Filey

Now that lectures are finished I can go and twitch anything I want. Having found a new cheaper train to get to Filey I decided to go and have a look at the Surf Scoter there. last years visit had been in torrential rain so I hoped to be able to get some better photos in better light, as this time there was not a cloud in the sky.

So when I arrived the scoter took some picking out due to the very strong glare over the bay, and the fact that it was distant. It did come closer and I had hoped the glare would drop but sadly it did not and all I managed were photos of its silhouette. At least it made for a nicer day out than last time. From the photos you can see the white behind the head but the colours on the bill are lacking. That being said, they are somewhat lacking anyway due to the bird only being a 1st winter male.

Its nice to be able to connect with this species again, but I think I will be back for the next one too in an attempt to finally get a decent photo of one. 

-Surf Scoter

One of my reasons for coming to Filey besides the Scoter were the Purple Sandpipers. I love this species and with the spring arriving I knew I might not get some this winter. Fortunately there were still plenty on the brig, including a pretty sweet flock of around 60 birds accompanied by a solitary Dunlin. I managed to get some nice shots as they were on the right side of the light. It really brought out the purple sheen on some of the individuals. A real treat.

-Purple Sandpiper

This was my first proper trip to the coast besides Hartlepool so I was keen to knock off a few coastal yearticks. I managed to plow through 5 additional yearticks; Razorbill, Fulmar, Gannet, Kittiwake and Rock Pipi, as well as Red-legged Partridge from the train. Not a bad haul. In addition to that there were nice views of other coastal species, particularly Red-throated Diver when an individual I had not noticed popped up right in front of me as I was watching the Scoter. There were also signs of spring everywhere, particcularly on the cliff tops where there were at least 10 parachuting Meadow Pipits.

-Eider

-Fulmar

-Gannet

-Red-throated Diver

-Meadow Pipit

-Kittiwake and Guillemot

The weather was fantastic and it made it a really pleasant day out, with awesome birds too. What a way to start my months off from work...

Species List:

Filey: Red-legged Partridge, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Redwing, Fieldfare, Black-headed Gull, Collard Dove, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Lapwing, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Mallard, Rook, Pheasant, Skylark, Graylag Goose, Grey Partridge, Herring Gull, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Turnstone, Gannet, Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, Guillemot, Cormorant, Razorbill, Surf Scoter, Shag, Dunlin, Meadow Pipit, Eider, Redshank, Curlew, Red-throated Diver, Rock Pipit, Great Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Stock Dove, Kestrel, 

Spurn Day 25

The night passed without incident. I did see another Shooting Star though, while I was out to see if the fox was around. I left early this morning in order to gather my sleep for the buffer shift, since I have now finished nights and have moved back onto days.

The buffer shift was quiet, as the ponds usually are in the afternoon. The majority of waders were on the Humber, but there were still a few around. Notably the Curlew Sandpiper has stuck around and spent the afternoon on the ponds, giving me the chance to see it again. It spent its time out over the far side, so I could not take any worthwhile photos, not that they are needed.

Also on was a Black-Tailed Godwit, which is a bit different, and a few Red Knot, some of which flew straight over me, giving me a chance to get a different perspective on them. Other birds were a bit thin on the ground. I got to watch some Gannets diving out to sea though, which is not something I thought I would see once I knew I was not going to Scotland, so that was nice. There were also the usual Sandwich Terns moving around in good numbers, which often get photographed when there is nothing else…

-Gannet

-Sandwich Tern

Walking back down Beacon Lane there was an incredible number of Wall Brown butterflies, they were resting on the path, but as I had to walk down the path I sent them all up. There were at least 6 or 7 in the air around my feet at some points, which was pretty nice to see, given that I no longer seem to catch up with this species at home.

On the way back I called in at Canal Scrape, but it was pretty much dead. The swallows were still in though, and today I saw two tiny gaping mouths out over the edge of the nest. It would seem then that the birds were not sitting yesterday possibly because the eggs were hatching, as the chicks there today were clearly very young, eyes not even open yet. It will be fun to watch their development though.

And that pretty much draws us to a close for today. But since it’s been quiet, I will put up a few pics of what I do in order to keep myself busy on the nightshift, in case anyone was wondering. It also means should my efforts ever get lost I can have them on here as a permanent record.

