Skokholm Trip 11-14th September

Last weekend I stayed at the Skokholm Bird Observatory with Dave Astins who was leading a migration course there. At Martin's Haven before catching the boat I found a smart immature/female-type Redstart in a small area of willows, a good start. After a quick briefing we were out to explore the island. c15 White Wagtails were on the North Plain along with a few Wheatears. Other birds of note was a Water Rail at the Well, Whimbrel on the North Coast and 2 juvenile Dunlins on North Pond.
An early start on the 12th saw me head down the Well to look for migrants, 3 Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap were present but not much else. Heading back to the courtyard a small bird flitted past me into the cottage garden. It was a stunning Firecrest! It stayed the whole day and moved to the courtyard later in the day, it showed very well in the courtyard even down to a few metres at times. The White Wagtails were still on North Plain along with a few Pied Wagtails. A good fall of Wheatears today, we counted 17 around the island including a Greenland-type bird on North Plain, a Whinchat was near the lighthouse in the afternoon. In the evening we went down to the quarry hoping to see some Storm Petrels. On the lighthouse track lots of young Manxies we getting ready to fledge. At quarry the Storm Petrels were there. We used a infra red camera to watch them as the flew around us.
Another look down at the well on the 13th revealed nothing unusual, 2 Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff. At the courtyard birds were a little better. Yesterday's Firecrest was still in the courtyard as was a Garden Warbler and a male Blackcap was in the courtyard heligoland. 2 Skylarks were near North Pond and a juvenile Ringed Plover and the 2 juvenile Dunlin were on North Pond. A seawatch from the lighthouse revealed 3 Commic Terns flying south, 12 Common Scoter and 14 Gannet. Back along the lighthouse track 2 Whinchats and a Wheatear were at Horsebottom. Large numbers of Rock Pipits were on the Neck, 32 were put up at once giving us a total of 49 for the Island on the 13th.
Half a day on the 14th, but there were more birds on the island. 14 Willow Warblers were around, 4 at the Well, 6 at Spy Rock, 2 in the Courtyard, 2 at Orchid Bog. A Pied Flycatcher was found at soy Rock but when I went there I could only find 2 Spotted Flycatchers, another 2 Spot Flys were at the Well. A Reed Warbler at the Well was a new addition to the trip list as was a Sedge Warbler at Orchid Bog. A Water Rail was a the Well and a bird was here calling near the cottage garden, suggesting there are 2. At South Haven, just before getting on to the boat, a Turnstone appeared on the rocks, a nice end to the trip. Back at Martin's Haven a Grey Wagtail was flying around and 3 male Blackcaps and 2 Spotted Flycatchers were in the Willows.

Ginst and the surroundings

Last Sunday Alex Holland took me around his farmland along the river taf and over towards Ginst Point. Walking through the rush I picked out a raptor quartering the far corner of his land. As if flew along the embankment the white upper tail coverts were obvious, a smart juvenile/female Hen Harrier Other birds of note on the farm were, 4 Teal, 100+ Swallows, 3 House Martins, 6 Sand Martins. On the Taf shore there were 2 Little Egrets, c30 Curlew and a Shelduck, but the heat haze prevented me looking for any other species. At Ginst Point large numbers of Oystercatcher were on the sand, about 200! Elsewhere on the point 45+ Knot, 30 Dunlin and several Ringed Plover. Back on Alex's land a Kestrel gave good views and large numbers of Linnet were feeding in the field. Back towards the car a smart male Wheatear caught my eye, followed by quite allot of Stonechats, 10, and a Whinchat sitting on the barbed wire fence.

Ginst Point again...

This morning I headed down to Ginst Point again. The tide was high and there were birds everywhere. The tide was particularly high this morning and as a result large areas of the salt marsh were flooded. Here there were hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, 8 Little Egrets and c60 Curlew. Even more gulls were on the spit but there was no sign of Thursday's Little Ringed Plover. As the tide started to drop more waders started to arrive. 6 Black-tailed Godwits flew up from the salt marsh and headed towards Laugharne. A Redshank appeared on the shore along with 4 Knot. 2 Sandwich Terns were feeding offshore and a Great Crested Grebe was nearby. One last scan across the beach, before going home, and a few flocks of small waders caught my eye. I managed to get close enough to look though them. Predominantly Dunlin (c60), 5 Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling and... a *LITTLE STINT*! Its small size was obvious against the larger Dunlin and its very energetic habits were great to watch.

Little Stint

Little Ringed Plover

I had a short visit to Ginst Point this evening just to see what was around. However, I didn't go very far before I found the star bird of the evening... a very smart juvenile Little Ringed Plover. It was frequenting a small stream that runs through the salt marsh and alongside the beach. I watched it for about half and hour as it foraged on the muddy banks of the stream. Eventually, it moved further up the stream and was lost behind the vegetation.

Other birds of note were c30 Curlew, a Redshank, 4 Great Creasted Grebes and 6 Ringed Plover.

Little Ringed Plover

Waders...

