'Branta Clause!'

Well I'm still posting even though it's frequently causing me to tear my hair out (what little I have left). Amazingly I didn't have any trouble uploading the few poor pics I'd taken this week but frustratingly I was unable to initially increase their size once they were uploaded. Usually you have the option of small, large or largest and I normally go for large (as largest goes into the margins) but this week it wouldn't give me the option until just by chance I cut and pasted them in again and it then worked, albeit briefly! Whats that all about? Anyway here are the latest..
 

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

10th to 16th December 2012

 

It was December WeBs (Wetland Bird Survey) Count day today and the results for The Swannery and the adjacent Abbotsbury stretch of The Fleet (reproduced below) pretty much sum up the numbers and variety of the waterbirds seen this week, The only other waterbirds to add to the tally were the four Barnacle Geese that flew east on Wednesday...





No not Santa and his reindeer but Branta and rainclouds!
You'll have to take my word for it that these are Barnacle Geese but quite an evocative pic nevertheless I feel...



...and the same shot again but more heavily cropped.

My gut feeling is that these Branta geese were truly wild birds, along with the two seen last week and also the flock of fifty plus seen recently at nearby West Bexington...but I doubt we'll ever know for sure.

The results of today's WeBS were...

Mute Swan 515

Black Swan 2

Greylag Goose 1

Canada Goose 72

Shelduck 35

Wigeon 60

Gadwall 27

Teal 360

Mallard 426

Mallard (domestic) 7

Pintail 11

Shoveler 29 (120+ in the week)

Pochard 690

Tufted Duck 313

Scaup 7 (9 in the week)

Long-tailed Duck 2 (3 still in the week)

Goldeneye 10

Red-breasted Merganser 30

Little Grebe 8

Great Crested Grebe 10

Cormorant 5

Little Egret 4

Grey Heron 2

Moorhen 10

Coot 1,000

Lapwing 300

Dunlin 1

Snipe 17

Redshank 4

Turnstone 2 (new in)

Kingfisher 1

Black-headed Gull 81

Mediterranean Gull 23

Common Gull 83

Herring Gull 7

Great Black-backed Gull 4

Thanks as always to Alan, Ian and Mike for their help.

 

This week's raptors included the regular male Marsh Harrier which was again joined today by an apparent adult female and also of note was a Merlin that dashed through on Wednesday.

 

Passerines highlights were several Redwings, a few Jays still, the two Nuthatches, only one or two Chiffchaffs, a flyover Yellowhammer, a brief Lesser Redpoll among several Siskins, at least one Bullfinch and best of all, among a small flock of Goldcrests, a Firecrest (presumably last weeks bird).

 

One of the (Eurasian) Nuthatches (with a Blue Tit) on my Grove Lane feeders. One of two birds present, they were seen to display this week at the entrance to a tree cavity in the same tree that the last breeding birds occupied a few years back, so fingers crossed for the spring!

 

'And Then There Were Three...'

It appears I'm not alone in having problems uploading photos on Blogger and now Google are apparently trying to resolve the problem (thanks Nick and Brett for your technical support!). Having had few photo opportunities this week I only had two photos to upload on this post anyway and they uploaded fine (having already taken the precautionary measure of re-sizing them). I then went to add another pic of the Barnacle Geese though to last week's post with no joy, so the problem has still not been rectified as yet! Anyway for the time being I shall continue to persevere, so here is this week's...
 

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

3rd to 9th December 2012

 

The two probably wild Barnacle Geese lingered until Tuesday (and are now apparently in Poole Harbour) while a Pale-bellied Brent Goose dropped in briefly on Monday before flying off east. There is still a nice selection of commoner ducks and worthy of note among them were nine Scaup, a single 'Redhead' Goosander and now three Long-tailed Ducks (all female/first winter types) but the latter have often been out of sight just to the east of The Swannery embayment and always too distant for a photo..

 

As nothing of note was very cooperative when it came to photography
I had to make do with some more obliging subjects...



Bottoms up! Mallards are only too willing to muscle in on the swan feeds.



Common Pochard & Tufted Duck await their turn!

 The regular male Marsh Harrier was seen virtually daily but there were no other harriers or any other raptors of note for that matter. Waders too were poorly represented with just Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe seen and there were no surprises on the gull front either. To passerines now and there are still a few more Jays around than would normally be expected and a couple of Nuthatches still too. Several more Siskins were around this week but no Redpolls and the single Bullfinch remained. A few more thrushes were apparent including a few Redwings and the first Fieldfare of the season. Bearded Tits were heard from deep within the reeds but not seen as were several Cetti's Warblers. Only one or two Chiffchaffs remain however and Goldcrest numbers have dropped off but passerine highlight of the week was a Firecrest spotted appropriately as I tended the bombfire!

