Migrants & hangers on

Despite the appalling april/may weather, many summer migrants have once again graced our shores. Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs,& Willow warblers sing all over the Avalon marshes & the Bitterns have been booming since February.

A recent drive down onto Tealham moor revealed a water scape not a landscape! A look for Yellow wagtails drew a blank but Wheatears were everywhere. At least a dozen were seen at the cattle pen along with a pair of Whinchat & hundreds of Hirundines & swift swooped low across the waterlogged grass. In another field at least 500 gulls bathed. Sedge warbler & Reed bunting also frequented the area as Skylarks filled the air with there beautiful song.

Singing male Blackcap

Northern Wheatear

Wheatear & Whinchat

Diving Wheatear

Whinchat

Close by on Chilton moor, a Short-eared owl was for once posing nicely on a gate post & allowed a close approach in the car to around 30m (Many thanks Tim for the heads up!). I blocked the road for a good 30mins while snapping away & luckily, no one came along. Up to 4 have been seen over the winter in this area & you must presume that this one wont be around much longer.

Whilst watching the owl, a fox trotted through the gate, next to the owl who just glanced in its direction. It had a mouth full of something which i thought at the time was a Moorhen. It was only when i processed this image that i realised it had a mouth full of moles! At least 4 can be seen. I was always under the impression that they were unpalatable. Obviously not to foxes.....

Fox with a mouth full of moles!

More from Catcott

Another short visit to Catcott lows this morning saw the Spoonbills asleep again apart from a quick flight when everything went up, presumably reacting to an unseen (by me) raptor.

 A nice view of a Hunting ringtail Hen Harrier.

All for now....

Late winter oddsie's

Not done alot of photography since my last entry, but have a few shots from the last couple of months including the Spoonbills at Catcott lows.

Also at Catcott was a pair of Peregrines, occasionally putting the frightners on everything present. This shot was taken in low light & a slow shutter speed.

Foxy looks in great condition here. What you cant see from this shot is the huge bump on its nose & its limp as it trotted off.

The 4 adult Spoonbills currently resident at Catcott lows. One has its legs festooned with bling. Its history can be read here.

A pair of Pintail ducks dozing on Catcott lows.

Cuba isn't far from Somerset!

Happy New Year!

Recent days have seen me travelling out of the county to C.U.B.A!  Unfortunately that’s the County, used to be Avon, not the Caribbean island........

Chew Valley Lake provided the first lifer of the year, in the form of a very confiding Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). This North American vagrant Gull is similar to our own Common Gull (Larus canus), but differs in having a pale eye, heavier bill with a thicker dark band & yellower legs. The pale eye & heavier bill give it a more brutish look than Common gull. It readily came to hand outs of bread & i had to back off with the 600mm.

The long staying Spotted sandpiper (another American vagrant) was in its usual haunt along the concrete bank of Herriot’s pool & gave great views & allowed some images to be taken, albeit in terrible light. The photo shows a few spots developing on the lower breast & flanks.

A short visit to Blagdon Lake failed to turn up the Long-tailed duck.

Back in the home county & Catcott lows reserve held seven adult Bewick’s swans & a confused juvenile that would rather hang out with the resident Mutes.  A large female peregrine falcon seen to it that the thousands of Lapwing, did not settle.  Amongst them were a group of 50 (ish) Golden plover & a dozen Black-tailed godwits.  As darkness fell, commuting Starlings took avoiding action when a Sparrowhawk scythed through their ranks.

In the east of the county, at Torr reservoir, the resident Canada goose flock held a few interlopers. A Richardson’s cackling goose (tiny version of a Canada goose, barely bigger than a Mallard), three Barnacle geese & a single Bar-headed goose.  Now all three of these species are kept in wildfowl collections & are probably of dubious origin (i.e. escapees, not wild birds), but you never know................... I will leave that decision with you!
The Brue estuary at Burnham on sea held yet another yank vagrant in the form of a Lesser yellowlegs, a wader. I found it in its usual place (its been about for a while) on a floating barrel, on a small pool to the side of the channel. A stealthy slow crawling approach let me get to within 20m. After getting the shots i just lay back & was contemplating the crawl back when off it went into the channel. At least it meant i didnt have to crawl back through the stinking strand line.


