September Skywatching Success!

Firstly, after returning from the Peak District, I bought a new camera from Lee Dingain - it was great to meet Lee, and I learnt a lot about cameras, especially new info that will be useful in the future. Buying a 2nd hand camera was useful, as it meant I could try and save up for a new lens as well in the coming months. So thanks a lot Lee!

In order to get used to the new camera, I decided to spend a lot of time at weekends and after school, which sadly soon restarted, birding from my garden and doing some 'quality' 'vizmigging.' With summer migrants heading S it meant I had a good chance of seeing some birds moving over, though my expectations were low.

I started at the beginning of September, but started doing it more on the 15th. Once this was a success, I spent another 3 days looking up and by Tuesday 18th these were the tallies. 

With a possible very early fos, and 4 new for the garden, it was worthwhile.

Herring Gull 600+ (est.) - interestingly gull movement was slow and largely disappointing.

LBBG 40+ (est.)

BHG 22 

GBBG 1

Common Gull 2 - has picked up since

Stock Dove 38

Woodpigeon 13

Common Buzzard 7 (3 SW, 2N, 2W)

Sparrowhawk 3 

Hobby 2 (W, SW)

Peregrine (E)

Red Kite 1 (NW)

Meadow Pipit 5 (SE)

Pied Wagtail 2

Barn Swallow 18 (SW/SE)

House Martin 33 (SW/SE)

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

Greenfinch 2

Parakeets - too many (200+)

Jackdaw 100+ (est)

Sand Martin 4 (SW)

Grey Wagtail 4 (SW)

Yellow Wagtail 5 (S/SW) - a slightly unexpected passage, with higher numbers than I'd anticipated.

Tree Pipit - most surprising and unusual (SW)

Fieldfare - probable early bird high W (FOS)

As seen from the above the rarer highlight was definitely a Tree Pipit, that swept SW on Sunday morning, with its high pitched 'tzip' like call making it a distinguishable pipit. I recorded my sightings in a logbook, as seen below. 

For the rest of September I did a little more vismigging but less of it:
On the 24th, 4 Yellow Wagtail flew over late evening as did 13 Mipit.
On the 26th, after a Yellow and Grey Wagtail flew over my school, with a Hobby in pursuit of the Yellow, an afternoon produced 2 Linnet at home (a first.)
On the 28th, a bird came over calling with a soft 'seoo' type call, and the awful picture convinced me to think f Reed Bunting. 

Most of the pictures of birds I took were silhouettes due to the small lens, so here are a few that I did get pictures of. 

My logbook (sorry for the poor writing)

Fly on Fungus - personal favourite!

Chrysotoxum festivum? A hoverflyt, wasp-mimic

Stock Dove

Hobby

Grey Wagtail

Shieldbug

Comma

1st-w Herring Gull

Zebra Spider sp. 

Yellow Wagtail - I noticed that this sp. moved most in the evening over the coming weeks, and a clear evening often produced them calling as they flew over. Didn't get any good pictures though.

prob f Reed Bunting?

Overall, I was pleased with the new camera as well as the quality of overhead birds. It just shows that birding doesn't mean you have to venture too far afield to have success, nor do you need to be too ambitious. Sometimes, even in urban areas, the birds can come to you.

RSPB Middleton Lakes, 28th August 2018

The 27th was largely mixed - despite the good birds, my dad and I watched Manchester United lose to Spurs in what was largely a decent match. Except it was the first time I'd seen my team lose when watching live. 

The 28th dawned littler brighter and remained gloomy, and my mum, sister and I got a few hours to trudge around RSPB Middleton Lakes before visiting family friends in Birmingham. 

A quick lunch in the cafe/hall area was followed with a half an hour walk across to the main part of the lakes - a few Nuthatch were the only birds that stopped us along with finches.

http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/Images/middletonlakes_tcm9-283749.pdf

Fisher's Mill area was quiet, though a single Dunlin was noted. West Scrape was extremely quiet, though walking there had a Little Egret, Reed Bunting and Water Rail. 

Walking past Jubilee was productive - first the Great White Egret showed distantly, then a Ruff flew by. All the while House and Sand martins whizzed above us - more birds preparing for the long journey South. A Hobby also flew by in pursuit of hirundines, before heading strongly S. Also present were Kestrel and Great Crested Grebes, as well as 2 overhead Yellow Wagtail.

When we reached the East Scrape the very first bird I saw fly in caught my eye and kept me wondering - it was definitely a Snipe and not a Jack Snipe, but it was just...weird. Anyway it was distant and might have been that I hadn't seen many for a while. It was late August after all sadly. Also on this scrape were 2 Ringed Plover inc 1 juv, and a Common Sandpiper. 

We started to move around, conscious of time, and 2 late Common Swift swept by, while a Kingfisher was heard only. A few Reed Warblers loitered in the bushes, and I accidentally got a picture of another snoozing Ruff - there were definitely 2 as the first bird was feeding on the other side later on. 

