Things are hotting up!

By this title, I don't mean the weather. The sun seems to have got bored of the north-east and left, and the fog has returned, although it is slightly warmer! The prolonged easterlies mean that things have started to happen, not in a major way as yet, but in a very nice way indeed. For the last few days the island has been covered in Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Wheatears and we have had a mini influx of Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat. Amongst the slightly less common were a flock of 290 odd Barnacle Geese, Mealy and Lesser Redpolls, a single Common Sandpiper and Greenshank. Today stole the show however, with a male Pied Flycatcher and a Wryneck arriving on the islands, both giving excellent views.
Many of the islands Guillemots are now on eggs, the first Razorbill egg was found today on Brownsman, there are now a few Eider nests starting to appear and some Swallows have been prospecting St Cuthberts Chapel. We have also had our second clutch of Mallard ducklings, but none of them seem to be fairing very well at the moment.
With more easterlies predicted for the week ahead, and with certain places in the UK getting some mega birds, we are sure that something big will turn up shortly......

Singing Willow Warbler in the Alders

Some of the 290 Barnacle Geese

Very obliging Common Sandpiper

Lesser Whitethroat sunning itself

Mealy/Common Redpoll enjoying North Rocks

Stunning Swallow hopefully here to stay

The star pair, wonderfully showy Wryneck and....

Pied Flycatcher, equally as pretty!

Back home

So, back in Littlehampton for a brief period before our next adventure begins on the FARNE ISLANDS!! Some lovely  birds around, only a few minutes from the house in the case of the first two, the long-staying first winter Kumlien's Gull and the second winter (3cy) Glaucous Gull. I have made two visits now, and both times they have been showing very well in the harbour mouth from West Beach. Light was poor on both occasions, but I managed to get a shot of both, with a nice one of the Kumlien's showing the brown wash in the primaries and the obvious dark tail band.

Kumlien's Gull, Larus glaucoides kumlieni

Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus

Our second outing was to make the journey up to Warnham, which is always a lovely place to visit, but this time with the added incentive of a Mealy (or Common, whichever you prefer) Redpoll up for grabs. We spent 20 minutes watching the Redpolls, Siskins, Long-tailed Tits and others busy on the feeders before the star bird arrived for a brief showing. I managed a shot showing the two pure white wing bars, overall greyish tones and the contrasting dark ear covert spot, all key ID features.  Also on the reserve was a Raven, many Grey Herons busy nest building and a nice pair of Great Crested Grebes.

Siskin, Carduelis spinus

Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus

Lesser Redpoll, Carduelis flammea cabaret

Mealy Redpoll, Carduelis flammea flammea

Why is There a River in the Garden?

With some fairly heavy spells of rain over the last few days, a river was probably more likely than the bird that was trapped in the nets a few mornings ago! Having had almost constant westerly winds for the past week, we weren't expecting much in from the continent, so you can imagine the excitement when a visitor came running into the ringing room this morning, trying to explain through his excitement that there was an unstriped Locustella in the nets, and that he was certain that it was a River Warbler. That is indeed, what it turned out to be!
This little bird breeds in Eastern and Central Europe then migrates down to East Africa, so how it had managed to battle through the winds and end up here is a mystery. What makes it more special is that it is Fair Isles' second record of the year.



River Warbler, Locustella fluviatilis




River Warbler, Locustella fluviatilis. Picture by Will Miles




River Warbler, Locustella fluviatilis and me (not sure what the face is all about). Picture by Will Miles.

 I also managed to finally catch the Mealy Redpoll that has been hanging around the obs for the last few days. This was a first for me in the hand, and it was a lovely fluffy individual, looking like it has come from somewhere rather more cold that Fair Isle!!



Mealy Redpoll, Carduelis flammea rostrata