Passage & breeding birds at Pits

Marsh Harrier (Mark Clarke)

Marsh Harrier (Mark Clarke)

 Female Ruff

 Sanderlings

Sanderlings

 Stunning Goldfinch

 Mute Swan family doing well

 Tawny Owl

Tawny Owlet

It's been a very busy last ten days at the pits with some quality waders passing through and our resident breeding birds generally doing well. Going down most evenings when not working hasn't given me much chance to update the blog

Passage picked up last Thursday when two Dunlin & a Ringed Plover came through. On the same day a pair of Common Tern were seen at the main pit but also Abbots Salford (AW).  A juvenile Tawny Owl was calling from the east side of the pits.

A Sanderling was a nice find on Friday morning which was linked to some inland migration across the county. The Ringed Plover was still present whilst there were 50 Swifts and 200 House Martin's feeding low.

On Saturday I was very hopeful of finally recording our first Black Tern of year but no luck on either of my visits. The Sanderling surprisingly stuck over night whilst there were also 60 Swallow, 5 Sand Martin, & 12 Swift but no Black Tern. A Red Kite was hunting on east of main pit late afternoon whilst a Cuckoo was calling on the south pit border.

Our second Ruff of the year was waiting for me on Sunday whilst a Great Crested Gebe was also on the main pit. 

Bank Holiday Monday didn't start well when Mark and I discovered a Tawny Owlet in the road. Very sad, it looked like the owlet had tried to fly from its breeding tree to the mothers roosting spot. Later in the evening we did find the parent bird sat back in the roost tree. Down at the main pit 3 Sanderling's all in slightly different plumages were feeding. The Common Terns were copulating increasing the chances they may bred again locally.

Very positive evening with a new Tawny Owlet in the roost tree which was really pleasing for myself and Mark who have put in a lot of time in trying to find the pair of local Tawnys. No real change on the main except 4 Sand Martin whilst two Great Crested Grebes were on the central lagoon.

On Wednesday I was stuck working late delivering a running project to 170 people when the Squire text me as he had found a Marsh Harrier roosting on Wheatear Hill by the main pit. Wow, what a brilliant record and our 118th species of the year. The session was made even better when he recored the Terns, Cuckoo & a Redshank.

Ruffing around in t-shirt

Ruff & Green Sandpiper

Red Kite

Mistle Thrush

Orange-tip Butterfly

White Wagtail

Barmy weather

Goosander pair

Reed Bunting

Raven

Small Tortiseshell

The Hawthorns

Southerly winds & clear skies certainly helped migration pick up a gear this weekend with a variety of tern species moving north & the first Cuckoo, Turtle Doves & Redstarts reported.

Our find of the weekend was a Ruff on the pit which didn’t hang around long. It was roosting with a Green Sandpiper however when I posted the photo on social media there was a debate of whether it could be a Wood Sandpiper. I do know that there was a Green Sandpiper on the main pit as later on in the morning it took off from close by calling. The bird photographed certainly has characteristics of a Wood Sandpiper but by no means all of them. The Ruff was a good addition to the patch year list and was only my second record at site.

The first Reed Warbler had arrived in the reed lagoon and was very vocal. Three Red Kite were hunting very close to the north edge of the pits again whilst other sightings included Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, two Swallow, five Sand Martin, three Little Ringed Plover, three White Wagtail, two Oystercatcher & two Goosander.

Finally for the second time this week two pairs of Corn Buntings were discovered. I’ll try to post an update later in the year on if they manage to breed as they used to be abundant.

On Saturday I witnessed a Peregrine hunting the stadium pigeons during a visit to support the Saints against West Bromwich Albion. The Peregrine landed inside the stadium at one stage before flying right over the pitch & then over the stand.

South west birding (Part 1) - Slimbridge

Ruff

Curlew Sandpiper

Black-tailed Godwit

Common Crane

Jackdaw

Teal

With a few spare days of annual leave to take before the end of September we took up our photography prize won last summer of a long weekend at Mill Meadow Eco lodges in Somerset. With the lads being in school on the Friday I travelled ahead of the family to get a bit of birding in on the way. 

