Pennington Marsh - 1st August

Sarah was heading to Cheltenham for her sisters 40th birthday party, this was ladies party and so I decided to ehad to Pennington Marsh for a few hours in the morning. I walked out past Fishtail to Keyhaven Lagoon and then back east to Jetty Lagoon. The tide was high but there were remarkably few waders present and very few migrants in the bushes. The highlights were a single Common Sandpiper and 34 summer plumage Dunlin on Fishtail Lagoon and the flock of Eider, now numbering 24, showing well off Butts Lagoon.

My eBird checklist for the visit can be viewed here.

Common Sandpiper - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Dunlin - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Eider - off Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Caspian Tern at Fishlake Meadows - 28th July

News of a Caspian Tern showing well at Fishlake Meadows, less than five minutes from my house at 17:00 made me drop what I was doing and head to the site immediately. I was convinced that the bird would have flow by the time I arrived so I was pleased to arrive at the southern view point to see the bird hawking back and forth over the open water. The bird showed well, occasionally very well before heading off site to the south-west at around 17:45. This bird was first found yesterday at around 12:30 before it flew west at 13:00 it then appeared at the reserve on a further for occasions before being finally seen later in the evening on 28th.

Also present here were three Great White Egret. My eBird checklist can be viewed here.

Pennington Marsh - 18th July

My birding has been at a very low ebb of late, the Covid-19 lockdown saw my birding turn to a deskbased project to enter my bird records into eBird, a project to which I have become somewhat addicted, adding UK records from back as far as 1987 and now having entered my foreign trips and their associated photos back almost to 2010. Its truly fantastic to have my records, photographs and sound recordings all at my fingertips in one place rather than scattered through various notebooks and digital forums (such as this blog); although I still have a fair way to go to completion. eBird will now be my main forum for recording my sightings with a summary added to my blog.

The current Bearded Vulture in the Peaks of Derbyshire had me planning a twitch, but on the day before my planned visit I had heard that some selfish idots had pitched themselves on the cliff above the birds roost thereby detering it from coming in that evening, in addition the weather forecast was not favourable with fog and drizzle and so I cancelled. I have to say my motivation to drive four hours and then walk another 1.5 hours or so was fairly low since I have seen the species on multiple occasions arround the World and, at times, almost within touching distance.

Come the 18th July the weather forecast was good and I decided I would be more modest in a birding outing and so headed down to Pennington Marsh and walked a familiar loop out past Shoveler Pools back west to Keyhaven Lagoon and back east along the seawall before finally checking Efford Lagoon. Given that it was mid-July I had not expected a great deal but it was nice to be out on such a fine sunny morning. I arrived at 06:30 and as the tide was coming in and high at 11:07 I expected a few waders. Four Greenshank flying north over the car park on my arrival was a good sign but thereafter the wader highlights were a meagre 45 Dunlin, four Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plover and five Little Ringed Plover. There was, for example, not a single Black-tailed Godwit to be seen. There were no wildfowl, save for Mallard and Shelduck to be seen although two Goosander on the sea were somewhat of a surprise. The only hints of some migration were a single Yellow Wagtail flying west and a 1st year Wheatear along the coastal path. I headed home at just before 09:00 pleased with my mornings birding despite the lack of an obvious highlight.

My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here.

Little Egret fishing on Jetty Lagoon - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Little Ringed Plover on Fishtail Lagoon - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Juvenile Redshank on Fishtail Lagoon, these juvenile birds are responsible for a lot of claims of Wood Sandpiper at this site in July - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Oystercatcher with an Annelid Worm - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Lunar Hornet Moth - 11th July

I had long wanted to see one, or both, of Lunar Hornet Moth or Hornet Moth and so when the new LUN pheromone lure became available I was keen to try it having heard reports that it was very effective. My lure arrived on the day I was heading up to our cottage in the Cotswolds so I hastily packed it and my other lures and traps and set-off. I set the lure in the trap at 09:00 and waited, all morning there was nothing and then, just after lunch, a stunning fresh Lunar Hornet Moth in the trap. Their resemblance to Hornet's is truly remarkable. With the introduction of the LUN lure we are certain to find that this species is far more common and widespread that is realised.

Lunar Hornet Moth - Cowley, Cheltenham

Lunar Hornet Moth - Cowley, Cheltenham

I trialed a few other lures over the week we were at the cottage but was only successful in catching Orange-tailed Clearwing.

Orange-tailed Clearwing - Cowley, Cheltenham

Acres Down - 2nd June

I had a couple of hours wandering around the woodlands and heathland at Acres Down this morning. I parked in the main carpark and walked west along the main track through the woodland. It seemed fairly quiet at first but then distantly I heard a singing Wood Warbler and gradually got closer to this bird until I was underneath it. I spent the next hour with this stunning bird as it showed down to around 10m and sang nearly constantly. These are certainly the best views I have had of this species, one that is declining rapidly in the New Forest. After the woodland area I wandered onto the heathland south of the car park where the highlights were a Woodlark gathering food, Spotted Flycatcher (my first of the year) and a distant male Goshawk perched in the tree tops.