-Evening Entertainment

The Daily Oystercatcher

The oystercatchers have become very hard to follow now, as they have increased their movement so much since they learned to fly. I spotted an adult bird kipping at one point, possibly one of our adults. The chicks have started to keep to themselves and can often be found wandering alone around the edges of the pond. I did not see them early morning as I left before it was fully light, but during my fox checks I did see them a couple of times, standing in the water near their Crab Pot island. Its served them well has that island, though its getting to a stage where 3 Oystercatchers will no longer fit on it.

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Black-Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Knot, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Little Egret, Swallow, Sand Martin, Cormorant, Black-Headed Gull, Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Meadow Pipit, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Gannet,

Dumfries and Galloway Day 3

 Day 3 was warm and sunny, but blustery, and so we decided to go the mull of Galloway. Once we had gone in, I headed straight to a watch point on the moors to do a bit of seawatching. Sadly, without binoculars, this proved difficult, though there were a handful of birds on the tops, such as meadow pipits and linnets

-Linnet
It was only really the large birds flying over the sea that I could identify with ease, such as the flocks of gannets, or the fulmars that were sat on the sea. Regular large flocks of gannets wandered past my watch point, some flying quite high.












-Gannets
But again, it was the birds on the moors that were the easiest to watch. I was joined by a couple of Wheatear that did come quite close, not that the photos show it, as they hunted for insects on the ridges.

-Female Wheatear  

-Male Wheatear
The watch point idea had worked well for the birds on the cliff tops but sadly had not worked as well for the birds on the sea. There had been fulmars and gannets, but sadly not much else. The only exception was a pair of guillemot that I managed to spot in the bad swell a long way off.

-Guillemots 
I decided to give up on the watch point and go for a walk around the cliffs, to see if there were any more cliff top birds or seabirds. I had a look at the foghorn, but all that there was were a flock of sheltering pigeons, and I did not stay long as the wind was horrendous.
  I wandered around the cliff with not much joy, but I did find another large caterpillar of the same species which was nice. I moved it off the path to prevent people treading on it before I started taking photos of it.

-Caterpillar
After we had finished at the mull we headed back to the caravan site. My family decided to have a brew before we went swimming, so I decided to go and see if I could photograph pied wagtails as we had seen quite a few as we were driving in.
  Sadly, they were very flighty once you were out of the car, and I diddnt really manage to get any really good photos like I had wanted.

-Pied Wagtail 
Somehow in my quest for pied wagtails I ended up on the beach, and from the beach I spotted some gannets diving quite close to shore, which was pretty cool to see. They were difficult to photograph,so in the end I just gave up and watched them instead.

-Gannets
On the way back to the caravan, I spotted yet more flighty pied wagtails that did not contribute much to my wagtail-o-folio!

-Pied wagtail
However, upon arriving back at the caravan, I found a small group of house sparrows dust bathing in a small pit opposite our awning. I have struggled in the past to get photos of this behavior, so being able to here was a nice surprise.

-House Sparrows Dust Bathing

Dumfries and Galloway Day 2

 Day 2 and it rained. It rained all day, except for the late afternoon, where it was overcast and cloudy. During that time I decided to go for a walk because I had been sat inside most of the day and decided that I needed to do something. I walked up the beach and therefore round the heath to see what was about. The first thing I saw was a juvenile guillemot, which had probably just fledged and was currently lost.













-Juvenile Guillemot 
Walking further up the beach and there must have been quite a few fish out to sea because there were a few fishing birds about, namely sandwich tern and gannet, which were quite close to land.

-Sandwich Tern

-Gannet 
at a point further up the beach and the rocks disappeared to be replaced by sand and gravel, which were more appealing to waders, and there were a lot more of them here. Mainly ringed plovers, which had gathered in a rather large flock.

-Ringed Plovers
It was in that region that I flushed a large flock of curlews, mixed with some oystercatchers. sadly I was not able to see them when they were roosted. It was still nice to see them though, although it was from a distance












-Curlews
small groups of ringed plovers were always moving up and down the beach, as well as a handful of turnstones and redshanks, though these were much less frequent.

-Ringed Plovers 
Looking up, the flock of curlews had turned back on itself and was flying over me again. They moved further up the beach than where I had intended to walk, but since I hadn't yet found a way back that diddnt involve walking back the way I came, it seemed unlikely that I would see them again.

-Curlews
there seemed to be a curve in the beach where the sand had congregated, and so the birds had followed suit., and it was here that there were the most birds and most bird species. There were a few gulls besides the waders, but most of the birds were waders. There seemed to be some kind of order, which the oystercatchers on the sea front, with ringed plovers and turnstones further back.

