Busy, busy, busy right now! Spare time I have had has been spent out and about or doing extra univeristy work; the joys of final year.
Some notable highlights since my last blog post, plenty of common stuff and a few goodies thrown in for good measure. I tried to go and see the Richardson's Canada Goose some weeks ago in Cumbria and failed, though I called in and saw a local Great White Egret which was nice to see. However all was not lost from that trip, a Todd's Canada Goose was picked out amongst the Barnacles, so can I add Todd's to cat A of my British list now? Who cares? Nice bird and the fact it was a vagrant made it semi-cool.
The Little Auk passage was good but didn't last all that long, always a delight to catch up with this species in the UK. However Saturday just gone was a fantastic day, the highlights being a cracking Little Bunting and a cracking Bee Eater, on Sunday I tried for the Lesser Kestrel but despite being there for early doors the species was nowhere to be seen. Apparently a reader of this blog was one of three individuals present and managed a photograph, as to whether or not Michael F will post his photo online remains to be seen. We would certainly like to see it, seems a bit strange that the photo should be held back as the other two observers sadly didn't have any equipment to take photographs with and so cannot supply any photographs.
Anyway here are some photographs and video of the weekends stars.
What a busy week, have been having to juggle university
commitments and birding a lot this week, but it has thankfully worked well. On
Saturday the 20th I decided I would go and see the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler in Fife,
I saw the bird at Flamborough Head on the 1st of September 2010.
However I did not see this bird well at all and I had said to myself that if
another turned up I would go and see it. Therefore when a bird turned up in Fife and was showing well I could not resist, the bird
performed very well with tail pumping seen and the bird constantly ‘tacking’.
Whilst there we were informed a Radde’s
Warbler had been found some 100 yards away, after an anxious and fairly
long wait the Radde’s Warbler showed
well with great views allowing to see the apricot underparts and broad and
obvious supercilium. On the way out I also stopped to see the Red-breasted Flycatcher which performed
really well and was another great bird to see.
(Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - copyright Mike Thrower)
(Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - copyright Mike Thrower)
Monday started well when a Pallas’s Warbler was trapped and ringed at WhitburnCoastalPark, some minutes later
I was standing at the ringing hut at Whitburn and was soon presented with a
stunning Pallas’s Warbler. This is
the first one I have ever seen in Durham,
I also heard Brambling going over
but I did not see it. Later on in the day a Red-breasted Flycatcher was trapped and ringed, this was a bird I
had not previously seen in the hand and was an absolute pleasure to see. I did
see the Pallas’s Warbler in the
field sometime after its release briefly as it flitted around with some Goldcrests, was a bonus to see it in
the field as I managed to get cracking views of that lemon yellow rump flashing
about as it moved around the sycamores.
(Pallas's Warbler - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
(Pallas's Warbler - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
(Red-breasted Flycatcher - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
(Red-breasted Flycatcher - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
Tuesday saw a Dusky
Warbler trapped and ringed, later on in the day a Rustic Bunting was seen briefly but then not found later on in the
day. At the coastal park a Ring Ouzel was also trapped, was great to see this
species up close and personal after having seen it many times in the past over
in the Durham
dales. I haven’t actually seen many coastal Ring Ouzels so this was a welcome treat to see up so close.
(Dusky Warbler - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
(Dusky Warbler - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
(Ring Ouzel - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
(Ring Ouzel - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
Wednesday was generally not very productive with only brief views
of the Dusky Warbler but little else
except a Jack Snipe and a Common Snipe. However some new Chiffchaffs were fresh in and hanging
around with the tit flock. Today (Thursday) I had good views in the field of
the Dusky Warbler and also heard the
bird ‘tacking’ as it went about its business. I also had a very good view of my
first and only Black Redstart of the
year in the Souter Lighthouse garden. A Barred
Warbler was nearby but I did not see it, apparently around feeding on elderberries across the road from the lighthouse.
Its been a fairly long while since I have updated my blog,
the birding has been good and I am now back at University and so the workload had gone from zero to a ridiculous amount, I am also trying to get on top of
writing my species accounts for the Durham Bird Club annual report. Just got
the Owls to do!
Since my last post I have as always done lots of birding;
however I have nothing generally to report apart from prolonged periods of
boredom finding very little. If there’s nothing at the coast and the weather is
poor it’s a bit of a washout, though I imagine I am preaching to the converted.
A few Saturdays ago I made the decision to head down to South Yorkshire to see the female Pallid Harrier. I am a bit of a fan of BOP’s and I had never seen
this age or sex of this species anywhere in the world so I went for a look. The
bird had roosted the previous evening and so I was on site for dawn, at around
7.00AM the bird came out of the roost, flew up over the surrounding fields and
away out of sight. It was all over so suddenly but the chance to enjoy the bird
was not missed, it was clear to see the unstreaked lower belly, dark underwing
contrasting with the pale hand, and of course the 4 primaries all counted and
accounted for. Nice! I spent the rest of the day dipping a Rose-coloured Starling in Notts that had turned up whilst I was
stuffing my face with McDonalds junk (sponsor me? Get in touch). Turns out that
after 3 hours of unsuccessful searching the bird was seen in October…..2011!
DOHHHHHHHHH! Now that’s late news, so close and yet so far.
Little action took place until Friday when on my day off Uni
I decided to investigate the rather early and unseasonal arrival of a Hume’s Warbler at Cambois in
Northumberland. After around an hour the bird started calling and was located,
I had pretty good views of the bird which did appear to be quite bright but did
call perfectly for Hume’s Warbler on
more than one occasion. I then spent the afternoon dipping on another Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler in
Whitburn, but the fact I had seen on in the hand really did not make this dip
painful at all.
Saturday was an interesting day, the day started off with a call from Stringer.
Much to my delight there was a Paddyfield
Warbler at St Mary’s Island. I shot off
down and was soon at St Mary’s Island and after a short while a bird gave
itself up. In true typical ‘acro’ style the bird shot across in from of the
crowd, perched in a willow before diving down into cover. I had to wait a while
until the bird finally gave itself up. It showed well, allowing for study. It
was evident that from these views this particular bird was not the Paddyfield Warbler but a Blyth’s Reed Warbler. The short primary
projection was evident and the plain tertials and white underparts made the
bird stand out, the lack of any strong head and facial markings eliminated Paddyfield Warbler from the mix. I saw
the bird again on one more occasion well and also saw a Reed Warbler during the twitch. A Yellow-browed Warbler was consistent in its calling and I got good
views of the bird in the willows briefly before it flitted off going back to
feeding actively. Pretty decent afternoon, Blyth’s
Reed Warbler is also a British tick for me. Score!
Sunday was a fairly uneventful birding day, with little
really of note. Then at around 3ish news came through of a male Pied Wheatear on Holy
Island. I got that twitchy feeling and had already decided so long
as I could get across I would go and see the bird, I was sort of hesitating due
to tide times but decided I could probably get across to Holy Island, rush
along to the bird, enjoy it for a while and then leave contented. That’s
exactly what happened. What a fantastic bird! The images and video really (as
always to be honest) don’t do the bird justice. Another lifer, what a weekend! I've had a good autumn so far.
Even a Gannet turned out to twitch the Pied Wheatear:
(A rather friendly Gannet! - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)
This bird has certainly left a lasting impression on me, its' just another one of those species I was not expecting to see. I really like locustella warblers and so the chance to see this magical rare bird was a real treat indeed. Mostly people just glimpse these birds, however to get one in the hand in your own county is rather special.
I knew the species was a bit of a Shetland speciality, however when doing research I soon realised just how rare the species was away from Shetland! Providing the most recent 3 records are accepted here are all the British records of Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler away from Shetland.
1976 - Norfolk - Cley
1985 - Northumberland - Farne Islands
1993 - Orkney - North Ronaldsay
1996 - Dorset - Portland
2001 - Norfolk - Blakeney Point
2001 - Northumberland - Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
2008 - East Yorkshire - Spurn
2009 - Outer Hebrides - St Kilda
2010 - Durham - Whitburn
2012 - Durham (also Cleveland) - Hartlepool
2012 - Durham - Whitburn Coastal Park
2012 - Aberdeenshire - Mains of Slains
Now lets strip the ones that were not on the mainland; birds that were on an island and so harder to get than mainland birds:
1976 - Norfolk - Cley
1996 - Dorset - Portland
2001 - Norfolk - Blakeney Point
2001 - Northumberland - Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
2008 - East Yorkshire - Spurn
2010 - Durham - Whitburn
2012 - Durham (also Cleveland) - Hartlepool
2012 - Durham - Whitburn Coastal Park
2012 - Aberdeenshire - Mains of Slains
Away from Shetland, Durham is not the best county in the UK in which to see Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, not just mainland but the whole of the UK. Just gives me more appreciation of the event.
