Pallid Harrier at Wallasea Island

Jim and I visited Wallasea Island yesterday and walked out to the viewing mound in the eastern corner at lunch time. The tide was out and wader numbers were very low with just a small flock of Dunlin, a pair of Oystercatchers and four Lapwing noted. Well over a hundred Little Egrets were counted over the reserve along with a single Great White. A Peregrine sat on the ground having a rest between assaults and probably wondering where all the waders were.

From the mound we spotted another Peregrine several Buzzards and Kestrels along with a few Marsh Harrier sightings. Then a tatty female Hen Harrier flew low across the eastern corner of the island before the at around 4pm the Pallid Harrier eventually came in and flew low over the marsh crossing the path to fly on the river side of the wall, it would later be harrassed by a Sparrowhawk and return at speed to the eastern corner.

On our drive out we spotted a male Merlin sitting out in the muddy field to cap off a memorable day on the island. After we left somebody reported five Short-eared Owls leaving us wishing we'd remained on the island for another hour.

Weather front brings in the Yanks

A weather system that travelled down the east coast of America and across the Atlantic has produced a truly memorable fall of American vagrant birds to our shores.

The fall started with an American Yellow Warbler on Foula in Shetland between 5th and 11th September 

This will be the 7th record for Britain with the last previous being 2017 at Portland a bird I should have twitched but due to work I wasn't able to.

Next came a Tennessee Warbler on St Kilda between 15th and 18th September followed by another on Barra on 21st September still there on 23rd but not reported as I type this on 24th.

There are six previous records so these will be 7 and 8 when accepted. 

Then came the arrival of anticipated American Cliff Swallows with the first to arrive being found in Kent on 19th September which I twitched on 20th, it wasn't seen after this. Another was found on Scilly on 20th and another in Glamorgan on 22nd. There have been only 13 previous records in the UK one of which I saw in 2016 at Minsmere so the Kent bird is my second in Britain.

An Alder Flycatcher was found on Skokholm on 20th September and is still present as I type here on 24th. It has been twitched by a few but access to the island is restricted and of course I have the no island rule to help me deal with these troublesome twitches. There have only been two previous records for Alder Flycatcher 2008 in Cornwall and 2010 in Norfolk.

Also found on 20th September was Britains third and first mainland record of Magnolia Warbler.

This bird remained long enough for me to twitch it and is still there as I type on 24th. The previous two records were Scilly in 1982 and Fair Isle in 2012.

They kept arriving and on 21st a Bobolink was found on Skokholm (33 previous records for Britain) then a Black and White Warbler was trapped and ringed on Bardsey Island followed by a different bird being trapped on 25th. These represent Britains 18th and 19th Record.

On 21st September the finding of a Bay-breasted Warbler on Ramsey Island sent the big listers into meltdown. This was a bird that had one previous accepted record which was not twitchable and remained a target for the must haves. The island has a strict allowance of visitors and is dependent on weather for boat crossings so nobody could get access to the bird until 23rd. 120 people on three boats would be allowed access and so the challenge of gaining access began. Again my no island rule took the pressure of me on this rarity.

A Northern Parula was seen on Scilly on 23rd. This will be the 16th record for Britain when accepted.

An Oven Bird was also found on Rum on 23rd with only six previous records this will be the 7th.

The same day saw a Empidonax Sp. found in Gwynedd which has not yet been ID'd beyond that. Then a Philadelphia Vireo was found on Barra in the Outer Hebrides. This is a bird that has only previously graced our shores once before with a record of one on Scilly in 1987 but access to Barra is difficult so twitching this bird even for the top listers may be beyond the challenge and as I type it's reported as "no further sign".

The best of the bunch was the Canada Warbler found on MOD land on St.Govan's head Pembrokeshire. It was found by the same guy that found the Magnolia Warbler and is a first for Britain.

I managed to twitch this bird. As I type on the 24th it's being reported as "no further sign"

Magnolia Warbler

So I connected with three of the eleven Yanks this week, I know some that connected with five but what a week for all British birders to enjoy. Now lets see what Autumn brings!

Two tick day in Pembrokeshire

Thursday and Friday saw family commitments preventing me travelling down to Pembrokeshire with the added irony that if my good lady had been well enough we'd have been holidaying in the county this week so with Saturday free I picked Jim up at 12.30am and we made the 275 mile trip to St Govens head in Pembrokeshire arriving in the car park at 5.15am in darkness which allowed a quick hours catch up with some sleep before we joined the other birders on site to view the area that the Magnolia Warbler was last seen yesterday. 

