Yank Ducks and Year Ticking - Bournemouth, Bodmin Moor, Matford Marshes - 15th - 17th February 201817/2/2018 On Thursday evening we had an overnight stop off in Bournemouth to break the drive to Penryn in two. In the late evening light we decided to head down to the beach to soak in the 'warm' sun's rays and also to have a look to see what was about. When we first got down to the beach I was quickly on to the fact that there was a flock of 9 Oystercatchers wandering around on the beach successfully finding and cracking open what I could only assume were oysters or some form of muscle; one of them even decided to tuck into an empty Cuttlefish shell which was interesting to watch. There were a few Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls loafing around on the beach, but not the hoped for Turnstones or Med Gulls. One thing that didn't catch my attention was the movement of birds just a bit off shore and to my surprise they was in fact a steady stream of Sandwich Tern heading towards Poole Harbour with a grand total of 7 seen in total. This is rather odd as they are usually a summer visitor to this area. However with increasing winter temperatures and being able to pick a prime spot for the breeding season it seems as though some of the local population now stay all year round with at least 35 individuals on the Isle of Wight and probably a similar amount in Poole Harbour and the Bournemouth area! After this surprising encounter there wasn't too much to report apart from a very large amount of Greenfinches flying up and down the cliff and also a pied wagtail down near Boscombe pier. At the end of the day I was pleased to say that the Oystercatchers and the Sandwich Tern had brought my year list up to 100 species. Above: Oystercatchers Above: Black-headed Gull Below: Sandwich Tern Above: Black-headed Gull Below: Oystercatchers Friday morning saw me have a relaxed morning with a small spot of sea watching from the window looking out over the English channel. The first bird of note was an Auk sp that flew West towards Poole Harbour at 0818. This is interesting because I can't recall the last time, if there ever was one, that I have seen any sea bird of this calibre in this area, as if they are nearby they normally stay out of eyeshot and right in the middle of the channel. At first look I thought it was a Guillemot of some sort, however I just wasn't sure enough to put it on the year list, however later that day I found out that a Black Guillemot had been seen near Brownsea Island...! After this I had 3 Brent Geese fly E towards Hengistbury Head (a year tick), and also 9 Common Scoter also flew in the same direction (yet again another year tick), rather oddly there was a small passage of Cormorant towards Poole Harbour with 11 through in the space of five minutes, and it isn't the first time I have noted this movement before. Finally as if to say that they were still here 2 Sandwich Tern flew through heading West. All in all a Good Morning! In the afternoon we set out for the second leg of our journey South West and decided that we would pay a visit to our first American (Yank) member of the wildfowl family! Along the way not only was there some stunning scenery to take in, but there were also some interesting sightings such as the ploughed field that had a flock of 18 Common Buzzards that had come down to feed. After 3 hours of driving we had reached our first stop, Dozmary Pool with one target bird in sight. I was told before we made the trip that this would be one of the easiest twitches I would ever go on however due to a combination of a road filled with pot holes and also a very strong wind reaching near gale force at times, this was not to be. I was also told that there would be no other ducks on the pool however on this particular day this was far from the truth. When we first arrived my Dad and I went for a walk round the Southern edge of the pool, however the track further ahead was flooded and also the wind made things virtually impossible. A Male Stonechat was the only consolation however photographing it was not easy as it was too windy and so in the end we retraced our steps and set about scanning the pool from the windshield which was our car! Above: Wind swept photograph of a male Stonechat... At first glance from the relative calm the choppy water was full of Black-headed Gulls and also a pair of Mallard. Moving from left to right there were several rafts of Tufted Ducks bobbing up and down with the waves and also a pair of Wigeon, Canada Geese and a few Pochard. A stream of Lapwing started to trickle through from the West and headed towards the horse paddocks on the other side of the water. A pair of Raven flew in cronking from the same direction and merited my first for the year. A flock of at least 214 Golden Plover flew in hurriedly from the south and in the end it appeared as though they had been chased in by a local Peregrine. After scanning for a while I eventually found what we were looking for in the shape of the Lesser Scaup as it sat dozing at the back of the pools blending in nicely with its Tufted Duck friends. It was great to be able to see both Greater Scaup (earlier in the week at Walthamstow) and Lesser Scaup in the same week and this Lesser Scaup was a lifer as well, and is by far the more scarce of the two. Above: Raven Below: Golden Plover Below: Phone Scoped Lesser Scaup.... I think it is time that I got a digiscope adaptor! After watching this bird for a short time I decided that the best thing to do would be to check the large lake nearby called Colliford Lake for the potential of getting another bird onto the year list and quite a rare one too. Along the way we briefly stopped at a field that was full of energy and had a large flock of Fieldfare mixed in with some Golden Plover. Once at the Lake I was surprised to find that it was almost deserted bar the odd Great Crested Grebe and also a raft of mainly Herring and Great Black Backed Gulls! It took me a while to find what I was looking for, but eventually I managed to pick out the small speck amongst the Gulls which was the Great Northern Diver and again due to the distance and the wind I had to result to Phone scoping it! (Pictured Below.... You will see it eventually!) On Saturday we headed to the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus for an offer holder visit day. The sun was out in its full glory and you could feel the first signs of the spring warmth starting to peep through. The campus itself is a wildlife haven and to have House Sparrows, Goldfinches, Herring Gulls and soaring Buzzards on site is amazing in itself along with amazing scenery and a decent course. Once the open day had finished we headed off to RSPB's Matford Marshes to have a go at finding another American Duck! This is the part where I say that this is not the first time in my life that I have been in a magnitude 4 earthquake and not felt a thing and so we carried on our day swiftly by heading back up the A30. When we eventually arrived at Matford Marshes we set about looking for the Wigeon flock. Before we reached the main viewing platform we came upon a small group of Wigeon with some Canada Geese, Shoveler, Teal, and Goldfinch for company. Although there was an interesting female Wigeon there was no sign of our Drake here so we moved swiftly on! Above: Shoveler with Wigeon Below: Wigeon We then moved on to the main viewing platform. Here there was a much larger flock of Wigeon numbering almost 200. There were also a few Shoveler, Teal and Coot mixed in as well. Just before I set about scanning the flock of the American Wigeon, 3 Bullfinch flew past calling, which was a relief as they had been bugging me for some time calling from the bushes to the left hand side of the view point, but remaining unseen. A mixed Tit flock was also in the trees behind and consisted of Great, Blue, and Long-tailed. After a decent amount of time spent sifting through the Wigeon the Drake American Wigeon eventually poked his head up from the back and gave me some decent views. It is interesting to see that the only real thing of difference between them upon first glance is the head pattern, with the Eurasian drakes only really having a plain monotone head! Whilst I was looking at the Wigeon flock I spotted a Wren in the reed beds at the back of the pool and also a Little Egret on the railway line. Above: Wigeon Above: Little Egret Below: Wigeon. I have labelled the American Wigeon in each photo as best as I could, however with out the use of arrows it is a bit tricky. The drake should be directly underneath the writing in each one! After a while the Wigeon were flushed from their spot and I was surprised to see the head of a Male Pheasant sticking out from a ditch in their place. A fox was also nearby, but didn't seem to bother any of the birds! Just before we left to head back to the car and call it a night a Chiffchaff popped up calling from the bushes to the left hand side of the viewing platform. Along the way back to the car a few Redwing were feeding in the long grass to the right hand side of the path and a steady trickle of Rook, Jackdaw, Herring Gull and Pied Wagtails filled the sky as they headed to their respective roosts. As we were pulling away from the Marshes I spotted something on the pylons. To my surprise it was a flock of 24 Cormorants roosting! The next morning I decided that I would try my luck with sea watching from Bournmouth again. This time I watched for an hour and to be honest for the majority of the first 30 minutes I was just watching Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls moving around. Almost bang on the 30 minute mark a Shelduck flew through heading west marking the first interesting bird to fly through. With 10 minutes left of my hour the fun started when I picked up a Cormorant heading west and as I watched it flying west I spotted something lazily sitting on the water's surface. When I looked through my scope I could see that this bird had quite a white front and was almost completely black on its back. It was a Diver and it was floating just off the end of Boscombe Pier. However from where I was it was just a dot in my scope. All I know is that it was some sort of diver and to be honest I think it was either Red-throated or a Great Northern as they both frequent the area, but I am just not sure enough to call it either. This bird did however lead me to find my next interesting bird as the floating Diver eventually floated past a Duck which had a Black head and White body! Yes, that's right it was a Drake Common Goldeneye. This was the final bird that I saw before packing up my equipment for the trip back to London. This weekend was an amazing weekend full of year ticks and 2 lifers and with my life list now on a healthier 207 species and a year list that is only 100 behind that I think I could be in for another great year of birding! Who knows what could be achievable once the weather warms up!?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI have been a birder since i was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 17. ArchivesCategories |