Portland Bill - 4th September

I have been neglecting this blog somewhat of late in favour of entering my records onto eBird, I have now got as far back as 1990 with a few years from the 1980's left to input to complete my UK birding data. Thats almost 30 years of data now on eBird and its a fantastic resource for exploring my historical records. I can now see with a few clicks how many, for example, Pomarine Skua I have recorded at St. Catherine's Point, what my peak day for the species was, my earliest and latest dates, whether I have photographed it etc. I would encourage any birder to commence using eBird and start adding their current and historical birding data. Anyway, I intend to start adding my birding days to this blog once more but perhaps in a slightly more abridged way.

Today I had a survey in Dorset and so headed to Portland Bill for a few hours first thing. I started the morning with a quick scan of Ferrybridge but it was fairly quiet with few waders, best were six Sanderling and 15 Dunlin. My eBird checklist can be seen here.

I then headed to Portland Bill and parked in the main carpark, the wind was firmly in the west with heavy cloud and a few spits of rain and I wasn't particularly optimistic for seeing many birds.  While having coffee it became evident that there was a steady westerly movement of Siskin and Swallow. I then headed up the west cliffs recording further Siskin, Grey Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail overhead but there were few migrants in the bushes. I cut east across the island and birded the Top Fields area where there were good numbers of Wheatear and three Whinchat. I then cut down through Culverwell to the observatory and back, via the Observatory Quarry, to my car. In total I recorded 79 Swallow and 18 Siskin moving west and 24 Wheatear and three Whinchat in the fields - fairly respectable totals for a couple of hours birding. My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here. Portland Bird Observatory's account of the day can be viewed here.

Wheatear - Top Fields, Portland Bill

Wheatear - Top Fields, Portland Bill

Whinchat - Top Fields, Portland Bill

The local Stonechat are looking decidedly scruffy - West Cliffs, Portland Bill

Remarkably I have never photographed Carrion Crow before - Top Fields, Portland Bill

Pennington Marsh - 21st and 22nd September

It was the second storm of the Autumn, Storm Bronagh, which passed over the UK just 24 hours after the passing of Storm Ali. Bronagh seemed to be a more subdued affair with maximum wind speeds around 30mph lower than Ali, mind you when I arrived at Pennington around seven hours after the passing of the peak of the storm it was still exceedingly windy. I had very little time and decided to head to Fishtail Lagoon which is proving to be superb at the moment with water levels ideal. I spent some time here scanning the Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and Ringed Plover looking for something a little more unusual but the highlight proved to be a fine juvenile Little Stint that flew in from the east with a Dunlin flock. I headed on to Keyhaven Lagoon which was almost devoid of bird life but for a fine juvenile Ruff which showed well. I then headed back along the seawall past Butts Lagoon and past Jetty Lagoon before cutting back to the carpark. It was tough going in the wind and I saw little but for five Swallow and a Water Rail. Back at the car I dumped my scope and wandered along the Ancient Highway seeing 12 Sand Martin over Efford Lagoon and 30 Wigeon on the balancing pond at the western end of the Ancient Highway.

Juvenile Ruff - Keyhaven Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Storm Bronagh (windy.com)

On 22nd September, Sarah and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and so while Sarah was having a treatment at the spa I dropped Tobias at a friends for a play date and then popped to Pennington Marsh. I had no more than two hours and so decided to spend the entirety of my time at Fishtail Lagoon. Scanning from the Old Tip there were clearly good numbers of waders on the lagoon and after picking up a distant Curlew Sandpiper I decided to head to the seawall to get closer. It wasn't long before I picked up a fine juvenile Grey Phalarope feeding on the north shore of the lagoon. I spent virtually all my time with this bird and it wasn't long before it made its way across the lagoon to feed on the southern shore and gave superb views down to around 5m or so. The two recent storms have displaced many Grey Phalarope with at least 100 being reported around the UK with many inland records. The weather was pretty fowl and the rain became progressively heavy and so my images are perhaps not as good as they could have been but I was happy with the views of the bird that I had obtained. There were also five Knot, 120 Black-tailed Godwit, 250 Dunlin, one Spotted Redshank and 15 Ringed Plover on the lagoon - surely its not long before something really good shows on the lagoon? Also while here I recorded single Wheatear and Whinchat, six Yellow Wagtail and a moribund Arctic Tern on the mud of the lagoon. It was midday and time to head off to meet Sarah for a celebratory lunch - I was chuffed with my couple of hours at Pennington.

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

 Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Grey Phalarope - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Reed Bunting, note this is a ringed bird - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Arctic Tern - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Knot - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Knot - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Knot, note how orangey one of these juvenile birds is- Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Knot - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Knot - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Knot - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Dunlin, a summer plumaged bird - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Whinchat - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Portland - 31st August

Its been all work of late and with some easterly elements to the wind this weekend I was desperate to get out, so, after clearance from wifey I took Friday morning off work and headed to Portland. I was up at 04:15 and by 06:15 was watching the sunrise over Portland Bill. I wandered around the Bill area taking in the West Cliffs and Coastguard lookout area, the Beach Huts, part of the East Cliffs, Culverwell, the southern area of the Top Fields and the Observatory area. It was fairly slow going and I didnt see the hoped for Wryneck or Red-backed Shrike but every Wheatear sat atop a Bramble I imagined was a Shrike.

