Swannery Birding Highlights - June 2015

Bird Of The Month - Roseate Tern...

An adult Roseate Tern was present around the tern island on the 11th... 

Above two images the adult Roseate Tern present on the 11th June

The photos don't really do it justice as in some lights it was very pink but as you can see in others rather grey! It bore two rings but neither could be read. It was first found around 9.30 in the morning and was still present at around 6.45 in the evening. What may well have been the same bird was then seen around two hours later flying east through Christchurch Harbour.

And now the rest of the news...

Waterfowl...

Unseasonal ducks included singles of Teal on the 16th and 26th and a Wigeon on the 9th...

The drake Wigeon

Apart from the usual hybrids the only oddities in the moulting feral goose flock were up to three Bar-headed Geese. Peak counts of the commoner breeding/over-summering wildfowl were: 

Mute Swan 640; 
Black Swan 2; 
Canada Goose 690; 
Shelduck 34; 
Gadwall 14; 
Mallard 254; 
Pochard 6; 
Tufted Duck 32.

Other Water Birds... 

The first returning Kingfisher was noted on the 26th and the first returning Little Grebe on the 27th. Peak counts of the commoner species were: 

Cormorant 30; 

Little Egret 11; 

Grey Heron 5; 

Great Crested Grebe 48; 

Moorhen 6; 

Coot 92. 

Waders...

Of the  two pairs of Oystercatcher nesting, the ones in the grounds hatched two young, whereas the pair on the Tern Island failed, no doubt due to the aggressive behaviour of the terns. After a lonely spring the single Lapwing was joined by another on the 10th and the post breeding 'flock' had reached four by the month's end.  

Lapwing

Single Curlew were seen or heard on three dates, whilst a single Bar-tailed Godwit lingered from the 1st to the 8th... 

Above two images the Bar-tailed Godwit

In company with two Redshank, the first returning Green Sandpiper was seen on the 23rd... 

Above two images the Green Sandpiper

... followed the next day by the first returning Common Sandpiper.  

Skuas, Terns & Gulls...

A rather unusual occurrence, not least because they are less than annual at The Swannery, were the two Arctic Skuas that flew over the Chesil and across the Fleet before heading off inland on the 1st. Almost as scarce here now were the two Little Terns seen on the 28th, with one (or another) again on the 30th.... 

One of this month's Little Terns

The fifty or so pairs of Common Terns on the Tern Island began hatching their young and a few non-breeding Sandwich Terns continued to be seen.

At least one first summer Common Tern hung around the colony again.

There were a few Mediterranean Gulls seen, culminating in a peak of three at the month's end...

 One of this month's Mediterranean Gulls an adult summer

Otherwise there were just single figure counts of Black-headed Gull,  Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull . 

Raptors... 

A Hobby was noted on the 3rd and 8th and a Red Kite flew over on the 9th. Our former resident male Marsh Harrier made another brief return visit on the 10th but the only other raptors seen were the usual Buzzards, Sparrowhawks and Kestrels, while the local Tawny Owls were vociferous as ever.

Other Land-birds...
Over fifty Swifts flew north-west on the 27th but otherwise only ten or so were found in the feeding flock of local breeders alongside similar numbers of Swallows and House Martins. At the very end of the month these were joined by the first few returning Sand Martins too. The only other passerines to make the notebook were all species that having been absent in the spring began to return to The Swannery after breeding in the very near vicinity. This post-breeding dispersal involved Mistle Thrush, Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit, Meadow Pipit and Stonechat.
. 

The original pair of Swallows in Helen Hide laid a second clutch whilst a second pair built a nest in The Fleet Pipe Hide & this is one of them!

And that's it for this month except to say sorry once again for the late post (a month behind still!) but my laptop is still kaput and the only other means I have to blog is using The Swannery PC and I don't get much time at work to do this! I shall endeavour to post my July sightings asap however!

Swannery Birding Highlights - May 2015

Birds Of The Month...

May is often a very productive birding month at The Swannery with May 'rarities' during my tenure including Black-winged Stilt (2012), Red-footed Falcon (2003), Alpine Swift (2003), Thrush Nightingale (1996), Black Kite (1994) & Collared Pratincole (1990), not to mention numerous scarce migrants. May 2015 however was rather uninspiring with no 'rares', 'scarcities' or 'patch ticks'. In fact even some relatively common migrants were in short supply, or lacking entirely... 

The best I could come up with were the pair of Garganey present on 'Meadow Pool' on the 15th & 16th ...

The pair of Garganey © Steve Groves

...And so with a near lack of head-liners this month it's on with the rest of the news...

Waterfowl...

Apart from the aforementioned  Garganey the only other notable sighting was a Greylag Goose present on the 22nd...  

