May WeBS

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 12th to Sunday 18th May 2014...  

Bird of the week was my first Hobby of the year that flew east over The Swannery meadow this morning as I arrived for the WeBS. Half an hour later myself and count 'vols' Alan and Mike were watching two Red Kites drift off west. Also of note today (and much of the week) was the continued unseasonal presence of the duck Scaup.

The Wildfowl totals on today's Wetland Bird Survey were...

Mute Swan - 490

Black Swan - 2

Canada Goose - 52

Shelduck - 50

Gadwall - 1 

Mallard - 69

Tufted Duck - 25

Scaup - 1

Earlier in the week there were a couple of escaped Bar-headed Geese (on Wednesday), three drake Shoveler (on Thursday) and a few Pochard off and on.





The two brief and distant Bar-headed Geese





Only one drake Gadwall was seen on the count today but there have been at least two around... This one (above) that is already moulting and another still in full breeding finery. They also both had mates a week or two back so I'm rather hoping that the ducks are both tucked away somewhere on eggs.

The Wader totals on today's Wetland Bird Survey were...

Oystercatcher - 2
Ringed Plover - 1
Bar-tailed Godwit - 3
Whimbrel - 4

The Oystercatchers noted above were the pair nesting in the grounds but the other pair are now nesting on the Tern Island so presumably the sitting bird was hidden among the Sea Beet and the other was off foraging. Another two Ringed Plover flew through on Tuesday with a flock of twenty Dunlin (the peak count this week of the latter), Common Sandpipers peaked at two on Wednesday, another Bar-tailed Godwit dallied on Thursday and a Turnstone lingered on Friday - the same day that a flock of seven Sanderling flew west. The only other Whimbrel for the week was a 'heard only' yesterday and to round off the week a Greenshank dropped in this (Sunday) evening.



One of the few settled Dunlin this week.
A bright schnzii or a dull alpina?

 Friday's Turnstone.

Thursday's Bar-tailed Godwit © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

And just for confirmation! Bar-tailed Godwit © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

The Gull and Tern totals on today's WeBS were...

Herring Gull - 4
Great Black-backed Gull - 4
Sandwich Tern - 2
Common Tern - 62

There had been larger numbers of gulls earlier in the week and as well as more of the above two species there were a few 'Lesser Black-backs' and 'Black-headeds'. The tern tally though was pretty representative of the week and so it's looking like we may have around thirty pairs of Common Tern attempting to nest on the island this year. Fingers crossed.


Caught in the act! A Great Black-backed Gull taking swan's eggs.
In this instance they were addled eggs placed in an already predated nest that had been staked out with our new camera trap.

The totals for other water birds on today's WeBS were...

Great Crested Grebe - 27
Cormorant - 4
Little Egret - 6
Grey Heron - 1
Moorhen - 2
Coot - 46

The miscellaneous water bird results are pretty representative for the week (but there are always a few more Moorhens tucked away in the reed beds) and no other species were seen.
 

Along with the Hobby and Red Kites a single Kestrel and three Buzzards were also recorded on today's WeBS and several of the latter two  species were also seen in the week.

 

To passerines (and 'near-passerines') now and with the regular breeding summer migrants now settled on territory (Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Reed and Sedge Warbler, Swallow, House Martin and Swift) the only obvious passage birds seen were a single Wheatear on Tuesday, a single Redstart (my first of the year) on Wednesday and one or two Willow Warblers. Of the scarcer Swannery nesting species, the (still unmated?) Nuthatch is still frequenting the upper grounds, a Treecreeper has reappeared in the lower grounds so hopefully they are breeding (just being very surreptitious about it), Goldcrests are singing in both the upper and lower grounds, so presumably they are nesting too, as are several Cetti's Warblers. On a negative note though there has been no sign of the Starlings or the Bullfinches in the last couple of weeks and I still can't find any Meadow Pipits! A trip up Linton Hill on the extreme north east boundary of my recording area revealed the only pair of breeding Stonechats that I'm aware of on my patch this year and I heard Yellowhammer too so hopefully they are breeding as well. I was rather hoping to find Lesser Whitethroat on the scrubby hillside but I drew a blank here as I have in the other two occasional breeding locales so far this spring.



The Linton Hill Stonechats.

One of several male Reed Buntings holding territory this year.



Singing male Dunnock, one of several common breeding passerines that appear to be having a good breeding season.



I'll leave you with a pic of just a few of the many cygnets that have hatched so far this spring...





 

May's Missing Migrants!

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 5th to Sunday 11th May 2014...  