My totals for the morning were:

Whimbrel - 1
Snipe - 1
Common Sandpiper - 5
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Swift - 1 over Culverwell and the Top Fields
Wheatear - 36
Whinchat - 1
Stonechat - 7
Yellow Wagtail - 32
Tree Pipit - 1
Swallow - 55
Sand Martin - 2
House Martin - 5
Sedge Warbler - 1
Whitethroat - 9
Chiffchaff - 3
Reed Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 3

Sunrise over Portland Bill

Wheatear - Portland Bill

Whinchat - Juvenile below the Coastguard Lookout, Portland Bill

Stonechat - In contrast to the pristine juvenile Whinchat above this adult male Stonechat looks decidely scruffy as it moults, Portland Bill

Sedge Warbler - Below the Coastguard Lookout and hanging out with the Whinchat, Portland Bill

Whimbrel - In the paddocks to the east of the Observatory, Portland Bill

Autumn Ladies-tresses - East Cliffs, Portland Bill

Autumn Lady's-tresses - East Cliffs, Portland Bill

Small Heath - East Cliff, Portland Bill

Northern Wheatear - A beautiful male bird, Top Fields, Portland Bill

Northern Wheatear - Top Fields, Portland Bill

Pennington Marsh and Woodchat Shrike at Chipping Sodbury - 15th September

Another beautiful sunny morning at Pennington Marsh and I decided to walk my normal circuit in reverse, first out past Fishtail and to Keyhaven and back past Butts and Jetty Lagoon and finally past Pennington Lagoon and Shoveler Pools. I had much of the morning to spare after dropping Tobias off so my birding was very leisurely. There were very large numbers of hirundine passing west overhead with many hundreds of birds, I estimated 750 House Martin, 150 Swallow and 75 Sand Martin but this was a fraction of the birds and numbers may have been 2-3x this easily. Two Swift were with the hirundines early on and no doubt these will be the last of the year. I was disapointed at how few waders there were on Fishtail but three Spoonbill showed very well as they fished actively in the lagoon. After the recent numbers of Baird's Sandpiper and Semipalmated Sandpiper that have been in the country I spent some time grilling the waders and searching the shallows at Keyhaven Lagoon but other than 25 Grey Plover, one Spotted Redshank, one Knot and 12 Dunlin there was little to be seen. There were increased numbers of wildfowl with 12 Wigeon and 25 Teal on the lagoon. In the dead gorse at the back of the lagoon I was pleased to see three juvenile Whinchat. On past Butts Lagoon three Bearded Reedling showed well, a male, female and a juvenile bird. The spit off Butts Lagoon had a good gathering of waders with 75 Grey Plover, 150 Dunlin and four Knot while 17 Sandwich Tern loafed on the mud nearby. Walking out to Jetty Lagoon the female Red-breasted Merganser was still present but an unfamiliar wader call grabbed my attention and as I got onto the bird I was convinced I had something decent but then I realised I had heard the call before but just in a slightly different habitat and I soon realised the bird was a Purple Sandpiper - still, a patch tick so not to be sniffed at.

Spoonbill - Fishtail Lagoon

Spoonbill - Fishtail Lagoon

Spoonbill - Fishtail Lagoon

Spoonbill - Fishtail Lagoon

There are large numbers of Starling around the marshes at the moment, this 

flock numbered around 350

Greenshank - Jetty Lagoon

The Mornings Totals

Teal - 121

Pintail - 2

Wigeon - 17

Shoveler - 8

Tufted Duck - 32 on Efford Lagoon

Eider - 15

Red-breasted Merganser - 1

Swift - 2 

Grey Plover - 100

Ringed Plover - 30

Knot - 3

Lapwing - 45

Black-tailed Godwit - 53

Bar-tailed Godwit - 6

Dunlin - 150

Snipe - 5

Common Sandpiper - 2

Purple Sandpiper - 1

Greenshank - 1

Spotted Redshank - 3

Spoonbill - 3

Sandwich Tern - 17

Bearded Reedling - 3

Swallow - 150+

Sand Martin - 75+

House Martin 750+

Chiffchaff - 2

Goldcrest - 1

Whitethroat - 1

Dartford Warbler - 3

Wheatear - 6

Stonechat - 6

Whinchat - 2

Meadow Pipit - 

Yellow Wagtail - 2

After picking Tobias up from school I had to drop him at Brockworth near to Cheltenham for a sleep-over with his cousins for the weekend. I then headed to Chipping Sodbury Common where a juvenile Woodchat Shrike has been present since 9th September. I have only seen one juvenile Woodchat previously and this was in the 1980's on the Isle of Wight so I was keen to catch up with this bird. Parking on the edge of the common and walking to the area of bramble scrub that the bird frequents it was not long before I located the bird and over the next 1.5 hours I had some great views as the bird fed on cranefly and on one occasion took a Sericomyia silentis (hoverfly) which it swallowed whole - it barely touched the sides. Also here were six Whinchat, three Wheatear and four Yellow Wagtail. At 17:15 it was time to head for home.

Woodchat Shrike (juvenile) - Chipping Sodbury Common, Gloucestershire

Woodchat Shrike (juvenile) - Chipping Sodbury Common, Gloucestershire

Woodchat Shrike (juvenile) - Chipping Sodbury Common, Gloucestershire

Woodchat Shrike (juvenile) - Chipping Sodbury Common, Gloucestershire

Woodchat Shrike (juvenile) - Chipping Sodbury Common, Gloucestershire

Whinchat (juvenile) - Chipping Sodbury Common, Gloucestershire