Soil Hill

   Something a bit different to post about. The morning on Soil Hill was good, with 1116 Woodpigeon flying south between first light and 10:30, along with 14 Swallows and 2 House Martins, my latest here. Otherwise, there was a single skein of Pink-footed Geese. A very enjoyable but cold morning!

  After dark, thanks to a tip-off from my brother, I returned to Soil Hill to get a better view of the apparent Aurora event that was taking place. Although for the most part, you could not see anything with the naked eye, it improved significantly through the camera with the sky appearing in shades of green and pink. It died down a little around 08:30 so I headed down but apparently, I should have persevered as it peaked again just after midnight and was more spectacular then. 

-Northern Lights

Species List:
Soil Hill: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Goosander, Grey Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Western House Martin, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Common Blackbird, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Rounday Park twitching Red-necked Grebe

   I was away from home for a week, and on the first day of my absence a Red-necked Grebe was found on Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park, Leeds. This is a bird I have only seen in the UK on a seawatch, and so even though my twitching days are pretty much behind me, I knew that this bird would have tempted me had I been in the UK when it was found. Alas, I was not and so I forgot about it. But as my return date drew nearer, and the bird remained in situ, it began to garner more of my attention until I finally got back.

  Once I got home early afternoon I immediately grabbed my optics and headed over to see the bird. The bird had already been reported in the morning and I was certain it would still be present during the afternoon. It did not take long to locate, and spent the next hour showing very nicely close to the footpath around the lake. The light conditions were challenging with quite a lot of glare on the surface for photos, and at times even making it a challenge to pick out the bird when it emerged from diving.

  Given how poor my last views of this species were in the UK, this was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. A fantastic bird to see!

  On my drive back, since I already had the car out, I decided to call in at Jay House Lane to pick up Tree Sparrow for my Halifax year list. Having already dipped them twice this year, I wanted to get them seen. So I was extremely relieved when I rocked up to see a bird on the feeders there. It only had one eye which was a bit off, but otherwise it was good to get them seen. 

-Red-necked Grebe

-Tree Pipit

Species List:
Roundhay Park: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Red-necked Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, European Robin,
Jay House Lane: Common Wood Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Common Blackbird, European Robin, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, 

Soil Hill

Well today my greatest birding dream came to pass; a Soil Hill Yellow-browed Warbler!

From first light I found myself doing VizMig from my usual vantage point near the bottom of the North Slope. It was quite slow but the conditions were bright with a gentle SSE breeze, and there was a slow trickle of birds to keep the interest, despite the lack of serious numbers in what seemed like promising conditions.

At 08:05 I caught a couple of calls in the North Slope Tree-Line which I thought sounded like Yellow-browed Warbler. So certain was I of what I heard that I felt my hands shaking at the prospect of finding this species on my patch. I tried looking for the source of the call I had heard but my search found nothing except the species I had noticed earlier in the morning; Chiffchaffs, Blue Tit & a flock of Goldfinch of various ages, so I dismissed the calls I thought I had heard as an odd variation from one of the species above.

Then, at 08:20 I heard the call again and from my location I could see a Chiffchaff emerge from the bushes in pursuit of a smaller bird. The smaller bird was chased into an area of nettles and scrub away from the main Tree-Line, and I set off in pursuit. I was now confident that I had a Yellow-browed Warbler on my hands but as I walked down towards the vegetation where the bird had landed, it flew out and returned to the Tree-Line. On its flight back I managed to rattle off a few quick photos, which, although poor, showed the two wing bars and bright supercilium confirming the identification as Yellow-browed Warbler.

Once it had returned to the North Slope Tree-Line the bird became elusive and was difficult to track. For the first time I was able to locate it, the bird was feeding on the near edge of the Tree-Line and showing reasonably well, but was always mobile and once lost it could take some time to relocate. As the morning wore on, it spent more time on the far side of the North Slope Tree-Line where viewing was far more difficult. Despite occasionally disappearing for up to half an hour at a time, it would still show nicely at times, feeding in the mid-story and at the top of the bushes.

Strangely the bird was very quiet, only calling on its own accord once, otherwise calling only when receiving harassment from one of the three Chiffchaffs in the same area. It kept its own company, and despite the presence of a small tit-flock that would circulate the bottom of the North Slope area, it did not join them. Despite trying, I was not able to get an audio recording due to this infrequency of calls.

In total, I spent about two hours with the bird, although it was missing for at least half of this time. No other birders came to view the bird while I was with it, although I know of a few others who visited during the afternoon, finding it still in the same area.

This was the species I had most wanted to find on Soil Hill, but no matter how I imagined it, I still could not quite believe that it actually happened.

-Yellow-browed Warbler

Species List:

Soil Hill: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,

Soil Hill

   With the weather having been east for the best part of a week, it has been tough going in often murky and foggy conditions where motivation for birding has been hard to come by. But todays switch to northwesterly brought some much-needed optimism that some reasonable VizMig might be on the agenda for the day. Alas not, as when daylight broke it was with the same murk and gloom that I had become accustomed to over the last week.

