'And Then There Were Three...Again'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

Monday 28th January to Sunday 3rd February 2013

 

There was some substantial disturbance in the embayment again early in the week with rather eerily not a single duck or grebe present but things settled down again as the 31st January passed and February began.  All ten Scaup were present at the beginning and end of the week but it took until Wednesday for me to find the remaining Long-tailed Duck. On Friday however, after their sojourn to Portland Harbour and who knows where else, it was re-joined by the other two and all three were still present today. The pair of Goosander though were only seen on Wednesday and Thursday and there was no sign of the Barnacle Geese all week.




Six of the ten (Greater) Scaup this week (with Tufted Ducks)...four of the five males and two of the five females.

The Black-necked Grebe was only seen on Wednesday but was replaced from Thursday to Saturday by a Slavonian Grebe, the first of the winter...

This week's Slavonian Grebe, slightly more confiding than the recent Black-necked Grebe.

According to the International Ornithologists' Union we are now supposed to be calling this species Horned Grebe but I don't think that this Americanised name is going to catch on this side of the pond! If we have to have a standardised English name for this species I have always fancied 'Northern Grebe' seeing that it it is the most northerly breeding of the grebes, doesn't have horns and doesn't hail solely from Eastern Europe!



The Slavonian Grebe with (Common) Pochards and a Tufted Duck.

There were still around fifty Dunlin accompanying the three hundred plus Lapwing flock at the beginning of the week but not later and as expected at this time of year, Lapwing numbers began to drop off by the weekend. A few Snipe, Redshank and the odd Oystercatcher were the only other waders noted.

 

 

One of  a few (Common) Redshanks this week (courtesy of Charlie Wheeler).



Larid numbers were fairly low with a few Meditteranean Gulls being the only highlight. Auks are always a rare sight in The Swannery Embayment, so a Guillemot present on Wednesday, would've been a good record if it wasn't for the likely circumstances...it was presumably contaminated with the mystery substance that brought so many ashore dead or very weak on the seaward side of Chesil Bank this week. It was not weak enough to enable capture though and soon disappeared. Let's hope if it deteriorated further that it was rescued elsewhere.



A second winter Mediterranean Gull (with a first winter Black-headed Gull) on the meadow pool this week.

The now resident male Marsh Harrier was joined by an adult female again briefly this week, though I'm not sure if it is his mate from last year. Whether it is or not I hope she reappears later in the spring and they try another more successful nesting attempt this summer.

My fears for the over-wintering small insectivorous passerines during last month's cold snap were thankfully largely unfounded as several Cetti's Warblers are now singing and calling from the edges of the reed beds and at least one Chiffchaff is around. There are still a few Goldcrests too but no sign of the Firecrest unfortunately. The influx of thrushes now seems just a memory, with only very few Redwings and numbers of Blackbird, Song and Mistle Thrush are pretty much back to 'normal'.

 

During pretty unpleasant conditions (strong winds and squally showers) at the beginning of the week, I was filmed talking to Nick Baker from BBC Southwest's 'Inside Out' who are doing a feature on the wintering birds on The Fleet. All they could really get shots of though at the Abbotsbury end were the swans on one of the ponds as The Fleet was so rough. If I hear when it is being screened I'll let you know.

Mute Swans in the mist. Soon to feature on BBC's 'Inside Out'!
I hardly ever feature the swans on the blog so here are a few! So far they seem to have come through the winter ok.

'Another Week Of Two Halves... But Vice Versa'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

21st to 27th January 2013

In a week when the weather was almost a mirror image of the previous week (snow and ice at the beginning but mild, wet, windy and even occasionally sunny and spring-like at the end) the bird highlights were similar too. The four Barnacle Geese were around all week (and were also seen at West Bexington on Friday); there were up to ten Scaup again (although two visited Radipole Lake RSPB on Thursday); the three Long-tailed Ducks  were seen intermittently from Monday to Friday but only one was present Saturday (when two were in Portland Harbour) and none were seen today; the Black-necked Grebe was seen Monday and again on Saturday and the Marsh Harrier was present all week. New in were a pair of Goosanders on Wednesday and they were seen again on Saturday after also visiting the mere at West Bexington. There was no sign of the Firecrest though (which had looked like it was struggling in the low temperatures last week) and the only Chiffchaff was heard on Monday but like the preceding species and Cettis's Warbler none have been seen or heard since the thaw, while Goldcrests are thin on the ground too. They have either perished, moved on or are still keeping their heads down, one of the latter I hope.




