Soil Hill; Isolation week 18

The weather this week was, at times, an absolute joke. Monday and Tuesday were both a write off for the Hill, but helpfully on the latter BS found a nice pair of adult Sanderlings on Fly Flatts so I went up to have a look. Despite the violently windy conditions, and with some excellent directions from Brian, I was able to get some scope views of the birds as they scuttled along the rapidly disappearing shoreline.

So what of the Hill. Despite being birdable on every other day during the week, the often blustery conditions made it a challenge to muster even the usual assortment of species. Add in the fact that its now nearing the end of summer and many species will be undergoing post-breeding moults, it was a fairly quiet affair all round. The farmers continued to cut fields in the area, so gull numbers continued to build up with Common Gull and Black-headed Gull regularly featuring in the recently scalped fields. Woodpigeons also increased rapidly this week, with well in excess of 100 birds in the bottom fields at times. In the bushes the birds were a challenge. The Sedge Warblers were seen on and off during the week, clearly expanding their range across the scrub at the bottom of the north slope, but the lack of access making it a challenge to view. Whitethroat and Reed Bunting are still present in good numbers, with Willow Warblers slowly increasing towards the end of the week. On the 29^th a pair of Crossbill flew East over the Hill calling often but I was not actually able to spot them.

On the Friday the weather changed with a sudden burst of high pressure bringing with it warm and stable conditions. With it came a reasonable fall of Willow Warblers, somewhere between 10 – 15 moving around the sites various bushes. Lots of Whitethroats and Willow Warblers were also present, and a flock of five Cormorants flew south. But the undoubted highlight was a grounded Tree Pipit, which showed very well at times on the ground as well as perched atop some of the trees on the edge of the Summit. This is the first time I have seen this species on the deck here, and I was able to get some very nice photos of it. A flyover Siskin capped off the morning nicely. 

-Tree Pipit

-Cormorant

-Reed Bunting

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, European Greenfinch, Common Chaffinch, Common Linnet, Red Crossbill, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting, Western Roe Deer, European Rabbit,

Fly Flatts: Canada Goose, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Ringed Plover, Sanderling, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Kestrel, Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Reed Bunting,

Soil Hill

23.03.2016

I was beginning to wonder where my additional points for Patchwork were going to come from, yet somehow managed to accumulate four more points from four species up on Soil Hill today...

First of all was not just a point, but a full blown patch tick, my 80th species up on Soil Hill in my 9 years of birding there. I was just photographing a distant Greylag Goose when I could have sworn I heard a Redshank somewhere. I scanned around me but could not pick it up, but it called again. Realising I had a patch tick on my hands but could not see it was infuriating to say the least. More infuriating perhaps was that I would be able to count it for PWC on call, yet it wouldn't actually be on my patch list...

My fears were put to rest when the bird dropped from the sky and landed on the largest pool in the center of the track and proceeded to feed there. It lingered for about 5 minuets before heading off NE. What a start to the walk.

-Redshank

The next points came from a similar source. I could hear an Oystercatcher calling somewhere down in the valley but I could not for the life of me pick it up. It took a few minuets but I eventually managed to get the 3 Oystercatchers coming south. They then turned, flew straight over me and then off Eastwards. That was another nice addition, and only the second time I have seen the species on the hill.

-Oystercatcher

The other two year-ticks were a Solitary Grey Partridge which gave me quite a fright when I spooked it and a single flyover Linnet, which is remarkable given then are usually fairly abundant on patch. Todays new birds put me on a nice 47 points from 43 species. Not bad going given I've probably clocked only around 2 weeks worth of visits over the course of the year.

Species List:

Soil Hill: Blackbird, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Kestrel, Starling, Redshank, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Jackdaw, Grey Partridge, Linnet, Pied Wagtail, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, 

24.03.2016

Conditions took something of a turn for the worse today, with the wind speed picking up and the rain falling down. I went up yonder hill late morning in the hope that a migrant or something might have been forced down but if there were any then they were taking shelter.

One additional point from the hill was a nice Goldcrest down in the dell on the western side, another one pointer for PWC. 