With time running out we had a quick visit to the lookout hide, but it was so dirty that it was hard to see much, though I did pick out a BTG and Green Sandpiper (I confess, until I saw my awful pics recently, I'd thought it was a Common!) 

Leaving produced a few Linnet in the bushes, a few more Little Egret and then a Green Sand and Ruff feeding on an island. However, a bogey bird fell as we began our walk back to the car park. A last scan of the ducks on Fisher's produced a group of unusual looking ducks, that were probably Garganey (at a guess an eclipse ad and juv.) These Garganey were distant, and I was slightly hesitant to accept them onto my life list as I struggled to identify them. But after a summer failing to see them I had to abandon my plans to only tick birds that I felt sure I'd seen!

A second Hobby went E, before we got into the car and left to go to Birmingham.

Ringed Plover

Common Swift

Ducks and waders - inc a Ruff 

record shot of Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper, Ruff, etc

Ruff

Nuthatch

Hobby

juv Great Crested Grebe

The odd Snipe

Snipe

Ringed Plovers

Peak District - Catching migrants! 27th August 2018

On the 26th, my family made the painful journey up to the Peak District, Derbyshire to see my new cousin who had been born earlier in the year. It was great to be visiting them again, and it's always a lovely place to stay, tucked away in a wild area near Buxton.

Spotted Flycatcher 

After the 26th rained heavily, all day, the 27th dawned miserable and cloudy, with gloomy skies. Nonetheless, after a breakfast of great pancakes I went out for a walk with one of my cousins, uncles and their 2 chows. Obviously, while walking in the muddy, wet areas I had a chance to do a bit of birding, though it was so horrible outside. A family of Kestrel - numbering 8! - and a Chiffchaff was enough. We also had a look for the Tawny Owls they told me about, that bred there in the summer.

I was stopped by something I was hoping to see when walking back; preparing for the long journey to South/West Africa, was a Spotted Flycatcher. It was an unmistakable silhouette at the top of a distant tree, as it did it's 'trademark' behaviour of swooping down, catching an insect, then returning to the same/similar perch in one, elegant motion.

Once we'd returned home and had a short break, my parents wanted to go for a quick walk and I wasn't going to say no. So after a quick walk around the village, with a few Nuthatch and a single Yellow Wagtail the best, we headed back to somewhere that had caught my eye. It was a cliff-face, like a quarry, that looked like a promising spot for birds. As soon as I walked into the area I was pleased to find a large group of birds feeding high up the quarry.

Chaffinch 

First I spotted 2 Chaffinch with a late nest on the cliffs, with at least one f Bullfinch also there - then a Willow Warbler feeding with a Chiffchaff, and finally several Spotted Flycatcher working their way across the top of the trees.

To cut a long story short, I spent about 30 minutes watching them until they disappeared through the trees. I followed them and found 2 fields, arranged in a meadow with several trees in them. 

Spot the Flycatcher

I was then delighted to get some brilliant views of the Flycatchers, as they fed continuously in a ditch. Though I tried to keep my distance it was hard to get bad views, as they came so close at time, even within 10m! Also seen briefly were 8 Chiffchaff, that darted in and out of the ditch and grass, often landing on the dry stone walls. Another bird caught my eye - a female Redstart that came into view, feeding with the flock of birds, before going AWOL. 

Incredibly, I counted up to 14 Spotted Flycatchers, giving me a cracking time as I followed them and watched them. The only frustration was a possible Pied among them, that was a brief view only. I'm not entirely sure I've seen one in the UK, as I have a claim in my book of one in Wales 2012...

If I'm honest, it was such awful light that the pictures I tried to take were woeful, so I quickly resorted to 15 minutes enjoying the moment with binoculars, as I'm unlikely to have 14 Spotted Flycatchers, 8 Chiffchaff and a f Redstart in one area again for a long time! 

I have to say, for a non-birding trip, it was a pleasant surprise to say the least!

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher and Chaffinch

Spotted Flycatcher with food

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Chiffchaff - had some interesting variation in its nape and coverts, which almost looked blue at times!

More variation seen between the Chiffchaff - this one almost seemed Willow Warbler like in appearance, with a longer supercilium but the tertials were shorter, with dark legs. However, I can't say I'm sure for certain!

Thanks for reading :)

Morden Hall Park - Patch birding with S.L. 24th August 2018

When I'd met Sam Levy at Rainham he'd mentioned he might be going to Morden Hall to complete a survey for the BTO soon afterwards, and on the 24th I met him at Morden tube station from where we went into the park. Flycatcher and warbler movement was picking up, so I was feeling hopeful that we'd find some good birds. 

The 'Warbler path' yielded nothing, but after getting to the viewing platform I looked back there and saw a Common Whitethroat - my second of the year - drop down back into the scrub. We had a quick hunt which confirmed its ID before it flew off and disappeared.

