Some Harriers ...

Three of us Geltsdale Reserve Hen Harrier workers set off for the Humber Marshes before first light yesterday.  We had harriers in mind but what we most of all hoped to see was a juvenile Pallid Harrier which had been reported intermittently at Welwick Saltmarsh since mid November 2016.
We arrived to find that the bird had been seen earlier but was not currently in view.  After much searching we saw the bird flying in to roost at around 3.15 pm.  It lingered only briefly before dropping into the deep vegetation of the saltmarsh but showed all its features in the late afternoon sunshine ...

... the lower breast, belly and under-wing coverts showed a lovely golden-rufous colour ... the pale neck collar contrasted with the dark neck 'boa' behind and the characteristic unmarked pale bases to the primaries showed as a pale 'boomerang' on the under-wing ...

... the upper parts were very dark with the exception of the strikingly contrasting white rump and the discreet pale areas on the upper-wing coverts ...

... the four 'fingers' were clearly visible on the rather pointed tip of the wing and the dark secondaries on the under-wing, characteristic of juvenile Hen, Montagu's and Pallid Harriers stood out more than we would normally expect to see on our very familiar Hen Harriers.

The bird had a bulging crop so had clearly foraged successfully somewhere to the west.

It was a great experience observing this bird and a welcome distraction from the recent news that the Hen Harrier fledged on the Geltsdale Reserve last summer was no longer transmitting from its satellite transmitter and was presumed dead.  The area which it had been frequenting was grouse moor - the area was searched and no body was discovered.  While it is tempting to assume that this is just one more in a long succession of Hen Harriers which have been killed on grouse moors it is not safe to necessarily draw that conclusion.

While searching for the Pallid Harrier there were always interesting birds around ... at least four Short-eared Owls were quartering the marsh and sometimes perching on posts ...

... they interacted aerially providing much entertainment ... a welcome distraction from the cold south easterly wind coming over the mudflats ... 

... several Marsh Harriers put in appearances and Merlin, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard provided a varied supporting cast ...

... Little Egrets frequently popped up out of gullies ... there must have been at least six ... a Golden Plover flock included around two thousand birds and some good Lapwing flocks were around with Curlews flying by in smaller numbers ... a flock of around 300 Dark-bellied Brent Geese flew out onto the mudflats in typically ragged formation before returning in neat 'V' formation - I don't ever remember seeing Brents flying like that ...

... the flock included quite a good number of juvenile birds identifiable by their white-tipped wing coverts and lack of neck collars ...

More Gulls ...

To Workington this week and pleased to see the now regular wintering Mediterranean Gull.

It was one of four adult Mediterranean Gulls present that day.

I found this bird on 30th July 2009 when it was moulting from 1stS to 2ndW plumage.  It remained there all winter and has returned each winter since then.  The left leg is non-functional and held retracted so it is easily identifiable at long range in the field.  It was ringed as a pullus on 27th May 2008 at Kieldrecht, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

The plumage transition through each successive year was typical until its 3rdW when it retained black marks on P8, P9 and P10.  Most birds have black on P10 only by this time.

In its 4thW it still had black on P9.

Then in its 5thW it attained full adult plumage with a thin black line on P10 only.

An article here - http://birdingfrontiers.com/2012/11/22/medgullupdate/

One other identifiable Mediterranean Gull has returned here over several winters but no other bird has had this degree of regularity ...

Then the next day a visit to the sunny east coast at North Shields Fish Quay ... and in true Geordie fashion the quay is still open to visitors ... no security gates !

Gulls were perched on the rooftops and coming down to the water to feed regularly ...

... three juvenile Glaucous Gulls were present ...

Iceland Gull & Waxwings ... the old patch revisited ...

A visit to some of my old haunts on Tees-side today ... a lovely juvenile Iceland Gull was a nice start ...

... perched just on the edge of the Hartlepool Fish Quay ...

... it flew alongside the Headland and settled on the water ...

... it showed an unusual bill pattern with a dark sub-terminal band ... and then a group of rather vocal Eiders swam nearby ...

On the Saltholme RSPB Reserve the Phil Stead Hide Pool was quiet although a Black Swan there did look rather attractive ...

... in the absence of much else there it was interesting to muse on how many of the hides in the area are named after deceased people who I once knew ...

Little Egrets were everywhere and this one paraded in front of the Saltholme Pool Hide ...

... while a Cormorant finally won its long battle to swallow an Eel that was easily as long as the bird .. but looked odd afterwards ...

... lots of Wigeon about ...

In the car park Waxwings were fly catching and sometimes dropping to feed of field maple berries ...

... a 1stW female on left ( incomplete yellow borders to primary tips creating a line down the primaries ; fuzzy lower border to black bib ) ... adult male on right ( Complete yellow borders to primaries creating a 'comb' down the primaries; broad yellow tail tip ) ...

... a 1st W ( line rather than 'comb' on primaries ) and probably male in view of crest and bib ...

... this male shows the crisp bib border ...

... this 1stW shows the narrow yellow tail tip ...

Barnacle Geese and Bramblings

A nice fly by of Barnacle Geese off Bowness-on-Solway against a blue sky ...

... some different age birds in the flock with the bird on the left showing upper wing coverts having little contrast - so ageing it as a juvenile.  While the right hand side bird - an adult - shows a much crisper pattern with clear white tips and narrow black bands on the wing coverts ...

On a dull drizzly day in the garden around half a dozen Bramblings were at the feeders ... and posing some interesting age / gender questions ...

... two females on left and centre with nice pale grey/brown faces while the right hand side bird shows the mottly black/brown head typical of winter plumage before the black head develops in spring.  The centre bird appears to have greater coverts of two separate generations ( indicated ) which makes it a 1st winter bird.

The bird below has nice bright plain orange lesser coverts ( top line ) ... and very uniform greater coverts ( lower line ) .    so an adult male.

... unlike the bird below which has lesser coverts with dark centres ( indicated ) but uniform greater coverts ... so an adult female.

...  these two below show differing greater coverts ... the left bird has two generations making it a 1stW and the right bird has uniform greater coverts and so is an adult ...

... this lovely adult male is showing quite a black head for such an early date ...

Antarctica to Ushuaia

As we headed north and left the Antarctic Peninsula behind another very obliging Antarctic Petrel spent some time around the ship and made great arcs from the stern over the top deck ...

The following day there were further opportunities to study the different age related plumages

of Grey-headed Albatrosses ... this immature bird was more advanced than an earlier one in having a darker head although the bill still had the all dark immature pattern ...

... and the under wing was typical of immature birds ...

... unlike this classic adult bird ...

On the final day of our voyage toward Tierra del Fuego more albatrosses passed by ... starting with the last of our Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses ...

... and some great views of the now very familiar Southern Royal Albatross ...

... this bird in stage 3 plumage alighted briefly on the sea before taking off close by ...

The last of our Wandering Albatrosses appeared - a bird in stage 5 plumage ...

... as it banked the 'peachy patch' behind the eye showed ...

... Northern Royal Albatross was scarce in the areas we visited and prompted some discussion ... this bird seemed to show features consistent with that species in having no white markings on the upper wing other than some asymmetrical small white dots presumably resulting from feather disruption ...

... and an under wing pattern showing more black on the leading edge just distal to the carpal joint than was shown by the Southern Royal Albatrosses ...

A lovely adult Grey-headed Albatross came by as we approached Cape Horn ...

... the sunshine lit up the yellow blending into orange stripes on the bill

Antarctica

Following on from our unexpected encounter with Emperor Penguin we set out to land at a number of sites on the Antarctic mainland, nearby islands and on the ice shelf itself ...

Adelie Penguins were well into their breeding cycle ... some were nest building ...

... others had eggs ...

... they utilised the available flat ground while Antarctic Cormorants inhabited the steep slope above ...

... this species already had some chicks hatched ...

It was interesting to see some of the pelagic species on their breeding grounds.

  A Wilson's Storm-Petrel was flying around a high rocky slope and entering a nest hole between the rocks ...

... a Snow Petrel was visible at its nest site between a large boulder and the snow slope ...

... Gentoo Penguins also had chicks ...

... and a Chinstrap Penguin wandered by ...

... it seemed fitting to see Snow Petrel flying over brash ice ...

There were a few Kelp Gulls including some of ages other than adult ... this third summer bird showed nicely ...

Having retreated from the Weddell Sea north west along the Antarctic Sound we landed the following morning on Half Moon Island where a confiding Brown Skua was capitalizing on the regurgitated stomach contents of a recently beached seal ...

... Chinstrap Penguins were breeding on some of the rocky promontories amid the snow and forming nervous groups prior to heading out to sea ...

Deception Island is a caldera and the ship made its way into the vast lagoon formed by this still active volcano ... we landed at Whalers Bay where much of the land is free of snow by virtue of the heat from volcanic activity.  A pool at the top of the beach was attracting skuas ... this Chilean Skua was somewhat out of range ...

... the rufous tones showing well in the lovely afternoon light ...

... also present were some South Polar Skuas and this pale morph bird was a classic example ...

... but to add further interest a dark morph South Polar Skua raised its wings to show the solid blackish under wing coverts ...

... and its smoky black/brown breast contrasted with the mottled brown breast of the accompanying Brown Skua to further confirm its identity.

... while high on the cliffs above a Cape Petrel circled around its nesting site ...

The following day dawned ... although in these latitudes during summertime  dusk blends into dawn ... misty and grey with snow flurries in the air ... we cruised the Gerlache Strait in Zodiacs and came upon a very somnolent Leopard Seal on a small ice flow ...

... this was our second Leopard Seal - a species renowned for predating penguins ... we had observed the nervous behavior of penguins repeatedly as they formed small groups on the shore before finally committing to heading into the sea and also watched them dashing for shore under water ... but at no time did we see any predator targeting penguins ...

... along the edge of the ice shelf a group of Antarctic Cormorants swam and head-shook in synchrony ...

... small groups of Gentoo Penguins stood around on the ice shelf ...

... and quite remarkably we then came across another Emperor Penguin on the ice shelf ...

... this was an immature bird with whitish auricular patches ...

... its presence attracted the attention of a Gentoo Penguin ...

Gentoo Penguins were breeding on the land adjacent to the ice shelf on areas where the rock protruded from the ice piedmont ...