Portland and Ferrybridge 29th September

I started today having seen 196 British bird species in 7 years of bird-watching in England, and hoped that with as many as 8 species that I had never seen being seen around the Portland-Ferrybridge area, that I could pass 200. We started by looking for a nightjar that has been seen near Hilfield quite regularly recently, but could not find it. We then headed to Portland. We walked over towards the 'top fields' which yesterday had held a red-backed shrike. We searched the flock of linnets for any rare buntings or finches. Unfortunately all we could find were greenfinches and goldfinches besides the huge numbers of linnets. Hundreds of meadow pipits flew over and there were several skylarks around. As we approached Southwell, I found a whinchat and a stunning merlin sunning itself. A pair of sparrowhawks flew over, as did some stock doves.

Then, in a hedge at the top end of the top fields, I found a new species for me in Britain. There were at least two redstarts flitting around in the bushes. It was a superb sight, added to by a sleeping fox in the next field. We continued down the path, but there seemed to be no sign of the shrike. A group of birdwatchers described having seen it earlier, but it seemed to have disappeared.
 Thankfully, after about 20 minutes of searching, the red-backed shrike appeared a very long way away in someone's garden. A great bird, but not a great view! We watched it for a short while as it moved around the bushes. It's incredible to think that this used to be a common breeding bird in Britain, with its current status reduced to a rare passage migrant.

We returned to the Observatory, stopping off in a small area of forest, hoping to find a pied flycatcher or firecrest, or anything else of interest. Besides the common finches and tits, there were several blackcaps, a reed warbler and a gardenenabler. We failed to find anything particularly uncommon around the area, but had great views of a kestrel, a fly-over siskin and several rock pipits.

On our way home, we stopped off at Ferrybridge, hoping to pick up a rare wader.

And we found one. Among the large numbers of dunlin and ringed plovers and singles or pairs of turnstones, oystercatchers, sanderling and black-tailed godwit were two curlew sandpipers. My 199th British species, and a particularly difficult species to find. There were also several wheatears and the same 6 pale-bellied brent geese I saw two weeks ago.

Interestingly, on the 28th the house martins in Sherborne were still visiting their nest, and there appeared to be chicks in it. An incredibly late date to be raising chicks, so it seems like these birds have been affected by the dreadful summer weather.

Hilfield 20-25th September

Still some hirundines around at Hilfield (mainly house martins and the odd swallow), as well as buzzards and red-legged partridges. On the night of the 24th, I saw my first tawny owl of the year very briefly, in our garden at Hilfield as well as several noctule bats.

Interestingly, I noticed that some house martins were still visiting a nest on the 24th. It seems far too late to be bringing up another brood, but I can't see why else they'd still visit their nests...

Short-billed Dowitcher 16th September

I went down to Lodmoor this morning to see the juvenile short-billed dowitcher that had been there for nearly two weeks. It was only the second record for Britain and the first this millennium (remarkably the third British record appeared on the Scilly Isles three days after Lodmoor's bird arrived!).  We got there at 8 o'clock and went straight to where the dowitcher had been seen from. There were approximately 30 bird watchers there and right in front of them was the short-billed dowitcher feeding in its characteristic rapid prodding manner. I had seen a long-billed dowitcher at the same sight two years, so it made seeing this incredible rarity even more special. The dowitcher had been blown off course heading south to South America from its breeding grounds in Canada. It was a truly remarkable bird to see. Near the dowitcher were two black-tailed godwits, 8 teals and a little egret. I then walked around the rest of the reserve, seeing several lapwings and more godwits. I got to the hide and scanned. In front of the hide was a green sandpiper, my first in Britain and a truly magnificent bird. It flew out of sight, but soon another appeared even closer. Two sandwich terns went over, a pair of gadwalls and ten teals were feeding on the bank and a group of dunlin flew past. I then walked on, and had another scan. I added a 3 white wagtails, a ringed plover and a common sandpiper to my morning's list. I then went to Ferrybridge, seeing my first sand martins in Dorset as we went past Radipole. At Ferrybridge, we searched the large flock of waders for a curlew sandpiper. Unfortunately we did not find it, but did see lots of dunlin, ringed plover, a Mediterranean gull and a sanderling that briefly had us excited. There were also several wheatears around and a very unseasonal group of six pale-bellied brent geese, the scarcer form of brent goose in Dorset, feeding on the mud.

Short-billed Dowitcher, Lodmoor, 16/9/12

Common Sandpiper, Lodmoor 16/9/12

Sanderling, Ferrybridge 16/9/12

Green Sandpiper, Lodmoor 16/9/12

Back at Hilfield, lots of meadow pipits flew over and at both Hilfield and Sherborne good numbers of house martins and swallows flew over all week. Our Hilfield swallows left on the 13th and several buzzards and herring gulls came over on the 15th.

