Great Spotted Cuckoo at Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight - 24th March

On 21st March news filtered through of a Great Spotted Cuckoo at Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Initially details were fairly sketchy but the following day news broke of its continued presence and pictures eventually emerged on Twitter and Facebook, as is the way of todays birding world. This was the second record for the Isle of Wight but I was initially not too fussed, I had set aside the weekend to decorate Tobias's playroom and so I tried to stay focused. On Saturday, some nice images of the bird emerged and news that it was very confiding so I accelerated the decorating duties and by Saturday evening I had applied all the necessary coats of paint, got agreement from Sarah and booked my ferry for Sunday. Tobias asked if he could come along and after weighing up the pros and cons I agreed that he would be fine- he was very excited as was I.

We were up at 06:00 and headed to Lymington for our 07:25 ferry across to Yarmouth. The crossing was fairly relaxing and we sat in the lounge and scanned across the Lymington Marshes, this produced around 20 stunning summer plumaged Mediterranean Gull, 30 Eider, 45 Brent Goose and a few wader including Grey Plover, Dunlin and Curlew. I looked hard for my first Tern of the year but there none were to be seen.

Passing along the south-west coast of the island we soon arrived at the carpark at Wheeler's Bay. Tobias wanted to take his binoculars (naturally), drawing pencils and pad and so we spent some time faffing in the carpark. As we left the car a small gaggle of birders arrived in a slightly energised state proclaiming that the cuckoo had just left its usual area and flown inland over Ventnor followed by the statement of 'its never done that before, most unusual'. My heart sank as I felt that we had just seen the aftermath of the cuckoo's departure. I recognised one of the birders, it was my childhood mentor Andy Butler, it was great to see him again but I felt tense and wanted to search for the bird. I glanced down at Tobias and he said 'what just happened Daddy, and looked at me with sad eyes' he knew it had just flown - the lads first dip. We wandered around and Andy showed Tobias his first Glanville Fritillary caterpillars and Wall Lizard - it was just like when Andy showed me my first insects and encouraged me to get interested in invertebrates because 'everybody does birds'.

We wandered along to the cuckoo's usual area of Brambles which were covered with Brown-tail moth caterpillars, the cuckoo's chosen food source, but there was no sign of the bird so Tobias and I walked back to the car to drop off our stuff and lighten the load. I then bumped into Ian Ridett, another friend of mine from my island birding days, and we stood contemplating the situation at the entrance of the carpark located in an elevated position where we scanned the coastal scrub. I then spotted a bird flying low over the sea being chased by a Herring Gull, 'there it is' and I quickly grabbed Tobias and picked him up so he could see the bird. We deduced that the bird had headed back to its usual area so after a swift walk we were there and watching the Great Spotted Cuckoo at close range as it fed on Brown-tail Moth caterpillars in the Bramble thicket. We spent the next hour or so watching this cracking bird, it spent a fair bit of time buried in the Bramble feeding on caterpillars and time spent with its feathers fluffed and presumably digesting and sunbathing. It did, on occasions, show well atop the Brambles where its spikey grey crest and large white tips to all the wing feathers and scapulars were striking.

After enjoying the bird and having our fill Tobias and I wandered off and decided to head for St. Catherine's Point, perhaps for my first Wheatear of the year. However, things were very quiet and there was little to be seen but for my first singing Blackcap of the year and both Dotted Bee-fly and Dark-edged Bee-fly, both my first of the year. After a walk of around 90 minutes we headed back to the car and headed for the 13:25 back to the mainland.

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo, here the loose plumage was during one of the periods when the bird was stationary as it digested and sunbathed. Note the raised throat, breast and rump feathers - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Wall Lizard - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Great Spotted Cuckoo twitch - Wheeler's Bay, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight

Dotted Bee-fly - St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight

Tobias tackling the steeper slopes at St. Catherine's Point

Isle of Wight - 9th and 10th April

My weekend was spent on the Isle of Wight visiting family and spending a great deal of time birding. It was great to get back to the island and stomp my old birding grounds without the need to dash back. On Saturday I was up at 05:15 and by 06:30 was walking the fields to the west of the lighthouse and out to Rocken End at St. Catherine's Point. The weather was overcast with a Force 5 westerly wind blowing and there had been heavy overnight rain. There seemed to be little in the bushes so I made for the seawatching point to the west of the lighthouse. The sea was incredibly rough and the 'race', an area where tides meet forming a curving transition between smoother and rough waters, was in a frenzy. Over the course of the next two hours, as the weather brightened from the west, I recorded the following (all moving east unless stated):

