I undertook my daily exercise a lot earlier than usual today, as Mike B who found a Turtle Dove last night, reported early this morning it was still present in exactly the same spot.
When I walked past about five hours later, thankfully it was still in exactly the same spot. And what a stunner. I do hope you enjoy this little video...
And here's a still...
They are rare yes, but they are absolutely beautiful too
TheTurtle Dove, as am sure you are all aware, is a rapidly declining UK species. Sadly it really is a bird that when you do get to see one, you must appreciate that it may well be your last. Well in the UK anyway, thankfully they still seem to be fairly numerous abroad. This was only my third ever Turtle Dove in these parts, my first was a purring male in Beer on 13th May 2012, and the second a very showy autumn bird on Bridge Marsh in October 2016.
I have also got a lockdown house list update to report. After 12 days of no additions, today I have added two species to the list bringing the total up to 87. One of them, Reed Bunting, being completely expected given the fact they nest about 1/4 mile away, the other however a full fat house tick! At about 8:30 this morning a Spotted Flycatcher flew in from the south, pitched up for less than a minute in a tree on the edge of Seaton Cemetery (as viewed from my bedroom window) before flying off low north east. Result.
Well you can't say I didn't see it coming - although really wasn't expecting it from the house! Find below a snippet from yesterday's blog post...
At about 18:30 today, whilst I was in the middle of Harry's bath and bed routine, Twilight Tim (Davey) messaged that he'd found an Iceland Gull on the Estuary. But by the time I got to my phone there was a second message to say it had flown off south, along with some suitably gripping video footage. However 15 minutes later there was another message to say it was back. Many thanks for the updates Tim.
I positioned myself at the bedroom window and tried to get a look at every gull I could see in flight over the small section of Estuary inline with mine. Much to my surprise, ten minutes later bingo, Iceland Gull flying low north up the Estuary! I really wasn't expecting it as most gulls that take off from the Axe Estuary mid-afternoon onwards fly south, which would have ensured it remained out of view from me.
It was flying steadily north, and after the few seconds I was watching it, just as it was about to disappear behind the tree in the foreground that blocks my view north east, it chose to circle around twice with a Herring Gull, before then continuing north out of view. This gave me a couple of extra seconds to grab my camera and take these two photos. Yes they can only be described as dreadful shots, but it is a real credit to the capabilities of the P900 that in these couple of extra seconds, at a distance of about half a mile, through a not very clean window, I managed to get anything identifiable at all!
Striking even at this distance!
Just as it flew out of view
Although Iceland Gulls are annual here, they very often don't stick around for long and I've just never been looking out the window at the right time - this is a full fat house tick!
These distant views were a really good reminder of how big Iceland Gulls can look in flight. Most Iceland Gulls at rest are clearly smaller than Herring Gulls, and if you see a large looking white-winged Gull in flight it is so easy to incorrectly conclude Glaucous (which are so much bigger than Herring Gulls at rest). Yes Iceland Gull maybe smaller than Herring Gull, but they are a long winged bird and their whiter wings will always make them 'appear' larger than a darker winged bird even of similar size - especially in dull light conditions. Just something to bare in mind if you encounter a flying white-winger.
Iceland Gull takes my lockdown house list to 85, with the other addition since my last post being Dunlin and Water Rail, both heard after dark on 28th. The latter being particularly vocal. Am pleased to report the Grasshopper Warbler continues to reel, although it seems to have moved a short distance as it's a bit quieter from the garden now.
Although my camera was with me in the bedroom for the gull, I stupidly didn't take it with me today for my daily family walk. As we came back through Black Hole Marsh the Ruff was showing exceptionally well, as can be seen with this phone pic...
Why oh why did I go camera-less!
And how can I not end this post without bragging about these beauts Jess cooked up today. We are trying to eat sensibly during lockdown, but you've got to allow a treat now and then...
She's good at photographing the fruits of her labour too!
Thought it was about time I gave you all a lockdown house list update. And as expected there's been a nice flurry of ticks over the past few days.
My lockdown house list now stands at 79, and the recent additions include a whopping three full fat house ticks. Seriously impressive considering I've lived here for over seven years, and it just shows what a little extra effort can achieve. I'll start with today, which ended in the most exciting way...
At 4pm today I was stunned to hear a Grasshopper Warbler reeling briefly whilst in my back garden, twice, which was handy as that confirmed nicely I wasn't hearing things. The first record for the house and another spring migrant I was fully expecting not to connect with this year.
After these two short bursts of reeling, I remained in the garden for the next half hour, and sporadically popped out there until 6.30pm, but there was no further sound of it. Being a Gropper though, I was hopeful it may start up again later in the evening, and at 8.20pm it did just that. As soon as I heard it again from the garden I nipped out the front door and jumped into the field next to my house.
Although it never showed, I was treated to the most vocal migrant Gropper I have ever come across. It was still going strong beyond 9pm, and the experience got even better when a Barn Owl began quartering the field I was crouched in! Just amazing. Aren't birds brilliant.
Today was a gloriously sunny day, like most of the previous lockdown days. And like all the other sunny days I've spent most of it in the garden... which of course means I've been looking up! The skies have been busy too, with the highlight being my first Hobby of the year over low east early afternoon. There's been plenty of raptors up all day, with numerous Common Buzzards as usual, five different Sparrowhawks (two displaying), two Kestrels (one displaying), and the day started in fine form with two Peregrines tussling and calling to each other low overhead when I first opened the back doors this morning. I am so so lucky to live where I do.
Peregrine
Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
The Hobby represented the eighth species of raptor recorded from my house during lockdown. A ninth will be a good one whatever it is...
Also today Whimbrel was added to the lockdown house list, about time as they've been on the Axe in varying numbers for a week or two now.
Yesterday produced a nil result, but Monday gave another house first! During a window watch over the valley in the evening, just as I was trying to work out what the large plover-sized wader was that I was watching flying north over Black Hole Marsh, it banked around revealing black wing-pits. Grey Plover is a good Axe bird, and it reminded me that the previous evening whilst stood in the back garden, amongst a burst of Redshank calls I thought I heard Grey Plover call once but couldn't be sure.
Sunday finally rewarded me for my daily scoping of the only bit of Axe Cliff Golf Course I can see from my back garden, which is over a mile away...
Maybe distant and small, but potential is there...
When I posted the below photo on Twitter it opened the flood gates to a flurry of sarcastic remarks - as to be expected. But it depicts one of the reasons I have been scoping this far away golf green so often, for a Red-legged Partridge! There were actually two of them on view just before I grabbed this shockingly poor (come on it's over a mile away and taken with my mobile!) photo...
No it's not a rabbit!
Red-legged Partridge was a full fat house tick. But it didn't end there for my lockdown ticks, as this scope view on Sunday also gave me Yellowhammer (thankfully a bright male - otherwise it would have been unidentifiable) and Skylark.
Saturday morning began with a Willow Warbler singing from trees next to the back garden. A species that hasn't been in anyway numerous this spring. The crystal clear mornings aren't conducive to dropping migrants - and Saturday morning was practically the first cloudy and damp morning that we've had all April!
And that brings me all up to date.
What a thrilling post this was to write, one that is positively bursting with decent birds. And I didn't leave home once. Lockdown listing isn't just great fun, but it's making me appreciate far more, and look closer at, the vast array of wildlife that's not just on my doorstep, but can quite literally be seen from it.
