Soil Hill birding; updates from the week 12th - 17th September

Sadly this was Lias last week on the Hill, as she returns the tropical climes of Brazil. And it was quite the send off as the first real autumn days rolled in this week, with a cold northerly wind and single figure temperatures, combined with glorious blue skies. In addition there was the steady transition of birdlife as the first winter migrants began to arrive, seeing off the final summer visitors. 

• The 14^th was a warm day once the early morning fog cleared, and it seemed promising for raptors but we were limited to six Common Buzzards. That was until we descended from the Hill and were walking back along Bradshaw Lane when we spotted a raptor high up that was immediately something different. Although distant, the photos showed it was a nice Marsh Harrier. It cruised slowly NW, taking it over the Soil Hill area, making it my second of the year.

As the autumn has progressed the number of migrants has continued to drop off with this week maintaining that course. Many of the summer warblers have now moved on, with just the last few hanging on. Not long before the thrushes arrive to keep things lively!    

• Almost certainly the last Spotted Flycatcher was actively feeding at the bottom of the North Slope on the morning of the 13^th, the last warm morning before the colder northerly winds set in. Its been a phenomenal autumn for this species here, with this individual bringing to the total up to seven in 2022! 

• Another species that has almost certainly run its course is Whinchat, with a single on Taylor Lane on the 14^th likely to be the last of the year. If this is the last of the year, it rounds off a truly phenomenal autumn with a total estimate of 16 different individuals.

• One species that has certainly increased in abundance this week is Stonechat. The first of the autumn appeared on the 13^th, when we were able to find four different individuals. Then we had birds on two other dates, although just singles. A single Wheatear was enjoying the horse paddocks from the 12^th until the 15^th, when it was joined by a second individual before they both departed. 

• A single Tree Pipit was heard flying south on the 13^th in a good passage of Meadow Pipits, in which 118 were counted in an hour, and an estimated 300 flew south in total. 

• This week there was just two Willow Warbler sightings, both on the 14^th and both on Ned Hill Track. In start contrast, Chiffchaff was seen on every single day, although the cold winds certainly contributed to numbers dropping off at the end of the week. The best count was seven on the 15^th, and six on the 12^th.

• Remarkably we were able to find three Common Whitethroat on the 13^th, but the only other record was one calling at the top of the North Slope on the 15^th. In the past the species has lingered on Soil Hill until the end of September, but there is no evidence that this year will have such a lingering individual, as we have searched hard for the last individuals. There was also a male Blackcap at the bottom of the North Slope on the 13^th, the only sighting of the week. 

• Small flurries of Hirundines kept moving during the week, but there was no sustained movement worth counting. There were House Martins on two dates, the 13^th and 15^th when groups of eight and 13 respectively flew south. On the 13^th there was a reasonable movement of Barn Swallow, with an estimated 50 individuals, and again the 15^th was the only other date of note with an estimated 35 heading south. Two Sand Martin again on the 13^th probably see the species out for what has been a very poor year for them on Soil Hill.

• This week Goldcrest returned to the Hill with individuals recorded on almost every single day, in a variety of locations. The highest count was still only three on the 13^th and 14^th, but it is good to at least hear these teeny birds on almost every visit.  

• On the livelier days there was finally an appearance of Siskin this year, with small groups recorded on the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th flying across the Hill calling. Having had none in the spring, it was good to finally get some, especially since the autumn seems quite slow for finches so far.

•  The only Jay this week was a pair that flew south together on the 13^th, which as you’ve probably gathered at this point was the liveliest day for movement of all species this week.

In addition to the usual passage and summer migrants that have been slowly filtering through, there has been a burst of wildfowl activity on the Hill this week. Although the species involved have not been super unusual, it still represents a good start to the autumn and a sure indicator that the season is progressing rapidly. 

