One Week Rolled Into One Post

A busy week, but not really with regards to birds. First of all, I can't resist posting this picture of a Hazel Dormouse in a state of torpor, found in a nest box that was due for cleaning. This lovely little arboreal mammal didn't seem to mind being weighed and clipped, and slept happily through it all.......

Hazel Dormouse, Muscardinus avellanarius

On Friday, I was on the Pond Survey Course at Woods Mill run by the SWT. It was a fascinating day, with lots learnt, and also lots found, my favourite being the Smooth and Palmate Newts; the first pictures being of a male Palmate Newt. It is possible to I.D it as a male Palmate due to the presence of the thin filament present on the end of it's tail, and it's black webbed rear feet.

Palmate Newt, Lissotriton helveticus

When it comes to the females, it is slightly trickier to separate the Smooth and Palmate. The most reliable way is to look at the throat. The female Smooth Newt has an orange pigment present in the throat, and it is often (but not always) spotty. The female Palmate lacks both spots and any pigment, giving the throat a much more reddish colour.

Palmate Newt, Lissotriton helveticus

Smooth Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris

Unfortunately we didn't find any Great Crested Newts but we did find an egg (under the supervision of a licence holder I must add). All three species of newt lay their eggs one at a time onto a piece of vegetation, then fold the leaf around the egg to protect it from predators. The Great Crested Newt egg is easy to identify, as it is bright white, compared to the others which are a duller colour and almost impossible to separate.

Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) Egg

And to finish, something bird related. Ringing on Saturday was quiet, but it's not always about quantity. Blackcaps, Chiffcahffs, Long-tailed Tits, Blackbirds and two Song Thrushes were all caught, but the highlight was this Reed Warbler, the first of the year. Even better was that this bird was ringed at Steyning for the first time in 2007! Great to see it still coming back.

Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus

Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus

On a final note, we had a wonderful day out walking the Seven Sisters on Sunday. Despite it being very windy, the sun was out and so were the birds, and we had great views of Wheatear, Stonechat, Raven, Meadow Pipit and Skylark, and the Fulmars put on a wonderful display! A very happy day indeed.

Snipets of Sussex

A few days birding around Sussex during the Easter week were fairly quiet, but very enjoyable. First stop was a sunny Pagham on Wednesday, which was very quiet with the usual waders and ducks around; none the less a lovely day! The Little Egrets were calling from their usual colony location in the trees at the end of the North Wall, and there were some lovely Black-Tailed Godwits in their smart summer plumage.

Black-Tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa

A visit to Pulborough Brooks on Good Friday turned up a few unusual species , in the form of some Barnacle Geese and a lone Pink-Footed Goose, leaving it late to return to it's breeding grounds!

Pink-footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus with Barnacle Goose, Branta leucopsis

There were also two Little Ringed Plovers out on the North Brooks, along with Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Widgeon, Lapwing and others. The trees were alive with the songs of Blackcap, Goldcrest and Chiffchaff as well as some nuthatches setting up territories and showing very well, including this rather fluffy individual.

Eurasian Nuthatch, Sitta europaea

Two Egyptian Geese also put in an appearance, before the tame Water Rail posed in the sun outside the visitor centre!

Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus

Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus

Mumbling Saturday

A Saturday ringing session at The Mumbles, and the weather was somewhat overcast and chilly, fairly standard for the end of March but not like the weather we've had recently. Overall a fairly quiet day, but with three firsts for me and some real gems. A steady trickle of Reed Buntings, Blue and Great Tits and a few Greenfinches were the only birds for the first few hours. Then on the same net ride on the same round, a brilliant male Yellowhammer and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker were caught. This is the first woodpecker I've had in the hand, but the Yellowhammer was even more special, possibly the first one ringed on this site for 30 years. Then, just to top it off, a female was caught on the next round. Possibly a pair looking for a territory? 

Female Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella

Male Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella

Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major

After these birds, a few new Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap were rung, and then on the final net round another migrant, a first for the year and a new species for me; a Willow Warbler. This little bird is very similar to the Chiffchaff, and is very difficult to tell apart if not singing. The Willow Warbler is generally brighter in appearance, a more greeny breast and a clearer eyestripe can sometimes be a giveaway, and the legs are sometimes lighter than a Chiffchaff's; even in the hand though this bird was a difficult one. The only properly reliable way to tell (other than song) is by the length of the wing. A Willow Warbler has a much longer wing, with the primary wingtips extending much further down the tail. This longer wing is needed as they generally migrate further than the Chiffchaff; as far as South Africa. This generally gives the bird a sleeker, less upright appearance than that of a Chiffchaff.

Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus

Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus

Another Sunny Day.....