Last week ( 17th) we went down to Dale to spend the evening there . At the Gann a good selection of waders were present including 20 Dunlin on the beach and 2 Greenshank on the lagoon. 4 Common Sandpiper were also on the lagoon as was the highlight a juvenile Ruff, my first in Pembs! A second juvenile Ruff was at the the river mouth along with a Whimbrel and several Ringed Plover.
On Saturday I visited Ginst Point looking for some more waders. A quick scan revealed large numbers of Curlew (c70), Dunlin (100+), Ringed Plover (c110) and Oystercatcher (c90). Also present, were small numbers of Black-tailed Godwit (3) and a lone Knot. Gulls were in good numbers on the mudflats, with 250+ Black-headed Gulls, 60+ Herring Gulls and 3 Commin Gulls.
This afternoon we went to West Williamston NR. First birds of note were 2 Curlew and a Whimbrel. Looking through a flock of Lesser Balck-backed Gulls I found a white gull. It had me scratching my head for a while but I'm fairly sure it's a Leucistic Lesser Balck-back. On the way packed there was a further 3 Whimbrel, a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Greenshank.

Ruff

Leucistic Lesser Black-backed Gull

Holiday to Hourtin Plage, South France

We spent 10 days in Hourtin Plage a small village on the south west coast of France. We didn't travel far away from the village but I still managed a list of 81 species. The extensive dunes, rich pine forest, lakes and clearings provided great habitats for an array of different species. I spent a few hours one day seawatching off the beach at Houtin Plage, loads of Balearics and a smart Sooty Shearwater was the highlights.
Here are a few of the highlights of the holiday were:

Black Kite
Firecrest
Black Redstarts
Crested Tit
Short-toed Treecreeper
Turtle Dove
Red-backed Shrike
Hoopoe
Yellow-legged Gull
Fan-tailed Warbler
Honey Buzzard
Melodious Warbler
Purple Heron
Short-toed Eagle
Montagu's Harrier
Night Heron
Golden Oriole
Kentish Plover
Spotted Crake
Sooty Shearwater
Black-winged Stilt

Black Redstart

Hoopoe

Black Kite

Short-toed Eagle

Black-winged Stilt

Purple Heron

Skomer and the Cotswolds Water Park

Last Thursday I went onto Skomer. It was great to see Puffins and the other seabirds nice and close but I spent most of the day in land in north valley and around the farm. I managed great views of the Short-eared Owl feeding in the valley and later found the Little Owl on the wall next to the farm. A Willow Warbler in the elders by the farm had me wishing for Greenish but it darted away quickly, turns out there was one in the north haven ivy the next day!

Wren

Puffin

We spent the weekend in the Cotswolds Water Park because my dad was taking part in a half ironman. The event was on Sunday so Dad and I visited some of the pits to see what was around. A few Red-crested Pochards was nice as were many Common Terns which were nesting on some the islands in the pits. Black-headed Gulls were also nesting on these islands. An early start on Sunday for the event allowed me time to search sites hoping for a Nightingale. Luckily Pit 43 was fairly close to the start of the triathlon so I could walk there and still be near the race. I was very surprise and happy to soon hear a Nightingale singing its fantastic song in an area of scrub by the pit. I watched and listed to it sing for about 3 hours and managed to get quite close to it at times. Although sometimes skulking, it often came onto the top of a tree or bush to sing its repertoire, allowing some great views. Sedge Warblers were nesting in damp scrub nearby and a Cetti's Warbler sang from the reeds. Another nice surprise was a Lesser Whitethroat in an area of brambles next to the footpath.

Sedge Warbler

Nightingale

SWAINSON'S THRUSH on Skokholm!!

As soon as finished my exams, on the 2nd, I heard that a Swainson's Thrush was found on Skokholm. I didn't expect to see it because it was on Skokholm which is particularly hard to get to so it came as a surprise that a twitch would be arranged. A boat was set to leave on Thursday but I couldn't get a place. However, Dave Astins and the Skokholm wardens arranged a small rib to take 12 people hoping to see the bird today. 

The boat trip over was bumpy but great fun. It was made even better when a Risso's Dolphin put in a brief appearance in broad sound. After the half an hour crossing we arrived at South Haven soaking 

wet. We were met off the boat by the warden who then lead us up to the courtyard where the bird spent most of its time. It wasn't long before the fantastic SWAINSON'S THRUSH appeared on its usual perch. It showed well on and off for the whole time, but it was clearly more active, sending prolonged periods in the leaf litter searching for food out of view but would always return its perch. I was so preoccupied with watching the bird I forgot to take pictures of it. Luckily just before we left it showed one last time and I managed to get a quick photo but the bird was partially obscured. 

SWAINSON'S THRUSH

Tree Pipits and more...

Yesterday afternoon I went up to Marros Mountain in the hope of finding evidence of Tree Pipits breeding in the area. It took a while but eventually I found a bird singing from the top of a tree, on the  edge of the wood. Further along onto the moor a second bird was signing from the fence around the pond. Yellowhammers and Skylarks were singing on the moor with the former in two locations. This morning I went up again the highlights were 4 Lesser Redpolls, a pair of Spotted Flycatchers and 3 Tree Pipits.

