Secret Twitches

Hoopoe - Sand Point, Somerset, Monday 29th October 2012

I’ve been a bit quiet in the blogosphere recently, and as 2012 was drawing to a close, I figured I should tie up a few loose ends on the blog. I’ve been wanting to write up the last couple of birding trips I did for a couple of months now – not least because I saw some fantastic birds, learned loads of new things, and had a few japes. Both trips were with my friend Joel, otherwise know as the Secret Twitcher.

The first trip was a proper planned, four-day, whole-of-the UK job. Setting off from West Yorkshire at stupid o’clock on Saturday 27th October, we were at Kilminning, Fife before dawn. It was large site, and while I was stumbling around a large patch of wild rose, Joel picked out the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler we’d come looking for. A cracking bird, with a big bill, really pale throat, long tail, feeding low down and calling frequently. We were on a mission so we didn’t hang around too long – just long enough for me to string a potential Common Rosefinch. A drab bird with a plain face and streaky body, it had what looked like the remains of red fruit around its bill – difficult to fully see in the foliage. I suspect it was really a poorly young Greenfinch or some such, possibly with this new strain of avian pox, which would explain why it was so moribund.

After a brief stop to check out some Black-throated Diver and Velvet Scoter on the Forth, we headed for Whitburn Country Park, Country Durham. The target bird here was a Dusky Warbler. We spent a few hours staring into bushes before Joel could no longer ignore the reports of Little Auk passage, so he went off sea-watching (and got his tick – nice one). I went a refound the Barred Warbler which had been around earlier in the week, then re-joined the Dusky search.

By this time the light was fading and there was only me and a young birder looking. She heard the call and saw it low down. Thankfully she called me over (very grateful for that) and we soon found it higher up in the branches. I really wasn’t expecting it to be 4 metres up, but it looked so different than anything I’d seen before. Like a dark chocolate Chiffchaff, with milky coffee under parts, and a long, milky supercilium. It was slim and active – often hanging upside down to feed on the underside of leaves. Was that the Dusky? The (re)finder was pretty certain, but I wasn’t so sure – I’d never seen one before and couldn’t remember all the salient ID points (yes, the shame).

Anyway, it was dark by now, and we had to decide where to go. There weren’t any more “good” birds in the north of east, so after a bag of chips we headed south west and spent the night in… Bristol. Good grief, I was tired after that drive. I shouldn’t talk about my driving on this trip – it was shocking. I don’t think I ever recovered from the lack of sleep I had at the start. Fortunately Joel did the lion’s share. Before finally falling asleep I looked up Dusky Warbler in the books we’d brought, and checked out some You Tube videos. Oh yes, it was Dusky Warbler alright – nailed on. Happy as I was to have seen one, got the tick, learned something new, etc., I was pretty gutted that I’d gone looking for one without doing enough research first. D’oh! Note to self for next time...

On Sunday 28th we spend a rainy day on Portland Bill in Dorset, looking for the Isabelline (Durian) Shrike, which had obviously left (or died) over night. Fascinating place though, despite the big dip. Regardless, we still had time to head up to Sand Point near Weston-Super-Mare and see the Hoopoe on the beach, didn’t we? Plenty of time, even though it was getting very dark before we even arrived… Must be the bad weather… Oh wait, didn’t the clocks had gone back the night before? D’oh! So anyway we got really wet running around the beach in the dark in the vain hope of seeing a Hoopoe. Fail.

Our luck was in on Monday – the Hoopoe showed nicely first thing. Result.

Hoopoe - Sand Point, Somerset, Monday 29th October 2012

A European Bee-eater was reported at Swanage, back in Dorset – another UK lifer for us both – so we headed off. It was a long journey, and the lack of reports made us decide to head elsewhere, when it was suddenly reported again. Thanks to the satnav and some very helpful people on Twitter, we got to the right place just in time. I sprinted (which soon became jogged, then crawled – need some exercise) up the hill while Joel paid the parking (sorry I ran off mate – I didn’t think). We managed some decent views of the juvenile in a tall copper Beech tree, before it flew. Some more views around the top of some Scots Pines and it was off. Brief, but worth it.

