Plover but for the rest of the week the deep water meant that the only waders able to feed (up to their bellies at that) were Black-tailed Godwits, with three on Friday and a single yesterday and today (all Icelandic birds). There was however still a good selection of waders either on The Fleet shoreline or flying over, with single figures of Lapwing, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Redshank and Greenshank, most days, with the latter reaching nine on Friday! There were also three Sanderling on Monday and at least four Green Sandpiper on Tuesday along with two Curlew, a Whimbrel and a Snipe.



One of this week's Common Sandpipers on Bum Point.

While the meadow pool's depth was not ideal for waders it did attract returning dabbling ducks, with Teal exceeding thirty and Shoveler up to ten. Gadwall however dropped to around five and as yet there have been no Wigeon, Pintail or Garganey but at least in the case of the first two (and hopefully the last) it should only be a matter of time!



All the usual gull species were present including the odd slightly unseasonal Common and several Mediterranean but I have yet to clinch the first Yellow-legged of the season. There were again good numbers of Common Terns with both fledged and even a few unfledged young still and the few Sandwich Terns included the first juvenile of the year...



 

Although The Chesil has historically held breeding Little, Common and even a few Arctic and Roseate Terns there has never been a confirmed record of nesting Sandwich Terns so this juvenile (above two photos) obviously fledged no nearer than Poole Harbour.

Migrant passerines included the first returning Willow Warblers, with a small fall on Tuesday (and a few later in the week) and the first Wheatears, with single figures most days. Also, despite the continued presence of breeding Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers, and Whitethroats, there did seem to be a small influx of the latter two species at least. Swallow numbers increased too, overtaking those of Sand Martin for the first time this 'autumn', with around one hundred and twenty of the former and twenty of the latter in the roost on Tuesday (thanks Steve). Oddly though three Yellow Wagtails over this evening were the first of the week.

The only raptor of note was the regular male Marsh Harrier...


'Our' practically resident male Marsh Harrier looking more like a mature male with every sighting. What was probably 'our' female flew over my car at nearby Swyre in the week too.

The only other bird (arguably) of note was the male Lady Amherst's Pheasant that reappeared after a couple of weeks (perhaps having returned to the Subtropical Gardens in the meantime).

So it is back to work tomorrow which means, ironically, more time in the field, so with potentially more returning birds over the next few weeks.... watch this space!



An evening scene at The Swannery this week.

Keep Taking Your Meds!

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 29th July to Sunday 4th August 2013.......

 

Shorebirds and their allies stole the show again this week...

The Oystercatcher family were still in the area and there were at least two Lapwings lingering. A Ringed Plover was the first since the spring (but no Little Ringed this week) and a Whimbrel was a brief visitor. There were eight Turnstones on the beach opposite together with up to four Sanderlings and twenty Dunlins. There were one or two Common Sandpipers most days, two Green Sandpipers, a Greenshank, at least two Redshank and a Snipe. The best wader of the week though was a fly-over male Ruff still with some residual summer plumage.

 

Common Terns were still very much in evidence with around two-hundred in the embayment at times. Careful scrutiny of their ranks revealed a couple of Little Terns but nothing scarcer. Gull numbers continued to build, with a nice little influx of Mediterranean Gulls...



Just a few of the Mediterranean Gulls (and one Black-headed Gull) present this week.

A closer look at a couple of the Mediterranean Gulls, a second summer and an adult.

A juvenile Mediterranean Gull with a juvenile Common Tern. © Charlie Wheeler.



Juvenile Mediterranean Gull (the same bird as above). © Charlie Wheeler.

With lots of young (both fledged and unfledged) still around the Common Terns are still very protective...

And are even prepared to take on the odd passing Peregrine Falcon.
Both above photos © Charlie Wheeler.

Other Water birds...

No surprises this week again with all the usual ducks and feral geese still present though a few more Little Grebes are beginning to arrive back...



Little Grebe off Bum Point today...

Neither this species or their  Great Crested cousins breed at The Swannery but whereas the latter occur all year round,  the former are usually absent from early April to late July.

Land birds...

There is really not much to report on this front either with the only new-in species being Mistle Thrush, with a fly-over family party being the first since early spring, and the only obvious migrants again were a few flocks of up to fifty or so Sand Martins. Hopefully in another week or two though, the list of returning migrants should really get going!



Thanks go, once again, to Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography for the use of his photos.




Our new 'Bug Hotel' constructed by workmate Charlie from the remains of a large fallen Grey Poplar, bamboo and reeds stems.