Shetland 2014

On Wednesday the 24th of September I made my annual pilgrimage to the Shetland Isles (an archipelago about 100 miles off the NE coast of Scotland), so at 4.30 am, the taxi arrived, and, with my birding buddies Steve James, Dave Gray and  John Waters, we headed for Birmingham Airport. After two uneventful flights, we picked up the hire car - a Kia Picanto - which had not got enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding! We headed for our home for the next 10 days, the Beach House at Hoswick, and after dropping off our luggage, we started to check out the local avifauna. We found Chiffchaff in our garden, and lots of Blackbird were about, along with Hooded Crow and a fly-over Bonxie (Great Skua). I won't bore you with a day-by-day list of birds, these are just a few highlights of our trip.....
Thursday, whilst out trying to see more migrants, a report of a Red-Eyed Vireo came in at The Sumburgh Hotel gardens, so off we went! Sadly, by the time we arrived, the bird had disappeared but we did note Snipe, Gold Crest, and at Sumburgh Head, Fulmar, Gannet and Raven were noted. We headed for Hestingott, to try and find the Red-Backed Shrike that had been there for a few days - and were successful following a good 'spot' by Steve. Other birds of note were Redstart, Wheatear, Merlin and Pied Flycatcher.

Red-Backed Shrike

Friday was extremely windy, so we went looking for more sheltered areas and found ourselves at Loch Clickimin, Lerwick. Noted water birds were Scaup, Whooper Swan, Kittiwake, Teal and large numbers of Tufted Duck with a few Wigeon. A report of an Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll had been found at Veensgarth, so off we went again! We were lucky to get good views of the bird, but sadly no images - unlike the Red-Breasted Flycatcher which we found on a small housing estate in Cunningsburgh!

Red-Breasted Flycatcher

Red-Breasted Flycatcher with a morsel

Saturday was again spent looking for migrants in and around Voe. Birds of note today were Twite, Brambling, White Wagtail, and, at the Loch of Voe, a possible Olive-Backed Pipit.

Sunday found us in Levenwick, where we found the Barred Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat, which looked to be of the eastern variety. News of Swainson's Thrush at Norwick, on the Isle of Unst, was recieved. We were two ferrys and approximately 70 miles away, but it was a new BOU 'tick' for three of us, so it was a mad dash then, to Unst! We didn't have much time on Unst though, and unfortunately the bird hadn't been seen for at least two hours, and due to ferry times, we had to leave without seeing it. 

Monday......Back on the first ferry available to try again for the Swainson's Thrush, and by 08.30, we were back at the same garden.....but to no avail! We did get flight views of Common Rosefinch, and also, a Wryneck - yet another good 'spot' by Steve! We decided then to go for a Temminck's Stint at Baltasound which was rather more obliging! We then moved on to Halligarth, as there had been a Rustic Bunting there for quite a while - which Steve needed for his list. Whilst viewing this bird, we also had excellent views of Barred and Garden Warblers.

A good day was had by all!

Barred Warbler

Garden Warbler

Whilst on our way back from Unst, news came in of a White Thrush near the Loch of Bow on the Shetland mainland. Although it was too late for us to get there that evening, we decided to target the bird the next morning, so, on Tuesday morning, we were to be found peering over a garden wall along with 60 other birders trying to get a sighting of this Siberian beauty. Though viewing was difficult, with patience, I think everybody got a view of the bird. The images below of the thrush were taken on Wednesday when we returned. The bird showed really well, and it's feeding method has to be seen to be believed - it paddles the ground, but it's head stays in exactly the same spot! ....... somebody described it as twerking, like Miley Cyrus!! 

White Thrush

White Thrush

After leaving the White Thrush, the Myrtle Warbler (I prefer the old name of Yellow-Rumped Warbler) which had been found a few days earlier had turned up in a garden at Grutness, so we headed off to see it. As you can see from the images below, we had great views of this American warbler!

Myrtle Warbler

Myrtle Warbler

Friday, as we were coming back from Scalaway and the Tingwall area, where a Pallid Harrier had been seen (Steve and John needed it for their lists), Steve, who was sitting in the back of the car suddenly blurted out those immortal words.....'Rubythroat'!!!  'Where?' we all shouted! Remember earlier in this tale I told you that the car was grossly underpowered??........well, to be fair to the Picanto, it managed to get four burly blokes to Levenwick - a distance of about five miles - in a speed you wouldn't believe! The bird was doing a circuit between a fuchsia and Hebe bush in a ladies garden, and, with patience, we all managed to see this enigmatic little jewel of a bird, along with about 60 other birders. I did manage to get one record image, but the bird was constantly moving, and as there was a restricted viewings in order to allow everybody to see it, I wasn't able to linger. Unfortunately, we were leaving the next morning, so weren't able to return for any more images.

