31 Thursday Oct 2019
During each of my three visits to Portland there has been a plethora of pipits, especially Rock pipits, like this one, using the stone walls of the lighthouse compound as its rocky shore, parachuting down on to the grass within to strut and probe, then popping back up to survey the scene … and the nearby photographer.
28 Monday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, colour-ringed bird, colour-ringed gull, Great black-backed gull, movements of Great black-backed gulls, Portland Bird Observatory
We saw a lot of Great black-backed gulls during our long weekend birding at Portland Bird Observatory at the end of September, both tackling the strong westerly winds out over the huge seas and also taking a breather from those winds, snoozing in a field just along from the Obs. And, while the rest of our group was seawatching near the obelisk, I walked west along the coastal path and found one Great black-backed gull standing alone on rocks at the water’s edge.
This particular gull was ringed so I reported the sighting. It turns out the bird was not far from where it was first ringed in June 2015, on the breakwaters of Portland Harbour, as part of the Portland Gulls project. Joint project leader Terry Coombs kindly emailed me the history of P:49B and commented that ‘From the sightings we have it seems to favour Portland in the winter and cruising the Channel during the warmer months’. Apart from many sightings in the Portland area, it has also been spotted at RSPB Dungeness, on 16 March 2015 and 9 March 2019, and on the Axe estuary, on 19 August 2015.
My sincere thanks to Terry for providing the history of this gull. You can read more about his Portland Gulls project on their blog, and please do report the ringed birds (of all species) that you see – tracking bird movements is a huge part of their protection and conservation.
26 Saturday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, feral pigeon, pigeon, squab
Squab: it’s an odd word to describe a young unfledged pigeon. The Oxford Dictionary gives its origins as: “Mid 17th century (in the sense ‘inexperienced person’): of unknown origin; compare with obsolete quab ‘shapeless thing’ and Swedish dialect skvabba ‘fat woman’.”
To me, judging by the behaviour of these two feral pigeons squabs I saw recently harassing their parent for food, squab seems more likely to come from squabble: a noisy quarrel! I almost felt sorry for the adult as it was chased along the pavement by its two young, who then pushed their heads as far down the adult’s open beak as possible, hoping for the ‘milk’ pigeons feed their young.
21 Monday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, eclipse male Goosander, Goosander, juvenile Goosander, plumage change in Goosander
There were actually 5 Goosanders on the River Ely this morning. Four stayed their distance but this one, paddling alone, came over to investigate me.
I’ve been trying to work it out. I don’t think it’s a female – though they have reddish-brown heads, they’re more generally grey in the body, without so much black on their backs.
And it seems that in juvenile Goosanders the separation between the white throat and chin and the brown head is less clear cut, more ragged – in this bird it seems well defined.
So that leaves me with a male bird in eclipse plumage, i.e. still undergoing the change from its breeding plumage (of black-dark green head and upper neck) to its winter plumage, though that would usually be complete by now, I think.
Hence my confusion. If any experienced birders reader this, I would welcome your opinions (and explanations). Thanks!
19 Saturday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Britain's smallest bird, British birds, Europe's smallest bird, Goldcrest
Goldcrests always look sad to me – something to do with their big eyes and that dark, downturned line at the side of their beaks, perhaps.
Should they be sad? Being Europe’s littlest birds means life must be quite tough, especially as hundreds of these tiny creatures regularly migrate across the North Sea from Scandinavia to northern and eastern parts of Britain. According to Fauna Britannica, large numbers of Goldcrests used to be trapped in the rigging of North Sea fishing boats, which is why their vernacular names include ‘herring spink’ and ‘tot o’er the seas’.
I was delighted to see a good number of Goldcrests in trees along the south Wales coast this week. Their constant peeping indicated their presence – luckily for me, I can still hear their calls: the high pitch means many birders ‘lose’ the calls of Goldcrests as their hearing deteriorates with age. I certainly hope that doesn’t happen to me.
Goldcrests are not easy to photograph as they’re hyperactive little creatures, constantly flitting from leaf to branch and back again in their search for tasty tiny morsels, so I was pleased to get these few images, even though they’re not the sharpest.
10 Thursday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, gull scavenging dead fish, Herring gull, juvenile Herring gull
It’s difficult to share this juvenile Herring gull’s enthusiasm for the large dead fish it had discovered on the embankment of the Ely River where it flows in to Cardiff Bay, but food is food and the bird’s scavenging was removing a potentially very smelly object from the foreshore. Well done, that gull!
09 Wednesday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserve, Bridgwater Bay NNR, British birds, Shelduck, Thousands of Shelducks
One of the reasons Bridgwater Bay is a National Nature Reserve is the Shelduck.
Due to the extreme tidal range of the bay, at low tide enormous areas of mudflats are exposed and these are teeming with the tiny creatures that Shelducks – and many other species of waterfowl and wading birds – like to eat.
According to the UK Government website, this reserve is ‘the second largest European moulting ground for Shelduck, with up to 2000 birds present each July’, and rather a lot were still there last Sunday (6 October) when I visited with my birding buddies from Glamorgan Bird Club.
In fact, I’ve never seen so many Shelducks in my life before. Two thousand almost seems to be an underestimate!
03 Thursday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, RSPB Lodmoor, Ruff, satellite male Ruff, white-headed ruff
When we spotted this white-headed Ruff at RSPB Lodmoor, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same bird we’d seen at this same location on our 2018 trip to Portland. Of course, as the bird wasn’t ringed, there was no way to tell for sure but it certainly was a handsome bird, a ‘satellite’ male as I explained in last year’s post here.
02 Wednesday Oct 2019
For me, the Black-tailed godwits were a highlight of our walk around RSPB Lodmoor. They’re not uncommon birds but I don’t see them on my local patch and don’t often get close views of them.
There were several at Lodmoor but the little beauty shown below was feeding quite close to the western path. That feeding was a constant repetition of probing the mud to locate some choice morsel, raising its beak from the water and throwing back its head to gulp down said morsel, then plunging its head down into the water again. If its frequent gulps were any indication, the bird was finding plenty of food.
Black-tailed godwits are handsome waders that can be seen almost year round in Britain. Though local populations migrate to overwinter in Africa, birds from Iceland come to Britain to enjoy our relatively milder winter climate.
01 Tuesday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Great white egret, Grey heron, Little egret, RSPB Lodmoor, RSPB Radipole
On the way to Portland last Friday our birding group stopped off at the RSPB’s Lodmoor Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Weymouth. It’s a wonderful environment for birds, with small lakes and large reedbeds, open saltmarshes and hedge-enclosed pathways, and it always turns up a good variety of birds.
Now, I’ve only been in Britain four years so I don’t remember the ‘old days’ when twitchers would race across the country to see a Little egret or a Great white egret, but even I can see how much these birds have increased in number in a very short time.
At Lodmoor, there were several Little egrets (above) – I didn’t count the ones I did see, and I’m sure there were several lurking amongst the reeds that I couldn’t see and, amazingly, there were six (!) Great white egrets (below), for a time all congregated in one spot. Now, that was a sight to see.
I was also impressed by the large numbers of Grey herons, especially those at nearby RSPB Radipole, all lined up along the edge of the reeds, sheltering from the strong westerly winds.
earthstar 
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