Friday 13 September 2013

1st Annual Bird Migration Festival, AKA Mig Fest attracts vagrants from all over the UK!




You simply cannot beat Spurn Point for visible bird migration and I got my latest dose just this w/e where I was helping out with 1st Annual Migration Festival held there. Judging by the success of the event it will certainly run again next year and well worth making a note to watch their web page for details of next year's event.

Over 250 punters from all over the UK were treated to a hatful of migrants as well as enjoying the many guided nature & history walks, bird ringing & moth trapping sessions, photography classes and much more. The guided tours around the old Victorian lighthouse were especially popular and not without incident (one of our staff somehow managed to get herself locked in for half an hour!) and the evening talks on bird migration were as good on the old brain cells as the hog roast was on the taste buds!

Me, I was recruiting again both days ... so not much chance to get involved in the activities, but it was good fun, I met loads of interesting people, picked up some really good tips for future destinations and of course signed plenty up to the YWT!

Ok birders, this is the complete species list for the w/e
  • Mute Swan
  • Shelduck
  • Wigeon
  • Gadwall
  • Teal
  • Mallard
  • Pintail
  • Garganey
  • Shoveler
  • Tufted Duck
  • Scaup
  • Eider
  • Common Scoter
  • Pheasant
  • Red-throated Diver
  • Little Grebe
  • Great Crested Grebe
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • Fulmar
  • Sooty Shearwater
  • Manx Shearwater
  • Balearic Shearwater
  • Leach’s Petrel
  • Gannet
  • Cormorant
  • Shag
  • Little Egret
  • Grey Heron
  • Marsh Harrier
  • Sparrowhawk
  • Common Buzzard
  • Kestrel
  • Hobby
  • Peregrine
  • Water Rail
  • Moorhen
  • Coot
  • Oystercatcher
  • Little Ringed Plover
  • Ringed Plover
  • Golden Plover
  • Grey Plover
  • Lapwing
  • Knot
  • Sanderling
  • Little Stint
  • Curlew Sandpiper
  • Purple Sandpiper
  • Dunlin
  • Ruff
  • Snipe
  • Black-tailed Godwit
  • Bar-tailed Godwit
  • Whimbrel
  • Curlew
  • Spotted Redshank
  • Redshank
  • Greenshank
  • Green Sandpiper
  • Common Sandpiper
  • Turnstone
  • Pomarine Skua
  • Arctic Skua
  • Bonxie
  • Mediterranean Gull
  • Little Gull
  • Black-headed Gull
  • Common Gull
  • Lesser B.B.Gull
  • Yellow-legged Gull
  • Caspian Gull
  • Herring Gull
  • Great B.B.Gull
  • Kittiwake
  • Sandwich Tern
  • Roseate Tern
  • Common Tern
  • Arctic Tern
  • Black Tern
  • Guillemot
  • Razorbill
  • Puffin
  • Feral Pigeon
  • Stock Dove
  • Woodpigeon
  • Collared Dove
  • Cuckoo
  • Swift
  • Kingfisher
  • Wryneck
  • Skylark
  • Sand Martin
  • Swallow
  • House Martin
  • Tree Pipit
  • Meadow Pipit
  • Rock Pipit
  • Yellow Wagtail
  • Grey Wagtail
  • Pied Wagtail
  • Wren
  • Dunnock
  • Robin
  • Redstart
  • Whinchat
  • Wheatear
  • Blackbird
  • Song Thrush
  • Grasshopper Warbler
  • Sedge Warbler
  • Reed Warbler
  • Lesser Whitethroat
  • Whitethroat
  • Garden Warbler
  • Blackcap
  • Chiffchaff
  • Willow Warbler
  • Spotted Flycatcher
  • Pied Flycatcher
  • Blue Tit
  • Great Tit
  • Red-backed Shrike
  • Magpie
  • Rook
  • Carrion Crow
  • Starling
  • House Sparrow
  • Tree Sparrow
  • Chaffinch
  • Greenfinch
  • Goldfinch
  • Linnet
  • Common Rosefinch
  • Reed Bunting


Juv Red Backed Shrike, Spurn, Sept 2013


134 species in 2 days, with some notable highlights to Spurn (in bold) and with weather not particularly conducive to migration (it was warm and still for the most part) represents a cracking haul. Many visitors left with several 'lifers' and although, like many before me, I missed out on some of the good birds, I did get to see this juv Red Backed Shrike quite a lot while I was working Wells Field.