Siberian Rubythroat

 

Below are a few images of some of the other birds we saw on our visit to Shetland.

Fulmar

Wryneck

Wheatear

Temminck's Stint

Shag

Whooper Swan

Brambling

We had in the region of 90 species between us, and there are some bird I haven't even mentioned, like double figure counts of Yellow-browed Warbler, Kestrel - not a common bird - and neither is Carrion Crow.  There were also lots of Blackcap, a few Skein of Pinkfeet with Purple Sandpiper, Sanderling and Turnstone. We traveled just over 800 miles - I just hope the car recovers!

As always, I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog!

Patch Birding

I really should put more on my blog about my patch at Brascote Gravel Pits. Its not that i'm lazy - its just that it's only a small area of old workings that used to extract gravel, and there are only a couple of the old settling pools that still hold water; there are lots of sallow, and some old woodland, and this is all surrounded by arable farming with a few cattle, but saying that, we have had some really good birds - e.g. Bearded Tit, Black Redstart,  Avocet and Wood Sandpiper to name but a few! It's just sometimes really hard work to find anything at all - but I suppose that's why we do patch birding - hoping to find something a little more unusual than the more common birds. To this end, every now and then, I'll put some of the wildlife that appears on my patch. The Redstart  image below was from last weekend, found by John - a good mate of mine.

Common Redsart

As always, I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog.

Black Tern at Cropston

Earlier this week there was a Juvenile Black Tern reported at Cropston Reservoir not to far away from where I live, so on wednesday evening with nothing else better to do I thought that it was worth a visit to see if I could get any images. On arrival there were a few Common Terns perched at the water tower, and it wasn't long before I picked up the Black Tern feeding out in the middle of the Reservoir along with hundreds of Hirundines mostly Swallow and Sand Martins.Along the dam 3 Common Sandpipers were busy chasing each other about but I did manage to get a few Images, but the Tern was always to far out to get some really good images so the record shot below though cropped  is the best I got. In the couple of hours I was there 2 Raven and 6 Little Egret and 3 female Mandarins were also noted.

Juvenile Black Tern

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

As always hope you enjoyed your visit.

Migrants on the move

On Tuesday evening, a it was nice, being quite warm and with no wind, I gave my mate Pete a call to arrange to visit our local patch at Brascote GP. On arriving and checking the front pit,we saw that the 5 juvenile Gadwall were still present, as were the 2 Little Grebe; the flock of geese seemed to have expanded, with over 200 Canada Geese and 22 Greylag in with them.We then headed for the sallows pit, but as we were walking down the path, we noticed  two or three Long-tailed tits and with them was a Phylloscopus Warbler. We waited, and after a few minutes the Phylloscopus Warbler showed well, - and .....not just one Willow Warbler, but at least five were seen  in with a tit flock, which had a minimum of 28 Long-tailed tits, Blue and Great Tit, and a Chiffchaff;  these were just the birds that we were seeing -  more must have gone through unnoticed through the willows. Carrying on to the bottom track, the only other bird of note - though being a nice one - was a Hobby a nice couple of hours birding.

Long-tailed Tit

Scruffy looking Willow Warbler

Hope you have enjoyed your visit!!!!!

Penzance Pelagic

I was thinking to myself a few weeks ago about how short my British list of Petrels is, with only Storm and Leach's seen... and also only Manx and Balearic Shearwaters....but the thing is, I didn't want to go down to Pendeen or Porthgwara, on the Cornish coast, and sit there for hours.  I'm afraid I am not a big sea watcher, so imagine my surprise when Rare Bird Alert tweeted that a company in Penzance was running pelagic trips on every Saturday in August... so, after a few phone calls to friends, we were booked on the boat for the 9th of August! At stupid o'clock last Saturday morning, Steve James, Dave Gray, John Waters and myself  headed for Penzance for our 8 hour pelagic. In the previous few days, lots of the big Shearwaters had been seen from the mainland and from pelagic trips running from the Scilly Isles.... plus the winds were in our favour, so fingers crossed, we should see a few birds! After the compulsory 'full English' in the cafe on the harbour car park,(certainly recommend it) at just after 8.00am, we were off towards Wolf Rock Lighthouse, 8 miles from of Lands End. It wasn't long before some Common Dolphins were spotted, and there were quite a few big Gulls about - Great Blacked-backed and Herring Gulls mostly.

Great Blacked-back Gull

Herring Gull

The further we got out  we saw Fulmars skimming over a quite a  big sea swell, and also lots of Gannets in all sorts on plumage from juvenile through to stunning adults - then a shout went up - Sunfish and just a few 

meters from the boat, an Ocean Sunfish just gently floated by - one of 3 we saw during the day.

