Tag Archives: autumn migration

Confiding Wheatear

01 Friday Oct 2021

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During a recent circuit of Cardiff Bay, I spent a wonderful 30 minutes with this very confiding Wheatear.

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Though it was naturally very wary of the noisy people and dogs passing by, as I was quiet and non-threatening it allowed me to get quite close.

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As I watched, it went scurrying across the grass after flying insects, dipping and flashing the white under-tail feathers it’s named for, constantly checking the sky for signs of danger.

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And I particularly loved how, when there was no higher object to pop up on, it hopped on to a small rock to try to survey its surroundings. Magical moments with a special little bird!

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Autumn Redstarts

24 Tuesday Aug 2021

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Thanks to a chat with local expert birder, Graham, I saw splashes of autumn, the flashing orange-red of a young male Redstart, at Cosmeston yesterday.

And he – the bird that is, not Graham – certainly wasn’t shy about displaying the glorious colours under his tail and wing, as he flitted from bush to ground to small tree to wire fence in his constant search for food.

There was another bird calling constantly very close by, probably a second Redstart, but I didn’t manage to get on to it before getting a message that there were Whinchats on the other side of the park. I love this time of year – you never know what’s going to turn up next.

Migration companions

19 Thursday Aug 2021

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These three were hanging out together in a clump of trees at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park yesterday, two Spotted flycatchers flanking a Willow warbler. All are starting their annual autumn migration to Africa, the Willow warbler to southern Tanzania or northern Mozambique, the flycatchers anywhere from the coastal forests of the Gulf of Guinea to South Africa. I hope to get better photos of these birds in the coming weeks but was delighted to get this shot of all three together.

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Common sandpiper

03 Tuesday Aug 2021

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Autumn’s in the air, not only with slightly cooler temperatures but also because birds are beginning to move to their over-wintering locations. Though the odd Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) will remain in Britain, most make the long flight to the warm climes of West Africa, and the only time we see these little birds locally is when they are on passage in the spring and autumn. This little beauty stopped in at Cardiff Bay yesterday to top up on food for its journey.

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241/366 Migrants : Spotted flycatcher

28 Friday Aug 2020

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It’s over a month since I saw my first Spotted flycatchers for 2020, the family group I encountered on my visit to Slade Wood back on 21 July. But, now I’m seeing them much more regularly, in ones and twos, as they pass through my local area on their autumn migration. I spotted my first migrant on 5 August, then had to wait a week until my second sighting on the 13th but, since then, have seen them almost every time I’ve been to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, with 2 on the 17th, 4 on the 18th, 1 on the 20th, 3 on the 22nd, 2 on the 24th, and 3 on the 26th. In fact, I tend to go to Cosmeston much more often at this time of year specifically to see what migrants I can find, and I look especially for these stunning little birds, as I love to watch their fly-catching aerobatics.

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237/366 Migrants : Whinchat

24 Monday Aug 2020

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The scientific name for the Whinchat is Saxicola rubetra which, apparently, means ‘small rock-dweller’, a reference to where this delightful little bird likes to make its home: saxicola is from the Latin saxum, meaning ‘rock’, and incola, meaning ‘dwelling’, and, also Latin, rubetra means ‘a small bird’.

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In Welsh, the Whinchat is Crec yr eithin or sometimes Clep yr eithin, eithin being the Welsh word for gorse (also known as furze or whin), where the bird is often seen perching; and crec and clep both meaning clap, a reference to the bird’s call.

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Here in south Wales, the Whinchat is a passage migrant, meaning I only get the chance to see it locally in autumn – it passes through in spring as well, of course, but, as it’s then in a hurry to reach its breeding grounds, it usually just flies straight over. Both the gorgeous little Whinchats in my photos stopped over at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park last week, feeding up before they set out on their long migration flight south, crossing the English Channel, western Europe, the Med, North Africa, and finally the Sahara Desert before arriving at their wintering grounds in central and southern Africa.