First a bit of late news from last Sunday. After publishing last week's post I learnt I had missed a female Scaup, at least one Arctic Tern and a (feral/escape) Bar-headed Goose! I hadn't been working that day but even so I did pop down briefly late afternoon and saw nothing of note. Now I wasn't that bothered about the goose of course but was slightly miffed about the duck and the tern. Fortunately this week I caught up with the Scaup and it was still present today...



The duck Scaup on The Decoy Pond. She is now paired with a drake Tufted Duck, so we may soon have a couple more Tufted Duck x Scaup hybrids to contend with id-wise!

... And, I also caught up with at least one Arctic Tern...

Arctic Tern on the tern rails Tuesday.

There were probably a few more Arctic Terns among an eighty strong flock of mostly Common Terns that were feeding and resting in the lee of Chesil Bank opposite on Saturday but distance and viewing conditions made confidently clinching any a thankless task. Other sightings associated with the strong south-westerly that day were a (second calendar year) Little Gull and a (fourth calendar year) Yellow-legged Gull.

Wader passage continued, albeit without much variety, and peak counts were:

Grey Plover - 1; Whimbrel - 10; Bar-tailed Godwit - 1; Dunlin - 200; Redshank - 1. Also present were the two breeding pairs of Oystercatcher (with a third pair occasionally intruding into the recording area from beyond Shipmoor Point).

Waterfowl numbers and variety remained pretty much the same as last week, with no real surprises apart from the Scaup.

Passerine (and 'near-passerine') passage migrants were still in rather short supply too, with many former Swannery regulars still yet to make an appearance this year, namely Turtle Dove, Cuckoo, Hobby, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Yellow Wagtail and Tree Pipit!

I'm just hoping it's still not too late to see at least a few of the above this spring, let alone an official scarce migrant or vagrant!

I'll sign off with a couple of moth pics from Charlie...



Poplar Hawk Moth at The Swannery this week © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography



Poplar Hawk Moth at The Swannery this week © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography

 

'Serin-Dip-Pity'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 28th April to Sunday 4th May 2014...  

This week's title is a bit of narrative licence of course, as the 'serendipity' that Luke had when a Serin flew over his ringing site at nearby Clouds Hill (Abbotsbury) on Wednesday wasn't technically a 'dip', it was just highly likely that said Serin had previously also flown over The Swannery and unfortunately for me I didn't connect. It's now been around twenty years since my last here. Therefore the best bird of the week for me was a fly over Red Kite later that same day (that was too distant to photograph), though a Fulmar that Charlie had on Thursday was equally as scarce on the landward side of the Chesil. It would have been even more noteworthy if it had been the 'Blue' one that flew past Portland Bill that same day!

The first Swifts of the year were the highlight of the commoner 'summer migrants', while passage waders included over twenty each of Whimbrel and Dunlin, at least three Common Sandpipers, two Ringed Plovers and singles of Curlew and Snipe.


A couple of Whimbrels on 'The Bund'. A slightly better shot than last week's effort.

Some thirty Common Terns were on or around the tern island, along with a few Sandwich Terns still...


Just a few of the Common Terns (and one of the Sandwich Terns) gracing the tern rails this week.

All of the wintering wildfowl have now departed leaving just the regular breeding species along with two pairs of Gadwall (only sporadic nesters), several pairs of Tufted Duck (that are just about establishing themselves as regular nesters) and a few Pochard (that look like they may nest in the near future).  


Drake Shelduck on Meadow Pool today. One of The Swannery's regular breeding wildfowl species along with Mallard, Canada Goose and Mute Swan (of course!).

So yet again not a very eventful birding week but I still feel there's a very good bird yet to come this spring and now we're into May a nice southern overshoot would make a fitting, if slightly belated, (significant) birthday present!
 
I'll leave you with a shot that Charlie took of a Muslin Moth at The Swannery this week...


Muslin Moth © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography




 

'One Good Tern Already!'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 21st to Sunday 27th April 2014...  

Bird of the week was the adult 'sum-plum' Black Tern that colleague Charlie found on the tern rails on Saturday. Although only present for up to twenty minutes or so I did get to see it but unfortunately neither Charlie or I had our cameras to hand. It was with around twenty Common Terns and a few Sandwich Terns, the former of which are already taking a great interest in the newly refurbished tern island...
 

Common Terns on the tern island. A few have already been seen nest scrapping.

'Hmm, what's that up there? It looks a bit like a male Hen Harrier but there's something not quite right! That idiot in the hide can't even see it from where he is (not that he'd id it properly anyway). Never mind I'm sure someone else will catch up with it'.
Common Tern off Bum Point this week...