After about an hour with no sightings the bird was spotted by a couple of guys who let everybody know and shortly after the gathering of c100 or so birders were slowly connecting as the bird did a fast circuit of the bushes often sitting in among the red berry areas.  Chough flew over for an added year tick and Raven noisily flew over to add to the atmosphere. Now that the bird had revealed itself the mood lifted but this was to be improved on news that Toby Phelps (finder of the Magnolia Warbler) had now found a Canada Warbler just four miles away at Stack Rocks. 

The car park emptied as everybody headed off to Stack Rocks with many choosing to park on the grass verges to save the very short walk back from the car park. We opted to park in the car park and walk back where we joined the fifty or so looking for the Canada warbler. After about an hour the bird was spotted and most managed fleeting views of it moving through the thick twiggy areas at the back of the trees. I opted to move away from the masses and eventually had great views as the bird sat up in the canopy for a few moments before taking flight and reverting to it's skulking behaviour. Jim had managed some good views allowing us to both leave satisfied we'd connected well with the bird. 

The crowd was growing and getting ever closer to the area the bird was in so we left and started the long journey home. What a fantastic days birding in Pembrokeshire, great birds in a lovely setting and it's always nice to catch up with everybody at these twitches.

The Canada Warbler twitch with finder Toby far right with the orange peeked cap

The Magnolia warbler twitch

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia twitch

Magnolia Warbler

Many of the birders present also enjoyed views of the Bay-breasted Warbler on Ramsay Island and some saw the Alder Flycatcher on Skokholm, thankfully I don't do the islands so didn't have to stress too much about these birds. Boats to both islands were limited and would have also added a few pounds to the day trip but I congratulate those that did connect with one or both. 

Year list now 221

Life list now 442

American Cliff Swallow at Joss Bay in Kent

I had a tough day yesterday with a few family duties to fulfill and didn't see the news of the Cliff Swallow until late afternoon and with the Dartford crossing closed and two hour delays into Kent expected the afternoon run was put off after discussions with the Jims who still needed the bird for a life tick. With the bird present into the late evening we decided to leave it and wait for news this morning and with that positive news we set off at 9am and with no trouble getting over the water into Kent we arrived at Joss Bay at 10.50am. There was a small crowd of around twenty or so birders present but the bird hadn't been seen for half an hour or more.

The Cabbage fields and lighthouse

Joss Bay

In my haste to leave I'd left my camera bag and binoculars in the house so borrowed Dads to search for the bird and within ten minutes I was shouting to the crowd that it was flying along the cliff top towards us. For the next hour we enjoyed several views as it did a loop around the cabbage fields.  The flock contained mostly House Martins but several Sand Martins and a single Swallow were seen. Meadow Pipits were numerous and a single Curlew was found on the beach  but it was otherwise very quiet with nothing moving on the sea in strong South Westerlies.

The Jims gripped back the Cliff Swallow on me as I'd previously seen the Minsmere bird in 2016 and I ticked my 268th Kent bird and my 218th bird for the pointless 2023 year list for which I still need 20 birds to avoid my worst year list ever of 238.

Onwards and Upwards.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Minsmere

Jim and I decided on having a day out at Minsmere on Thursday and arrived at the Suffolk site for first light. We walked down to north path and decided on doing a day count with a target of 80 species.

The count started well as we ticked a few in the bushes and reeds with Bearded Tit probably the best of the bunch here. We then took the new boardwalk down to East hide were the real birding started. Avocets, Blackwits, Lapwing were all present in good numbers then we picked out several Common and Green Sandpipers before Jim found 3 Little Stint in a group of Dunlin. 3 Spoonbill were feeding in the far corner.

Avocets at Minsmere 

Sponnbills

At the back of the scrape we found several Snipe and three Spotted Redshank then a Barwit amongst the Blackwits. Several Knot and a Grey Plover added to the wader count.

A Peregrine flew low across the scrape putting everything including the Spoonbills up, Buzzard, Red Kite and Kestrel added to the BOP count and a Wood Sandpiper dropped in briefly. We moved on to the public hide were we found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper ironically sitting in front of the hide we'd just left but it would have been out of sight from there. A Sparrowhawk and the Hobby were picked up in flight and a Great White Egret dropped in to add to our day count before the Buff breasted Sandpiper took flight and landed in front of the public hide to allow some record shots. A young Sparrowhawk flew along the ditch and landed on the fence making the BBS go to ground hiding in the grass before a Hobby buzzed through causing the BBS to take flight circling high around the scrape before returning to the far side nearer south hide. 