In Dorset this time, at the beautiful RSPB reserve at Arne. An early start again, but well worth it. By the time we arrived at 8, the sun was up and there was not a cloud in the sky, and it remained that way all day. Things were quiet early on, but it didn't take long for the birds to start waking up. Chiffchaff, Green and Great Spotted woodpecker and a small flock of Goldcrest were for starters on the way to and from the heath. Once up there, we were treated to very showy Stonechats, Linnets, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Woodlarks; the latter being one of my favourite to watch as they spiral from the sky with their unmistakable song. It's a real shame these birds are in decline; heathland like this at Arne is scarce nowadays, luckily there are more and more projects aimed at trying to bring back some of this stunning habitat, and protect the areas that still remain.

Meadow Pipit, Anthus pratensis

This followed us all round the heath, during which time we added Buzzard to the list, and had a fly-over Raven. From the hide overlooking Middlebere lake we had Redshank, Black-Tailed Godwit (starting to get their summer plumage), Teal, Shelduck and a potential but very distant Yellow-Legged Gull. A lone Swallow also shot past the window, my first for the year. Just as we were sitting down to have lunch in the shade up on the heath, one of the target birds of the day flew right past us, a Spoonbill. Not the place I was expecting to see it!
Onto the other side of the reserve, and there was just as much activity from Nuthatches busy lining their nests with moss, Woodpeckers calling and two Mistle Thrush feeding in a field, amongst roughly 140 Sika Deer. A close relative of the Red Deer, the Sika Deer was introduced from Japan, and hybridisation is a concern as populations of the two species meet.

Sika Deer, Cervus nippon

Arne Bay was relatively quiet, with most of the waders already gone to their summer breeding grounds. However, there were still good numbers of Curlew and Redshank, a few Little Egret, some lingering Brent Geese and three Red-Breasted Mergansers diving further out into Poole Harbour. The sound of another spring arrival was also prominent, the Sandwich Tern's "Keerik." Just to round off a lovely day, a Speckled Wood appeared and settled on some gorse for a nice photo.

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria

Climping..... or the Med?

A late afternoon walk at Climping felt more like a mid-summer walk on a Mediterranean beach today, as we were treated to more glorious sunshine. Not much in the way of unusual migrants, but there were two year species for me, in the shape of four Common Terns that floated past offshore and at least five Wheatears, including three males which accompanied us on the walk back.

Northern Wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe

Northern Wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe

Other birds around included the obligatory spring Chiffchaff as well as Goldfinch, Greenfinch, and Common Buzzard and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was also heard drumming away. Out on the boulders near Elmer were Sanderling, Turnstone and these two Ringed Plover. May this lovely weather continue!

Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula

Spring has Sprung!

So it's been nearly two weeks since I've had the chance to get out properly, and how things can change. On Friday at the Wetlands Trust, Chiffchaffs were singing and a stunning Long-tailed Tits nest was found. A morning walk around Henfield Levels yesterday in glorious sunshine was an excellent start to the weekend, with Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Mistle and Song Thrush and many others in full song, with males chasing females and no less than six species of butterfly seen; Peacock, Tortoiseshell, Holly Blue, Comma, Brimstone and Red Admiral.
This morning started out quite different, a six o'clock start for ringing and it was quite chilly!! This didn't last long, and by lunch time the sun was blazing. The bird numbers at the Mumbles are starting to drop slightly as they all head off to set up their breeding territories, but this didn't stop no less than seven Chiffs being caught, as well as two fine male Blackcaps and the usual others (Goldfinch, Wren,Robin, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit and Great Tit). It's amazing to think that some of the Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs have just arrived having travelled all the way from Southern Europe, and in the case of the Chiff potentially Northern or Western Africa! Then as we were packing up, a Small White flitted past taking the weekend total to seven species of butterfly. With the sound of Chiffs everywhere, and more and more Butterflies appearing, spring is well and truly here. It won't be long until our local flock of nesting Swifts return, the Chiffs are joined by the Willow Warblers and Whitethroats and it'll be time to get the flower I.D book out!

Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita

Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla

Photography Course, Woods Mill

A beautiful weekend and a very informative and helpful course at Woods Mill courtesy of David Plummer, with me finally learning how to use my camera properly. While the object of this weekend was to learn the basics of nature photography, I couldn't help but get distracted by the wonderful wildlife present, which included this lone Marsh Tit which isn't looking very healthy at the moment, a real shame; a Wren in full voice atop a tree, rather unusually and this poor female Common Toad who had attracted the attention of two males, while there were also many calling all along the edges of the small lake! There was also an accidental shot of a Blue Tit, which produced a moment of artistic luck that I was rather pleased with.

Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris

Eurasian Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes

Common Toad, Bufo bufo

Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus