Red-rumped Swallow at Lodmoor

Red-rumped Swallow (file image)

A new one for the reserves list

Knot & Grey Plovers

Fleet towards Ferrybridge

Returning Little Tern

 Cetti's Warbler

Chessil Beach

After seeing the Great Spotted Cuckoo I headed towards the Bill before a quick u-turn after getting a couple of texts of reports of a Red-rumped Swallow had been seen at RSPB Lodmoor. I was on the reserve within 20 minutes but had to walk towards the north side before I could see the bird well skimming over an area repeatingly. I'd never seen this species before however the bird could be easily picked out. Two lifers in the day was a real bonus. 

A Bee-eater had been seen briefly on the reserve but flew north, that would have made a nice treble. There were plenty of other great birds to see of which a number were new for the year. These included a perched Hobby, three Bearded Tits, a Knott and two Great Plover. Whilst I also osserved a hunting Marsh Harrier, Water Rail and a Common Tern.

I decided to have lunch watching over Fleet, it was great to see returning Little & Sandwich Terns plus a flock of 15 Dunlin, in addition there were six Curlews. 

Great Spotted Cuckoo on Dorset Holiday

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Great Spotted Cuckoo

The Satnav destination

Pied Flycatcher

Common Redstart

After such a fantastic long weekend in Mull, next destination would be Dorset to spend a few days with my parents in a holiday cottage in Lyme Regis. I couldn't quite believe my luck when a first summer Great Spotted Cuckoo had been found on Portland, just 40 minutes from the cottage. 

I set out at 5am hoping the bird would be around for another day. As I swung past Yeovil news emerged it was still present. The rest of the 3 1/2 hour journey went very well and with added motivation. Quickly parked up, I soon had the African migrant in my scope but in fairly deep cover. Fantastic, a third record for Dorset. It was just a game of patience to wait until a good view was granted. There was two Spotted Flycatcher & a Redstart in the same field.

After about 45 minutes the bird took flight to land in the hedgeline where I took the opportunity to take a few record shots. The bird keen to feed on a wealth of newly emerged caterpillers however a couple of the dogs were over keen and the bird flew into the housing estate.

For this reason I headed off to the Bill as I knew I could return later. This tactic paid off as I got prolonged views of the bird feeding on the bushes and on the ground.

Black Terns at Arrow Valley Lake, Redditch

Wednesday evening brought more Tern delight, this time to my local Arrow Valley Lake, which rarely has any decent birds. A five minute journey resulted in 5 Black & 2 Common Terns flying around the south arm and showing really well even enabling me to take a number of record shots.

It was great to see the Terns at close quarters and in much improved light than the previous evening, it was a shame that a local group of 12 year lads walked past shouting abusive language -a classy group of individuals, no doubt their parents are very proud.

Tern Tuesday

Twitchers at Draycote

Yellow Wagtail

 Black Tern (Salford Priors GP)

 Black Tern (Salford Priors GP)

Turnstones & Ring Plovers

 Common Tern causing the stir

 More dodgy shots in poor light

Red-headed Smew just before dark

With a day booked off for recovery after the Scotland trip I couldn’t resist a trip over to Draycote Water first thing to see two White-winged Black Terns reported the previous evening. The views were always distant but you could watch them well through the scope flying around with 25 Black Terns & 2 Arctic Terns.

With an apparent huge Tern passage going on across the country I was keen to make sure we never missed out at the pits so I headed there directly but could only find a Turnstone, two Ringed Plover and a male Mandarin down at Abbots Salford.

In the evening I returned with Paul and we had a bumper session. First scan revealed 3 Black Terns & 6 Common Terns of which 4 took off. One of the remaining Terns had a very dark beak and we were very hopeful it could be a Rosette Tern. The light was awful making photography very difficult but I did take a few rough grainy shots that indicated it was a Common Tern with a dark beak. Strangely enough Belvide looked to have a similar bird the following morning. However the photos on Twitter were only showing the bird perched. Our bird clearly showed black on the trailing edge (broader & greyer) of underwing whilst Roseate Tern is usually all white with no trailing edge,  Arctic Tern has a narrow well defined black trailing edge.

In the final minutes of scanning a small bird landed in the north east corner of the pit, on closer inspection it was a red headed Smew ! This was my first record of the species at the site. The bird seemed very tired as it went to sleep also straight away.

Final Mull morning - Day 4

It would have been rude to head home without one final session with the scope so I headed out at 6am for an early start. The commitment to the cause paid dividends as I wrapped up the trip with two distant Short-eared Owls, a Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Cuckoos, a sky dancing Hen Harrier, three Curlew three Crossbills and a Whimbrel.

