Blackstone Edge Reservoir & Whiteholme Reservoir

  Once again the ample shoreline at Blackstone Edge provided a wader bonanza this morning. Whilst I was away at a wedding for Friday afternoon and Saturday, the number of Sanderling reported reached 12, but this morning it had increased again to an incredible 15! Very impressive for an inland site. At times they were quite approachable, and a steady stream of birders came and went throughout the morning, enjoying this incredible inland spectacle. Was nice to see both AC and DF up there as well.

   Whilst there I also ventured on to Whiteholme Reservoir but found it almost void of birdlife. Who can blame the migrant waders when Blackstone Edge has so much shoreline to offer, and Whiteholme has comparatively little. 

-Sanderlings

Blackstone Edge Reservoir & Whiteholme Reservoir

  I was hopeful that the change in the weather conditions might bring in some migrant waders. The previous day I had visited both Blackstone Edge and Whiteholme reservoirs, and while there were a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover, there was nothing different. But with overnight rain I was optimistic that there might have been something different drop in.

  Blackstone Edge was my first port of call and from the road I could already see that the reservoir looked quite lively with wading birds. A scan produced 6 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover, 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Curlew and the best of the bunch, two Sanderling. 

-Sanderlings

  Buoyed by this, I continued on to Whiteholme Reservoir which was conspicuously quieter. There were no Dunlin at all here, probably due to the more limited shoreline. Most birds are probably preferring the other reservoirs. Still, upon reaching the northernmost corner of the reservoir I was pleased to find another three Sanderlings feeding on the mud. These were quite confiding at times.

  On my departure from Whiteholme the two Blackstone Edge Sanderlings were still present, leading me to confidently state that there was no overlap between the birds on the two reservoirs. 

-Sanderlings

  I also managed a patch tick at Whiteholme with this rather lost Grey Squirrel. I can't imagine what must have gone wrong in the animals brain to make it think that coming this far onto the moors was a good idea!

-Grey Squirrel

Soil Hill & Whiteholme; Week 24th - 30th May

Soil Hill
Sadly, for the most part, there was little change in the avian composition of Soil Hill during the last week. Towards the weekend the weather finally picked up, and consequently there was an increase in Sand Martins and House Martins blogging around, increase by Soil Hill standards anyway. Fledglings also started to appear, with a speckled juvenile Robin at the bottom of the North Slope Tree Line on the 29th, and a flyover family party of Rook on the same day. If the warm weather holds hopefully it will give birds a chance to recover from a poor start to the breeding season.

Whiteholme Reservoir

The warm and clear conditions seemed to end wader passage for the most part, with very little in the way of new arrivals by the time the weekend came around. There was one notable wader during the week, a smart Sanderling which was present on the morning of the 28th. It was a more grey individual than any of the others that I have seen this spring, and was given a lot of grief by the local Ringed Plovers. The morning of the 29th also had a few nice bits on offer, with 3 Eurasian Teal, 12 Greylag Geese and a drake Mandarin fly-through. A flyover Siskin was also a nice surprise to round off the week.

-Sanderling

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,
Whiteholme Reservoir: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Common Pheasant, Red Grouse, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting,

Soil Hill & Whiteholme; Week 04th - 09th May

Soil Hill

The birding on Soil Hill has been badly hampered by howling winds and cold temperatures. For a site more suited to passage passerines neither of these is particularly helpful but there were still a few nice bits to be found. First of these was a very very distant Whinchat on the 07th May, which was sadly all too brief. Wheatears featured throughout the week but were often distant on the bottom Cattle Fields. Overhead the migration was limited, with hirundines being limited to 2 Sand Martin on the 06th and a single House Martin on the 09th. A Swift also flew north on the 06th. Small groups of Siskin have been around the hill, with a group of 7 being the largest. Regular migrants have arrived and already established territories with some interesting Whitethroat behaviour observed on two occasions. The male will fly around the female within the bush uttering a bizzare whirring noise, which I have the intention to record once the wind drops. And finally rounding off the week, a drake Tufted Duck on the NK pond, only the second time I have seen this species here. Frustratingly it spent most of its time on the near shore out of sight.

