First day of Passage

Today we saw the first signs of Spring passage on the islands, with at least 4 new goldcrest present 37 meadow pipit and singles of starling, song thrush and snow bunting. The Puffins are also back on the island in their thousands, and one of the places they enjoy hanging out is on top of the Pele Tower, where if you are very quiet you can get great views of them. The Guillemots have also returned to the cliffs in their thousands and are busy displaying.

Puffin, Fratercula arctica

Goldcrest, Regulus regulus

First Day on the Farnes

Our first full day on the Farnes, and the weather has been wonderful and the first migrants of the year are around. Aside from the seabirds present, there has been a good movement of gannets, a blackbird, a rook and two snow buntings showing very well, as well as a peregrine hunting over the wideopens.

The Pele Tower, our new home

Inner Farne lighthouse

Pele Tower, St Cuthberts Chapel and the jetties

One of the snow buntings present today, Plectrophenax nivalis

Snow Bunting, Plectophenax nivalis

Training for the Farnes!

So, I am actually writing this from my new home; the Pele Tower on the Farne Islands. We moved out today, and it is safe to say it is a truly stunning place to live, if not a little chilly at the moment.
The team have spent the last week training in Gibside, and wonderful NT property in Gateshead. We spent most of the time indoors, however in the mornings and evenings we did get out,  and the variety of birds on offer was wonderful.
Below are just a few photos, but there were singing chiffchaff, treecreeper and crossbill, drumming great spotted woodpecker and the selection of birds below. Well worth a visit to this site if you are ever in the area!

Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis

Nuthatch, Sitta europaea

European Dipper, Cinclus cinclus

Red Kite, Milvus milvus

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

A Week in Scotland

Last week I spent a very enjoyable week in the Dumfries and Galloway area, with endless green fields and rolling hills it really is idyllic, and has some great birding to offer as well. Our first stop was RSPB Ken-Dee Marshes and the Red Kite feeding station. While the latter doesn't provide the excitement of finding one of these stunning birds for yourself, it does provide a magnificent spectacle and the chance to see massive numbers of these often shy and distant predators. Some of the birds present were also wing-tagged as part of a national scheme to study their movements. In this first photo, the top bird has a purple tag on its right wing meaning it hatched in 2007 and a green tag on its left wing, meaning it was hatched in the Dumfries and Galloway area. At Ken-Dee, there was a lovely flock of Greenland White-fronted Geese, some of which had neck collars on that we were able to read and report back to the scheme.

Red Kite, Milvus milvus

Red Kite feeding frenzy

Greenland White-fronted Geese, Anser albifrons flavirostris

We also spent some time on the coast around Southerness, which has some beautiful scenery as well as some good birds on offer. Redshank, Oystercatcher and Turnstone were numerous and confiding, as was a single Snipe and three Red-breasted Mergansers. The highlight for me were four Purple Sandpipers that showed very well on a little rocky island, being very reluctant to leave and getting battered by waves.
The next few days involved a trip to WWT Caerlaverock and a bit of a twitch. At Caerlaverock we were treated to thousands and thousands of Barnacle Geese, a lovely flock of close in Whooper Swans, a drake Green-winged Teal and this moulting Greater Scaup, as well as plenty of other wildfowl, Fieldfare and Goldcrest.

Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus

Greater Scaup, Aythya marila

The twitch involved somewhat less attractive surroundings, the hotel car park (although the hotel was rather fancy) on the edge of Loch o' Th' Lowes in Ayrshire, where a Ring-necked Duck has taken up residence and had also been joined by a Long-tailed Duck. Looking out over the Loch it was a rather beautiful setting, we just had to forget what was behind us! This American vagrant is becoming more and more frequent in UK waters, although the origin of each bird is questioned as they can often escape from captivity. These ducks are also unusual in that they pair up during their spring migration. I love waterfowl, and this little stunner was well worth the short trip we made for it.

Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris

On our way back to Norfolk on Sunday we heard of the Pied Wheatear that had arrived at Collingham gravel pits in Notts. As this site is within a stones throw of the A1, we couldn't resist. The bird was showing well in poor light by the time we go there. It was a first winter/female type bird and as such wasn't the most exciting to look at, still a lovely little Eastern vagrant to finish off a lovely week away. There was also an adult Yellow-legged Gull present in the roost at the back of the pits.

Pied Wheatear, Oenantha pleschanka

Red Deer and Dungeness

To start with this time, the Red Deer at Minsmere RSPB reserve. It's that time of year again for the stags, and they are to be heard all day every day at the moment. I have been lucky enough to get some great views. The rut will determine which males will take control of the various harems that roam the reserve. There are around 500 of these animals on total around the reserve, so spotting them is not too tricky! This magnificent stag was certainly the pick of the bunch, and in fading sunlight was stunning to watch as he made himself known.

Red Deer, Cervus elaphus

It is possible to tell the age of a Red Deer by how many points it has on its antler; they shed every year and add a new point the following year. So by my reckoning this stag is 10 years old. It wasn't just the large males getting active, the younger ones were also practising, ready to one day try to win themselves a territory.

Red Deer, Cervus elaphus

This weekend I was at Dungeness, and caught up with some of the birds that appear to be becoming a regular fixture now. There were five Great White Egret, four Black-necked Grebes, a Raven, Stonechat, and a Glossy Ibis amongst the numerous wildfowl. A very pleasant way to spend a few hours on one of my favourite reserves. Below is a fairly poor record shot of two of the four BNG, one of the five GWE that was in a fishing frenzy with c30 Cormorants and a few Grey Herons and Little Egrets and the Glossy Ibis. Glossy Ibis and GWE are certainly heading the way of the Little Egret, and it shouldn't think it will be long before they are a far more common feature of wetland reserves around the country.

Black-necked Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis

Great White Egret, Ardea alba

Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus