'February Freeze Dyke'

Just when it looked like spring was only around the corner and many birds were tuning up for their full vernal performances (even the over-wintering Chiffchaff!) this went and happened...


Shelducks on the frozen Fleet.

 

Wildfowl and waders at the mouth of  'The Fleet Pipe' one of the only two bits of open water available.



Temperatures plummeted and the swannery embayment froze completely apart from where the streams flow in by the feeding area and at the 'Fleet Pipe'. At the latter there were several hundred Mallard, Teal, Pochard and Lapwing along with smaller numbers of Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Shelduck, Dunlin, Redshank, Golden Plover and Snipe along with two Black-tailed Godwit and around twenty Knot but not the hoped for Long-billed Dowitcher that was later seen flying towards the swannery from nearby Rodden Hive. If it made it as far as the swannery I will never know as unfortunately I was at Dorchester Beer Ex at the time quaffing ales! Needless to say there was no sign of it the following day.

A Golden Plover at 'The Fleet Pipe'

Before the mini-freeze hit the earlier part of the week was fairly quiet. The female aythya duck that I believe to be a Scaup x Tufted Duck reappeared though and eventually gave itself up for the camera!

The female aythya with female Mallard top and female Pochards bottom.

No matter what its' posture it shows a peak at its rear crown... not as distinct as on Lesser Scaup but not as subtle as it should be on (Greater) Scaup (in fact in the latter species it should be rarely visible at all). It also shows a contrast with the dark back and paler flanks... in (Greater) Scaup this should be concolourous.

Its' bill pattern appears good for (Greater) Scaup but as it states in the Collin's Bird Guide some can be difficult to recognise as hybrids. It also never associates with the Scaup and regularly comes in for grain, something the Scaup never do.

The 1st winter male (Greater) Scaup now deserted by his two female companions but shunning
the company of the Scaup-like hybrid, here accompanying a female (Common) Pochard.

An immature male Marsh Harrier has been a near daily visitor but the female hasn't been seen for over a week now...

A distant shot of the imm. Marsh Harrier over adjacent Clayhanger Farm.

Other highlights of the past week have been several Mediterranean Gulls and the occasional flying visit from the Rodden Hive (presumed wild) Barnacle Goose with the Canada Goose flock.

Herring Gulls and Lapwing.

(Eurasian) Wigeon.

Now hopefully with the cold snap behind us we can look forward to some early spring migration as all those lost yanks from last autumn, that wintered further south, make their way north! Maybe there's hope for a Dowitcher yet!

Snow Drops in the Chapel Withybed.

An 'Auk-ward' Surprise

It's been awhile since my last blog but there really hasn't been much to report until this week!

We have, however, managed to trap and ring a few ducks in the decoy for the first time in two years. The lack of decoying has largely been due to the disturbance caused by The Decoy Restoration Project but at least now that it's almost complete will will have a decoy pond for hopefully many years to come. Unfortunately all the duck caught so far this year have been Mallards...

Male Mallard fresh out of the sack...

....and gaining a shiny new ring

It's then aged and it's wing is measured...

then its skull/bill...

then weighed and then released.

The above photo's are courtesy of Swanherd Dave Wheeler as I was busy ringing!

Although we have only managed to trap a few Mallard there have been a nice selection of the commoner ducks and other wetland species present, albeit in small numbers, as the results of The Swannery January Wetland Bird Survey reveal....

Mute Swan 375

Canada Goose 1

Shelduck 39

Wigeon 2

Teal 610

Mallard 377

Mallard (domestic) 9

Shoveler 45

Pochard 486

Tufted Duck 220

Scaup 1

Goldeneye 20

Red-breasted Merganser 25

Cormorant 1

Little Egret 2

Little Grebe 7

Great Crested Grebe 3

Moorhen 10

Coot 290

Oystercatcher 2

Lapwing 435

Snipe 4

Redshank 5

Black-headed Gull 40

Little Gull 1

Mediterranean Gull 2

Common Gull 4

Herring Gull 13

Great Black-backed Gull 8

Kingfisher 1

The Little Gull (just about annual at The Swannery) was the count highlight but unfortunately I missed it, as while count volunteers Alan and Mike were watching it at The Swannery I was still counting just to the east toward Rodden Hive Point. Not all the wildfowl and waders seen in the last few weeks were seen on the count though.

