Mainland Shetland - 9th and 10th October

I awoke to a still, foggy and drizzly morning and after grabbing some supplies I drove south and birded the Leebitten area. News broke of a Snowy Owl on Fetlar and I contemplated the logistics of getting there and whether I should go. I was very tempted but looking at the timetable for the ferries I realised it would be an all day event and so I decided to spend the day birding rather than chasing off in the car. I birded the area around Sand Lodge and the fields to the south. There were five Purple Sandpiper on the rocks adjacent to Sand Lodge and the strange sight of a Knot running around the farmyard here. There were large numbers of wader in the fields with at least 250 Golden Plover, 75 Turnstone, 125 Redshank and 35 Snipe. Scanning one flock of Snipe feeding in the fields a came across a Jack Snipe which was nice to see but a little too distant for photographs. Also here were around 75 Greylag Goose and nine Pink-footed Goose. Passerine migrants remained extremely thin on the ground, so thin in fact that I recorded precisely none! Even the trees and bushes of Sand Lodge were devoid of birds. Offshore, two Common Porpoise swam south and I spent some time scanning hoping for an Orca but with no luck. Back at the car I sheltered from the drizzle which had turned into light rain and I once again contemplated the logistics of getting to Fetlar for the owl. I decided against it and instead drove the short distance south to Sandwick and birded the gardens, fields and bay area here. I saw little but for a couple of Wheatear and I spent some time scanning the Golden Plover flocks for a 'Lesser' Golden Plover but with no luck. News broke of a Red-breasted Flycatcher showing well at North Town, Exnaboe and so I finished birding at Sandwick and headed the 20 minutes down the road. On arrival, the Red-breasted Flycatcher was showing very well feeding along a fence line and making regular sallies after flies. Also here was a male Blackcap, my first of the trip and a Goldcrest, only my third of the trip. I spent just over an hour with the Red-breasted Flycatcher, such smart little birds.

Purple Sandpiper - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland

Common Redshank - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland

Grey Seal - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland

Knot - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland

Common Porpoise - Mousa Sound, Mainland Shetland

Twite - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Twite - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland

Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland

Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland

Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland

I then headed down to the Sumburgh area and birded Pool of Virkie, Grutness and Grutness Voe. At Virkie there was the usual selection of common wader with 30 Dunlin being the best present and a Lesser Black-backed Gull which was my first of the trip. At Grutness Voe there were half a dozen very smart juvenile Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstone. Out in the bay I picked up a flock of four male and five female Long-tailed Duck. On Grutness the only bird I recorded of any note was a single Wheatear. It was now 15:30 and I decided to head north a little and spend the last hour and a half or so birding Upperton and Netherton, the latter being one of my favourite spots on the island. But I saw little, a single Chiffchaff at Netherton was the highlight - remarkably this was only my second of the trip, a real reflection of how sparse common migrant passerines are on the islands currently. I headed back to the hotel for 18:00 pleased with the Red-breasted Flycatcher but somewhat regretting having not headed for Fetlar and the Snowy Owl.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - Pool of Virkie, Mainland Shetland

Long-tailed Duck - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

Long-tailed Duck - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

Ringed Plover - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

Turnstone - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

Sanderling - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

Sanderling - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

Sanderling - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland

The 10th October was my return home, my flight was at 09:25 from Sumburgh to Edinburgh and then onto London Heathrow and so I needed to check in at 08:25. Leaving the hotel at 07:30 I drove through thick fog until I reached the Levenwick area when remarkably I emerged from the fog into sunshine. I birded a little around the Pool of Virkie and Gutness Voe picking up the same Long-tailed Duck flock from yesterday and 12 Sanderling. I headed to the airport, dropped off my hire car and headed for my flight to London Heathrow via Edinburgh. All flights departed more or less on time and I landed at Heathrow at 13:35. I drove straight to Lymington to collect Tobias from school and had 45 minutes of spare time to have a wander out to Fishtail Lagoon where a handful of Teal, Wigeon and Dunlin plus an adult Mediterranean Gull and a Spotted Redshank were the only birds present.

View of the fog-bank over Shetland from main road just before Levenwick

Trip List (British ticks in bold)
Willow Grouse
Mute Swan
Whooper Swan
Greylag Goose
Pink-footed Goose
Long-tailed Duck
Common Eider
Red-breasted Merganser
Tufted Duck
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Common Teal
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Rock Dove
Common Woodpigeon
European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Common Moorhen
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Northern Fulmar
Grey Heron
Northern Gannet
European Shag
Great Cormorant
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Golden Plover
American Golden Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Northern Lapwing
Eurasian Curlew
Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Ruff
Sanderling
Dunlin
Purple Sandpiper
Common Snipe
Common Redshank
Black-legged Kittiwake
Black-headed Gull
Mew Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
European Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Arctic Tern
Great Skua
Black Guillemot
Razorbill
Merlin
Common Raven
Carrion Crow
Eurasian Skylark
Melodious Warbler
Blyth’s Reed-warbler
Marsh Warbler
Barn Swallow
Yellow-browed Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Eurasian Blackcap
Barred Warbler
Northern Wren
Common Starling
Redwing
Eurasian Blackbird
European Robin
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Whinchat
Goldcrest
House Sparrow
Pechora Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Grey Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
White Wagtail
Brambling
Common Rosefinch
Twite
Redpoll
Eurasian Siskin
Reed Bunting

Ross's Gull, Ferrybridge, Dorset - 6th March

On 21st February I was birding at Pennington Marsh when news broke, mid-morning, of an adult Ross's Gull that had been seen at Ferrybridge flying up the Fleet. I toyed with abandoning Pennington and driving straight to the bird but as the bird appeared to have disappeared I abstained. Later that afternoon the bird was relocated at Lodmoor RSPB and stunning photographs then emerged on the various social media outlets. I was well and truly gripped, I am a great fan of gulls and consider the smaller gulls (Ross's Gull, Little Gull and Sabine's Gull) as some of our most beautiful and enigmatic species. So, I checked my diary and with dismay realised I had no availability to go for this bird, a mere one hour 15 minutes from home, for at least a week due to work and family commitments. The bird lingered and my diary stayed packed until a slot, the 2nd March, became available in my diary. But, on 1st March the 'Beast from the East' struck a low pressure system, Storm Emma, that approached from the south and southern England was gripped by heavy snow and the roads were gridlocked so I had to cancel my plans - unsurprisingly the bird was not seen that day. I then reviewed my diary and the next slot that I could create was on the 6th March and so that was the plan.

I checked the weather and the bird news on the 5th and all was looking positive. The bird was rather unpredictable in occurrence moving between Ferrybridge, Radipole RSPB, Lodmoor RSPB and occasionally disappearing, presumably to sea for extended periods.  But I headed to bed early, set my alarm for 04:00 and was on the road by 05:00 arriving at Ferrybridge at 06:30. Setting up my scope by the Chesil Beach Cafe I scanned The Fleet but there were few gulls, but I picked up a small gull in flight and which I could see had a wedged shaped tail and broad white trailing edge to the secondaries and inner primaries - that was it, the Ross's Gull but it was distant and the bird soon headed inland, seemingly towards Radipole Lake RSPB. My views were brief, distant and quite unsatisfactory. It was then a waiting game, I scanned the gulls but there were only a handful of Black-headed Gull and Herring Gull. There were around 300 Brent Goose and I soon picked out a Pale-bellied Brent, waterbirds included a handful of Red-breasted Merganser, Great-crested Grebe and Little Grebe and waders included Dunlin, Oystercatcher and Redshank. By around 08:00 a few more Black-headed Gull arrived and a total of 13 lovely summer plumaged Mediterranean Gull showed well and were calling away. There was quite a traffic queue on the approach to Weymouth and as the Ross's Gull had been showing at Radipole RSPB during the late mornings I decided to hedge my bets and join the traffic to get to Radipole. It took around 30 minutes to get to the reserve car park and there were around 15 birders there so I joined the ranks and began to scan the island and lake in front of the visitor centre. There were a dozen or so Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and a few Common Gull but no sign of the Ross's Gull. I decided to stick it out for a couple of hours but other than 45 Snipe and good views of Tufted Duck giving their rather odd wheezing calls there was little to be seen.

At 10:40 news broke of the Ross's Gull back at Ferrybridge but, knowing that the bird was pretty mobile and often didn't stay at one spot for long, the assembled birders stayed put on the assumption that it would probably show at Radipole. At 11:30 news broke again that the bird was still at Ferrybridge and a mad dash through Weymouth ensued with all lights seemingly on red. It took around 25 minutes to get to Ferrybridge and on setting up my scope I soon picked up the Ross's Gull and put other birders onto it. Walking along the pavement adjacent to the A354 we edged nearer and obtained some fairly good views of this stunning little pink-tinged Arctic gull with its silvery primaries and distinctive neck-ring. The Ross's Gull was with a flock of Mediterranean Gull which must have numbered around 500 birds and far out numbered the Black-headed Gull. This was quite an amazing sight in itself. The Ross's Gull flew and headed over Chesil Beach to the sea showing its broad white trailing edge and diamond shaped tail but it soon returned and again settled with the Mediterranean Gull's . At around 13:00 the bird took flight and headed out to sea once more and I decided it was time to head for home having obtained good views of the target bird. My photos are not as good as others online but my views were all at a moderate distance. The bird has shown particularly well especially when it appears at Radipole where it occasionally sits in the car park - still I was very happy with my views and I headed home satisfied.

There have been 97 accepted British records of Ross's Gull to the end of 2016, with an additional 22 Irish records to the end of 2014. The prime counties being Shetland with 17 records followed by Yorkshire with 13 records. The peak month of occurrence is January with over 40 records and adults make up over 75% of all occurrences. I have previously seen two Ross's Gull in the UK, the first a superb pink adult at Blackstone Meadow on the Plym Estuary in January 2002 and the second a rather tatty looking 1st summer bird that summered at  Bowling Green Marsh RSPB, Exeter in 2014, see here. Britain is the only country in the world that I have seen this species but I would love to visit Barrow in October where a regular passage of thousands of birds occurs, see here.

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull with Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull with Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull (2nd summer) - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

1st winter and adult Mediterranean Gull plus Shoveler and Avocet - Radipole RSPB, 

Weymouth, Dorset

Colour-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull - Radipole RSPB, Weymouth, Dorset

Juvenile Herring Gull - Radipole RSPB, Weymouth, Dorset

Brent Goose with Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Pale-bellied Brent Goose and Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Pale-bellied Brent Goose and Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Morocco 10th - 16th February - Oualida

After a very relaxing time at Kasbah Tamadot we were somewhat reluctant to leave and head for the coast but leave we must. The drive from Asni to Oualidia took around five hours including a 30 minute stop for a camel ride for Tobias. The route passed through a flat landscape dominated by cereal production and the birdlife seemed relatively sparse but for good numbers of Crested Lark and the occasional White Stork, Spanish Sparrow, Marsh Harrier and Calandra Lark. We passed, distantly, the Ramsar site of Sebkha Zima just outside of the town of Chemaia, and in the distance from a moving car I could see many Greater Flamingo and other waterbirds but there was no time to stop - in hindsight I wish I had noted that this site was en-route and generated time to stop. As we drove north from Safi the landscape changed dramatically and we were driving through  beautiful countryside with rugged cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and flower rich limestone pavement over rolling hills to our right.

On arrival at the hotel La Sultana Oualidia we had a tour of the hotel and its facilities and then chilled in our room for a while. The view from the conservatory attached to our room was fantastic extending over fields, scrub and a lagoon and I quickly clocked up Audouin's Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Golden Plover, Osprey, Sardinian Warbler, Spoonbill, Serin and House Bunting. We then headed to the hotel's private beach and sat with a champagne or two watching over the lagoon where there were many waders including Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Whimbrel, Curlew and along the coastline we recorded at least 75 Audouin's Gull flying north along with many Yellow-legged Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