I so wanted to glimpse the Wryneck, such an enigmatic and curious bird and one I see all too rarely these days. Its one of the woodpeckers but you wouldn't necessarily know that if you're lucky enough to see one on migration. The person who took this one at Spurn over the w/e deserves a medal, its a cracking shot (looking so 'lizard like!) lifted from the Spurn Facebook page along with plenty of other great pics from the festival.


Wryneck, Spurn, Sept 2013


I stayed on at Spurn after the festival for a few days and although the weather took a real turn for the worst with cloudy skies, rain and gale force winds (sounds lovely doesn't it but this actually better for visible migration), there were plenty of bright spots and I was not unrewarded.




Willow Warbler, Spurn, Sept 2013

Up bright & early Monday morning and I was in the company of several Willow Warblers that had probably plopped in during the night plus a very confiding young Wheatear that had maybe done the same ... love the early morning light on these.







Lots of Willow Warblers and the closely related Chiff Chaffs moving through the UK at the moment ... look out for them in your garden, I've just had one in mine this morning.


Wheatear, Spurn, Sept 2013
 


Wheatear2, Spurn, Sept 2013


Young Swallows, Spurn, Sept 2013

Swallows, House Martins and the occasional Swift and Sand Martin were passing through all the time and some were obviously pleased to make landfall and a bit of Spurn rest n recuperation like these young Swallows huddled together for warmth.







This time of the year is great for seeing 'grounded' hirundines, they're often resting on the long journey South or just plain knackered!


Resting Swallow, Spurn, Sept 2013



Resting Swallow2, Spurn, Sept 2013





Whinchat (Imm), Spurn, Sept 2013

 

This was one of several Whinchats, a common migratory bird at Spurn but always nice to see on passage.
















Roe Deer, Spurn, Sept 2013


Away from my feathered friends, lets not forget that Spurn is renowned for more than just birds. Both Fallow and Roe Deer are common on the reserve ... I did see a fine Fallow Deer whilst I was taking a break from recruiting, but sadly no camera to hand, but here's a couple of Roe Deer eyeing me up early one morning.




Spurn Point is good for butterflies & moths too of course, some of which are migrant, and there's a healthy recording set up here capturing close on 800 species of the old 'lepidoptra' over the years .. see here at Spurn Butterflies & Moths for more info.

Of those 800 or so I did see a Dark Green Fritillary (pic from a previous post here) cross over at the Warren on Sunday, a Small Heath, lots of 'Whites' and Tortoiseshells and a blue butterfly that at first looked liked a washed out Common Blue but on closer inspection turned out to be a Small Blue.


Small Heath, Spurn, Sept 2013



Tortoiseshell on Fleabane Blue, Spurn, Sept 2013


Small Blue
You can't bird watch long at Spurn before casting your eyes upon the 1000s of wader species that seem to be ever present here, especially in Autumn when this is one of the premier stop over places for these long distance travellers on their way down to Africa. 2 days here in Autumn is enough to grab almost all of the commonly seen waders in the UK.

One of the commonest here is also one of the most iconic... I'm talking Knots! They come in droves from their Arctic breeding grounds to rest up in the Wash and a fair proportion of those are very visible at Spurn. Often flocking together at high water tides in restless waves of grey, they move as one when flushed and form huge formations in the sky as they search for exposed mud to feed upon.

Here's one such flock, along with an interloping and very obvious Curlew, at Chalk Bank... the best place to see them at Spurn.


Knot flock at high tide plus a Curlew! Spurn, Sept 2013

........ and here's a classic wave of Knot, probably flushed by a passing raptor. This was only a part of the flock so lord knows how many there were, count em if you want but I reckoned close on 2000!


Knot flock, Spurn, Sept 2013


Knot downpour, Spurn, Sept 2013


A bit later in the afternoon and in some fairly dramatic weather conditions the whole flock of Knot plus many other waders were put up by a passing Merlin. Not sure if these pics do the scene much justice after the event because it all happened at some distance, but with thunder grey skies on one side of the peninsular and sunshine breaking through on the other the light was just awesome, and as the Knot descended in mass ranks from way up high they looked like giant snowflakes as they floated back down onto the sands ..... very poetically put Timbo!


Knot downpour2, Spurn, Sept 2013


Little Egrets, Spurn, Sept 2013


Pretty pleased with how those Knot pics came out and caught the moment but all a bit distant.