  Still at 07:30 it had cleared enough for me to make my move up to Soil Hill, in the hope that at least some birds would be migrating. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no movement to speak of, the only species seemingly on the move in any real capacity being Common Snipe, an impressive 24 passing through or dropping in over the morning, including a flock of 16. A stomp around the JS Marsh corner also booted out my first Jack Snipe of the autumn, although I was too sluggish on the draw to get any photos.

  The morning continued to brighten up and at 09:10 I had my first notable bird of the morning with an immature Marsh Harrier heading southeast. From where I was it did not look like it entered Calderdale airspace but it was frustratingly close to the border if not. Still, from a Soil Hill perspective, it was a much-wanted yeartick for the site, and from a Halifax perspective hopefully not the last of the year!

  But the morning really peaked when at 09:40 I noticed a Soil Hill patch tick of Great Egret flying north up the Ogden valley. It continued on its way north the whole time I was watching it, until it was a white speck somewhere towards Keighley. This is a species I have long hoped to have on Soil Hill. Even though their numbers have increased so dramatically, it is still a rare bird in Halifax and my memory goes back to when I was a child and they were rare nationally. A great addition to my Soil Hill list, number 127. 

-Great Egret

-Marsh Harrier

-Common Snipe

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, European Golden Plover, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Egret, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, European Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Soil Hill

   An enjoyable few hours on Soil Hill this morning, with what was forecast to be the only good passage morning of the week, with easterlies until the weekend. Not masses of movement, but a few skeins of Pink-footed Geese kept things entertaining with five flocks heading SE between 07:50 and 08:30, and then two more flocks going back NW for some reason between 09:30 and 10:00. In total counted from photos 413 birds SE and 185 birds NW. In tandem with one of these flocks was a group of three Wigeon which is a full patch tick for me, putting me now on 126 for the Hill. This is a species I have been after for some time, but more expected a rouge individual on the pond rather than a flyby, I was thrilled with these!

  Other movement was more limited, with 195 Meadow Pipits and 55 Swallows making up the bulk of numbers. It was a Soil Hill record morning for me way Jays today, with eight heading NE, two heading SW and three heading SE, this latter group also dropping into the North Slope Tree-Line for a short while. Pretty steady with grounded birds. A Wheatear was the only migrant of note, with four Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat also present. Two Bullfinch were only my second here this year. 

-Wigeon

-Wigeon & Pink-footed Geese

-Jay

Species List:
Soil Hill: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Western House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Soil Hill

  A delightful day up on Soil Hill. Although I had a few hours bush-bashing this morning, the highlight of the day came during an afternoon visit when at 14:35 an Osprey flew over high southwest, my second here this year, always a brilliant bird to see.

  During the morning there was very little in the way of VizMig but a Yellow Wagtail flew south calling which is my second of the autumn here, and a Tree Pipit went south, which given the forecast could be my last of the autumn after a fantastic August for this species. Two Snipe also flew west, a species I always enjoy seeing on VizMig and is a highlight of early to mid-September when their migration picks up.

  The bushes this morning were quite productive with a few grounded migrants. The highlight were two Sedge Warblers, which were also joined by a Grasshopper Warbler, three Chiffchaff and three Whitethroat. In the reservoir field there were two Wheatears this morning, and during the afternoon three Wheatears flew high southwest, which may have been the same birds

-Osprey

-Sedge Warbler

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Grey Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Osprey, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Barn Swallow, Western House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Soil Hill

  August has not been the start to the autumn that I would have wanted on Soil Hill, with bad weather really hampering birding efforts, and low migrant totals making it difficult to stay motivated. Fortunately this morning there was a break in the site's fortunes, with a patch tick for me number 125; Reed Warbler! 

  It caught me completely off guard when the bird perched up in the open in a thicket for a few seconds, before dropping down and calling twice. Stunned at this, I grabbed my camera and began stalking the bird to ensure that it did not leave the bush before I had managed a record shot. It remained frustratingly elusive but did show a couple more times, but again too fast for the camera.

  It then flew out of the bush, to my horror, but fortunately it did not go far and I was able to follow it. Here I got a small bunch of blurred record shots to remember this occasion. Since I had now been following the bird for some time, I decided to leave it and get on with some other birding.

  Other migrants were again thin on the ground, with no Willow Warblers present at all today. Still there were four Tree Pipits that flew south/dropped in, showing very nicely on the machinery at the bottom of the slope. Three Snipe flew southwest and a distant Peregrine flew south. All good stuff that hopefully indicates better birding days are ahead! 

-Reed Warbler

-Tree Pipit

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Common Reed Warbler, Barn Swallow, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Vosges National Park

   Spent a weekend in the Vosges National Park in the French region of Alsace. Although the area is beautiful there are not so many birds on offer and as such there is little to write about, with a Tree Pipit being the best bird on offer. Other wildlife was a little more interesting however, and it was nice to see the Chamois, a species of European mountain goat with a very striking facial pattern. I had hoped to also bump into some butterflies that would be new but sadly the weather was against us and the only butterfly that might have been of interest, a Fritillary species, was blown past us before it was able to land. Otherwise a delightful weekend in a stunning area.  