Species List:

Soil Hill: Meadow Pipit, Carrion Crow, Skylark, Kestrel, Starling, Lapwing, Herring Gull, Goldcrest, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Jackdaw, 

25.03.2016

A bright but breezy morning, so spent a couple of hours up on the hill. I gathered a good species list but little of any real note. Up to four Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk were nice for the raptors. I flushed a Grey Partridge again and had 2 cock Pheasants. There was a flock of 10 Fieldfare in the fields just down from the hill too, presumably they will now be thinking of making their way back.

The main plus for the day was a patch tick, although its so long overdue I can hardly get excited about it. A Cormorant flew past the hill. The birds frequently move in and out of Ogden so how its taken me this long to spot one is beyond me. 

-Cormorant

Species List:
Soil Hill: Linnet, Chaffinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Curlew, Lapwing, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Feral Pigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling, Sparrowhawk, Cormorant, Jackdaw, Grey Heron, Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Pied Wagtail, Fieldfare, Moorhen, Mallard,

29.03.2016
It was a bleak day today, but a marked improvement on the last couple days which I missed. That being said the birds were a little thin on the ground, possibly as a result of the snowfall keeping things in shelter. Once more there were no migrants around. The best of the birds today was a small flock of Golden Plover, 7 birds, which flew south at some distance away. No additional points for patchwork today unfortunately

-Golden Plover

Species List:

Soil Hill: Carrion Crow, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Skylark, Moorhen, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Wren, Common Gull, Kestrel, Grey Heron, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon

Pugneys CP

This trip was expected the moment from which it was released that there was a first winter female Ferruginous (Fudge) Duck on the nature reserve at Pugneys. Once again it was the lectures that took the hit, although I did go to my 9am waiting on news, before then making my way up to the site to be at the pond by 12.

I arrived and was quickly on the bird though it was distant and remained that way throughout the time I was watching except on one occasion. It swan round a corner with the Pochards and then remained there, out of sight, for about an hour before Darragh, a young patcher of Pugneys, suggested we go into the thicket and try to get it out. He went alone first but reported it still there, so when it failed to swim far enough out I ventured in with him and managed to get a much better view than I had before.

Sadly though the distance was not the only problem as the light became a major factor too and so I was unable to take any good photos, but I have a healthy selection of record shots which more than suffice.

-Ferruginous Duck

Besides the Fudge Duck there were a couple of other bits and pieces knocking around. A Sparrowhawk came through twice and there was an indeterminate number of Siskins flying overhead. A kingfisher flew across the lake, which was a nice yeartick and on the reserve islands near the duck there was a healthy number of Sinensis type cormorants.

-Sinensis Cormorants

It was an excellent way to spend an afternoon and Ferruginous Duck is my third lifer of 2016 and brings my yearlist up to 103. Not bad given I've only been birding the best part of 2 weeks.

Species List:

Pugneys CP: Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mallard, Wigeon, Shoveler, Ferruginous Duck, Moorhen, Coot, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Lapwing, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Great Black-Backed Gull, Long-Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Bullfinch, Great-Crested Grebe,

Old Moor Return

I had not been out birding for a little while just while the new semester settled down, but the weekend came round and I decided to just go for it. After much mental debate I decided to return to old moor to see what was around. This turned out to be a well founded decision.

 So, after a smooth public transport transition I made it Old Moor without any bother at all. I decided to head straight to the main hide as the sightings had suggested that there was a med gull around, as well as numerous raptors flying through, so I decided to skip the feeders initially and head straight there.

This was also a well founded decision as soon as a I arrived at the hide the birders in there alerted me to a bittern that had taken off and was being mobbed by some gulls over the mere. It was not the greatest or longest view of a bittern I have ever had, but still great to see as it fly low and dropped down into the reeds. I had heard that a bittern was around but had not expected to see it so was very pleased.

I then asked the other birders if the Med Gull was around, and they pointed out the location. Such as it was I had two very good year ticks within 20 mins of arrival. I found the Med Gull, no issue and was able to watch it swagger around and even seemingly display to some of the neighboring black headed gulls. I was well happy to have got this bird. What was even nicer was that it was in summer plumage. I had expected a 1st or 2nd winter bird but this was a full plumaged adult. This was only my 3rd ever time seeing this species so I was well pleased with this

-Mediterranean Gull

Sadly the record shots were not quite up to the view down the scope which was the only downside. After a bit I began exploring the rest of the mere and found plenty of lovely wildfowl, as well as a third year-tick for the day: Oystercatcher, feeding on the far bank. There were many more birds than last time too, so it was generally a very pleasing time watching them all.

