'Wonderous Wagtails'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 9th to Sunday 15th September 2013.......

Summary...

After the excitement of the last two weeks (i.e. the Semipalmated Sandpiper & Citrine Wagtail), this week was much more subdued. There were no 'new in'  wildfowl or wader species and most passerine migrants were still in rather short supply. It was not all mundane however as a 'near miss' pipit got the adrenaline flowing and the ringers continue to pull enigmatic wagtails from their nets.

Wildfowl...

The highlight of this category was the continued presence of the juvenile Goosander...


The juv. Goosander.

...And although they have been back for several weeks now the novelty of seeing freshly arrived Wigeon, Pintail and a couple of hundred Teal has not yet diminished...

Just a few of the two hundred plus Teal present this week.

Waders...

This weeks peak counts were... Lapwing 6; Ringed Plover 2; Black-tailed Godwit 3; Bar-tailed Godwit 2; Turnstone 2; Dunlin 9; Common Sandpiper 5; Greenshank 4; Snipe 1.

One of this weeks two juv. Ringed Plovers

Gulls & Terns...

There were no terns at all this week and in the absence of even any Mediterranean Gulls the best larid was a third calendar year Yellow-legged Gull on the beach opposite today.


Raptors...

Along with the three common resident species the Osprey was still around for much of the week, as were the regular male Marsh Harrier and at least one juvenile.

Male Sparrowhawk.

This species along with Buzzard and Kestrel are regularly encountered at The Swannery and all breed in the vicinity. Strangely Peregrine has been scarce of late and there hasn't been a single Hobby or Merlin so far this autumn.

 Migrant Passerines...

There still seems to be a dearth of nocturnal migrants with none of the regular falls of warblers, for instance, that one expects at this time of year. Flycatchers and Chats are not faring much better either with none of the former this week and only a few Wheatears and a single Whinchat. Diurnal migrants have been rather more numerous with hundreds of Yellow Wagtails still roosting most nights along with good numbers of Pieds and a few Whites. At the roost ringers Steve and Luke continue to trap a few flava types (presumed Blue-headed Wagtails) and this autumn's first thunbergi type (apparent Grey-headed Wagtail). Out of range Yellow Wagtails, other than adult males are arguably impossible to racially identify. For more details on these birds see... abbotsburyswanneryringing & welshbirderindorset . A few Grey Wagtails continue to be logged too and  Meadow Pipit passage is now clearly underway. On Saturday a Tawny Pipit was reported further east along New Barn Road in a ploughed field near Merry Hill Barn. Comfortably outside The Swannery recording area it would, however, still have qualified as an Abbotsbury tick and a Fleet tick too for that matter. I dipped however as did everybody else that went for it as far as I'm aware.

Juv. White Wagtail in the meadow.
Although the ringers have come across several this autumn this is only the second  individual I've seen 'in the field' so far this season.

Swallows and martins have increased this week, with thousands present on Saturday. The latter were mostly House Martins but there have been good numbers of Sand Martins too.


A sure sign of autumn... Swallows & House Martins gather on wires. The larger 'birds' are actually swan deflectors!

And finally...

The male Lady Amherst's Pheasant reappears yet again around my chicken coop.