-Whinchat

Whiteholme Reservoir

  On the 8th the weather was truly horrific, with gales and heavy rain and sleet. Since Soil Hill was a write off I decided to head up to Whiteholme to see if any birds were dropping in during the rain. And the endevour was rewarding with a nice total of 29 Dunlin and a single Sanderling. Sadly I could not give it so long due to the fact that I myself could not cope with the conditions and soon had to return home for some comforts. 

  That said, the two hours I had spent in the rain had wet my appetite so the following morning I headed up early doors to see the results of the storm. DF had just beat me there and recorded nearly 40 Dunlin, but when I joined him he informed me he was up to 69. It was indeed a fantastic sight with Dunlin dotted all along the shore line and filling the air with their buzzy calls. In addition there were at least 15 Ringed Plover. After a while DF had to leave and it was not five minutes after he headed down Blackstone Edge that an Arctic Tern appeared over the northern edge of the reservoir. It made slow progress south, allowing for some excellent views of the bird before I lost it. After this I decided to walk the length of the mud, click-counting the Dunlin and I reached an excellent total of 72 individuals. There were also 2 Sanderling here, which I compared with photos of the previous days individual and both appear to be new birds. After another hour of watching I decided to head off, when a Pink-footed Goose dropped in. Initially the bird caused me confusion, due to it being May, but photos confirmed the ID. It sat on the bank for 10 minutes before it too headed off strongly south. In conclusion, it truly has been a memorable weekend. 

-Sanderling

-Dunlin

-Dunlin & Sanderling

-Arctic Tern

-Sanderling

-Dunlin

-Pink-footed Goose

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting,
Whiteholme Reservoir: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Red Grouse, Common Swift, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Arctic Tern, Common Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Eurasian Wren, Northern Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit,  

Whiteholme Reservoir

Having been home and birding local sites for nine weeks due to the Covid-19 virus I decided to have an evening trip to Whiteholm Reservoir on the south side of Halifax. Obviously this is within the current government guidelines, but I was also aware that such a remote location would not bring me into contact with many people.

It was an extremely pleasant evening out birding, although there was not a wide variety of birds the species I wanted to see, Sanderlings, were still present, at least one of the was anyway. It was a very confiding bird and I was able to make the most of my time with it. There were also three Dunlin, a Ringed Plover and a handful of Common Sandpiper. The drake Common Scoter that had been on the water in the morning was also still present.

-Sanderling

-Common Scoter

Species List:

Whiteholme Reservoir: Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Scoter, Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Skylark, European Stonechat, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit,

Northumberland

For the next part of our trip we spent a couple of days in Northumberland enjoying the landscape and seeing a few different birds to those we had seen at Spurn. We were based in Seahouses and the main reason for that being, of course, the Eiders showing exceptionally well as usual, even letting us feed them by hand

-Eider

On our way up north we called in at Cresswell Pond to see the Long-billed Dowitcher that had been seen there. It was a pain to find amongst the throngs of Common Redshank but we eventually obtained some nice views, my second of this species at this site alone. There were also a few other nice species on offer here, including two Long-tailed Duck on the pond, as well as Scaup and then Twite, Whooper Swans and Barnacle Geese in the nearby fields.

-Long-billed Dowitcher

-Long-tailed Duck

For our full day in the region we headed to Lindisfarne for a days birding. Although there was nothing exceptional on the island we enjoyed some excellent birding in windy conditions. Two Barn Swallows were something of a surprise, flying over the islands pond. We also had some nice views of Red-throated Diver, Red-breasted Merganser and Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

-Northern Lapwing

-Sanderling

-Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Species List:

Cresswell Pond NWT: Whooper Swan, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Stock Dove, Water Rail, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitcher, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, Twite, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting,

Lindisfarne: Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Mute Swan, Mute Swan, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Common Eider, Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Common Guillemot, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Red-throated Diver, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, European Shag, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Barn Swallow, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Wren, Starling, Redwing, Common Blackbird, European Robin, European Stonechat, House Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Rock Pipit, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch,

Dorset Holiday Day 9

Sadly it rained today which left my options limited. The morning I did the moths as per and was rewarded with a new species for the holiday in the form of a very smart Ruby Tiger. I grabbed a couple of record shots, for the lack of any other moths.

