The Deskbound Birder: Little Bunting

Showing posts with label Little Bunting. Show all posts

Thursday, 1 April 2021

Odds and Ends from the 1st Quarter of 2021

Through this horrendous Covid-19 pandemic I have been fortunate in being able to continue to work and to travel for my work. During this time I have managed to make a few short detours to see a few birds. However, during this time I decided to cease posting on this blog, now that April is here and the Country is slowly easing out of lock-down I am planning to revive my posts. Here are some images from the very end of 2020 and into 2021.

Northern Mockingbird - I headed down to Exmouth for this bird at the end of March, not the best of twitches having to stand on a ladder and peer into someones garden.

Cirl Bunting - After the Mockingbird I headed to Labrador Bay RSPB Reserve where around 15 Cirl Bunting showed well

Baikal Teal - A short diversion during the school run got me this very wary bird at Sopley in Hampshire.

Garganey - Some time at Pennington Marsh either side of school drop off produced this fine male at the end of March

Dusky Warbler - I had great views of this bird at Siddington, Gloucestershire in early March

Grey Phalarope - School drop off also produced this bird at Pennington Marsh at the end of February

Bufflehead - I made a short visit for this bird at Lee Marston Lakes at the end of February

Dipper - A nesting pair showed well in Stroud at the end of February

Great Bustard - I dropped into see this bird in Oxfordshire from the Salisbury release programme

in early March

Little Bunting - Showed well at Thursley Common in December

Rustic Bunting - A visit to Thursley Common in December produced good views after a long wait

Sunday, 4 October 2020

Shetland - 3rd October

In a stiff south-east wind with occasional showers, some heavy, I began the day birding the Sumburgh Head and Grutness area. There were good numbers of migrants with Goldcrest, Blackcap and Robin seemingly in every patch of cover. At Sumburgh Farm a superb, self found, Little Bunting got the pulse racing and raised the expectations. A Lesser Whitethroat was flushed from a weedy field where there was also a small flock of Brambling. At Grutness a brief flight view of yesterday's Great Grey Shrike was a Shetland tick.

Little Bunting - Sumburgh Farm, Shetland

Brambling - Sumburgh Farm, Shetland

Goldcrest - Sumburgh Farm, Shetland

I then headed up to the headland where the Lanceolated Warbler from yesterday was still showing superbly as it fed along the wall and Goldcrest flitted in the tussocks of Red Fescue. Checking my phone there was no news of anything of great significance which was somewhat surprising given the weather conditions and so I decided to head to Rerwick near to Bigton where a Radde's Warbler was found yesterday. I gave the bird around an hour to show in its chosen tiny clump of Willow and Sycamore but there was no sign - the bird has generally been very elusive.

Goldcrest - Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Lanceolated Warbler - Sumburgh Head, Shetland

I then found myself at a bit of a loose end, my camera's electronics seemed to have completely failed and so I fiddled with this a while scanning Loch of Spiggie to add a few water birds to my trip list. There were 38 Whooper Swan present and a passage of 246 Barnacle Goose moving south overhead.

Whooper Swan - Loch of Spiggie, Shetland

I then headed to Levenwick where I birded the area around the stores, the highlight here was a Jack Snipe at the mouth of the quarry. I then headed to Hoswick Burn and worked the bushes lining the burn, here the highlight was three Yellow-browed Warbler and a female (type) Redstart. News then broke of a Siberian Stonechat on the road between Cunningsburgh and Blett and so I headed here and got rather brief and distant views. The light was now closing in and I decided to head back to Lerwick to try and sort my camera out. The day had offered so much by, generally, had failed to deliver on a significant rariety. Maybe tomorrow.

Friday, 2 October 2020

Shetland - 2nd October

In a Force 6-7 south-east wind I opted to start the day on the west coast of mainland Shetland hoping to find some shelter. In a light rain under heavy grey skies I birded Geosetter, there were good numbers of Redwing and Song Thrush, a couple of Goldcrest and a Blackcap but little else and there was little shelter. My eBird list for the site can be viewed here.

At around 09:00 I received a message to say that the Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler found yesterday afternoon at Burrafirth at the far end of Unst was still present and showing well occasionally. I have only seen two Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler previously in Malaysia and Thailand and so this would be British tick. I plugged in the directions to the sat nav and off I set.

Having traversed much of mainland Shetland, all of Yell and much of Unst I was pleased to finally arrive at Burrafirth some 2.5 hours later but it was not long before the Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler was seen, first in flight and then over the next two hours or so very well perched in vegetation and on the tops of walls and fences. It was a cracking little bird and great to see so well. Also here were a couple of Yellow-browed Warbler and a Little Bunting. Having had my fill I decided to make my way back south.

My eBird checklist for the site can be viewed here.

