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, first winter - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull, second winter - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull, second winter - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Great White Egret - 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.

Isle of Wight and Pennington Marsh - 25th September

It was my birthday and as with previous years I planned to go birding for much of the day. I had a survey to complete on the Isle of Wight so I booked the earliest ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth at 05:30 to give me time at St. Catherines Point before my survey. The alarm went off at 03:45 but I had actually been awake since 02:00 and as I stepped outside I was greeted by darkness and a glowing harvest moon. I was on the island by 06:00 and stopped above Freshwater Bay as the sun was rising to enjoy the moon over Tennyson Down.

Harvest moon over Romsey

Moon over Freshwater Bay and Tennyson Down

Arriving at St. Catherine's Point I began the morning by standing to the west of the lighthouse and watching the visible migration. There was a steady stream of Meadow Pipit, a few Pied/White Wagtail, Linnet, Chaffinch and Siskin. Hirundine passage (mainly Swallow but a few House Martin) was fairly dramatic with a trickle of birds initially but then for around 30 minutes a flood of birds with approximately 150 birds passing east every minute.  However, by 08:00 this pulse of birds again eased off to a trickle. At 08:15 I gave up on the vis mig, which had all but stopped and headed to the bushes. First, I birded the East Fields before heading along the slope behind Knowle Farm, up through Hanging Valley and back through Wood Warbler Valley. It was fairly slow going, there seemed to be good numbers of Chiffchaff and Blackcap but little else. I watched a Hobby chasing Hirundines over Wood Warbler Valley and a Spitfire performing loop-the-loops but the birding had pretty much tailed off. After a coffee watching a Red Squirrel at the top of the Lighthouse Road I headed west.

Visible Migration Totals (06:30-08:15, all birds moving east):

Hirundine - 362 up to 07:30 then approx. 4,500 through between 07:30 to 08:00.

Pied Wagtail - 32

Grey Wagtail - 1

Yellow Wagtail - 4

Meadow Pipit - 217

Chaffinch - 3

Linnet - 65

Siskin - 9

Totals from my walk around:

Hobby - 1

Blackcap - 22

Whitethroat - 5

Chiffchaff - 25

Stonechat - 8

Wheatear - 2

Weather: Early wind NE F2-3 25% cloud cover and chilly. By 09:00 wind SE F3-4 and warm.

Chiffchaff - East Fields, St. Catherine's Point

Blackcap - Hanging Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Carrion Crow dwarfed by two Raven - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Juvenile Hobby - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Carrion Crow and Buzzard - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Spitfire KJI SM520 over St. Catherine's Point - More information on this plane can be read here

Red Squirrel - Lighthouse Road, St. Catherine's Point

Birding the pools along the Western Yar at Mill Copse was pretty slow going, a flock of 55 Mediterranean Gull, three Sandwich Tern, 150 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Golden Plover and a single Spotted Redshank was all that I recorded. I decided to head to my survey and get an earlier ferry home to get to Pennington Marsh so that I could at least see something of a little more note on my birthday.

Mediterranean Gull (1st winter) - Western Yar, Yarmouth

At Pennington Marsh I only had 1.15 hours before collecting Tobias from school so I headed straight for Fishtail and Butts Lagoon. My first scan of Butts Lagoon produced the Temminck's Stint feeding on the north shore. Also here were 15 Dunlin and four Snipe. I then headed to Fishtail Lagoon where a Grey Phalarope showed down to seven metres on the channel between Fishtail and Butts Lagoon - what a stunning little bird. Finally, on Butts Lagoon were three Spotted Redshank and a Curlew Sandpiper. After such an early start I was knackered and it was time to collect Tobias and head home for dinner and some wine.

Here are a few images of the Grey Phalarope on the channel between Butts and Fishtail Lagoon, I first saw this bird on 22nd September, its becoming like an old friend!

Portland - 7th September

Arriving at Portland at 06:15, it was still pretty much dark and I enjoyed a coffee while standing in the chilly air listening for calling birds but in the north-west wind it seemed very quiet with just small numbers of Meadow Pipit and the occasional Yellow Wagtail passing over. As the sun rose I walked up the West Cliff scanning the Brambles and hoping for a Booted Warbler to pop up but of course it was not to be, a single Wheatear and Chiffchaff is all that I saw. I wandered back to the car needing another coffee. The sun was now up and it was a beautiful warm morning and with sufficient caffeine I headed out across Portland.