Wader passage, although pretty un-impressive, continued... with a Greenshank probably the highlight. There were also small groups of Whimbrel most days (with a peak count of thirty-one on Monday), a few Dunlin and Snipe and singles of Common Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Lapwing and Ringed Plover. Of the two pairs of Oystercatcher now settled on territory at least  one has eggs, so fingers crossed the present spring tides don't get too high!


Four of the Whimbrels that passed through this week...

And another four Whimbrels that settled briefly on the bund (in poor light).

Passerine passage continued as well of course, though with few highlights. A 'flock' of twenty Wheatears on the landward side of the beach opposite 'Bum Point' on Tuesday was noteworthy (seeing how few I had seen previously this spring) and several singing Whitethroats were the first of the year. Otherwise it was more of the same with a few more Reed and Sedge Warblers in evidence, joining plentiful Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps and there are still a few Willow Warblers passing through too. There have still been no big arrivals of hirundines but at least there have been the best numbers yet this year of Sand and House Martins among a continuing trickle of Swallows.


A Pied Wagtail on the perimeter fence, just one of many 'resident' passerine species nesting in and around The Swannery. Where are all the Meadow Pipits this year though?


And finally to the ever decreasing numbers of 'winter' wildfowl... 'dabblers' included a single drake Teal early in the week and a pair of Gadwall linger but unlike last week there have been no Shoveler or Wigeon, while diving ducks included a single drake Red-breasted Merganser  to mid-week and several Pochard still and plenty of Tufted Duck of course.

So I still await the big rarity of the spring, maybe that Common Tern really did see something I didn't!

 

'One Good Turn Deserves Another Good Tern!'

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 14th to Sunday 20th April 2014...  

I missed what were probably the best two birds of the week... a fly-over Osprey and a 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler... both discovered by ringer Steve Hales first thing Monday morning. Each would have been a first of the year for me but at least I did find a few of my own later in the week, namely several Sand Martins (at last!), a House Martin and a Whinchat...



A record shot of Tuesday's Whinchat on The Swannery perimeter fence.

 

As for other migrant passerines there were still some Swallows trickling through, a few more Reed and Sedge Warblers were singing from the reed-beds and there were plenty of vociferous Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers in the withy-beds and copses... whilst in the surrounding meadows a couple more Wheatears brought this spring's tally to an unimpressive total of three...

 

A Wheatear in the rain today.



All the usual 'resident' land-birds are now busy nesting (or at least seriously thinking about it) and slightly 'less-than-annual' breeders' still on territory include Starling, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Treecreeper and Nuthatch (although the latter lone male still doesn't seem to have a mate). Also there appears to be the best ever numbers of Cetti's Warblers that I can remember here this spring.

 

With no sign of the Harris's Hawk this week, the only escape seen was a male Lady Amherst's Pheasant that lingered briefly in the upper grounds (and was presumably the Grove Lane bird that I last saw in my garden back in January).

 

Back to migration and there was clear evidence that wader passage was beginning to get underway with the first couple of Common Sandpipers of the year... 



The second of this spring's Common Sandpipers on 'Bum Point'



... and also new for the year... two fly-over Green Sandpipers (Monday), a Greenshank (today) and  (on Friday) two Black-tailed Godwits...

 

The two islandica Black-tailed Godwits (a female and a male) on 'Meadow Pool'

 

Completing the wader tally for the week were a few Whimbrel, Dunlin and Snipe, along with a single Curlew, a Bar-tailed Godwit and up to three pairs of Oystercatcher.



Wildfowl totals on today's Wetland Bird Survey were...

Mute Swan - 427

Canada Goose - 42

Shelduck - 39

Gadwall - 2 (a pair)

Teal- 1 (5 Wednesday)

Mallard - 84

Shoveler - 3

Pochard - 12

Tufted Duck - 73.

In addition in the week two Wigeon (a pair) were present on Tuesday and a few Red-breasted Mergansers were still present early in the week.

 

Other water-bird totals today were...

Great Crested Grebe - 34

Little Egret - 5

Coot - 45

Although not in evidence during the count today there are thankfully still a few Moorhens around (despite the attentions of the hopefully now departed Harris's Hawk) and the occasional Grey Heron was also seen.

 

There were no surprises on the gull front and even Sandwich Tern numbers seemed to have peaked with far fewer around this week. There are still only a few Common Terns around as yet too but at least that meant we could get on with the Tern Island restoration without any worries of disturbance... 



The severe storms in February caused considerable damage to the Tern Island with the raised floor collapsing in places along the 'back' wall and a substantial amount of the substrate washing away too.