 Well with temperatures predicted to plummet next week there might be be a slight cold weather movement, maybe some wild grey geese or a Smew but in the meantime I'm still holding out for a Waxwing!

'Good Things Come In Twos'

Well I'm still persevering. I did manage to add a couple of pics to last weeks blog and this week I have managed to upload three with a struggle but no more, so here for one more week at least are the...
 

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

26th November to  2nd December 2012

 

 

The main highlight was the appearance of one then two Long-tailed Ducks (following on from the two sightings earlier in November). The first arrived on Wednesday and was joined by another on Thursday and Friday with at least one still present today. They favoured the area off Shipmoor Point so were rather distant but, due to the persistent attentions of a Peregrine, on one occasion one just came within range for a half decent photo... 

 

One of the Long-tailed Ducks (both of which are 1st winter/female types).

Other ducks of note were the lingering (first winter) Common Scoter to Wednesday at least, when two ('Redhead') Goosanders also flew west and the Scaup peaked at eight. Virtually all the commoner species were also represented with good numbers of Mallard, Teal, Pochard and Tufted Duck, while there were also several Wigeon, Pintail and Shoveler along with a few Gadwall, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser.

 

 On Friday two distant geese eventually gave themselves up as Barnacle Geese when they joined the 'feral' Canada Goose flock (that also still holds the regular Greylag). It would be easy to assume that they too are 'feral' (part of the naturalised introduced population) but they were wary and they may well be the vanguard of the now regular wintering flock that have commuted between The Swannery and nearby Rodden Hive over the last few winters. 





The two Barnacle Geese in the meadow with Canada Geese...



  and on the Fleet shoreline.

 
 There were two Harriers this week... the  male Marsh Harrier is still regular and on Friday a ('Ringtail') Hen Harrier also hunted over the meadows and reedbeds. On that same busy bird day, to add to the tally, volunteer Dave C. found a Black-necked Grebe but unfortunately I failed to connect with it, despite checking through the several Great Crested and Little Grebes present.

 

The hundred or so strong Lapwing flock held, over the course of the week, a Black-tailed Godwit, a couple of Dunlin and a peak of seven Redshank, whilst a Curlew flew west and at least thirty Snipe were present. There were a few gulls around, particularly early in the week and a count of forty plus Mediterranean Gulls was still impressive this far up The Fleet despite their continued increase.

 

A few Redpolls were the passerine highlight, even outnumbering Siskins, mostly 'flyovers' but two did linger briefly in the Alders enabling their confirmation as being Lessers. A Bullfinch was the first for a few weeks but still no Hawfinch! Yes the latter would be most welcome (with some still on the move in East Dorset) but with a few Waxwings now reaching West Dorset perhaps that would be a more likely tick... There are virtually no berries around though to draw them in so I'll just have to check out every flyover 'Starling' just in case, although that too will probably prove to be fruitless (see what I did there)!

'Blowvember 2'

Well I seem to have partly solved the problem I was having uploading photos by re-sizing them before uploading them (even though this is supposed to happen automatically). Unfortunately though it's not working perfectly as it only let me upload two photos. However I now think for the meantime at least I shall persevere with the blog rather than terminating it and starting another elsewhere. So here is last week's post updated with photos...
 

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

 

19th to 25th November 2012

 

There was really only one day this week when it wasn't either blowing a gale or pouring with rain or more often than not both! This made birding very difficult, not just because it was virtually impossible to keep optics dry (and find somewhere sheltered to scan the lagoon) but because all the waterfowl were sheltering over the far side of the embayment under Chester's Hill or even worse round the corner beyond Shipmoor Point. This made picking out anything unusual extremely tricky.

 

 

Although rather distant, the numbers and variety of ducks present were pretty much as last week (see my last post), but hopes of rediscovering the Long-tailed Duck came to nothing. There were however still at least seven Scaup most days and the first winter Common Scoter reappeared but the highlight was a Goosander (a first winter/female). A single 'Dark-bellied' Brent was the only 'wild' goose among around a hundred 'feral' Canadas and the regular Greylag.

Just a few of the several hundred Common Coot on The West Fleet.

Despite the stormy conditions there were no real hoped for seabirds blown in, the only gulls of note being an adult Yellow-legged Gull and increasing numbers of 'Meds' often more abundant now than Commons and Black-headed Gulls.

 

 

Waders comprised of about a hundred Lapwing, several Snipe and a few Redshank and Dunlin, while the only raptor of note was again the regular male Marsh Harrier.

Common Snipe in the meadow.

The withybeds were full of calling Goldcrests along with several Chiffchaffs but in the unfavourable conditions they stayed deep in cover and trying to find anything more unusual was again a thankless task.

 

Well I'll try and blog next Sunday or I may just throw my laptap across the room...watch this space!

'Blowvember'

Sorry to be a bit late with this weeks post but I'm experiencing problems with my hosts as they won't let me upload any photos! They keep saying and I quote....

 

'Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos.'

 

When this appears I usually leave it for a few hours and it it's fine but now it appears to be fatal.

 

When I follow the 'helpful' links I find this...

 

'If you've signed up for Google+' (which I have!) 'Photos up to 2048 x 2048 pixels and videos up to 15 minutes won't count towards your free storage. All photos uploaded in Google+ will be automatically resized to 2048 pixels (on their longest edge) and won't count towards your free storage quota. When you reach your storage limit, any new photos you upload larger than the free size limit will be automatically resized to 2048 pixels (on their longest edge).'

So how could I have possibly used up my free quota! There does however appear nothing I can do about it and as I do not want to carry on blogging without photos this will I'm afraid be my penultimate post on this blog. I do intend to start another near identical blog on Birdforum however but I need to post at least ten posts on the forums there before I can start a blog with them. As I have only recently joined Birdforum I have not yet posted the required number of posts but I shall endeavour to remedy this and start another blog asap. As soon as the new blog is up and running I will publish my last post here with a link to my new blog. Apologies for the inconvenience but I have had this forced upon me. I hope you will join me soon as regular readers on my Birdforum blog.

 

In the meantime here, without photos, is the last, (for the meantime)...

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

19th to 25th November 2012

 There was really only one day this week when it wasn't either blowing a gale or pouring with rain or more often than not both! This made birding very difficult, not just because it was virtually impossible to keep  optics dry (and find somewhere sheltered to scan the lagoon) but because all the waterfowl were sheltering over the far side of the embayment under Chester's Hill or even worse round the corner beyond Shipmoor Point. This made picking out anything unusual extremely tricky.

 

Although rather distant, the numbers and variety of ducks present were pretty much as last week (see my last post), but hopes of rediscovering the Long-tailed Duck came to nothing. There were however still at least seven Scaup most days and the first winter Common Scoter reappeared but the highlight was a Goosander (a first winter/female). A single  'Dark-bellied' Brent was the only 'wild' goose among around a hundred 'feral' Canadas and the regular Greylag.

 

 Despite the stormy conditions there were no real hoped for seabirds blown in, the only gulls of note being an adult Yellow-legged Gull and increasing numbers of 'Meds' often more abundant now than Commons and Black-headed Gulls.

 

Waders comprised of about a hundred Lapwing, several Snipe and a few Redshank and Dunlin, while the only raptor of note was again the regular male Marsh Harrier.

 The withybeds were full of calling Goldcrests along with several Chiffchaffs but in the unfavourable conditions they stayed deep in cover and trying to find anything more unusual was again a thankless task... As is trying to upload photos on this blog... And so, for now at least, that's all folks but I hope to be blogging again soon (with photos!)...

 

Best wishes,

 

Steve.

 

 

 

'Settling An Old Score With An Old Squaw'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

12th to 18th November 2012

 

I've had this week off work and as I was busy spending some quality time with Suz (who, she would like me to point out, is not the old squaw of the title!), I only got down to The Swannery for a few hours on Thursday, Saturday and today for the WeBS count...

 

 

Looking across The Swannery Meadows to Chesters Hill yesterday.

There was a good selection of wildfowl on all three of my visits and in the calm conditions today the embayment was covered in birds. The highlight was a  first winter/female Long-tailed Duck... This species (once known in America as the 'Oldsquaw' due to it's call and long tail feathers) was once an annual visitor to the lagoon but today's was my first sighting  for a few years (having missed out on Luke's bird a week or two back). Another good sighting was a female Mandarin Duck and like the 'Long-tail' it flew in and settled out on The Fleet (both too far out for decent photos) between 09.00 and 10.00 this morning at the start of the count but neither could be found later. The count results (with thanks to Alan, Ian and Mike) were:

Mute Swan 296    

Black Swan 3

Greylag Goose 1    

Canada Goose 8    

Shelduck 17    

Mandarin Duck 1    

Wigeon 480    

Gadwall 2    

Teal 300    

Mallard 370    

Mallard (domestic) 6   

Pintail 105    

Shoveler 50    

Pochard 490    

Tufted Duck 263    

Scaup 7 (9 on Saturday)    

Long-tailed Duck 1

Goldeneye 3 (the regular male + 2 females)    

Red-breasted Merganser 7    

Little Grebe 28    

Great Crested Grebe 14    

Cormorant 6    

Little Egret 4    

Grey Heron 1    

Moorhen 14    

Coot 965    

Lapwing 11    

Snipe 5    

Kingfisher 2    

Black-headed Gull 70    

Mediterranean Gull 2  (30+ Thursday & Saturday)

Common Gull 6    

Herring Gull 2    

Great Black-backed Gull 5    

Looking east from The Viewing Platform today across to the three copses of Tiny, Chesters and Cuckoo.