• The highlight of the week has been the first skeins of wintering Pink-footed Geese returning from Iceland. Although nationally there had been numerous sightings in the preceding days, the first flock over Soil Hill did not occur until the 15^th when a skein of 177 flew southeast over Halifax, the largest flock of the week. On the 16^th there were 328 individuals that flew over in five skeins, and on the 17^th 359 headed southeast in eight skeins. 

• Another goose species appearing in numbers this week was Greylag Goose. I was informed that this increase in records is due to the feral English population moving to Scotland to moult during the summer before returning, and that Icelandic birds don't arrive until November. Interesting stuff anyway. Individuals were seen on four dates this week, heading in all different directions, with the largest group being 11 heading west on the 14^th and 9 going the same direction on the 17^th. 

• This week saw the first Goosander of the autumn, with a flock of seven heading distantly south on the 15^th, before a closer individual flew northeast on the 16^th.  

• Shockingly I have not seen Eurasian Teal on Soil Hill since October 2019, so it was pleasing to have three individuals on the NK Pond on the 15^th this week. They spent their time resting on the small shoreline that has appeared where they preened and were pestered by the local Moorhens.   

  The best of the rest was pretty limited this week. The standout was probably a Collared Dove that flew north over Taylor Lane on the 17^th, my first the 31^st August and only the third this year. The Grey Partridge were seen on the 12th and the 14^th with a male and two females sitting out nicely on the latter date.

  Remarkably the Curlew remained throughout the week, heard every day between the 13^th and the 16^th but never seen. Presumably feeding in one of the more distant livestock fields, but certainly not feeding quietly. There were just two dates for Common Snipe this week, with a single on the 15^th and a couple on the 17^th.

  The only notable other passerine sighting was a group of four Bullfinch that dropped in to the bushes at the top of the North Slope on the 15^th.

  And as a final note, there was another notable sighting this week when a Herring Gull with a darvic ring was in the reservoir field. Frustratingly the grass was just a little two long to get the full code, although I was able to get some of it. I sent it off to PC to see what he suggested, and he thought it could be a York bird and to maybe pass it to them. This is still on my to do list, but its unlikely it will lead anywhere. 

-Marsh Harrier

-Stonechat

-Spotted Flycatcher

-Eurasian Teal

-Goosander

-Greylag Geese

-Pink-footed Geese

-Herring Gull with darvic ring

-Lesser Black-backed Gull

-Collared Dove

-Dunnock

Species List:

Soil Hill: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Goosander, Grey Partridge, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Western Barn Owl, Little Owl, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, Spotted Flycatcher, European Robin, Whinchat, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting, 

 

Orgreave Lakes

This years revision break was not as extravagant as last years. I decided I'd had enough of the library and needed to spend a day in the fresh air. What better way that to try my luck at a pair of Black Redstarts near Orgreave lakes. I arrived early morning to the news that the male was still present but had gone off according to birders on site. I spent two mins looking where it had apparently gone and immediately refound it. It was very mobile and at no point did I get an outstanding clear view, but its my first adult male Black Redstart and a stunning bird.

Not long after it was lost again and in my attempts to try and refind it I stumbled across the female bird feeding down one of the side roads with some Dunnocks. It was a far more obliging bird but in the gloom I labored to get a decent photo. In the end I managed a couple of record shots of the bird which I am very happy with. A morning well spent I would say. 

-Female Black Redstart

After a while I decided to give up on the male and head over to Orgreave lakes themselves. Being so early in the year I was blessed with a host of yearticks. The best of these was a nice flock of around 40 Siskin feeding in the alders near the track and the host of waterbirds. By far the most abundant bird were the Pochards, which are now a red listed species but very abundant at Orgreave.

-Siskin

-Pochard and Goosander

Whilst at Orgreave I managed to get two patch ticks, something I had not counted on. The first was a bird that has been around all winter but only now connected, a beautiful Short-eared Owl. Another birder I saw let me know he had seen it around and as we talked I picked it out quartering over the hill and then beyond, lost to view. I headed up the hill for a look and was delighted to see it perched up in a tree. It was not bothered at all about the passing lorries but decided not to risk getting any closer. What a superb bird, and probably the best view I have ever had of one.

