After entertaining friends for lunch I managed to dodge the rain late afternoon to get a bit of fresh air. As I was still on call until 6.00pm I stayed close to home and spent a short time at the reservoir. The southern end produced a fly-over Linnet, just two Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers and nothing else much of note.
I bumped in to a couple of birding mates, John and Guy, and got chatting with them for a while before we all drove back to the northern causeway. In the vegetation on the side of West Pool a single Whinchat was present and a Little Egret was also seen, but another heavy rain shower curtailed any more birding and so I called it a day.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Sutton Bingham - Sat 10 Sep
On call this weekend so no chance of zooming off anywhere to twitch a rarity or find some autumn migrants, instead Ellie and I took a trip up to the reservoir and had a bit of a walk around. It had been nearly a fortnight since my last trip to my local patch and the water level had dropped quite a bit.
Despite the vast areas of exposed mud there were only four Common Sandpipers and a single Green Sandpiper in the way of waders at the southern end. The adult Yellow-legged Gull was still about and seven Teal were also seen. There was nothing on West Pool but a single Little Egret was off the northern causeway.
The major surprise was a Common Swift that passed south all to briefly, this is the latest recorded Swift that I have ever seen at the reservoir and quite a shock as the nesting Swifts in my village left about six weeks ago.
Despite the vast areas of exposed mud there were only four Common Sandpipers and a single Green Sandpiper in the way of waders at the southern end. The adult Yellow-legged Gull was still about and seven Teal were also seen. There was nothing on West Pool but a single Little Egret was off the northern causeway.
The major surprise was a Common Swift that passed south all to briefly, this is the latest recorded Swift that I have ever seen at the reservoir and quite a shock as the nesting Swifts in my village left about six weeks ago.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Hayle Estuary - Sun 4 Sep
As we were watching the Black Kite, news came out on my pager that the Baird's Sandpiper was showing at Hayle, so we jumped in the car and headed off...but just fifteen minutes down the road another message came out saying it had flown on to the estuary. So we returned to our cottage and packed up our kit before setting off for Hayle, hoping beyond hope that the bird would be relocated before we got there.
Unfortunately, it hadn't! Despite spending over an hour scanning the estuary we could not locate the bird, though we did see five Knot and a couple of Little Stints. Also out on the mud, both Black-tailed Godwit and Bar-tailed Godwit, a couple of Sandwich Terns, and a handful of Turnstones. We also stumbled across another wader feeding in the short vegetation which Nigel and I studied, knowing was different from the surrounding Dunlins, and it was! We had located a Pectoral Sandpiper, a real unexpected bonus!
At 1.00pm the heaven's opened again and so we took this as an omen to quit whilst we were ahead and so after a great couple of days I bid my farewells to Paul, Nigel and Mickey and drove back home and the boys headed off back to Reading and beyond!
UK list for 2011 now at 254 species.
Unfortunately, it hadn't! Despite spending over an hour scanning the estuary we could not locate the bird, though we did see five Knot and a couple of Little Stints. Also out on the mud, both Black-tailed Godwit and Bar-tailed Godwit, a couple of Sandwich Terns, and a handful of Turnstones. We also stumbled across another wader feeding in the short vegetation which Nigel and I studied, knowing was different from the surrounding Dunlins, and it was! We had located a Pectoral Sandpiper, a real unexpected bonus!
At 1.00pm the heaven's opened again and so we took this as an omen to quit whilst we were ahead and so after a great couple of days I bid my farewells to Paul, Nigel and Mickey and drove back home and the boys headed off back to Reading and beyond!
UK list for 2011 now at 254 species.
Porthgwarra and Polgigga - Sun 4 Sep
Whilst we had been chasing after rare waders, the poor weather had produced a massive movement of Great Shearwaters off Porthgwarra yesterday afternoon. So we decided to again get up at 5.00am and we were at Porthgwarra and set up for our seawatch as the sun was rising.
Manx Shearwaters were already passing through, though not in the numbers we had experienced yesterday, a couple of Balearic Shearwaters passed by very close inshore as did an adult dark phase Arctic Skua while five Sooty Shearwaters also flew west. Eventually our hard worked paid off as we got on a couple of Great Shearwaters flying west, and over the two hours we were at Porthgwarra we notched up somewhere in the region of twenty of these impressive tubenoses.
With the hoped for Great Shearwater safely ticked off, and Mickey, Nigel and Paul being thrilled to bits with a lifer, we returned to the car and set off back up the road to Polgigga in the hope of seeing the Black Kite we had missed yesterday. However, it didn't look good, and when a local birder told us it tended to show around about 11.00am we popped down the road to the Apple Tree Cafe at Trevescan for a cooked breakfast.
After a much needed refuelling we drove back to Polgigga and started scanning the area. After quarter of an hour of scanning just about every bird in the air Nigel gave a cry and we all watched the Black Kite soar over the village and towards us. We were treated to a real spectacle as the bird quartered the fields in front of us, and as predicted by the Cornish birder we had seen earlier, it was just gone 11.00am.