Next, along the boardwalk, a few Common gull flew over but a mixed tit flock on the North Meadows produced not only the usual Chiffchaffs but finally the first Willow Warblers that I'd seen at Morden (1/2 was in sub-song.) 

After doubling back towards the river and the south meadows we had a few more Chiffchaff and Blackcap, as well as several calling Nuthatch. 

Following a quieter path on the wandle produced my first Treecreepers and House martins of the year on patch. However, despite our efforts, no Spotted or Pied Flycatchers were to be seen.

We finished off with a few Grey Wagtail, before getting a tram to go to South Norwood Country Park. We grabbed lunch from the Tesco and then went to complete the second part of the survey; Sam heard a Yellow Wagtail fly over, while we counted 11 Chiffchaff and 3 more Willow Warbler in the surrounding area. While walking around and remarking at the great habitat available to migrants, we had a few Whitethroat, Silver washed Fritillary butterflies as well as a relaxed Kestrel. Just before we left, as we walked back down a small path, a butterfly burst forth from a large tree, about 10m up, and before it disappeared it was identified as a Brown Hairstreak (my first.) Sam also taught me the useful and so far successful art of 'pishing' - a much better way so birders avoid using playback!

So overall a pretty good day all round!

poor Willow Warbler pics

Treecreeper

Banded Demoiselle

Kes

Chiffchaff

Catalonia Part 3 - Llobregat Delta, rarity?! 8th August 2018

After the trip to the Ebro Delta, I realised I was unlikely to get another chance to go birding for the rest of the holiday but fortunately we had a short stop on the way to the airport at the other side of Llobregat, although we arrived late again so couldn't go in. Instead we decided to have a stroll along the river/channel called the Canal de la dreta del Llobregat, which ran a long way down parallel to the Delta itself. The first bird I saw left me clueless momentarily until a bright red bill and bandit-liked mask was seen clearly, with a checkered pattern all over the bird. This made it clear it was a finch and a member of the estrilda family, and it was either Red Avadavat or Common Waxbill - it was the latter, and there were probably around 30 of these introduced birds along there. It was so unbearably hot that these were one of the few birds active along the canal, though it was alive with the flight song of Zitting Cisticola throughout, though we didn't see these birds once.

In the water there were terrapin, that were drawn up in hundreds when a few biscuit crumbs dropped down. A few Little Egret were fishing along the water, and a group of 4 flew downstream while we walked. Reed Warblers frustrated me constantly; my only remaining much wanted lifers of the trip were Black-crowned Night Heron, Savi's Warbler (not seen there) and Great Reed Warbler, so it was much of a disappointed when the Reed Warblers refused to perch. The only perching bird was caught momentarily at the end, and was blurry. Analysis: quite short tail, lacking darkness, so I think it was just a Common Reed - never struck me as too big really.

Also present was an alba wagtail (probably white) that joined a 1cy Yellow Wagtail, until they both flew off. The ever-present Waxbills were joined by Barn Swallow in the reedbeds, which were so tame that they sat on reeds overhanging us on a bridge.

While walking a group of Starling landed above, and a Western Cattle Egret landed in a nearby field. The ticking of a Sardinian Warbler revealed a rather dehydrated looking female that disappeared within seconds. A male zipped by later on. 

As we walked back, I was just having a confrontation with a swallow when my mum said "there's another wagtail over here" as she was looking at the other side. After a second or too I walked back and was greeted with a stunning ad m Yellow Wagtail dashing away from me; even better it looked like a ssp. and I managed to rule out Iberian due to the absence of an eyestripe. This left me with many options but I thought it was either ssp. Black-headed (feldegg) or Ashy-headed (cinereocapilla.) It kept me thinking for the rest of the evening as most birders generally get excited when they find these rarer subspecies, and having never seen a male Yellow Wagtail on the ground in England before it excited me anyway! Here are the pictures either way.

This was a fine way to end a successful trip to Spain, both for relaxing in the pool and birding. 

Yellow wagtail sp.

Yellow Wagtail sp.

Yellow Wagtail sp.

Yellow Wagtail sp.

f Sardinian Warbler

f Sardinian Warbler arse

f Sardinian Warbler 

terrapins

Reed Warbler blurry rubbish

Reed Warbler

Little Egret

juv Swallow

Terrapin

Common Waxbill

Common Waxbill

Common Waxbill

Cattle Egret - bit rubbish really

Stare-off

Dragonfly sp.

From the rest of the trip the only other creatures were either from the small garden - where a Bonelli's Eagle flew over while I was in the pool on the 5th - or at the visitor attraction Montserrat. (On the whole Montserrat was disappointing for wildlife - so much habitat and the only birds of note were single Pied Flycatcher driving in and a brief encounter with a probable Crag Martin. However, 5 Hummingbird Hawkmoths made up for that, as did this butterfly which I haven't ID'd yet.)

butterfly sp - anyone able to help?

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 1

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 2

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 2

Thanks for reading :)