Baggins on the Loose: Chats

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Wednesday, 11 October 2017

Migrants arrive in numbers on the east coast

Them migrants are back! .. not Syrians, Ethiopians or Poles and not looking for work in the vegetable fields, just birds migrating from north to south at this time of the year and using the UK as a handy stop off point on the journey down. The map on the right shows the main migration routes for Eurasian birds that choose to head south for the winter and although it excludes Greenland & Iceland (where many of our wildfowl & pipits head in from) it's clear that the UK is handily placed to experience this annual event.

At this time of year and when the winds are anywhere from the east (NE, SE or just east) anywhere along our eastern seaboard can be a potentially good spot to see migrant birds that have been blown a bit off course.

'Viz mig' at Spurn, 20/09/17

By all accounts, this year when compared to last, has been a bit underwhelming in terms of 'star' rarities but there have been a few, most of which I've dipped out on😒 but no matter, I've seen plenty of commoner birds migrating on my 4 or 5 trips out to the Yorkshire coast this autumn. 'Viz Mig' (visible migration) is a term birders use for observing / recording overflying birds that are heading south in the autumn and whilst most common or garden birders can do a bit of this with familiar birds like Swallows, Swifts, Meadow Pipits & various Thrushes and Finches, on the coast its much more obvious. The 'Viz Miggers' at Spurn point bird observatory do a splendid job of this all the year round and posted left shows a typical example of what they get up to all day long .. its a life and they get it!

Red Breasted Flycatcher, Spurn, 27/09/17 (pic c.o. Johnny Holliday)

Been a few of these beauties up and down the east coast so far this year including this eye catching one at Spurn, its a splendid male Red Breasted Flycatcher and how I managed to miss out on this bird when I was there and the bird was showing well is a story I can only admit to my mates.... hey ho there you go, that's what happens when you decide to walk the point to the end and back (7 bloody miles in total from my campsite..in wellies too!)

Anyway, feast your eyes on this gorgeous looking thing - in the hand and awaiting to be ringed. They breed in across central Asia/ eastern Europe and small numbers regularly land on our shores every autumn. I've seen half a dozen or so but never one as dazzling as this individual.

Yellow Browed Warbler, China

Yellow Browed Warbler, Spurn, 19/09/17 (pic c.o Ian B)

Now here's a bird that hails from even further away than the above and yet we get more and more of them in the UK every year, the iconic Yellow Browed Warbler. A common breeding bird in the Urals, Siberia and China, they traditionally winter in southeast Asia but over the past few decades increasing numbers of these tiny birds seem to have found alternative wintering grounds in western Europe and northern Africa. When you look at the distances involved, plus the not insignificant hurdle of the Himalayas, this all makes sense for some of these birds, but compared to the hundreds, if not thousands, of autumn records across northern Europe, there are only a handful of winter records from the Iberian peninsular and northern Africa. So where do they all end up? Its the kind of mystery all birders love and if you're interested here's one of several decent articles on this 'migration bird swerve' move! Siberian Vagrants - yellow browed warbler

Got my first Yellow Browed at Flamborough last week, sadly no pic but got a great eyeful through the bins .. they're quick moving, not much bigger than a Goldcrest, and shyer so I'll not whack myself too much for never having got a decent pic ... it's all in the challenge!

Back at Spurn and my trek down to the point and back I saw plenty of the common migrants on show ...Whinchats, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Robins and several Redstarts including this confiding individual that had maybe just made landfall and was tired.

Male Redstart, Spurn Point, 27/09/17

Right down at the end of the point there's an RNLI station and associated accommodation (now disused) and here I saw another couple of Redstarts including one on an old bird table .. only at Spurn!

It seemed to be a day for getting pics of migrant birds in unusual places or perched on various man made artifacts .. I do like a slightly unusual bird pic! Here's a few more plus a few of the 'usual'

Whinchat, Spurn Point, 27/09/17

Spotted Flycatcher, Peter Lane, Spurn, 27/09/17

RNLI houses, Spurn Point

Spurn Point from the air (Alamy images)

European Robin, Spurn point, 27/09/17

Northern Wheatear, Spurn Point, 27/09/17

Northern Wheatear, Spurn Point, 27/09/17

I missed this one but its still there as I speak, so that's today the 10th Oct.

