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Tag Archives: Spotted flycatcher

A good year for Spot flies

30 Tuesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Spotted flycatcher

It may just be because my bird-spotting skills are improving, or it could be because I’ve been going to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park more frequently than usual, or it might be because Spotted flycatchers have enjoyed better than usual breeding success this year, or it could be something else entirely. Whatever the reason, I’ve seen more Spotted flycatchers so far this autumn migration than in any previous year (17 individuals on 8 separate days, starting on 9 August) – and it’s not over yet. They are gorgeous little birds and their fly-catching skills are a joy to watch – I’ve been extremely grateful for the pleasure and the distraction from the constant doom-and-gloom of daily life that these feathered friends have brought me this month.

220830 spotted flycatcher

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Post-breeding summer passage

18 Thursday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, Redstart, Spotted flycatcher, Tree pipit

Most birders label the movement of birds before and after summer, to and from their breeding locations, as spring and autumn migration, so I had to chuckle recently when someone on Twitter took exception to my post saying I’d seen my first Spotted flycatcher of the autumn. It seems that what I had actually seen was ‘a bird on post-breeding summer passage’ rather than on autumn migration. Whatever you prefer to label this movement, it has begun, and I’ve now seen a Redstart, several Spotted flycatchers, and a few Tree pipits heading south. As you can see from my images, the birds have all been distant so far but I’ll blog about the individual species if I manage to get better photos.

220818 autumn migration birds

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Migration companions

19 Thursday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Spotted flycatcher, Willow warbler

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.

210819 spotted flycatchers

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241/366 Migrants : Spotted flycatcher

28 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Spotted flycatcher

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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205/366 Sightings at Slade Wood

23 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature

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British birds, British butterflies, Brown argus, Gatekeeper, juvenile Spotted flycatcher, mating Gatekeepers, Minnetts Field, Peacock butterfly, Siskin, Slade Wood, Spotted flycatcher

On Wednesday I ventured on to public transport for the first time in four months – suitably masked, of course – for a visit to Slade Wood, near Rogiet. This was a site where I’d seen Silver-washed fritillaries and White admiral butterflies last summer so I was hoping for more of those but, unfortunately, huge areas of the woodland have been felled over the winter months, which has destroyed a lot of the butterflies’ habitat.

200723 1 peacock200723 2 gatekeepers

I did still see a lot of butterflies on the Buddleja bushes – in fact, probably more Peacocks than I’ve seen in one day before, and I got some pics of a pair of Gatekeepers mating – but only spotted one Silver-washed fritillary (and didn’t manage a photo) and no White admirals. There was also a butterfly consolation prize in the form of a Brown argus, a butterfly that’s not common locally, which was in Minnett’s Field, a nearby meadow managed by Gwent Wildlife Trust.

200723 3 brown argus

Though the butterflies were a little disappointing, the birds were a huge bonus as I managed to find a family of Spotted flycatchers, with two adults and a couple of juveniles (below left), which I’d not seen before.

200723 4 spotted flycatcher
200723 5 spotted flycatcher

And the flycatchers were joined at their watering hole, a couple of muddy puddles, by two beautiful bright Siskin.

200723 6 siskin and spot fly200723 7 siskin

I may not have seen what I was expecting and I was saddened to see how many trees had been felled but I still had a wonderful day out. The sense of freedom was exhilarating, and Nature certainly didn’t disappoint!

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241/365 Spot fly

29 Thursday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

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#365DaysWild, autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, migrating birds, Spot fly, Spotted flycatcher

The day started cool, with a heavy dew and clouds hiding the sun, and I thought I wasn’t going to find a lot during my Cosmeston meander. I was wrong.

190829 spot fly (2)

Once the sun came out so did the creatures: two Green woodpeckers together on the grassy track ahead; two migrating Whinchats, my first this season; a Hummingbird hawkmoth that only hummed a little before landing on the dirt track in front of me – not something I’ve ever seen before; another magnificent Clouded yellow; and, today’s star, yet another Spotted flycatcher, my fifth at Cosmeston in the past week and the most confiding, allowing me to get quite close for photos. It has been a wonderful, and much needed, immersion in Nature today.

190829 spot fly (1)

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224/365 It’s autumn!

12 Monday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, birds, nature

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autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Spotted flycatcher

Willow warblers are peeping from every bush, Blackcaps are chacking, Swallows and martins are swooping low over the fields at Cosmeston for last minute snacks before they cross their first stretch of water on their way south and, today, at Lavernock, I saw my first Spotted flycatcher of the year. Autumn migration is well and truly underway!

