The Deskbound Birder: September 2019

Wednesday, 25 September 2019

Portland, Lodmoor and Pennington Marsh - 25th September

I had planned to go to Portland today but the weather forecast was bad with rain until 08:00, heavy showers thereafter and a F7-8 west wind. I was hesitant until in the car at 06:00 and semi-committed to the journey, rain lashed the car as I drove and the trees were being thrashed by the wind. It was my Birthday today but I struggled to find any optimism that I would find a rare bird - always my aim on my Birthday.

Arriving in the car park at the Bill at 08:00 I began the morning with a seawatch, large numbers of Gannet were offshore, around 25 Kittiwake passed, there were good numbers of Razorbill and Guillemot and a single male Common Scoter passed east. I gave it around an hour but there was little to excite. I then wandered around the Bill area and out to Culverwell. I recorded 17 Wheatear, 35 Swallow moving west, around 75 Meadow Pipit moving west and a single Chiffchaff at Culverwell. It was very slow going and the wind was not abating. At 11:30 my parking ticket was about to run out and I decided to head to the east coast of Portland where I birded the Pen Castle and Church Ope area but saw little but for a couple of Goldcrest and a Yellow Wagtail passing south. I decided to start heading towards home via Lodmoor.

Comma - Church Ope, Portland, Dorset

Raven - Portland Bill, Dorset

Common Kestrel - Portland Bill, Dorset

I spent around an hour at Lodmoor where there had been a long staying Long-billed Dowitcher but I had no luck with this bird. I wandered along the west path there were three Great White Egret, five Yellow Wagtail, a couple of Sandwich Tern, 25 Mediterranean Gull, 15 Black-tailed Godwit, five Dunlin and a white headed Ruff.

Sandwich Tern - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Ruff - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull, a first winter bird less advanced to winter plumage than the

next two birds - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull, first winter - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull, second winter - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Great White Egret - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

It was 13:15 and I decided to head back to Hampshire and spend an hour or so at Pennington before collecting Tobias from school. I walked from Lower Pennington carpark out past Fishtail Lagoon, along the southern edge of Butts and Jetty Lagoon and back past Shoveler Pools. It was very quiet, I saw 10 Lapwing, a single House Martin and nothing much else. The lagoons were devoid of birds. I called it a day, headed for a coffee, collected Tobias from school and chilled with Sarah for the evening.

Sunday, 15 September 2019

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Farlington Marsh 15th September

I was at the Romsey show on 14th when news broke of an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler at Farlington Marsh. I had consumed far too many ciders to even contemplate trying to see the bird on the day of discovery, not just from a driving perspective but through lack of an ability to focus. On 15th I awoke to the birds continued presence and, so after a bacon sandwich to soak up the residues of yesterdays over indulgence, I was on the road. Arriving at 11:30 the bird soon showed well as it fed in a stand of Goat Willow alongside Blackcap, Chiffchaff and a loan Garden Warbler (my first of the year!). Mostly the bird was flicking through the undergrowth but it would make occasional sallies to pursue flying insects and would occasionally sit motionless in the vegetation affording good views. At one point the bird headed very rapidly through the brambles heading southwards, we followed at some pace and eventually got better views as the bird fed in brambles and hawthorn before it headed back to its original location.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Farlington Marsh, Hampshire

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler showing the full extent of its tail tip which helps to separate it from other similar species

- Farlington Marsh, Hampshire

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Farlington Marsh, Hampshire

There are 21 accepted records of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler to the end of 2017, of these 14 have been from 2000 onwards. There have, unsurprisingly, been nine records from Shetland and three from the Isles of Scilly. The only south coast records have been from Dorset, all from Portland Bill in July 1999, August 2003 and May 2008 all of which were trapped. I have previously seen Eastern Olivaceous Warbler at Hoswick, mainland Shetland on 10th October 2013 (see below) and also in Cyprus, Kenya, Morocco, Yemen, Tanzania and Cameroon.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Hoswick, Mainland Shetland 10th October 2013

HBW Alive treat 'Eastern' Olivaceous Warbler as Olivaceous Warbler while 'Western' Olivaceous Warbler is Isabelline Warbler. HBW Alive list five subspecies that differ mainly in tone of colour and in size. The subspecies elaeica is the most likely to reach the UK and is largest, with the longest primary projection and darkest flight-feathers and tends to be greyer above than other subspecies with the most pronounced pale secondary panel in fresh plumage. Elaeica occurs from south-eastern Europe eastwards through the Caucasus to Xinjiang in north-west China. The subspecies winters in the central and eastern Sahel region of Africa.

The species was once considered conspecific with Western Olivaceous (Isabelline) Warbler, but recent work has confirmed substantial differences in mitochondrial DNA, song, behaviour and morphology. Western Olivaceous Warbler has not been recorded in the UK to date. An excellent ID paper to Western and Eastern Olivaceous, Booted and Sykes's Warbler can be viewed here.

Distribution map of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - HBW Alive

Wednesday, 11 September 2019

Pennington Marsh - 11th September

Sarah was in London today and so it was my duty to collect Tobias from school. Heading off from work a little early I spent a couple of hours at Pennington. I had, unintentionally, coincided my visit with the passing of the remnants of Hurricane Dorian that had passed, so devastatingly, over the Caribbean last week before tracking up the eastern coast of the USA and crossing the Atlantic passing to the north of the UK but creating windy and damp conditions further south. It was very windy and grey and difficult conditions in which to bird. Parking at the car park at the bottom of Lower Pennington Lane and walking over the Old Landfill it was evident that there was a small but steady stream of hirundines, mainly House Martin and Sand Martin but a few Swallow, moving west into the wind. A single juvenile Whinchat showed briefly on the dump but despite looking the bird had vanished. I set my scope up to the north of Butts Lagoon and scanned across the mud and water, there were small numbers of wader, mainly sheltering behind the reeds, with a single juvenile Little Stint, four Greenshank, three Spotted Redshank, 50 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Lapwing, a single Snipe and a handful of Ringed Plover and Dunlin. I wandered onto Fishtail Lagoon but it was almost devoid of birds, a distinctive 'tip, tip' overhead and the Little Stint dropped onto the lagoon with three Dunlin and a Ringed Plover and showed fairly well, if a little distantly for such a small wader. I wandered onto Keyhaven Lagoon where a Wheatear showed well along the path but on the lagoon there was little but for 18 Teal.

I then wandered back eastwards scanning the same areas as before, small numbers of Whitethroat were in the Brambles, on the sea were 15 Eider, two Sandwich Tern, an adult and a juvenile passed by, to the west, but it was fairly quite otherwise. Heading back towards the car via Jetty Lagoon, I stopped at the jetty and scanned the mudflats and sea, there were around 25 Grey Plover, some still in almost full summer plumage, as well as around 45 Ringed Plover and a similar number of Turnstone. I headed back towards the car and then birded the Ancient Highway for a short while, there were four Common Sandpiper on Efford Lagoon along with a single Egyptian Goose. On the highway the birding was tricky due to the strong winds and I recorded singles of Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Lesser Whitethroat and Common Whitethroat plus a trickle of Hirundines overhead. It was time to head off to collect Tobias.