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According to the RSPB website, Whinchat numbers in Britain declined more than 50% between 1995 and 2008, though the reason for that decline is not known. I imagine the hazards of their long migratory flight might well have something to do with it. Safe journey, little Whinchats!

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I love this photo with the Greenfinch – just shows how small the Whinchat really is.

233/366 Migration, migration, migration

20 Thursday Aug 2020

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While yesterday’s Clouded yellow butterfly was migrating northwards on the hot southerlies, our local birds were heading in the opposite direction, to their various wintering spots around the Mediterranean and in locations all over the African continent. They started heading south in ever-increasing numbers about three weeks ago – at least, that’s when I started noticing this year’s autumn migration. Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Swallows, Sand and House martins … for a lot of these little birds their long journey has already begun.

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The first noteworthy bird for me was a Pied flycatcher, found by a local birder at Cosmeston one day, and I just happened to be right there he re-found it the following day. That was 22 July, the day I also began to notice how many Willow warblers there were everywhere – I’ve been seeing good numbers of these lovely little birds almost daily since then.

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On 2 August, this Sedge warbler was a surprise find in the hedgerow on a local farm. With any luck, it will be well on its way to sub-Saharan Africa by now.

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Also on 2 August, in that same hedgerow, I noticed a lot of Whitethroats, and they’re also passing through in small numbers every day now.

I’ve seen a Redstart at Cosmeston a few times – these photos were taken on 4 August and 16 August in almost the exact same location. Might it be the same bird that has perhaps found the place to its liking and is trying to fatten up before flying onward?

In recent days, I’ve also been seeing some of my favourite migrants, Spotted flycatchers (several now seen) and Whinchat (just one so far) but I’m going to post separate blogs about those superb little birds.

277/365 Lifer: Great reed warbler

04 Friday Oct 2019

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I’ve left the best till last. We saw a lot of nice birds during our long weekend at Portland Obs but this bird was the undoubted star.

It was late morning, on Saturday 28 September, and a few of us were standing in the Obs front garden, watching for a Firecrest that had been seen there, when keen-eyed Tim noticed a brown bird hopping about in a buddleja right in front of us. It looked like a Reed warbler but was too big, and our experts almost immediately realised it was a Great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). The bird disappeared for a short time (John raced inside to tell the other birders, and I went in to grab my camera), then, luckily, it reappeared and proceeded to munch on some blackberries growing alongside the garden wall. Unfortunately, it didn’t linger long, soon disappearing along the side of the buildings.

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Several people had noticed the bird had a ring on one leg so this Great reed warbler must have been the same bird that had been caught and ringed in the Obs garden 10 days earlier. Amazingly, it had lingered in the surrounding scrub and bushes without anyone spotting it.

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The largest of the European warblers, the Great reed warbler is only occasionally seen in Britain – it breeds in Europe and Asia and overwinters in sub-Saharan Africa – so, this bird had somehow lost its way during migration.

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If you want to see much clearer photos of this cracking bird, check out Martin Cade’s photos and reports on the Portland Obs blog here (when it was first ringed) and again here (when the bird was re-found, during Saturday afternoon, in the Obs back garden).

260/365 Stonechats

17 Tuesday Sep 2019

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The Autumn migration flow of birds continued through Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, with several species reported: a Redstart, a Whinchat, a Spotted flycatcher and several Stonechats, two of which very kindly popped up in the hedge right in front of me.

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243/365 Turn of the seasons

31 Saturday Aug 2019

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The yellowing of the leaves on the tree outside my window, my sightings of migrating birds, the cooler night-time temperatures have all been telling me for a couple of weeks that autumn is on its way, something the calendar will agree with tomorrow. But, for me, one of the true indicators is the arrival of the Turnstones, back from their breeding season in Greenland and northern Canada.

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The five I spotted on the Ely embankment this morning still show some of their summer colouring but those chestnut feathers will soon disappear as the birds complete their moult into winter plumage. Welcome back, my little friends!