Tree Pipit

Yellowhammer

Blackcap at Bosherston Pools last Sunday

Catch up...

Unfortunately, revision has taken the main priority over the previous weeks but I have managed a few times to get out and enjoy spring.

On the patch the first Whimbrels arrived on the 19th April with a peack count of c30 on the 26th. Other waders too were still present on the 26th, with 5 Sanderling, a Single Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Whitethroats are back on the patch on the 23rd with several singing in the srub behind Tenby south beach in the 26th. Hirundine passage continued with 30 Sand Martins moving with 100 Swallows on the 26th.

On 2nd May I met up with Dave Astins for a morning around Dale and Marloes. A blustery Martin's Haven saw us heading to Marloes Mere for some shelter in the hides. The highlights here were 20 Whimbrel, a drake Pochard, 4 Shoveler, 2 Little Grebes and my first Sedge Warblers if the year. Next up was a gusty Gann. The highlights being 4 Barwits (3 showing stages of summer plumage), 13 Ringed Plover and 18 Dunlin. The wind was still blowing strong so we decided to head in land to Canaston woods in the hope of catching up with Wood Warbler or maybe a Redstart. Unfortunately, the wind never calmed so these birds eluded us, but a possible Hobby from the car, a pair of Dippers, several Blackcaps and Grey Wagtails was still great. Dave also had a Kingfisher, but I never saw it!

Seawatching at Telpyn Point on the 6th, 8th, 9th was rewarded with several Manxies (peack count of 28), a Great Northern Diver, (a diver sp. On the 9th was probably the same bird), a Whimbrel, several Guillemots, 2 Sandwich Terns, 30 Gannets, a Kittiwake and 3 smart Arctic Skuas (1 pale, 2 dark) chasing the Kittiwake! A Chough at Telpyn Point on the 9th was a surprise and a great site record and a Swift passage of c20 in off the sea was a great sight.

Whimbrel

Chiffchaff

Sanderlings molting into summer plumage

Sanderling

Sand Martin 

Swallows

Bar-tailed Godwit

Woodchat Shrike

It was great to catch up with the superb male Woodchat Shrike which had been frequenting a rough area adjacent to the track that runs behind Whitesands Bay. It was very active, flying to and from a perch and foraging in the grass. It seemed to have a particular fondness to bumble bees but I didn't see it successfully catch one. I did however see it regurgitate a pellet, which appeared to contain some bumble bee or beetle.

I also had a quick look on St David's Head. There wasn't much there a few Sand Martins and Swallows, a Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler. A flock of  10 Whimbrels flew over Whitesands beach before I left.

Not the best photo but it shows the white flashes in the bird's wing 

It showed well but remained fairly distant most of the time

More black on forehead suggest male

Woodchat Shrike

Marloes- Hoopoe

Couldn't resist another look at the Hoopoe this evening. It took a while but eventually we found it feeding on a lawn. I managed much better views as it sat on the lawn, it later flew up into a nearby tree to show its fantastic crest! The bird soon flew off in a SE direction, possibly towards the church. A bird then flew from the west towards a similar direction. There is good chance that there is more than one in the area!

HOOPOE

HOOPOE

I was very pleased to re-locate the Hoopoe at Marloes this evening. Actually it was my parents who saw it first feeding in someone's front lawn. I soon caught up with it but only had a fleeting view because it was very mobile around the village. I soon lost sight of the bird but I could hear it singing, a faint 'hoop...hoop...hoop' in the distance.
This has to be one of my favourite birds!!

Tenby Patchworking

Lovely morning checking my PWC patch for some spring migrants. I was pleased to locate a female Wheatear on Tenby golf course bu it soon got disturbed by some golfers and headed off. Good numbers of Chiffchaffs (12) behind south beach and 6 Willow Warblers (my first of the year) were in the same location and a few more behind Giltar Point. My first 3 Swallows flew overhead and 2 Cetti's Warblers were singing in the reeds.
Other patch highlights included a Sparrowhawk, several Razorbills and Gullimots, a single Puffin and 10 Skylarks.

Skylark

Lake District Holiday

I've just come back from a week in the Lake District National Park. It wasn't so much of a birding trip but I still managed to get some done.  On Sunday morning we went to Sizergh Castle hoping to see some Hawfinches. After a fairly long search a pair flew by and landed in a nearby tree. They stayed long enough for decent views before flying away overhead.

On Tuesday we visited Dalton Crags. Unfortunately I couldn't locate the Great Grey Shrike but a few Green Woodpeckers yaffleing in the woods was a pleasant surprise. Later on we headed to the RSPB Leighton Moss reserve. The Highlights included 20 Avocets, several Shoveler and Pintails, a few hundred Black-tailed Godwits, a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Marsh Tits, 3 Ruff and a smart female Marsh Harrier. However the rain came halfway through the visit. I managed to cope with it for two hours but I later retreated to the warm car!

Thursday, our last full day, we climbed Scafell Pike. There were loads of Meadow Pipits displaying on the mountain and 2 Wheatears (a male and female) were foraging by the river in the valley.

Black-tailed Godwits

Red-breasted Merganser

Avocet

Pintail

Goldcrest