307/ 365 Grey phalarope

03 Sunday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cuckmere Haven, Grey phalarope

191103 grey phalarope (1)

A week ago today, during a short break in East Sussex, I enjoyed a superb long walk with two good friends at Cuckmere Haven, and there was a wonderful birding bonus, a Grey phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius).

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I knew the bird had been seen in the vicinity but Cuckmere is a huge area and was then much submerged after recent heavy rains so I didn’t expect to spot one small bird amongst the many enjoying all the water. My luck was in though, as this lovely creature was swimming about on a pool of water quite close to the main path down to the beach.

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This was only my second ever sighting of a Grey phalarope, as these are birds that breed in the Arctic, spend most of their lives far out at sea, and only usually turn up around the British coast after bad weather.

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306/365 Starlings and a cock

02 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, flock of Starlings, gathering of Starlings, starling, Starlings on church steeple

At this time of year, Starlings start to congregate, at first in small gatherings and then forming the large murmurations that astound all who see them. In the late afternoons / early evenings I am treated to a modest number that rendezvous on the roof of the church opposite my house and vie, noisily, for the prime position of sitting atop the cock on the steeple.

191103 starlings (1)

304/365 Portland pipits

31 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Portland Bird Observatory, Rock pipit

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.

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301/365 Wanderings of a Great black-backed gull

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, colour-ringed bird, colour-ringed gull, Great black-backed gull, movements of Great black-backed gulls, Portland Bird Observatory

191028 GBB gull (1)

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.

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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.

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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.

299/365 Squabs

26 Saturday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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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’.”

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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.

191026 pigeon squabs (1)

294/365 A confusing Goosander

21 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Hence my confusion. If any experienced birders reader this, I would welcome your opinions (and explanations). Thanks!

292/365 Goldcrests

19 Saturday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

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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.

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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’.

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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.

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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.

283/365 Nom, nom, nom

10 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, gull scavenging dead fish, Herring gull, juvenile Herring gull

191010 herring gull (1)

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!

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282/365 How many Shelducks?

09 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

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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.

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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.

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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.

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In fact, I’ve never seen so many Shelducks in my life before. Two thousand almost seems to be an underestimate!

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276/365 Ruffing it

03 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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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.