Stormy Weather

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 21st to Sunday 27th October 2013...

Bird Of The Week...

There were high winds and high water for much of the week so when workmate Charlie found a Grey Phalarope on meadow pool on Wednesday it was slightly less of a surprise than when I found the last one in calm conditions a couple of weeks back. Still a good find though nevertheless...
 

First winter Grey Phalarope (with Teal) meadow pool Wednesday.
 © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

I arrived at Meadow Hide just in time to see the phalarope fly off towards The Fleet, where I relocated it a few minutes later, feeding like a conventional wader, on Shipmoor Point, across the embayment. Later searches however were in vain. Thanks go to Charlie for the use of his photos.
 

First winter Grey Phalarope (with Teal) meadow pool Wednesday.
 © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

 

Other Waders...

Due no doubt to the high water levels there isn't much to report, the Lapwing flock reached forty and a flock of ten Snipe were seen in flight (plus a few others dotted around) but disappointingly the only other wader was a single Ringed Plover...
 

Wednesday's Ringed Plover on the virtually submerged Bund.

 

Gulls...

As last week, nothing to report really, just all the expected species including fifty plus Mediterranean Gulls most days and yet again no late terns.

 

Waterfowl...

As they are not that regular this far up the Fleet, eleven Dark-bellied Brent Geese settled in the embayment on Monday were probably the highlight, although that is discounting the possible Todd's Canada Goose that is still in residence. The two drake Scaup are still present too, although one was often absent. As it hasn't been reported at Radipole or Lodmoor, where is it getting to?



Pochard and Tufted Duck numbers (along with Coot) are now building up.



And dabblers too have been seen in good numbers. Here a few of the Teal, Pintail and Wigeon but Shoveler, Gadwall and of course Mallard have all been present too.



Other Water Birds...

Nothing of note, just the expected species (and still no Glossy Ibis!).

 

 

Raptors...

The highlight was again the Marsh Harriers, at least one juvenile and the regular male...

 

The male Marsh Harrier over 'The Weasley's Reed-bed'.

 

Passerines...

The rough weather made the search for migrants a difficult one. There was however a small influx of thrushes, mainly just swelling the numbers of the commoner three species but the few Redwings noted were the first of the autumn. There was perhaps a few more Robins and Stonechats too but no other chats or flycatchers (not even a hoped for Black Redstart). The resident Cetti's Warblers were still outnumbered by Chiffchaffs but the only other warbler was a Blackcap, the first for weeks. A few Bearded Tits were the first since last autumn but only one was glimpsed, the others calling from deep within the reed-beds. Visible  migration was mostly restricted to a few hours on Thursday morning with a few Skylarks, Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Siskins passing overhead. A few Grey Wagtails, Rock Pipits and Reed Buntings were also around but it was hard to tell whether they were on the move or settling for the winter along with all the other usual passerines. Unfortunately there were no late swallows or martins this week and even more  disappointingly, given events elsewhere, no late swifts!

 



Meanwhile Elsewhere On The Fleet & Off The Chesil...

A juvenile Sabine's Gull roamed between Abbotsbury Beach and West Bexington on Saturday and Sunday and was joined by a Leach's Storm Petrel briefly on the latter day, with perhaps both moving to Chesil Cove later in the day; whilst at Ferrybridge up to two Black Brants were seen in the week. I'm afraid I didn't go for any of the above birds but if predictions of a massive storm hitting the south coast overnight are right I'm hoping for a few Leach's and maybe a Sabine's in the Swannery embayment tomorrow, or hopefully something even more exciting...so watch this space!

A Perplexing Pipit

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 14th to Sunday 20th October 2013...

That Pipit...

At around nine on Monday morning I was pushing the wheelbarrow down the path to feed the swans and above the Grey Poplar canopy over my head I could here the thin 'sip sip sip' calls of passing Meadow Pipits... Then however my attention was drawn to a distinct sharp 'speeeeh' and then once more... 'speeeeh'. Now this was not uttered by a Meadow, Tree or Rock Pipit, as I'm familiar with them all (and I have heard all three regularly this autumn) but it was however clearly a pipit, so which one? It was a call I'd never heard before but the first bird that came to mind was Red-throated Pipit. By the time I'd cleared the over-hanging trees the sky was clear and the pipits had moved off west. I wasn't able to check my field guides until some time later and it was later still that I managed to listen to some recordings. Despite the lapse of time the calls seemed a very good match for Red-throated Pipit but I suppose I'll never know for sure. Interestingly though one was found on The Isles Of Scilly the very next day!  So yet another one that got away. Just like the recent Citrine Wagtail I'm just going to have to pin my hopes on a nice spring male right outside meadow hide on the mud beside the pool. Hmm maybe next spring...now that would be nice!

