Scotland 2015 Part 1 - Mull

It's been on our list for a long time, and we finally made the trip to start exploring the beauty of the North and West coasts of Scotland. Our starting point was Mull, with only one thing in mind... Eagles. After a very enjoyable trip from Oban on the ferry which produced plenty of Manx Shearwater, we headed to the south-western tip of the island to set up camp. There were plenty of Stonechat and Golden Plover around, but the weather soon turned and a drizzly haze descended, severely hampering our chances of seeing any eagles.

The view was spectacular looking over to Iona, but we suffered from the lack of shelter....

This handsome fellow joined us for breakfast 

After a fairly sleepless night largely due to the wind, we decided to head to a more sheltered spot near Tobermory and explore on the way. We struck gold almost immediately, as we found a ringtail Hen Harrier hunting over some grassland near Pennyghael. Every time I am lucky enough to see one of these magnificent birds I can't help but think of their current plight in England and how we must continue the fight to protect them. We managed some great views of an Otter as it swam along just off the shore, and it wasn't long after that we connected with not one but two of our target birds. As we drove along the North coast of Loch Scridain two huge birds dropped over the tree line and cruised a little way before settling in some pines. We screeched to halt, then released we needed to get the car off the road first. There was some frantic reversing and soon we were looking through our scopes at a magnificent pair of White-tailed Eagles. Nothing that you hear or read can prepare you for just how spectacular these birds are, in size, structure and plumage. Wow! It was a joy to watch them from less than 200m away as they preened, every now and then stopping to observe their surroundings, check that we were staying put and then carrying on. From a bird on the brink to a conservation success story in 10 minutes.... Pause for thought.

There will be no digiscoping awards for this, but you can make out what it is. And what a bird..... White-tailed Eagle

Incredibly satisfied we continued North on the road towards Knock. The drive takes you through some beautiful scenery; steep hills rise on either side of the road, interspersed with grey scree contrasting with the vibrant flowering heather, while ahead sheer cliffs fall away into what on that day was a sea as smooth as glass. Scanning the hills we were rewarded with countless Buzzards and a pair of screeching Peregrine, but then something else appeared. It was being mobbed, and after a brief glimpse from a moving car the first thought was Buzzard and Crows. As one of the smaller birds banked, it had the unmistakable shape of a Raven, and then the excitement set in. There was more screeching of brakes and frantic parking, and this time we were watching a Golden Eagle being mobbed by Ravens. You can't write it. We watched as the party drifted along the top of the hill before dipping over the top and out of view. This is what all the hype was about. Soon after, the rain set in, and as it did a second Golden Eagle drifted over as we had stopped to look at a Black Guillemot on Loch Na Keal.

A very imposing silhouette, a pair of Golden Eagle

Beautiful scenery of Mull

The sun was shining in Tobermory and we got a much better nights sleep. We spent our next day exploring the North of the island. The whole island was littered with Buzzards and Ravens, and Stonechat and Wheatear were common too. We added another pair of Golden Eagle along the road from Salen to Dervaig. Mull had well and truly delivered, and very happy we took the ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan and made for Fort William.  

A very welcome sight was a flock over 25 juvenile Mistle Thrush

    

It's That Time of Year!

The sun is still shining today, and spring has very much arrived on the islands. And with this, signs of breeding are popping up all over the place. Everything is at different stages at the moment, so here is a run-down of what's what on the islands at the moment! Starting at the top, the cliff nesting species.

Shags are often the first species we see laying eggs here, and this year has been no exception. The first eggs were discovered on the 2nd of April, and more and more are appearing every day. Shags are particularly nest-proud, and will pinch anything to make their nests more impressive. Last year we lost gloves, rope and a broom to a shags nests!

Shag chicks imminent! 

Elsewhere on the cliffs, we have had our first Guillemot eggs of the year and it certainly won't be long until we find our first Kittiwake and Razorbill ones too. Guillemot's are the densest nesting species of bird on the planet, and as such they can often be seen having scraps with others as they pass through the colony to get to their own small patch. They are also wonderfully affectionate, not only to their partner but also their close neighbours, and allopreening can regularly be seen mainly serving to keep the number of ticks in the colony at bay. It won't be long now until the cliffs of the Farnes are permanently crammed with some 25,000 of them on eggs.

That is one handsome bird! Razorbill

The closer you get, the better they look!

Equally as lovely; Guillemot.

Elsewhere on the islands, Fulmars are now almost consistently on their nest sites, and Puffins are on the islands daily in their thousands, cleaning out their burrows ready for another season. Fulmars are the bird I most enjoy watching in the air, their effortless soaring along the cliffs never ceases to amaze me. On land they are far less graceful though. It's strange to think that the chicks we saw these birds rear last year won't return to land for at least another 5 years, if not longer! As for the Puffins, they certainly win the prize as the most popular bird for visitors to the islands and I can understand why; they are endearing. However, I can also tell you from first hand experience that they can be vicious when they want to be! Looks can be deceiving....

Master of the air (not here though). Fulmar

Wonderful, just blooming wonderful. Puffins

In amongst the rapidly growing vegetation of the islands Eiders are now coming up and starting to settle. We have at least 12 nests on the Inner Farne at present, with this female sitting on a "jumbo clutch" of no less than 8 eggs! Eiders are a delight to monitor; in order to count their eggs we simply lift them gently up off the nest, have a quick count and pop them down again, and generally they don't seem to mind! As for the males, having fulfilled their duties, they are now starting to gather in groups just off the islands ready for a summer of bobbing around on the sea.

Can you spot her?

Close up of the female Eider sitting on 8 eggs!

Less camouflage, more outrageously attractive   

Elsewhere and making lots of noise, the Sandwich Terns are well and truly back in force, with a roost count last night of some 750 birds. In amongst them and always slightly later to return are a handful of Arctic Terns. The peace of the islands is soon to be shattered.... In the mean time, the Rock Pipits parachuting and Pied Wagtails singing can still be just about heard over the Terns, as they undertake their courtship rituals. And last but not least, our Mallards. We generally get plenty of nests but not many chicks survive unfortunately. This particularly savvy female has utilised our gas cage as the ultimate defence for her nest!

Male Pied Wagtail. This individual has been busy collecting nest material over the last few days

Nothing will get to this female Mallard in there.

And that completes the round up for this entry. The coming week involves more upheaval as myself and 4 others move ourselves to Brownsman for the breading season, and before we know it there will be chicks everywhere. I for one can't wait!

It's Been a While

A busy start to the new season on the Farnes has meant little time for blogging, but now we are settled in and well into the swing of things. It's been a funny old start, with a mixture of very late arrivals and very early ones. The season started with a bang, as our first day on the islands produced a Stonechat. After a severe winter in 2010, this species suffered a population crash; something they are known to be susceptible to. This resulted in a once annual bird becoming a scarcity, our record in March being the first since October 2013. All we can hope is that this is a sign of a population recovery for these lovely little birds.

Stonechat on Inner Farne

The following day we were treated to great views of a Red-necked Grebe, another bird that is often tricky to come by on the Farnes. It spent a good 15 minutes in the Kettle around the jetty before drifting south. After this, things rather slowed down. We had to wait until the 10th April, a full 12 days later than last year, for our first Wheatear of the year. This was swiftly followed by our first Chiffchaff (21 days later than last year), Willow Warbler, Swallow, Blackcap and Brambling as the islands were graced with some wonderful weather. An unexpected arrival during this spell was a single Little Tern seen to go to roost on Knoxes Reef. This represents the earliest ever record for the Farnes, beating the previous one by a full 8 days!

During the quiet spell, our attention was held by this pair of Mediterranean Gulls which were displaying and settling on Central Meadow in the Black-headed Gull colony. This would represent a first breeding record for the islands should they decide to stick around.

Courting Mediterranean Gulls. Possibly a Farnes first.

Inner Farne lighthouse in glorious sun

Wheatear on the beach!

This about covers the migrant side of goings on on the islands, apart from a bit of excitement on the gull front. A 1st winter Glaucous Gull was discovered off the North Rocks of Inner Farne on the 15th. This was a good record after a blank year last year, and things got even better when the following evening a 3cy bird was discovered in the roost on Knoxes Reef. Then to our amazement, the 2cy bird returned on the 17th and showed beautifully on Ladies Path from the living room window. Marvellous stuff!

Guillemot... "What a lovely Gull!" Glaucous Gull.... "What a lovely pair of Guillemot!"

That wraps up the latest migrant news from the islands as I sit in the living room window with glorious sun beaming through. On a final note, we were treated to spectacular aurora display on Thursday night, and I snapped this photo of the Pele tower nicely backlit.

Aurora on the Farnes

Next up (in a few days hopefully), the breeders!!

Cuthbert's Gut is filling up.....

