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'.