-Oystercatchers 

-Turnstone

-Ringed Plovers
I could see, across the sand that there was a cottage, and assumed that this cottage must have a link to the road, which I could use to get back home. Walking round to the cottage I spotted a hare on the beach, which was lovely to see.

-Hare on the beach
I managed to find the path back to the road, and on the way there I spotted another hare in a sheep field, bringing my hare total up to 2 for the day.

-Hare in field

Angelsey day 1

And so the Angelsey holiday starts. It started quite warm, but not regularly sunny and slightly breezy. Ideal conditions then, according to my dad to go to South Stack RSPB, Angelseys top nature reserve. When we arrived it had certainly brightened up a bit, but still not full on sunshine. We spent about 10mins in the cafe, before I left my family to enjoy their cuppa and I went off to go and hopefully see some wildlife. I set off down the stairs from the top car park down to the lighthouse. If you know anything about angelsey birdwatching then you would know that South Stack is well known for its choughs. It seemed almost guaranteed that I would see one, though I knew from experience that it was not always like that.

  As descended the short but slightly overgrown staircase towards the light and the first bird I saw of the day was a small wren singing from the top of a bramble stem.

-Wren
When I reached the bottom of the stairs and reached the edge of the cliff overlooking the main lighthouse I saw my first choughs. They were some way away climbing up a rock face, and hidden from view for most of their foray. Luckily I managed a few photos and then looked out for any closer or other birds.

-Cough
I was thrilled to see my first ever chough. the other birds on the cliffs were guillemots and razorbills. Of course, choughs are not the only speciality of South Stack, and another is the Silver-Studded Blue Butterfly, which is probably rarer than the choughs, though it does just look like another blue butterfly. Need less to say, I was well on the lookout for one. I had no joy on the cliff top, but one chap I spoke to said that he had seen them on the heathland on the other side of the road away from the cliffs, so I left to go and see if I could see any up there.
  I walked up to the heath, but was lost not long after. I wandered around many paths looking for the butterflies but in vain. However, I eventually found a concrete path, and following this path led me straight to them. At first I was dubious, after all, all blue butterflies with the exception of holly blue look the same, so I began to wonder if these were actually common blues, but eventually I decided that they were probably silver studded when there began to be loads of them. At one point I had around 5 in front of me. It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many rare, pretty and first time butterflies, and they were a treat to see. I ended up taking loads of photos, so that eventually they were more that record shots. It was curious that they all seemed to within 10 meters of path, before there were none, and none after neither. But where they were, there were loads.

-Silver Studded Blue
So I left the moors absolutely buzzing with two awesome new species and it was not even lunchtime. Now I decided to go back to the cliff top moors and see what was around up there and hopefully see more choughs at closer quarters. But instead of walking along the cliff top path, I decided to walk through the heathland path to see what heathland insects and birds were around.
  I was rewarded with close encounters with a stonechat which clearly had a nest somewhere around because the adults both had something in their beak when I saw them. I got great views of both the male and the female.

-Female Stonechat

-Male Stonechat
Further along the path and I added another cracking new species to my ever growing list for the site. And it was a more curious animal. They were big green beetles called rose chaffers, which were really obvious when they sat on the white flowers gathering the pollen, and that's the only place where I saw them. I was impressed by them to say the least but there only seemed to be one on each white flower, though a plant with two flowers would have two quite close to each other.

-Rose Chaffer
I reached the end of the heathland path and arrived at the lower car park. I set off down the alternative path towards the cliff edge for the way back and to see if I could see any choughs. When I reached the cliff face I immediately saw a group of around 5 choughs flying about, some playing in the wind, some rooting in the cliff side, where there were grassy bits. They were great to watch, and when the wind picked up they would fly up to where i was standing and fly alongside me. Luckily, I had carried the scope all the way round the reserve for no reason, until now, and I was able to get great views of the choughs as they rooted in the cliff side.

-Chough
But there were not only choughs on the corvid front. As I was watching the choughs, a pair of ravens flew over, giving me another great species to the list for the day. They moved off pretty quick, further up the coast, but they were still great to see.

-Raven
the ravens were just fly-bys though so my attention quickly returned to the choughs, that were flying to and fro across where I was standing, allowing me to get great views of them up close.

-Chough
Sadly though I then got a text telling me that lunch was at the car, so that it was time, for the present, to leave my chough watching point and head back to the car. This time I walked back along the cliff edge, rather than through the moors, to see what birds were around in this bit. I saw a kestrel hunting over the moors and a pied wagtail on the cliff edge. 













-Kestrel

-Pied Wagtail
When I reached the lighthouse I spotted a meadow pipit with a caterpillar in its beak in the scrub, it was perched out in the open and was not very shy, I took a few photos, but left pretty quick, in case I was putting it off its nest which it seemed to have.

-Meadow Pipitwalking back up to the car park involved going up a path through the heath and on the way I found some more lovely rose chaffers, that allowed me to get some more photos. It was quite difficult to tell what was beetle head and what was flower, their heads were so covered in pollen.

-Rose ChafferAfter lunch I headed back to where the choughs had been and was delighted to see that there were still plenty of them there. The wind had picked up considerably, so they choughs were flying higher than they had been before and so were flying above me rather than on a par with me. It also meant that they were landing on the cliff ledge next to the path. On the way there I saw a pair only about a meter away from me, rooting in the dirt on the sea side of the path. I was cautious to try and take a photo, but to draw my camera up might spook them. They didn't even flinch until the camera snapped, and then they were gone in a flash, but it was still a great view to have had.

-Chough
There were other birds that I could see from my vantage point though, including linnet and stonechat that were looking for insects of the top of the cliff.

-StonechatMy mum and dad joined me at my vantage point, and after they had looked at the choughs, my dad said that he would quite like to see the butterflies, so I took him to where they were. The weather had deteriorated since I was there, so I didn't know what to expect but we found a few, and so I took some more photos.

-Silver Studded Blue 
We continued to explore the moors for a bit to see if we could find anything else. From our vantage point above the reserve, we could see a large flock of choughs moving off onto the neighbouring farmland.














-Choughs
We found a stile that would lead us on a short path back to the visitor centre. We were just about to go through the stile when I spotted a common darter dragonfly land of the gorse nearby. I couldn't believe it, as there was very little fresh water nearby, though there was a lake over the hill, when I had looked there before there was nothing on it except for a herring gull. The dragonfly appeared to be trying to oviposit on the gorse, which is not a good idea, though it probably wasn't, though what it was doing is beyond me.

-Common DarterWe headed back down to the view point to see what seabirds where around since they were something I had overlooked due to the wealth of none seabirds around. There were plenty of auks and the odd gannet flying past, plus rafts of auks on the sea. One guillemot had a fish in its mouth that made it look like a white beak stripe. There were also the odd chough that flew past, giving us another great view of these birds.

-Gannet

-Chough

-Auk raft-Guillemots and razorbills
when we turned back to go up the stairs to the car park, I saw the meadow pipit again, further away from me than last time, but still a great view of a bird you can't normally get close to.

-Meadow PipitAfter that we left South Stack, and it left me very impressed. after all I had seen loads of unusual wildlife, and felt great for doing so.
  The afternoon then fell way short. We couldn't decide what to do, so after a walk round holyhead, we decided to go to the holyhead brakwater country park, and it had a lake. Nothing really happened there, I walked round the lake while my family stayed i the car. The only thing I saw was is funnel web spider.

-Spider
After our rather pointless hour not knowing what to do it holyhead we went to a beach at Rosneiger, which is a town on the west coast of angelsey, but quite a way from holyhead. The beach we went to was further down from the town, hence there was quite a bit of wildlife.
  When we pulled up we had to go through the dunes to get to the beach. On the beach there were quite a few black headed gulls, and at the front, hiding amongst them there was a sandwhich tern. The gulls all scattered as we got closer, but the tern was more reluctant to fly than the gulls, so I was able to get a photo of it without the gulls in the way.














-Sandwhich ternThere were quite a few waders on the beach too, besides your usual oystercatchers. But most of them were flybys that we didn't really get a good view of.

-Turnstones

-Redshank

-Juv Starling (Not a wader!)

-Curlew

There were quite a few rockpools on the beach, so we took the opportunity to go rockpooling, or at least my dad and brother did, I just walked along the rocks to see what I could find. I saw quite a few fish in the pools with out catching them, but my dad and brother also caught some great fish, so below is a compilation of all the fish that I saw and they caught that afternoon.

-Stickleback or wrasse

-Massive shannys

-Shanny in my dads Hand

-ShannyBut it was not just the fish. There were also some awesome spider crabs in some of the bigger pools that we were able to fish out and have a closer look at.

-Spider CrabOn the way back to the car I found some lovely purple orchids in the dunes, though I don't know what kind they are. I know that they fit into the category and not common spotted, which adds to their interest.

-Orchid Sp.

So our first day on Angelsey comes to an end. Its been an incredible first day, and I have seen loads of awesome species including 3 that were new, and a new bird, which is something of a rarity these days.