No not the bird, if only it had been so cooperative!
No this is just a Meadow Pipit I photographed a couple of autumns back.

And Now For The Rest Of  The News...

Wildfowl...

Despite having arrived back on The East Fleet a few weeks ago, the thirty odd Dark-bellied Brent Geese that flew east on Saturday were the first at The Swannery of the autumn. Of more dubious origins no doubt were the Barnacle Goose on Monday (a different more confiding bird than last week's) and the possible Todd's Canada Goose that still lingered all week.

Last week's drake Scaup was joined by another on Saturday (but only one could be found Sunday)...

A 'record shot' of the two adult drake Scaup. It's rather unusual that the first two 'back' should be adult drakes, first winters are usually the first to arrive!

I still await the first returning Red-breasted Mergansers that have only made it as far up The Fleet as Rodden Hive so far and I searched The Swannery embayment in vein for the Long-tailed Duck that had been reported briefly in Portland Harbour. Just wishful thinking, as yet.

 

If diving ducks are a bit sparse at the moment, then dabblers are well represented with good numbers of all the commoner expected species...



Teal on meadow pool Sunday.



Adult male Pintail on meadow pool Sunday.

Ad male Shoveler, meadow pool Sunday...

And an equally attractive female Shoveler, meadow pool Sunday.

Other Water Birds...

The highlight was a 'Threskiornithid' but not the hoped for Glossy Ibis, no a perhaps more expected Spoonbill that circled over on Tuesday. Now Spoonbill is a very nice bird, but what is it with Abbotsbury and Glossy Ibis? Is there some kind of glossy exclusion zone or something? In the last couple of weeks there have been sightings at Radipole, Lodmoor and Portland, while last year too Radipole and Lodmoor scored (seemingly for the umpteenth time!). In the last few years there has also been  records from The East Fleet (at Littlesea and Ferrybridge) and also from the nearby Bride Valley. Elsewhere in Dorset there are also recent records for the Poole Harbour area while at Christchurch Harbour they now seem to be regular! Now, as I believe I may have mentioned before (on a previous rant), there was one at The Swannery back in the seventies but it was questionably believed at the time to be an escape. How long will it be before Glossy Ibis is officially on The Swannery bird list?


No not the Spoonbill, I didn't manage to get a photo of that,'just' a Little Egret.
It's almost hard to remember that at one time they were rarer than Spoonbill (or even Glossy Ibis!).




And another shot of the Little Egret...oh it so ought to be a Glossy Ibis (alright enough already). At least twenty have been roosting at The Swannery lately.

Waders...

A rather better week than last for this category. I missed the best bird though, a Ruff, that was seen by the ringers on a couple of evenings (and was presumably the Ferrybridge bird). The only other calidrids were a single Knot and a few Dunlin, while other sandpipers noted were a single Redshank, five Black-tailed Godwit, two Curlew and a few Snipe. The only plovers were Lapwing with numbers now building to between twenty and thirty.

 

Gulls...

All the expected commoner species were present in good numbers (for the time of year), including Mediterranean Gull, but there were yet again no terns.

 

Raptors...

The first Swannery Merlin of the autumn zipped through on Wednesday (having had a near miss at New Barn farm a few weeks back) and at least three Marsh Harriers are still around, with the adult(ish) male, (the regular?) adult female and at least one juvenile coming in to roost every evening and knocking about during the day occasionally too. Peregrines continue their return to form and of course there are plenty of Buzzards, Kestrels and the odd Sparrowhawk.

 

Passerines...

As already alluded to there was a moderate overhead passage early in the week, mostly consisting of Meadow Pipits, a few Rock Pipits, Pied Wagtails (while a White Wagtail was present in the roost), Swallows and a few House Martins. This 'vis mig' had virtually dried up by the end of the week though and in fact the last two species were by then completely absent. Nocturnal migrants were thin on the ground too with the only chats being Robins and there were only the usual three thrushes. The only warblers (bar the 'resident' Cetti's) were Chiffchaffs but these too were in short supply by the weekend. Goldcrests (ex-warblers if you know what I mean) were however calling from deep within every Holm Oak it seemed but as yet there has been no Firecrests (a trip over to the Subtropical Gardens is needed for a fix of this little gem!).