My eBird checklist can be viewed here, this list includes additional images and sound recordings.

Wood Warbler - Acres Down, New Forest

 Wood Warbler - Acres Down, New Forest

Wood Warbler - Acres Down, New Forest

Pennington Marsh - 15th May

After eight weeks of Covid-19 lockdown I had set aside a few hours to visit Pennington Marsh. It was a fantastic still and sunny day but with an early morning frost and a chilly north-east wind blowing. I walked a loop around Fishtail, Butts and Keyhaven Lagoon with a short wander along the first section of the Ancient Highway.

At Efford Lagoon a pair of Great Crested Grebe were displaying and Whitethroat and Reed Warbler chattered from the ditches and scrub. A Cuckoo called from the back of Efford and then later from the Brambles on the Old Tip where I saw the bird investigating brambles probably hunting for caterpillars. This bird regularly calls with a slightly odd three note 'cuk-cuk-oo'.

Fishtail Lagoon was alive with birds, there are currently around 15 pairs of Avocet nesting on the lagoon and many now have chicks and so the parents are actively and noisily defending them against possible threats including the local Lapwing. A pair of Little Ringed Plover fed around the waters margins and eight Black-tailed Godwit slept in the shallows. A flock of eight Whimbrel accompanied by a single winter plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit flew east along the shoreline, I got the impression that these might have been late passage birds moving through the site.

I wandered out to Keyhaven Lagoon but there were few birds, I spent some time watching a pair of Common Tern, the female perched on a fence post and the male fishing over the lagoon and returning to the female to feed her small prawns. A pair of Little Tern began hunting on the lagoon but the Common Tern objected to this and rapidly chased them away.

I left the site just gone 09:00 after a lovely mornings walk.

My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here.

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Redshank - Pennington Marsh

Common Tern - Pennington Marsh

Common Tern - Pennington Marsh

Common Tern - Pennington Marsh

Little Egret - Pennington Marsh

South Korea and Taiwan - 11th February (Day 17)

After a rather sleepless night on the eco-lodge due to barking dogs we were up 05:15 for our final days birding. We headed the short distance to Pintung University for the two remaining targets of the trip. We walked down the track through forest and secondary growth and set-up on the bund between the two lakes and began scanning. Black Drongo and Light-vented Bulbul began to appear in the tree-tops and then I picked up a bird of different shape and squinting through the gloom of the early morning I could make out some deep red colouration; Maroon Oriole, our first target and one that we had missed earlier in the trip. I shouted and the others got onto the bird fairly quickly. Our first target down. Over the next few minutes we approached the oriole more closely and eventually got great views. Next Ian found a green pigeon perched in a dead tree which was soon joined by others. We identified two species the larger White-bellied Green-pigeon and our final key target, Whistling Green-pigeon. These two species were remarkably similar even when perched together but the orange forehead, heavily marked ventral area and more uniform dull green appearance of the Whistling Green were good pointers. Over the next 45 minutes we had fantastic views of the pigeons eventually seeing 13 Whistling and seven White-bellied. My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here.

Maroon Oriole - Pintung University, Taiwan

White-bellied Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

White-bellied Green-Pigeon (lower three birds) and Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Chestnut-tailed Starling - Pintung University, Taiwan

Common Kingfisher - Pintung University, Taiwan

 Elated by our early morning success we decided to head north and to the west coast of the island for some wader watching. We arrived at the Qingkunshen IBA at just gone 10:00 and began scanning the large number of waders. The masses were dominated by Dunlin of one of the long-billed races, probably sakhalina. Amongst these were Pacific Golden Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Kentish Plover, Lesser Sand-plover, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and Avocet. The star birds were Great Knot some of which were beginning to enter summer plumage and the star, a Nordmann’s Greenshank which eventually gave excellent views . This species is a rare vagrant on Taiwan, this bird has been present at the site since at least the end of 2019. Also at the site we recorded Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern and Whiskered Tern. It was now 12:15 and we decided that we should start our journey towards the Taipei. A short stop at a lagoon further along the road produced a Black-faced Spoonbill and a rice paddy a little further on was smothered in Wigeon, Shoveler and Pintail. My eBird checklist for the site can be viewed here, here and here.

The drive north took around 4 hours with a couple of brief stops. We checked into a hotel to change and shower and after some dinner headed to our international flights. Mine departing at 00:20.