It was pretty slow going though, at the Pulpit there were three Willow Warbler and two Chiffchaff and I spent some time hear watching the birds as they fed actively along the sun drenched bank of Elm.  A scan to sea produced a flock of six Balearic Shearwater passing west fairly close to shore. I spent some time staring into the Observatory Quarry, here there were two Lesser Whitethroat and at least seven Common Whitethroat. I then headed down through the Beach Huts and through the paddocks to the east of the observatory, here there was very little but for eight Wheatear and four Blackcap. Reaching Culverwell I spent some time wandering around the newly cleared net rides, there were good numbers of bird here and I recorded two Spotted Flycatcher, four Chiffchaff and three Blackcap. The Top Fields were very quiet with small numbers of Swallow passing over and very small numbers of Meadow Pipit and Linnet. Back at the observatory I spent some time chatting on the patio, the seawatching this morning had produced a high count of 131 Balearic Shearwater which was somewhat surprising in a north-west wind. It was 10:00 and as I needed to collect Tobias from school so I decided to head slowly back to the car via the Observatory Quarry, here I encountered the hoverfly Chrysotoxum cautum which showed well on a sunlit Bramble, this appears to be only the second record for Portland. These are my morning totals:

Swallow – Very small numbers, with only 35 counted moving east early on.
Yellow Wagtail – 12
Whinchat – 1
Wheatear – 9
Blackcap – 4 Culverwell
Lesser Whitethroat – 2 Observatory Quarry
Whitethroat – 9
Chiffchaff – 8
Willow Warbler – 3 Pulpit bushes
Spotted Flycatcher – 2 Culverwell

Sunrise over Portland Observatory

Willow Warbler - Pulpit Inn, Portland

Raven - Pulpit Inn, Portland

Spotted Flycatcher - Culverwell, Portland

Chrysotoxum cautum - Pulpit Inn, Portland

There is an abundance of Brown-tail Moth caterpillar at Portland

Portland - 25th September

It was my birthday today and so I took the day off to go birding. In previous years I have visited the Isles of Scilly but now that Tobias is at school this was not an option so I had decided to spend the day at Portland. The alarm went off at 04:30 and after a few coffee’s I was off and in the main car park at the Bill at 06:45 just as it was getting light. As I opened the car door I could here large numbers of Meadow Pipit and Linnet passing overhead with a few Grey Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail. Off the Bill a pod of around 15 Bottle-nosed Dolphin with around five calves were showing well as they frolicked around a fishing boat. I wandered towards the observatory firstly walking the perimeter of the Pulpit Inn and then to the quarry and past the bushes on the western boundary of the observatory. Large numbers of Meadow Pipit and Linnet were clearly on the move, there were at least 15 Wheatear in the fields while the bushes held good numbers of warblers with three Blackcap and eight Chiffchaff in the observatory quarry.

In the observatory garden there were around five Chiffchaff, two Willow Warbler and a smart Yellow-browed Warbler but no sign of the Greenish Warbler that had been trapped and ringed yesterday although the bird had been showing earlier in the morning. After around 1.5 hours looking for the Greenish Warbler I decided that I would rather go birding so wandered along to Culverwell, up over the Top Fields to the West Cliffs, along Sweet Hill Lane to Southwell and back along the East Cliffs to the observatory. There were large numbers of Linnet, Meadow Pipit and good numbers of Swallow with a few Sand Martin and House Martin passing over. In the fields there were a scatter of Wheatear, probably 10 in total, and two Whinchat. The Sycamores at the north-west end of Sweet Hill Lane held a single Chiffchaff and a Spotted Flycatcher. Back at the observatory the Greenish Warbler had shown again and so I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon looking for it. Within around 30 minutes I had a view of the Greenish Warbler along the access drive the observatory and over the next hour or two it showed fairly well on and off. It was quite a washed out and worn adult bird with a very indistinct wing bar. The was a new British bird for me, I had previously only seen Two-barred Greenish Warbler in the UK, the first British record on Gugh, Isle of Scilly in 1987. The Yellow-browed Warbler also showed well on and off and I spent and enjoyable couple of hours with these birds. It was 15:00 and time to head for home, a brief stop at The Fleet produced little of note. I had had a good day with a British tick and a lifer moth (see below).

Greenish Warbler - Portland Bird Observatory

Greenish Warbler - Portland Bird Observatory

Greenish Warbler - Portland Bird Observatory

Greenish Warbler - Portland Bird Observatory

Yellow-browed Warbler - Portland Bird Observatory

Bottle-nosed Dolphin (two adult and a calf) off Portland Bill early AM

Portland Lighthouses

Wheatear - Top Fields, Portland

Raven - West Cliffs, Portland

Kestrel - Reap Lane, Portland

Kestrel - Reap Lane, Portland 

Ziton Jack-up Vessel off the East Cliffs, Portland - The large struts extend down to the seabed raising the vessel from the water to create a stable platform. These vessels are used to service offshore wind farms.

Beautiful Gothic from the observatory moth trap. This is a Red Data Book 

species and a new moth for me.

Beautiful Gothic from the observatory moth trap

Goldspot from the observatory moth trap

East Cliffs viewed north, Portland

My days totals were as follows:

Goldcrest - 3

Skylark - 17

Swallow - 240

Sand Martin - 5

House Martin - 25

Willow Warbler - 2

Chiffchaff - 35

Yellow-browed Warbler - 1

Greenish Warbler - 1

Sedge Warbler - 1

Lesser Whitethroat - 1

Blackcap - 6

Spotted Flycatcher - 1

Wheatear - 15

Stonechat - 3

Yellow Wagtail - 9

Reed Bunting - 1

An account of the day on the Portland Bird Observatory blog can be viewed here

Mongolia - 19th May (Day 12) - Sangiin Dalai Lake to Hustai National Park (Part 1)

I awoke at Sangiin Dalai Lake at 05:00 to the sound of calling Demoiselle Crane and Common Crane and was up before the rest of the team. After a quick coffee we birding the lake environs once more, Barry, Jon and I heading to the main lake. One of the smaller lakes on the way held a stunning summer plumage Terek Sandpiper as well as Long-toed Stint, Temmink’s Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and a breeding pair of Whooper Swan. We wandered through the longer rushes tryiong to find a few warblers but it seemed fairly quiet on the migrant front with just two Dusky Warbler and none of the hoped for Locustella warblers. The main lake was vast and many of the birds were very distant but we recorded 12 Snejneger's Scoter and many Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Pochard and various dabbling duck. The three shallower pools were more productive with a Baillon’s Crake showing well but a little distantly plus six White-winged Black Tern, Mongolian Gull, Black Stork, Ruff, Long-toed Stint, Marsh Sandpiper and after breakfast our best views yet of Asian Dowitcher.

Raven raiding a Lapwing nest - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Whooper Swan - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Whooper Swan - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Demoiselle Crane - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Mongolian Lark - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Spotted Redshank - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Terek Sandpiper - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Spoonbill - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Spoonbill - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Rock Sparrow - Sangiin Dalai Lake 

Rock Sparrow - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Rock Sparrow - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Rock Sparrow - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Blyth's Pipit - Sangiin Dalai Lake

White-winged Black tern - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Citrine Wagtail - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Citrine Wagtail - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Citrine Wagtail - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Citrine Wagtail - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Asian Dowitcher - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Asian Dowitcher - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Asian Dowitcher - Sangiin Dalai Lake

Asian Dowitcher - Sangiin Dalai Lake

After packing our bags we continued north-wards through gradually greener vegetation as we left the grip of the Gobi Desert. Our next stop was a relatively small, reed dominated lake known as Bayan Nuur (click here for Part 2 of this post).

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight then Ulaanbaatar to Mungum Sum
Day 3 -  Mungunmorit and Gachuurt area
Day 4 - Drive to Dalanzadgad
Day 5  – Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 6 - Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 7 - Gobi Desert and Khongor Sand Dunes
Day 8 – Gobi Desert to Bogd
Day 9 - Baga Bogd Mountain and Kholboolj Lake
Day 10 - Kholboolj Lake and Barig Mountain
Day 11 - Barig Mountain and Sangiin Lake
Day 12 (Part 2) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 13 - Hustai National Park and Terelj National Park
Day 14 - Terelj National Park and Gachuurt Area
Day 15 and 16 - Gachuurt Area, Tuul River and International flight