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - Burrafirth, Unst, Shetland

Little Bunting - Burrafirth, Unst, Shetland

At the Unst to mainland ferry I got chatting to Mark House who was just heading for a Lanceolated Warbler that was showing well on Sumburgh Head. I knew of this bird but hadn’t considered driving there this evening but having spoken to Mark realised that it was doable and that a 18:00 arrival at Sumburgh was possible. As I drove south, following Mark through rain and fog and failiyng light, it was not until a message pinged that said the bird was showing well that I decided to commit. Following Mark, we arrived at Sumburgh head at 17:50 in brilliant evening sunshine and quickly located the Lanceolated Warbler. The bird was showing amazingly feeding along the foot of a wall in the open and occasionally skulking through the dense Red Fescue matts and on a couple of occasions perching on top of the stone wall. It was a fabulous little bird reminiscent of a Pipit with those chunky legs and streaky plumage and a mouse in the way it walked through the grass and scuttled along the wall. A real highlight.

As we left, Goldcrest's, Robin's and two Redstart appeared to be arriving from the skies, what will tomorrow bring. My eBird checklist for the site can be viewed here.

Lanceolated Warbler - Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Friday, 12 May 2017

Mongolia - 12th May (Day 5) - Dalanzadgad and Gurvan Saikhan National Park

After some early morning birding around the guest house at Dalanzadgad which produced much the same as yesterday including Isabelline Shrike, Pallas’s Bunting, Red-throated Thrush and Long-toed Stint we packed our bags and headed into the Yolo Valley in the Gurvan Saikhan National Park around 45 minutes away.

Isabelline Shrike - Delanzadgad

Naumann's Thrush - Dalanzadgad

Crested Lark - Dalanzadgad

Crested Lark preening and showing the tail pattern nicely- Dalanzadgad

Long-toed Stint - Dalanzadgad

The habitat outside our guest house at Dalanzadgad, the bushes to the

right supported many passerines while the stream links to a reservoir to the

left and out of few and was excellent for waders and wildfowl

Heading towards the Yol Valley in the Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Heading into the Yol Valley in the Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Gurvan Saikhan National Park is a spectacular mountainous park dominated by barren peaks and lightly vegetated valleys. The park was established in 1993 and extends to nearly 27,000 square kilometres. It is the largest national park in Mongolia, stretching 380 km from east to west and 80 km from north to south. The park is named for the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains in which it is located.

A short way into the park a quick stop and a walk produced our first Mongolian Accentor, Brown Accentor and a White’s Thrush. We headed to the parking spot at Yolyn Am and walked the valley to an area known as “Vulture’s Bedroom’. This produced Taiga Flycatcher, Little Bunting, Brown Accentor, Lammergeier, Koslov’s Accentor, Tree Pipit, Northern Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, White’s Thrush, Guldenstadt’s Redstart, Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch and a stunning Wallcreeper. It was evident that the valley supported good numbers of migrants and we were amazed at how these species must migrant from south-east Asia, perhaps over the Himalayas, then across the vast and hostile Gobi Desert to find themselves in a remote mountain valley with an onward journey into Russia yet to face. We headed to our campsite for lunch set within a beautiful mountain valley and ate a rather large lunch of a dish known as Mimosa which basically consisted of egg and salad followed by rice and meat.

Isabelline Wheatear was common with many birds on territory and performing a

rather spectacular and noisy display flight - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Isabelline Wheatear - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Mongolian Accentor, like a drab Dunnock but confined to Mongolia as a

breeding species - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

White-winged Snowfinch - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Tree Pipit- Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Red-cheeked Ground Squirrel - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Lammergeier - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Brown Accentor - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Mongolian Accentor - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Spot the Wallcreeper - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Golden Eagle- Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Mongolian Pit Viper Gloydius halys - Yolyn Am Valley,

Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Photographing Mongolian Accentor on the mountain side Mongolian

Accentor - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Little Bunting - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Grey Wagtail - Yolyn Am Valley, Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Back out into the park we headed down a valley to an area known as the Ice Cave seeing Upland Buzzard and Saker Falcon at the nest, White’s Thrush and Mongolian Finch. Dinner at our campsite was followed by a night drive where we saw little but for Red Fox and a rather spectacular Mongolian Five-toed Gerboa. Bed was at 12:00 and I slept okay in the fairly warm conditions.

Barry eating his Mimosa

Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Isabelline Wheatear - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Pallas's Pica - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Tobias insisted that I took this tractor with me to Mongolia and he wanted me to take

pictures of it with the birds I saw, we has some fun with this Pica!

Upland Buzzard, its nest seemingly stuck to the cliff face - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Upland Buzzard - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Black Vulture - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Citrine Wagtail- Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Driving through the Gurvan Saikhan National Park, the road narrowing

Driving through the Gurvan Saikhan National Park, the end of the road

Frozen River Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Golden Eagle - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Little Bunting - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

Saker on nest - Gurvan Saikhan National Park

White's Thrush, seeing this species on barren slopes makes one realise that they are not so out of place in a Geo on Fair Isle - Gurvan Saikhan National Park