• Brent Goose - 24 (one flock)
• Common Scoter - 36 (largest flock of 10)
• Black-throated Diver - 1
• Manx Shearwater - 2 west
• Gannet - 28, 27 west
• Great Skua - 3 (at 08:20, 08:45 and 09:35)
• Arctic Skua - 1 pale phase 07:50
• Kittiwake - 2
• Sandwich Tern - 2

Brent Geese passing St. Catherine's Point

A male Redstart fed frantically in the Brambles beside Knowles Farm, evidently a newly arrived migrant. As I walked up the Lighthouse Road it was evident that there were large numbers of Willow Warbler in the bushes and as I wandered west through 'Wood Warbler' valley and out to Windy Corner I recorded around 50 Willow Warbler and around 15 Chiffchaff plus 8 Blackcap. There had evidently been a 'fall' due to the heavy overnight rain. The heavens were looking like they were going to open so I headed for the car.

Next stop was West High Down in the west of the island, I parked near the old Clock Museum and walked up the footpath east of Warren Farm, the hedgerow to the north of the down was hopping with Willow Warbler and at least 2 Redstart were present plus a couple of Goldcrest. I then walked over the down heading west, there were Willow Warbler in the Gorse, a Dartford Warbler, a couple of Raven and the local pair of Peregrine showed well. A scan from a viewpoint that affords good views of the south facing cliff produced none of the expected Guillemot or Razorbill. I continued towards the coastguard cottages before dropping back to the north side of the down and walking the hedgerow at the foot of the north side of the down, this is where all the bird activity was and there were at least 50 Willow Warbler and another Redstart.

Willow Warbler feeding in Gorse - West High Down

Stonechat - West High Down

Rock Pipit - West High Down

West High Down viewed east towards Tennyson Down and St. Catherine's Point in 

distance to far right

South facing cliffs on West High Down with St. Catherine's Point to right

Peregrine - West High Down

View of Hurst Castle from West High Down

Redstart - West High Down

I then drove the short distance to the Western Yar and parked by the old station and walked along the disused railway line to view the pools. Here, 30 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Willow Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, 25 Teal and Greenshank were the highlights.

It was now 15:00 and time was running out as were my energy levels! I decided to head back to St. Catherine's Point where I birded Wood Warbler Valley out to Windy Corner and the top end of the Hanging Valley. Highlights were two Swallow, 25 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 2 Peregrine and a showy Red Squirrel.

Dark-edged Beefly Bombylius major - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Red Squirrel - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Willow Warbler - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Willow Warbler - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Weather chart from 9th April showing frontal system that resulted in the fall of 

Willow Warbler and Redstart 

St. Catherine's Point showing the main birding areas

St. Catherine's Point showing the lighthouse, East and West Fields and Knowles Farm

St. Catherine's Point showing northern end of Hanging Valley, Gore Cliff and the landslip area above Rocken End. West High Down is visible in the distance far left of the image

On Sunday I was up at 05:15 once more and back to the lighthouse at St. Catherine's Point. The wind had gone south-east overnight and, given that this is a favourable wind direction for seawatching, my hopes were high. I arrived at the lighthouse at 06:30 and began scanning, almost immediately picking up small numbers of Sandwich Tern and Manx Shearwater. There was a good collection of birders that eventually joined me and it was great to spend time with Andy Butler, Ian Ridett, Dave Wooldridge and Dave Hunnybun, Andy and the two Dave's being particularly influential in my formative years of birding and natural history exploration. It was Dave Hunnybun's birthday and we had a cook-up of bacon sandwiches on the Trangia stove to celebrate. This brought back many happy memories of birding at St. Catherine's Point in past years. Anyway, enough of the nostalgia, this is what we saw with figures in brackets from other south coast sites this morning.

