Migration Through Little Marlow

A change in the wind direction led to an increase in migrating birds through Little Marlow GP on the weekend of 29th/30th April.  Firstly Adam Bassett found a "reeling" Grasshopper Warbler which soon went quiet or moved away and nobody else heard. The Dunlin below was more cooperative and stayed until the following day.

Dunlin

 The 30th certainly looked more promising as the winds were from the SE and increasing in force.  So it was no surprise when Adam Bassett found a Black Tern.  However the best came a bit later when Alan Stevens found a Temminck's Stint.  Unfortunately I arrived just as the bird was moving out of sight.  Then almost immediately after that a Peregrine flew over and half heatedly dived at a Red Kite and then flew over the area where the Stint had disappeared.  It presumably thought it was too dangerous to stay and went on it's journey, unseen by me and many birders who turned up over the next hour or so.

There was some consolation in the arrival of two Little Terns and two Ringed Plovers, the latter joining the 7+ Little Ringed Plover and 1-2 Common Sandpipers that were on the sand spit.

A pretty good couple of days for the site!

Little Tern

Cetti's Warbler

I arrived at Lodmoor RSPB reserve about 8am.  I had already seen about 100 Common Terns in Weymouth Bay (while I was having a cuppa in bed!) and they were presumably new in as I had seen none all week.  Also new in were several hundred Sand Martins that were feeding low over the reedbeds at Lodmoor.  Only one or two Swallows among them and no House Martins.

I walked the circuit on the south end were I was more likely to see some waders but only found two Common Sandpipers, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Greenshank and a Common Snipe.  While I was walking around I was asked by two people what the loud song was that could be heard around the lake.  I answered "Cetti's Warbler" and added that there was not much chance of seeing one,  Then a bit further on the bird below appeared and took no notice of me.  It was as if he had not noticed that the branch he was supposed to be hiding behind, had been cut away!

Cetti's Warbler

Portland Bill Birding

With northerly winds most of the week the flow of migrants was virtually turned off.  Today the winds eased and moved a bit from the north and a few more migrants managed to reach Portland.

I had tried on two previous days to locate the Ring Ouzels that were seen daily in Barleycrates Lane, Portland.  This was my last attempt and I arrived about 7:45am before any other birders.  I soon flushed an Ouzel that was close to the path and it went straight into a thick bush.  I hoped it would reappear and waited for some time but eventually gave up and went to view the track and cliffs further on.  I came back and again about an hour later and the bird again flew from close to the footpath.  I waited again and eventually decided to advise the Observatory of it's presence by means of Twitter.  No sooner than I had sent it then the bird appeared for a few seconds in the top of a bush and I quickly rattled off a couple of photos before is disappeared again.

Also seen in the lane were a Tree Pipit (which dropped in briefly before flying N), a Whitethroat (also seemingly heading north), a few Wheatears, Willow Warblers (probably new arrivals) and three male Stonechats.

Ring Ouzel - Barlycrates Lane.

Linnets were common in Barleycrates Lane and this one
sat for just long enough for a photo.

Skylarks were singing and feeding in the adjacent field and this one came reasonably close.
A change from them being in the middle of a huge field!

After moving down the road to the bill I noticed that the tide race was moving the Guillemots and Razorbills well out from the west cliffs to the bill itself.  Several hundred birds involved but no sign of any Puffins.  Also off the Bill were several parties of Gannets and two Manx Shearwters heading west.  Seawatching was pretty quiet so I soon moved on.

A number of Wheatears were feeding on the grass, so presumably new birds in.

Razorbills

Guillemots

Wheatear

Goldfinch - I could not resist taking a photo of this bird a very close range.
Note the ring, presumably from the Observatory which about 100 metres away.

A quick stop at Ferrybridge on the return journey produced two Whimbrel, c10 Dunlin, a Grey Plover and a couple of Ringed Plovers.

An enjoyable mornings birding.

Dorset Birds

Rock Pipit - Portland Bill - Clearly a breeding bird.

Purple Sandpiper - Asleep on the side of the Pulpit Rock at Portland Bill.
Rubbish photo but rather distant and windy.

Wheatear - Barleycrates Lane, Portland.
Lots around but none hanging around or that close to photograph.

Mute Swans at Abbotsbury Swannery
Although wild birds they choose to stay here, partly helped by being
fed twice a day at certain times of the year.

Young Coot waiting to be fed at Abbotsbury.

Lots of these caterpillars at Portland Bill.  

Abbotsbury - A juvenile Mistle Thrush just out of the nest and calling for food.

Lodmoor RSPB Reserve

A week in Weymouth should provide a few birds.  First up was Lodmoor RSPB reserve, a 15 minute walk along the promanade from where we were staying.  Lots of Cetti's Warblers singing, plus Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers, a Lesser Whitethroat, Bearded Tits (in flight), Marsh Harriers, Greenshank, Dunlin, etc.  I managed a few photos with my handheld Panasonic G6.

Cetti's Warbler - I was very fortunate that this bird sat on an exposed perch for a short while.
Normally they are a nightmare to see, let alone photograph.

Teal - Quite a few present and in pairs.

Not a new wader species for the UK but just an Oystercatcher with completely
black legs and bill, due to feeding in very black mud!  It looked very odd.

Linnet - This bird dropped in close to me while I was walking back
along the prom and I could not resist taking a few photos.
It seems to be carrying nesting material.

After I left a Red-rumped Swallow apparently turned up.  I returned but it had already gone😞

Brazil Blog

I have not posted anything on this blog for some time.  Apart from a birding trip to Thailand in March, I did spend some time finishing off the blog for a birding trip to Brazil in 2016.  It can be found at http://hawfinches-brazil.blogspot.co.uk  In fact all of my older trip reports are listed on this blog under "My Other Birding Blogs".

A blog for the Thailand trip will be posted in due course but there is a lot of work to do on the photos first!

Black-winged Stilts at Little Marlow

I was rather fortunate to see these birds as I had forgotten to take my mobile phone of of mute that morning, so I did not get the 10am message from Alan Stevens (and others) to say that he had found two Black-winged Stilts at Little Marlow. Anyway, I sat down for a coffee at home, looked at my phone and saw a list of messages about the Stilts!  So no time to lose. I gathered together my birding gear and fifteen minutes or so later I was watching the birds fed around the sand spit.  I was certainly relieved!

These are rare birds in the county with only two prior records (at Willen Lake in June 1988 and Manor Farm in April 2016).  Although I did see the long staying pair at Willen Lake, it was rather a long time ago and I clearly would like to see this species on my local patch.  

I stayed on site for a couple of hours and obtained a few photos.  Digiscoping was difficult as the birds were moving around so much and focusing was tricky.  In the end there was not much to choose between my digiscoped shots and the ones taken with my Panasonic G6.
Click on photos to enlarge.

Quite a few birders turned up while I was there, with birders coming from adjacent counties.  I understand that some of the Berkshire birders where hoping that they might fly off south and over the river into Berkshire, allowing a county tick.  In the end they disappeared overnight, so it is anyones guess which direction they went.

There are again two Black Swans on the lake with another bird apparently flying in to join the flightless bird.  They seem to be getting on really well and are often close together and at times showing courtship behaviour. Maybe the number will increase even more by the end of the breeding season!