 

And Finally...

There is nothing else to report really so I leave you with yet another picture of the Grove Lane Lady Amherst's Pheasant, sorry but it's just so photogenic...





The male Lady Amherst's Pheasant that continues to visit my garden.

 And one of a Common Pheasant...

And why not? A male Common Pheasant by meadow hide this week.
No more 'tickable' than the Lady A it always amazes me how many of us birders are quite happy to add this species to our lists even though we have probably never seen a truly naturalised individual. But hey its on my list...The Lady A isn't though, come on you've got to  draw the line somewhere!

 

High spring tides have pushed most of the swans back up to Abbotsbury this week and their ranks have been swollen by the ninety odd cygnets that have fledged this autumn most of which were ringed and released (where necessary) on Thursday's 'Release Day'.



Two Scarce Migrants (& An Enigmatic Goose)

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 7th to Sunday 13th October 2013.......

The Headline Birds...

The Grey Phalarope I found on meadow pool on Monday morning was a real surprise considering the benign conditions prevailing at the time. It normally takes a storm force ten for one to appear in the Swannery embayment let alone in the meadow. The reasons for its unusual appearance may have been explained by the fact that it was presumably sick, being found dead the following day. It had only narrowly escaped from a Sparrowhawk attack the previous afternoon too.





Grey Phalarope meadow pool.
Despite their usual confiding nature this bird was always rather distant.

The second scarce migrant of the week was a Yellow-browed Warbler that I found on my way to work on Thursday morning in Sycamores by the upper entrance . It was seen again late morning but I didn't manage to connect with it again after my initial sighting. Previously averaging about one every two years at The Swannery this is in fact now the third consecutive October that one has been seen here. 

 

And Now The Rest Of The News (& That Enigmatic Goose)...

Wildfowl...

Today we carried out the Swannery October Wetland Bird Survey. The results of today's count for Wildfowl are as follows...
 

Mute Swan	580
Canada Goose	22
Barnacle Goose	1
Wigeon	10
Teal	900
Mallard	485
Pintail	120
Shoveler	42
Pochard	133
Tufted Duck	173
Scaup	1

 

The above results are pretty representative of the week, although the Teal numbers are quite exceptional. The only additional species for the week, that were not seen during the count, were Black Swan with the two regular  birds still present and a few Gadwall. The Barnacle Goose was presumably the 'feral' bird that has been around off and on all summer but it was rather standoffish, flighty and didn't associate with the Canada flock as usual, so who knows? The Scaup that had arrived overnight was the first of the autumn...

 



The first Scaup of the autumn, an adult male (still moulting out of 'eclipse').
It is presumably a returning bird as it certainly 'knew the ropes' at the morning feed!

Also of interest this week was the appearance of a Canada Goose that showed some characteristics of 'Todd's Canada Goose' (form interior) and is presumably the bird that has been seen at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire and Blagdon Lake, Somerset in the last few years... or at least it looks to my eyes identical to pictures of that bird posted on line at the time...

This week's possible 'Todd's Canada Goose' (form interior) left
with two 'Atlantic Canada Geese' (form canadensis).

The possible 'Todd's Canada Goose' (form interior) foreground
with an 'Atlantic Canada Goose' (form canadensis). 

The possible 'Todd's Canada Goose'.

In the field this bird was subtly smaller than the other Canadas; was noticeably darker, particularly on the breast; had less cleaner white cheeks and a dark 'strap' on its throat. Any one of these features can often be seen on our usual 'feral' canadensis birds (as some of these may not be racially pure) but for them all to be present on a single bird surely indicates that this is genetically something different? If not a Todd's then at least an intergrade? And if it is a Todd's then what are its origins?

Miscellaneous Water Birds...

The results of today's count for other water birds are as follows... 

Little Grebe	14
Great Crested Grebe	27
Cormorant	10
Little Egret	4
Water Rail	1
Moorhen	6
Coot	345
Kingfisher	1

 

As for Wildfowl the above results are also a pretty representative tally for the week (although Water Rail and Moorhen being rather secretive were therefore no doubt under counted). Also at least one Grey Heron was around most days.

Waders...

The results of today's count for waders are as follows...  

Lapwing	1
Snipe	1
Redshank	1

The above results were not quite so representative. There were still around eighteen Lapwing earlier in the week and a few more Snipe but the Redshank was the first for weeks. Unusually there were no other species noted.

 

Gulls...

The results of today's count for gulls are as follows... 

