First Wheatears

A message from Clive mid afternoon yesterday alerted me to the presence of our first two Wheatear of the year on Colyford Common. Yeah finally some spring migrants - I really do not know how we've missed out on all the early hirundine action here!  

I got to Colyford Common just before 5pm, and was greeted by the soul-lifting sight of three gorgeous male Wheatears. Here's one of them...

These early ones are always so strikingly small, dumpy and pale compared to the tall orange breasted Greenland/Iceland birds that move through from mid April. Over the course of a year I'm sure we actually see many more of the larger brighter birds than these small presumably UK breeding birds.

It was clearly a fairly good migration day yesterday, as there were also a few new Chiffchaffs dotted around the Marshes. And today Ian Mc has seen our first Sand Martin of the year, so hopefully this means the flood gates have opened... 

April Dawns

Easter Sunday started with surprisingly pleasant weather conditions, in fact we even saw some sunshine here!  This enticed me down to Seaton Marshes where the Borrow Pit showed itself to be alive with singing Phylloscs, including my first ten Willow Warblers of the year...

Always exciting to hear the first Willow Warbler song of the spring

This afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse. Quick looks around mid and late afternoon showed a few Sand Martins had arrived, with four over Colyford Marsh and 18 over Lower Bruckland Ponds. I've still not seen a Swallow yet this year though, something is clearly holding a lot of migrants up somewhere south of us.

The Thaw

Overnight last night there had been even more snow, and although it had stopped by dawn, we had a 100% white-out. An early morning trip out showed the local area looking incredibly beautiful...

Looking east along Seaton Beach

Looking west along Seaton Beach to Beer Head

Seaton from a distance

Axmouth from a distance

The A3052 at 8am. Most Monday mornings this would be busy with commuters and buses!

A random county lane - looking lovely!

Despite all the snow there were surprisingly few birds about. The only species that seemed to be struggling a bit were Meadow Pipits and the odd Chiffchaff, but there were no Golden Plovers or Lapwing, or that many thrushes really. Great news.

Mid morning the sun came out, so before lunch I enjoyed another quick whizz around. This showed a bit more variety, with eleven Dunlin, four Pintail (two pairs), three Gadwall and the lingering Marsh Harrier and first-winter Caspian Gull on the Estuary. Was nice to have some blue sky above the stunning snow too...

Colyford Marsh and the upper Axe Estuary

Bridge Marsh

Looking up the Axe from A3052

The welcome sun saw an increase in temperatures and an impressively rapid thaw. More birds appeared once this began, with lots of thrushes taking full advantage of the freshly revealed green, along with numerous Chiffchaff, Snipe and various wildfowl on Seaton Marshes mid afternoon...

Common Snipe

Common Snipe

Common Chiffchaff. So happy to see so many feeding well after picking up the dead bird yesterday.

Tim Wright scored our first Little Ringed Plover of the year an hour or so later on Colyford Marsh, does this mean we've finally seen the back of winter?

More Snow!

Like many other places in the south west today, it's been snowing here in Seaton from dawn until dusk. One snow event in a year is exceptional enough for us, two is unprecedented! 

The view from my bedroom window late this afternoon

The heavy snow didn't start until about mid morning, and it was amazing to see how quickly the birds reacted to this. Just proves they really do need to be able to feed constantly, and as soon as they realise they can't, sitting it out just isn't an option. They have to move.

I could do nothing more than have sporadic looks outside today, but these have shown incredible numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing flying west, thousands upon thousands, along with several hundred Starling and Golden Plover and smaller numbers of Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch plus a single Reed Bunting.  All seen from the centre of town. Incredible scenes.

The passage did seem to dry up mid afternoon, and unlike the last snow event, apart from a few Meadow Pipits there doesn't seem to be many birds struggling for food in gardens. Not a single Redwing in the road I live in late this afternoon, compared to about 500 two weeks ago! So although as things stand, this cold weather period doesn't look to be as severe on birds as the last, the timing is probably a bit worse.

Some local birds will have started nesting now, especially Blackbirds. Disaster for all these early breeders. And then there's the early arriving migrants, small numbers of Wheatears, Sand Martins and Chiffchaffs have already arrived in the UK after a long migration - and they now have to face this. There have been several reports of struggling Chiffchaffs today in particular, and late this afternoon I was deeply saddened to find this in the corner of a carpark in town...

Dead Chiffchaff

Sorry mate, you didn't quite make it

This beautiful Chiffchaff probably spent the last week or so traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles as it migrated back towards it's breeding grounds somewhere in the UK. All the obstacles it would have had to overcome, all the energy it would have used up. And all for this. Lying dead in the snow in Seaton. So so sad.

Egyptian Surprise

Only a quick blog today,  but two Egyptian Geese flew west over Colyford Marsh,  and then off west over Colyford at about 08:20 this morning. A mega PWC tick,  don't think I've seen one here for a good three or four years.  It was lovely to see at least 45 Sand Martins hawking over Colyford and Bridge Marsh as well,  it's amazing how quickly they've flooded in this year,  often we just see dribs and drabs through the Axe before bigger numbers arrive late in March.

Another migrant that appeared to arrive in numbers this morning were Chiffchaffs. Several more at Seaton Marshes,  including at least one with a pollen forehead. Still no Wheatear for me though.  The Avocet was still present on Black Hole Marsh at 9am.

Found it!

My first attempt at finding where the Cattle Egret is spending the daytime began at 07:30 this morning.  At 07:41 it flew out of roost in Axmouth, but it was still so dark and it flew upriver so surprisingly quickly that my plan of following it north just didn't work.

So this afternoon I drove around looking for cattle, and from a distance saw a bunch of egrets drop in near a farm in Colyton.  I soon realised it was the farm where the three Cattle Egret were back in January 2009, and a closer look showed these egrets to be 13 Little and the Cattle. Gotcha!

It's Colcombe Farm, but please don't drive down the farm track. View the egrets from the Colyton to Shute road. There's a bench on the left just after turning on to the Shute road from the Colyton to Whitford road, just before the upper track down to the farm and virtually opposite a lay-by.

I'd had a good morning as well. Was really pleased to see the Yellow-browed Warbler, Tufted Duck and Grey Plover all still waiting patiently for Jan 1st. And a wander around Colyford WTW showed there has been a sudden explosion in Chiffchaff numbers, with at least 45 feeding along the northern edge of the WTW and around the neighboring fields. 

Who said December was a quiet month?

Ring Ouzels

When a load of Ring Ouzels come into the UK, you can usually count on the 'Avian Black Hole' to produce a few for us, and sure enough yesterday afternoon two or three were seen in the Underhooken at Beer Head. This morning the clear skies, the prospect of some Ouzel action and the possibility of some good vis mig saw me at Beer Head just after dawn... 

Two hours up here produced;

2+ Ring Ouzel (probably 4+)

6 Blackbird

6 Song Thrush 
2 Redwing

2 Wheatear

2 Stonechat

9 Skylark

60+ Meadow Pipit

10 alba Wagtail

1 Grey Wagtail 

8 Blackcap

20+ Chiffchaff

1 Goldcrest 

40+ Linnet

20 Goldfinch

2 Siskin

So as can be seen from the finch counts, visible migration was really disappointing considering the conditions. In fact the top of the headland where we usually find our birds was really quiet too (except for Mipits), all the action was on the scrub covered slope down to the Underhooken. All but two of the 20+ Chiffs were here, I was so expecting a Yellow-browed to filter through with them but it just didn't happen.  Of course this was also where the Ring Ouzels were, and these two I saw pretty well...

I'm fairly certain this is a first-winter female (along with a male Blackbird) due to no hint at all of a  pale breast crescent.

Not a great photo, but the clean white breast crescent makes this is a male. It had quite a dirty looking bill with little yellow so I'm pretty sure it was also a first-winter bird.

I had so many more glimpses of Ring Ouzels, and heard quite a bit of calling too, my feeling is there were 4-5 birds down there but I just couldn't prove more than the above two. At one stage I had a bird calling way off to the right where I didn't see any of my two go, but I only had the female in view at the time.

A quick look at Seaton Hole afterwards showed another ten Chiffchaffs, but lots of walking around the patch this afternoon has still failed to give me a Yellow-browed. And there were what 10+ on Portland today!? So I have to say I'm feeling a bit like how this Wheatear looked on Beer Head early this morning...

Oh well, must keep at it...

Beer Head Ringing

Looking at the weather forecast for this week, I had to take my mist nets to Beer Head this morning because it looks as though I won't have another chance any time soon!   With a gentle NW wind and plenty of high cloud the conditions couldn't really have been any better, but I was a bit concerned about a huge low that moved slowly east through Spain/France last night - right on the migration route. Thankfully though this didn't appear to be a problem...

Only set one 60 foot net, and in 4 hours caught 19 birds of 9 species. Two were retraps (a Dunnock and a Wren) with the other 17 being; 

1 Robin

1 Wren

1 Blackcap

3 Chiffchaff

8 Willow Warbler

1 Redstart

1 Linnet

1 Goldfinch

It was shaping up to be a really excellent session, but the phylloscs quickly dried up. I caught eight within the first half hour, but from then on only had the odd one drop in (I'm sure not helped by the net moving in the breeze).  The Redstart certainly brightened things up though :-)

First saw it in the field, but within 30 seconds it was in my very well placed net!

Just love the head pattern on a spring male Redstart

Classic spring Willow Warbler - so great to handle a few of these again

I saw an unringed male Redstart about an hour and a half after ringing the first one (think there were three on site), but other than that there were just a few more Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs in the bushes.  Overhead passage was non-existent, the only notable bird I saw flying past remains unidentified! It was either a Goosander or a Red-breasted Merganser but I only saw it for a few seconds before it flew into the glare of the sun and then below the cliff.

Yesterday I saw my first House Martins of the year, with five over Lower Bruckland Ponds with Sand Martins and Swallows. There were plenty of gulls on the Estuary for most of the day, and among the 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were four intermedius-types. Also saw the Marsh Harrier numerous times during the day, including from the house last thing at night...

It's definitely a 2cy bird, but unsure of which sex. I keep thinking I can see a grey wedge on its underwing but the upperparts look female.

It was was nice to see several of the regulars (and Alan) up Beer Head this morning, spring is well and truly in the air!

Autumn Passerines

Friday of last week was a lovely day, with plenty of sunshine and not a breath of wind.  And it was nice to finally see some autumn passerine migration...

Over Lower Bruckland Ponds several large flocks of hirundines flew west, along with a few Swifts and my first Tree Pipit of the autumn.  In the bushes were several Willow Warblers, Reed Warblers, a Whitethroat and a Marsh Tit - the latter being my first for the Ponds. 

Chiffchaff (rear) and Willow Warbler - both young birds. There was an 11mm difference in wing length!

I was really pleased to finally catch Kingfisher here too, two of them in fact...

Thanks for the extra pair of hands, James.

Seeing as this whole post has been about Lower Bruckland Ponds, I must just point you towards the Lower Bruckland Ponds website.  You'll see my monthly updates here that summarise how the wildlife of the ponds changes as the year progresses: http://www.natureindevon.co.uk/

Migration Moving Up A Gear

Today was forecasted to be the day the recent colder weather was to be replaced by a milder air flow, so I had high hopes we might see a nice pulse of spring passage - and I was right! 

First thing this morning I had 11 Sand Martins circling over my head which was nice, but they soon moved off north.  It was also evident early on that there were still good numbers of Chiffchaffs about, but judging by the amount of fat on them (I caught seven during a short ringing session) they won't be around much longer.

Spring Chiffchaffs often arrive in to the UK with this thick black substance on the feathers around the base of their bills, it's dried pollen that they've acquired whilst feeding up to fuel their migration.

A late morning walk around Beer Head showed more passage, in particular Meadow Pipits with birds arriving in off the sea almost constantly, although very few appeared to land and they continued on northwards. I counted 200 in an hour, but I bet they were arriving in far greater number earlier in the day.  It was nice to see some more Wheatears too, with five males together along with a single Stonechat...

A fine male Wheatear and a bit of gorse!

Best of all up here though, and it was the reason why I counted Meadow Pipits arriving for an hour, were a pod of about ten Bottlenose Dolphins. At first they were well to the east, somewhere off Branscombe, but they slowly moved westwards, passing Beer Head probably between 1/2 and 3/4 a mile out.  Not a common sight off this part of the coast, so they are always a treat to see...

This is part of the pod seemingly actively hunting - it was so interesting watching so many different behaviours.

In the pod were three or four young ones, and they seemed to spend a lot of time just messing around!  I only saw one or two adults do a full breach, but the young'uns were constantly jumping about...

What a spectacle!  And to finish, here's a short video showing most of the pod...

A Touch Of Frost

So nice to feel a chill in the air this morning - a proper winter one.  The cars took several minutes to defrost this morning, the crystal clear over night sky had given us a sharp frost this morning...

I had high hopes for today to be honest. I wasn't expecting grey geese, wild swans or masses of ducks, but I was hoping to see some Warblers.  Chiffchaffs have been very scarce for several weeks here, with very few at the usual wintering sites, but a tour of the likely spots today showed at least 14.  Rather unfairly though, I didn't see any other species of Warbler!  In fact I didn't even see a 'grey' Chiffchaff - they were all green collybita birds. 

I really did spend all my birding time today looking for warblers, and haven't seen much else.  Bun and my Dad have seen at least four Black Redstarts between them, all new in, and another species that's had a poor showing here so far this autumn.  I didn't see any of today's birds, but on Saturday just gone was thrilled to see one just down from my house, a nice first-winter male...

Forecast doesn't look too promising for the morning - be a good day to catch up with emails I think...

Number 100!

Enjoyed another ringing session up Beer Head this morning, with Peter again. Despite my first Tree Pipit of the year overhead, and a Yellow Wag, the bushes were quiet. As April turns to May this is to be expected to be honest, as the chance of a good fall decreases with each day that passes now.

Despite the fairly baron bushes, two nets gave us a light trickle of Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff and a few of the locals (Blackbird, Blue and Great Tit, etc).  I absolutely love ringing phylloscs, and the last Willow Warbler trapped and ringed today (a lovely grey male) was the 100th phylloscopus Warbler that's been trapped and ringed on Beer Head this spring.  85 Willow Warblers and 15 Chiffchaffs to be precise. And to celebrate, here's a nice comparison shot...

Willow Warbler at the front, Chiffchaff at the back.

I really hope some of these birds get retrapped elsewhere - I would love to know exactly where they are going.

This afternoon a look along the Estuary showed not much, but a Dark-bellied Brent Geese that flew in over the town before landing on the Estuary was a bit a surprise...

"where am I?"

Beer Head

Wow - what a morning!

I was going to be writing a post today about the additions to my house list during the last week, but that will have to roll over to another day after this mornings excitement!

For us, common migrant wise it's been a very slow and poor start to the spring, with no species appearing in good numbers yet except Chiffchaffs.  Last weekend, and Friday, I couldn't do any ringing up Beer Head, and was convinced I was going to miss a good day. Amazingly I didn't (although Phil did have a Pied Fly up here on Sunday).  This morning was my first free morning for almost a week, so I was up at 5am, and headed up there with my nets and poles....

I really wasn't expecting much. The conditions were probably as bad as they could get for grounding migrants.  All night it was a cloud-less clear starry sky, with an almost full moon and next to no wind.  Clear skies are ok with a northerly wind, in fact this combination can produce superb falls, but when there's southerly or no winds, we need cloud.  There was a very light NW wind at dawn, which did pick up a little mid morning, this must have been what caused this mornings rush of birds!

Would never have guessed this weather could have produced what it did!

It was an odd fall, as even as I was setting up the nets just before sunrise all seemed quiet - just a couple of singing Willow Warblers.  The first net round was also was not that promising, a single Wren in the bottom shelf being the only bird.  About 15 minutes later though, as I was taking the first migrant of the day out of a net - a Willow Warbler - a Redstart flew over my head. And that's when it went a bit mental for a few hours!  

Willow Warblers were soon everywhere, with birds constantly singing and on the move around me.  I saw at least three male Redstarts (one often singing), and Ian P saw two more on the other side of Beer Head. Dad arrived with a group at 8am, and was greeted with another first for the year, a singing Whitethroat.  I was mist netting on Beer Head amidst a fall of birds! Dreamy!!

I only had two nets up, small ones too. This 30 footer...

And this 40 foot net...

I have to say, the nets were very visible in the sun light. I saw several birds flying towards them, but turning back or flicking over the top/around the side at the last moment. Despite this though, these two nets did me proud, with 35 birds trapped and ringed by the time I closed them at 11:30.  

Out of the 35 birds, 30 were phylloscs - 26 Willow Warblers and 4 Chiffchaffs.  Of the 26 Wills, 22 were males (1 female and 3 unsexed), showing varying amounts of fat. Some real fatties, but I also had a few (especially towards late morning) that had very little fat on them. They were clearly moving through quickly as I didn't retrap a single one!  With the numbers I caught, and what I saw/heard, I would estimate at least 70 Willow Warblers came through where I was ringing. Well over a hundred must have been present on the whole headland I'm sure, probably many more if you think how vast the underhooken is.

The five other birds ringed included single Chaffinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Wren and...

 

A bloody Redstart! This was the very same Redstart that flew over me early doors. After flying over me, it flitted along a hedgerow and dropped straight into my other mist net!

He's a young male, born last year, and had very little fat stored so could well be hanging around for a bit.  I've ringed autumn juv Redstarts before, but never seen a spring male in the hand. What a bird, so full of character.

My biggest gripe of the day is that as the conditions were so unexciting, I didn't bother asking any of the local trainees to join me. Really wish I did now - sorry chaps.

Just shows, when it comes to spring birding, however much we think we know, you just never know...

Mid March Musings

"As usual the buzz of early migrants has petered out to just Chiffchaffs."  My favourite tweet of last week, sent by Mike King (@GlosterBirder). So true, and sums up my feelings for the month of March perfectly.

I have to say though, there has been a lot of Chiffs!  And it's nice to see them behaving how they should be after the distressing scenes of last spring. I have ringed a few too, well one, the other bird I caught at the Donkey Sanctuary yesterday was incredibly one I ringed there back in May 2012! Here's the 'fresh one', complete with pollen...

Makes it somewhat less-cute!

Whilst on the subject of ringing at the Donkey Sanctuary, although numbers have reduced with birds clearing off to defend territories, there's still been some right crackers. Namely...

Oooooof!

Back to spring migration, and the only other spring migrant I've seen is Sand Martin, with three over Seaton Marshes on 17th.  I felt a bit short changed today though, as a quick visit to Exminster Marshes at midday showed at least 300 flying around, but a prolonged visit to Seaton Marshes this evening gave none! 

I have given Beer Head a few visits already this spring, with a few Chiffchaffs, two Red-legged Partridge (!?) and a Black Redstart on 18th the highlights.  I can't tell you how excited I am about Beer Head this year, and hopefully soon you will all see why.

The Black Red started off in the Hollow, before flying into the caravan park

I have been keeping an eye on the Estuary gulls when possible, but they've been a constant disappointment to be honest.  A varying number of Lesser Black-backs have kept hopes up that gull passage is happening, with the occasional stunning ad Med Gull too.

Let's end this post on a positive note, it's nearly April...