Rose Coloured Starling (juv), Easington, 29/09/17 (pic c.o. magnus anderson)

.. and this one, long gone now!

Marsh Warbler, Spurn, 24/09/17 (pic c.o. steve valentine)

Spotted Flycatcher with dragonfly, Spurn, 27/09/17

..and a few others but I'm not that bothered, 'twitching' still doesn't come naturally to me! I saw a Spotted Flycatcher catch and eat a dragonfly, a Merlin hunting on the beach and Med Gulls in the mist at Spurn. Seen 100s of Pink Footed Geese fly in from the north and land right in front of me on Hatfield Moor, and then heard a Willow Warbler singing briefly in the car park at the same place. I've watched Redwings and Blackbirds fly in off the sea at Flamborough, got a great eyeful of a Yellow Browed Warbler and then more of the same just the other day on a birding trip out with one of my daughters, Sophie ..that was a real treat and we got some good birds including Fieldfare, Ruff, Brambling, Yellow Browed Warbler, Blackcap and more passage Redwings & Blackbirds. Today (Oct 10th) I've had more passage over Fangfoss - Pink Footed Geese, Redwings, Song Thrush, Skylarks and a female Blackcap. No 'twitching' required to make me happy, though like I said a decent YB Warbler pic would be the icing on my autumn birding!

Here's them geese on Hatfield and a few more pics from my recent trips out.

Pink Footed Geese over Hatfield Moors, 06/10/2017

Pink Footed Geese on Hatfield Moors, 06/10/2017

Blackcap, Buckton, 09/10/20127

Brambling, foghorn station, Flamborough, 09/10/2017

Ruff, Buckton pond, 09/10/2017

Whinchat, Flamborough headland, 29/09/17

Stonechat, Flamborough headland, 29/09/17

Knots landing, Spurn, 27/09/2017

Thursday, 8 June 2017

Mull in May pt2, all the birds ..Eagles, Divers and the rest.

Ok folks, following on from my location, land and seascapes post from our week on Mull, here's the wildlife bit. I think in general we were pretty pleased with a haul of 109 bird sp. in 7 days, if I remember I'll include a list at the end; we got all of our 'must see' birds - Golden & White Tailed Sea Eagle, Hen Harrier, Corncrake, Wood Warbler & Redstart and given that many relatively common birds such as Moorhen, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Green Woodpecker, Jackdaw & Jay and most of the duck species in the breeding season, I reckon the lads did ok! We had a couple of good Otter sightings - one splendid view of one catching and eating fish in the rain at Fishnish, but precious few butterflies and although there were many common wild flowers, our 'flora' expert had to drop out, so we probably missed a lot whilst scanning the skies!

White Tailed Sea Eagle, Loch Spelve, 13/05/2017

Alright, let's start at the top, top of the food chain that is, and if you want guaranteed Golden & Sea Eagles then Mull is THE place. One of us had either one or the other every day we were there and for me, getting to grips with these mighty aerial hunters was the most satisfying aspect of the whole week.

Sea Eagle harried by Hooded Crows, Loch Tuath, 17/05/2017

To be brutally honest though I wasn't pleased with my photographic efforts .. the one time we were treated to a close encounter with a pair of 'Goldies' the light was totally against me and most of our Sea Eagle's were beyond the range of my lens. That said, I think the following collection conveys a sense of the eagle presence on the island ...

White Tailed Sea Eagle, Loch Spelve, 13/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Knock Bridge, 13/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Driving back from a trip out to Tobermory we screeched to a halt after seeing a couple of big hovering raptors, too big for Buzzards we thought and we were right, it was only a pair of Golden Eagles hunting by the roadside and seemingly oblivious to our presence as they came ever closer ....

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

My best ever Golden Eagle experience in the UK by a long way, these were full grown experienced adult birds, not particularly bothered by us and we were just gobstruck by the way they just floated around, came right over the top of us, eyes on some land borne prey that we had no knowledge of.

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

The light was poor and I remember wishing for a shaft of sunlight or a patch of blue sky, but that didn't detract from the moment, we were in the presence of master hunters, on their patch and they chose the moment, so no complaints and hey, like I'd argue the toss with this thing coming at me!

And just when we thought the show was over, back round they came, even closer and lower .. there must have been something highly interesting to them on one of the hillsides .....

