Last bit of birding this year

We visited Portland Harbour again yesterday in search of the black guillemot reported there yesterday. Driving to the harbour, I saw at least 120 golden plovers and a little egret feeding in the flooded fields near Maiden Castle. 

Unfortunately, we failed to find the guillemot, but in the harbour there were 8 black-necked grebes, 4 Slavonian grebes, 3 pale-bellied brent geese and 4 great northern divers (one of which flew over the road at Ferrybridge and down Chesil Beach!) as well as lots of red-breasted mergansers and dark-bellied brents. A quick look in Weymouth Bay revealed a dozen or so guillemots and 10 great crested grebes.

The highlight of the day, however, was my first barn owl of the year, which was sitting on top of a roadside fence post near the village of Sydling, just south of Hilfield. 

Hawfinches- Bruton

With news of at least two hawfinches in the churchyard at Bruton, we decided to head there in really horrible weather.

There were dozens of greenfinches in the churchyard, but it took us about an hour and a half to find a hawfinch, when one flew into the top of a tree with the greenfinches. A really great new bird for me, and a seriously difficult one to find, as well as being a very iconic species. Unfortunately it was not the best view in some miserable weather, but once I had it in the scope, I could see its remarkably powerful bill, capable of generating over 50KG of force!

I also saw a kingfisher which flew down the River Brue in front of the church.

Yet another great bird this year!

Portland Harbour 21st December

Back in Dorset, I visited Portland Harbour again today, hoping to add to last week's tally of waterfowl. First we visited Sandsfoot Castle, where alongside the many cormorants, shags, great crested grebes and red-breasted mergansers were at least 35 black-necked grebes, an eider, the two velvet scoter I had seen on Sunday, and close in a rather splendid pair of Slavonian grebes on the remarkably calm water, taking my year list up to 179. There were also a sparrowhawk and a stunning kingfisher present. We then headed to Ferrybridge, and on the Portland Harbour side there was a very distant great northern diver as well as several common scoter, alongside many more red-breasted mergansers and a razorbill. We walked to Portland Castle, off which there was another razorbill and a common scoter. I also found another diver, an exceedingly long way off the shore, but clearly not a great northern as it displayed far too much white on its side. About twenty minutes of watching it brought the conclusion that it was a black-throated diver, my fourth new bird in five days, despite dreadful views and choppy water making identification difficult.

A quick look at Ferrybridge revealed the continued presence of the snow bunting, feeding on the muddy shore alongside several skylarks; several brent geese; 6 Mediterranean gulls and a little egret.

Another excellent morning!

Hyde Park 20th December

Egyptian Goose, Hyde Park

Greylag Geese, Hyde Park

Egyptian Geese, Hyde Park

With an afternoon in London, I decided to visit Hyde Park to find some of the feral duck species found there. Before I reached the Serpantine Lake, I had seen a jay, a goldcrest and several long-tailed tits. The Serpantine Lake itself was absolutely with waterfowl, in particular mute swans, Canada geese and greylag geese. In among these were one species I had hoped to see, the Egyptian goose, a rather bizarre addition to London's avifauna. Hyde Park does not have a bird collection, and these birds have come there by their own accord. They are able to fly and breed in the park, so in spite of it feeling slightly wrong, these birds come from a self-sustaining population of about 75 birds and are thus the 175th addition to my British year list! 

Other wildfowl seen were a trio of shovelers, several tufted ducks and pochards and barnacle goose (presumably an escapee from one of the nearby bird collections). There were, however two highlights for me, a peregrine falcon that flew over and a dozen or so ring-necked parakeets, my 176th British bird of the year. Two new additions to my year list (albeit a pair of very feral ones), and two birds very rarely seen back in the west country!

Abbotsbury and Portland Harbour 16th December

Today was yet another incredible day of birdwatching for me this year. 

We started at Abbotsbury Swannery, from which long-tailed ducks and scaup were reported three days ago. Unfortunately, the swannery was closed and there seemed to be no public access to the the beach opposite the fleet. We decided to scope the large flocks of ducks from as close as we could. Soon we were rewarded with two stunning long-tailed ducks out in the middle of the fleet. This was yet another new species for me, and a really superb pair of birds to see. Unfortunately I failed to find any scaups, but in among the more common wildfowl species I also found two pintail and a shelduck; while there was also a flock of approximately 250 lapwing, several snipe, both great crested and little grebes and Mediterranean gulls around the area.

We then headed to Portland Harbour in search of divers and grebes. We decided to have a quick look at Ferrybridge, and remarkably a snow bunting landed on the bridge as we crossed it, which we then followed as it landed in the shrubbery. It was remarkably tame, allowing views of up to four foot! 

On the other side of the road, I found a water pipit, my first in Dorset, on the shingle beach of Portland Harbour, as well as a turnstone. On the far side of the harbour, I caught site of a pair of ducks flying just above the water. My first thought was velvet scoter, a very scarce bird inside the harbour itself. The birds soon landed and they fitted that species perfectly. The birds were confirmed as velvet scoter as they took off again, flying close enough to show off their white backs of wings. It was my second new bird of the day.

Several gulls and corvids appeared to be getting aggravated over Ferrybridge, and the reason for this was soon revealed. A short-eared owl, another first for me in Dorset, flew towards us, before landing in the grass right next to some windsurfers who seemed to fail to notice it! A rather breathtaking 10 minutes!

We walked around to Portland Castle, where my fourth black redstart of the year was on the rocks alongside several pied wagtails. Offshore, there was a guillemot and several red-breasted mergansers, and on the pier a remarkable tally of 15 grey herons! Then, a diver species appeared, but dived back under before a positive identification. It came back up and was confirmed as a great northern diver, my third new bird of the day.

An incredible morning of birding.

Not much birding, but black redstart and tawny owl

With GCSEs coming up, birding hasn't been my priority. I did however have a great surprise when I found a stunning male black redstart in Sherborne. It landed in a tree right in front of me, in which it stayed for several minutes. Although I have seen several of them before, finding this species in Sherborne was certainly unexpected.

Returning home after dark, I was treated to a tawny owl which took flight from a roadside signpost. Two very nice birds to liven up what has been an extremely dull month!

Amur Falcon massacare

I have just read about the sickening massacre of hundreds of thousands of Amur falcons as they pass through India on migration from Siberia to South Africa. A truly shocking reminder of man's destruction and evil.

Check out the link: Amur Falcon massacre