Saturday 27 July 2019

Geltsdale and The Solway ... a Hobby and Waders Galore ... and an unexpected Yellow Wagtail ...

An early morning visit to Tindale Tarn, Geltsdale Reserve on the hot day of the week was to check on Common Gulls and Wigeon ... a noisy juvenile Buzzard flew out of Tarn House Wood and was followed by an adult Hobby - a good bird for North Cumbria where the promise of increasing numbers of records in recent years has tended to wain ... and not for the first time the quest for one species results in something much better and totally unexpected ...

There was disappointingly no sign of any Common Gulls on the tarn possibly as a result of fluctuating water levels but three juvenile Wigeon were good to see ... then from the tall trees either side of Tarn House came the calls of Spotted Flycatchers as they performed their aerial forays ...




Then with the promise of the return wader passage delivering something interesting I was positioned by the old wall near Kirkland House at Port Carlisle an hour or so after the high tide and waited for the waders to drop in onto the exposing mud as the tide receded ... the numbers of Dunlin and Redshank were impressive with many hundreds of each species ... the Dunlin flew by in nice flocks and they were clearly all Dunlin ...


... as they circled around the old port they created some nice images ...




As the birds settled the focus shifted towards looking for juveniles ... some juvenile Redshank looking particularly pristine alongside the adults ...



A pair of Common Terns that had a week before been looking like a breeding pair were calling distantly and flying by ...



 The Dunlin started feeding and a few juveniles were noticable ...


... and the adults on the left look like C.a.schinzii in the foreground and C.a.alpina behind ...


And one of the Common Terns perched on the outfall post remaining faithful to the territory ...



Slightly apart from the main body of feeding waders a lone Black-tailed Godwit loafed among the rocky pools ...


... possibly the same individual that was solitary in its presence at Wedholme Flow a little while ago ...

Then a thin tseee call came from the island in the harbour ... what could there possibly be out there that calls just like a Yellow Wagtail ? ... and there it was perched on a stone ...


... calling repeatedly and preening ... a juvenile Yellow Wagtail and the first for me of this declining species in Cumbria for the year ...

As the tide went further out a line of waders fed along the shore just beyond the old cotton dock ... six adult  Knot still looking good with their rufous underparts ...


... and four Sanderling in transitional plumage ...


... adding something to the wader diversity ...

And nearby a nice little group of Little Egrets that has become pretty much the norm in recent times ...




Anthorn was virtually devoid of waders but Glasson Point had three Greenshank just on the edge of a Redshank flock ... a site that is often favoured by that species ...
















Monday 22 July 2019

Some juveniles around the Solway ... and an early Black Tern ...

With the presence of juvenile birds always being a welcome sign of renewal of species it was good to see some juvenile Little Egrets feeding among the adult birds at Port Carlisle today ...


... and not far away a juvenile Little Ringed Plover fed in its own distinctive style ...



... showing quite bright yellow legs ...

There were signs of early autumn passage when a Green Sandpiper called repeatedly ...

Back at Port Carlisle a hybrid Carrion x Hooded Crow was again in the bay as it had been a week earlier ...



But more surprisingly very distantly off port Carlisle a moulting adult Black Tern was briefly on the water's edge with Black-headed Gulls before flying off south ...



... checking back through the Bird Reports this is the earliest autumn bird since 1999 when one was recorded on 10th July ... this is lumped in with spring records in that report but surely Brown & Grice ( 2005 ) have it right when they cut spring migration off in early June and have July as the start of Autumn movement ...

Wednesday 17 July 2019

Coquet Island Ternfest ...

Having been thwarted by bad sea conditions late in June it was good to get the boat out of Amble yesterday to get close views of the breeding tern colony ... my third such trip ...

... and approaching the island several of the large number of Puffins there gave irresistible views ...



... but terns were the main target ... and particularly Roseate Terns ...

...  many of the juveniles were now fledged and waited on the rocks to be fed ...


... this juvenile showing the characteristic scalloped tertials as it looks to its parent ...

The adult Roseate Tern flies by and shows the typical features ...

... pale grey mantle ...


... dark outer four primaries ...


... long tail streamers ...


... long slim decurved bill ...

With constant action from the four species of tern there is never a dull moment ... this Sandwich Tern flies by on a steady flight line of that species ...


... showing similarly dark outer primaries but with a darker mantle ... and this Common Tern shows the typical dark wedge in the primaries ...


 ... as well a a faint dark secondary bar and red and black bill ... then a juvenile Arctic Tern flew just above the boat ...


... with all translucent primaries and a shorter stubbier bill ... and a juvenile Sandwich Tern contrasted with the adult in having scalloping rather reminiscent of juvenile Roseate Tern ...


On the rocks there was a mix of Common and Arctic Terns ...


 ... the blood red bill, duskier underparts and shorter legs of the Arctic Tern behind contrast with the features of Common Tern along with the darker primaries of the Common Tern ...

And a juvenile Common Tern flew a short distance ...


... to show its browner barred mantle, dark carpal bar and dark secondary bar ...


... and landed next to an adult to show those same features with the closed wing ...

Another Sandwich Tern flew by ...  



... with the white forehead of winter plumage beginning to show ...

A more advanced juvenile Common Tern flew overhead ...


... while as the boat headed for port an adult Roseate Tern gave some nice final views on the rocky shore ...







Friday 12 July 2019

A few days in the Cairngorms ... Snow Buntings, Golden Eagles and prolific Goldeneys ...

With Strathspey along with Deeside being the core breeding areas of Common Goldeneye it was good to see a female with three young at Loch Morlich as soon as I arrived on 5th July ... as I found last year in that same area every water body seemed to hold Goldeneye ... a few days later there were also family parties on Loch Insh ...



... meanwhile Spotted Flycatchers called in the treetops by the loch ...

The following day a walk up Strath Nethy seemed rather unproductive with only a family of Stonechats and a distantly alarming Merlin being of any note ... but heading down past Bynack Stable towards Ryvoan a distant raptor broke the western skyline and frustratingly dropped below the ridge ... then reappeared to show the distinctive head-on soaring profile of Golden Eagle ...


... a second bird joined it and the pair continued to soar above the ridge line ...


... coming down lower and apparently foraging for food ...


The day took another turn for the better with Crested Tits along with some Coal Tits in a mature Scots Pine between Ryvoan and Glenmore ...


Then another day of low cloud and intermittent rain made Glen Feshie a good option ... most birds were keeping a low profile but a female Stonechat was characteristically showy ...



... and a Mistle Thrush posed obligingly in the wood near the bothy ...



... while a silent Tree Pipit flew up into an old pine and was gone ...

... by the church at Loch Insh the well known Ospreys had three well grown juveniles that were being kept well supplied with fish ...


As evening approached the skies cleared ... it boded well for Ben Macdui the next day ...

As soon as the March Burn was reached little bursts of Snow Bunting song could be heard coming from the rocks and boulders on either side of the track ...

The males perched up on prominent rocks to deliver their song ... and looked spectacularly bright in the sunshine ...



... a male and female chased around among the boulders ... and more song ...



... the sonogram shows the jerkily random structure of the short motifs ...



The next day was back to business as usual with showers and cloud but at Moor of Feshie a Tree Pipit flew silently into an old pine and posed watchfully to give nice views of its bold face pattern and white belly ...