The Glorious Twelfth

I have been meaning to post this video up here for a while now, but today being the 'Glorious Twelfth' (the first day of the Red Grouse shooting season) has reminded me to do so.

I have seen this several times on social media, but realised that if you're not social media savvy (which I think many of my readers aren't) you wouldn't know anything about it at all. Typically it received zero coverage (at least that I saw) on TV, radio and the newspapers.

In June 2013 on a shooting estate in Scotland, a camera placed by the RSPB to monitor a Hen Harrier nest filmed this. It's upsetting but not overly graphic...

As you can see this video shows someone with a very large gun (and undoubtedly a very small *****) flush a female Hen Harrier from its nest, before shooting it then collecting its life-less body and the inevitable scattering of feathers. Good solid evidence.... you'd think!

This case was subject to a prolonged Police investigation, and nine separate court hearings. But a matter of weeks before the trial was due to take place earlier this year, the Crown Office informed all parties the case was to be dropped and the prosecution to be abandoned.

Obviously the RSPB went completely mental, but in reality there was nothing they could do. And the pathetic reason given was basically "because the shooter didn't know he was being filmed".  The Crown Office alleged the camera had been deliberately placed there on private land to film exactly this, but actually RSPB insists it was simply there to monitor the nest (how many young fledge, how many feeding visits by the adults, etc).  

But does it really matter why the camera was there!? You can't get more solid evidence of illegal raptor persecution than this! And if this is apparently not good enough, then oh dear we have serious problems.

It just shows how hard us conservationists need to work to save our birds. Especially our birds of prey. They really are in serious trouble.

You can find more details about this sorry tale here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news/news/440987-court-proceedings-dropped

Normal Axe Birding service will be resumed from the next blog post...

A Cracking November Day Plus Another Yellow-browed

The first part of this post's title does not refer to the weather, it's been pretty grotty for most of the day, but at least the wind has remained light/non-existent. Birding wise though I have had a thoroughly enjoyable day with some real nice highlights, and that's despite spending more than four hours of the day sat in front of this laptop! (Probably five by the time I've finished writing this post!).

Had to take the dog for a walk this morning, so soon after breakfast we headed up to Beer Head for a wander (thankfully Honey is used to frequent pauses during her walks!).  The bushes were in general very quiet, with just a Chiff and two Goldcrest noted. There were clearly a few thrushes about though with 15+ Blackbird, 15 Redwing, six Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush noted.  Overhead passage was also quiet (probably due to the occasional drizzle) with just small numbers of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Chaffinch, two Redpoll and singles of Siskin and Reed Bunting.

It was a very worthwhile walk though as there was one major (and overdue this autumn) highlight, a beautiful Short-eared Owl. It came up from the base of some bushes just a few feet in front of me, and treated me to an amazing close fly by. But within what seemed like a few seconds it was distant, beyond the cliff edge. Oddly though it then remained on view for forty minutes as it didn't seem to know what it was doing or where it was going, drifting off north, then back south, flying off to the east then back west. It finally seemed to be heading off as I was getting back in my car, I could see it distantly flying east across Seaton Bay.  

Just about identifiable.

A rather dramatic photo I think, or just crap...

 

Despite all the time I spend up Beer Head during the spring and autumn, this was amazingly my first Short-eared for the site! There has been a couple in the past but I have just never jammed in to one here, which is surprising because I've seen half a dozen at Axe Cliff, a few less in the river valley, one over the sea front and two in the Beer Cemetery Fields (just inland from Beer Head).

On the way home I pulled in at Seaton Hole where at least one of the Firecrest was still showing, there's been at least two here for a week now...

It was a male, not that you can tell that from this pic!

I was home by mid morning and got my head down.  Lunch time was soon upon me and I realised there wasn't much food in the house, so en route to the shops I stopped off at Axmouth Yacht Club. I've been here a few times in the last week but haven't seen any more Black Redstarts since the two last Tuesday, so was surprised to see three today including a stunning adult male.  None of them were very co-operative though and remained skittish...

Male Black Red

And again

One of the female-types

Back home, and after a bite to eat and another couple of hours of laptop work, it was time to take Honey out for her second walk of the day.  I drove along the Estuary on way, where small numbers of gulls included my first Med Gull (an adult) for almost a month...

Second from the right

The biggest surprise though was when I pulled over to have a scan over Colyford Marsh, and I picked up ring-tail Harrier being chased by a Crow over the reed bed. Flipping heck!!  I scrambled for the scope, and thankfully after a nervous couple of minutes of no sign, it reappeared and showed itself to be a gorgeous juvenile Hen Harrier.  Pity it wasn't the rarer species of Harrier, but Hen is rare enough here - only my third ever on patch.  I just managed to grab a couple of dreadfully poor record shots before it dropped down out of view behind a hedge, I'm not sure whether it carried on flying north or landed.

Can just about make out a white rump and I'd say a broad wing tip (if you squint!)

Yes an even worse photo!!

So all in all an excellent day.  I do like early November, it can be a great time of year on the south coast, although a bit of cold weather wouldn't go a miss.  

Yesterday I had even less time out, in fact much to Honey's dismay she only got one walk (tut tut bad me!). Late morning we had a wander up Axmouth village, although didn't walk as far as usual as it sounded like World War Two with the amount gun fire around the Spring Head area!  Anyway, turns out we didn't have to walk that far at all, as half way through the wander I thought I half heard a Yellow-browed call once from dense cover behind a couple of noisy Coal Tits. I got the mp3 out and played Yellow-browed call, and about twenty seconds later a small bird flew from behind me and landed in the tree right by the road, Yellow-browed Warbler.  It remained in this tree and in view for about a minute, but then melted away in to the trees behind and I didn't see it again during the next hour (Gav joined me but sadly dipped).   I thought I took a couple of pics of it but on downloading the photos all I took is photos of leaves!!

A Huge Dollop Of Jam

The moment of jam came just before 1pm, when I was driving down to the Estuary for a check of the gulls.  

Just as I was approaching the end of Scalwell Lane, my brain - that was busy dreaming about the Ring-billed Gull I was about find - had a sudden shock.  I could see a very distinctive shape flying east (well east south east to be precise) probably only less than 10m above roof top height, right opposite me. In the few seconds it took me to pull over and grab my bins, I had already sussed it as a medium-sized harrier-like long-winged raptor. Bins up - Hen Harrier!  I was looking at a bloody Hen Harrier!!! As it continued on east (and as I was causing a traffic incident!) I got good views of its upper parts (nice big fat square white rump - so am happy I eliminated both the smaller harrier sp. despite the relatively brief view) and the birds left upper wing.  I phoned Gav, and quickly sent a text out, then shot round to the Estuary in the hope it was going to hang around.  Stupidly I went to the farm gate, when really I should have stopped near Tesco and scanned Seaton Marshes, as this is where it would have passed over if it continued flying in the same direction.  I soon bumped into Gav. Sadly neither of us bumped into the Hen Harrier.

This is only the second Hen Harrier I've ever seen on patch - I ticked it as recently as Oct 2011. And as far as I'm aware, this is our first mid-winter record (though I could well be wrong).  Hen Harrier certainly kicks Goldeneye off as my 'most precious patch year tick' so far.  It was totally off the radar too - my brain has been thinking about waders, wildfowl, gulls and finch flocks - I haven't once thought about a bird of prey. We do have a lot of food about for it, so there's got to be a chance its going to linger. It may even roost in the valley, if not, maybe Trinity Hill or Gittisham Common? Got to be worth a look.

So, how has the rest of my day been?

Well Gav saw the Goosander again late yesterday afternoon on the Estuary, so I was out before dawn today hoping to finally get it on the year list.  She's certainly an early riser - as yet again there was no sign of it.  Two Gadwall on the Estuary just north of Coronation Corner were very nice to see though, another cold weather-related year tick.  I think my best photography year tick too...

In my defence  it was still fairly dark!

I then went for an hours sea watch off Beer, which would have been seriously dire were it not for a five minute spell of action.  There was nothing too exciting, but 15 Wigeon, 10 Common Scoter, four Red-throated Divers, a Teal (with the Wigeon) and a Shelduck flew west.  Outside of this five minute period, three more Common Scoters east (a pair and a single) were as good as it got. 

This afternoon, after the raptor excitement, the Estuary showed nothing better than two adult Med Gulls.  One looked like this...

Not quite the 800 at Ferrybridge!

 And the other looked like this...

Already getting a bit of a hood

With two year ticks today, and another just prior to work yesterday (in the form of Common Sandpiper from Coronation Corner at 14:45) - that's three year ticks since my last blog post.  Hopefully soon after I've posted this I'll notch up another.  For the first time this week, I am able to be where a Goosander should be at 4pm.  It's been here at this time for the last three days, but each day I couldn't be there. Today I can, so let's wait and see. Keep an eye on my twitter feed to the right, you'll read it there first!

A Patch Tick!

Yes - it's a rare two post day today, but if a patch tick isn't worth it then what is?!

If you read my first post of the day below, you will see I went out again to see what I could turn up....it wasn't the rare I wanted, but that doesn't matter because it was a patch tick for me - I don't get these very often!

My plan was to watch from the farm gate (Axmouth) for about an hour from about 1pm. All was quiet, no sign of the Great Whites, and not the Glossy Ibis I was after. At 13:40 though, absolutely out of no where a ring-tail Harrier appeared low over Colyford Common being pursued by a couple of Crows.

A quick count up of its visible primaries confirmed my immediate thoughts - it was a Hen (drat!!). It rather rapidly gained height, before flying high south down the river being harassed by the persistent Crows. Just as it was about to go out of sight, it circled round and came back! Flying low north over the reeds of Axe Marsh, then Colyford Marsh, before I lost it whilst playing about with my phone trying to phone and text people!

Pallid would have been much nicer yes, but I have missed a couple of Hen Harriers on patch over the years so it was a bloody good feeling connecting with one finally!

Now I would love to be showing off a stunning pin sharp photo of this beast in all her glory (I'm pretty sure it was an ad female, it did look rather tatty), but I'm afraid the best I can offer is this...

You may be able to see it a little better if you enlarge the photo