Lesser Sand Plover - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Caspian Tern - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Pacific Golden Plover - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Black-winged Stilt - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Kentish Plover - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Whiskered Tern - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

The naturalised African Sacred Ibis - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Marsh Sandpiper - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Intermediate Egret - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Great Knot - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Black-faced Spoonbill - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

 

Black-winged Kite - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Black-winged Kite - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

List of Birds Recorded in Taiwan

We recorded 153 species in Taiwan of which 33 were new for me (shown in bold). 

Taiwan Partridge

Taiwan Bamboo-partridge

Mikado Pheasant

Swinhoe's Pheasant

Tufted Duck

Northern Shoveler

Chinese Spot-billed Duck

Mallard

Common Teal

Little Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

Ashy Woodpigeon

Oriental Turtle-dove

Red Turtle-dove

Eastern Spotted Dove

White-bellied Green-pigeon

Taiwan Green-pigeon

House Swift

White-breasted Waterhen

Common Moorhen

Common Coot

Black-faced Spoonbill

African Sacred Ibis

Yellow Bittern

Malay Night-heron

Black-crowned Night-heron

Cattle Egret

Grey Heron

Great White Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Pied Avocet

Black-winged Stilt

Grey Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

Lesser Sandplover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Great Knot

Red Knot

Curlew Sandpiper

Red-necked Stint

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Common Greenshank

Nordmann's Greenshank

Common Redshank

Marsh Sandpiper

Black-headed Gull

Little Tern

Common Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Whiskered Tern

Collared Owlet

Collared Scops-owl

Mountain Scops-owl

Osprey

Black-winged Kite

Oriental Honey-buzzard

Crested Serpent-eagle

Mountain Hawk-eagle

Black Eagle

Crested Goshawk

Besra

Black Kite

Common Kingfisher

Taiwan Barbet

Grey-capped Woodpecker

White-backed Woodpecker

Peregrine Falcon

Maroon Oriole

White-bellied Erpornis

Grey-chinned Minivet

Black Drongo

Black-naped Monarch

Brown Shrike

Grey Treepie

Taiwan Blue Magpie

Plain-crowned Jay

Southern Nutcracker

Large-billed Crow

Coal Tit

Chestnut-bellied Tit

Green-backed Tit

Yellow Tit

Plain Prinia

Taiwan Cupwing

Asian House Martin

Red-rumped Swallow

House Swallow

Barn Swallow

Asian Plain Martin

Black Bulbul

Collared Finchbill

Light-vented Bulbul

Styan's Bulbul

Yellow-browed Warbler

Arctic Warbler

Rufous-faced Warbler

Brownish-flanked Bush-warbler

Yellowish-bellied Bush-warbler

Black-throated Tit

Taiwan Fulvetta

Taiwan Yuhina

Japanese White-eye

Taiwan Scimitar-babbler

Black-necklaced Scimitar-babbler

Rufous-capped Babbler

Dusky Fulvetta

Grey-cheeked Fulvetta

Taiwan Hwamei

Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush

Rusty Laughingthrush

White-whiskered Laughingthrush

White-eared Sibia

Taiwan Liocichla

Taiwan Barwing

Eurasian Nuthatch

Northern Wren

Brown Dipper

Crested Myna

Common Myna

White's Thrush

Taiwan Thrush

Eyebrowed Thrush

Brown-headed Thrush

Pale Thrush

Dusky Thrush

Small Vivid Niltava

White-tailed Blue Robin

Orange-flanked Bush-robin

White-browed Bush-robin

Collared Bush-robin

Little Forktail

Taiwan Whistling-thrush

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Plumbeous Water-redstart

Daurian Redstart

Flamecrest

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

Alpine Accentor

White-rumped Munia

Scaly-breasted Munia

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Olive-backed Pipit

Grey Wagtail

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

White Wagtail

Taiwan Rosefinch

Brown Bullfinch

Grey-headed Bullfinch

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)

South Korea

26th January (Day 1 and 2) – International flight then Han River area.

28th January (Day 3) – Songdo Tidal Flats and Korea National Arboretum.

29th January (Day 4) – Seosan Reclamation.

30th January (Day 5) – Seosan Reclamation then Geum River.

31st January (Day 6) – Yubu Island, and Han River.

Taiwan

1st February (Day 7) – Fly Seoul (South Korea) to Taipei (Taiwan) then Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

2nd February (Day 8) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

3rd February (Day 9) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

4th February (Day 10) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

5th February (Day11) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve then Huisin Forest Reserve.

6th February (Day 12) – Huisin Forest Reserve then Blue Gates Trail.

7th February (Day 13) –  Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area.

8th February (Day 14) – Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area then Firefly Lodge.

9th February (Day 15) – Alishan.

10th February (Day 16) – Alishan, Kenting National Park and Pintung University. 

11th February (Day 17) – Pingtung University then international flight.