Hilfield- Hirundines and Hobby

It really feels like its the height of summer back at Hilfield. With the sun shining, the garden was full of birds. A great spotted woodpecker was busy drilling holes in the woods, while a group of long-tailed tits tweeted near the lake and a chiffchaff was singing near the compost bin. Overhead, hundreds of hirundines, all swallows and house martins passed over, presumably heading back to Africa for the winter. Remarkably, high above the hirundines, a juvenile hobby swirled, planning an attack. Suddenly, all the hirundines sped up and began to tweet loudly. An adult hobby appeared, chasing a swallow. They sped away together, before the hobby spotted another swallow and made for that one. The hobby turned around and was flying straight towards me, before noticing I was there and swerving out the way. It soon began to chase the swallow again, and I watched them as they flew away over the fields. A truly stunning spectacle.

A little later on, the hobby returned, this time with roles reversed and with a swallow mobbing it. Again it offered a magnificent view as it briefly hovered over the garden, before flying off. Another two hobbies flew over Hilfield as well during the morning.

Yesterday evening, a female sparrowhawk flew over and this afternoon two unseasonal herring gulls also passed over. On top of that, my first lesser spotted woodpecker at Hilfield flew over the garden on the 8th.

West Cornwall 4-5 September

During what was a very foggy afternoon, I headed down to the Kenidjack Valley in search of any migrants. I only saw two migrant species on the whole walk, both of them wagtails on the beach with three white wagtails and my first yellow wagtail of the year.

Early in the morning of the 5th, I headed to Pendeen Watch for a session of sea-watching. There seem to be little around besides gannets, fulmars and kittiwakes, as well as the odd Manx shearwater. After an hour of watching, my second yellow wagtail of the year headed out to sea, and a small group of puffins flew past, my first in England. Several more puffins passed a little later, before quite remarkably three grey phalaropes, a true pelagic seabird in the wader family, glided above the waves quite a distance away from the headland. A truly magical bird and a new species for me.

We then went to Sennen Cove, where I saw 12 or so white wagtails and a common sandpiper come in off the sea.

Following lunch, I went in search of a wryneck at Porthgwarra. Unfortunately I missed seeing this spectacular little bird, but I did see a basking shark and added whinchat to my year list. There was also quite a remarkable array of butterflies around, with up to 10 species present.

Sparrowhawk and peregrine- Cape Cornwall

This male sparrowhawk landed on our balcony this morning, and kept flying into the glass as it tried to take off. Thankfully, I managed to catch it in this bag and release it. It flew off unharmed, returning later in the morning attempting to prey on a stonechat.

A peregrine falcon also appeared this morning, landing on a stone wall not 50 yards away from the house having killed and eaten a woodpigeon in the garden earlier this morning.

It then returned later in the morning:

Common Buzzard, Cape Cornwall, 3/9/12

Little Gull, Hayle Estuary 3/9/12

Little Gull- Hayle Estuary, 3rd September

I drove north to the Hayle Estuary today, hoping to see some a good number of waders that are normally found there at this time of year. The sheer numbers of gulls and waders was evident from the moment I arrived, with hundreds of herring and black-headed gulls as well as large numbers of curlew, oystercatcher and black-tailed godwits. From the hide, I searched a godwit flock for rarities, and was rewarded with a single bar-tailed godwit, and a slightly less rare redshank. A common sandpiper then appeared in front of the hide, as did a group of five little egrets.

I then crossed the road, to have a look at the Carshnew Pool. On the bank of the pool was a group of 8 ringed plovers and more curlews and black-tailed godwits. I then scanned the large flock of gulls for any of the rarer species. Remarkably, I found my first little gull ever, sitting amongst the black-headed gulls. It was a true rarity and a great find, added to by the presence of two Mediterranean gulls nearby.

Porthgwarra, 2nd September

We went to Porthgwarra this morning, hoping for a good morning's sea watching in seemingly perfect conditions for it. The wind was strong and blowing in the right direction, and the sun seemed set to shine. Soon, however, heavy rain began to fall, with the wind blowing it straight into our faces. It soon became unbearable, particularly with the complete lack of any birds passing the headland. We did see some choughs as we walked back to the car, and a weasel, my second in three days, running across the roads, but overall it was a rather miserable experience.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Marazion, 1st September

We went over to Marazion Beach this morning in search of the buff-breasted sandpiper that had been reported there the previous day. The sight of hundreds of sanderling, dunlin, ringed plover and several turnstones feeding on the shingle was quite stunning. For a while, however, it seemed as though the buff-breasted had  been disturbed by some walkers. Thankfully it soon returned, landing directly in front of us. It was my first buff-breasted sandpiper, and a truly stunning bird, with the air of an elegant mix between a ruff and golden plover, and strutting around on long bright orange-yellow legs. We watched it for about 15 minutes feeding in the weed in a group of other waders. I also saw my first white wagtail, the European race of our pied wagtail, of autumn feeding on the beach.