Hidden birds!

Hello

A change in the weather down here in Cornwall saw a very blustery ESE wind and milky sunshine.

A rather frustrating day inasmuch that it was obvious there were plenty of migrants about but with the bushes being tossed around most of the passerines kept a very low profile.

With the sunshine there were plenty of common butterflies about and still quite a number of the huge and loud Large Green Bush-Crickets.

An early morning wander around the leafy suburbs of Penzance provided only a Grey Wagtail or two.

The Hayle Estuary was a little disappointing as the high tide failed to push the estuary birds close enough for really good views.  Common waders and wildfowl were present in reasonable numbers and an assortment of gulls included at least nine Mediterraneans.  A couple of territorial Grey Wagtails were vying for the best part of the sluice gates.

A visit to Pendeen provided a walk to the hidden beach towards Zennor.  Birds included Raven, plenty of passing Gannets and the passerines included good numbers of Wheatear plus Stonechat, Rock Pipit, Chiffchaff and a couple of Spotted Flycatchers.

This afternoon was spent exploring Kenidjack Valley near St Just.  Four lee-ward feeding Spotted Flycatchers provided an indication of what might have been hiding in the wind-torn vegetation; Chiffchaffs could be heard calling but were keeping out of view!  A group of five Choughs overflew the valley a couple of times.

A re-visit to the Hayle Estuary this evening provided a distant and brief view of a Black-winged Stilt in a channel, apparently found just after we left this morning!

Regards

Eleanor and Neil

 

Mediterranean Gull

 

Grey Wagtail

 

Raven

 

Red Admiral

 

Chough

Heading South West

Hello

Early this morning we commenced the long drive to Penzance in Cornwall, the first leg of our journey to visit one of our favourite places, the Isles of Scilly.

To break the journey up we walked for a couple of hours in Great Haldon Forest near Exeter (Devon), before pushing on towards the Penzance area.

Low cloud, mist and a little rain persisted over much of the south west today and Great Haldon was a touch drippy and dank!  Nevertheless Goldcrests were calling from everywhere and a good number of shrill-sounding Chiffchaffs flicked up from the bracken or trailed tit flocks.  Small numbers of Nuthatch, Siskin and redpoll sp were about and the usual Crossbills were just heard today.  The raptor watch-point was redundant due to the weather!

Long Rock beach just east of Penzance is the local dog exercise beach, and that's where we were early this afternoon exercising the Collies!  Dogs of all shapes and sizes bounded up and away but our two remained fixated on their games in the sea and on the sand.  Birds included Rock Pipit, and several Wheatear and White Wagtail as well as a small flock of Bar-tailed Godwits and a Peregrine.

Less than a mile up the beach is Marazion.  The small RSPB reserve there held Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Stonechat, Wheatear, Rock Pipit, Cetti's Warbler, 2 Grey Wagtails, a Little Egret, a Raven and two Peregrines screaming about.  An evening scan at The Hayle was unproductive, the best birds being Little Egret, Green Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher.

With luck we hope to bird some of the Cornish coves tomorrow before embarking on the Scillonian III on Saturday morning.

Regards

Eleanor and Neil

 

Bar-tailed Godwits in the mist!

 

A cameo shot of the Pied

Flycatcher when the sun

did come out!  Unfortunately

the bird remained in thick

vegetation.

Short thrift

Hello

Not much opportunity for birding today.  This evening there were 2 Ravens and 4 Whinchats at the southern end of the Blueberry Farm complex.

Also this evening, a scan from the yacht club at Pitsford Res provided a Little Egret, 3 Yellow-legged Gulls, 2 Greenshanks and 7 Ringed Plovers.

A ringing session at Stortons GP on Sunday morning provided 2 Blackcaps, 2 Reed Warblers, a Chiffchaff and 2 superb Kingfishers!

Regards

E & N

Murky Monday

Hello

In somewhat dull and murky conditions today, visits to some of our regular venues provided some  birds of interest.

At Harrington Airfield this morning there was a male Marsh Harrier hunting the top fields plus a Red Kite, a Turtle Dove, 2 Whinchats and a Wheatear.  Two Ravens and a Red Kite were noted at Beck Dairy, Cottesbrooke.

At Blueberry Farm this afternoon, birds included a Red Kite, a Hobby and 4+ Whinchats.

Scanning north of the causeway at Pitsford Res this afternoon was sufficient to see the Ruddy Shelduck (present at 6pm until spooked by a low-flying balloon), 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls, 5 Little Egrets, a Redshank, a Snipe and a Kingfisher.  There were as many as 10 Chiffchaffs in the bushes by the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station.

Regards

E & N

Week-end update

Hello

On Saturday evening birds in the Blueberry Farm area included a Short-eared Owl, a female Peregrine and 6 Whinchats.

This morning (Sunday) and birds located at Harrington Airfield included a Turtle Dove, a Wheatear and 2 Whitethroats.  There was a heavy diurnal movement of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and hirundines and good numbers of Yellowhammer on-site.

Birds noted north of the causeway at Pitsford Res this morning included 5 Little Egrets, a Raven and 2 Hobbies and there was also a heavy passage of hirundines here too.  A ringing session based at the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station caused over fifty birds to be caught and processed, the highlights being a Spotted Flycatcher, a Meadow Pipit, Tree Sparrows, a Reed Warbler and 6 Chiffchaffs.

Looking up this week-end and it was impossible not to notice an increase in flying machines, apparently in preparation for a flying event based at Sywell next week-end.

A couple of Siskins were present at Hanging Houghton and the buddleia was alive with butterflies including Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and others.  A scour of the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and up to Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) this afternoon produced some good birds including a juvenile Marsh Harrier which flew towards Haselbech at 4pm, a male Merlin, 2 Hobbies, 2 Red Kites, 4+ Whinchats and 2 Whitethroats.

Regards

Eleanor and Neil

 

Comma

 

Spotted Flycatcher

 

Treecreeper

Pitsford WeBS

Hello

This morning was taken up completing the monthly WeBs count at Pitsford Res.  Despite significant disturbance there were good numbers of wildfowl present particularly Wigeon, Gadwall and Shoveler.  Highlights included ca11 Little Egrets, a Ruddy Shelduck, a Bar-headed Goose, a Garganey, 3 Goldeneye, 3 Pintail, a Ruff, 2 Greenshank, 4 Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper and a Grey Wagtail.  Overhead migrants included plenty of Meadow Pipits, a few Siskins and a flock of 14 Ringed Plovers flying south at 12.30pm.  Late hatch butterflies including Small Copper were attracted to flowering mint in the margins.

Regards

E & N

Ditchford WeBS

Hello

Today we visited Ditchford GP to complete the monthly WeBS count.  In pleasant broken sunshine there were plenty of insects on the wing including plenty of common butterflies and dragonflies.  However birds were a little scarce and our observations were modest with the more interesting birds being 1-2 Hobby, a Yellow-legged Gull, a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, a Snipe, 2 Little Egrets, 6 or so Kingfishers, 4 Cetti's Warblers and a Grey Wagtail.  Small numbers of summer migrants included a few Yellow Wagtail, Chiffchaff and Blackcap.  Waterfowl numbers were unremarkable but included a hundred Wigeon.

Regards

Eleanor and Neil

 

Painted Lady

Hysterical Hobby's!

Today my birding has been confined to the valley below HH and Blueberry Area. My morning walk was quiet with only 2 Ravens and a Red Kite.  Late afternoon/early evening was far more productive, and the weather was much better, sun and wind, the perfect recipe for raptors, and they didn't disappoint !!.  I lost count how many Common Buzzard I saw and heard, such an evocative call and they were clearly enjoying themselves. The rather stunning "white" Buzzard perched on the top of a tree watching the world go by, and there were 2 Red Kites and a female Peregrine in the area.
Over the last few days there have been hundreds of House Martins and Swallows feeding low over the fields etc, in preparation for their long journey south. This was the sight at Blueberry today, and whilst I stood around to let my collie companion have a rest I became aware of the alarm calls of the hirundines as they quickly gathered themselves together and gained height. However chaos soon ensued as 2 Hobby powered in and began hunting. The 2 Hobby were clearly working together and became very vocal with almost "scream" like calls. It wasn't long before one of them had caught their prey and they both flew off together. I'm glad that it was daylight as they sounded pretty scarey.  I had witnessed this before, many years ago at Pitsford Reservoir.
There were at least 8 Whinchat in their usual field, at one time 4 were perched together on a tiny weed stem with a couple of others trying to join them !!  Quite entertaining to watch.

Regards  Eleanor

Pitsford pm

Hello

A further excursion was made to Pitsford Res this afternoon and evening, with a few further species noted.  This afternoon there was an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a Goldeneye in the Scaldwell Bay.  At about 4.50pm in blustery conditions, Pink-footed Geese could be heard calling and were eventually located flying west very high up.  The flock comprised of 31 birds.

This evening the Ruddy Shelduck was still in the Pintail Bay and there were approximately 5 Yellow-legged Gulls in the gull roost off the yacht club.

Regards

Neil M

 

Mute Swan

 

Going away view of

Pink-footed Geese!

 

Adult Yellow-legged Gull

showing evidence of

significant wing moult.

Autumn migration in full swing

Hello

This morning birds at Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) and immediate surround included 2 Short-eared Owls, a Hobby, a Red Kite, 6 Whinchat and 14 Golden Plovers flew over.

Birds noted north of the causeway at Pitsford Res this morning included 1-2 Hobby, 4 Little Egrets and a Whinchat.  A ringing session at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station provided in excess of eighty birds, the majority of which were new birds and hatched this year.  Thirty-one House Martins and twenty-two Tree Sparrows dominated, but there was a reasonable show of warblers with five Chiffchaffs, a late Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, a Reed Warbler and a Sedge Warbler.

Regards

E & N

Rained Off !

Very little to report today. A wander at Harrington Airfield, before the rain came produced a male Merlin and a Wheatear.  There were around 100+ linnets which may prove attractive to the Merlin.
A quick look at Pitsford provided a Greenshank, a Green Sandpiper and 8+ Little Egrets.  Although plenty of wildfowl present in the Scaldwell Bay I couldn't locate anything of note.

Regards Eleanor

Creatures of Pitsford

Hello

Today at Pitsford Res birds south of the causeway included a Ruddy Shelduck (amongst the geese in the Pintail Bay), 3-4 Common Sandpipers, 6+ Little Egrets, a Hobby and 2 Grey Wagtails.

Birds north of the causeway included a Goldeneye, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, 4 Little Egrets, a Spotted Flycatcher, 1-2 Hobby, and a Merlin was reported.  Early morning sunshine provided plenty of energy light for insects and butterflies in the protection of the trees in the Scaldwell Bay.

House Martins were again evident in reasonable numbers today often using the leeward side of bushes and trees for shelter and aerial feeding.  However, they are designed as higher altitude feeders and flying low puts them in danger from predators.  Several attacks from Hobbies were witnessed today, at least one which was successful.

Birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and around the south-side of the Blueberry Farm complex produced a female Peregrine, 2 Red Kites, a Hobby and 6 Whinchats.  Two or three Grey Wagtails were at Brixworth Sewer Works.

The gull roost at Pitsford Res this evening produced a first winter Mediterranean Gull and two Yellow-legged Gulls.

Regards

Eleanor & Neil

 

Good numbers of

Little Egret are currently

on-site at Pitsford

 

Wasps attracted to the

sap of a recently-felled

Crack Willow

 

Red Admiral

 

Speckled Wood

 

Juvenile House Martin

 

Adult House Martin

 

Adult Hobby with just-caught

juvenile House Martin, the latter

probably no more than a few

weeks out of the nest.  It evaded

capture with a series of manoeuvres

but was eventually captured by the

more mature hunter.

House Martin

Hello

This morning an amble at Harrington Airfield provided only a Wheatear, a Hobby and 3 Grey Partridges.

At lunchtime a female Peregrine was cruising towards the south end of the Blueberry Farm complex and at least 6 Whinchats were still present.

At Pitsford Res this afternoon, birds noted north of the causeway included a Goldeneye, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, a Hobby, a Whinchat and a Spotted Flycatcher.  However the bird of the day was the House Martin with hundreds present at the reservoir, taking shelter and feeding around the reservoir edges.  Only a few Sand Martins and Swallows were caught up within the flock.  Twenty-two House Martins were caught and ringed this afternoon.

Regards

Eleanor and Neil

 

Common Buzzards

Harrington Airfield

 

Juvenile House Martin

Pitsford Res.  The broad

white tertial tips help to

age this bird.

September afternoon

Hello

This afternoon and a visit to Pitsford Res north of the causeway produced 10 Little Egrets, 2 Green Sandpipers, a Greenshank, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and 2 Whinchats.

Blueberry Farm this evening was quiet with six Whinchats on show in the southern-most field of the complex.  A Short-eared Owl was seen in one of the fields further north but we managed to successfully miss it!  However we didn't miss the stunning red sunset.

Regards

E & N

Harrington am

Hello

An amble around Harrington Airfield this morning after the rain provided a Redstart (in bushes on the LHS next to the concrete track 200m before the shooting wall), a Wheatear, a Whitethroat, a Golden Plover and an adult Hobby.

Regards

E & N