Not exactly a Dot – 9th of July

I had not been back from Orkney 12 hours and I was out birding in Durham again! I was out to go and see the Dotterel, a bird in which I dipped at Danby Beacon last year when they were moving through the area. I arrived at Crimdon Dene and looked up and down and all over the beach; however we drew a blank on Dotterel. However we saw the usual Common, Arctic, and Little Terns which we kind of expected to see. So we left here and headed over the Castle Lake to have a look and see if we could see one of the Hobby’s that have been knocking about in that area, I can inform you that we left disappointed! However not at the fact the Dotterel had been seen at Crimdon Dene, so back to Crimdon it was.

We arrived at Crimdon and met up with a friend from the DBC, we walked down and were informed it was flushed up and had flown away! Drat! However me and my friend set our scopes up on a good vantage point and began to look around the area to see if we could see it. Then something caught my eye moving around in the shingle, “Ringed Plover” I thought to myself until I lifted my bins and looked at this stunning female Dotterel. I quickly got Joe onto the bird and I spent a good 30 minutes or so looking at it. What a fantastic looking bird, and it was very approachable. I got within about 20ft of it and it wasn't bothered at all.

Life List Updates
251 – Dotterel

Year List Updates
218 – Dotterel
219 – Green Sandpiper – on Wednesday of this week (14th).

(Dotterel - Andrew Kinghorn)

Iberian Chiffchaff, have you heard one?

It seems that people seemed to enjoy my last post about the Little Shearwater on Lundy. Therefore I thought I would take the time to do a similar post on a bird you may encounter whilst out birding. I certainly didn’t know what an Iberian Chiffchaff was until the first bird appeared in Kent, I can remember not being to bothered about it not being closer. Then I was surprised when another one of these nice little MEGA’s turned up at Potteric Carr in South Yorkshire which is only about 2 hours drive from my home in Durham.

On the way down to Norfolk my friend Stew very kindly said we could stop off and I could go and see it, it was hoying it down with rain and it didn’t look promising but I soldiered on and did the 40 minute walk to where the bird was in about 30 minutes. When I arrived I don’t think it had been heard for a while but the rain had come off, and then about 10 minutes or so before I had to leave I heard the very distinctive song that I had leanrt in preparation for coming to see the bird.

In the field I was quite taken back about how different the song was from a normal (Phylloscopus collybita) Chiffchaff. It’s song was just totally different! It was also nothing like that of Willow Warbler.

I have managed to put together another sound bite so you can compare the different songs of Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, and Iberian Chiffchaff. I have added the exact call of the same Iberian Chiffchaff that was at Potteric Carr.

Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Listen to call here: http://www.xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=26143
OR click play:


Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus trochilus)
Listen to call here: http://www.xeno-canto.org/europe/recording.php?XC=28531
OR click play:


Iberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus)
Listen to call here: http://www.xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=53690
OR click play:


On a personal level I feel that Iberian Chiffchaff is fairly straight forward to identify if it is seen singing its call. It to me is clearly very different and nothing like Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Comments most welcome.

PLEASE NOTE, I DO NOT MEAN TO INFRIDNGE ANY COPYRIGHT LAWS. THEREFORE I WOULD LIKE TO STATE THE RECORDINGS ARE NOT MINE AND ARE THE PROPERTLY AND WORK OF OTHER PEOPLE. Thank You.

Little Lundy Shearwater

Just incase you don’t know what I am talking about I will explain. A few months ago a Little Shearwater turned up on the island of Lundy which is near Bristol. The bird is a mega (exceptionally rare) and there are not many records of the species occurring in the UK. What makes the Little Shearwater at Lundy interesting was that it wasn’t seen on a sea watch or for a day or so; it took up residence on the island for a while. I am not sure if it has been heard recently but my guess is no as it would have no doubt been put on Rare Bird Alert of BirdGuides.

I don’t believe it has been seen at all, however birders can go to the island and listen to it calling. It sounds very distinctive, I had no idea what a Little Shearwater sounded like but when you learn the call it’s very different from Manx Shearwater. It is also quite catchy, well I think it is!

I am going to make you a good deal here. What if I was to tell you I could save you money by not needing to go to Bristol and then Lundy and you could still here the Little Shearwater? Good deal egh?

Go on take me hand off:

Listen to this first if you are unsure of what Little Shearwater sounds like:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/europe/recording.php?XC=54722
OR click the Play button:


Then if you are up for it you can listen to the 4:00 minute recording and try and pick the Little Shearwater out from the Manx Shearwater. It’s actually quite easy:
http://soundcloud.com/darrylspittle/little-shearwater-lundy

Hope this has been interesting folks. Let me know if you enjoyed this kind of post. If I have time in the future I will post more if you like them.

Wanderer Returns

The king(horn) has returned.

I am back from my two holidays. I spent 2 weeks in Perth and Kinross and then spent 1 week on Orkney. I have seen loads of birds and far to many to list all of them but here is a roundup of the highlights I had from my two holidays:

Perth and Kinross – 2 Weeks
I had a cracking time and I think raptors and Cuckoos where the main highlights for me. I saw loads of Cuckoos and got a cracking view of one individual in my telescope, they are special birds I think. I saw loads of raptors: Kestrel, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Osprey, and 2 Golden Eagle. So it was a good trip overall with quite a lot of bird species logged with 91 being the total, that’s not bad for a (sort of) non birding holiday!

Orkney – 1 Week
I had a fantastic time in Orkney. Here is a nice summary of what I saw:
Arctic Skua (15-20c)
Great Skua (numerous - 40+?)
Hen Harrier (12c)
Short-eared Owl (15-17c)
Rock Dove (numerous)
Corncrake (heard only)
Red-throated Diver (3)
Raven (numerous)

On the long trip to Orkney we stopped off at Loch Ruthven and saw Slavonian Grebe, 2 Peregrine, and 1 Osprey.

Other interesting birds seen on trip home and trip to Orkney include: 2 Red Kite, and 3 Osprey.

Highlight had to be the male Hen Harrier only about 20ft of the car up on Birsday Moor. Also the Short-eared Owl sitting 15ft away staring at us for about 3 minutes will be another unforgetable experience. If anyone wants to see loads of Hen Harriers Orkney is the place to go!

I also saw the long staying Bearded Seal in Finstown.

Till next time, Foghorn OUT!