The Greylag Goose © Charlie Wheeler

Lingering 'winter waterfowl' included Teal until the 5th, with a peak of eighteen on the 2nd; Shoveler until the 17th with a peak of three on the 15th and a lone drake Red-breasted Merganser on the 2nd.

Peak counts of the commoner breeding/over-summering wildfowl were: 

Mute Swan 510; 
Black Swan 2; 
Canada Goose 40; 
Shelduck 32; 
Gadwall 7; 
Mallard 120; 
Pochard 3; 
Tufted Duck 10.

Other Water Birds... 

There were no noteworthy species but peak counts of the commoner species were: 

Cormorant 20; 
Little Egret 12; 
Grey Heron 2; 
Little Grebe 1; 
Great Crested Grebe 25; 
Moorhen 6; 
Coot 54. 

Little Egret © Steve Groves

Great Crested Grebe © Steve Groves

Waders...

An Avocet was present on the 17th with it or another again on the 20th. Two pairs of Oystercatcher were nesting, with a third pair visiting from time to time. Unfortunately Lapwing have not nested for a number of years now and only a single was seen this month - arriving on the 7th and still present at the months end. Another lost breeding species is Ringed Plover and passage was poor with one on the 1st, two on the 13th and three on the 22nd. Whimbrel faired a little better with single figures being seen regularly through the month, with a peak of twenty on the 5th...

One of this month's Whimbrel © Charlie Wheeler

Only one Black-tailed Godwit was seen (on the 14th) and only two Bar-tailed Godwit (from the 15 to the 17th). The only Turnstone was seen on the 11th, whereas small flocks of Sanderling were present on the 13th (five) and on the 27th (eight). As to be expected Dunlin were far more regular but even so the largest flocks were only of ten on the 13th and again on the 22nd. 

One of this month's Dunlin © Steve Groves

Only two Common Sandpiper were noted, both on the 8th and only one Greenshank - on the 25th. There were no Redshank or Snipe.

Gulls...

An unseasonal Common Gull lingered until the 6th and the only Mediterranean Gull was a single first summer on the 11th and 27th. Otherwise there were just single figure counts of Black-headed Gull,  Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull . 

The 1st summer Mediterranean Gull © Steve Groves

Terns...
Sandwich Tern passage tailed off early in the month with ten on the 3rd but only single figures thenceforth... 

One of this month's Sandwich Terns © Steve Groves

After their usual fickleness up to fifty pairs of Common Terns eventually settled on the Tern Island and  began nesting but apart from the aforementioned passing Sandwich Terns no other species were drawn in by there comings and goings.

One of the breeding Common Terns © Steve Groves

Raptors... 

Our former (now Radipole's) resident male Marsh Harrier made a brief return visit on the 8th and eight Red Kites drifted north-west on the 13th... 

Three of the eight Red Kites © Charlie Wheeler

Another Red Kite lingered on the 15th but apart from an occasional Peregrine the only other raptors seen were the usual Buzzards, Sparrowhawks and Kestrels, not forgetting the very vociferous Tawny Owls.

'Near' Passerines...

The only migrants were the first Swifts of the year from the 3rd, with then single figures seen regularly. So no Cuckoos or Turtle Doves this spring! That just left the usual two resident Woodpeckers species  and the four resident Pigeon/Dove species for the months tally.

Passerines...

The first Whitethroats of the year arrived from the 2nd (with several then remaining on territory) and only the second and third Wheatears of the year on the 5th. 

My 1st Wheatear of the year (but The Swannery's 2nd) © Steve Groves

The 7th was very productive as the year's first Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and Yellow Wagtail all went into the log. The only other Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail of the month though were seen on the 8th. There were no further Garden Warblers however and only one other Lesser Whitethroat. Fortunately though both of the singing Lesser Whitethroats lingered on the periphery of the recording area (on the scrubby slopes of Linton Hill and Chesters Hill). Of the species that first arrived earlier in the spring, Sand Martins and Swallows continued to move through in single figures well into the month with one pair of the latter remaining to nest (with several elsewhere in the vicinity) but House Martins were in very short supply. Unlike Reed Warblers (many of which stayed to nest), Sedge Warbler sightings tailed off mid-month but at least one male remained on territory. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs appeared plentiful but the last Willow Warbler of the spring was noted on the 8th (another lost breeding species). There were still no flycatchers, Whinchats or White Wagtails so it looks like we will have to wait for the autumn to get these on the year list! Of the residents most noteworthy were two singing male Cetti's Warblers and a Yellowhammer that was back on the former nesting area on adjacent Chesters Hill. 

This Goldfinch was just one of the many commoner resident passerines nesting this month 
© Steve Groves

And that's it for this month except to say sorry for the late post (a month behind!) but my laptop is kaput and the only other means I have to blog is using The Swannery PC and I don't get much time at work to do this! I shall endeavour to post my June sightings asap however!

Last but not least, thanks yet again to Charlie Wheeler  wheeler-photography for the use of his images.