I have to admit that it has taken me quite a long time to write any of this up, however unfortunately I have had a rather busy few weeks, so here is a summary of what I have managed to get up to in my free time. Wednesday 24th Oct It started with a field trip to the New Forest and the forestry commission reserve of Bolder wood. It was yet another crisp clear morning that we had picked for our field trip and although we were looking at the quality of habitats I was still able to do a bit of birding and even picked up a lifer during on of the talks we were given in the shape of a pair of Crossbill which flew over the lecturers head unnoticed by all bar me. I have to admit that I picked them up on call as they flew from South to North East over us and headed in the direction of some tall Scott's Pines, yes they weren't the best views however they also weren't going to be the last Crossbills that I saw in the New Forest either. Other birds that I saw included 13 Chaffinch, 11 Redwing, a massive 33 Siskin with every few minutes another party heading over with their rather unusual call. A Lapwing was another interesting surprise and so was a Fieldfare, 3 Common Buzzard, and a Lesser Redpoll. The rest of the day I am going to skip due to the fact that it was rather eventful for not the best of reasons. Thursday 25th Oct So on the Thursday I headed to Hengistbury Head to see what I could see and really in the hope of re-finding a Yellow-browed Warbler that was seen the day before. It started well with a Common Buzzard being mobbed by not one but 3 Sparrowhawk over Tuckton Gardens on my way to Wick where the YBW had been seen previously. Above: Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawks I then moved on to a little sheltered area of water and found a female Wigeon along with some Mallards under some weeping Willows. Whilst I was trying to get a photo of the mobile Wigeon I noticed two little Brown Rats running about amongst the leaf litter looking for food. It was interesting just how tame the Rats were as they allowed me to get within a couple of centimeters of them eating. Above: young Brown Rat The rest of the visit was unfortunately quite poor as I only managed to dig up Goldcrest and Chiffchaff rather than the hoped for YBW. However 6 Firecrest in the Woodland, along with the Male Marsh Harrier showing well and a large flock of wigeon which were feeding close in shore. The final bird of the day was also a year tick with a female Red-breasted Merganser flying West very close in shore in the general direction of Bournemouth. Above: Teal Below: Rather Late Migrant Hawker Above: Male Marsh Harrier Below: I have included this video just so that you can hear the noise that Wigeon make. They are real characters. Above: Robin Friday 26th Oct So on Friday I had arranged to head back into the New Forest and meet up with Tommy Saunders who is a local birder our aim was to see some of the local Raptor species. I have to admit though that I don't think either of us were prepared for the absolutely bitter wind and torrential showers that greeted us when we arrived. A Rainbow off in the distance was hardly compensation for spending the afternoon shivering in the middle of what was a picturesque landscape. Upon arrival we headed across our chosen valley and headed to an area that is particularly good for Ring Ouzels. Sure enough after searching thoroughly through the Blackbirds we did eventually have brief views of a Ring Ouzel. Meadow Pipit, Linnet and also a large flock of near 200 Fieldfare were ever present but no sign of any raptors yet. Just as we were about to head back down into the valley both Tommy and I picked up a bird which on call sounded as though it was a Crossbill. Eventually we picked it up as it bounced low over our heads and the silhouette clearly showed their monstrosity of a crossbill. This was the third bird I had seen in the space of three days and I have to admit at this stage I was planning on taking this sighting as consolation if our target birds didn't turn up. We headed off up onto the other side of the valley and here we positioned ourselves. just as we arrived two calling Male Yellowhammer dropped into a bush beside us, which is apparently quite a rare sighting for the New Forest. These were presumably tired migrants dropping in to look for a place to roost. Above: Male Yellowhammer, unfortunately the best I could manage given the light conditions. (You can just about make out the characteristic yellow head) Just as we were about to give up on our target bird I noticed something drifting over and inadvertently putting up the flock of Fieldfare. At first I thought it was a plastic bag drifting through the wind, however when I got my binoculars what was staring back at me was a stunning Male Hen Harrier. I watched as it drifted towards the mound where we had just come from and it then flew along the ridge until it drifted just out of sight. About five minutes later the either