The second patch tick was a solitary Lesser Redpoll. Just as I was finishing walking round a lake I heard a finch calling overhead and considered that it might be a redpoll. So when it landed I was pleased to see I had been right, and that I could add another species to my patch list for here.

-Short-eared Owl

On the way back I decided to try my luck at the gulls in Attercliffe to see if there was anything unusual among them. Sadly there was not, only commoner large gull species, but it was still a nice way to end the afternoon. More often than not when I try here the large gulls just don't bother landing at all.

-Herring and Great Black-backed Gull

Species List:

Orgreave Lakes: Skylark, Magpie, Collard Dove, Woodpigeon, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Dunnock, Kestrel, Meadow Pipit, Starling, Carrion Crow, Robin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Siskin, Blue Tit, Fieldfare, Long-tailed Tit, Pochard, Coot, Goldeneye, Great-crested Grebe, Herring Gull, Mute Swan, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Goosander, Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl, Grey Heron, Common Teal, Feral Pigeon, Stonechat, Lesser Redpoll, Grey Wagtail, Great Tit

Attercliffe: Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Mallard, 

Gull Watching in Attercliffe

Christened my new scope with a pre-lecture look at the gulls down in Attercliffe trying to see the iceland gull that had been around. It took a while before I could actually find any gulls down on the rooftops but eventually they settled on the tip and I was able to get a good look at them. Sadly no iceland gull but I did see a pretty pale bird that I wondered if could be a hybrid. I messaged Nick who said he thought it was just a pale Herring Gull, and passed it onto Martin Garner who agreed that it was a pretty funky looking Herring Gull.

-Funky Herring Gull

So that was a little exciting, but did leave me with yet another gull challenge. Also on site was a Grey Heron fishing on the weir and a female Sparrowhawk flew through. Plenty of large gulls did eventually land, but only the usual species.

Species List:

Attercliffe: Herring Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Moorhen, Mallard, Grey Heron, Sparrowhawk, 

Gull Watching in Attercliffe MK11

Take two at the caspian gulls. I was pretty keen to catch up with one and had a little more information so headed down. I waited on the bridge looking over the roof tops where the gulls had been, and there were a few large gulls there. I had a look and got nothing but another couple of birders turned up and he picked out a young gull that he thought might be. I could see why he thought that but I still thought it was a young herring. He made his points though and I began to see it as a casp, seeing the points he made. However, when it flew it had dark under-wings confirming that it was indeed a Herring Gull. Moral of the story? stay true to what you think!

-1st Winter and Adult Herring Gull

-1st Winter Herring Gull

It came to a stage where all the gulls had drifted away until there were none left. The tip was not open so there were no gulls there, but they all seemed to have flown off in the other direction anyway. After another half an hour large numbers of larger gulls came back through and started to settle, on the roof of the tip. As a result I quickly headed over there.

On the roof I had a look through the large gulls and could not see anything. I was a little disappointed, but I kept checking and I soon picked up on a bird that had a black eye. Immediately my heart started racing and I grabbed the camera to get some shots. As soon as I put the camera down the gulls all took off and I lost the bird. This meant I could not get much on it through the scope so I would have to base my i.d. off the camera.

I had a look and could see some features, namely that eye, but there seemed to be too much gony's. Looking back at the photos now its pretty obvious that the body shape is wrong but at the time I could not see much beyond the eye, but I messaged Tim to make sure, noting my concerns about the gony's angle. Tim pointed out the body shape and said that it was not a casp but was close. Fortunately its all good practice so I can get better at this gull malarkey.

-Herring Gull

So that was that, all the gulls left again and I was left with no gulls to look at and certainly no casps. As a result I called it a day and decided to tackle my Christmas shopping instead.

Species List: Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Feral Pigeon,

York today

Off to york today con mi famille in lovely winter sunshine. Naturally, birdwatching was not going to feature highly on todays list, but next to the river we managed to pick up a Juvenile herring gull besides the black-headed, graylag and canada geese, mute swan and mallard. This sparked a challenge to se how many species we could muster during our york moochings:
-Black headed gulls
-Canada geese
-Graylag geese
-Mallard
-Herring gull
-House sparrow
-Blue tit
-Long tailed tit-something of a surprise, especially the great view we got of it
-Woodpigeon
-Feral pigeon
-Carrion crow
-Blackbird

and a grey squirrel, just for diversity
Also had buzzard, kestrel and a rookary on the way there

Norfolk Holiday Day 1-So it begins

So here we are again, going on holiday in October  Luckily, this time we are not going to a remote countryside county, we are going to Norfolk! That to say the least is exciting. We were staying at West Runton, a town just west of Cromer, on a site we had stayed at before. All the birding sites were to the west of us, but luckily the Coast-hopper bus, though infrequent, provided the perfect means to get around.
  When we arrived on Sunday afternoon, we had no plans to do anything, and it was too late to take a trip to Cley, so I went for a walk down to the beach at west Runton, some 20 mins away. It is a nice enough beach, well known from its Pleistocene fossils, including a straight tusked elephant. It is however, not a hot spot for birds. To make this first post interesting, I have included my three photos of the day, some blurred gulls on the beach. All the gulls are either herring, lesser black backed or black headed. The only other bird I saw was a lone fieldfare, but more on them tomorrow.

-Gulls

Angelsey Day 4

Day 4 of the Angelsey holiday begun with rain. It was a pity really because rain meant not much wildlife. As a result we decided to go and have a look at the Angelsey Sea Zoo, an aquarium that we often go to whenever we are in the area. As you would expect, there was very little in the way of wildlife, but as we pulled in to the site next to the sea, there was a whimbrel and oystercatcher on the beach.
  By lunchtime we had finished at the aquarium, so we moved onto Beaumaris for our lunch. We parked up on the seafront where we would be able to see anything that flew past. Before we had lunch we went for a walk along the seafront towards the pier. At the pier, due to the blustery conditions, there were many gulls flying about but struggling, allowing me to get some photos of them in flight. They were also nicking the bait from tourists crabbing equipment, which was pretty funny.

-Herring gull

When we arrived back at the car I heard the call of a tern, and looked up to see a couple of sandwhich terns flying right by us, as they headed back up the beach. I was therefore able to get some decent flight shots of them, though they are not as good as they could be due to the rotten weather.

-Sandwhich Tern

We had lunch in the car because it was way too windy to eat on the seafront. Even in the car we got the attention of a herring gull, who sat on the roof of the car next to us and just watched. We threw out some scraps for it. Because it was so close I was able to take some photos of its head and wonderful yellow eye.

-Herring Gull

After a look round Beaumaris we drove round all over looking for somewhere to go. Strangely we ended up back at the caravan site with quite a bit of the afternoon still to go. My dad decided that we would go for a walk round Cefni reservoir since it was local to the caravan site.
  As far as reservoirs go it had quite a few birds. At one point my heart was racing when a female tufted duck with excessive white round its beak appeared near to shore, but that is exactly what it proved to be. Either way it was an exciting moment in a pretty drab day.

-Tufted Duck

At the extent of our walk we reached a clearing in the shrubbery that allowed me to get down to the waters edge. There were a few coots and mallards around, and I got a great view of a reed bunting flying past me, but there were no insects.
  On the way back, because it was evening and the waterfowl were congregating at the shallower end of the reser so that they could roost. It allowed me to get a full list of all the different species that were on the reservoir that evening.
  At the back there was a lone great crested grebe, but besides that and a lone swan there were mainly tufted ducks and coots.

-Great crested grebe

-Mute swan

-Coots flying

On the way back to the car I spotted my first damselfly of the day, a common blue, but because of the bad light I was unable to get any decent photos.

-Common Blue Damselfly

So we left Cefni reservoir, and ended day four of the angelsey holiday, which was a very poor day in terms of wildlife, unfortunately.

Northumberland long weekend Day 2

Our final day in Northumberland, and the weather remained unchanged, grey and chilly. As is normal when we go to this region we decided to go to Seahouses. Last time here we had plenty of turnstones and eiders. The difference being that we were later in the year, and that it wasn't horizontal rain this time.
As we were driving along the coast road, I was disappointed to see that the tide was out, and so I imagine that the turnstones would be out as well. As I arrived in the harbour I looked over the sea wall to see if my suspicions were correct. They were to some degree, but one turnstone had hung around nearish the wall. It was about half way between the sea wall and the sea, although my photo was pretty poor.

-Turnstone
This turnstone was unfazed by my being there. It started having a wash in a rock pool, between two gulls.
I walked down the pier/breakwater to see what there was. I spotted at the end a bird in the water, so I went up to see if it was a diver or rare sea duck, or an eider. However I was pleasantly surprise to see that it was a shag when I arrived. If I recall, this is my first this year, which is quite late all things considered.

-Shag
Moving back up up the pier I looked at the gulls along the side, for potential iceland or glaucus gull. However the most unusual that I managed to find was a greater black backed gull.

-Greater Black backed Gull
On the other, harbour pier I was delighted to finally find some eiders, a handsome flock with a nice mixture of males and females. I got a great view of the eiders, and they even approached me despite being a few meters above them. Then I saw that the eiders moved away from me, towards a young family feeding them on the slipway opposite. They then started feeding them bread, so I decided to go over there, to be at eye level with them. I did and enjoyed listening to them "Awooo" comically, and also take some great photos of them. Unfortunately they all started moving away as soon as they realised I had no bread.
After about 15mins of doing my best to entertain the eiders, I decided to try and find my family to get some real bread. After about 15mins looking for them in seahouses I eventually managed it and got hold of some bread, AKA my lunch. I returned to the eiders and again enjoyed photographing them and feeding them, great views of such great birds. Here is a compilation of the eider photos I took.

-Eiders
I returned to my family and walked around the harbour with them to see what was around. At the turnstone area, I spotted a herring gull flying with some seaweed dangling out of its mouth, then, as it landed nearby, it became clear that it was not a piece of seaweed, it was a giant butterfish. It started bashing it against the sea wall, but was rudely interrupted by a mob of black headed gulls. I only managed one photo, sadly though it has it back to me.

-Herring Gull
Moving on, We walked onto an area of mud and beach on the southern side of the harbour which was far more natural. There were plenty of birds around here, oystercatchers, redshanks, grey heron and a handful of ringed plovers on the harbour mud which was nice, the first I've seen this holiday.

-Ringed Plover
We moved back to the car for lunch, and moved it from its current parking spot into an area where we had a great view of the harbour and the sea. As we were eating lunch we attracted a great deal of attention from a variety of gulls, herring and black-headed, who feasted on the scraps that I threw for them.

-Black Headed gull
the gulls left for a few mins to feed on somebody Else's lunch, and in that time, a very handsome winter plumage starling turned up and started picking up the scraps. The gulls started drifting back, but seemed reluctant to start feeding again. It was odd to see the gulls being reluctant to feed on some food being fed on by a starling.

-Starling, seemingly hording the food
After lunch we headed down towards Newcastle to see some family Friends, but first we would be going to big waters to see if there were any birds or otters. When we arrived we spotted a marsh harrier soaring above us. Besides that there were a few things to see, but they were all distance, there were shoveler, teal, whooper swans and cormorants.

-Marsh Harrier

so ends our long weekend on the Northumberland coast.