The strange and wonderful Ocean Sunfish

We had been out for a while, and were approaching Wolf Rock lighthouse, which is about 8 miles out from Land's End, so it was time to start 'chumming'. Paul and Martin - the guides on the boat - started to throw an evil concoction of fish remains, oil, and cornflakes - the latter floating on the sea, so the birds had something to see, once the slick started dispersing. First of all, the smell bought in large Gulls and Fulmars, then Steve called out 'Great Shearwater!' but the bird had landed on the water which made it difficult to pick up; however, it  soon took to the air, and flew around the boat for quite a while. Shortly after, the other big Shearwater - Cory's - made an appearance, but we did notice that the Cory's didn't linger - they just seemed to fly straight through. 

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

There were quite a few European Storm-Petrel seen, and also lots of Manx Shearwater - neither came close for any images - but sadly that elusive Wilson's Storm-petrel failed to show..... but that just gives us another excuse for another pelagic voyage!!! On our way back to port, a few Harbour Porpoise were seen, and we had a grand view of St Michaels' Mount - all in all, a great day out with 2 new additions to my British list

As always, I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog!

Year Listing

I had a phone call from my owling buddy Paul in the week, saying that he was having a few days off, and that when he had finished decorating the kitchen for Dame Gaynor [Pauls wife] he was at a loose end....... so, after a brief discussion it was decided we would head for Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire so Paul could add a few ticks to his year list. On Thursday at 6am, we were on our way. A quick brekki stop in Boston at Macky D's, then on to the marsh. On arriving and walking down the track you could see that the return migration for the waders had really started - there were hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits. We picked up a Ruff - a year tick for Paul - before heading for the 360 hide to hopefully get a few photographic opportunities. There were lots of waders about - Avocets and a few chicks, Greenshank and Redshank, L.R Plover - all new ticks for Paul - and over 40 Little Egrets. Whilst talking to a couple of mates we bumped into on our way to the next hide, Paul picked up a Glossy Ibis in flight - a nice bird, but sadly not a new tick for him. The next hide was much of the same, so back to the centre for a coffee. The warden there pointed us in the right direction for Turtle Dove not far away, so off we went in search of them. More or less as soon as we got there, Paul picked up on a bird in flight and it did the right thing and landed in clear view for us, down an hedgerow - too far for any images, but we did find another Turtle Dove as they called to each other. I can't remember the last time I saw Turtle Dove in the UK! It was then a short drive to Frieston Shore. The water levels here were really low and not much about - mostly Oystercathers and a few Avocets.  I did pick up a small wader across the far side, which turned out to be a Knot.  Paul picked a little flock of 6 Common Sandpipers and  I found a Whimbrel flying towards us, though it never landed near the hide. We did see it on another couple of occasions in flight though. We also saw  Marsh Harrier and Kestrel here -  the first and only raptors of the day; also 3 Green sandpipers appeared from nowhere and flew over the embankment to feed. As it was low tide, what we thought was a scrape being a bit sparse,  turned out to be a good couple of hours, and all in all a good day out! We had getting on for 50 species, and Paul added a few ticks to his year list. Below are few images from the day

Avocet Chick

Action shot Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit with a snack

Lapwing

Redshank

Ruff

Hope you have enjoyed your visit!!!

Boxing Clever

I was out with my mate Paul this weekend to start renumbering all the boxes and amending the records; this means now that all the boxes have a small disc which has a number engraved on it, which we stick to the front of the box. This then makes it easier for Paul, when he returns home, to know which boxes we have been to, instead of trying to remember which site/ who's land it's on/ where exactly the box is |(as some farms have more than one box), and whats happening at the box during the breeding season. We also keep information on what state the box is in, and whether it is in need of repair etc. Going around the boxes, we came across quite a few of the juveniles which we had ringed in the middle of June.... wow! how much they have grown!.... two have already fledged at one site, and it will not be long before all the others are on the wing. At one of our sites, Paul was taking the ladder in, and two of the juveniles which were roosting on the beams in the barn took flight - one flew to a hedge and disappeared, the other decided not to fly too far and landed in the field more or less in front of us - just enough time for an image!

Note the ring on the birds right leg

Pity about the grass in front of it's lovely face

We carried on and numbered a total of 16 boxes. At our last site of the day,we have both a Barn and Little Owl box; although this place is perfect, for some reason, neither Paul or I have ever seen an owl here until today - as Paul pulled the landrover into the barn, there on top of the barn owl box sat a juvenile Little Owl - result!! another new site for Paul! On the way back home, Paul stopped off at one of his reliable sites for Little Owl, and we were not disappointed as a juvenile appeared just long enough for an image. We did hear the adult calling, but it stayed well hidden. All in all, another good day

Not a brilliant image but a record shot of the Little Owl at the newest site

The last Owl of the day

Hope you have enjoyed your visit