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Slightly disappointed not to get a decent shot of both of them together but hey I can have no complaints - what a show they gave us! Going almost unnoticed at the time the unmistakable and eerie call of Red Throated Divers on the adjacent loch ... obviously unnerved by the eagles, they were miles off by the time I managed to get a record shot off.

Red Throated Divers, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Black Throated Diver, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

They turned out to be the only R.T Divers of the trip and this poor shot of a passing Black Throated Diver was equally lonesome.

Totally different story as far as Great Northern Divers, the 'daddy' of UK divers, with numerous records and all looking resplendent in full summer plumage. They don't breed on the island but many non breeders stay all year round.

Great Northern Divers, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Great Northern Diver, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Otter, Fishnish (courtesy of James Roddie)

At Fishnish, a well known Otter watchpoint, we did indeed see a big dog Otter swimming around and catching fish after fish in the rain. Sadly no pic so here's someone else's from the same location.

When the skies cleared and I was patiently scanning across the Sound of Mull looking for something of interest, I spied what at first sight looked like an immature gull species but the flight was all wrong...too much glide, wings too broad. It was distant but I'd already made up my mind and shouted out to all in the hide - "Hen Harrier coming in low over the water!" Luckily I was right otherwise I'd have looked a proper charlie and had I not rushed out to alert Mark I might have got some closer pics but hey ho, on this occasion the moment outweighed the need for a great photograph.

Hen Harrier crossing from the mainland over the Sound of Mull, Fishnish, 16/05/2017

Corncrake, Iona. (courtesy of Neil Duggan)

On Iona, a small and beautiful island off the extreme southwest of Mull, we heard the rasping call of a Corncrake in somebody's back garden! Granted they had a pond and many Iris beds but wow, what a garden bird. No chance of a pic without disturbance so once again here's somebody else's lucky shot at the same location

A single, late staying Pink Footed Goose in amongst breeding Greylags was a good record for the trip and we also recorded our only Great Skua, Manx Shearwaters and Rooks on Iona.

Pink Footed Goose, Iona, 18/05/2017

Ringed Plover, Iona, 18/05/2017

Back on Mull, here's a passage migrant - its a Whimbrel on its way up to the Arctic Circle or maybe Shetland or Orkney, the nearest breeding grounds for this smaller relative of the more familiar Curlew.

Whimbrel, Laggan Bay, 16/05/2017

Lots of Curlew breeding on Mull as you'd expect, likewise healthy populations of Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher ....

Lapwing, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Rather smaller numbers of Common Snipe & Redshank plus passage Sanderling, Dunlin & Turnstone and we picked up all of these.

Turnstone, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Passage Dunlin, Dervaig, 15/05/2017

Common Gull, Calgary Bay, 15/05/2017

We got all the auk species including Black Guillemot, we had Gannets aplenty, Kittiwake and Fulmar but we struggled with Terns - almost all were Common Terns with only a few 'probable' Arctics and no decent pics of any seabirds I'm afraid except this squawking Common Gull at Calgary Bay.

Willow Warbler, 'Dalmacre', 14/05/2017

According to the info we had, the most numerous bird on Mull is the Chaffinch and this may well be true, we had plenty, but just strolling about and driving around the island we found Willow Warblers to be the most prevalent and obvious - they were singing it big just about everywhere, even in poorly wooded areas. This was one of a pair in our back garden ...

Willow Warbler, 'Dalmacre', 14/05/2017

Song Thrush, Knock, 13/05/2017

Lots of Meadow Pipits of course and pleasing to see Rock Pipits in good numbers too, no Yellow Wagtails (rare here) but Grey Wagtails common, Mikey had a Dipper, Stonechats and Whinchats were common as were Lesser Redpolls, Linnets and we had one small flock of Twite. Song Thrushes were surprisingly obvious too, more of them than Blackbirds & Mistle Thrushes put together!

Stonechat, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Grey Wagtail with fledgling, Knock bridge, 13/05/2017

Rock Pipit, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Linnet, Iona, 18/05/2017

Grey Wagtail, Ulva, 19/05/2017

Northern Wheatears are one of my favorite birds and they're a common breeding bird on Mull so here's a couple of nice ones plus a few wild flower pics, the rest of the birdies and a few odds n sods.