With chances of a rarity being slim I started at Slimbridge for a few hours. The weather was glorious and made the light perfect for photographs. The session started well as I found two Curlew Sandpipers in the Rushy pen. They were joined by a dozen glorious Ruff, Green &  Common Sandpipers, Snipe and plenty of recently arrived Teal.

I saw nine Common Crane around the reserve, it's shame all their rings as so big as it makes them appear very cumbersome. There were two distant Garganey on view from the Ziess hide but it was fairly quiet in terms of birds and visitors. 

I did check in on the South Lake but the species on show were just the same as elsewhere. The restaurant appears to be having a make over so I opted to head further down the M5 towards Somerset.

The only way to Phalarope is Essex

Digiscoped Wilson's Pharalope

Digiscoped Wilson's Pharalope

RSPB Vange Marsh

Twitchers delight

RSPB Vange Marsh

M40 disaster

Days out birding when you spend more time in car than birding are not my idea of fun but sometimes you have to bite the bullet if you want to see a bird that's on your most wanted list.

Wilson's Pharalope is a bird I've wanted to see since I started to bird seriously and given I'd put aside two days for birding I gave up a full day in the field to twitch a reported bird at RSPB Vange Marsh, Essex with the two Daves and Jarrad.  The 2 1/2 hour journey actually took 4 1/2 hours after a fatality on the M40 resulted in a total closure for 2 hours. 

The reserve was created in 2005 and has freshwater water with islands, saltwater lagoon, meadows and scrub land. We joined a handful of birders already looking at the bird on the far side of the lagoon sadly we could still pick out its energetic feeding action using a scope. When the sun went in slightly it was easier to decipher the birds longer neck and plumage. The bird appeared to spend most time wading rather than swimming like other Pharalopes. 

Wilson's Pharalopes are an American wader that breeds in north America & west Canada. This looked to be a first winter bird that has just got lost on its first migration south. The birds in summer plumage are stunning however you would need to be very lucky to see one in breeding plumage in the UK. (I've added this video from Youtube of Wilson's Pharalopes feeding in America)

Other sightings whilst on the marsh included Cettis Warbler, three Little Stints, 30+ Redshanks, 15 Curlew, 30 Shoveler, Hobby, Kestrel six Snipe, 100 Lapwing, 40 Black-tailed Godwit, two Green Sandpiper and three Ruff.

Tour de Birdfair

Normanton Church, Rutland Water

Tour de Rutland

Mrs looks sporty as always

Barndale Hall Hotel

View from Hotel

                                                    Hotel House Martins

Hotel House Martins

Chris Packham

Birdfair pursuits

Henry the Hen Harrier

Manton Bay

Juvinile Osprey

Juvinile Osprey

Wall of Concern

Mary Avery

David Lindo

Mother Osprey

Plenty of reading

After a busy summer I booked the wife and I a two day break to take in the annual Birdfair at Rutland Water.

After checking in at our hotel, Barnstable Hall Hotel, we set off on the bikes doing a full perimeter covering the 27 kilometres. As we reached Manton Bay we could see two Ospreys - most definatley one for bike list. A cracking ride with some super views of the various bays with a few tricky inclines in various habitat.

On Saturday (despite the initial forecast) the weather was beautiful with not a cloud in the sky as we watched the hundreds of House Martin dive in and out of their nest above the hotel reception. A short drive down to the Birdfair reserve was no trouble at all and the volunteer staff made all the visitors welcome.

Being a Birdfair virgin it was interesting to see the amount of stall holders from all round the world. Birding tourism in truly alive and doing very well. I had some very interesting chats with representatives from Iceland & Spain (and many many leaflets).

I completed a card for the Birders against Wildlife stall and bought a pin badge in support of their great work. Lets hope the profile will make a difference to all the crimes that birds of prey are subjected to.

I picked up two new books to read “Behind the Binoculars" by Mark Avery &”Tales from the Concrete Jungle" by David Lindo. I did manage to grab a photo with both Mark & David. Both major conservationists doing a great job for us all. 

After lunch we left as the afternoon heat was intense and we retreated to Manton Bay to watch a juvenile Osprey and mother. I also picked up 3 Ruff, 5 Green Sandpiper and 4 Egyptian Geese (year tick).