Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...
Monday 9th to Sunday 15th December 2013...
Wildfowl...
It wasn't really the ideal weather conditions to carry out today's Wetland Bird Survey count but at least it encouraged me to use The Swannery's 4x4 to check the stretch of The Fleet between the The Swannery and Rodden Hive Point rather than walk it as usual. So while Alan, Ian and Mike counted The Swannery proper using the hides for shelter as much as they could, I set off across the fields in the truck. Using it as a mobile hide I snuck up on the Canada Goose flock just west of Rodden Hive and was able to confirm the continued presence of the twelve Barnacle Geese that I last saw at The Swannery a couple of weeks back...
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| The twelve Barnacle Geese that have obviously been keeping a low profile in the last couple of weeks in fields between Abbotsbury and Rodden where there is no general access. |
The results of today's WeBS for wildfowl are as follows...
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Mute Swan
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420
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Canada Goose
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72
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Barnacle Goose
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12
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Shelduck
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16
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Wigeon
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76
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Gadwall
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3
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Teal
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260
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Mallard
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478
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Mallard (domestic)
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10
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Pintail
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4
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Shoveler
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120
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Pochard
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400
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Tufted Duck
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297
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Scaup
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5
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Goldeneye
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12
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Red-breasted Merganser
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15
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The above numbers are fairly representative for the week but on Friday Teal had peaked at 600 and Pintail at 20, while there were still 6 Scaup (plus the hybrid) earlier in the week. The Goldeneye were the first of the winter but all were east of my usual patch, The Swannery embayment, so may have been present, unobserved, for a few weeks.
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| Shoveler on the meadow pool this week. |
Miscellaneous Water-birds...
The results of today's WeBS for miscellaneous water-birds are as follows...
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Little Grebe
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4
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Cormorant
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4
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Little Egret
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1
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Grey Heron
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1
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Water Rail
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1
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Moorhen
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5
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Coot
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750
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Kingfisher
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1
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The above numbers are pretty poor for December, probably due to the mild weather, although of course Water Rails and Moorhens are always under recorded. Earlier in the week at least one Great Crested Grebe was present too but there have still been none of the scarcer grebes as yet this season.
Waders...
The results of today's WeBS for waders are as follows..
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Lapwing
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138
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Black-tailed Godwit
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1
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Redshank
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3
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A pretty poor showing but there were up to 400 Lapwing earlier in the week and a few Snipe have been around.
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| The Black-tailed Godwit that arrived last week was still present today. |
Gulls...
The results of today's WeBS for gulls are as follows...
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Black-headed Gull
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170
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Mediterranean Gull
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30
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Common Gull
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2,000
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Lesser Black-backed Gull
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1
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Herring Gull
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78
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Great Black-backed Gull
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146
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The above numbers are fairly representative for the week and there were no additional species.
Raptors...
The regular male Marsh Harrier was the only raptor of note but as expected Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel and Peregrine were all seen and the local Tawny Owls were still very vociferous.
Passerines...
There was nothing of real note in this category this week (not even any 'Eastern type Chiffchaffs') but as I have so far listed all the species seen this week then it seems only right to fill you in on the passerines too, so in varying numbers the following have all been seen over the last seven days: Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Cetti's Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Reed Bunting. There are a few normally regular species not on this list that I have presumably over-looked (especially as I was away at a First Aid course for a couple of days) but in the continuing mild weather the variety is still fairly poor.
Non-passerines...
The pheasant flock in my garden adjacent to The Swannery now not only contains numerous Common Pheasants and the long staying Lady Amherst's Pheasant but new in this week has been a immature male Golden Pheasant...
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Immature male Golden Pheasant (far left), Common Pheasants and the Lady Amherst's Pheasant.
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The above may not be the best photo (it's even hard to tell it is a Golden) but unlike the 'Lady A' I haven't been able to get very close to it as yet, as they are all pretty skittish despite the fact that they are all (Common included) locally released birds.
Other than those already mentioned and for completeness, 'Feral Pigeon', Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker were the final (non-passerine) species seen this week.
Well the forecast for the coming week hints at some slightly more wintry weather so if the gales howling outside as I write don't bring anything of note in, then maybe the colder weather will!
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