Birding All Around

It's been a strange few weeks, applying for jobs and not knowing quite what the future holds. It is all resolved now, and we are back to The Farnes for another season. Along the way, we have managed some top quality birds.
A while back now, we took our annual pilgrimage to Dungeness to catch up with the winter wonders that inhabit the wilderness of the peninsula. All the usual suspects were present, with Great Egret, Smew, Bearded Tit, Marsh Harrier and Tree Sparrow showing off nicely. Undoubtedly the highlight was sitting in the Scott Hide and watching a Kingfisher and sublime Male Smew fishing within metres of us. It was great to be able to catch up with the two Cattle Egret that have been resident all winter and the local Tundra Bean Geese at Scotney and Lesser Yellowlegs at Rye Harbour.

It's always a treat to observe these birds properly! Splendid Kingfisher

The most handsome duck of all? Smew

Cattle Egret, without cattle this time.

Having been able to also catch the Greater Yellowlegs at Titchfield a few weeks before, I believe I am now in real contention for the two worst record shots of Yellowlegs in the country this year. A prestigious title that I have long wanted to add to my collection.... Luckily the scope views of these smart American waders were much much better than the photographs suggest.

Greater Yellowlegs....

And Lesser Yellowlegs... Honest Guv

 
And now to fast forward a tad, and a trip to Northumberland for the Farnes interview via Devon to visit friends. What a beautiful part of the world, and we had a wonderful guided tour of the coastline, adding some more top quality birds along the way. Our first stop was Darts Farm RSPB, where you could be forgiven for thinking that the three Penduline Tit there were escapees and not bothered by human presence. Certainly the most enjoyable life tick I have had in a long while. These smart little birds are becoming increasingly regular, and they are certainly a contender for the next species to establish themselves as British breeders.

Cracking little Penduline Tit

Another target species for us both was Cirl Bunting, a bird I had never seen before due in part to the fact I had never visited that part of the Devon coastline before. This is a species that represents both the tragedy of our relentless drive to destroy as much of our countryside as possible for profit (mainly animal products), and also what can happen if conservationists and local landowners take action. Watching two males happily singing away was a strange experience, appreciating the beauty of these now rare (in British terms) Buntings and also wondering which species will be next to suffer in this way. When will people listen.....

Cirl Bunting, unaware of its own plight?

Along the way, we were also treated to spectacular views of this rugged coastline. This photo was taken in very windy conditions from Prawle Point, the most southerly point of Devon. Despite the wind, a cracking male Stonechat was clinging on to a piece of Gorse. We also stopped by the very obliging Snow Bunting that has been present for some time now on the sea wall at Turf in the Exe Estuary.

Delightful. Snow Bunting

Not a bad place to live!

And last but not least, two winter stunners that are much easier to catch up with on the East Coast than down in Sussex where I reside at this time of year. As we were in Newcastle, it would have been very rude not to make the most of seeing both Waxwing and Shore Lark, two birds that attract me for their beauty more than anything else (as I'm sure is the case for most people). Both were showy, the Waxwing at The Lea's in South Shields and the Shore Lark on Hartlepool Headland. The Shore Lark was in a particularly grotty area; obviously the food was good and the constant stream of dog walkers and the view were not enough to put if off!

Yet another gorgeous bird! Waxwing

And another... Shore Lark

So after a whirlwind few weeks its off to explore La Palma and its endemic subspecies for us next week! And then its back to the mayhem of the Farnes for another season. Could be worse.....

Argentina: Part 4 - Parc Nacional Los Glaciares

I am now writing from home having finished our trip: a computer became difficult to come by as we traveled north which was a wonderful thing. Our final stop on our route south was Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, most famous for Glaciar Perito Moreno, but so much more than that. Don't get me wrong, it was stunning, however El Calafate (the base town for it) was not, and El Chalten in the North of the park was infinitely better. However, the Laguna Nimez reserve on the Northern edge of Calafate was a hidden gem, and we spent 3 hours in this tiny reserve, which had much to offer. It consists of a few small lagoons filled with wildfowl and Flamingos, access to the shore of Lago Argentino (Argentina's largest lake) and plenty of scrub too. We were afforded fantastic views of South American Snipe, Plumbeous Rail, Chilean Flamingo, Grass Wren Red Shoveler, Crested Duck and many more. A group of Oxyura spp. ducks also caused much confusion.

South American Snipe

Plumbeous Rail, incredibly showy

Chilean Flamingo, wonderful to see them in the wild

Grass Wren singing his heart out.

Southern Lapwing

Just a quick note about the Southern Lapwing above. This species really is absolutely everywhere. Nature reserves, parks, roadsides, town centres.... There wasn't a single place we visited where they weren't present. I imagine that this is what it was once like in Britain for our Northern Lapwing, now a distant dream, but not one that is out of reach....

Also, an obligatory photo of the glacier. It was rather spectacular. Stretching for 2.5km in either direction, this photo shows only the central leading face of it. It advances at a lightning quick 2 meters a day, and is over 14km long and 180 meters deep (of which around 55 metres are above the water).

Perito Moreno glacier

Also competing for attention was this young Rufous-collared Sparrow....

FEED ME!

On to El Chalten, which had a much more relaxed and wild vibe to it, nestled in the mountains in the shadow of the simply breathtaking Cerro Fitz Roy. It is truly astonishing to think that some Human Beings have the skills and physical capability to ascend this peak. I spent a lot of time staring at it in admiration of them. Luckily this didn't distract form the birds for too long. Some wonderful hiking was accompanied by two much sought after species. The first came on a what could just about get away with being called a lake, but in truth was more like a large pond, surrounded by Pine trees on a short but steep trail up to a viewpoint over El Chalten. It was with a slightly sarcastic tone that we suggested a look just in case, and not long after "there was much rejoicing". Only a family of BRONZE-WINGED DUCK!!!! What absolute stunners. These scarce Andean breeders were tricky to come by, and to find a family of them in what seemed like the least likely of places was very satisfying indeed. While we watched them we were also joined by a family of 5 Chilean Flickers.

Bronze-winged Duck, showing the iridescent speculum looking bronze here...

And green here.

The next day saw us hiking out into the national park, and we managed to time it so that we were virtually alone along most of the trails. Whenever the tree canopy thinned out we had amazing views of the Cerro Fitz Roy and its neighboring peaks flanking us, and in the forest we managed to find not one but two pairs of Magellanic Woodpeckers, showing down to a couple of feet at times. These are splendid, not just for the elaborate plumage of both sexes, but also the size; they are big birds! If fears are realised and the Ivory-billed and Imperial Woodpecker are indeed extinct, the larger individuals of the species can rank themselves in the top five largest woodpecker species in the world. We were lucky enough to observe them feeding for a good 10 minutes, and a male even decided to have a quick drum while we were there.

Male Magellanic Woodpecker, one smart bird

Female Magellanic Woodpecker, less colour more crest.

Standing at 3405m, the Cerro Fitz Roy

To round this post off, a quick mention for a place we stayed before we arrived in Calafate, Estancia El Condor. 4 hours from Ruta 40, this was a complete haven from everything modern, and here we enjoyed our first and only encounter with Austral Parakeet, the southern most species of Parrot in the Americas. If visiting anywhere within 200 miles of El Condor, it is an absolute must. A taste of what life in the Andes and southern Argentina used to be like it was by far and away the best location we visited in Patagonia. It was also the location for my first (and probably last as I survived completely intact and don't want to push my luck) horse ride, for six hours into the mountains. What an incredible experience it was.

A pair of Austral Parakeet

Proof - that is me on that horse there! 

With winds they will come!

Well it has been an exciting past week here, with the recent storms and winds bringing in all sorts of goodies; some of which I've been lucky enough to see and some which I am yet to catch up with. The influx of Yellow-browed Warblers was fantastic, and to also catch a Pallas's Warbler at eye level while looking at a mixed flock of Goldcrest and a YBW was a real highlight. I've never used other peoples photos on here before, but I didn't have my camera to hand and they are such stunning birds (this was a lifer for me) that I feel one must make an appearance.

Pallas's Warbler

A few early mornings sea-watching have paid off and highlights have included Leach's Petrel, Manx Sheerwater and plenty of Skuas. The highlight so far though was last Friday, when at work at Titchwell I was able to stand in one spot and view a Long-eared Owl, Grey Phalarope and Green-winged Teal in one go! There are photos of all three below, however the owl is rather difficult to spot; I assure you it is there if you look hard enough.

Long-eared Owl, Asio otus

Green-winged Teal, Anus carolinensis

Grey Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius

That's all for now. As luck would have it I am off site this week learning first aid, vital but not at an ideal time. I'm hoping the few hours of daylight I have at the end of the day will allow me to pick up a few more vagrants before the week is out. I also have a weekend of ringing on the south coast to look forward to, and who knows what will turn up there!