The three Long-tailed Ducks, sailing off into the sunset this week. Maybe they will reappear next week?



Not a great shot of  the Black-necked Grebe (with Little Grebes) but the best I've managed so far.

The Golden Plovers and most of the thrushes had definitely moved on by the weekend. There was an impressive five thousand plus of the former on the surrounding farmland on Monday (at one point all taking to the air and almost blacking out the sky), with mixed flocks of up to around a thousand Redwings and Fieldfares along with dozens of Song Thrushes and a few Blackbirds and the odd Mistle Thrush too. By mid-week though there were only around fifty each of Golden Plover, Redwing and Fieldfare and far fewer of the other thrushes and by the weekend no Golden Plovers or Fieldfares at all. The Lapwing flock stayed stable all week at around three hundred and there were a few Redshanks and the odd Dunlin but unusually today over a hundred of the latter were present. The ten Snipe and single Woodcock I observed were probably just the tip of the iceberg of the numbers actually present.

Whilst diving duck numbers remained constant there were far fewer dabblers around this week and unusually (Eurasian) Wigeon were the most numerous with around four hundred in the meadow along with smaller numbers of (Eurasian) Teal. In addition there were only single figures of Gadwall, Pintail and Shoveler but still hundreds of Mallard of course. The Canada Goose flock often contained the four Barnacle Geese (although not in this shot, as they often go off on their own) but unfortunately didn't attract any other species and not even last week's single Brent was seen.

So in summary despite some still excellent sightings it was in all a bit of a disrupted week for me... and the birds.... I was away on Thursday and Friday and in my abscence there was some quite substantial disturbance too, which almost certainly explains the wanderings of the Scaup and probably the Barnacle Geese, Long-tailed Ducks and Goosanders too. Lets hope everything gets back to normal next week!

 

'A Week Of Two Halves'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

14th to 20th January 2013

One of the three Long-tailed Ducks still present this week.

Not surprisingly the week began much as the previous week had ended with all the star 'winterers' still in situ...The four Barnacle Geese, the ten Scaup, the three Long-tailed Ducks, the Black-necked Grebe, the Marsh Harrier and the Firecrest and all were still in residence by the weeks end too. Also of note was the lone Dark-bellied Brent Goose still in the western 'Ditchmoor' meadows preferring it's own company even when the Canada and Barnacle Geese dropped by. The Greylag Goose however that arrived last summer (and was still present last Sunday) was not seen at all this week.

 

The three hundred strong Lapwing flock was joined on occasion by an Oystercatcher, up to four Redshank and fifteen plus Dunlin. Gull numbers were rather low with only a few Mediterraneans noted among the commoner species but a first winter Kittiwake was a most unusual fair-weather visitor.

On Friday though the weather changed...


Looking north from meadow hide on Friday.

The four Barnacle Geese in the meadow this week. Very wary, I'm still of the opinion that they are truly wild arctic  birds rather than naturalised birds from Britain or the near continent,

Although, so far, few if any wildfowl seemed to have been displaced by the cold snap the meadow is  beginning to attract some (Eurasian) Wigeon.

The snow and minus temperatures however only seem to have taken hold a mile or two inland of The Fleet, so The Swannery and it's environs acted like a refuge to thousands of field feeding thrushes and plovers. On Friday hundreds settled briefly before filtering southeast but by today thousands were feeding in the surrounding fields. Lapwing numbers barely increased, if at all, but Golden Plovers peaked at around two thousand (with another two thousand just to the east near Rodden). There was also a peak of around two thousand Fieldfare and around a thousand Redwing (although many more flew SE). On closer inspection an unquantified number of the Redwings were actually Song Thrushes, whilst a number of Blackbirds and even the odd Mistle Thrush were also on the move. Also involved in the movement were several hundred Skylarks and a few Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Yellowhammers.

 

 

A Yellowhammer in my garden (which is adjacent to The Swannery) today. Taken through a rather dirty window.

A flock of fifty Common Snipe flushed by the Marsh Harrier may have been weather displaced birds also, while a Jack Snipe I unwittingly stepped right over before it took to the wing almost certainly was. What was probably another, more flighty, individual was also accidentally flushed further along the path a few minutes later. One or two unhappy looking Cetti's Warblers at least are still surviving as are a few equally sad looking Chiffchaffs.