the same or a different Male Hen Harrier came through the centre of the valley heading directly at us however just at the last minute it headed up one of the sides of the valley before tumbling through the sky onto the ground sending Fieldfare flying off in every direction however there was one slight problem it had missed. It then proceeded to gather itself up and headed back over the ridge and disappeared. I have to admit that this was a truly unforgettable experience and one that I hope I will be able to repeat again in the coming months. I also must Thank Tommy for this opportunity to see such an amazing bird especially as there is a real risk of this bird becoming extinct in the UK in my life time if something doesn't dramatically changed and from my experience of this species this is one that we definitely don't want to lose. Above: My poor record shots Below: Tommy's much better Record Shot - (a link to his twitter account can be found at the end of the blog post) Wednesday 31st Oct So on Wednesday I headed down to Hengistbury Head along with Ethan at a rather civilised time of day. I had a few targets for this visit however lets just say that with luck completely against us we didn't see any of these, however this is what we did see on what was a truly cold and windy visit. I have to admit though the day got of to a great start when I noticed a Kingfisher shoot past us at ground level literally just a few feet away from us and it landed unfortunately just out of sight. The little lightning strike of colour that the Kingfisher is enough to put anyone in a good mood and I have to admit it got my spirits up. The rest of this part of Wick was rather quiet with a few Teal, Cormorant, a Curlew, and a few Brent Geese circling. A flock of Mistle Thrush flew East which is quite unusual but still no true winter thrushes were to be seen or heard although an increase in Song Thrush was noticeable. Above: Cormorant Below: Teal We then continued further into Wick and dug out Ethan's first ever Goldcrest followed by 28 more over the course of the day. We also dragged out a decent return of Chiffchaff for the time of year, but otherwise nothing particularly spectacular bar 4 Pintail and an adult Med Gull. Above: one of Several very active Goldcrest which felt like they were fresh in given the way these guys were actively searching for food. We then continued right to the end of Wick where I thought I heard the call of a Bullfinch sure enough Ethan picked a pair out in a bush no more than a metre from us and just as I got my camera ready to snap they flew and disappeared into thin air, which is unfortunately what often happens with this species. Ethan and I then headed to the wetland area near the visitor centre. Here we found 5 Mute Swans with colour rings on however I believe that they all will be local birds. The only other birds of note in this area was the huge gathering of Wigeon sheltering from the wind. Above and Below: Wigeon, Coot, and Mute Swans Above: Mute Swan S2U and T4D Below: Ethan's photos of Mute Swan E5S and F9B We then continued on our journey, however just before the woodland Ethan gave me the fright of my life when he yelled that there was something on the fence. My initial instinct told me that he had found something rare, however when I found out it was just a close range Stonechat I was very disappointed to say the least. I honestly don't think I have been so close to having a heart act in my life. Although I was to have my pay back later on! The rest of the woodland continued the trend that Wick set however it wasn't just Goldcrests as we also managed to pick out not just one, but 10 Firecrests which I believe is a sight record and one that I am pleased to have made. Above: The terrifying Stonechat Below: Lets play spot the Firecrest (Crests move so quickly and therefor any photo is a good photo in my opinion) After this we headed down to the little bit of wetland just at the edge of the wetland and saw our first Redshank, Oystercatcher and Dunlin of the day feeding in the salt marsh. Above: Redshank and Oystercatcher We then headed down to Muddeford and the harbour mouth however we couldn't find any Turnstones we did however find a rather sleepy Redshank roosting on the side. Above: Redshank We then continued on to the quieter side of the spit which borders the Solent. This side was unbearable at times as the wind was kicking up sand in all directions and trust me it wasn't particularly fun. We did however find one flock of waders which held a mix of Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Knot. A few cormorant were offshore along with a Common Gull and also a Brent Goose attempted to leave the shelter of the harbour over head, however that attempt didn't last long before it speedily turned around. After this I decided that we would take the sheltered middle route back along the headland via Quarry Pond and Lily Pond. I wasn't expecting to see much however when we were at