The following morning I was up at 07:00 and ready for my boat across the lagoon to the sandspit, dunes and coastline opposite the hotel. My main aim was to see and photograph Audouin's Gull. I have never photographed this species and only seen the species previously in Morocco (a single 1st winter bird) and on Corsica (two flyby birds). The boat crossing lasted only five minutes and I added Mediterranean Gull to the trip list. Wandering across the sand the tide was very low and it took a while before I saw any gulls but then I came across a flock of several hundred Lesser Black-backed Gull and amongst them around 15 Audouin's Gull, the sand was extremely soft and I frequently sank up to my ankles but I eventually got to within a reasonable distance of the birds and got my first shots. An adult Slender-billed Gull flew past and I rattled off a few shots of this as it passed close by. Latterly, on study of my photograph's, I found that this bird was ringed. After the sun came up and the gulls disappeared into poor light I headed over the dunes to the coast getting decent views of Great Grey Shrike, Sardinian Warbler and Spotless Starling. Waiting on the cliff top there was a steady stream of gulls over the very rough seas and I photographed Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull and Audouin's Gull as they skimmed over the wave surface. Out to sea I saw several adult Gannet, a pale phase Arctic Skua and a Great Skua. I then headed back to the sand bars to see what the gulls were up to, there were no around 50 Audouin's Gull and as I arrived around 15 of them took flight and headed north passing close by and giving great views. I returned to the hotel for around 09:30 and after breakfast and a swim Sarah, Tobias and I headed back out to the sandbar. As we landed there were 12 Audouin's Gull on the beach and I got good views albeit in fairly poor light. Latterly, on study of my photograph's, I found that one of the birds was ringed. We saw little else but for a few Kentish Plover, Sanderling and a fly-by Greater Flamingo.

I spent the rest of my time at the hotel relaxing, swimming and birding from the conservatory of our room or from the veranda overlooking the lagoon with a glass of wine in hand - very relaxing. We headed home on 16th February after a great holiday of relaxing and family time with a bit of birding and some great birds thrown in.

Audouin's Gull were fairly abundant around the sandbars opposite the hotel. Interestingly all the birds that I saw were adult and I didn't record any immature birds with the exception of the 3rd winter bird in the fifth image down. The dark primary coverts age this bird. In the final image, the perched bird can be seen to be ringed (white P596). I tracked down this bird and found that the bird was ringed as a pullus on 28th June 2012 at Ilha da Barreta, Faro, Portugal (36°5810N, 007°5332W) by the Portuguese Bird Ringing Centre. This was the first sighting of this individual since it was ringed.

I only saw a couple of adult Slender-billed Gull on my morning of proper birding but this adult showed reasonably well albeit in rather dodgy light - its pinkish underparts still evident. I find the long neck and the hawking nature of its foraging flight fairly distinctive. This bird was patrolling the channels between the sandbars and plunge diving after its prey. After reviewing my images I noticed that this bird was wearing a white ring with black code 62M and while I have not yet received details of this bird I have found that it was ringed at Donana in south-west Spain.

Lesser Black-backed Gull was by far the most numerous gull species with many hundreds present. The subspecies here is graellsii as we see in the UK.

1st winter

1st winter

2nd winter

Adult winter

Adult winter almost into summer plumage

From left to right, 1st winter, adult, adult, adult, 1st winter, 2nd winter

Lesser Black-backed Gulls with Yellow-legged Gull to right

Lesser black-backed Gull (upper two birds) with Yellow-legged Gull (lower two birds)

Lesser black-backed Gull (upper two birds) with Yellow-legged Gull (lower two birds)

This adult Yellow-legged Gull did a couple of close passes to my cliff top location, these birds are almost as dark in tone as Lesser Black-backed Gull.

I saw a single adult and a single 1st winter Mediteranean Gull at the site fairly close to the hotel.

A typically gawky Greater Flamingo as it flew north along the coastline.

A flock of 20 Oystercatcher flew north well offshore,

There were a good number of waders around the lagoons including (in sequence below) Grey Plover, Ringed Plover (three images), Kentish Plover, Sanderling and Ringed Plover, Sanderling and, finally, Curlew.

During this short trip I didn't record any White Wagtail of the endemic subspecies subpersonata (Moroccan Wagtail),  only the migrant nominate alba subspecies (White Wagtail) such as the bird shown below.

In Morocco the subspecies of Great Grey Shrike that breeds is the rather dark algeriensis. This is a common bird in the lowland areas even within intensively farmed areas outside of Marrakech. 

All of the Starling that I had any kind of a view of were Spotless Starling and I did not identify a definite Common Starling.

House Bunting are perhaps one of the least exciting of the Buntings, they are closely associated with human habitations and were common in the centre of Marrakech.

This is the view from the conservatory attached to our room at our hotel La Sultana Oualidia.

The coast beyond the haven of the lagoon was dominated by the monstrous waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

Yellow Broomrape Cistanche phelypaea is found mainly in Spain, Portugal and Morocco and was common in the dunes opposite our hotel.

We enjoyed the views from the hotel veranda where the sunsets were spectacular.

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Kasbah Tamadot - 10th - 14th February
Oukaimeden - 13th February