There was still time for a dash west to Bolt Head, Devon for Siberian Stonechat. Bit off an odd one this. We arrived at Mid Soar in a hailstorm, and as the weather cleared a pale stonechat showed itself around the field. The other newcomers were happy with the ID, and the locals and others already there didn’t disagree. But I for one was not happy with the ID – it looked like a pale Stonechat, similar to many I’d seen before. The rump didn’t seem pale or unstreaked either…

So, after everyone bar one other birder had left, the Siberian Stonechat eventually showed. No problems with the ID here. A lovely young bird which positively shone, with a striking rump too. A lifer for us both.

We spent the night in Torquay, which looked like the Côte d’Azur in the dawn sun on Tuesday. We were off to Broadsands for the Cirl Buntings (a lifer for the Secret Twitcher), which weren’t too difficult to find (although a scope is recommended if you don’t fancy walking up into the fields – may be easier in winter).

Next stop Dawlish Warren, for sunshine, sand, sea, and a Bonaparte’s Gull. This took some finding, and some other birders found it first. I think I had it in flight about five minutes earlier – flying away from us along the groyes. A smaller bird than the Black-headed Gulls, with a more tern-like flight. We did get a great view in the end, as it came right at us – thin black bill, thin black trailing edge to the wing, grey extending up the neck. Lovely. We also picked out a Mediterranean Gull too. Another Secret tick.

Then, the last bird – a tick for me this one – Lesser Yellowlegs at Ernesettle Creek, near Plymouth. Took a bit of finding too, but really stuck out as soon as I saw it (after pushing noisily through a hedge – great field skills eh?). A little cracker – had dirty legs when we first go it (still obvious what it was), but then had a quick wash and - bang – the yellowest yellow you’ll ever see.

A great few days, with a great birder. And we didn’t die while I was driving. Phew.

The next trip was a long one-dayer on Saturday 15th December. We were hoping to get as many of possible from Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll (Suffolk), Penduline Tit (Cambridgeshire), Buff-bellied Pipit (Berkshire), and Falcated Duck (Oxfordshire). Starting from West Yorkshire, we needed an early start…

The Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni hornemanni) had been proving very popular for a few days, and there seemed little chance of that abating. The Hornemann’s is the definitive Arctic Redpoll – a big snowball of a bird, as opposed to Coues's Arctic Redpoll (C. h. exilipes), which is more difficult to separate from Mealy Redpoll. I’d seen the latter, and although the Hornemann’s is not recognised as a separate species, this bird looked too good to miss.

We arrived at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, around half-an-hour after dawn, and already there were birders on the beach. The bird showed beautifully, down to three metres, in good light. Annoyingly, my camera battery ran out before I could take any shots of the bird – grrrr. It was large for a Redpoll, with a smaller-looking bill, a large buffy head, a big white barrel chest, some soft flank streaks, a massive white rump, and a long tail. Google “Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll Aldeburgh” or just take my word for it: this was a stunning bird. It was great to see it so close and take so much in - a great start.

 Spot the Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll

Off to Ouse Fen RSPB in Cambs to try for that most elusive of birds, Penduline Tit. We learned something here too: Reed Warblers can make a call that’s not dissimilar to Penduline Tit. Two birds flew over (against the sun) and made a down-slurred call, and me and Joel were on them straight away – sounded just right for Pendulines! An hour grilling the reeds where they’d landed came to nothing, and we were eventually called over to another area where the Pendulines had just been seen – yes, our birds were Reedies… The Pendulines didn’t show to us, so we left, mindful of the bigger prize of Buff-bellied Pipit…

There had been only negative reports of the (probably-plastic) Falcated Duck (formerly) at Farmoor Reservoir in Oxon, so we gave over the rest of the day to the pipit. Queen Mother Res is just inside Berkshire, just outside the M25 west of Heathrow Airport – although London birders still call this London (a bit like claiming sightings from Saltholme in Cleveland on your Yorkshire list I guess).

The reservoir is a big, typically concrete-sided thing, and the pipit was (when we arrived) about a kilometre away form the car park. We walked briskly to the bird - the walk back was much slower, as the pipit was steadily making its way towards the car parks, and we just followed it! This was one obliging creature, allowing some great views (I spent a few minutes cursing my dodgy camera again, and could only take shots with my phone).

 Spot the Buff-bellied Pipit

I’d seen a Buff-bellied Pipit (or American Pipit as the Yanks call it) once before: in California the previous December. That bird looked paler and more clearly marked than this one, possibly because of the sub-species and the massive difference in light quality. Buff-bellied Pipit is most similar to Rock Pipit. I’d done my research this time, and could pick out a few differences. The outer tail feathers were bright white – we got great views of these – whereas they are greyish on Rock Pipit. There was no hint of a dark eye stripe and the slightly off-white eye ring was a complete circle (not two semicircles as on Rock Pipit). There was little or no colour contrast between the mantle and wings, and the head, nape and mantle markings were feint. I’m sure there are more ID clues, but that was good enough for me. British tick number 334 (and number 272 for the year).

Big thanks to the generous Berkshire birder who arranged access at this normally permit-only site, and stayed out in all weather making sure everyone got to see the bird – nice one.

Another very satisfactory day’s birding. Hopefully have a few more good twitches like this in 2013 (plus some self-finds, patch ticks and garden ticks).

Spurn and the North Sea - 22nd-23rd September

Great Skua, Bridlington Bay, East Yorkshire -  
Sunday 23rd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

Following on from my crazy birding weekend a couple of weeks previous (see here, here, here, and here), I had another one booked for the weekend of 22nd September. It didn’t quite work out as planned, but it was fun and worthwhile all the same.

I’ve been birding with my friends Mike and Chris before, but always in the company of Lee “LGRE” Evans (here and here, for example). We’d discussed having a long weekend up north (they live in London and Norfolk respectively) for a while, and decided a September weekend around Flamborough and Spurn would be ideal.

The “ideal” bit really depends on the weather, and luckily – after weeks of westerly winds – some easterlies arrived just in time for our weekend. We met up in Beverley on Friday evening and had a few gins and beers to set us up for the follow day…

Day One was all about Spurn. Well, it started out by being all about breakfast at the B&B (which was Trinity Guest House, by the way – highly recommended). This meant we were still 45 minutes away from Spurn when news of the birds started coming in.

By the time we arrived the Red-breasted Flycatcher reported near the Warren had gone to ground, but a Yellow-browed Warbler was a nice back up.

We decided to check out the high-tide wader roost from Chalk Bank. This is the point when I noticed a rattle coming from my scope as I set it up. The view through the scope was completely black and the focus wheel had become stiff. And, yes, looking through the objective lens I could see a prism rolling around inside. Arse. As I write, I’m still waiting for it to come back from repair at Opticron.

Anyway, I did get some nice views of Knot, Curlew, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Black-tailed Godwit, and Common Scoter through Mike’s lovely Swarovski scope.

Back up at Kilnsea, we hung around Beacon Lane just north of the Blue Bell, checking the bushes. Here I stumbled across a Common Whitethroat and then found a Yellow-browed Warbler (my first “self-found” for this species), which pleased me no end!

'My' Yellow-browed Warbler, Kilnsea, East Yorkshire -  
Saturday 22nd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

We popped down to the Point and saw, apart from gulls over, only a Common Snipe, a Common Kestrel, and a great juvenile Red-backed Shrike. The Shrike gave us all the run around through the thick and prickly shrubs in the dunes, but it was worth it. The Snipe circled over our heads several times, perhaps debating internally whether it was ready to set off southwards over the sea or not.

We heard a Red-breasted Flycatcher was in the Crown and Anchor car park, and got there in good time to see not one, but two of these beauties. These flighty fellas weren’t easy to photograph, but occasionally we got some lovely views of the birds’ faces, with that trademark plaintive expression, that upright posture or those drooping wings. This was a tick for all of us, so it was handy we were in a pub car park - time for a beer in the pub.

After some sea-watching near the Warren (with Great Skua being the highlight), and seeing a nice Redstart near the Obs, we spent most of the rest of the day staring at bushes on Beacon Lane.

House Sparrow, Kilnsea, East Yorkshire -  
Saturday 22nd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

Pied Flycatcher, Kilnsea, East Yorkshire -  
Saturday 22nd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

We couldn’t get on the Barred Warbler that had been reported here, but we did get more views of the Yellow-browed Warbler I found earlier; plus Blackcap, loads of Pied Flycatchers, House Martins and Swallows over the fields, and a Short-eared Owl sat unobtrusively in the long grass. We took the path North, around the new Kilnsea Wetlands (four Yellow Wagtails feeding under cattle and a Carrion Crow and Kestrel face-off), before heading back to Beverley for beers and bed.

Sunset, from Kilnsea, East Yorkshire - Saturday 22nd September 2012

Day two was another trip on the Yorkshire Belle out of Bridlington. My last trip a couple of weeks back produced a stunning Pomerine Skua, and we were hoping for more of the same.

The weather was cool and overcast, but with some sunny periods. The sea was pretty calm, but there was the odd bump further out (too bumpy for some sufferers of sea sickness, unfortunately).

Highlights were 4 Sooty Shearwaters (a nice year tick, bringing this year’s list to 264), 2 Manx Shearwaters, several Great Skua and Arctic Skua (good views of both of these), a fly-past by 6 Common Scoter, and lots of close-ups of Kittiwakes.

Chris got loads of great shots, and I’m really grateful to him for letting me use them on this blog.

Sooty Shearwater, Bridlington Bay, East Yorkshire -  
Sunday 23rd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

Manx Shearwater, Bridlington Bay, East Yorkshire -  
Sunday 23rd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

Arctic Skua, Bridlington Bay, East Yorkshire -  
Sunday 23rd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

Kittiwake, Bridlington Bay, East Yorkshire -  
Sunday 23rd September 2012 (photo: Chris Morgan)

Baird’s Sandpiper and other delights – North Teesmouth, Monday 10th September 2012

The forth and final day of my birding long-weekend, and after all that twitching (here and here) and boating (here) it was a pleasure to just do some straight-ahead bird watching.

This area (comprising Saltholme, Seal Sands, Seaton Snook, North Gare, and so on – part of Teesmouth Bird Club’s recording area) is not too far from where I live, so even after a slow start to the day I was on the beach at Seaton Snook by mid-morning.

The juvenile Baird’s Sandpiper was with three Sanderling, running back-and-forth along the tide line. The birds were very confiding, but it wasn’t difficult to pick out the Baird’s even at some distance. It was the smaller, daintier bird of the group, with an obvious long primary projection, making the bird appear stretched lengthways. The legs looked longer and the bill looked finer than those of the Sanderlings.

With closer views the bill could be seen to curve downwards slightly. The breast was a buff-brown and well marked with fine lines of dark streaky spots; whereas the belly was off-white with a clear distinction between the two (c.f. Pectoral Sandpiper). The coverts were scaly brown/black/buff, with dark primaries extending beyond the tail. There was a hint of a buff supercilium behind the eye, with darker areas on the ear coverts and crown, and there were two buff lines from the nape down to the mantle.

When running it shot along like the Sanderlings on fast black legs, but when feeding it probed less frequently. It did occasionally find something of interest and would probe and peck at it for some time. In flight, the wings were long and thin, and appeared two-coloured: buff-brown on the coverts and greyish on the flight feathers.

There was no doubting this was an attractive, distinctive, and characterful bird.

Baird's Sandpiper, Cleveland - Monday 10th September 2012

Sanderling (left) and Baird's Sandpiper, Cleveland - Monday 10th September 2012

Sanderling, Cleveland - Monday 10th September 2012

After I’d had my fill of that lovely bird, I spent the rest of the afternoon at Saltholme RSPB, starting at the rather conveniently sited Phil Stead hide (in the car park, so you actually get some birding in before going through the gift shop).

After some minutes I managed to rustle up one of the moulting Garganey that were hiding in the reeds. These birds are often unobtrusive, even in spring and summer, when the male is in full breeding plumage and doing his thing. The eclipse plumage is a subtle thing, best picked out by looking for the softly-streaked head pattern. Nice supporting cast of Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, and Coot was flushed briefly by a passing Merlin. And there was another cloud of Goldfinch coming and going too – seen so many this year, lots of good-sized flocks. Also, a Brown Hare came a sat in front of the hide for 30 minutes.

Brown Hare, Saltholme RSPB - Monday 10th September 2012

After a quick snack - and two Kestrels, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Coot, Mallard from the visitor centre - I finished off down at Saltholme Pools hide. I nice, close Black-necked Grebe was the highlight, though I could only see one of supposed two. A bit thin on waders today, but numbers of ducks building  nicely: Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Teal, etc.

Baillon’s Crake, Rainham Marshes RSPB, London – Sunday 12th September 2012

Baillon's Crake, Rainham Marshes RSPB, London -
Sunday 9th September 2012 (photo: John Foster)

Yes, another twitch. I don’t even feel ashamed to admit it now, I’m too far gone…

Sunday 12th was another nice, warm sunny day and I intended to spend the day in Cleveland, check out the Baird’s Sandpiper on Seaton Snook and "do" Saltholme RSPB. I’d had a lie-in because the previous day had been a long one, and the Airedale Otters bat walk went on til late. I set off around 10:00 for the Northeast, but soon came home after realising I’d forgotten my phone (and spilling coffee in the car while looking for my phone …grrr).

While refilling my flask, a message from BirdGuides came through saying the Baillon’s Crake in London was showing again, and showing well too. I’d written this bird off in terms of trying to see it: a long drive was needed just for the slim chance of seeing a bird that seemed to show only in the early morning, and only then for an all-too-brief moment. Too much of a gamble, I reckoned. But, when this message arrived, I’m afraid my inner twitcher took hold…

…so, I arrived at Rainham Marshes RSPB around 15:00, with the sun beaming and a bit of a breeze blowing. Someone shouted from the visitor centre that the Baillon’s was showing now, so I hooked up with a local birder and we power-walked round to the Shooting Butts Hide.

And what a lovely nice big hide it is too, and full to the rafters with birders and their gear. The more eyes looking the better, I say. The bird had shown a few times apparently, but few people in the hide were getting on to it. Sounded like this was going to be a challenge.

Not long after arriving I bumped into my friend John Foster, who’d been in the hide during the 15:00 showing, but he hadn’t got on to the bird. John had to leave before seeing it, but came back twice over the next couple of days and got decent views, and even the photo above. Nice work, John, and thanks for letting me use it. You can find more of John’s photos here and read his blog here.

There were few birds to be seen apart from Little Grebes and feisty Coots, with Little Egrets and a Peregrine further out over the reserve. Everyone’s concentration was focused on the long grass at the back of the first channel of water’s in front of the hide.

At one point, probably around 18:00, I saw a small rail/crake species fly out from the back of the grassy area and land on the far bank (further back and to the left of the red generator, for anyone who’s been to the hide). At least, I think that’s what it was. No one else said anything, and I was too timid to pipe up. And when someone called out “Baillon’s!” and pointed to the near shore, I dismissed this earlier sighting altogether.

I rushed down the right-hand end of the hide, and standing on tip toes, using two blokes in front of me as arm rests, I got on to it. Yes, sideways on, just a few inches into the grass, a rich brown crake with strong white spotting. Result! Okay, I didn’t cover myself with glory in the melee, and the views weren’t great, but it was the bird all right.

But the best views were yet to come. At around 19:15, as the light faded and we were reminded the hide would shut in 15 minutes, a young guy picked it the Baillon’s again, halfway up a thick blade of grass some ten metres from the last sighting. It wasn’t possible to see all of the bird at one time, but by moving along the hide it was possible to see just about the whole thing.

What first struck was it was remarkably small, and it obviously wasn’t weighing down the grass it was perched on. The grey face and bill were clear from my initial vantage point, and through my scope I could just make out the eye, looking red-brown. The under parts were also grey with some speckling on the breast and barring on the flanks. The upper parts were more obscured, but the chestnut brown down the nape and mantle was clear, as well as some of the white spotting and streaking I’d seen during the earlier sighting. A great bird to see and learn from.

Interestingly, a two-bird theory has developed online after apparent differences were noticed in photographs of the bird(s). This is something I though might be possible, even before I’d seen what looked like two separate birds. With evidence of breeding from several sites across the UK this summer, it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise that birds bred at Rainham. Apparently, Marsh Frogs, which are present at Rainham, have a very similar call to Baillon’s Crake. So if any were heard calling in this obscure corner of the reserve late at night, they may have been disregarded. Hopefully these will be the first of many.

Finally, I must say a big thank you to the staff and volunteers at Rainham for their generosity and hard work for opening the reserve early and until late so that twitchers like me had a chance to see this bird. Special thanks to warden Howard Vaughan, who implored me to run to the hide when I arrived ("Go, go, go!"), and who waved us off with a smile as we all left happy in the dark. Cheers.

Bridlington Skua Cruise – Saturday 8th September 2012

The first of two RSPB Skua and Shearwater cruises off Flamborough Head I planned going on this year. A lovely day: in fact, the weather looked too nice. The sea was as flat as a pancake, which didn’t bode well for good birds…

I got to the harbour-side at 08:00 and sat near the gangway, attempting to stake my place in the queue (but still managed to be bustled out to the way by some Johnny-come-lately, older-and-so-should-know-better birders when we all went for the boat). Purple Sandpipers and Turnstones were on the sea wall north of the harbour, and Guillemot was very close in to where I was sat waiting.

The North Sea mill pond - Saturday 8th September 2012

Some of the Yorkshire guys from the Bird Forum were meeting for this trip. Not being sure of where I’d be coming from beforehand, or going to afterwards, or even if I’d be there at all, I decided not to join in with the car sharing. Or maybe I’m just an unsociable bugger.

As we left the harbour we all got a good look at the Kittiwakes on the outer harbour wall. It wasn’t long before we had our first good bird: a Black Guillemot. I say “we”, but I think Martin Garner of Birding Frontiers fame was the only one to see it well. There was some consternation on the boat that the sighting wasn’t properly divulged at the time, but I was watching Martin as he spotted it and subsequently confirmed the ID and I don’t think there was much more he could do. Maybe he could have asked the boat to be stopped, but I’m not sure he felt that was in his remit. I think the only people who were really bothered were county listers who needed it for their Yorkshire list (I don’t keep one), and those needing for their life list (they should try northwest Scotland for birds in their fantastic breeding plumage). It wasn’t even a year tick for me, so I smugly kept my gob shut.

Anyway, there are plenty of accounts of this trip and opinions on the above tyke Tystie that I won’t bleat on about it any more. I won’t into much detail about the birds here, other than the on lifer I did get on this trip: Pomarine Skua.

It was called quite early as an Artic Skua, I guess because the spoons (the twisted, elongated tail feathers) weren’t obvious as it approached. But when we all got a good view… whoa! It was a Pom, and a stonking adult in breeding plumage.

It came in close and circled the boat a couple of times, maybe as close to 10 metres. Close enough and long enough to really take in all the identification features. This was a large, powerful skua. It had a very dark brown hood covering the face to below the bill line - not just a cap. The neck was a strong yellow colour. The line between the dark uppers and pale under parts was broken and mottled. There was a strong, mottled “necklace” and a powerful, two-tone bill. And there were the tail “spoons” of course. It eventually sat on the water and allowed us to approach. Taking flight it flew around the boat again and sat on the water, before finally heading off. Better views than I’d ever thought possible of a Pom off the Yorkshire coast.

My friend Andy texted me to gloat about the great views he was getting of this bird, not realising I was on the same boat and had in fact been waving to him across the deck! Anyway, he got some great pictures, which he’s generously allowed me to use here, so I’d better be nice! There are more of Andy’s photos on Flickr here.

Pomarine Skua - Saturday 8th September 2012 (photo: Andy Kisby)

Pomarine Skua - Saturday 8th September 2012 (photo: Andy Kisby)

Getting good views of the Pom - Saturday 8th September 2012

The skua action didn’t stop there. We had some great views of juvenile Arctic Skua and both adult and juvenile Great Skua. Nice to see so many. After all the skua fun, the other birds were just padding, but we had some good one given the calm weather and westerly wind. At least three Common Scoter, Common Tern, Arctic Tern (great views of an adult and juvenile), Sandwich Tern, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin (the auks in juvenile and winter plumage), lots of plunge-diving Gannet, Fulmar, and a distant Balearic Shearwater. I got on this last bird, and it was certainly dark, with a loose-winged flight action, but I couldn’t pick out much more than that. The other birds I got from on board were: Herring, Common, Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed, and Greater Black-backed Gull, Kittiwake, and Shag, with four or five Red-throated Divers flying north past us as we came back to Bridlington. I think one or two other species were seen by others.

The Bird Forum guys decided to head off to Tophill Low NR. I would have joined them, but it was in the wrong direction if I was going to help out at the Airedale Otters bat walk in Bingley at 19:00. So I decided I’d pop into to Fairburn Ings RSPB on the way home.

I headed for the Lyn Dyke end of the reserve. It was quiet, with few birds or people around, but it was a lovely afternoon to spend watching the world go by. Through my scope I watched a male Gadwall in extreme close-up as it preened in the bright sunshine. Fantastic: such beautiful plumage. A late Chiffchaff was singing, and I heard Willow Warbler calls from the hawthorns. It was a nice way to break up the monotony of the journey home.

The bat walk later went well too, with lots of Pipistrelle and Daubenton’s bats to entertain the kids; and my daughter Rowan having a great time staying up late with her friend running around St Ives in the dark!

Double Dowitchers!

I had a ridiculous, brilliant, and tiring few days of birding/twitching last weekend, after getting agreement from Mrs Indie-Birder for me to disappear for four days. I’m playing catch-up with the blog at the moment, so here’s a quick account of day one.

Friday 7th September: The plan all along had been to spend a long weekend on the east coast, picking up those usual September migrants around Spurn and Flamborough Head, and hoping for something more interesting to crop up. But, with the wind coming stubbornly from the west all week, it came as no surprise that East Yorkshire was quiet, whereas the South West was full of American goodies. Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, etc, etc, and most of them lifers for me. Now when Britain’s only second twitchable Short-billed Dowitcher turned up in Dorset earlier in the week, the die was cast.

I set off later than I wanted, but arrived at Lodmoor RSPB in Weymouth around 10am. What a beautiful morning, hot, sunny, slight breeze off the sea… Yes, yes, but what of the bird? “No sign”… Well, I’d made my choice and I was here now. I’d even brought a toothbrush and enough clothes for four days. I wasn’t going home empty-handed.

Lodmoor was good to me last year, when looking for another Yank wader: Stilt Sandpiper. Okay, I spent an afternoon then looking at nothing but Juncus grass, but that bird showed brilliantly in the end. I clung on to this thought as I stared intently at the Juncus grass hoping the Black-tailed Godwit that kept passing the gap I looking at would suddenly shrink and develop shorter legs and some tertial notches…

Waiting, watching…

Then an eagle-eyed chap picked it out, just where it had been last seen briefly at dawn five hours earlier. After this, it stayed in view all the while I was there (another 2.5 hours). It wasn’t exactly close, but at least it was relatively still, allowing us to all check those salient ID points:

• Dowitcher? Yes.
• Short bill? Hard to tell, the Long- and Short-billed types have overlapping bill-lengths.
• Juvenile? Crucially, yes. Paler, buffier chest and flanks than the richer coloured adults, and with scaly upper parts.
• Tertials, tell us about them. The tertials looked black with bold orange notches, a bit like tiger stripes.
• Good enough for me!

Now off to Slimbridge WWT to see the Long-billed Dowitcher, to contrast and compare…

I arrived at the WWT headquarters a fair bit later than I expected. Why? One obvious clue would be: I don’t have a sat-nav. Anyway, it was still a gorgeous day, and so a stroll around here would be lovely. After dodging the zoo animals, I arrived at the Zeiss Hide to find the sun right behind the area where the waders were feeding. With a little help from some regulars, we picked out the LBD feeding with Black-tailed Godwits. The other wader (godwits, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, and Snipe) made it very easy to pick out on size and gait alone. It looked scruffy, obviously in full moult. This made picking out the finer ID points a little trickier, but it was clearly a moulting Dowitcher, and the one we all agreed was the Long-billed Dowitcher.

Right then. Good work all round. Successful trip. Very happy. Now I just needed to get home. I had to be at Bridlington harbour for 08:00 the following day to catch a boat…

It's a family holiday in Spain, not a birding trip...

I had a great holiday in Spain at the end of August – just me, Mrs Indie Birder, and the two kids (Miss and Master Indie Birder, I guess). We stayed in a small casa on an olive farm in what felt like the middle of nowhere (near Rasquera, about 30km due north of the Ebro Delta). Plenty of good birding to be had, lots nature reserves about too, although the rural Catalans aren’t all bird lovers…

The weather was great: at times scorchio, but with a cloudy couple of days and a bit of rain thrown in to take the edge off the heat. This was no birding holiday; but with nowt else to do than swim in the pool, I spent the odd hour wandering around the olive groves looking for stuff.

Wood Lark, Crested Lark, and Hoopoe were the most interesting of the birds around the farm. The other birds are the kind of things you’d expect on a farm in Britain in the summer: Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Starling, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Swallow, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blackcap…

Wood Lark, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

These olive farms make for a dry and desolate habitat, especially after a long hot summer and when most of the breeding is over. The birding is tough here on a hot afternoon, I can tell you. There had been some fires this year, and the evidence was clear from out front door: charred trees within 15 metres of the casa.

I guess the most interesting things around the farm were the insects: things like Ephippger, Blue-winged Grasshopper and Nosed Grasshopper. Plenty of butterflies too: Large White, Wall Brown, Mallow Skipper, Common Blue (I think), and Swallowtail. Plenty of moths (Hummingbird Hawk-moth being the best), and loads of dragonflies, though I struggle to ID these well.

Wall Brown, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

Mallow Skipper, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

One (sneaky) reason for suggesting we come to this area was the chance to visit the Parc Natural del Delta a l’Ebre (that’s the Ebro Delta Nature Reserve). Now then, this is a really great place for birds, even if my trip was during the quietest time of the year. During the week I managed to charm my way to two visits, one with the family and one without, both to the northern side of the delta.
As we drove through the rice fields, the draw of the place became clear. There were Whiskered Terns everywhere: sat of wires, hovering over the roadside ditches, swopping over the car. And Little Egrets and Squacco Herons flew up from hidden dykes as we passed.

I took the family to El Garxal on the north-eastern tip of the delta, where the highlights were Greater Flamingos, Black-winged Stilts and Glossy Ibis. It’s very educational to see these birds in breeding, non-breeding and juvenile plumage side-by-side, allowing for lots of comparison and learning. Well, that’s what I thought; the kids seemed to get a bit bored after a while. We met another family here, whose kids really interested in the birds, which was rather refreshing.

"Daddy is hogging the scope again..."

 Greater Flamingo, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

I reckon Spurn could benefit from having one of these running between the Crown & Anchor and the Point.

We set off for Canal Vell, further west, and got lost. Again. It’s easy on this massive delta, and most of the relevant signs were tiny and hidden. When I finally got there the wind was up, which made birding from the top of the observation tower difficult. Few birds around too, I reckon because of the time of year; but a Slender-billed Gull and another Greater Flamingo was worth the effort. Better still, there were some Audouin’s Gulls in the fields by the track, allowing for great views.

 Audouin's Gull, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

 Audouin's Gull, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012
(same bird as above in different light - notice how much darker the wings look)

 Observation tower at Canal Vell, Ebro Delta, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

The strong wind meant the dragonflies were clinging on to the vegetation for dear life, but photographing them (with my crap camera) was difficult. I only managed a few decent shots among the blurred ones as the dragonflies were shaking so much in the wind. Any ID help here is much appreciated.

 Yellow-winged Darter (male), Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

 Yellow-winged Darter (female), Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

 Ruddy Darter (male), Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

I returned to the Delta on my own on a rainy morning later in the week, visiting Les Olles on the northern edge near L’Ampolla. The undoubted highlight (possibly of the whole trip) was finding a family of Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio): two adults and two juveniles. Despite their bright colouration, they weren’t easy to pick out as they poked out the reeds in the gloom and skirted around the water under the overhanging vegetation. The poor light and worse equipment meant I couldn’t get a decent photo…

 Purple Swamphen, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

There were plenty of ducks at Les Olles, and the commonest seemed to be the Mallard; but this being duck moulting season, I felt obliged to check every bird in case there were other eclipse ducks hidden in there. With the exception of the odd Pochard, they were all Mallards. Or I’m rubbish at eclipse ducks, which is quite possible.

One downside to this place were the observation tower with the ramps for wheelchair and pushchair access: great idea, but there's no attempt to hide the observer from the birds. No roof and a really low wall. I had to crawl up it and peek over the side on my knees - and I still flushed half the birds. The other half left when a family joined me on the tower a couple of minutes later.

The other was finding all the shotgun cartridges around the reserve.

Les Olles, Ebro Delta - Note the shotgun cartridge under the sign

Of course there’s great birding to be had inland in Spain, and our one trip into the mountains produced a Short-toed Snake Eagle. It was sat at the top of a tree at the roadside on the road from Rasquera to Cardó. It flew as we pulled over, but gave some great flight views, long enough for me to get a good look and jot down some notes.

 Looking for eagles in the Serra de Cardó...

Eagle-eyed Rowan

It was also in La Serra de Cardó we saw the lovely Two-tailed Pasha butterflies, the enjoyment of which was only spoiled by the fact they were feeding on a really stinky cat turd.

Two-tailed Pasha, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012

We went for a boat trip along the Ebro from Benifallet to Miravet. From the quayside I got close views of Squacco Heron (in it’s proper habitat, not like the one I saw in Northumberland, which died the day after), plus Grey Heron, Little Egret, Common Sandpiper, White Wagtail, and Kingfisher.

So, yeah, not bad for a family holiday, and definitely not a birding trip…

Sand Lizard, Catalunya, Spain - August 2012