It's surprising what you can do with a few old pallets, re-cycled plywood and a bit of left over geotextile though!



A few boat-loads of surplus path-gravel and job done! We also added a few patches of sand to the existing shingle... if it works for the Little Terns it might help the Commons too!
Above three photos © Charlie Wheeler wheeler-photography



One of this year's first returning Common Terns.
 

Hopefully the Common Terns will consolidate on last year's success and the colony will thrive again this year... maybe enough to draw in something like The Swannery's third Sooty Tern! The two here in 1935 were a bit before my time!

Happy holidays!

Playing Catch Up

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 7th to Sunday 13th April 2014...  

I was back at work this week (after a week off) and despite therefore spending more time at The Swannery it was, nonetheless, still rather quiet, albeit with a few firsts of the spring... These included my first Swannery Swallows of the year on Monday, with others trickling through all week (bizarrely though I still haven't seen any Sand Martins this year, let alone a House Martin); the first Reed and Sedge Warblers arrived too as did - at last - my first 2014 Wheatear; two Whimbrels circled the embayment on Sunday (following three the wrong side of The Chesil on Thursday) and the first few Common Terns joined the flock of up to ninety Sandwich Terns around the Tern Island.

This pair of Black-headed Gulls have also been hanging around the Tern Island.
There have been a couple of failed breeding attempts in recent years.
I wonder whether this pair will try?

Lingering 'winter' wildfowl consisted of a few Red-breasted Mergansers, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall and a lone Wigeon, the latter the first for weeks, while there were still comparatively good numbers of Tufted Duck and Pochard. There were plenty of the four regular breeding species of course, namely Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck and Mallard. A couple of Black Swans are still present too.

Aside from the aforementioned Whimbrel and the two territorial pairs of Oystercatchers, waders seen were three Bar-tailed Godwits and few Redshank, Curlew and Snipe, whilst a flyover Ringed Plover was a 'heard only'.

The former regular male Marsh Harrier made a brief appearance but now seems to have settled at Radipole and no females were seen, so no nesting attempt here this year. The escaped Harris's Hawk is still being seen but there were no other raptors of note.

In addition to the passerine migrants already mentioned, there were still comparatively good numbers of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap, whilst still lingering scarcer breeders included several Cettis's Warblers and at least one pair each of Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Bullfinch. Unfortunately, however, the single male Nuthatch has, as yet, failed to attract a mate.



Several pairs of Goldfinch are now busy nest-building.

There had been no sign of any Bullfinches this spring until this male blundered into Steve Hales' mist nets! © Steve Hales. Thanks for the use of the pic Steve.

So now into mid-April things should really begin to liven up and as it is also the April WeBS next Sunday I should hopefully have a lot more to report next week!

Having lost them for many years, it is still feels a real novelty to have close views of a Water Vole!

 

A Spring Break

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week..

 

Monday 31st March to Sunday 6th April 2014...  

I was on leave this week and as I had lots of chores to do I didn't do much birding. In fact I only managed a couple of afternoon and a couple of evening visits to The Swannery all week and all were pretty unproductive. I don't think I missed much either though, as work colleague Charlie had very little to report. I did however manage my first Willow Warbler of the year to add to the numerous Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps now in song. Frustratingly though I still haven't logged any Sand Martins or Wheatears and my first Swallows of the year were just outside The Swannery recording area at New Barn Farm today. 



(Common) Starling at The Swannery this week... a former breeding species.
They used to nest in cavities in this very clump of Grey Poplars so lets hope they breed this year!



Lingering wildfowl included a few Teal, Shoveler and a pair of Gadwall and still several Pochard, Tufted Duck and Red-breasted Merganser.

 

As for waders there was a single rather late Lapwing (as long gone are the days when they nested here), a single Redshank (ditto), while a third pair of Oystercatchers briefly joined are two regular pairs (so at least we should have some breeding waders). 




One of the pairs of (Eurasian) Oystercatchers on 'The Bund' © Charlie Wheeler

There were no gulls of note but Sandwich Tern numbers continued to build...

 

Sandwich Terns on 'The Tern Island' this week © Charlie Wheeler.
The island needs a good refurbishment following the severe storms in February.
Lets hope we can get it done before the Common Terns begin arriving!



And a close-up of one of the Sandwich Terns. Unfortunately I couldn't read the ring!

So that's about it for this week but I'm back to work tomorrow so expect a fuller report next week (I hope!).

I'll just leave you with an image Charlie took which we thought was maybe a pupae of some sort but it turns out is a fungus...
 

Pink fungi © Charlie Wheeler.
Thanks Charlie for the use of this and two of the other images this week.