-Male wigeon

-Cormorant

-Wigeons

I scoured the rest of the reserve but found little that was not on the main hide, the highlights being the Goosander that were on the Wader Scrape.

After a bit I headed to the Tree Sparrow farm to see what was there, after all, last time I had brambling. This time there was not brambling, and there did seem to be fewer birds than last time, though there was a nice addition of Collard dove which I did not recall last time. There were the standard Yellowhammer too, always looking lovely and striking in the hedge.

-Yellowhammer

Next I went to the feeders behind the shop, last time there were no birds on these at all, but I had read that there were some lesser redpolls hanging around so I decided to try and hunt them down. I did not have to wait long before one bird came on the feeders at the back. This is only the 4th time I have ever seen Redpoll, so once more was well pleased with these. Sadly though the view was very short and it did not return besides its short stint of around 2 mins. In addition  there were Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Collard Dove and Woodpigeon all rather close and looking really nice.

-Lesser Redpoll

After this stint at the feeders I decided to head round to the reedbed section of the reserve to see what was going on. Not much different, though there was a stunning Great Crested Grebe and good Shoveler numbers, more than elsewhere on the reserve.

-Shoveler

While I was there something flushed all the gulls on the mere, I dunno what it was, but when I returned to the main hide to see if I could re-find the med gull it had sadly gone. One of the other birders though spotted a Dunlin fly across the mere, which was a year tick for me, so I decided to see if I could track it down.

I went to the Field Pool West Hide and had a look there, that's where it seemed to have gone. I did not have any luck initially, though I did find a Redshank, the first of the day and second of the year. After a bit longer though I did find the Dunlin and got some decent views of it feeding which was nice, and brought me up to 5 year-ticks for the day.

Finally I returned to the feeding station to see if the Redpoll had returned and was rewarded with not one but two redpolls and a lovely male Reed Bunting all on the feeders at the same time. So that was a wonderful end to a smashing day.

-Lesser Redpoll, Male Reed Bunting

And so finally I will end with a complete breakdown of all the species that I saw today in all their glory, and to tell you that as a result of today's remarkable birding my year-list is up to 80 species!

Day Total: Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Mute Swan, Goosander, Shoveler, Goldeneye, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Magpie, Goldfinch, Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lapwing, Bittern, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, Canada Goose, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Pochard, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Stock Dove, Oystercatcher, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Graylag Goose, Collard Dove, Yellowhammer, Long-Tailed Tit, Lesser Redpoll, Robin, Bullfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Wren, Dunnock, Common Gull, Redshank, Dunlin

Pugney's CP to finally get a Smew! (Maybe)

My Smew record leaves a lot to be desired, so what made me decided to try for the Smew at Pugney's, a solid £12 in public transport fares is beyond me. Obviously though having never been there before I was keen to check out the site and see what was going down. It took me a solid 2.5 hours to get there, and no sooner did I arrive than did the heavens open.

  My internet research had found no information on where the Smew was located on the reserve, so I decided to check out the nature reserve section first, it seemed like the logical place to start. There was plenty of stuff on the pool, and the hide offered some degree of protection from the elements, though the hide had a tin roof, so the rain made quite a din.

  So here is my list of birds seen from the hide, the top 6 are year ticks this year:

-Common Teal

-Shoveler

-Pochard

-Redshank

-Goldeneye

-Kingfisher, brief view but still awesome to see

-Great Crested Grebe

-Mute Swan

-Mallard

-Coot

-Moorhen

-Black Headed Gull

-Common Gull

-Lesser-Black Backed Gull

-Long-Tailed Tit

-Bullfinch

-Lapwing

-Cormorant

-Birds on the Nature Reserve

  Sadly though no sign of Smew. After a good hour in the hide I decided to move on and see what else was about on the site. I decided to make my way round the main lake to get to the top lake to see if it was up there. The main lake was sparse on birdlife, but still had some good stuff

-Canada Geese

-Mallard

-Goosander

-Coot

-Tufted Duck

-Goldeneye

-Black Headed Gull

-Grey Heron

  Some good birds but by now I had all but given up on the Smew, making it my 5th Smew related dip in a row. I made it to the top pool in terrible conditions. There were plenty of birds here, including another year tick: Gadwall