There have been a few Gadwall....

and Pintail

The Barnacle Goose has still been around and there has been not just one but three Scaup. The Redshank flock has reached 35 at times and up to 11 Knot have also been seen as has a Woodcock.

Some of the 35 Redshank.

There has also been two different Marsh Harriers but the rarest sighting in the context of The Swannery was definitely this Razorbill...

Razorbill (winter) on The Fleet by the tank traps.

Although relatively common on the seaward side of Abbotsbury Beach this is only around the third seen at The Swannery end of The Fleet lagoon in over twenty years. This despite guillemots being nearly annual on my patch and Little Auks being almost common in comparison! 

I still need Puffin and Black Guillemot for the set though!

'A Roe in the Reeds'... Roe Deer... the most regular deer species at the Swannery -
in fact it was my only deer species there until Sikas arrived around ten years ago.

An Enigma Exposed!

The (Red) Knots on one of the feeding ramps.

I didn't get a chance to have much of a look round the patch this weekend... I popped down to feed today briefly without intending to do much birding but I did manage to flush a very wary Barnacle Goose from the Canada flock on the feeding ramp (which was presumably a wanderer from the flock that are still in residence in fields by the Fleet at nearby Rodden). During the week though I fared a little better... A Marsh Harrier quartered the western reedbeds on Friday before heading off towards Bexington and the fourteen Knot were still present at the beginning of the week but their number slowly dwindled to one by Thursday. Extremely low water produced an exceptional count for The Swannery of thirty Redshank and a record count of forty Mediterranean Gulls (still poor by East Fleet standards).

The Knots again...far more photogenic than last week!
To distinguish them from the Asian Great Knot their international English name is Red Knot in  reference to their summer plumage...however we tend to see them more frequently in their grey non-breeding plumage.

A Dark-bellied Brent Goose was seen briefly and dabbling duck were well represented with several hundred Teal, twenty plus each of Pintail, Shoveler and Shelduck and a few Wigeon and Gadwall. Due to the low water though the merganser flock completely decamped to deeper water. The Pochard/Tufted flock remained though along with the three Scaup but the Scaup x Tufted hybrid never reappeared. As for passerines a few Chiffchaffs were still around as were a few Redwings and a flock of fifty plus Greenfinches and fewer Linnets fed on the beach opposite. The strong winds at the beginning of the week blew in nothing more than a single Kittiwake (though did bring down a few small trees and a large bough!). I missed one of the best birds of the week as volunteer Dave Callaby found a Black-necked Grebe but unfortunately I failed to relocate it.

On Thursday we took advantage of the lack of water to go and have a look at the exposed 'Monks Wall' that stretches across the bed of The Fleet just to the east of the Swannery (I actually use it to denote the eastern edge of my patch). Nobody knows quite how old it is (probably from the time of the Abbotsbury monastery but some believe it maybe even Roman - sighting the name of adjacent 'Chester's Hill' as more than a coincidence) or what its' function was. Some say it was a causeway to the beach, others an attempt to drain the swannery embayment. Nobody knows!

'The Monk's Wall' not quite exposed all the way to the beach but we did manage to get right across with no more than wellies.
Either side of the 'wall' you'd sink up to your waist at least, as one of our party discovered!

Looking west from the land-shore end of The Monk's Wall' toward The Swannery.

'Unseasonal Greetings'

The flock of the 14 (Red) Knots present today (though some are hiding!)

I 'broke up' for the holidays a week last Wednesday (the day of my last blog) and due to various commitments I have only been down to The Swannery to  have a quick look round on five of the last nine days and with little results. Today was probably the best however as I was able to put in a couple of hours and there was a nice number and selection of birds to go through. Highlights included the flock of Knots pictured above. Regular passage migrants to The Swannery in spring and autumn they are usually few and far between in the winter months, though this time last year I had a flock of around fifty! A Green Sandpiper (heard but not seen) was also unusual for the time of year, as was a Blackcap - a lack of late berry-bearing shrubs on my patch makes them more regular in the village, but the mild conditions and associated insects makes the sighting less unusual perhaps. A Chiffchaff and several Redwings called from the depths of the willow maze and the three Scaup were still with the Pochard flock. Earlier in the week I thought for a moment that there were four Scaup but quickly realised that last winter's Tufted Duck x Scaup hybrid had reappeared. It looks very similar to a female Scaup (and has been claimed as such at Radipole and at The Swannery previously) but there are subtle differences. I will endeavour to get a photo if it lingers!

This though is the real deal a female (Greater) Scaup with a female (Common) Pochard.

There has been no sign of the Goosander since my last blog but later that day, after blogging, I managed to get a few slightly better shots and as they're such gorgeous birds I couldn't help myself... 

Male Goosander.

Back to today though, another interesting bird was this gull... far right...

And second from left above... A Herring type with pink legs it was noticeably darker mantled than it's companions whatever it's attitude or position in the flock. It may well be a Scandinavian bird but it lacked other typical argentatus traits such as larger size and more white in it's primaries so the jury's out. The only other notebook entries over the last week were a few Mediterranean Gulls and a single Brent Goose.

Elsewhere on The Fleet the Hume's Leaf Warbler still lingers, a 'redhead' Goosander was seen and as speculated in my last blog the now almost regular Barnacle Goose flock has reappeared for their third winter at Rodden Hive although they have yet to visit The Swannery and again they have a hybrid in their midst that I tentavily identified as a Barnacle x Ross's Goose last year but 'ansers' on a postcard please or should that be 'brantas'... see what I did there?

(Eurasian) Teal in the meadow.

A happy and bird filled New Year to you all!

Raining Redwings!

The male Goosander reappeared last Friday and is still present off and on, though distant...

Ad. male Goosander (with Shovelers).

 

And preening.



And the lonely first winter male Scaup has at last been joined by two females but three is still a very low count for this time of the year here. Dabbling duck numbers are also low with a couple hundred Teal and considerably fewer Wigeon and Shoveler...

Male Shoveler.

 In the withies a few Chiffchaffs, Cetti's Warblers and Goldcrests are still vocal and Fred (one of the ringers) had a Firecrest yesterday that I failed to see, having to content myself with seeing a few of the ten plus that are present at the nearby Sub-Tropical Gardens while running an erand there today. On leaving my cottage yesterday for the short stroll to work I at last saw a Redwing my first of the autumn/winter. A wintering species I usually see (or at least hear in the night sky) for the first time by the end of October not as late as December! And today there was not one in the hedge (that runs from my cottage to The Swannery) but a flock of sixty plus! Presumably downed in the heavy rain overnight. Other highlights since my last blog were a Marsh Harrier yesterday (again missed by me but seen by Fred and also picked up by mates Alan, Mike and Cliff at nearby West Bexington) and two flyby Knots on Monday, plus the usual scattering of Mediterranean Gulls.

Last Sunday was December WeBS Count day and the figures for The Swannery to Rodden Hive Point were as follows...

Mute Swan 267

Shelduck 17

Wigeon 5

Teal 220

Mallard 496

Domestic Mallard 9

Shoveler 37

Pochard 550

Tufted Duck 260

Scaup 1

Goldeneye 8

Red-breasted Merganser 15

Cormorant 4

Little Egret 3

Grey Heron 3

Little Grebe 25

Great Crested Grebe 10

Moorhen 11

Coot 260

Lapwing 60

Redshank 5

Black-headed Gull 42

Mediterranean Gull 1

Common Gull 3

Lesser Black-backed Gull 2

Herring Gull 21

Great Black-backed Gull 9

Kingfisher 1

Elsewhere along The Fleet, as last week, the Hume's Leaf Warbler and Richard's Pipit still linger in the Littlesea Holiday Park/Bridging Camp area and at least one Black Brant is still with the Brent Geese.

 

The Swannery looking east from New Barn Road with the Dorset and Devon coast beyond Lyme Bay.

'We Say Goosander, They Say Merganser!'

Over the last few days I've again been using up leave to try and get some more DIY done at home before Christmas, in what is our slightly quieter period at The Swannery, before the real preparations begin in the new year to re-open to the public in March. Therefore I haven't been getting out much and when I have there has been precious little to see. The highlight last week was a male Goosander feeding with the regular Red-breasted Merganser flock. Only just about annual at The Swannery they certainly don't live up to their official International (Americanised) English name of Common Merganser here with their Red-breasted cousins being far commoner!

The Goosander (with female Common Pochard). 'Redheads' (females & 1st years) are far more often encountered here than gorgeous adult males like this.

Despite the relatively colder weather wildfowl numbers seemed to have dropped if anything with still only the one Scaup present.

The 1st winter male Scaup

A lone Brent Goose (or if you prefer the International Ornithologist's Union version... Brant Goose!) settled on the beach opposite was unusual but it was just a 'Dark-bellied' and not the hoped for 'Black Brant'. The only other birds that made the notebook were a few Mediterranean Gulls, 4 Redshank, a group of three Mistle Thrushes and a Fieldfare and two fine male Bullfinches. Also Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and Cetti's Warblers are still very much in evidence.

A typical view of a Cetti's Warbler

And an equally camera shy Common Chiffchaff

And finally elsewhere on The Fleet there have still been sporadic reports of the Hume's Leaf Warbler and Richard's Pipit lingering in the Littlesea/Lynch Cove area and also at least one of the Black Brants is still present.

A Meadow Pipit appropriately in The Swannery meadow... not the hoped for Richard's Pipit!

Six Green Plovers perching on a rail... if one Green Plover...
(Officially Northern Lapwings of course).

D. I. Y. - S. O. S...

'Do It Yourself' for me - a 'Surfeit Of Sibes' for others.

I have very little to report this week as I had the week off to do some much needed home improvements and was so busy I didn't get down to The Swannery to do any birding until Friday! I also did a circuit of the hides and withybeds yesterday and today when I fed but found little of note. There was still good numbers of wildfowl... 500 or so Teal along with smaller numbers of Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveler and Shelduck in the meadow, while on the Fleet the single 1st winter male Scaup was the highlight in the Pochard and Tufted Duck flock (there were a dozen or so Scaup this time last year!). A small flock of Red-breasted Merganser is now in evidence but the only geese are the usual Canada flock...it will be interesting to see whether the presumed wild Barnacle Geese present in the last two winters will reappear this year, but we may need some cold weather to encourage them. In the withies there are still more Goldcrests than usual and a few Chiffchaffs and Cettis' Warblers. The last two winters finished off the wintering individuals of the last two species but unusually not the former! There have been a number of gulls to check through but a few Mediterraneans Gulls was the best I could do. As I haven't been getting down to the patch this last week until the afternoons the poor light saw that the camera didn't even get an airing but I took the following shot last week...

The western reedbeds from Bum Point with Golden Cap in the distance.

 Although it's been pretty quiet at Abbotsbury elsewhere on The Fleet several Siberian birds have been around... the Hume's Leaf Warbler (a first for The Fleet recording area) is still at Littlesea Holiday Park, a Richard's Pipit was seen flying up The Fleet by the Bridging Camp and up to three Black Brants are present. Although I've seen the latter many times on The Fleet I still haven't seen one at The Swannery but as it's still officially considered the Pacific race of Brent Goose (with those on The Fleet no doubt originating from the east rather than from America) even if I do finally connect with one this winter it won't be an official tick and the chances are slim as the Brent flock rarely strays west of Rodden Hive. I checked the Meadow Pipit flock in The Swannery meadow today for the Richard's but to no avail. I'm back to work tomorrow though so I should spend a lot more time in the field and therefore hopefully connect with something more exciting... maybe even a Black Brant!