Lily pond I noticed a little brown bird scurrying up the tree trunk in front of me. I have to admit that It was my turn for pay back as I screamed "Treecreeper" to Ethan who came rushing over to be completely underwhelmed by the LBJ that was in front of me. This was however the last excitement of the day and as we headed back a final scan of the sea brought up an Adult Gannet heading slowly East. Above: Treecreeper Below: Distant Adult Gannet Saturday 3rd Nov An early start saw me heading in the direction of Poole Park and Baiter Park. I arrived at Poole Park just as the first glimpses of light were just starting to appear on the Horizon. The local gull roost erupted with noise that no one will have ever experience before with a cacophony of Herring, Lesser Black, Great Black, and Black-headed Gulls all leaving in one large flock. As soon as they had left they were almost instantly replaced by the largest flock of Cormorant I have ever seen in my 10 years birding. The total that I managed to count was 277 birds however due to the lack of light I am pretty sure that there were many more than this especially as when they landed on the lack a large chunk of the water was covered in them. A few Tufted Duck, Mallards, and Mute Swans were also around however what was slightly more surprising was the fact that 13 Sandwich Tern dropped in just after sunrise. Infact due to our changing climates Sandwich Tern are now increasingly becoming an all year round bird along the south coast as it is advantageous for them to waste less energy migrating and also be in prime position to get nesting spots in the spring. Not long after it was light at about 7:20 the whole flock of Cormorants decided that they had enough of the park and continued their journey off into the main part of the harbour. Above: Raft of Cormorants Below: Sandwich Terns Above: Cormorants: and then just like that they were gone I then moved round the lake to where the café is and to my surprise there was a proper Dorset rarity sitting on the lake alongside a Mallard and an Aylesbury Duck, a stunning Drake Mandarin Duck apparently the first one in the Poole Harbour recording area for sometime. Also 10 Little Grebe were also present in their dull winter plumage. Above: Drake Mandarin Duck Below: Aylesbury Duck with Mallard. (The Aylesbury is a meat breed of domestic duck hence the size difference with it and the Mallard and the chunky all round appearance) I then headed round to near the playground and on the grass verge next to the play ground a few Pied Wagtail, an Oystercatcher and 57 Canada Geese were feeding along with a lone Greylag. I then had one last scan of the lake, however in doing so I picked up 4 Goldeneye including 3 dashing Drakes. I decided that I would have a closer look at them and so I jogged round to the other side of the Lake to find that they were now feeding much further away than I had originally thought. 5 Little Egret fed in the reedbeds near where the Goldeneye were and also a rather odd duck was out near a group of Tufted Duck. Now I am pretty sure it is an Aythya sp and I think it is an eclipse Drake Scaup which is an odd one for the time of year. I will leave this one for you to decide, but if it is a scaup as I suspect then it would be a great self find. Above: Little Egrets Below: Aythya sp (Probaby eclipse Drake Scaup) (Slideshow) Above: Tufted Duck Below: Goldeneye After this I decided to head to Baiter park which is just over the railway line from Poole park and has a great view out into the harbour. To be honest by the time I had reached here there were a lot of people around, however a decent amount of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipit, and Linnet could be found feeding in and amongst the grass on the playing fields. The Turnstone flock wasn't about however I did have one fly past me suggesting they had just been disturbed. One thing I did however see and find was something that to be honest I wasn't really expecting, however given the fact that I was climbing on some rocks.... well lets just say that I should have expected it when the familiar sight of a Rock Pipit came out of one of the cracks before minding its own business and continuing to feed on the rocks in front of me. Since this was right near the end of my morning I decided to sit and watch the bird for a little while as it ran in and out of Rocks quite expertly in search of some insectivorous grub. I have to admit that this put me in a great mood for much of the rest of my day and what's more I even made it back home before lunch which was another great achievement. Above: Rock Pipit (Also known as Rockit) And so this rounded off a great week and a bit with my life list now sitting at 223 species and my year list at 192. I have to admit that I am very pleased that I have been able to see a Male Hen Harrier in the wild in the UK and I hope it doesn't have to be the last time either.
