Ospreys

Osprey

 

Whitethroat

 

Sedge Warbler

 

Imperial/Mudbank - lots of birds this morning. There were 2 Osprey hunting the river around 10'ish and good numbers of wildfowl included 50 Dark-bellied  and 12 Pale-bellied Brent Goose, one of which was colour ringed with a bright red Darvic ring on its right leg and a royal blue  Darvic ring on its left. Also 2 Teal, 42+ Pintail and good numbers of Wigeon. Two juvenile Black Tern, c60+ Sandwich Tern and c20+ Sanderling were also noted. The two Black Terns headed off upriver as the Osprey approached.

Two visits to Orcombe - an early circuit with Nick and a brief look at the Top Fields later on - 10+ Sandwich Tern, 2 Wigeon, 1+ Blackcap, 1+ Willow Warbler, 4 Grey Wagtail, 2 Whitethroat, 4+ Siskin (probably more), 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Tree Pipit, 12+ House Martin, 1+ Sand Martin, 1 Sedge Warbler, c7/8+ Chiffchaff, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Wheatear.

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

This Convolvulus Hawkmoth was the pick of a fairly hefty catch last night. The other immigrants included a White-point, 4 Rush Veneer and 2 Rusty Dot Pearl. The bulk of the catch was made up, unsurprisingly, of Large Yellow Underwing, Square-spot Rustic and Vine's Rustic. Also, hiding in the egg boxes or around the outside of the trap were Garden Rose Tortrix, Light Brown Apple Moth, Cypress Pug, Double-striped Pug, Light Emerald, Garden Carpet, Angle Shades, Cabbage Moth, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Bright-line Brown-eye, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Flounced Rustic, Brimstone, Flame Shoulder, Willow Beauty, Small Dusty Wave and Common/Lesser Common Rustic.

White-point

Swift - a late one and the only bird of note on a brief evening visit to the Top Fields on Orcombe.

YLG?

First-winter Yellow-legged Gull or LEEB? - Cricket Pitch.

 

Mudbank - 30 Brent Goose - 12 pale-bellied, the rest looked dark but all were distant. Also 1 prob juv Arctic Tern off there and 2 Mediterranean Gull.

 

Mudbank

First-winter Yellow-legged Gull.

No Caspian Gull this afternoon but a battered-looking first-winter Yellow-legged Gull was some compensation. Also off there this afternoon - 20 Brent Goose (at least 12 of which were pale-bellied), c180+ Sandwich Tern, 2+ Mediterranean Gull, 4+ Redshank, 17 Pintail, 2+ Grey Wagtail and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Six of 12 Pale-bellied Brent Goose feeding on the river. A further 8 birds were too distant to assign to sub-species.

 

 

Robin

Caspian Gull

 

The above photo shows my initial view of this bird - the new'ish first-winter mantle and upper scapular pattern coupled with the cream-tipped tertials immediately pointed to it being a yellow-legged gull-type. The finely marbled, pale-tipped greater covert pattern raised my pulse rate! They looked, if anything, better for Caspian Gull but I was cautious because of the variability shown by Yellow-legged Gull. Eventually the bird stood up and its incredibly long wings and long thin legs meant it surely had to be Caspian Gull. I sent out some 'prob' texts but wanted to see the underwing and tail pattern. Meanwhile, the head profile was looking better and better, although it's amazing how much this can change, depending on the bird's posture. The harsh light meant the viewing conditions were far from ideal, but eventually I moved around to the new bird screen on the other side of the railway line where I was able to confirm a pale-looking underwing and a black tail band of even-width, contrasting with gleaming white tail bases and uppertail coverts. The bird was still present off Mudbank when I left at 5pm and I was chuffed that Dave and Terry managed to get down for it. All my previous Caspians have been more distant and brief so I was particularly pleased to be able to study this bird at such close quarters

 

Note the really long wings and long spindly legs in the above photo. The greater covert pattern shows dark bases and a fairly subtle marbling with nice cream tips.

In this pose the bill looks long and lacks a significant gonydeal angle. The small pear-shaped head, with long, sloping forehead looks obvious but in other postures the head shape could look very different and the bill much shorter.

This shot gives some idea of the tail pattern with the black terminal band of even width.

I found it really hard to get a proper view of the underwing but it always looked pale. This shot give some idea.

 

In this photo you can see how long the whole bird looks. Note also the streaked nape that is characteristic of this species, giving the effect of a shawl.

 

A different posture and a different look to the bird. This was a large individual - bigger than adjacent Herring Gulls but with noticeably thinner and longer legs.

Garden Warbler

Nick and I birded Orcombe this morning - 0620 - 0900 - Totals, in fine conditions following a clear night, included 27+ Yellow Wagtail, 3+ Tree Pipit, 2 Arctic Skua, 5 Turnstone, 8+ Grey Wagtail, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Common Tern, c30+ Sandwich Tern, c10+ Chiffchaff, 2+ Willow Warbler, 4+ Meadow Pipit, 33+ Siskin, 2 Blackcap, 2+ 'Alba' Wagtail, 1 Garden Warbler (the lingering bird, first noted a couple days ago), 3 Goldcrest, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Whitethroat and 2 Wheatear.

Unsurprisingly there was very little grounded this morning, so most attention went on the birds flying over. The Siskin and Yellow Wagtail counts are minimums. Siskins were particularly difficult. When a single call was heard it was counted as 1+ when in reality there were probably small flocks going over. For example, the last two calls heard led to the sighting of two flocks  overhead totalling 19 birds. It's feasible therefore that this morning's count could have run in to 3 figures.

Mudbank produced 5 Mediterranean Gulls and 1 Kingfisher but I had no luck with the Osprey today, though a sustained watch from the back garden did result in 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, 2 Sparrowhawk, several Buzzard, at least 1 Yellow Wagtail, several Siskins, 1+ Meadow Pipit, 1+ Grey Wagtail, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Hummingbird Hawkmoth and a Painted Lady.

Yesterday the Wigeon count off Mudbank had risen to 90+ and with them were 3 Pintail and a single Teal.

Latest

Wheatear

Maer Rocks early doors - 1 juvenile Arctic Tern, 1 Black Tern, several Common Tern and Sandwich Tern plus a Kingfisher. Orcombe Point late afternoon - 5 Wheatear, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 6+ Chiffchaff and very little else, but nice to see a/the kestrel still around. I think it's a juvenile male but I'm rubbish at ageing birds so I could well be wrong!

Note the pale edges to the primaries and the whitish tips to the wing coverts. The underparts are streaked. You can see the greyish rump, which I believe indicates this is a male. I always assumed the bird would be a young one as, as I've said before, there were no breeding birds on Orcombe this year. I hope it sticks around.