Buff breasted Sandpiper

Buff breasted Sandpiper

Buff breasted Sandpiper

Buff breasted Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Common Tern

Common Terns

Great White Egret

Great White

Spoonbill and waders

Spoonbill and south hide Minsmere

Spoonbill

We left and decided on a walk up on the heath to year tick Dartford warbler which proved a surprising challenge but after an hour we found a couple of distant birds and had a close bird calling which we didn't manage to see. 

Jim totted up our day count on the journey home and bingo it totalled out at 80 on the nail.

A very enjoyable days birding added two year ticks with the Dartfords and the Buffy-breast.

Year list now 217

Aquatic Warbler at Upper Beeding in West Sussex

I had a difficult day yesterday looking out for my father in law and was in no condition to drive the 80 miles to Upper Beeding in West Sussex when news came through of an Aquatic Warbler showing intermittently. I was in as bad a place physically as when the Landguard bird dropped and just couldn't manage the drive but I hatched a plan with the Jims that we would go on positive news this morning and so after the first couple of sightings we headed around the M25 and down the M23 this morning setting off around 8.45am we arrived in the High Street at Upper Beeding at 10.30am and set about walking the 900 yards up the east side of the river to find a crowd of around 30 birders and news that the bird hadn't been seen since about 10am. 

We stood quiet scanning the Hawthorn that we were told the Aquatic Warbler had settled in when last seen but had no sign in the first hour or so until two local women (non birders) walked along the path and passed the bush flushing the bird to give our first sighting as it flew first low to the left then back behind the bush and over the path. It later flew along the fence-line before hopping back over the path and into the grass on the river bank where it stayed hidden for an hour.

Aquatic Warbler at Upper Beeding West Sussex

I spotted movement in the grass and alerted the few birders around me and shortly after the bird flew a short hop to some Hogweed before making its way up to the top posing for a few pictures and then flying back along the river bank and dropping back out of sight in the grass. A couple of views were had in the next hour as it flew across the river a couple of times before returning to the Hawthorn and then flying back into the field where it disappeared for several hours. We left at 1.30pm and it wasn't seen again until late afternoon. We picked up a year tick with a Spotted Flycatcher in the trees along the river and had two Yellow Wagtails, a Kingfisher and Raven whilst waiting for the Warbler to show.

Aquatic warblers used to be much easier to connect with in the UK but over the last few years they have taken on a new status and are now almost a Mega find usually trapped in nets and released with no further sign so to connect with this bird and see it so well is really pleasing.

Year list now 215

Life list now 440

Kestrel in Epping Forest

 

I stopped on the way to the Osprey as this Kestrel was sitting on the sign for Epping Forest and the Fox is my regular garden visitor. His head damage is about a year old and clears up but he scratches it which opens the wound again. It doesn't seem to be causing him too much trouble now as when he first the wound was much larger and one eye was closed. 

More of the Osprey at Bowyers water Lee Valley

The Osprey at Bowyers water in the Lee Valley remains on site visiting both Friday Lake and Bowyers water to fish. It always exits to the north but nobody has reported any sign of it to the north so where it roosts is still a mystery and probably a good thing meaning it's not getting disturbed at all.

I visited on Thursday and the weather was really overcast and although I saw the bird come in I missed it dive as it went behind the island to fish. On Saturday I returned and after an hour saw it come in take a fish and exit but again the weather was against me and the camera being very overcast so I returned yesterday at noon with bright blue skies very little wind and plenty of sunshine it was very warm. I found a platform in the shade and at 1.10pm the bird came in and did a circuit before taking a fish for lunch and heading off to the north to consume and digest it. Knowing it takes a couple of hours to return I thought about heading home but decided instead to do a lap of Bowyers to see what else I could find. A common Buzzard, Chiffchaff and Common Sandpiper where the only things of note so I plotted up on a fishing platform and waited for the bird to return which it did around 4.45pm but on this occasion it left without catching anything.

I wonder if it'll stay until this nice weather breaks or weather it'll use the nice weather to move on. Two birds have been reported but there are no pictures of the second bird which I find strange and witnessed several people calling Osprey when it was a Buzzard so I remain to be convinced of the two bird news.