I would also like to say a massive Thank You to Tommy Saunders who gave me a lift to the Hen Harrier site. Below is a link to his Twitter account. And now with my year list target smashed I wonder how many species are achievable with still around 2 months left...? (Also Stay tuned for a little Instagram takeover on the BTO Birds account in the next week or so...!)
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Crisp Clear London Weekend - Hengistbury Head, Totteridge Valley - 18th - 21st October 201823/10/2018 The Weekend started with a scorching afternoon spent at Hengistbury Head on Thursday the aim was to try and find my self a couple of lifers which should be turning up in the next few weeks however I didn't manage to find them yet however a few patch ticks were in order with Turnstone and Ringed Plover found along the rocky outlets. A large amount of Sandwich Tern and Med Gulls were also on the move and 5 Firecrest in the woodland was a new high count. Otherwise I have to admit I was just out to soak up the stunning Dorset Scenery before embarking on a weekend long visit back to the capital on Friday. Above: Black-headed Gull Above: Male Kestrel Above: Male Stonechat Below: Ad Med Gull Above: Ringed Plover Below: Oystercatchers Above: Redshank Below: Turnstone So today I decided that I would head out at first light in the hope of some visible migration in Totteridge something that has been a little bit inconsistent at Hengistbury Head and never seems to be particularly good when I am there bar that one morning where there was 30 minutes of pure joy. This morning however was perfect for migration with a gentle South Westerly breeze a touch of frost and clear blue skies all of which aid migration at this time of year. My original plan was to head to the Owl Field however when I reached the Old Gropper Field I was stopped in my tracks by the first sign of Movement with a flock of Linnet and Chaffinch heading over. Before too Long I was immersed in birds and I have to admit at one point there were so many birds moving in so many different directions that it was truly overwhelming. Chaffinches moved over head calling and the odd screech of a Brambling could be picked out in the flocks. There was a good mix of Finches moving and in quite good numbers as well. Next to appear in the sky were the Woodpigeons with over 1000 through in the space of 30minutes. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of the Pigeon, however for a couple of days ever year they become a sight to see when they travel in their thousands. I believe the estimate is that the UK population is boosted by 6 Million Scandinavian birds in Winter and I had circa 1,700 of those through earlier this morning. After this the Thrushes started moving with flocks of both Redwings and Fieldfare heading over which is something I have been deprived of on the South Coast. The biggest flock of Redwings that came through was counted at 111 birds and these flocks also occasionally held the odd Song Thrush and a Mistle thrush. These were later joined by not one but two Ring Ouzel which like the Brambling are my first ever here and a welcome patch tick. The first bird flew over heading W at 09:02 however presumably this bird came back over and dropped just over the hedge from where I was into the riding stables. Then at 09:41 what I presume was a different bird shot out of cover from behind me and spiralled high into the sky before heading strongly South and finally what I presume was the first bird showed again briefly at around 10am as it flew around a couple of times before diving into the cover and being lost from sight. This was an amazing sight and actually ends a drought in the valley for this species with none since April 2016 after having at least one every spring prior to that. What happened next was more surprising. Earlier in the day I had had 3 Cormorant over however when I picked up 14 birds flying in a loose V formation the last thing I would have expected it to be was Cormorants. Sure enough 14 Cormorant were battling their way West smashing all previous record counts for the species and if that wasn’t enough less than five minutes later another 12 flew over in a tight v formation bringing the count to 29 birds which is 24 more than the previous highest count which I have to say is mind boggling in itself. Finally after this excitement I wasn't done yet with a steady trickle of Meadow Pipits, Wagtails and the odd Skylark establishing itself from 9am till my departure. All in all it was a truly unforgettable experience and one that I will never forget. My totals are below: (07:25-10:00) 441 Redwing W, 16 Song Thrush W, 325 Chaffinch W, 27 Linnet W, 9 Brambling W, 47 Meadow Pipit W, 221 Fieldfare W, 12 Alba Wagtails NW, 54 Goldfinch, NW, 158 Starling NW, 3 Redpoll W, 22 Siskin W, 25 Stock Dove S, 4 Grey Wagtail NW, 1700 + Woodpigeon SW, 29 Cormorant SW, 2 Greenfinch W, 43 Jackdaw SW, 13 Skylark N, Reed Bunting N, Mistle Thrush S. Also 2 Ring Ouzel dropped into Western end