-Gadwall

-Tufted Duck

-Grey Heron - Fishing

-Pochard

-Usual Suspects

  And that seemed to be that. However, all Smew hope was not lost, for though my research had been futile I had read somewhere that it was on the river, twitter or somewhere like that, so that was where I made my last stop, useful since it goes alongside the top pool. There were a few Goldeneye quite close on the river, so I took a few shots to fill out this rather wordy post

-Goldeneye

But then, under the bridge I spotted a small white bird in the water. Could it be or was it another Gull, I raised my bins, water on the lens made identification inconclusive. I got closer, raised the bins again, still only a white speck, but now seemed very hopeful, I got closer again and yes, there it was. A stunning drake Smew, finally setting the record straight.

I was able to get as stunning view through the scope and get a few record shots. I watched it for about 5 mins before decided to get a bit closer, nearer the road bridge. I got to the bridge but the bird had gone, and despite my best efforts I failed to re-locate it.

That left the sighting a tad bittersweet, A stunning bird, but I would rather have been able to watch it for longer and really appreciate its beauty, but it was not to be. I managed some record shots and got a stunning view through the scope, but my Smew tick will now forever be known as 'the five minuet Smew'!

-Stunning Drake Smew

Overall it was a really good day, and great to see the Smew, even if it was brief 

Dorset Holiday-Day 4: RSPB Arne

Today was another bright and sunny, and hot, day so I decided to make my way to RSPB Arne as it had high recommendation, and my parents were passing nearby and so could drop me off, since it was far from easy to get to by public transport. It was another heathland reserve, but had some woodland and meadows, though the latter were out of bounds, as well as some estuary and salt marsh. 

When I arrived it was already well over 25 degrees. First I made my way through the woods but there was not much going on there. The path then went by a section of estuary called Shipstal Beach. Here I left the woods and wandered round the saltmarsh for a bit. Around some of the small stagnant pools there were Keeled and Black Tailed Skimmers, both species I was beginning to get familiar with on this holiday 

-Black Tailed Skimmer

From the beach I was able to look over the bay towards Brownsea Island. There were more birds here than there had been on any other site I had so far visited. From the beach I could see a few curlews and a shelduck flew over.

-Shelduck

I made my way towards the hide, via the ponds and heathland. The heathland was not very exciting, but the ponds had some nice dragon and damselflies. There were Emperor Dragonflies and Four Spot Chasers, while on the damselfly front there were Small Red Damselflies and Common Emerald Damselflies. Small red damselflies were so abundant that I had started to take them for granted. It seems odd that less than 5 days ago I had only ever seen one, in a misty lake in wales 

-Small Red Damselflies

At the hide I got good views out over the saltmarsh. I can imagine in winter that there would be ample birds but on this hot summers day there did seem to be a lack. There was a large flock of curlews, as well as a group of Little Egrets probably the largest flock of them I have ever seen. There was also a few Black Headed Gulls around, as well as a handful of Woodpigeons. In front of the hide directly there was a large sand bank and on it were some roosting Cormorants. Close examination revealed Greater Black Backed Gulls and Oystercatchers there too, so on the whole, an improvement on the bird front.

-Cormorants, Oystercatchers and Greater Black Backed Gulls

-Little Egrets

I made my way round the top heathland and found plenty of shallow pools not shown on the map. I scrambled down the bank to get a closer look at them. There were plenty of keeled skimmers and four spot chasers and also a couple of butterflies, like Common Blue

-Common Blue

The pools still had some of the damselflies described from earlier, such as small red damselfly, which was becoming something of a formality

-Small Red Damselfly

After I had explored the top loop of the heathland, I made my way down past Arne Farm back to the visitor center where I could wander off to the proper heathland section of the reserve. The meadow did not have many insects as the reserve leaflet suggested, but there were quite a few Meadow Brown butterflies

The heathland had one pond on it, so here is where I went first, as it being lunchtime I had intended to sit and see if I could spot a raft spider, which was one of Arnes specialties. The first thing I saw when I got to the pond was a Green Woodpecker, which had flown over from the adjacent woodland. Its odd to see a green woodpecker in a tree, but it really highlighted the outline of the bird

-Green Woodpecker

At the pond the main species were the four spotted chasers which were the most obliging I had ever come across. There was a stick placed near to the bench I was sat on, which they regularly came to, so I was able to take my best photos yet of this fairly abundant dragonfly species.

