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.....

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

End 2013.... Begin 2014

A bit late I know, but this is how 2013 ended and 2014 began in bird-terms for us. It ended very nicely, with a trip along the coast taking in Purple Sandpipers at Southsea Castle, the Ring-billed Gull at Gosport then the Lesser Yellowlegs at Lepe (on the second time of asking). The Purple Sands showed as well as they usually do, down to a few feet at times in the lovely morning sun. The Ring-billed Gull was also very obliging, posing nicely on the path for a few minutes of close observation before flying off into the depths of Gosport; good timing we thought! However, the same could not be said for the Lesser Yellowlegs, which insisted on staying on the far side of the pools at Lepe CP for the whole time we were there, and unfortunately a long drive to Scotland meant we had to depart with distant but very satisfying views.

Purple Sandpipers at Southsea, Calidris maritima

Ring-billed Gull showing very nicely the chunky bill with clear black "ring", pale iris and winter streaking.

Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis

Worst record shot ever? Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes

Then into 2014, which began for us in Scotland where Grey Wagtails, Ravens and Goosanders were a plenty, and through the gloom a stunning Kingfisher along the river where we stay.

Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis

Then back to the south coast before heading back to Norfolk. And this meant we had to make a trip to Hove to see the Grey Phalarope, which will be hard to beat this year. Despite not being the rarest of birds, the views were incredible as it made its way happily around a children's paddling pool, and it will live long in the memory. Also nearby where the Red-breasted Mergansers at Widewater Lagoon, showing some early signs of displaying, although the female on the left in the photo below seems more interested in escaping with her weeds.

Grey Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius

Grey Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius

Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator

And finally for this post, a an always enjoyable trip to Dungeness to visit Lana. I love this place, and as usual it delivered the goods, with Great White Egret, Black-throated Diver, Smew, Little Gull, Kittiwake and a host of other wonderful birds on display. Perhaps the most satisfying find was this 1st winter Glaucous Gull, as we had spent many mornings looking for it, only to find it on my last day flying right in front of us. By the time I had my camera out, it had finished hovering in front of us with a fish in its beak and was flying away,but I still managed this shot showing the hefty pink bill with black tip and complete lack of black or dark brown in the primaries.

Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus

The Yearly Pilgrimage!

So, the yearly trip East to Dungeness was undertaken on Friday, with great success and no disruption from bad weather! Starting off on the beach by the fishing boats, there were c10 of both Gannet and Kittiwake feeding close in-shore, giving fantastic views. They were also in the company of 100+ auks, split evenly between Razorbill and Guillemot, with equal number passing by in the 10 minutes we spent watching. There was also a passage of around 40 Red-Throated Divers, and the Glaucous Gull was present as usual.

 Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus with Herrings, Larus argentatus and a single Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus

Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus

Then onto the ARC pit, where the water level was very high, much like the rest of the reserve. On the walk down the Tree Sparrows could be heard from across the road and a few Fieldfare and Redwing were present, as was a singing Cetti's warbler in the reedbed. From the hide, we were afforded great views of a male and female Goldeneye, and a Kingfisher put in a flyby.

Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula

Onto the main reserve, and there were hundreds of Fieldfare with Redwing and Song Thrush mixed in. On the drive down, a Peregrine was plucking a Wigeon while being hassled by two Marsh Harriers and some Crows and 8 Barnacle Geese were grazing in a field. From the Dennis hide, the first of 3 Great Egrets of the day flew past, and a stunning Male Smew landed in front of us with a female and spent a few minutes swimming around before flying off again. On New Diggings, another Marsh Harrier spent a good 5 minutes attempting to catch itself a Coot, and nearly succeeded before eventually giving up. Around the rest of the reserve, there were Lapwing, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Gadwall and Shoveler in good numbers. There were also singles of Grey Plover, Chiffchaff, Skylark, Little Grebe and Woodcock and two more Great Egret.

Great Egret, Ardea alba

Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita

After half an hour warming up in the car/eating lunch we moved onto Rye Harbour where a chilly walk produced lots of Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Teal and Sanderling, a single Black-tailed Godwit and an Avocet that was feeding on the wader pool.

Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta and Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola

 On Flat Beach there was a lovely Spotted Redshank which gave close views while feeding around some sleeping Snipe. There was also a surprise sighting on the beach in the form of a lone Grey Seal which seemed very happy resting amongst some gulls. On the return walk around 70 Curlew flew over and landed in the marshy area of the reserve.

Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus

Grey Seal, Halichoerus grypus

On the way back and in seriously fading light, we stopped at Pett Levels briefly where a large flock of Canada Geese had been joined but roughly 15 White-fronted Geese and a single Bar-headed Goose, taking the species total for the day to a relatively impressive 73!