Poor run continues at pits

Another pretty dismal week. Good number of Skylark and Meadow Pipits contine to come through but wildfowl numbers are low and wader movement is non existent.

Sunday count counted by Jon first thing and myself last morning resulted in the following:- 39 Little Grebe, 29 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 26 Mute Swan, 250 Greylag, 8 Canada Geese, 2 Wigeon, 5 Gadwall, 21 Teal, 180 Mallard, 5 Shoveler, 24 Tufted Duck, 125 Coot, 3 Golden Plover through, 70 Lapwing, 200 Skylark, 350 Meadow Pipits,  2 Swallow, 1 House Martin, 1 Rock Pipt circled main pit before heading to central lagoon, 4 Grey Wagtail, 10 alba Wagtails south, 1 Wheatear, 1 Redwing, 2 Blackcap, 8 Chiffchaff, 10 Raven & 70 Linnet. 

Dennis & Marion added 4 Buzzard, 3 Jays & a flock of Meadow Pipits along the Railway lines. 

The first Redwings ( around 20) were noted over Bordon Hill by Ann & Noel on Friday whilst on Wednesday Chris Lane recorded a Kingfisher, 1 Wigeon, 9 Shoveler, 5 Gadwall, 200 Meadow Pipit, 3 Blackcap, a House Martin & a Swallow.

Autumn arrivals at Spurn

Brambling 

Spurn Lighthouse

Bearded Tit

 Song Thrush

 Greater Spotted Woodpecker

 Brambling

 Brambling

 Redwing landing off the sea

 Redwing

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat

 Redwing in the hand

With some easterly winds finally in the forecast I headed up to Spurn on Saturday with Mrs D. The 5.30am alarm call wasn't great but as soon as we past the Kilsea Wetlands you knew you in a great spot for some Autumn magic.  I headed to Numpties to do some sea watching whilst Mrs D headed off to walk to the point and back. 

I thought there may be more movement but I still recorded the following during the session :- 60+ Common Scoter, 6 Red-throated Diver, 2 Arctic Skua, 1 Pommarine Skua, 1 Great Skua, 30 Wigeon, large number of Little Gull 20 Tern sp, 2 Great Crested Grebes and a Scaup on the Humber.

Watching from where I did enabled me to also watch the ringing in action. The Redwing, fresh in off the sea, was simply stunning whilst most interest involved a Siberean Lesser Whitethroat. 

After an enjoyable lunch in the visitor centre (took this option as food in pub was VERY average on last visit) overlooking the humber we then did some birding around the traingle. Our first finds were six Bearded Tits in the canal reed bed, a first me at Spurn, patience was required as they were up and down very quickly. Out on the Humber large number of Dunlin, Golden Plover & Knot were feeding. Up above us I picked up a Short-eared Owl that looked at one stage like it was heading towards us before heading towards Beacon Lane.

Ten minutes in the observatory garden produced two Yellow-browed Warblers a real Autum favourite.  There were Song Thrushes coming in all the time whilst a couple of female Redstarts were having their last feed before heading south. Our final find of a very enjoyable day were 3 Brambling feeding up on Beacon Lane. 

On the way home we stopped in at Loughbrough to see Gussy at his University. We picked a chinese up as we were truly shattered. Already looking forward to our next visit to Spurn. 

Hen Harrier at Upton Warren

    

Hen Harrier video

 Near side posing

 Flight shot

 Prefered perching spot

Spotted again

With a long weekend booked I thought I'd try the pits first but sadly again there was very little to see, 3 Pochard & 2 Grey Wagtail the only birds of note.

I then headed across to Upton Warren which was well timed as a Hen Harrier had been discovered in the time I was driving over. As I headed down to the Flashes a couple of the locals reported it had flown towards the north but experience said to stick with the plan as often birds return to same area.

After a pleasant catch up in the hide and watching six snipe feed on the far side everything lifted from the lagoons as the ring tail Hen Hen Harrier flew across the reeds. After perching for a short while this striking bird of prey look flight again flushing everything and flying low across the water and right in front of the hide to please the awaiting auidence. The bird departed south over the farm after showng well for an hour. A great start to the weekend.

Pectoral Sandpipers with a Malvern view

Pair of Pectoral Sandpiper

Post roost image

Feeding in the rain

Stunning views

Just love Pec Sands !

My favourite image taken

  Video footage

Some birds you can't resist. With weather improving during the morning I headed down the M5 with Mrs D to try and see the pair of reported Pectoral Sandpipers that had been at Clifton Pits for a number of days.

Clifton sits under the stunning Malvern Hills and is a now a really nice place to go birding. We had been this route the previous evening to watch comedian Russel Kane in Malvern which was great but we did re-route to avoid the traffic on the bridge.

We were pleased to find both birds on the flooded field in front of the lake allowing a small group of birders to get stunning views. When I scoped the birds the plumage of the wings & back was amazing & a genuine pleasure.  

We had a catch up with some local Worcestershire & Staffordshire birders before we headed to Pershore for a relaxing lunch over looking the town square.

I was full of hope on Sunday that the pits would finally deliver an Autumn goodie. The morning started badly with heavy rain and I then fell backwards of the gate at Pophills. Thankfully the only thing broken was a bit of pride. Sightings were as follows :- 1700 House Martin south, 1 Sand Martin, 3 Pochard, Kingfisher, 170 grounded Skylark, 470 Greylag, 1 Snipe, 70 Linnet, 1 Wigeon 31 Teal, 26 Tufted Duck, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Blackcap & still numberous Chiffchaff.

Great Skua blows into Bartley

Great Skua taking off

Great Skua sat on water off the dam side

Flight shots are very difficult with my camera

And again.........

Great Skua chasing the local gulls

A text on Friday evening from Terry Hinnet saying he had found a Great Skua on Bartley Reservoir changed my plans from a morning at the pits.

With positive news reported early, I made the fifteen mile drive north with Chris Lane for company.  This juvenile Great Skua was sitting on the water about 50 metres off the dam when we arrived which was pleasing enough. Over the next hour this absolute brute of a bird chased & harrassed the local gulls forcing them to drop their own food just to shake off the attention. 

At times the Skua flew seriously close to the dam wall giving us some amazing views. It was interesting to see a bird like this in a habitat away from the sea. It's wing pattern was striking. 

This was my first inland Skua, lets hope I might get another with this bad weather set to continue.

Wheatear the best on slow week

Wheatear

Storm approaching

Early start

Jon from east bank

Very few sightings to report this week I'm afraid, let's hope nothing got missed ! I was working on Saturday so only managed a visit on Sunday to the pits with Jon.

Heavy rain over night gave us hope of a different passage wader but sadly we had to be content with a Ringed Plover that flew over the main pit early. Highlights of the morning were 8 Wigeon, 55 Teal (increasing slowly), 9 Shoveler, 13 Gadwall, Kingfisher, 5 Snipe, 1 Lapwing, 2 Wheatear, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Grey heron, Kestrel, Buzzard, 9 Cormorant, 1 Reed Warbler, 7 Blackcaps, 3 Greater Spotted Woodpecker & a Green Woodpecker.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler at Farlington Marshes on a very BIG weekend

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Scoping

 I think not

 Boozy Darts

 Arrows Night

After a very big night out in Birmingham on Friday at the new Flight Club (please note I took individual honours) it took me longer than normal to hit the pits on Saturday. With an evening party in Malvern I couldn't act on the news of a very rare Eastern Olivaceous Warbler found in Hampshire. 

With a clear night I didn't expect it to be there the next morning. I was very surprised with positive news and photos released by birders which prompted a quick text to organise a rapid trip down the M40 in the hope of seeing this little beauty. The only downside was dreaded Pompey territory so I opted not to wear my Saints colours.

The car park was total mayhem with cars abandoned everywhere, thankfully we waited for a birder to return to snatch his space as he left. The walk was under ten minutes to the location where we found around seventy birders all set up watching some thick habitat. The bird was kind enough to emerge within five minutes to give a quick view before taking flight.

The bird was very mobile and we had to be patient to get the prolonged views of it feeding at a location where we first saw it. Description wise it was grey with a striking narrow pointed beak. It's tail dipped downwards as it moved through the vegetation and was probably a similar size to a Whitethroat. 

This was the first record on the British main land for seven years and was also a county first for Hampshire


The lagoon held a super selection of waders including a Curlew Sandpiper, Redshank, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwits and Greenshanks.