Cromwell Bottom twitching Scaup

   With the weather turned against me for the day, with rain and strong winds, I decided to avoid Soil Hill and instead do my various tasks in Halifax, and then continue along the Cromwell Bottom to have a look at the now three Scaups that have taken up winter residence on the Ski Lake.

  When I arrived I first went to La Casa but couldn’t make out any Scaup on the water, although it was nice to see the Goldeneye still present, and count an impressive 21 Grey Herons dotted around the edge of the lake. With no sign there, I headed down to the canal path to see if they were sheltering on the far side of the lake, the near side from La Casa.

  And that is indeed where I found them, with the three Scaups nestled into a small group of Tufted Ducks. The male Scaup is now looking much more dapper than when I first saw him at the end of the autumn last year, with his grey back now nearly completely moulted through. The females looked much the same. Always good to appreciate these birds locally when I can, especially given the decline in wintering Scaups in the UK.  

-Tufted Duck & Greater Scaup

-Greater Scaup

Species List:
Cromwell Bottom: Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Goosander, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, European Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Eurasian Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, 

Lee Dam, Ringstone Edge & Cromwell Bottom

   Today turned into an excellent day out birding across Halifax with Matt Broadbent. The day started off well with a pleasant morning of thrush migration over Soil Hill, but it only turned into a day out when news broke that the Salvonian Grebe which had been seen on the canal at Todmorden a couple of days previously, but had then gone AWOL, had been relocated on Lee Dam just above the town.

  I headed down there and upon arrival we had the grebe absolutely no problem at all. The reservoir is not large at all, and the Grebe was quite happy to come in close in shore in order to chase fish, sometimes feeding almost directly under us. In the hour we spent there we saw it catch at least two Perch, although it also spent a considerable amount of time asleep in the middle of the albeit small water body. Having seemingly missed out on this bird when it couldn’t be relocated on the Canal, it was a very pleasant surprise to bump into it again here.

  With the weather pleasant, and with no work on the horizon, we then headed off to check some of the other sites around Halifax. A check of Whiteholme for Water Pipit failed to yield any birds, at all, but Ringstone Edge was a little more exciting with a drake Gadwall feeding with the mallards under the trees on the south bank. Presumably this is the same bird that was originally found by PD two days earlier.

  It was already mid-afternoon, so we decided to head to Cromwell Bottom last thing to see if the Scaup found by DJS the previous evening were still on the Ski Lake. From the Italian restaurant we could not see anything except Tufted Ducks and a few Goldeneye, and a bonus pair of Shoveler right at the far end, but we decided to persevere with the Scaup and see what viewing we could get from the canal towpath.

  Once on the canal, and once we had found an opening through the vegetation, we had a another scan of the lake and this time easily picked out the two Scaup. They were now swimming with the group of Tufted Ducks that we had seen before, so where they had been lurking who knows. Viewing remained difficult from the towpath so we returned to the restaurant and from here we had excellent views of both birds showing nicely below us.

  A brilliant day out birding in Halifax, demonstrating the best that this area has to offer! 

-Slavonian Grebe

-Greater Scaup

Species List:

Lee Dam:  Mallard, Common Moorhen, Slavonian Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kingfisher, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Wren, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Pied Wagtail, Eurasian Chaffinch, Lesser Redpoll, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin,

Ringstone Edge: Gadwall, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Little Grebe, Great Cormorant, Common Buzzard, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Wren, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare, European Robin, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit,

Cromwell Bottom: Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Goosander, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Common Kingfisher, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Wren, European Robin, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, 

Sizergh Castle NT & Leighton Moss RSPB

Today was Lia’s last full day in the UK so I decided to do some birding in Lancashire on our way back down to Halifax. We left Keswick early morning to arrive at our first destination in good time; the National Trust property of Sizergh Castle, where we hoped to find Hawfinches. I had been here before and had no luck with this species but this time we were early in the morning and recorded three individuals feeding in the tops of the trees, albeit in gloomy conditions.

-Hawfinch

Next, we headed down to Leighton Moss where we hoped to get a few more wetland species. We had nice views of Marsh Tit and Pintail, and we even had a flyby from a Bittern. There were lots of birds around and in the end, we managed a very respectable 60 species.