• Brent Goose - 23 (Portland Bill 0, Selsey Bill 7, Splash Point 105, Dungeness 939)
• Shoveler - 5 (Splash Point 4, Dungeness 31)
• Teal - 5 (with Common Scoter) (Selsey Bill 5, Splash Point 5)
• Common Scoter - 277 (Portland Bill 709, Selsey Bill 464, Splash Point 518, Dungeness 1439)
• Red-throated Diver - 3 (Portland Bill 1, Selsey Bill 5, Splash Point 6, Dungeness 0)
• Manx Shearwater - 2
• Gannet - 119 
• Grey Plover - 2
• Whimbrel - 4 (Portland Bill 2, Selsey Bill 0, Splash Point 9, Dungeness 4)
• Arctic Skua - 6 (all dark phase at 7:05, 08:10, 09:15, 10:45 and 12:05) (Portland Bill 3, Selsey Bill 6, Splash Point 2, Dungeness 5) 
• Kittiwake - 5 
• Sandwich Tern - 103 (Portland Bill 27, Selsey 233, Splash Point 150, Dungeness 1200) 
• Commic Tern - 43 (Portland Bill 16, Selsey Bill 30, Splash Point 102, Dungeness 230)
• Kestrel - One flew out to sea at around 10:30, returning at 12:15
• Willow Warbler - 2 in off sea

It is interesting to note some of the patterns in the numbers and particularly the general accumulation of numbers of birds as one progresses from west (Portland Bill) to Dungeness (east). There are some odd anomalies such as the pattern in Common Scoter, presumably the fall in numbers of birds at St. Catherine's, Selsey and Splash Point relates to birds passing too far out to be seen. It should also be noted that there is a degree of variability in survey effort with for example Dungeness being recorded for much of the day and St. Catherine's being recorded from 06:30-11:30. By 11:30 at St. Catherine's the wind had picked up to a Force 6 easterly and passage had dropped off and most of us had departed

Common Scoter - St. Catherine's Point

Brent Geese - St. Catherine's Point

Common Scoter - St. Catherine's Point

Common Scoter - St. Catherine's Point

Arctic Skua (dark phase) - St. Catherine's Point

Gannet - St. Catherine's Point

Gannet - St. Catherine's Point

Gannet - St. Catherine's Point

Main spring seawatching sites along south coast of England

After the seawatch I had a short wander in Wood Warbler valley but there were hardly any birds around compared to yesterday so I headed off content with the weekends birding.

Weather chart for 10th April showing south and eventually south-east and
then east winds which produced good seawatching conditions

Isle of Wight Weekend

Sarah and I spent the weekend on the Isle of Wight visiting my family. Early morning starts allowed a little birding and some visits to some old haunts. Saturday 1st March was a beautiful still and spring-like day and I visited Newtown Harbour and the Western Yar at Yarmouth. The spring weather sparked a great deal of pre-breeding activity with many of the wildfowl displaying and Black-headed Gulls calling and mating.

Newtown Harbour (Simon Colenutt)

There was a nice (albeit a little distant for photography) gathering of Mediterranean Gull off the boathouse and these were in high spirits giving their distinct and far carrying 'Keouw' calls and walking around pigeon chested chasing off any Black-headed Gull that approached too closely.

Mediterranean Gulls (Simon Colenutt)

Most of the Mediterranean Gull were in near summer plumage as can be seen below where five birds from a flock of 12 are present.

Mediterranean Gulls (Simon Colenutt)

Whereas the Black-headed Gulls seemed to show a greater variation in their progression to full summer plumage as the image below shows with the central bird in near full breeding dress while the uppermost bird shows no sign of progressing from winter plumage. The other birds show a range of plumage stages between the two extremes. A first winter bird is present to the right of centre.

Black-headed Gulls (Simon Colenutt)

A walk to the Needles produced excellent views of Raven and Peregrine and my first butterfly of the year, a Peacock.

Needles (Simon Colenutt)

Back at my Dad's house the first Frog spawn of the year had appeared and based on its condition looks to have been laid in the last few days.

Frog Spawn (Simon Colenutt)

On Sunday another early start and inspired by Saturdays weather I was convinced that I would find my first Wheatear of the year but it was not to be. A seawatch from the lighthouse in strong south-west winds produced little but for three Common Scoter, two Kittiwake and 12 Red-throated Diver moving east. The bushes were devoid of any migrants, not even a Chiffchaff to show for my efforts. The only excitement was a close view of a hovering Buzzard but the light levels were not high enough to get a decent shutter speed and the image below is on the soft side.

St.Catherine's Point (Simon Colenutt)

Buzzard (Simon Colenutt)