The journey back took us 7 ½ hours which seemed very long in very hot weather.

Here are a few links if you ever fancy heading to the Isle of Mull yourself.

Isle of Mull hotel

Mull ferry

Wild about Mull tours

Staffa tours

Corncrakes on Iona & Staffa sailing - Day 3

Corncrake delight

Walking straight towards me

Calling

The Strut

Heading for cover

Black Guillemots

Shag

Puffin

Fingals Cave, Staffa

Staffa rock formation

Our third day plans were changed when Mull Charters cancelled as there wasn’t enough people for the boat. Whilst disappointed initially our day worked out perfectly. An early start took us west down to Fionnport where we headed out to Staffa, a small island to the north of mull. The small island is home to Fingals cave as well as breeding Puffins and Black Guillemots. On the crossing we also found 2 Arctic Terns, 4 Common Terns, Gannets, a Great Skua, Black-throated Diver and several Great Northern Divers.

Instead of retuning to Mull we were dropped off on Iona to see if we could see the Corncrakes that had just returned from their migration from east Africa. After a quick recharge with a coffee and a rock cake we took up position behind the fire station. Within a couple of minutes I picked up a call fairly close but couldn’t see anything. These seemed to be the regular occurrence, heard but not seen. Then I picked up a very loud call (crex-crex) coming from a domestic garden which sounded close to the patch. Bingo ! As I looked through the mesh fence I could see my first Corncrake. I was happy with this but then the bird came out and walked across the patch and then called repeating, over and over.. The bird showed really well for about 30 minutes giving me every opportunity to take some photos of a lifetime. Very lucky indeed. I was quite surprised by the small size of the bird, about half the size of a Grey Partridge.

We returned to hotel buzzing after an amazing day. The trip had certainly worked out as we wanted.

Wild about Mull - Day 2

White-tailed Eagle (Pete Walkden)

White-tailed Eagle (Pete Walkden)

White-tailed Eagle distant shot

Unique signage on Mull

Otter delight (Pete Walkden)

Grey Heron being closely watched by Otter

Great Northern Diver

Golden Eagles soaring high

Tawny Owl

Yet another Wheater

Before breakfast I had my first explore of the islands towards Lochdon and in very windy conditions I recorded a Spotted Flycatcher, good numbers of Wheater, Red-brested Meganser, Rock Pipit, Wood Wrabler, Shelduck and Whimbrel.

After breakfast we travelled west for about 30 minutes taking in some amazing scenery and finding our first pair of Hen Harriers gliding around looking for prey. Our day was spent with Bryan Rains (Wild about Mull) who was recommended to us by midlands photographer Pete Walkden. Bryan drove us around the local area trying to find us exactly what we wanted to see. We were quickly seeing Great Northern Divers, Whimbrel, Curlew, Greenshank, Dunlin and Ringed Plover before we travelled higher up the moors. After stopping at a quiet location and setting up the scope we had views of our first White-tailed Eagle sitting on the nest. This is one of 30 pairs on the island. These giants of the sky have settled in very well to Mull since their re-introduction which generates must needed income for the island.

After a session searching for Otters unsuccessfully we headed upland on the other side of the loch. We did stop at the local seal colony that also had Eiders and Mergansers. This secluded road gave us perfect views of the valley below us. Whilst waiting for birds of prey we watched a newly arrived female Cuckoo, Wheatears, Crossbills and a Tree Pipit close to the mini bus. The slight bit of drizzle then stopped and the temperature seemed to increase. As if by magic a male Hen Harrier came out to fly about the woodland below us. Buzzing from this moment, two Golden Eagles came into view and displayed right above us for about 30 minutes. Absolutely amazing. The downside of seeing a pair together probably indicated that their own nest had failed. The recent snow has made it difficult for the nesting birds.

Bryan had another treat us for by showing us a Tawny Owl in a barn on the hillside before we returned to the loch for more Otter searching. This time we hit the jackpot with a mother playing with her two cubs and another Otter enjoying the sun watched by a Grey Heron.  Before wrapping up for the day we returned to our first Eagle spot where we found the male White-tailed Eagle that treated us to a fly past. The size of the bird was amazing, the eight foot wing span seemed to take ages to get going as it drifted upwards. A brilliant moment.

On our journey home we found yet another pair of Hen Harriers and 30 Pink-footed Geese. Quite a day……………

Many thanks to Pete Walkden for his superb images that really helps my blog.