Richardsons cackling goose- tiny with a darker breast




Bar-headed goose in same Canada flock







Ring-billed gull

 


Common gull for comparison. Far more gentile expression.



Ring-billed gull



Spotted sandpiper (spots just starting to show)





Juvenile Bewick's swan



Lesser yellowlegs

 







Influx of Short-eared owls

 This autumn has proven to be a great time for Short-eared owls in the county. Most years we get one or more owls & Aust, between the two Severn bridges, is a regular overwintering area. This year however has seen alot of the local moors harbouring one or more birds, with counts of up to seven seen on Aller moor! With this in mind i popped over to Aller, seeing only one (disturbed by dog walkers) the first day, but had greater success on my second visit, with three hunting in the area. The images of the perched owl below are from that session. The light was dismal so perched images were the order of the day.
The following pair of images of the owl & Kestrel were taken a few years ago at Aust & "lost" on my hard drive. I found them when loading the new images!
 Short-eared owls are commonly seen during daylight (diurnal) & feed on the same sort of creatures as Kestrels. This leads to competition for resources & inevitably fights. Corvids also give the owls are hard time, & can often be used to find owls that are perched or roosting in reeds or long grass.

This final shot was taken by my good buddy Tim Taylor, whilst on Aller moor. I was busy watching a perched owl through my lens. My phone started to vibrate with an incoming call. I ignored it as i was still locked onto the perched bird. Tim was ringing to tell me to turn around! DOH!

The final straw was when i saw the file name........Rob missing the owl



A bit of a blow!

For a few days now, the wind off of Burnham-on-sea has been blowing fairly strongly. The recent hurricane in the US & stormy weather in the North Atlantic has pushed a fair few migrating birds into the Bristol channel & marooned them in Bridgwater bay. Skuas, Shearwaters, Grey phalarope, Leaches petrels & Sabines gulls have all been reported around the bay.
Yesterday evening I joined a few other birders on the seafront at Burnham. A juvenile Sabines gull (woo-hoo......lifer) on the beach was pointed out to me as soon as i got there, quickly followed by a Leaches petrel, battling against the wind. I have heard that a couple of exhausted Manx shearwaters were rescued from the tideline & taken to Secret world wildlife rescue http://www.secretworld.org/. Lets hope they regain there strength & can be released.
I managed record shots of both the sab's & leache's (Both are massive crops & not the sharpest).

Note the missing inner primary on the above petrel. This bird was seen quite a few times during my time at the front.

Cornish pelagic 2011.

Saturday 6th August saw myself & 2 companions boarding a small boat & heading out from St Ives at 5:00 in the morning. Fortunately the sea was relatively calm & the weather dry. The first sighting was not a bird, but a basking shark, just after we left the harbour. This was the first of two sightings during the trip, but was unfortunately about 100m of the rear of the boat. The gloomy light of dawn soon lifted to a overcast morning & after about an hour of steaming & chumming (around 8 miles out), the first Fulmars appeared. These were our constant companion's during the trip & afforded views down to a meter, both on the sea & in flight. Gannets were also fairly frequent, some diving onto the chum just off the boat. A little later on, many hundreds (possibly thousands) of Manx Shearwaters crossed our path, some circling & feeding nearby. A small group of Balearic Shearwaters were also spotted as they crossed to our rear. The bird of the day for me (and a lifer) though was the single Sooty Shearwater that flew alongside the boat & gave great binocular views, but too far for my 200mm lens & 1.7x converter combo to get anything other than a distant record shot.
After drifting for about 1 1/4 miles, we steamed back to our original position. Just after setting off, a large dark triangular fin was spotted again too our rear. This time the skipper decided to see if we could get a closer look & circled the area where it was last seen. After 10 minutes or so & no more sightings, we headed off on our original course. More Manxies joined us & a single Storm petrel flitted alongside for a brief moment.
By now the sun was out & it was time to return to St Ives for a late breakfast. A pair of Grey seals popped there heads out of the water to see if there was any titbit's & Cormorants & a few Shags were also noted.

Balearic Shearwater

Gannet

Fulmar

Manx Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

If you fancy a trip out next year, have a look at this website http://www.cornwall-birding.co.uk/pelagics/ but be warned, book early as places are filled quickly.