-Four Spotted Chaser

While having my lunch though, a party of elderly people came and the peace was shattered. They were nice enough, some even joking, saying 'And you thought you were going to have a peaceful lunch' and the like, but the secretive spider did not come out while they were there. Once they had left and my lunch had finished I had a wander around the pool to see what was about, and if any spiders were lurking around the back. 

I did not find any spiders, but when I mounted the bank I flushed 2 Sika Deer from the shrubbery. They probably gave me as much of a fright as I gave them. It is the first time I have seen this kind of deer, but I have now completed my list of "British" deer (though I don't count reindeer as some people do) so this was a 'finishing off the category' kind of tick, but even so. I was surprised at how big these deer were, almost red deer size, when I was expecting a much more slender deer, like a fallow.

-Sika Deer

After I had been round the pond and found no spiders I headed up on to the heathland to the hide there and to see if I could find any dartford warblers. I diddnt, but I did find a Meadow Pipit which was taking food into the heather, where I can assume that there would be a nest

-Meadow Pipit

The hide was disappointing and that's an understatement. The only birds there were Black Headed Gulls, and the walk down to it involved being savaged by Cleg Flies, which seem to love me since our trip to Angelsey 

On the top of the moors I spotted more deer in the distance, but they dissapeared into a thicket. I also watched a male Stonechat calling, and caught up with some lovely Silver Studded Blue butterflies. I found myself not really appreciating these really rather rare butterflies since I had seen them before and they seemed to be everywhere. Therefore I made an effort to find one landed so I could once again record it. It took some time though, even though I was surrounded by them, as few of them seemed keen to land. When I did find one though...

-Silver Studded Blue

On my way back into the wooded bit of the reserve I decided to have another look at the pond, see if any spiders had turned up. I had a quick look and was about to go when there it was. It was huge at the top of the reeds. I could hardly believe it, there was a Raft Spider, Britain's second largest spider. I took a few photos before I stealthily ambled closer. When I was closer I noticed that there was an egg sack at the top of the grass stems which the spider must have been guarding. It was a big spider, but seemed bigger because it had sturdy legs and not weeny legs like some other large spiders. It would have been about 7 cm long

-Raft Spider

I then tried to move some obstructing reeds but the spider bolted, rather it vanished, straight down the stem and into the water. I decided to move on and come back in a bit to see if it would come back out. Since there was a nest there I assumed that it would at some point so I set off round the top part of the reserve to kill some time for it to come back out.

In the woods I actually saw a bird this time. In the gorse on the woodland edge I could hear an constant chirping and when I started to look I found the cause the be a fledgling chaffinch which was rather bold, as it did not fly away when I found it, as I was quite close to it. 

-Chaffinch Fledgling 

I made my way back to the ponds, but since it was getting quite late in the afternoon most of the dragonflies had roosted up for the evening. At the second pond though I found not a dragonfly but a lizard, which was my first reptile on a holiday where every site claimed that there all 6 British Reptiles. This was a Common Lizard which looked lovely, though as you would expect I could not really get a good photo because of the amount of vegetation debris.

-Common Lizard

On my way round the top loop I flushed some more sika deer, this time even closer than they had been the first time. But aside from them I did not see anything, and most of the reserves life had gone to bed it would seem, and even though it was only around four o'clock you could be excused for thinking it as late as 7, it was really becoming rather like twilight.

After I had been round the loop I made my way back to the pond before I set off walking back to Wareham. I could not see the spider where it had been, and had a quick look elsewhere, only for it to be on the other side of where it had been and that I had completely missed it, hard to do you would think for such a large spider.

-Raft Spider

This time I made a point of not moving anything to avoid disturbing the spider and left it where it was. On my way back to the road, a sika deer wandered right across the path in front of me. I was impressed since the others I had seen had all taken flight at the first sight of me. This one did not seem bothered in the slightest as it sauntered across the path. 

-Sika Deer

I made my way to the road and began to walk back feeling very satisfied. With the exception of dartford warbler I had seen all of Arnes specialties. On the walk back I saw more deer, but also stonechat, Common Buzzard and Treecreeper, which was a holiday first.