190812 spotted flycatcher

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Seeing spots before my eyes

27 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature, seasons

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Muscicapa striata, Spotted flycatcher

The autumn bird migration is now in full swing in south Wales and almost every day migrating birds are being spotted at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, where they’re stopping off to refuel before they tackle their long flights to warmer over-wintering locations in Europe and Africa. One that I find particularly charming is the Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), which is not really spotted at all, more streaky and stripy. The scientific name is more accurate: Muscicapa is a combination of the Latin word musca, meaning fly, and capere, meaning to catch, and the epithet striata is from the Latin striatus, meaning striated.

180827 spotted flycatcher (1)

I saw my first Spotted flycatcher at Cossie on 7 August.

180827 spotted flycatcher (2)
180827 spotted flycatcher (3)

A week later, on the 15th, I had two sightings.

180827 spotted flycatcher (4)
180827 spotted flycatcher (5)
180827 spotted flycatcher (6)

The 20th was a bumper day, with three birds, two obviously travelling together, and another doing its own thing.

180827 spotted flycatcher (7)

And last Friday, the 24th, a birding friend put me on to a single bird, that was catching flies in the paddock I walked through on my way home. Fingers crossed I manage to see a few more before they all disappear for the winter.

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The autumn migration is underway

11 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 1 Comment

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Arctic tern, autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, Little gull, Spotted flycatcher, Turnstone, Willow warbler

It’s that time of year, tinged ever so slightly with sadness but enlivened with occasional moments of great excitement, when bird populations begin their autumn migration. My local Swifts have headed south for the winter and I shall miss their dawn and dusk screaming, the sound of summer for me, and there have been good numbers of Swallows and House martins swirling above Cardiff Bay, in a final feeding frenzy before they too head south.

180811 1 willow warbler
180811 2 willow warbler

I’ve spotted small flocks of Willow warblers and Chiffchaffs, moving through my local nature reserves and parks, stocking up on nutrients before they also begin their long flights. And, this week, a Spotted flycatcher became my 186th bird species for 2018, when I saw it passing through Cosmeston.

180811 3 Spotted flycatcher

As well as those birds that are departing for sunnier wintering spots, there are also birds returning from their colder breeding locations to spend the winter in Britain’s relatively warm climes. I saw my first two returning Turnstones, still in their summer plumage, during a wander along the Ely embankment on Wednesday.

180811 4 turnstone

Also at Cardiff Bay this week have been a couple of those birds that provide birders, local and distant alike, with a quickening of the heart rate. First, a first summer Arctic tern arrived to join the Cardiff Bay bird population, and then a juvenile Little gull also joined the party, though neither bird has been welcomed by the local gulls.

180811 5 arctic tern

180811 6 little gull
180811 7 little gull

I saw both birds being chased and mobbed on Wednesday, and a little later that same day my friend John caught some amazing shots of a Black-headed gull almost drowning the Little gull – luckily, it escaped. (Bird xenophobia? No one seems to know why the local gulls are being so aggressive.)

180811 8 arctic tern being chased

Above, Arctic tern being chased; below, Little gull also being pursued

180811 9 little gull being chased

Let’s hope further newcomers are given a warmer welcome to our local waters and, indeed, let’s just hope for further newcomers – there’s nothing quite like an exciting sighting to quicken a birder’s pulse!

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Chasing a Spotted Fly

15 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 5 Comments

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, flycatcher, Muscicapa striata, Spotted flycatcher

There’s a local birdwatcher I follow on Twitter who always makes the most amazing sightings and I read his tweets – 6/8 ‘Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Garden Warblers, 40 Willow Warblers and 2 Tree Pipits’ and 8/8 ‘Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Spot Fly, Redstart, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 25 Willow Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler’ – with great envy. These particular sightings were all at Cosmeston, one of my local country parks, so I decided to go looking for myself.

170815 Spotted flycatcher (1)

Spot the bird

Warblers can be difficult to identify but I’d never seen a Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) so I made that my target. And it took me three visits and many many photographs of Chiffchaffs before I finally found them, by chance, not in the area where they’d been reported to be.

170815 Spotted flycatcher (4)

170815 Spotted flycatcher (2)
170815 Spotted flycatcher (5)

There were two birds and they were unmistakable as they were doing exactly what their name suggests, catching flies. From a perch in trees, they sat scanning the surrounding air space, then flying out quickly to grab their prey before returning to their perch to scoff it. Spotted flycatchers are migrants, arriving in Britain in April-May and then leaving again in September. It may be that these two birds were stocking up on food before heading off on their long journey to spend the winter in Africa. Intrigued? There’s an excellent article by the British Trust for Ornithology here.

170815 Spotted flycatcher (3)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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