Test Tube Ticking

6th November 2018

A 'Sibe' stonechat had been present in Norfolk for a couple of weeks and mooted extensively as a possible/probable Stejneger's Stonechat - a recent split. As is currently the way, definite identification was not possible without DNA samples, which had been collected and sent off for analysis. Most birders still needed to see a 'Stej', so over the last couple of weeks many made the insurance trek. I was otherwise occupied with major personal life changes, so had put this to the back of my mind to concentrate on far more important things.

However, the bird lingered and Andy was due a visit to the office, or at least to see me, so we hatched the idea of a day's birding in Norfolk. And so it transpired. Andy came down on Monday afternoon and we managed to get just beyond Stoke before opting for a few beers and night in a Premiere Inn. Norfolk could wait just a little longer.

Next morning, slightly sore of head, we were up and out early, stopping only to briefly string a rough-legged Buzzard and then for a much needed fry-up before arriving at Salthouse at the crack of 10.30am.

The Stejneger's Stonechat was straightforward enough to see and fortuitously close (many had seen it only distantly). ID was not resolved at this stage, but the consensus was this was 'the business', which was confirmed by Doc Collinson a couple of weeks later. A full fat tick then. It was actually a rather lovely bird, somewhat whinchat like in character and often flycatching.

Steve Gantlett's much better efforts @cleybirds

Steve Gantlett's much better efforts @cleybirds

After the quick success we popped over to nearby Kelling where 5 Waxwings were looking dapper as ever.

Waxwing

We then opted to spend the rest of the day doing some gentle birding along the north Norfolk Coast, taking in Stiffkey Fen and the always wonderful Titchwell RSPB reserve. Highlights included a ringtail Hen Harrier, Red Kite, multiple Marsh Harriers, Barn Owl and a multitude of waterfowl waders including a single Purple Sandpiper, also Ruffs, Avocet, both Godwit species and so on. But the real joy is in the abundance of birds here, just magic.

Brent Geese. They make a lovely sound too.

Grey Plover, Titchwell

Common Redshank, Titchwell

Little Egret, Titchwell

Common Teal, Titchwell

Barn Owl, Titchwell. Why do Norfolk birds fly around in daylight whereas at home they're so nocturnal?

And so we headed homewards, happy with our hall and having both provided the other with much needed therapy in a difficult time. I'll forever be grateful to Andy for his support in recent weeks.

There was, however, a post script. News from Cheshire, yes I did say Cheshire, changed plans for tomorrow and so we again found ourselves in a Premiere Inn and a bar....

Flying Scilly

Wednesday 17th to Saturday 20th October 2018

Scilly has a special place in my heart. I first visited in 1986 and have returned perhaps 30 times. Hopefully I always will. Basking in the glow if the catbird success, and knowing there were both decent birds and good friends on Scilly made it a complete no brainer for Andy and I to make the short hop over from Lands End and stay for a few days. Sadly it wasn't feasible to stay on St Agnes, so we made do with Mary's.

It was to be a very odd few days, life changing in fact. However that is not the subject of this blog and I'll leave it there. That at least explains why we did less birding than intended. Socially, however, it was really good to catch up with old and valued friends Laurence Pitcher, Graham Gordon and - very briefly Lee Amery. I really need to be better at staying in touch.

Birding highlights were very brief views of the Grey-cheeked Thrush on St Agnes (found by Loz and Graham the day we arrived) and a rather splendid Melodious Warbler (my first in 10+ years, probably longer). We have a brief flyover Red-throated Pipit whilst eating soup on Agnes too, seen better by GG minutes later. That aside it was the usual combination of Yellow-browed Warblers, Black Redstarts and a scattering of commoner migrants. Pleasant although not exceptional bird-wise, but an unending pleasure to be back on the islands.

Saturday Symmetry

Tuesday 16th October, 2018

Another pre-dawn again emergence from a Premier Inn, this time at Hayle. We drove in the dark to Land's End, joining an increasing number of cars in a field next to Treve Common, almost at the very tip of the country. I'll admit to feeling far more excited about the possibility of this grip back than the previous days swift, but that comes at an emotional cost as the fear of dipping increases exponentially.

Familiar faces emerged, most of whom we'd seen the day before in sodden Hornsea. Conditions were dry and relatively mild, if a little grey.

There was a lot riding on this one. The only UK previous record of a catbird was the famous Anglesey bird in 2011. Famous for all the wrong reasons. Most of us dipped (I heard it on the Thursday, but couldn't return on Friday). Some people claimed to have seen it on the Saturday, but the debate raged on as to whether it was actually there and it depends on who you believe. Personally I believe it was there, entirely because our old friend, the utterly sincere (and much missed) Pete Antrobus saw it, and that's certainly good enough for me. However, the legend of 'Saturday Catbird' was born, and poor Pete and others never heard the end of it. It was mostly good-natured ribbing, but we birders are a sensitive lot so no doubt any pleasure derived from scoring on that fateful Saturday must have quickly dissipated with the relentlessly unbelieving by the masses.

Remarkably, today would have been Pete's birthday. Sometimes birds throw us a little poetry.

So, fatigued from another night at the wheel, Andy and I had joined a growing crown and the dawn mega vigil began. It was rather cool and birds were generally inactive, but time was starting to pass. It got lighter, and tension began to take hold. Surely not a fourth consecutive dip? 8am came. Then 9. It was looking bleak.

Then, mercifully, the cry went up and he GREY CATBIRD showed really well off and on over the next hour or two in improving weather. A marvelous bird and thoroughly enjoyable encounter. Hallelujah!

First glimpses of a proper mega! Palpable relief.

There's always something special about seeing an American landbird on this side of the Atlantic. How these tiny birds manage to survive crossing an ocean whilst being tossed around in a storm is nothing short of incredible.

On a more personal level, American passerines always send me reminiscing about my Cape May days. Catbirds were common enough as breeding birds and migrants there, so it still surprises me how much I enjoy seeing birds that I've seen so many times before. Perhaps it's just like seeing an old friend after too long an absence.

Dennis Morrison's much better effort. I love this photo (@denmor77)

We went on the spend a relaxed couple of hours with the bird and socialising, most of us exchanging tales of Anglesey ghosts and lamenting the sad loss of Pete, already two years ago.

Andy and I were somewhat exhausted after the last two days, so we ambled around Cot Valley in the now glorious Cornish sunshine, but only managed a few common migrants before fatigue took hold.

Carroll in the Cot.

It was time to celebrate, so we booked into a hotel at St Just and relaxed in the late afternoon sun with a well earned pint. Inevitably that turned into more erstwhile drinking for Andy and I. The world was put to right and plans to head over to Scilly after all were made.  

Fair Isle Unfolds - October 12th to 19th 2018

As has become a recent annual event, I was booked onto Fair Isle for a week from 12th with Andy Carroll, Phil Woollen, Mark Payne and Jase Atkinson. Despite knowing what folly it was, we (I) inevitably started watching the long range forecast and counting down the days and dreaming of magic easterlies and Siberian waifs. The closer we got to departure, the better the conditions looked. the endless recently westerly's were going to change on the very day of our arrival and the whole of our week looked pretty good. This was getting exciting. This could be the year we score big.

Then, of course, two days before departure the forecast changed spectacularly. A former hurricane (Storm Callum no less) threw the conditions completely. the westerly wind brought by Callum was so strong that we knew we wouldn't;t get across to Fair Isle on our allotted Friday. This being winter timetable meant it would be at least Monday. Or Tuesday. Things rapidly deteriorated further - Loganair advised we wouldn't make it to Shetland at all. The forecast was for strong and relentless westerly's continued and our shrinking time on the northern isles seemed increasingly pointless.

So, in just a few days we went from high expectations to cancelling altogether. Gutting, but none of us wanted to be on Shetland in high winds and lashing rain with no birds. It was the right choice; Shetland ended up with it's worst autumn in 30 years (as I write on 7th November it seems unlikely to recover, but it's not quite over). Inevitably, Fair Isle did get one bird and I knew as we cancelled this would appear - my nemesis species, White's Thrush, was present on 13th. Absolutely typical, but I wouldn't have been there anyway so it made me smile rather than gnash my teeth.

So roll on to Saturday 12th October. Andy came down, we had a skin full and decided to head to the south west and probably hop over to Scilly for a few days. We had a week off and wanted to see some birds.

So on the Sunday morning, with heads pounding at first, we set off down the M6. as we approached the M5 we did discuss heading to Spurn instead, which would have been fortuitous, but we decided to stick to the plan and go and see a shrike.

We arrived at Thurlaston in South Devon with about 1.5 hours of light remaining. just as we got out of the car news from Yorkshire - near Spurn, came through; there was a Pacific Swift over Hornsea Mere. Birding social media was immediately in overdrive, with many speculating over the identitiy given the date and recent southerly weather. They were right, photos of the bird quickly came to light and the bird was in fact Britain's first White-rumped Swift. Shit. To Andy's delight, we were heading back north that night.

But in the meantime we could at least enjoy the Daurian Shrike which was lingering in clifftop scrub next to the golf course. A really confiding and thoroughly lovely bird.

 

 

Enjoyable as the shrike was, we had miles to cover. Once we'd filled our phonesope memory cards, it was time to hit the road and head north. We eventually arrived at a Beverley Premier Inn around 12.30, and set the alarm early to be there before dawn..

 

Monday 15th October

 

Leaving the hotel in the dark under heavy rain, hopes of seeing the swift were low, despite it being present until dusk the night before. And so it proved to be. We joined a large crowd of familiar faces in the gloom as dawn did it's best. The rain at least abated, but the bird predictably failed to appear. Only 5 House Martins were present, but apparently there were many more the day before. So the event quickly turned into a social outing (followed by a full fry up), and that made three dips on the bounce.

 

It made sense to head down to Spurn on the off chance the swift would head that way, but it was a long shot. We managed brief and unsatisfactory view of Yellow-browed Warbler and Olive-backed Pipit, and were stood at the latter in the 'Triangle' area when the Spurn radios crackled that there was a swift with a white rump heading sough over Numpty's. Despite frantic scoping we saw nothing, but reports then came through it had headed north. Best linger at Numpties - all birds end up passing over there. But as we arrived it quickly became apparent that there was uncertainty. Others had seen the bird and were confident it was just a House Martin. It appeared to have been an over exuberant mistake. Oh well, the forecast looked ok for tomorrow. We'd stay and do some birding tomorrow. Time for cake, followed by a quick Brambling and then look for a hotel for beers and a proper sleep. Or so we thought, news from Lands End came through around 4.30pm. Instead we had to travel all the way back down the M5 and on to the very tip of the country. The birding gods were toying with our OCD souls.   

 

 

Twitching mileage madness.

 

Green Day, or Not

Lundy, 8th October 2018

In May 2016 I missed the opportunity to go for a Green Warbler on Unst, only the third at the time and the first 'gettable one since 1983. The other record was from Foula in 2014, but another was eventually identified on Fair Isle in summer 2017. It seems this species is becoming more frequent, or perhaps it's just better access to photos, DNA and sonograms that's finally revealing the true status of this long distance phyllosc. So news of another - again identified form photos - on Sunday 7th was not entirely out of the blue. Another bite at the cherry and in a reasonably accessible place, well at least compared to Shetland. 

 

Lundy Island, off North Devon, has an impressive rare birds CV, so it's a surprise that I've only ever been there for one bird - the famous Ancient Murrelet way back in 1990 (which I came for twice).

 

By October the regular ferry is on winter timetable, so we needed charter boats to get there on Monday. James Hanlon duly obliged and I headed south overnight with Al Orton and Stuart Brown, arriving at Ilfracombe around 8.30am.

 

Twelve of us set sail around 9.30 in the end, way behind the other two boats, but no matter there was plenty of time. the sailing was, to say the least, a little lumpy. In fact bordering on roller coaster. We held on as best we could in the cabin with the skipper and mainly laughed our way through it (others on board not so much). Instead of 2.15hrs it took 3 hours to get there, by which time we had the all too gloomy news that there was no sign of the bird.

 

By the time we arrived, via a rather hairy ladder climb due to low tide, the famous Millicombe Valley had been thoroughly scoured and the dejected faces of fellow dippers said it all. Never mind, it's all part of the game - they'll be another!

 

Birding highlights were few - a Great Northern Diver and a few common migrants were just about our lot.

Millicombe Valley. Host of many a rare bird and a rather lovely place to dip.

      

Verity, a 25m statue by Damien Hirst graces Ilfracombe Harbour. Great place to eat fish and chips before heading home. 

Back in the Alps - August 2018

Summer holiday this year was a return to Morzine in the French Alps, where the Fearns had a grand time with the McCormacks, the Wainwrights and Everetts in the lovely Chalet Belle Chery on the outskirts of town with beautiful vistas.

Walking, eating, more walking, treetop climbing, poolside action and mountain biking dominated and very chilled it was too.

Of course I saw a few birds and beasts, with the highlights being regular Golden Eagles near the chalet, plenty of Griffon Vulture activity and Lammergiers at the Col de la Colombière. My first Citril Finches away from Fair Isle were enjoyable. Commoner species kept me entertained too, with Honey Buzzard, Goshawk, Red-backed Shrike and Black Redstarts around the chalet,  and also Apline Swift, Crag Martin, Alpine Chough, Water Pipit in the area.

Despite my best efforts I again failed to locate Wallcreeper at Sixt-fer-a-Cheval, but did at least see an excellent Ibex. I heard Nutcracker a few times too, but never managed to see one this time sadly.
Chamoix seemed fairly common near the chalet, Alpine Newts were a great find by the kids in a swimming lake and there some nice butterflies too. All in all, very pleasant.

 

Summer Sizzler

It's been too long since I updated, so I'll keep this as a brief summary of the summer, which will be long remembered as a proper scorcher. The relentlessly hot weather quickly led to a parched landscape and - best of all - the lowest water levels seen on the patch for years. Ashton's rapidly disappeared to savannah status, but Neumann's became gloriously mud fringed, just like in the olden days.

 

So, instead of the summer doldrums we actually had some excellent local birding in July and August. Ok so not exactly the halcyon days of the 80s and 90s, but uncharacteristically rewarding for the time of year and most enjoyable too. Highlights as follows:

 

Great Egret - one in early July lingered for weeks, favouring the northern end of NF and giving wonderful views at times. A second was apparently present a couple of times, although I didn't see two birds.

 

Little Egret - up to three birds pretty much constantly present through the summer.

 

 Garganey - Greg found an adult female on 18th July which began a series of records, with this bird lingering for weeks before being joined by two juveniles on 2/08. Finally, I found an adult male on 25/08 which also lingered for a couple of weeks.

 Barn Owl - ok not related to the hot summer but a highlight to confirm breeding in the DHM box. Two juveniles were rung on 25/07, assisted by my kids :)

Black Tern - one on 26/07 found by Mark, then I found one on the Mere on 28/08. Two more were seen by others in early September and yet another in late September, so a good run.

 

Greenshank - 2-3 birds daily in late August and early September.

 

Wood Sandpiper - one found on 06/09 (a good day locally!) lingered for a couple of weeks.

 

 

Spotted Redshank - my first on the patch in a very long time was present all day on 05/09.

 

 

 

Ruff - one appeared on 12/09 and lingered until month's end.

 

Golden Plover - one with the lapwing flock on 22/09. Surprising how scarce this species now is on patch.

 

Little Stint - not quite as rare as the previous days' spot'shank, but a great find by Luke on 06/09. It lingered for several days and showed very well at times. Lovely bird.

 

Curlew - the summer roost built up to around 75 birds at it's peak. Whilst that is doubtless an important number locally, at the same time in the 90s flocks of 800 were not uncommon. I tried multiple times to see if there were any juveniles and could only ever find a single bird. Surely we're not going to let these wonderful birds disappear?

 

 

Other Waders - in keeping with local and national numbers, common waders were worryingly scarce. the number of Dunlin never rose above 5. Add the two Ringed Plover and a single Little Ringed Plover which lingered for weeks and that's about your lot. Serious declines surely - sad times.

Winchat - one on Ashton's on 05/09.

 

Water Rail - whilst resident and an annual breeder, the views from Pods Hide of adults and juveniles were excellent this year.

 

Others also recorded Marsh Harrier, Hobby, Osprey, Willow Tit, Little Gull, Ruddy Shelduck, Med Gull, Turnstone, Redstart, Tree Pipit and Wheatear over July to September.  

 

The low levels also allowed us to get a working party together to remove encroaching vegetation. Stilt island is rarely accessible, so this was the main focus and we cleared the island almost completely. Hopefully that will ensure it's continued use by breeding birds for a little longer. Being honest, though, a comprehensive management effort is needed and I'm keen to get involved if I can. Lots of ideas, lots of talk, too little time...