-Ruby Tiger

 In the end I decided to revisit the Weymouth RSPB reserves to watch some birds! Since Radipole was right next to the train station I decided to head there first. Birds on the reserve were a little thin on the ground, but a flyby Bearded Tit was nice, and there were a few Pochard and Gadwall on the lakes.

Having said that, most of my time was spent in the reserve car park looking at the gulls… I was pretty desperate to find a YLG, especially since 3 had been reported there about half an hour prior to my searching. I was unable to locate one, or so I concluded having looked through my photos. I could never conclusively rule out YLG but had decided for one or more reasons that all the birds I had looked at considering YLG were in fact something else.
--That being until the 29th when an article appeared on Birding Frontiers with YLG in it. One of the example birds had been photographed in Dorset and was the spitting image of one of the birds I had seen. I decided to message Tim, who confirmed that it was a YLG and that he thought they were the same bird. As such I will now include the photos I took of the juvenile YLG

-Yellow Legged Gull

The fact that the bird raised my attention is a sign that I'm getting somewhere with gulls, even if it was not the right conclusion I hesitantly reached. I hasten to add that the above sequence is not necessarily of the same bird, the first two were photographed in the car park, before all the gulls flushed and I picked it up, or a similar bird, again on the nearby lake...

With that in mind, I have reason to believe that another bird I photographed at Lodmoor later in the day is also a YLG, though I did not get a clear view of the tail on this individual. There are clear faint windows in the wings that I did see, and the notching is incorrect for Herring Gull...

-Yellow Legged Gull

I think a lot more practice will be needed before I will confidently be able to do this in the field, but being able to pick out different looking birds is a good start, and I'm pretty pleased with that. (Its also a yeartick!)--

After spending so long at Radipole I decided to move on to Lodmoor. Once more there were better numbers of birds here, including a nice group of 5 summer plumaged sanderling, a couple of Greenshank, a flock of 11 Dunlin, a Black-Tailed Godwit Flock and a large group of possibly up to 50 Mediterranean Gulls. Not bad going at all.

-Black-Tailed Godwit

-Sanderling

 That was only in the main area for birds, and I headed round to the other side of the reserve where I had not been before. Here there were no waders but a few more wildfowl, including a Gadwall, a couple of Shoveler and a few Pochards.

-Pochard

 As I was scanning one bird really caught my attention, namely by its very small size for a duck. I instantly realised it was a teal of some description, but when it turned I was stunned to see how defined the face was and that there were clear white marks. My immediate reaction was Garganey, but I had to spend ages watching it going through every feature before I let myself believe it. Fortunately it was a very obliging bird, feeding in the open, even doing a couple of wing stretches to put beyond all doubt. That being said, I did release the news as a female, when I was rightly corrected via twitter that it is in fact an eclipse drake. My bad!

-Gargany

Not gonna lie, I was buzzing after that and was a real bonus for the bird list of the holiday. It means I did actually make a contribution to the Dorset birding world during my stay…

Species List:

Radipole Lake RSPB: Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Reed Warbler, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Swallow, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Greenfinch, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, House Martin, Sand Martin, Dunnock, Bearded Tit, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Black-Backed Gull, Swift,

Lodmoor RSPB: Sanderling, Dunlin, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Black-Tailed Godwit, Herring Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Mallard, Cormorant, Common Tern, Linnet, Coot, Moorhen, House Sparrow, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Canada Goose, Magpie, Swift, Starling, Great Black-Backed Gull, Avocet, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Pochard, Gadwall, Swallow, Greenfinch, Reed Warbler, Feral Pigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Little Grebe, Gargany,