The Deskbound Birder

Thursday, 14 July 2016

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly at Latchmore Bottom - 14th July

The Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly is a species I have looked for on a number of occasions in the last few years, unsuccessfully, in the New Forest although in the past have seen at a number of sites elsewhere in the UK. But today I nailed it. I had a fairly specific site that I had gleaned from the internet at Latchmore Bottom to the south-east of Fordingbridge. After searching various areas that I thought might be suitable as I walked eastwards from the car park at Ogdens farm I realised that this was a bit nonsensical and decided to head straight for my 'known' spot and go from there. On arrival the weather conditions were somewhat windy and overcast and my optimism began to wain but quickly I saw Blue-tailed Damselfly and then Small Red Damselfly and I realised that all was not lost. And then, I came across a rather dull female Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly and then a rather stunning immature female of the 'form' aurantiaca, this is actually a development phase of the species. I then came across a mating pair and finally an adult male. I spent the next hour or so getting great views of the species seeing around 10 males, six females and three of the form aurantiaca.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (adult male) - Latchmore Bottom, Fordingbridge

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (female) - Latchmore Bottom, Fordingbridge

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly - Latchmore Bottom, Fordingbridge

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (immature female of the 'form' aurantiaca)

- Latchmore Bottom, Fordingbridge

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (immature female of the 'form' aurantiaca)

- Latchmore Bottom, Fordingbridge

Habitat at Latchmore Bottom supporting Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly. The species was moving around in the wettest area of the bog low amongst the Bog St. John's-wort, Cotton-grass, Purple Moor-grass and Jointed Rush

Bog Asphodel - Latchmore Bottom, Fordingbridge

Thursday, 7 July 2016

Ober Water & Silver Water, New Forest - 7th July

I had a spare morning and so decided to head into the New Forest to try and see Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, a species I had tried for in the forest last year but failed to see. I tried Ober Water, a well known site for the species, parking at the Puttles Bridge car park south of the Rhinefield Hotel at SU271029. I then walked west along the Ober Water for around 2km, it was pretty tough going through heathland and bog and I was unsuccessful in my quest but did see a range of species including Beautiful Demoiselle, Gold-ringed Dragonfly, Keeled Skimmer, White-legged Damselfly, Small Red Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Black Darter and many Silver-studded Blue.

Female Keeled Skimmer - Ober Water, New Forest

Silver-studded Blue - Ober Water, New Forest

Teneral Black Darter - Ober Water, New Forest

Small Red Damselfly - Ober Water, New Forest

Large Red Damselfly - Ober Water, New Forest

Female White-legged Damselfly - Ober Water, New Forest

Male White-legged Damselfly - Ober Water, New Forest

I then went onto Silver Water which flows south-west from the Puttles Bridge car park, this is also meant to be a good area for Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly and, in hindsight, the habitat close to Rhinefield Road appears suitable but I had no luck. I added Southern Damselfly and Azure Damselfly to the list of species for the morning.

Southern Damselfly - Silver Water, New Forest

Azure Damselfly - Silver Water, New Forest

Monday, 13 June 2016

Alaska - 13th June (Day 17)

It was our final mornings birding in Barrow and indeed in Alaska as this was the final day of the trip. We decided to head out to the point to get some final views of Polar Bear. As we drove along the coast road the male Snowy Owl from yesterday was perched close to the road on the edge of town, this is a stunning looking bird, almost pure white, and we had much better views today. Otherwise we saw the usual range of birds including Semipalmated Plover, Arctic Redpoll, large numbers of Spectacled Eider (35) and King Eider (1000's), White-billed Diver (6) and Pacific Diver (4). We recorded two flocks of Pomarine Skua (12 and 8) heading north-east, these appeared to be migrating birds. It was soon time to head back to our hotel and pack for our flight back to Anchorage via Fairbanks at 11:30 landing in Anchorage at 14:45.