Manx Shearwaters were already passing through, though not in the numbers we had experienced yesterday, a couple of Balearic Shearwaters passed by very close inshore as did an adult dark phase Arctic Skua while five Sooty Shearwaters also flew west. Eventually our hard worked paid off as we got on a couple of Great Shearwaters flying west, and over the two hours we were at Porthgwarra we notched up somewhere in the region of twenty of these impressive tubenoses.
With the hoped for Great Shearwater safely ticked off, and Mickey, Nigel and Paul being thrilled to bits with a lifer, we returned to the car and set off back up the road to Polgigga in the hope of seeing the Black Kite we had missed yesterday. However, it didn't look good, and when a local birder told us it tended to show around about 11.00am we popped down the road to the Apple Tree Cafe at Trevescan for a cooked breakfast.
After a much needed refuelling we drove back to Polgigga and started scanning the area. After quarter of an hour of scanning just about every bird in the air Nigel gave a cry and we all watched the Black Kite soar over the village and towards us. We were treated to a real spectacle as the bird quartered the fields in front of us, and as predicted by the Cornish birder we had seen earlier, it was just gone 11.00am.
Hayle Estuary - Sat 3 Sep
After driving through some heavy rain we arrived at Hayle and started off by scanning Copperhouse Creek, but the only thing of note was an adult Mediterranean Gull, so we then took a look over Carnsew Basin in the hope that the elusive Baird's Sandpiper that had been on the estuary for a few days might be about...it wasn't.
Back up the road and as the rain had all but stopped we took a look over Ryan's Field, adding a couple of Knot to our weekend list whilst on estuary proper we saw three Little Stints, five Curlew Sandpipers, a couple of Sanderling plus a large number of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. But still no sign of the North American rarity. It was now getting on a bit and more rain started to come in, so we pretty much called it a day and drove back to our accommodation as we were meeting some friends of Mickey's for dinner. The end to a pretty productive day of birding.
Back up the road and as the rain had all but stopped we took a look over Ryan's Field, adding a couple of Knot to our weekend list whilst on estuary proper we saw three Little Stints, five Curlew Sandpipers, a couple of Sanderling plus a large number of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. But still no sign of the North American rarity. It was now getting on a bit and more rain started to come in, so we pretty much called it a day and drove back to our accommodation as we were meeting some friends of Mickey's for dinner. The end to a pretty productive day of birding.
Drift Reservoir - Sat 3 Sep
Our next stop was Drift Reservoir, and Paul stayed near the car whilst Nigel, Mickey and myself braved the weather and walked out to the hide. There were loads of Chiffchaffs along the way but it was the waders that stole the show, with singles of Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, and Greenshank, five Dunlin, three Green Sandpipers, and four Ringed Plover and a Whimbrel. The pick of the crop was a very smart Curlew Sandpiper.
As we returned to the car a couple of Wheatears were on the shore. We then decided to head on again before the rain that was threatening the afternoon came to fruition.
Porthgwarra - Sat 3 Sep
A change of scenary this weekend and a visit to Cornwall. I had been invited to join three friends, Mickey and Nigel from Reading and Paul from Norwich, who were staying in Penzance for a few days. Unfortunately, work commitments meant I had been unable to meet up with them until Friday night (driving down straight from work), which meant I'd missed out on a pelagic...but fortunately, over the weekend I connected with all but one of the species they had picked up.
Anyway, we were up at 5.00am and at Porthgwarra and all set up for a three hour seawatch by about 6.30am. There was a steady passage west of Manx Shearwaters, and we also saw a couple of Balearic Shearwaters, three or so Sooty Shearwaters, and two Great Skuas. A juvenile Arctic Tern also passed by along with the commoner seabirds. An Ocean Sunfish was an unexpected find as it drifted by fairly close inshore and a Chough flew in and fed on the cliff top near us for ten minutes.
As the sea bird passage dried up we headed out on to the moorland to the north. There was not a lot going on with regard to migrants, but we saw a single Whinchat, a couple of Wheatears and two Yellow Wagtails flew over. Pick of the punch though was a Wryneck which Nigel picked out in flight before it landed in the base of a small tree where it spent at least quarter of an hour preening. I managed a couple of record shots through the drizzle.
Walking back to the car we saw several Chiffchaffs and Whitethroats and a Peregrine flew over. By now it was gone 11.00am so we bought a pasty and ate our brunch before heading off in land.
Anyway, we were up at 5.00am and at Porthgwarra and all set up for a three hour seawatch by about 6.30am. There was a steady passage west of Manx Shearwaters, and we also saw a couple of Balearic Shearwaters, three or so Sooty Shearwaters, and two Great Skuas. A juvenile Arctic Tern also passed by along with the commoner seabirds. An Ocean Sunfish was an unexpected find as it drifted by fairly close inshore and a Chough flew in and fed on the cliff top near us for ten minutes.
As the sea bird passage dried up we headed out on to the moorland to the north. There was not a lot going on with regard to migrants, but we saw a single Whinchat, a couple of Wheatears and two Yellow Wagtails flew over. Pick of the punch though was a Wryneck which Nigel picked out in flight before it landed in the base of a small tree where it spent at least quarter of an hour preening. I managed a couple of record shots through the drizzle.
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