 

Mediterranean Gull	3
Black-headed Gull	160
Common Gull	15
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1
Herring Gull	15
Great Black-backed Gull	14

 

Once again a fairly representative count for the rest of the week, with no additional species and no terns.

 

Raptors...

I missed both of the best sightings of the week, a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier on Thursday and a Merlin today. Both the male and juvenile Marsh Harriers were still regularly seen as was at least one Peregrine (and of course there were several Buzzards, Kestrels and the aforementioned Sparrowhawk).

 

Passerines...

Common nocturnal migrants were again in rather short supply. The only warblers I saw (other than the Yellow-browed) were Chiffchaffs and the only chats (bar the usual Robins and Stonechats) were a few Wheatears. Despite large movements elsewhere in the country the only thrushes seen were Song, Mistle and Blackbirds, although these were all slightly up in number perhaps, as were Goldcrests. Visible diurnal passage was made up mostly of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits but a few Grey Wagtails and Rock Pipits also went into the log. There were still a few Swallows around plus the odd House Martin, while there were also a few Skylarks, Linnets and Siskins on the move.

 

All the usual 'resident' passerines and other land birds were also present of course including the male Lady Amherst's Pheasant at the nearby Grove.

 

I didn't manage to get a photo of this year's Yellow-browed Warbler so below is a picture of last year's bird after it was trapped and ringed and before it was released...

Last year's Yellow-browed Warbler.



Thanks as always to Alan & Ian for helping with the Swannery count and of course to all the other Fleet & Portland Harbour counters.

Into October...

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 30th September to Sunday 6th October 2013.......

 

Wildfowl...

The only addition this week to last week's wildfowl species tally was Red-crested Pochard, with one appearing amongst the Common Pochard today...


Juvenile/first winter male Red-crested Pochard.

Of course with this species the likelihood of a captive or 'feral' origin over a natural occurrence has always got to be considered but a nice bird all the same.

The Red-crested Pochard with two male (Common) Pochard.

Although there was only one 'new in' species there was however a steady increase in numbers of most of the species already present.

Adult male Pintail moulting out of eclipse (with two male Mallard).
There have been around a hundred of these elegant dabblers present most of the week.

Waders...

Following the adult male last week, top of the bill this week goes to the two juvenile Ruff that flew through on Monday along with eight Knot and a Bar-tailed Godwit. Dunlin just made it into double figures most days, as did Lapwing, whereas Snipe were still only seen in ones or twos. There were also singles of Oystercatcher, Ringed, Grey and Golden Plover.

Gulls & Terns...

After a blank week last week it was nice to see a flock of one hundred and twenty odd Mediterranean Gulls on Thursday (along with a few singles on other days), otherwise the only other gull sightings of note were another single Common Gull (not yet common at the 'mo' but give it a couple more weeks!) and a single 'Continental Lesser Black-back'...

'Continental' Lesser Black-backed Gull' (form intermedius) right with a 'British' Lesser Black-backed Gull' (form graellsii) centre and a Great Black-backed Gull left. Note the blacker mantle and wings of the former (similar to the Great Black-back) and 'cleaner' head. 

The only terns seen were a couple of Sandwich...



Adult and juvenile Sandwich Tern (with a Teal).

Raptors...

Having narrowly missed one last week it was nice to see a Hobby on Monday and Tuesday but the Red Kite seen over Abbotsbury Hill eluded me again. The Osprey and the two Marsh Harriers were still around however and thankfully Peregrines are being seen regularly once more.



Migrant Passerines...

After a poor week last week nocturnal migrants were a little better represented with a Spotted Flycatcher and a few Wheatears and Whinchats along with several Stonechats. Chiffchaffs were not surprisingly the most numerous warbler but there were also a few Blackcaps, Reed and Sedge and several Cetti's.

 

Visible migration is really getting underway now with as yet modest numbers of Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails, Skylarks, Linnets and Siskins passing overhead most mornings. Also associated with this movement were a few Grey and Yellow Wagtails still and a few Rock Pipits. There were thousands of Swallows and hundreds of House Martins lingering early in the week but none of the latter were noted later in the week by which time the former too were much reduced in number.

 

There may have been no official scarce migrant passerines as yet this autumn at The Swannery but my old local patch of 'Littlesea' further down The Fleet has done well this week with Red-breasted Flycatcher, Red-backed Shrike and Yellow-browed Warbler! Now the warbler I have seen around a dozen times at The Swannery, the shrike twice, but the flycatcher I still need... how about next week!