of Old Gropper Field 09:11, one then flew off high S at 09:41. Above: Fieldfare Below: Woodies Above: Fieldfare, however I have only just noticed that there is either a Blackbird or Ring Ouzel with them (far left handside bird). If only the photo was better... Below: Cormorants It didn’t end there though with a Firecrest singing from the bushes next to me majority of the time that I was vis migging. I also had a Reed Bunting over and a few Bullfinch in the bushes around me. I then headed off towards Darlands Lake to the sound of Goldcrest digging up 19 in total which makes me think that there had been a bit of a fall over night. Darlands Lake and the Folly Brook are now both full again however 3 Mandarin Ducks were the best that I could manage along with a Grey Heron which is quite worry a normally at this time of year there should be a decent number of Teal around, however if the water level was still low when they first turned up they probably would have kept going which is a shame. On to Owl Field and here it was eerily quiet until I stumbled upon a young Kestrel and also a female Stonechat flycatching from one of the oak saplings which was my first here since January. The rest of the walk was quite quiet until I reached the ploughed field at folly farm where here a mixed flock had gathered to make the most of the bare ground. 127 Black-headed Gull, 15+ Common Gull, Fieldfare, Skylark, starlings, Redwings and also Meadow Pipits and Chaffinch were all feeding in this field alongside the Rooks and Carrion Crows as well. A bonus Lapwing dropped in whilst I was there however with it nearing 12 o'clock I decided to call it a day picking up 2 Chiffchaff on the way out near the nurseries. On what was a truly amazing morning I got my Totteridge Patch List up to 102 species for the year and I have to admit I will be heading back tomorrow for some second helpings. Hopefully it will be good! Above: Female Stonechat Below: Male Pheasant Above: spot the Fieldfare Below: Mixed flock of Common and Black-headed Gulls Above: Common Buzzard Below: Rook I have to admit that I gave in this morning and went out for another round of vis migging (or bus mugging as auto correct wants me to write, apologise if I have missed any auto correct mistakes). I decided that I would get up that small bit earlier and head to the vis mig spot before first light and so at around ten past 7 I found my self in the same spot as yesterday. The only slight problem was that I couldn’t actually see anything for the fog had rolled in since I arrived. This meant for an interesting wait. At around twenty past 7 the Redwing started to come through low over my head occasionally passing just a whisker above me as they tried to Continue their journey. For some the fog was too much and all of a sudden a calling mass would tumble out of the fog and into the vegetation Beside me. Occasionally the fog would clear up just for a small while and lure the birds into a false sense of security as they would then take to the skies only for them to be replaced by another flock of birds when the fog returned. In one such gap a few Fieldfare dropped into the bushes just in front of us and at around 0840 one of Yesterdays Ring Ouzels popped up out of a bush to check us out before heading towards the riding stables hot on the heels of the local Redwings. All this time some quite large flocks of Chaffinch chanced the gaps as well as one hefty Woodpigeon flock. Starlings were also a notable mover today, however unsurprising everything else came in a little below par. A Brambling was still a good record as was a Redpoll which flew over calling during the dense fog. At around 9am the fog started to clear and we were left with a glorious day and lots of Goldcrest in the bushes around us. To be honest it was another truly unforgettable experience and I have to admit that I am not looking forward to heading back to the south coast especially since I haven’t had a single winter thrush down there yet which is rather disappointing to say the least. Here are my totals from today: Totteridge Valley: (07:10-09:40): 229 Redwing W, 8 Song Thrush W, 8 Alba Wagtail E, 114 Chaffinch W, 18 Black-headed Gull W, 10 Common Gull W, 5 Meadow Pipit W, 7 Stock Dove NW, 5 Fieldfare W, 71 Starling W/NW, Brambling W, 12 Goldfinch SW, 11 Siskin SW, 107 Woodpigeon SW, 5 Greenfinch W, 4 Grey Wagtail NW, Redpoll SW, 3 Linnet S, 2 Skylark W. Also Ring Ouzel in Old Gropper Field still. Above: Fieldfare And so the only other birds of note was a Little Owl calling out whilst we were vis migging and a slight increase in Coal Tit numbers. Just as I was arriving home after the mornings session a Reed Bunting flew over my house which is a new species for me here and a very good one for suburbia.
The rest of the day was spent with a pointless and frustrating trip up to Covent garden where we didn't end up getting to see one of my favourite comedians due to the fact that the organisers failed to give information of when you could go and collect your ticket and somehow managed to run out of them despite us having an allocation of three. At least the birding means that in the end the train fair wasn’t wasted and to be quite honest it has been great to spend some time with my family after not seeing them for a month. See you in Reading week London. Better Late than never - Poole Park, Baiter Park and Hengistbury Head - 1st and 6th October 20186/10/2018 On Monday afternoon I decided to head to Poole Park to see what was about and for a bit of afternoon fresh air. To be honest there wasn't a lot around a Kingfisher flying across the mainly lake was a pleasant Surprise along with at least 7 Little Grebe. Some Tufted Duck were around with at least five diving close in shore in and amongst the large amount of Mute Swan that had gathered in the hope of someone feeding them. It was also interesting to see that at least 5 birds had rings on them. I am still waiting for the results from submitting the rings however I believe three were locally rung and the other 2 may have come some distance. I will update you in a later blog if they have any interesting life history. A few Grey Wagtails were around along with quite a decent number of Pied Wagtails moving through. A flock of 20 - 30 Collared Doves was flushed from the trees briefly however I couldn't see any predators about, although given the reaction of the other birds as well it felt like there was either going to be a Peregrine or a Harrier. Above: Mute Swan 750 and a Mallard Below: Mute Swan SLR (out of all the Swan rings I read I am expecting these two to have come from the furthest distance) Above: Mute Swan T9V. Below: Little Grebe Above: Young Mute Swan I then moved on and headed under the railway line to a place that I had never been before called Baiter Park. For those who have never been here Baiter Park is Grassland with a few quite dense patches of vegetation that borders Poole Harbour and gives great views out across to Brownsea Island as well as Poole Quays. I have to admit when I saw how busy the park was I almost gave up hope of seeing any wildlife which I should know by now from experience is a bad idea. Sure enough as soon as I walked up to the first set of dense bushes and willow trees I was surprised to find out that they were in fact alive with what were presumably migrant Chiffchaff and every time you looked at this particular willow tree it was almost as if the tree was alive. There must have been at least 20 birds in this one tree. Moving on I headed along the waterside path and whilst walking along the rock armour I stumbled across a flock of 13 Turnstone as well as a Wheatear which subsequently disappeared. I watched as the Turnstone ran in and out of the rocks turning pebbles and seaweed as they went looking for anything that might take there fancy. Moving on towards the car park I could see a flock of Black-headed Gulls and in the field over the other side of the carpark quite a decent sized flock of Pied Wagtails could be seen chasing their invisible insect prey and so this rounded off what was an interesting afternoon in Poole and I will definitely be back as I think there is the chance of some great winter wildlife encounters on the main lake! Above: Turnstone Below: Black-headed Gull On Friday with no lectures I decided that it would be a good idea to head up to Hengistbury head for some vis-migging. This felt like a great idea, but getting the first bus of the day to Southbourne with none else on it made me wonder if it was worth it. As we drove through the still dark fog ridden empty streets a quick look at the weather forecast gave me some hope that it might yet still be a great day. I arrived at Hengistbury Head for first light at around 645am and set about scanning the dunes. All that could be heard were Invisible Stonechats, Robins and the Gulls leaving their roost. Eventually a small gap in the fog appeared and what I picked up next scared the living daylights out of me. I have to admit when I first saw them they looked very rare, however they were in fact Australian Black Swans with their all black plumage and white on the wing. The fog quickly encased me again and thus put and end to me seeing almost too literally anything however it started to clear as I headed up towards the headland and as I gained height the fog cleared leaving some absolutely stunning misty scenes. I have to admit that it felt like something out of a fairy tale the way that the candyfloss shaped mist hung in little patches just above the ground below. The first Chiffchaffs of the day started to call from the bushes below before I set about watching the first glimpses of some sort of Autumnal Movement. The next hour was magical with large flocks of Reed Bunting, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, and Alba Wagtails moving West to East along the headland along with the occasional flock of Siskin. All of a sudden just after I met