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Tawny Pipit

Tawny Pipit profile

Tawny Pipit
 

Cogden Beach
 

Record of attendance

Beach birders

As we drove home from the Whiskered Tern on Wednesday we hadn't seriously considered we would be returning to the same Chessil Beach just three days later. Tawny Pipit is one of those annual birds but you need to be in the right place at right time. There was a really showy one on Scilly last year but it departed a few days before our arrival.

With rain set in for day in the Midlands and what looked better weather on the coast we left the Midlands at around 10am for what was a trouble free drive despite the awful weather. Given the excellent photos on social media & reports this looked like it was going to be an easy bird to see until there was an update saying the bird had flown and was unable to relocate. We were only twenty minutes away and were determined not to be disappointed. £2 was quickly entered in the pay & display, boots on and we were off. We weren't sure why birders had been walking the half a mile down the shingle when there was a grass path on the other and a small bridge to cross over where the bird was last seen. On arrival there were a few gloomy faces including a couple that had given up and were heading back. After a quick scan of the field we thought we would try the original part of the beach where first found. Within a couple of minutes a Wheatear flew across in front of us and then slightly further back was the Tawny Pipit! We waved the other birders over who looked exceedingly pleased and we all enjoyed some amazing views sometimes coming within 20 feet of us. The wind made it difficult to get any video but I got a couple of pleasing record shots. What a few days.........

Whiskered Tern at the Swannery

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern resting (@ajordanwildlife)

Flying towards us

Whiskered Tern in flight (@ajordanwildlife)

View from teeth back towards path

View of Swannery

Happiness when a plan comes together

Feeding over sand bar

Chesil Beach

Dorset has been very kind to me over the last few years especially in May as I tend to always spend a few days away with parents in Lyme Regis. Birds observed include Great Spotted Cuckoo, Short-toed Lark, Golden Oriole, Nightjar & also saw Subapline Warbler in east Devon. No holiday this year with restrictions in place but I was not surprised when another great bird was discovered on Sunday at the Abbotsbury Swannery. 

A Whiskered Tern was seen feeding and flying around the Fleet which backs onto the Swannery. In all honesty I never considered the bird sticking around as they rarely do so I duly made other plans. And yet the bird was reported all day Monday & Tuesday, and with bad weather coming in on Saturday it was time to put a plan together for Wednesday morning.

The tactic would be to wait for postitive news then head south, for a journey around 3 hours 20 mins. We left as planned as soon as the first report hit BirdGuides. The journey was pretty smooth however with 90 minutes to go we received negative news from birders at site, we remained hopeful and carried on regardless although slighly less hopeful.

Parked up safely, £2 for 2 hours, on the beach car park a birder approached us to show us where to go and informed us "the bird is showing really well" ! I had to ask him to repeat himself before we set off on a fifteen minutes shingle beach walk. We must have passed half a dozen happy birders who had all duly seen the bird. Shingle is always a tough walk but the prize was in sight. 

At the end of the walk there were a number of tank teeth which everyone stood on to get views of the lake in front of the Swannery. Within a few seconds we picked up the Whiskered Tern flying and feeding low above the water. The bird was small & had a distinctive shallow tail fork and was very dark. It never once stopped flying during our visit and gave us one incredible fly past when being chased by a local Common Tern. The Whiskered Tern is classed as a marsh tern and breeds in southern europe.

Many thanks to Andrew Jordan (@ajordanwildlife) for sending me a couple of fantastic images to use on the blog.

Lesser Yellowlegs continues Worcestershires good form

 

Lesser Yellowlegs
 

Squire with Malvern in background

 

Yellowlegs with light lifted on image

                                   Squires photo shows range of bird

Video footage

On the back of the 1st winter Bonaparte's Gull being found at Upton Warren, Gavin Peplow discovered Worcestershire's second ever Lesser Yellowlegs in shocking bank holiday weather. 

The Squire & I had to wait for the following day to head to Clifton for some evening viewing. For the first forty minutes the bird was quite distant and feeding around a large water pump. Just when we were debating leaving a Redshank chased the Yellowlegs towards giving us for a much improved viewing, the dainty & delicate bird looked stunning in the scope. 

Although the light was fading and the suns position was far from ideal I managed to get a couple of nice shots & video from the top of the slope. It was great to see so many local birders had seen the bird earlier in the day & admirers continued the following day having seen the reports on social media.  Additional sighting including 6 Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover, 4 Redhank & 2 Yellow Wagtail. 

Grizzled Skipper at Honeybourne

                         Grizzled Skipper - Rather pleased with this image

As I've reported on other blogs, it's been a very cold & wet April which has held back many species of butterfly. I did finally have a decent session on Sunday when I recorded four Grizzled Skippers at Honeybourne. More days in the sun ahead I hope.

A bank holiday Wryneck & Otmoor

                                           Wryneck (Borough Hill)

                                                   Redshank

                                               Spotted Redshank

                                                Drake Pochard  

                                                    Glossy Ibis

                                                  Marsh Harrier

                                                 Marsh Harrier

                                          Distant video footage

RSPB Otmoor was our chosen destination for bank holiday Monday hoping the hegdrows might give us a bit of cover from a cold wind. Otmoor isn't a place I've visited often and I tend to always side with Slimbridge for that type of days birding. We landed around 8am to find the car park, complete with singing Garden Warbler, almost full. 

The paths and the signage are excellent the only downside is having to walk back the same way you walked out. There was a number of first sightings of year for us including a Spotted Redshank, Glossy Ibis, Marsh Harrier & feral Barnacle Geese. The warblers around the reserve were in great voice, most teased the camera with posing and then diving for cover. A male Cuckoo feasted on a hoard of catterpillars it had found and the Lapwings displayed above us throughout our visit. Red Kites were circuling until we left Oxfordshire and diverted to Borough Hill in Northamptonshire where a Wryneck had been located. With a heavy storm approaching we manged to watch the fabulous Wryneck for about ten minutes before making a run for the car. The drive back was through some very heavy rain underlining how lucky we had been to make the most of the morning.

Progress continues at the pits

                                                  Yellow Wagtail

                                               Lesser Whitethroat

                                          Morton Bagot Bluebells

                                             Path of dreams

                                                     Cuckoo        

                                                    Wheatear

                               This yound deer greets me most mornings

                                                Yellow Wagtails

 

Yellow Wagtail

Five visits this week and still I managed to miss the best passage on Tuesday due to work when 8 Arctic Tern went through & a Dunlin also had a short visit on the spit.

Paul added our first Little Egret of the year on Friday & followed this up by picking up a Goshawk the following day when registering 67 species as part of West Midland Alldayer.

Sundays count undertaken by Jon & Chris (County Recorder) - 7 pairs of Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret (on main pool), 1 Grey Heron, 3 pairs of Mute Swans and 2 nests, 10 Greylag, 20 Canada Geese, 3 pairs of Gadwall, one new brood of Mallard (now 4), 87 Tufted Duck, 1 Sparrowhawk, 8 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, 2 Coot broods out, pair of Oystercatcher, 5 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Lapwing, 4 Black-headed Gull, pair of territorial LBB Gulls and 3 more through, 4 Herring Gulls,  3 Cuckoos (two male, 1 female), 40 Swift, 20 Sand Martin, 50 Swallow, a few House Martins, total of 6 Yellow Wagtail, 1 female Whinchat at Pophills, 1 male Wheatear; counts of singing warblers included: 2 Cetti's, 9 Sedge Warbler, 25-30 Reed Warbler, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 15 Common Whitethroat; 3 pairs of Long-tailed Tit, 3 Jay, 2 pairs of Yellowhammer and the white Reed Bunting.

Year list now stands at 110. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.

Ticking along nicely

                           Grasshopper Warbler(one of my fav pics ever taken)

                                      Second Gropper of the morning

                                                 Common Terns

                                                Distant Little Gull

                                             I just liked this photo

                                                    Little Gull

                                              Video montage

                                                Wood Sandpiper

                                             Arty Wood Sandpiper

                                  Bonaparte's Gull(taken from footpath)

                     Close up taken by John Belsey from inside the reserve

There has been some nice birds to be seen over the last week all within twenty miles of home in a range of habitats. This started on the previous Monday when I found two Grasshoper Warblers at Morgrove Coppice. On Saturday I nipped over to Earlswood to see my first Little Gull & Common Terns of the year. Then after being battered by the wind all Saturday afternoon at the cricket I headed for a bit of cover on Sunday for my annual Nightingale pilgrimage. On the way back home I called in at Clifton where I enjoyed great views of a Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Wheatear & 20+ Yellow Wagtail. A Wood Sandpiper at Grimley rounded the morning off nicely. 

On Tuesday, John Belsey discovered a Bonaparte's Gull at Upton Warren which I visited on my lunch break becoming my 147th species of the year.