 

It's difficult to know whether to hope for more cold weather next week to bring in some choice birds or whether to hope for milder weather so that the birds won't struggle so much... But what will be will be... so I'll leave you with a few more of this weekend's wintry scenes whilst they remain...



St. Catherine's Chapel above The Swannery.

Looking NNE from The Swannery toward Linton Hill.

Looking NNW from The Swannery toward Abbotsbury Hill.

'Not To Be Sneezed At'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

7th to 13th January 2013

As it was my first full week back at work (after the mid-winter celebrations) and as I was nursing a cold, I didn't actually get much birding in. Not surpringly therefore there is little new to report this week but I did still manage to find the time to confirm that last week's main highlights were still present and re-find a few good birds from previous weeks...

Namely the four (wild?) Barnacle Geese, the ten Scaup, the three Long-tailed Ducks, the Black-necked Grebe, the Marsh Harrier, several Mediterranean Gulls and the Firecrest. So it wasn't all bad.

I didn't manage to get any half decent bird photos this week so here's another of the obliging drake (Greater) Scaup from last week, this time with a drake (Common) Pochard.

And another (from last week and not quite so good) of the Long-tailed Ducks.

New in today though, during this months Wetland Bird Survey, were eleven Golden Plover with the Lapwing (though nearer to Rodden than The Swannery) and what was, for The Swannery, a most unseasonal Common Sandpiper.

A lot more ducks were around again this week (and a Dark-bellied Brent Goose was seen a couple of times) but gull numbers dropped right off by the weekend and apart from the Firecrest there were no passerines of note.

The full results of today's Swannery WeBS were...

Mute Swan - 481

Black Swan - 2

Greylag Goose - 1

Canada Goose - 80

Barnacle Goose - 4

Shelduck - 37

Wigeon - 90

Gadwall - 46

Teal - 550

Mallard - 430

Mallard (domestic) - 7

Pintail - 19

Shoveler - 38

Pochard - 642

Tufted Duck - 334

Scaup - 4 (10 earlier in the week)

Long-tailed Duck - 3

Goldeneye - 20

Red-breasted Merganser - 16

Little Grebe - 18

Black-necked Grebe - 1

Great Crested Grebe - 11

Cormorant - 1

Little Egret - 3

Grey Heron - 3

Moorhen - 12

Coot - 583

Lapwing - 280

Golden Plover - 11

Dunlin - 1

Snipe - 5

Common Sandpiper - 1

Redshank - 8

Black-headed Gull - 7

Common Gull - 35

Herring Gull - 85

Great Black-backed Gull - 2

Thanks again to Alan, Ian and Mike for their help.

 



A (European) Brown Hare just east of The Swannery today. Now believed to be an introduction of long-standing in Britain, there is still a fairly healthy population in Abbotsbury but they are not as numerous as they once were, especially on The Chesil.

'A Busman's Holiday'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

31st December 2012 to 6th January 2013

I was off work again this week (a nice long Christmas break to make up for all those Bank Holidays worked in the spring and summer) but once again I popped down to The Swannery most days to do a few necessary tasks such as feeding and of course to do a bit of birding. It was rather quiet with duck numbers having dropped off considerably. There are still several hundred Pochard and Tufted Duck (not to mention Mallard) of course but less than a hundred Teal and only single figures of Wigeon, Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser. As I suspected last week though, all three Long-tailed Ducks are still in residence and Scaup have scraped into double figures (reaching ten) for the first time since the winter before last.

 

Drake (Greater) Scaup one of ten present this week.

The three Long-tailed Ducks that are now being slightly more co-operative in that they are not always far out off Shipmoor Point although they can still be quite elusive at times. The bird in the middle sports the pink bill spot of a first winter male and is apparently beginning to acquire some grey scapular feathers too.

The Canada Goose flock has largely been absent and the only other goose seen was again the resident Greylag. A Black-necked Grebe that joined the Little and Great Crested Grebes though was my first of the winter.

The Lapwing flock has reached over three hundred at times and in loose association have been up to ten Redshank and an Oystercatcher, while over thirty Snipe have been in the inner reed beds at least.

The male Marsh Harrier still lingers but the only other 'land-bird' of note was a single brief (presumed Lesser) Redpoll. Despite good numbers of Goldcrests last year's Firecrest could not be found and only one or two Chiffchaffs remain.

I'm back to work tomorrow so I'll be on site longer, if not actually birding, so we'll see what the first full week of 2013 brings!

'Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot...'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

24th to 30th December 2012

The last full week of 2012 and yet another one of wet and windy weather. I wasn't working this week but popped down to feed a few times and have a quick look round but in the unfavourable conditions birding was not easy. So once again I have little to report other than that the three Long-tailed Ducks were still present early in the week and at least one at the end but they can be elusive so I wouldn't be surprised if all three are still around. In fact all the duck are unusually behaving rather elusively, concentrating in the area under the lee of the beach off Shipmoor Point, making picking anything out among them, at such distance, tricky, so the maximum count of four Scaup should probably have been higher. The four Barnacle Geese that flew east yesterday with the feral Canada Geese were presumably the four seen earlier in the month and possibly truly wild arctic birds, whilst the single feral Greylag Goose that arrived in early July still lingers. Around thirty Mediterranean Gulls were present daily and new in today were up to thirty Redshank with the Lapwing but in the blustery conditions and limited time (due to other commitments) that was the best I could do.

As once again this week the camera didn't even come out of its bag I thought I'd leave you in my last post of 2012 with...

The main Swannery birding highlights of the year...

The drake Wood Duck that lingered from the 18th March to the 3rd April...

A really good time of year for a vagrant American duck to appear. However, despite being one of the commonest ducks stateside they are also one of the commonest ducks in captivity and as it wasn't exactly wary (if that is even relevant) it will unfortunately have to go down as a probable escape.

With the exclusion of the Wood Duck there were no official rare wildfowl in 2012 but of note were the five Egyptian Geese in February...feral and increasing but still unusual in West Dorset. Four Garganey together in March (two drakes, two ducks). Two Common Scoter (a female from late July to late September and a juvenile from late October to late November), common off the beach but scarce on the West Fleet. A male Ruddy Duck for a few days in July (one of the few that has survived the eradication programme - I kept quiet about that one!) and finally of course the Long-tailed Ducks.


The adult Black-winged Stilt 12th to the 18th April. My first at The Swannery and the first official record since 1956! Soon to be followed by...

An immature Black-winged Stilt 24th to 27th May,
with yet another at nearby Lodmoor at the same time!

The only other wader of note was the Wood Sandpiper from the 4th to the 17th August but other noteworthy Charadiiformes were my third ever Swannery Iceland Gull in February and a Glaucous Gull in April.


The juvenile Cattle Egret 24th to 27th August (photo courtesy of Charlie Wheeler).
The only 'rare' heron in 2012, annual in recent years.



 Yellow-browed Warbler 25th October. Despite there being at least ten previous Swannery records this was the first to be ringed. This was the best 'land-bird' of 2012 at The Swannery but there were several near misses...

In May there was a Golden Oriole just to the west at the Sub-tropical Gardens and a Hoopoe and a Red-rumped Swallow just to the east near New Barn. The latter area also played host to an 'Eastern' Chiffchaff in October and a Lapland Bunting in November.

So 2012 is nearly at an end... two official rarities and one tick (the stilts)... not the best birding year but still some great birds not to be forgot! What will 2013 have to offer?

A Happy New Year to all my readers!

'Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

17th to 23rd December 2012

Birding was hard work this week with me and my optics continually drenched or worst still, in the latter case, completely misted up, so I don't have an awful  lot to report. The three Long-tailed Ducks were still present however as were at least eight Scaup and all the usual commoner ducks were well represented too with, for instance, over six hundred Teal present. Larids too were numerous including Mediterranean Gulls which often equalled or even outnumbered Black-headed Gulls. The male Marsh Harrier continues its residence but there were no other raptors of note and no new passerines...

So that's about it for this post and as the camera didn't even come out of its case this week I'll leave you with a couple of pics from the archive...







The Swannery in December 2010...what a contrast!
We were virtually snowed in at The Grove for two weeks and could only get up to the village by 4x4.
Forward to 2012 and this week once again we needed a 4x4 to reach the village but this time due to floods!






A (European) Robin in the withybed.

Seasonal greetings to you all!