local birder David Taylor the fog rolled back in and stopped any form of Migration. The occasional call could be heard over head of Meadow Pipit and Alba Wagtails however it was almost impossible to see them. One Meadow Pipit did however nearly take my head of when it came out of literally nowhere. We then walked right down to the end of the headland where we stood watching the mist and a young, Black-billed, Blackbird. Along the way down to the headland we saw several Stonechat and also 2 Dartford Warblers as well as some grounded Meadow Pipits which would occasionally flush out of the heath either side of the path. Above: Misty Stonechat David and I decided that there wasn't much point standing around at the headland for much longer especially as the fog showed no sign of clearing so we headed down through the Woodland. The Firecrest at the southern end of the Woodland was still around making his little voice heard and as we moved along I eventually picked up the second one in and amongst a mixed flock of Goldcrest and Chiffchaff right in the heart of the woods. This is where I stuck around for a while and my efforts were rewarded when either one or possibly two Firecrest appeared at point blank range. Above: Firecrest I have to admit that seeing Firecrests on a regular basis is awesome especially considering how rare they are back home. Just watching these tiny opera singing bundle of feathers is something quite magical. I continued out of the woodland to where there is a view over Christchurch Harbour, or at least in any normal day there would be. Today I was greeted by 51 Mute Swan close in and a wall of Fog further out encasing the rest of the harbour. I found two more Mute Swans that were colour ringed with Orange K4E and Orange U2O which suggests that these birds are locals, however as always I will write a further blog post if anything interesting arises when I hear back from the ringer. Above: Mute Swans Below: Reed Bunting Above: Mute Swan K4E Below: Mute Swan U2O I then continued past the visitor centre where flock of 5 Skylarks were just dropping in to the fields below. I headed up towards a place that David had recommended called Wick Fields and upon arrival I bumped into Kevin who was ringing mainly Chiffchaff and Blackcap. I spoke to him for a while about ringing in general and I will be heading back this evening for my first ringing session with CHOG (Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group) in the aim of ringing Alba Wagtails on their way into roost! (I would just like to say a massive Thank you to Kevin for allowing me to ring with them.) Above: Greenfinch I then continued into the heart of Wick Fields with the sun now starting to appear from behind the clouds. At first there wasn't an awful lot however two large clumps of Willow held an amazing amount of Chiffchaff with at least 60 birds in this stretch, however I wouldn't be surprised if there was over 100 Chiffchaff since two of the bushes that I looked at had almost 20 birds in them. A Male Blackcap was also a nice addition to the day list along with a few more flocks of Skylarks, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and Siskin. A rather bedraggled Kestrel was also about. Above: Chiffchaff Below: Kestrel Above: Coal Tit I then continued through to an area that was quite open and marsh like with a flock of Teal asleep of to one side and Berry eating Starlings and House Sparrows on the other. A few Collared Dove were around the puddles and a few Little Egrets had a territorial dispute off to one side. Above: Little Egret Below: Teal Above: Starlings Below: Teal Above: Collared Dove What happened next came as a surprise to me and probably all the other local birders. I rounded a corner on Wick Green and flushed a flock of Collared Doves up from the ground into a nearby tree. I picked up a bird which appeared to have white trailing around the outside of the tail and also it was slightly darker all over. My mind immediately flicked to Turtle Dove and sure enough after a quick scan of the tree I found one sitting there on the right hand side with the Collared Doves. This is a bird that has managed to elude me in London so far in my life time and now just over two weeks into my Dorset birding career I was staring at an October Turtle Dove. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Turtle Doves normally leave the UK well before September and this one being what I think is an adult rather than a Juv makes it all the more strange. Either way it was a great find and one that I won't forget for a while. I have to admit though that punching the air after I got a photo was a poor choice as the whole flock exploded from the tree in front of me leaving some nasty deposits on the way out.
And so this ended another interesting day on my new patch and I can't wait for my first proper ringing session tonight. Below: Turtle Dove |
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 18. ArchivesCategories |