-Common Lizard

-Chamois

Species List:
Vosges National Park: Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Wren, Common Blackbird, Black Redstart, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Goldfinch, Yellowhammer,

Bolivia Day 25; Trinidad & Santa Cruz

 Today we had the long, nine-hour drive back to Santa Cruz for our flight home the following day. Not the most exciting day planned, but it passed remarkably smoothly. Obviously on a day like this there is not much room for birding, and so it transpired, although a few nice bits from the car like many Greater Rhea, a single Maguari Stork and a Burrowing Owl helped pass the time. The highlight was a Crab-eating Raccoon that scuttled across the road not long after we had departed from Trinidad. Once we arrived in Santa Cruz, at around 15:30, we spent the rest of our time trying to organise ourselves and prepare for our flights the next day.

Species List:
RN9: Greater Rhea, Maguari Stork, Burrowing Owl,

Bolivia Day 24; Trinidad

  Yesterdays phenomenal success was always going to be a challenge to compete with, but we gave it our best shot again today, heading back to Puerto Ballivian for another walk along the trail to see what we could find. As yesterday, we started the day by watching the Boto river dolphins showing fantastically well once again, and this time I even descended the bank to get close to them, and got to watch them fantastically close, although as always their appearance and disappearance made it difficult to get good pictures.

  The trail was certainly less birdy than it had been the previous morning. I still managed to notch up two new bird species, with Rufous Cachalote at the start of the trail and then Plain Softail not long after we started birding. There were a few new birds for the trip as well, with Anhinga in one of the lakes and Chestnut-backed Antshrike in a mixed species flock. In addition to the two monkey species from the previous day, we also had a female Black-and-gold Howler Monkey to add to our rapidly growing mammal list.

  After a break, car wash and lunch at the hotel we headed back out to some lagoons to the south of the town of Loma Suarez. It was already quite late when we arrived here, but the birding in the afternoon was just starting to pick up. Around the lagoons there was not much happening, with some Yellow-collared Macaws being the highlight and a tick for me. From there however, we were able to located a nice trail into the forest and some open areas, and on this I had another tick in Spixs Guan, as well as more White-throated Piping Guans, a heard only Grey-breasted Crake and a few trip ticks along the way.

  Our plan for coming here was to stay until dusk to see the Band-tailed Nighthawks that apparently come in to feed here. And indeed they did, we had six feeding over the lagoons and calling at very close quarters. There was also a spectacular roost movement of ducks with 560 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and four White-faced Whistling Ducks all heading off south whilst we birded. And then to cap off another excellent day we had a South American Coati scuttle across the road on the drive home. 

Species List:
Puerto Ballivan trail: Undulated Tinamou,Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Picui Ground Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Striped Cuckoo, Little Cuckoo, Squirrel Cuckoo, Hoatzin, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Large-billed Tern, Wood Stork, Anhinga, Neotropic Cormorant, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Whistling Heron, Striated Heron, Great Egret, Cocoi Heron, Buff-necked Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Black-collared Hawk, Snail Kite, Roadside Hawk, Black-tailed Trogon, Blue-crowned Trogon, Amazonian Motmot, Ringed Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher, Black-fronted Nunbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Chestnut-eared Aracari, White-wedged Piculet, Lineated Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Mealy Amazon, Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet, Great Antshrike, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Bolivian Slaty Antshrike, Band-tailed Antbird, Buff-throated Woodcreeper, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Plain Softtail, Grey-crested Cacholote, Plain-crowned Spinetail, Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher, Plain Inezia, Euler's Flycatcher, Fuscous Flycatcher, Scarlet Flycatcher, Black-backed Water Tyrant, Rufous Casiornis, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Purplish Jay, White-winged Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Thrush-like Wren, Moustached Wren, Fawn-breasted Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Creamy-bellied Thrush, Purple-throated Euphonia, Crested Oropendola, Solitary Cacique, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Variable Oriole, Velvet-fronted Grackle, Southern Yellowthroat, Red-crested Cardinal, Red-capped Cardinal, Orange-headed Tanager, Grey-headed Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, Saffron Finch, Bluish-grey Saltator,
Loma Suárez Lagoons: Southern Screamer, White-faced Whistling Duck, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Spix's Guan, White-throated Piping Guan, Picazuro Pigeon, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Band-tailed Nighthawk, Grey-breasted Crake, White-backed Stilt, Southern Lapwing, Black Skimmer, Large-billed Tern, Neotropic Cormorant, Capped Heron, Whistling Heron, Striated Heron, Great Egret, Green Ibis, Bare-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Black-collared Hawk, Great Black Hawk, Roadside Hawk, Black-tailed Trogon, Black-fronted Nunbird, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Golden-collared Macaw, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Bolivian Slaty Antshrike, Grey-crested Cacholote, Plain Inezia, Scarlet Flycatcher, Black-backed Water Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Black-capped Donacobius, Fawn-breasted Wren, Yellowish Pipit, Purple-throated Euphonia, Crested Oropendola, Velvet-fronted Grackle, Orange-headed Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager,