Swannery Bird News - March 2016

Highlights...

There were no rare vagrants, scarce migrants or 'Swannery first's' yet again this month so it's on with the rest of the news...

Waterfowl...

The first Garganey of the year, a drake, was on Meadow Pool on the 14th...

The drake Garganey with a drake Mallard (March 2016)

The  five Scaup (the adult drake, adult duck and three first winter ducks) were seen virtually daily until the 20th...

The five Scaup (March 2016).
Although easy in the autumn and early winter it became increasingly more difficult to pick out the adult female from the first winter females as their moult progressed.

All five Scaup had departed on the 21st but a first winter female reappeared on the 24th and lingered to the month's end. The two first winter female Long-tailed Ducks were also seen most days until the 27th when they too departed. 

The peak counts of other wildfowl were: 

Mute Swan 480; 
Black Swan 2; 
Canada Goose 30; 
Shelduck 20;
Wigeon  100; 
Gadwall 4; 
Teal 80;
Mallard  140; 
Pintail 70;
Shoveler 10;
Pochard 140; 
Tufted Duck 180;
Red-breasted Merganser 5o.

Drake Shelduck (March 2016)

Drake Gadwall (March 2016)

Waders...

An Avocet was present on the 24th, the first since May 2015 and a Jack Snipe was seen on the 30th. Peak counts of the other waders seen were: 

Oystercatcher 4;
Lapwing 2;
Dunlin 2;
Snipe 10; 
Curlew 2;
Redshank 20.

 Redshanks with a Shelduck (March 2016)

Terns & Gulls...

The first Sandwich Tern of the year was seen on the 25th with another two on the 30th, while earlier in the month a third calendar year Yellow-legged Gull was present on the 1st. Peak counts of the other gulls seen were: 

Black-headed Gull 20;
Mediterranean Gull 10;
Common Gull 50;
Lesser Black-backed Gull 20;
Herring Gull 50;
Great Black-backed Gull 10.

 Adult Mediterranean Gull (March 2016)

 Common Gull, a 3rd calendar year (March 2016)

Other Water Birds... 

Last month's Slavonian Grebe  was seen again intermittently between the 4th and the 28th... 

Above two images the Slavonian Grebe (March 2016)

Peak counts of other water birds were:

Cormorant 9;
Little Egret 36;
Grey Heron 4;
Little Grebe 1; 
Great Crested Grebe 14;  

Water Rail 1; 
Moorhen 10:
Coot 190;
Kingfisher 1.

Raptors...

There were several of sightings of the regular immature Marsh Harrier and one sighting of a Peregrine. The following three species though were noted regularly:   

Sparrowhawk, 
Buzzard,
Kestrel.

Again there were no sightings of Tawny Owls but they were presumably present.

Other Non-Passerines...

There were no noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers: 

Pheasant, 
Feral/Domestic Pigeon, 
Stock Dove, 
Wood Pigeon,
Collared Dove,
Green Woodpecker,
Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Passerines...

New for the year were at least one Bearded Tit on the 29th, two Swallows on the 23rd, a Wheatear also on the 23rd, followed  by another three on the 30th and a Scandinavian Rock Pipit on the 19th. There were no other noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers:

Magpie, 

Jackdaw, 
Rook, 
Carrion Crow, 
Raven, 
Goldcrest,
Blue Tit, 
Great Tit, 
Coal Tit, 
Sky Lark, 
Cetti's Warbler,
Long-tailed Tit, 
Chiffchaff,
Treecreeper, 
Wren, 
Starling, 
Blackbird, 
Song Thrush, 
Mistle Thrush, 
Robin, 
Stonechat, 
House Sparrow, 
Dunnock, 
Grey Wagtail,
Pied Wagtail,
Meadow Pipit,
Chaffinch, 
Greenfinch, 
Goldfinch, 
Siskin,
Linnet,
Bullfinch, 
Reed Bunting.

And that's it for this month...

Swannery Bird News - February 2016

Highlights...

There were no rare vagrants, scarce migrants or 'Swannery first's' this month so it's on with the rest of the news...

Waterfowl...

The two first winter female Long-tailed Ducks and the five Scaup (the adult drake, adult duck and three first winter ducks) were seen almost daily. 

The peak counts of other wildfowl were: 

Mute Swan 590; 
Black Swan 2; 
Canada Goose 30; 
Brent Goose 3; 
Shelduck 40;
Wigeon  10; 
Gadwall 4; 
Teal 170;
Mallard  380; 
Pintail 50;
Shoveler  40;
Pochard 320; 
Tufted Duck 170;
Goldeneye 2; 
Red-breasted Merganser 2o.

One of this month's Red-breasted Mergansers...
A first winter drake (note the green surround to the eye)

Waders...

A Jack Snipe was inadvertently flushed on the 22nd, the first since October but there were no other surprises and peak counts of the only other waders seen were: 

Oystercatcher 7;
Lapwing 270;
Snipe 20; 
Curlew 1;
Redshank 20.

Gulls...

An adult  Little Gull was present erratically from the 14th to the 23rd (the first since July 2014), while peak counts of the other gulls seen were: 

Black-headed Gull 100;
Mediterranean Gull 200;
Common Gull 1000;
Lesser Black-backed Gull 14;
Herring Gull 40;
Great Black-backed Gull 4.

Other Water Birds... 

A Slavonian Grebe  was seen most days between the 19th and the 25th, the first since March 2013... 

A poor distant record shot of the Slavonian Grebe

Peak counts of other water birds were:

Cormorant 4;
Little Egret 22;
Grey Heron 4;
Little Grebe 8; 
Great Crested Grebe 15;  

Moorhen 20:
Coot 250;
Kingfisher 1.

In addition, although not seen, Water Rails  were regularly heard.

Raptors...

There were a couple of sightings of the immature Marsh Harrier, two sightings of a Barn Owl and one sighting of a Peregrine. The following three species though were noted regularly:   

Sparrowhawk, 
Buzzard,
Kestrel.

There were no sightings of Tawny Owls but they were presumably present.

Other Non-Passerines...

There were no noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers: 

Pheasant, 
Feral/Domestic Pigeon, 
Stock Dove, 
Wood Pigeon,
Green Woodpecker,
Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Passerines...

There were no noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers: 

Magpie, 

Jackdaw, 
Rook, 
Carrion Crow, 
Raven, 
Goldcrest,
Blue Tit, 
Great Tit, 
Coal Tit, 
Sky Lark, 
Cetti's Warbler,
Long-tailed Tit, 
Chiffchaff,
Treecreeper, 
Wren, 
Starling, 
Blackbird, 
Song Thrush, 
Mistle Thrush, 
Robin, 
Stonechat, 
House Sparrow, 
Dunnock, 
Grey Wagtail,
Pied Wagtail,
Meadow Pipit,
Rock Pipit,
Chaffinch, 
Greenfinch, 
Goldfinch, 
Siskin,
Linnet,
Bullfinch, 
Reed Bunting.

And that's it for this month...

Swannery Bird News - January 2016

Highlights...

A drake Green-winged Teal was glimpsed briefly amongst an influx of (Eurasian) Teal on the 2nd but it was not seen again. 

I didn't manage to get a photo of this month's Green-winged Teal so above is a record shot of last winter's bird. In fact it could potentially be the same returning individual. Note the white vertical stripe on the fore-flank that is  lacking on the accompanying (Eurasian) Teal

There were no other rare vagrants, scarce migrants or 'Swannery first's' this month so it's on with the rest of the news...

Waterfowl...

The two first winter Long-tailed Ducks reappeared on the 10th and were then, in contrast to last month, seen almost daily. Scaup sightings continued to be erratic at the beginning of the month but by the 19th all five (the adult drake, adult duck and three first winter ducks) had reunited and then lingered to the month's end.  The regular hybrid duck Scaup x Tufted Duck also reappeared and was often misidentified as a pure Scaup. 

Although none were seen at The Swannery the regular flock of (wild?) Barnacle Geese reappeared at nearby Rodden Hive again this winter with twenty-four there in mid-December. Only two remained by mid-January though and these were seen between Rodden Hive Point and The Swannery on the 17th (though they still didn't make it to The Swannery recording area). 

In addition to the three species mentioned above the peak counts of the commoner wildfowl were: 

Mute Swan 640; 
Black Swan 2; 
Canada Goose   70; 
Brent Goose 3; 
Shelduck 40;
Wigeon  10; 
Gadwall 4; 
Teal 800;
Mallard  370; 
Pintail 4;
Shoveler  100;
Pochard 450; 
Tufted Duck 200;
Goldeneye 6; 
Red-breasted Merganser 2o.

Drake Common Teal

Other Water Birds... 

A Gannet was a surprise find among the swans on the 26th... 

Spot the odd-one-out! The Gannet among the Mute Swans

Although common off the seaward side of The Chesil Bank Gannets are only just about annual at The Swannery with most of the records involving birds either oiled or entangled in fishing gear.  This individual however showed no obvious signs of 'contamination' but was clearly unwell. Still present the following day it avoided any attempts to take it into care and was unfortunately found dead on the 28th...

The Adult Gannet in The Swannery grounds

Equally unusual in the shallow waters of the Swannery Embayment was a Shag present briefly on the 2nd; while what was presumably the same Black-necked Grebe seen just to the south-east of The Swannery last month, made it into the recording area proper this month, being seen on the 7th and 16th. 

Peak counts of the commoner species were:

Cormorant 8;
Little Egret 7;
Grey Heron 1;
Little Grebe 20; 
Great Crested Grebe 10;  

Moorhen 20:
Coot 240.

A snoozing Great Crested Grebe

In addition, although not seen, Water Rails  were regularly heard.

Waders...

A Ringed Plover on the 16th was the first since September but there were no other surprises and peak counts of the only other species seen were: 

Oystercatcher 3;
Lapwing 500;
Dunlin 1; 
Snipe 30; 
Redshank 3.

Gulls...

The highlight was a record count of seven-hundred Mediterranean Gulls in The Swannery Embayment on the 24th. Back in the 1980's and 90's a count of seven was considered a good number! Peak counts of the other species seen were: 

Black-headed Gull 200;
Common Gull 600;
Lesser Black-backed Gull 5;
Herring Gull 60;
Great Black-backed Gull 7;

Raptors...

After there were no sightings last month there was a return to recent form for Marsh Harrier with regular sightings of an immature bird and one sighting of the local resident adult male. In addition there was only one Peregrine sighting and no sightings of Tawny Owls but they were presumably present. The following three species though were noted regularly:   

Sparrowhawk, 
Buzzard,
Kestrel.

Other Non-Passerines...

There were no noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers: 

Pheasant, 
Feral/Domestic Pigeon, 
Stock Dove, 
Wood Pigeon,
Kingfisher, 
Green Woodpecker,
Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Passerines...

Over-wintering warblers included a male Blackcap on the 14th, along with regular single Common Chiffchaffs and several Cetti's Warblers. The only 'winter thrushes' were two Fieldfares on the 17th. 

Other species noted in varying but unremarkable numbers were: 

Goldcrest,
Magpie, 
Jackdaw, 
Rook, 
Carrion Crow, 
Raven, 
Blue Tit, 
Great Tit, 
Coal Tit, 
Sky Lark, 
Long-tailed Tit, 
Treecreeper, 
Wren, 
Starling, 
Blackbird, 
Song Thrush, 
Mistle Thrush, 
Robin, 
Stonechat, 
House Sparrow, 
Dunnock, 
Grey Wagtail,
Pied Wagtail,
Meadow Pipit,
Chaffinch, 
Greenfinch, 
Goldfinch, 
Linnet,
Bullfinch, 
Reed Bunting.

And that's it for this month...

A recent view from 'Helen Hide' looking east