As I have hardly been birding this week I haven't got much to add to the above tally but the first winter Common Scoter was still present to Thursday at least, as were a couple of Redshanks and three Dunlins were present on Saturday. The only raptors were the usual Buzzards, Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk or two, not even any Marsh Harriers and as for passerines there is not much to report save for the continual 'pinging' of a few Bearded Tits (heard but not seen), good numbers of Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and a few Siskins in the withy beds, Stonechats in the hedgerows and scrub and a couple of Nuthatches and Jays are still visiting my bird feeders at adjacent Grove Lane.

 

 

From The Viewing Platform across to Shipmoor Point today (there are duck out there honest!).

 I'm back to work tomorrow so normal service should resume (maybe even some photos of some decent birds)!

 

 

'Too Late To Rise?'

Swannery birding highlights of the week...

5th to 11th November 2012

It would appear that the best of the visible migration this week was to be seen in the first couple of hours after dawn and being a lazy git and not arriving on the patch until just before work I missed most of it. Not long after first light ringers Steve and Luke had good numbers of Bramblings, Lesser Redpolls, Redwings and Fieldfares go over (amongst hundreds of the commoner stuff) but later all I could manage was a couple of each of the first three and I have yet to see any of the latter this season. On Wednesday at nearby Cloudshill, Luke even had a Lapland Bunting but it flew off east rather than west toward The Swannery, so some compensation there. He also had a Long-tailed Duck however, that did initially fly west and probably did briefly reach my patch but it was later seen to fly out to sea. That didn't stop me looking of course but all I could find among the commoner ducks was the usual... the Common Scoter, the two Goldeneye and a peak of seven Scaup. Earlier in the week though I did a double take when I found this...

 

A presumed male Red-crested Pochard x Tufted Duck, although the pic does not show the true vividness of it's deep-pinky crest. The pic below however is a little better but still does not show how really stunning this bird's Woody Woodpecker crest was in real life. Despite initially looking like a Tufted Duck with a pink crest there are further clues to it's Red-crested Pochard parentage in the rest of it's plummage too...

 

 

To raptors now and at last I have something to report other than the regular male Marsh Harrier...as on Monday it was briefly joined by an adult female, whilst a 'Ringtail' Hen Harrier and a Red Kite also flew over. This raptor activity flushed a dozen or so Common Snipe out of the reedbeds...

Common Snipe at 'Bum Point' this week.

Also jittery was the Lapwing flock that reached 120 and briefly also held a couple of Golden Plover, whilst the only other waders seen were three Dunlin and a Curlew.

Goldfinch by The Decoy Pond. Just one of eight finch species seen this week but my main target...

The Hawfinch... still eludes me.

 

Back to passerines a Bullfinch was new in, as was a Mistle Thrush, whereas earlier autumn arrivals... two or three Nuthatches and a few Jays linger as did three late Swallows which were seen on a number of occasions (but I'm not sure if they were the same three each time) and Bearded Tits were heard but not seen.

 

'Half a tick'...

On Thursday while out checking the beach for Snow Buntings (to no avail) I noticed an odd crow. It looked just like a Hooded Crow except that the grey in it's plumage was very dark. Before I had time to see it well however it flew over on to the seaward side and I lost it to view. I made my way over but it was really wary and would not allow a close approach. Also I didn't have my scope but I did have my camera and the shot below is the best I could do...

A presumed Hooded Crow x Carrion Crow or at least a 'Carrion Crow' with some Hoodie genes...

You can just make out some grey on it's back, lower neck and upper flank. It was more obvious on my initial view before I could get the camera out but having pursued it to what felt like halfway to Portland on the shingle to try and get closer I got to the point where I just had to give up and slog all the way back. I saw what was almost certainly it again briefly on Friday on top of the beach opposite The Swannery but once again it dropped down the on the seaward side and out of view. Hopefully it will remain with the small regular wintering beach combing crow flock and I'll get a chance to study it closer...may be one day I'll even get a pure Hoodie!

My favourite view at The Swannery... From Reeds End looking straight down The Fleet.