Swillington Ings twitching Grey Phalarope

   Mid-afternoon of the Migfest Sunday news broke of a Grey Phalarope at RSPB St Aidens/Swillington Ings. Since I would be returning along the M62 once I left Spurn I decided to make the small detour to try and see it. Fortunately, thanks to my passengers HC and MCN, I had an excuse to leave Spurn at 15:30 and so that would give us at best two hours to search the reserve before darkness. The storm had already arrived so the conditions were quite gloomy, but helpfully it meant the bird would surely not be leaving the site.

  The last report came from Astley Lake so we headed straight there but were unable to find the bird from the first vantage point we searched from. A little concerned we headed to the other side of the lake and from there we were relived we managed to pick up the bird distantly feeding at the back of the lake. Sadly it never came close, but it was a great bird to see inland in West Yorkshire. It was surprisingly elusive, disappearing for extended periods, and this helped encourage us not to stick around. That and the incoming rainfall.

  Being Swillington Ings there were obviously plenty of other birds, although with finite time we did not have too much time to bird the site properly. A few Great Egrets were nice to see, and the wader selection included Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. The 90 minutes were spent on site were very enjoyable.

-Grey Phalarope

Spurn MigFest 2025

   After a few years away it was nice to get back to a Spurn Migfest, seeing faces I had not encountered for some time and enjoying some pleasant birding. I had a few duties to attend to throughout the weekend, working as a Migfest volunteer, as well as doing a short pitch on Soil Hill as part of an ‘inland viz-mig patch-off’ against several other inland patches, a patch-off that I eventually won as decided by the attending audience.

  Friday I did no birding, instead catching up with people before spending the evening in the pub. On Saturday morning, with no duties assigned to me, I headed to Hodgesons Field to check the bushes away from the crowds. There were a few common species of interest, Lesser Whitethroat, Cettis Warbler and a Wheatear, but nothing rare. A steady stream of Meadow Pipits was heading south throughout the morning, contributing to the 6000+ total achieved by the watchers at Spurn.

  This count was exceeded again the following morning with over 8000 Meadow Pipits heading south. Being on car-parking duty I got to watch many of the birds flying over, as well as the first skein of Pink-footed Geese of the autumn, 41 flying south over the event field. Shortly after my parking management finished news broke of a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope at Chalkies Point, so I raced around to see it. The bird was showing phenomenally well on the Humber right in front of the masses of observers, but sadly I did not get to spend too long with it before it decided to become more active, and had soon made its way up the Humber. A Black Redstart was also in the same area! 

  Mid-afternoon I headed off, ahead of the forecasted storms, rounding off an excellent and very enjoyable MigFest 2025.

-Red-necked Phalarope

Whiteholme Reservoir

    Having completed my morning on Soil Hill, I was just settling down for some work when a message came through that MH had found a Curlew Sandpiper at Whiteholme Reservoir. With no Calderdale record for 10 years, per the blog, this was an overdue Halifax tick for me so I headed straight up.

  The wind was certainly a problem upon arrival, but I quickly made my way round to the NE corner of the reservoir where MH, PD and LD were all watching. Once there I was quickly put on to the Curlew Sandpiper on one of the near exposed islands but still distant. It then proceeded to fly to the far shoreline becoming even more distant, so that was great.

  Fortunately it was not long before it, and the posse of Ringed Plovers it was associating with, returned to the island where better views were possible. It was at this point that I noticed that the Curlew Sandpiper was stood right next to… a Curlew Sandpiper! Two birds together! An excellent development to the mornings birding. They shortly returned to the far shoreline, and it was another 45 minutes before they came close again, but this time they actually came close and I finally got some photos, including of both birds together.

  In addition to the Curlew Sandpipers, the Little Stint (which I had first twitched on Monday) was still present but it was always distant and difficult to pick out in the windy conditions. A Dunlin was present, as was a single Golden Plover, but most of the action was made up of the 18 Ringed Plover present. Such a lively scene with so many waders seemed a little out of place on the Pennine moors, more familiar to the east coast! 

-Curlew Sandpiper

Species List:
Whiteholme Reservoir: Eurasian Teal, European Golden Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Kestrel, Merlin, Carrion Crow, Barn Swallow, Western House Martin, Northern Wheatear, Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, 

Soil Hill

   First day back and first morning on Soil Hill of the autumn produced a very nice patch tick in the form of this Mediterranean Gull, which flew south with the steady stream of Black-headed Gulls, my 131st species for Soil Hill. From the photos, it appears to have small dark edges to the wingtips, so I suspect this bird is a 2cy. The white plumage stood out a mile from the other gulls moving which first drew my attention to it, before I rattled off a sequence of very poor photos that just about do the job.

  Sadly the hoped-for morning visible migration did not transpire as I had hoped. The best I could manage was a steady trickle of Swallows going south, with 76 counted in several small bursts. At least nine Chiffchaffs were in the bushes but not particularly showy in quite blustery conditions, and a Lesser Redpoll flew south calling. 

-Mediterranean Gull

Madeira Day 4

   For our final morning on Madeira we had tried to book a speedboat trip with boat Ventura do Mar and Magic Dolphin, but they were both full. We could have gone again with Rota dos Cetaceos but since we kept encountering the same species we eventually decided to save our money and just have a relaxed morning around Funchal. We did check the sightings board of the two former companies, and were pleased to see the only Cetacean they had seen was Bottlenose Dolphin, although it was gutting to see that Magic Dolphin managed to see a Mediterranean Monk Seal.

  Obviously walking around Funchal does not provide ample birding opportunities, but we still saw nice species such as Atlantic Canary and Plain Swift, whilst offshore there were nice close views of Yellow-legged Gull and Common Tern. Monarch butterflies and Clouded Yellows were both common in the gardens, and we saw two more Madeiran Wall Lizards. After a few drinks in the city centre we headed off to the airport and then back to Paris, rounding off a few delightful days on the island. 

Madeira Day 3

  The morning started very well, as whilst waiting at the harbour in Funchal, Laura spotted a large caterpillar moving not far from where we were. A couple of inches long, I picked it up and moved it to a safer location. I suspected, from the patterning, that it might be a Deaths Head Hawkmoth, but a washed-out individual, so I sent the photos to AC for confirmation, who happily agreed. For a caterpillar, it was remarkably strong in my hand.

   Still lacking whales, we arranged another visit morning speedboat trip, this time returning to Magic Dolphin. We departed at 10:00, slightly later than the previous day and headed out to see in much the same direction as the previous day. Sadly the whales did not materialise and the only species we encountered was presumably the same pod of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. They showed just as well, if not better, than the previous day and we were even able to pick out a couple of actually spotted individuals. Our subsequent searching yielded no additional species, although we were told there had been another sighting of a Blainville’s Beaked Whale near Funchal, but we could not connect with it. 

  Because of this, we decided to try again in the afternoon, although had a hard time tracking down a company operating tours at later times in the day. In the end we booked with Rota dos Cetaceos, who were excellent although a little more expensive. Their speedboat was slightly bigger, capable of carrying 36 people I understood, but we made sure we were sat right at the front. This did mean that we would feel the effects of the waves more than sitting in the middle, but it was much more fun than sitting at the back. We departed Funchal at 16:00, and they even had a later tour than even that, had we wanted it.

  For the first time we headed out to the east side of the island and here it was much choppier, but that in turn brought several birds to us, including two Desertas Petrels which showed phenomenally well, as well as the Bulwers Petrels and Corys Shearwaters we had gotten used to. On the cetacean front we were treated to a real show by a group of maybe five Short-finned Pilot Whales as they crested the waves, giving us full views of the animals. For some reason we were able to stay longer with the group than the 10 minutes normally allowed. Despite not bringing any new species to our list, it was the best encounter of any that we had during out time on the island. 

-Short-finned Pilot Whale

-Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

-Desertas Petrel

-Cory's Shearwater

-Bulwer's Petrel

-Deaths Head Hawkmoth

Madeira Day 2

   As mentioned, the motorboat trip from the previous afternoon had been rearranged for this morning, so that meant our morning had already been organised. This was with the company Ventura do Mar, and we set off nice and early at 09:30, out to sea in a motorboat containing just 15 people.

  It did not take us long to encounter a group of animals, but sadly they were ‘only’ Bottlenose Dolphins. They did a little bit of jumping but not too much, and our views were limited to mostly fins coming out of the water, even if they were at close range. We stayed with them for 10 minutes, during which time the animals seemed very relaxed, before we sped off westward to try to find some different species. On this westwardly trip I spotted the first Deseratas/Zinos Petrel of the trip, but sadly I never got a view of the underwings to have any indication as to which one of the pair it was.

  After a rapid trip across the ocean, we arrived at our second group of animals, a pod of around 20 Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. This was a species I really wanted to see but it was a little disappointing that most of the animals seemed to be younger and therefore did not have the striking spotty patterning. Still, they were very interactive with the boat, swimming alongside and offering fantastic views for the time we were able to spend with them. This was our last stop before heading back to port, where we received the disappointing news that the Magic Dolphin tour that had been out at the same time had seen a Blainville’s Beaked Whale!

  In the afternoon we took the Madeira Cable Car company ride up to the gardens above Funchal. There are apparently two cable car companies in the area, and I made a bit of a ballsup with picking the right one. I should not have booked it in advance. Still we had an enjoyable late afternoon ride up the correct cable car at additional expense and a nice walk in the woods overlooking the city. The birds here were quite numerous, with two different Madeiran Firecrests seen, both looking awful in their post-breeding moult, and several Madeira Chaffinches also seen but not quite as well. This was still a subspecies last time I saw it, so it was good to be reconnected. In addition there was a Madeiran Wood White and several Madeiran Wall Lizards, including one that decided to bite me when I tried to touch it…

-Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

-Common Bottlenose Dolphin

-Madeira Firecrest

-Madeira Chaffinch

-Madeiran Wall Lizard

Madeira Day 1

  Since I would be going away for the best part of two months at the end of the year, I decided to take Laura away somewhere nice to attempt to soften this blow. Since whale-watching had long been a topic of conversation, the eventual destination I decided upon was Madeira, since it has a wide variety of cetacean species, as well as stunning scenery and a very relaxed lifestyle. We had three nights on the island and made plans to do several whale-watching trips to maximise our chances of a Rorqual or equally large whale sighting. 

  Our flight from Paris landed us in Madeira at midday, and we had booked our first trip for 14:00 from Funchal that afternoon. To save costs on a hire car, our AirBnB was located just outside the city centre of Funchal, from where we could easily walk to several whale watching operators. Because it was already September and tourist season was slowing down, the motorboat trip I booked with Ventura do Mar was rearranged for the following morning, so I eventually arranged a catamaran tour with Magic Dolphin.

  This was a less intimate experience, since the Catamaran was full with what I would estimate to be around 70 people, but it was still a good start to our trip as we managed to find a group of Short-finned Pilot Whales on this first afternoon. They showed very nicely from the boat, lingering around us rather than swimming off. These were the only cetaceans that we saw, but it was very enjoyable. The catamaran trip finished with a slow cruise back along the coastline, bringing us back late afternoon. In addition to the whales, it was great to be reacquainted with Corys Shearwater and Bulwers Petrel whilst on the catamaran, even if they were not the target of the trip. 

-Short-finned Pilot Whale

-East Atlantic Sally Lightfoot Crab

-Clouded Yellow

Brittany exploring for Aquatic Warbler

   I had only just returned to Paris after Peru when my good friend David Darrell-Lambert informed me that he was going to spend a few days in the south of Brittany in northern France looking for Aquatic Warblers, a trip which sounded excellent and I promptly invited myself along for the ride. Thanks to Davids sleuthing online we had a contact in the area, so had been provided with some information on good areas of where to search. The ringing station in the area sees most of the action, but it is private and not a destination for tourists, so we had to make the best of it by exploring in the field. 

  There were several sites around the ringing station full of reedbeds, which we spent hours exploring hoping for an Aquatic Warbler, but we ultimately failed to find one. The reedbeds were full of activity, with Sedge and Reed Warblers in good numbers, as well as large numbers of Bluethroats. Apparently, the Bluethroats in the area are a shorter-winged subspecies part of the White-spotted Bluethroat group. Zitting Cisticola was another good bird we saw regularly whilst exploring the reedbeds, a species I have not seen properly since my work in Spain several years ago.

  In addition to the reedbed species there were a lot of nice migrant species in the area, providing some very enjoyable birding. We managed small numbers of Whichats, Wheatears, Pied Flycatchers and Spotted Flycatchers, as well as a single Common Redstart. The latter is not common in the area, but for us there were locally abundant species that were much rarer for us to see. I saw only my second ever Cirl Buntings and Melodious Warblers, as well as getting views of Red-backed Shrike, Wryneck and Black-winged Kite. Every day we would see something of interest that would lift our spirits and keep us working towards our goal. 

  We also spent one afternoon birding the Parc naturel regional de Brière, which was a large wetland and arable area where we enjoyed some pleasant birding. The rarest species we found was a hazy Little Stint on the scrape, feeding alongside Wood Sandpipers and Green Sandpipers. But the other goodies included a few showy Water Rails and a nice Black-crowned Night Heron. 

  For the hotter parts of the days there were several insect species to keep us interested. I enjoyed seeing my first Southern Darters, which seemed to be the default darter species in the area. Odonata was not especially abundant, but there were several species of Butterflies of interest notably my first Wood White, and other goodies such as Long-tailed Blue and Mallow Skipper. Mammals were thin on the ground, but we saw a handful of Coypu including a very tame individual at one of the sites we frequented. 

  On our final morning, thanks to our contact in the area, we were able to visit the private ringing station, but too late to see the two Aquatic Warblers they caught in the morning there. But there was plenty of enjoyable birding around seeing many of the same species, and in the hand we saw a Wryneck and a Quail! Although we were disappointed to leave without our main target, this was an excellent way to finish off our few days birding! 

-Quail

-Wryneck

-Black-crowned Night-Heron

-Water Rail

-Cirl Bunting

-Zitting Cisticola

-Common Redstart

-Purple Heron

-European Honey Buzzard

-African Sacred Ibis

-Black-winged Kite

-Coypu

-Common Wall Lizard

-Wasp Spider

-Mallow Skipper

-Wood White

-Southern Darter

-Scarlet Darter