Here's a few 'closer' shots of common waders starting with these wind blown Little Egrets at dusk, relative and very welcome newcomers to our shores as breeding birds, there were 30+  present at Spurn over the w/e



Sanderlings are always fun to photograph and I find they produce a good picture, maybe because of the colourful shingle they inhabit!


Sanderling, Spurn, Sept 2013

 
Here's a couple of familiar fellahs for you, the ever reliable and vocal Curlew ... fairly ubiquitous around the Humber of course but when you get them in the right pose and the right light they rarely fail to please.


Curlews on the tideline, Spurn, Sept 2013
Even better when they're joined by wader friends! At the risk of being 'nerdy' this next shot is almost a field guide type picture of the different sizes of common waders. Here we have the same Curlews, plus 2 others, a Bar Tailed Godwit (next smallest) and a Knot (smallest).


Wader selection, Spurn, Sept 2013 - Curlew, Knot & Bar Tailed Godwit




Whimbrel with crab at dusk, Spurn, Sept 2013

 

Rubbish pic I admit, but it was my only Whimbrel shot. Low light and messed around with maybe a bit too much but hey this close relative of the Curlew was devouring a small crab right in front of me so its included here.



 Another evening picture to finish with and considering the rather inclement weather we had to bear midweek this was a rare sunset over the Humber and towards the oil refineries at Immingham .... industrial yes but pleasing enough as a parting shot.


Sunset over the Humber
 
Huge thank you's to all involved in this event .. well done to one of YWT's finest Adam Coyle and all the guys at Spurn Observatory for putting this together, it was megatastic, same again and more next year guys!
 
 








Thursday 5 September 2013

2hrs of drama at Pond Hide, Wheldrake Ings

Ah! Wheldrake Ings, a truly awesome place that will be forever stamped in my mind as bird watching heaven! It was here, some 30+ years ago and armed with a 2nd hand pair of binoculars, that I rediscovered birding and turned away from the deviant excesses of youth and if, God forbid, I die tomorrow on the road to Spurn, I will likely haunt the place ... in a genial sort of way of course!

I've tramped around just about every square inch of the place in my time and likely as not been places I shouldn't have been, but at this time of the year there's only one place to be ... Pond Hide. I've sat in there, often alone, for hours on end sometimes and although you'll never get the numbers of birds that drop into equivalent local patches places like Blacktoft Sands or even Tophill Low, at this time of year there's always drama.

So here's an hour or 2 at Pond Hide on Sept 4th in pictures and in the good company of me old chum Mark Paine.


Black Tailed Godwit
 
Although the evening was warm, sultry even, with high cloud the light was never brilliant but ok for picking up the best of the waders ..... here's a pick n mix of waders  ...Black Tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, Snipe & Ruff.


Green Sandpiper





Pair of Snipes, Wheldrake Ings

Green Sandpiper2
Ruff


Not sure about the Green Sand but pretty sure that the Godwits and Ruffs bred locally and not migrants. Same thing with the Common Snipes, declining nationally as a breeding bird but doing well at Wheldrake.

Fairly typical and 'so so' selection of waders for this time of year. No sign of the Great White Egret that hung around here for a few days last week but our patience was rewarded with a bit of Wheldrake drama over the last hour before the light went.

First off, one of the Grey Herons that had been stalking around suddenly got all animated and as we focused our bins on the commotion we realised what all the fuss was about .... it was grappling with a young Pike!
Grey Heron with Pike
 

Never have I seen a Heron grapple with anything this big! 
 
 
Grey Heron and Pike2
Grey Heron with Pike in gullet!
The fish was pretty well impaled but even so I fully expected it to somehow wriggle free .... certainly didn't expect to see such a monster swallowed whole ... but I was wrong!























Shortly afterwards there was yet more commotion when Marsh Harrier flew in and took something just beyond the bank. Looked like a young female to me.

Marsh Harrier, juv female?

 
Water Rail, Wheldrake Ings
In the decidedly murky light we were then treated to better than the usual views of a reasonably common bird here ... but all too often the view is of the 'arse end disappearing into reeds' type of the elusive Water Rail

Water Rail2, Wheldrake Ings

Roe Deer, Wheldrake Ings
Just time for something calm  ... a couple of Roe Deer, one of them a young un' walking on for an evening drink.

Roe Deer, Wheldrake Ings

Sometimes sitting in the hides at Wheldrake, or anywhere, can be a bit of a drag, but if you give it time, invariably something happens!

Last pic .... the old Windmill at Pond Hide at sunset.
Windmill at Pond Hide, Wheldrake Ings













Wednesday 4 September 2013

Wild & wonderful Fen Bog in the North York Moors - wet feet, a wasp identified and less said about the memory card the better!

I'm so loving this everlasting Summer we seem to having here in the UK .... I can't quite believe how lush and green everything still is and how many flowers, butterflies and dragonflies I've photographed over the past few weeks... there's going to have to be round up of the best of these images soon but for now here's a promised post on Fen Bog.
 
I was very kindly shown around this YWT reserve by Robin Marrs, a good guy I met recently on Trust business, and its a place I've been meaning to get to for a while. So on my way up to Teesdale a few weeks back I called in on Rob who lives nearby in an idyllic setting just a stones throw from the locally famous landmark Hole of Horcum, and we had a glorious late afternoon tramp across this picturesque piece of wet heathland in the North Yorks Moors national nature reserve. Situated between the summits of Tom Cross Rigg and Crag Stone Rigg its one of the many glacial valleys in the area and takes the form of a long curving piece of land that is bounded at both ends by moorland streams.
 

'The Mallard' steam engine
On the Western boundary edge of the reserve lies the North Yorks Moors railway so if you're into steam trains as well as wildlife you might get an added bonus and catch a glimpse of a rather special and fast flying duck! I did the journey once and its one of the best railway lines around ...  just click on the link above if you fancy it some time
I must at this point take no credit for any of the photographs in this post. Apart from the 2 above which are in the public domain, all the following were taken by Robin Marrs. Combination of senior blond moment and faulty memory card is my excuse and believe me its best left that way!
 
The lower lying reaches of the reserve, although looking quite dry, proved to be quite wet! Shortly after admiring this impressive clump of Marsh Mint and as we strode across what looked like a good path, I (definitely the more foolhardy one) became seriously 'bogged down' almost to my shins in some really brown and wet stuff!
Marsh Mint, Fen Bog

We laughed of course but with no phone signal and being in a remote place we both reflected on the potential danger, especially to a lone and unsuspecting walker, of being abroad in such places. Anyway, no harm done but boy did I sink!

Precious few birds around but we did see a big raptor float down the valley that could have been a Goshawk .... it just didn't have the jizz of a Sparrowhawk to me and so wish I could have got a better and longer view - it'll have to go down as a Spar!


Ichneumon Wasp (Enicospilus ramidulus), Fen Bog
Smaller scale but none the less interesting because neither of us could identify it, was this attractive looking winged insect. I've since posted the pic on a couple of insect forums and turns out this is an Ichneumon Wasp, one of the Ophionines and its specific name is .... wait for it, its catchy .....  its Enicospilus ramidulus and what's more its a common parasitoid of hadenine noctuid caterpillars. Amazing how many experts there are out there ... you may not be turned on by the science, and not sure I am .... I just enjoyed looking at the thing, but all that came back to me within minutes of posting Rob's pic on a couple of Facebook insect forums - that's the amazing thing to me!


Fox Moth caterpillar, Fen Bog
This may or may not be one of the caterpillars said wasp preys upon (been 5 mins now and not received an answer on the forum ... but it is nigh on midnight) ... hang on, I have a message ... nope, this fella is safe from the Ichneumon, its a Fox Moth caterpillar (well done Rob!) and our wasp prefers Broom Moth caterpillars ... how educative is Facebook? I am truly impressed!







Ok, no id forums required for this attractive flower, common in the right habitat and although past its best still good to see. Its Bog Asphodel of course.
Bog Asphodel, Fen Bog

Less obvious but no less attractive in its own way is the diminutive Stitchwort, one of those 'micro flowers' that when you get down and have a really good look, reveal such delicate and subtle beauty in their minute form.
Stitchwort, Fen Bog

So that was Fen Bog, and thoroughly enjoyable it was too, another YWT reserve ticked off (only 64 to go!) and many thanks again to Rob for showing me the place, feeding me and letting me park my camper on his driveway for the night. It was all good order.

Right then, I'm off to the Inaugural Annual Bird Migration Festival at Spurn Point over this coming w/e ... tickets still available by the way if you want to come along ( see here for details and itinery - Spurn Point Bird Migration Festival ) .... should be a cracking event and although I'll be there in a working capacity I'm sure there will be plenty of time for birding, photography, mingling and the rest .. and the guitar is going too so maybe some songs from Baggins around the hog roast!