Snowy Owl - Barrow

Semipalmated Plover - Barrow

Long-tailed Duck - Barrow

Snow Bunting - Barrow

Snow Bunting (sub-adult male) - Barrow

The frozen Chukchi Sea, Barrow

Barrow House

The frozen Chukchi Sea, Barrow

Barrow sign and whale jaw bone

Barrow sign

After landing in Anchorage we picked up a hire car and dropped our gear off at Hotel 6. Andy decided to crash for a couple of hours while Martin, Ian, Barry and I headed to Westchester Lagoon for some final birding from 16:30 to 18:00. The highlights here were Bonaparte's Gull (10), Lesser Yellowlegs (4), Short-billed Dowitcher (15) and Alder Flycatcher (2). But best of all was a flock of around 60 Hudsonian Godwit roosting on the island in the centre of the lagoon, most of these birds were in summer plumage, a fitting final bird of the trip.

Black-billed Magpie, the species is genetically similar to Common Magpie

and often considered conspecific - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Black-billed Magpie - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Lesser Scaup - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Lesser Yellowlegs - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Green-winged Teal - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Red-necked Grebe - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Hudsonian Godwit (and Short-billed Dowitcher) - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Hudsonian Godwit (plus Short-billed Dowitcher, Canada Goose and Arctic Tern) - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Hudsonian Godwit - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Hudsonian Godwit (plus Short-billed Dowitcher and Arctic Tern) - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Hudsonian Godwit (and Short-billed Dowitcher) - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

Hudsonian Godwit (plus Short-billed Dowitcher and Arctic Tern) - Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

After freshening up at the hotel we headed to the Moose’s Tooth for a final dinner of a massive pizza and beer. Martin and I then dropped Ian, Barry and Andy before heading back to the hotel. Martin departed at midnight while I had and extra night before my flight. On the 14th I was up at 06:00 for my 11:10 flight to Seattle, I landed in Seattle at 15:35 and departed for London Heathrow at 19:10 finally landing in London at 12:25.

Trip List
Total of 181 species with 21 ticks (shown in bold).

Willow Grouse
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Brent Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Snow Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose
Long-tailed Duck
Spectacled Eider
King Eider
Common Eider
Steller's Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Goosander
Red-breasted Merganser
Harlequin Duck
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Rock Dove
Sandhill Crane
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Yellow-billed Loon
Northern Fulmar
Short-tailed Shearwater
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Red-faced Cormorant
American Black Oystercatcher
Grey Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
American Golden Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Ringed Plover
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Whimbrel
Bar-tailed Godwit
Hudsonian Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Great Knot
Surfbird
Sanderling
Red-necked Stint
Dunlin
Rock Sandpiper
Baird’s Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Sabine’s Gull
Red-legged Kittiwake
Black-legged Kittiwake
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull
Arctic Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Slaty-backed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous Gull
Aleutian Tern
Caspian Tern
Arctic Tern
Long-tailed Jaeger
Arctic Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger
Rhinoceros Auklet
Tufted Puffin
Horned Puffin
Parakeet Auklet
Least Auklet
Crested Auklet
Marbled Murrelet
Kittlitz's Murrelet
Black Guillemot
Pigeon Guillemot
Ancient Murrelet
Thick-billed Murre
Common Murre
Short-eared Owl
Snowy Owl
Osprey
Golden Eagle
Northern Harrier
Northern Goshawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Buzzard
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-shafted Flicker
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Merlin
Gyrfalcon
Peregrine Falcon
Alder Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Horned Lark
Collared Sand Martin
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Buff-bellied Pipit
Yellow Wagtail
Bohemian Waxwing
American Dipper
Northern Wren
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Grey-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Bluethroat
Northern Wheatear
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Arctic Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Great Grey Shrike
Steller's Jay
Grey Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Common Starling
Common Redpoll
Arctic Redpoll
Grey-crowned Rosy-finch
Two-barred Crossbill
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Wilson's Warbler
Smith's Longspur
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Red Fox-sparrow
Sooty Fox-sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Rusty Blackbird

Biggest dips were McKay's Bunting and Emperor Goose, we were too late for the former and unlucky with the latter.

Links to the other days of the trip (click to view)

Day 1 – Background, international flights and Anchorage

Day 2 (Part 1) – Anchorage

Day 2 (Part 2) – St. Paul, Pribolofs

Day 3 - St. Paul, Pribolofs

Day 4 - St. Paul, Pribolofs

Day 5 - St. Paul, Pribolofs then fly to Anchorage

Day 6 –Seward

Day 7 – Kenai Fjords cruise then drive to Denali

Day 8 – Denali National Park and Denali Highway

Day 9 – Paxton Area of Denali Highway

Day 10 – Drive Paxton to Anchorage