-Northern Pintail

-Marsh Tit

-Greater Scaup

Species List:

Sizergh Castle NT: Mute Swan, Common Pheasant, Common Woodpigeon, Black-headed Gull, Eurasian Jay, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Eurasian Nuthatch, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Grey Wagtail, Common Chaffinch, Hawfinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Lesser Redpoll,

Leighton Moss RSPB: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teal, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Woodpigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Bittern, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Marsh Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bearded Tit, Goldcrest, Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Redwing, Fieldfare, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Common Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin,

Lochwinnoch twitching Hooded Merganser

For my firs twitch of 2017 I decided to finally make a move for the Hooded Merganser that had been residing in southern Scotland for the last few months. The location was Lochwinnoch just south of Glasgow. After testing multiple options, I decided that the best way to do it would be by train, going up from Halifax in the morning and returning the same day after a couple of hours at the bird. This method paid off, as I was rewarded with a nice afternoon out birding.

As soon as I arrived on site I connected with the Hooded Merganser. It remained distant throughout my stay unfortunately, on the far side of the Loch to myself, meaning only distant record shots could be obtained. Its a pretty stunning bird, although having seen Hooded Mergansers in collections before there was nothing overly surprising about seeing it. It did come a little closer when it came round the bank at the north end. I headed over that way but found it the same second it found me, so flushed it out again. However, it clearly flew no bother (not clipped) and was obviously wary, so I suspect this is a wild bird and should have no bother getting accepted by the relevant committees.

-Hooded Merganser

As for the supporting cast. There were a host of commoner year-ticks to be had but also some less common. A drake Scaup was unexpected, hanging out with the ample Tufted Ducks on the loch, and showing fairly well too, substantially better than the Merganser thats for certain. Unfortunately I diddnt manage to get a clear shot of it, meaning I still don't have a good photo of a Scaup.

-Scaup

But the highlight of the supporting cast were the Whooper Swans which were around. I headed onto the actual RSPB reserve after a while watching the Merganser and right in front of the hide was a family party of seven Whooper Swans. They were cracking birds, as Whoopers always are. 

-Whooper Swans

The light remained poor throughout the afternoon, with intermittent flecks of drizzle. For that reason I took no decent photos of any of the birds on the list. It was an awesome day out though, and well worth the effort.

Species List:

Lochwinnoch RSPB: Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Cormorant, Hooded Merganser, Goosander, Mallard, Scaup, Whooper Swan, Kingfisher, Great-crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull,Coot, Pochard, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Nuthatch, 

Spurn Week 18

Spurn 17.10.2016

With the week starting up again, the pressure on the twitch was reduced, allowing me to wake up at a normal time. The Siberian Accentor was still present, remarkably really, but the number of people who came to see it was vastly reduced from what it had been. We started by having a fairly casual stroll down the triangle, which did not yield massive results but watching two Lapland Buntings mobbing a Kestrel was something pretty special.

We ended up down at Numpties in good Vis-mig conditions. 900+ Tree Sparrows, 700+ Goldfinch, 500+ Linnets plus plenty of other things! It was a great mornings birding, with a wide variety of species. Skylarks were one of the main species moving, coming through it small flocks infrequently.

-Tree Sparrow

-Skylark

-Rook

-Sparrowhawk

It was whilst we were standing there that news came through that a probable Isabelline Wheatear at the Easington Boatyard. I grabbed a lift up as soon as, and when we arrived up there the identification was all but confirmed. The bird was showing fairly well in a field just down from long bank. Even having seen one before it was really informative listening to the birders run through all the features of the identification of this tricky species. All were satisfied in the end and we settled down to watch another mega rarity grace the area in this autumn of all autumns. Wheatears are obviously my favourite birds and to have the privilege of seeing the Uks second rarest for the second time in three years is a massive privilege.

-Isabelline Wheatear

After an hour or so we decided to move on. We chose to walk back via the lagoons in the hope of picking something like a shore lark up. Whilst we were walking down we picked up a pair of Bean Geese flying south low enough to grab a few photos of them. Cracking to see more of these rare geese during this small influx! The radio then crackled into life that a Glossy Ibis had been photographed flying south from Easington within the last hour. It did not take long before it had been picked up circling over Wetlands. We picked it up quickly and watched it descend onto the wetlands itself. We dashed along, cutting out most of the rest of our walk, the only additional bird we saw was a Grasshopper Warbler, in order to arrive and see it before it decided to move on again. We crept up on it from long bank and were able to get fantastic views before it lifted off and continued south.

-Tundra Bean Geese

-Glossy Ibis

By now it was early afternoon and I headed into Withernsea with Paul to finally get some shopping done. Upon my return I decided to try for the apparently showy dusky warbler down the point. Alas it was not showing when I got down there but that could be the result of a sudden downpour that went through before I arrived, and the fact that it was early evening. A Woodcock and a very tame Robin were the best of my trip down the point.

Species List:

Triangle: Common Snipe, Ring Ouzel, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Blackbird, Redwing, Fieldfare, Shore Lark, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Brambling, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Goldcrest, Moorhen, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Mediterranean Gull, Goosander, Mallard, Skylark, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Reed Bunting,

Easington Lagoons & Kilnsea Wetlands: Northern Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Tundra Bean Goose, Mallard, Glossy Ibis, Wigeon, Song Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare, Grasshopper Warbler, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Reed Bunting,

Spurn Peninsula: Woodcock, Robin, Goldcrest, Kestrel, Chiffchaff, Wren, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Redwing, Song Thrush, Brent Goose,

Spurn 18.10.2016

A westerly wind and the prospect of showers throughout the day meant that Jonnie and myself finally got to Hull to do all the odd jobs that we had been putting off during the extended easterly period. We arrived back at the observatory just as heavy rain set in. As a result the only birds I saw today was a flock of Pink-footed Geese that were pushed through by the storm as it approached. Tomorrow I intend to make up for my lack of birding today.

Spurn 19.10.2016

A full day of birding as opposed to yesterday’s none birding day. I was a little sluggish getting going in the morning but decided to pay a visit to the two Megas still gracing Easington with their presence. On the way up Easington Straight my attention was drawn to a flock of swans on Kilnsea Wetlands. I checked them out to find 7 Whooper Swans there, which I scoped to prevent any possible disturbance.

-Whooper Swan

My first port of call was to the Isabelline Wheatear, but it had just rained and the bird was hardly looking at its glamorous best. It came fairly close but was incredibly mobile and difficult to phone-scope. I grabbed a few and managed a few more with the actual camera. It’s an improvement on what I had but regardless it’s still great to see such a rare bird again, plus it’s a wheatear, which is always a win.

-Isabelline Wheatear

After an hour or so with the Wheatear I headed off to look at the Siberian Accentor again. It showed well where it was for about 2 mins before it flew into the Gas Compound where it proved more elusive as it scurried through cover on the far side of the fence. I managed to get a few photos of it but it’s not really an improvement on what I had before. I spent about 2 hours with it, with an hours break in between for lunch. Both times it remained in the Gas Compound, restricting my ability to photograph it, and it remained obscured for most of the time I was present.

-Siberian Accentor

After that it was mid-afternoon, so I headed down to the Wetlands to count the ducks. Nothing really any different was on offer, but there continued to be decent numbers of Wigeon and a few Shoveler were nice.

Species List:

Easington: Isabelline Wheatear, Northern Wheatear, Swallow, House Martin, Siberian Accentor, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull,

Kilnsea Wetlands: Whooper Swan, Shoveler, Starling, Mallard, Mute Swan, Wigeon, Linnet, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie,

Spurn 20.10.2016

After nearly a week of gracing us with its presence, today was the day the Siberian Accentor finally chose to leave Easington for pastures new. Alas, it was not seen this morning, or for any of the rest of the day.

I struggled to think where to go first thing so went round Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds counting the wildfowl and waders. There were good numbers of both, as would be expected, but there was nothing outstanding among them. Almost 1000 Dunlin, 250+ Wigeon and 200+ Curlew were the highest counts.

After my walk there I made my way round the triangle counting up everything that I saw. The highlight was a cracking Purple Sandpiper feeding with the Turnstones around the Tank Blocks. I should probably have tried harder to get better photos given how close it was but in the end I just got a few phone-scoped shots.

-Purple Sandpiper

The afternoon was mainly spent doing odd jobs and sorting out the bits and pieces I needed to. After all, it is supposed to go east again at the weekend and I do not want jobs to be hanging over my head during that time.

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands & Beacon Ponds: Mallard, Shoveler, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Teal, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Knot, Redshank, Common Snipe, Greenshank, Little Grebe, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Redwing, Pied Wagtail, Linnet, Goldfinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Curlew,

Triangle: Goldcrest, Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Robin, Redwing, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Egret,

Spurn 21.10.2016

Having had such an exceptional autumn it does make one wonder how it could get any better. The answer became clear early morning when a Siberian Stonechat was found only a few meters away from the Isabelline Wheatear. We headed up to find the stonechat showing extremely well in the beachside scrub. As a result I was able to get some nice frame filling photos of it. The subspecies was the nominate for Siberian Stonechat; maurus. Not only was it a stunning bird, but it was also extremely educational and I learned a lot about this species.

-Siberian Stonechat

The Isabelline Wheatear was still present but sadly the farmer was spraying his field and so my time with the bird was cut short. Even so, it’s still so cool to have so many rare birds all next to each other. Once it had been flushed by the farmer I headed down long bank to see if I could find anything. Sadly I was unable to find the mega that I dreamed, but finding a couple of female Scaup on Beacon Ponds was nice. They were sat nice and close fairly close to the bank. Unfortunately none of my photos really came out. As a result I went back in the afternoon to grab some more photos of them. When we were there, we were also treated to cracking views of Twite sitting up on the trees at the back of Kilnsea Wetlands.

-Scaup

-Twite

Species List:

Easington Lagoons, Beacon Ponds & Kilnsea Wetlands: Northern Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Siberian Stonechat, Twite, Linnet, House Sparrow, Scaup, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Mute Swan, Brent Goose, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Twite, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Pied Wagtail, Lapland Bunting, Long-tailed Tit, Grey Wagtail, Little Grebe, Rook, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk,

Spurn 22.10.2016

With the plan being to go into Hull for a night out it was not my intention to go hard for the days birding. A casual walk round the triangle followed by a little cooking and pre-partying was the plan. However, all that very quickly fell apart when news began to slowly filter through from the point of a possible, then probable Stejneger’s Stonechat.

The prospect of a first for Yorkshire, albeit a subspecies (Although a likely split), was enough to drag me away from my relaxed day. Stejneger’s Stonechat is a difficult to identify race of Siberian Stonechat, but substantially rarer. The bird would need to be trapped to gather DNA required or confirmed identification. When I got there the effort was already underway but the bird was proving mobile and difficult to muster. The afternoon was largely spent trying to shepherd the bird into the net, but we ultimately failed. However, the situation was salvaged and DNA was collected.

Whilst stood in the buckthorn whilst a new plan was concocted through the radios to try and trap it, the bird sat up not far from me. Whilst there I observed it have a little poo, and that gave me an inspiration. I radioed asking if it was worth me going in to collect it and this was met with a very positive response. I made my way and unbelievably found the poo on a leaf at the top, as opposed to it having fallen through the scrub. With the bird continuing to prove difficult the trapping idea was all but abandoned, despite the bird returning to the net area springing new hope.

-Stejneger’s Stonechat

DNA now collected, the excitement was only growing. A potential fourth for Britain was hopping around in the scrub, and we would not have to rely of field identification of this extremely tricky subspecies. With the net still up there was still hope of trapping the bird, but when Tim checked his net, it was not the Stonechat he found at the bottom but a Dusky Warbler. Having missed basically all of the birds during the influx I was pretty excited to finally get a proper look at this species. It was shown to a reasonable crowd given we were right at the point but the bird was a nice sitter and I was able to learn a lot about this tricky species.

-Dusky Warbler

After the warbler was released attention returned to the Stonechat but it was still not playing ball and I decided it was probably going to be more worth my while staying. As a result I headed back up to the Obs for a nap.

Species List:

Spurn Peninsula: Siberian Stonechat (Stejneger’s), Dusky Warbler, Redwing, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare, Chiffchaff, Robin, Blackbird, Goldcrest

Spurn 23.10.2016

After a night out in Hull celebrating Jonnies birthday, I was in something of a state when I awoke at the stupidly early time of half 8. I decided that rather than waste my time feeling rough in bed, I’d rather spend my time feeling rough in the field. I headed off to wetlands to count the wildfowl but whilst there I found statistically the rarest bird I have found at Spurn so far this autumn; a Hooded Crow. I was stunned, but there was no doubt about the identification. It hopped about on the wetlands for a few minutes before it took off and headed south. It was picked up on the saltmarsh not long after and spent the rest of the day blogging in the area.

-Hooded Crow

From mid-morning to early afternoon I stayed at the obs feeling sorry for myself. By mid-afternoon I decided to head out for a walk with Sarah. We saw a few bits and pieces, Snow Bunting was nice, but the highlight was two very showy Twite on the deck at the back of Sandy Beaches caravan park. My intention was to try and get some close photos, but I made the mistake of radioing them out and was soon overwhelmed by an unexpected number of birders and photographers, so we decided to leave them. We headed off round Beacon Ponds but did not find anything much different, although the two Scaup were still present.

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands, Holderness Field & Beacon Ponds: Mute Swan, Jackdaw, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Hooded Crow, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Curlew, Twite, Linnet, Snow Bunting, Goldfinch, Little Egret, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Starling, Scaup, Brent Goose, Sanderling, Skylark, Meadow Pipit,