Back to the head

 

A day off work and a few hours at Flamborough Head before coming back for the school run. I parked at the Old Fall steps and walked towards the lighthouse. Incessant alarm calls from Goldcrests and Wrens alerted me to the presence of a predator in the front gardens of the lighthouse cottages; I carefully poked my head round a bush to come face to face with the angry amber eyes of a Long-eared Owl a few metres away! It turned - I got a dodgy photo - and it was off, flying over the houses and away south, chased by a local Carrion Crow. A great start. 

Long-eared Owl in the act of taking flight.

I spent a couple of hours looking round the lighthouse grassland in the hope of stumbling across yesterday's Olive-backed Pipit. Sadly, I didn't manage this, but did stumble across a lovely Little Bunting which flew up ticking into the brambles by the hedge. It seems to be the bird found by top bloke and artist Jonathan Pomroy yesterday. I got a quick bit of phonescoped video before it dropped back into the grass. A few minutes later it flew up to the top of the hedge.

Videograb

Little Bunting. Always a delight!

A Lapland Bunting flew out to sea from Cattlemere calling, seemingly heading for Spurn in the distance. Redwings and a few Song Thrushes were dropping in and hiding in the hedges; some sought food in the ploughed field. 

 

Redwing and Song Thrush. Trans-North Sea migrants - scenes!

A Sparrowhawk nailed a tired female Blackcap so easily, it was pathetic. I was pleased the Sparrowhawk got a meal at least. A Woodcock flushed from near the sheep field and a Snipe came 'in off'. Old Fall was dripping with Goldcrests, hovering among the dying Sycamore leaves. An elusive Chiffchaff and a canopy feeding Robin increased my pulse rate briefly, before a message that the OBP had been seen saw me heading back round to the lighthouse area. The pipit had gone to ground again and we couldn't relocate. 

A little later, I met up with Rich Baines to kick around a quiet South Landing and then Old Fall again, but like the Little Bunting, the time was ticking away rapidly before I was due home to pick Sol up from school. A pipit appeared, providing a nice finale when it landed close by revealing itself as a Tree Pipit, not the hoped-for Olive-backed, but cracking nevertheless. It was rather confiding, edging furtively in the grass at the foot of the hedge (see pic at the top of this post) before skipping up onto a bough to pose for pics. Back west in time to pick up the Boy Leadley. Happy days!

Tree Pipit, Old Fall Hedge, looking furtive and rare.

Team Birdo Annual Weekender: Flamborough 2020

Team Birdo, well, five birding mates (in pic below, left to right, Simon Patient, Mark Hawkes, Duncan Poyser, Ben Green), met up this weekend for our annual birding beano, general hedge watching, beer and high jinx. It was the start of Mini Migweek at Filey - Flamborough, so a fitting time to be on the coast.

 

Team Birdo. Not as young as we once were, but just as daft.

 

As usual, the weather wasn't especially promising, with northwesterly winds, but we enjoy a challenge, so put in dawn 'til dusk stints on the Great White Cape of Flamborough Head each day. Lots of staring into bushes, scanning stubble fields, walking the hedgerows and staring up into the mesmerising foliage of Sycamores was in order! Along with a bit of seawatching of course!

If you stare long enough....

Friday night, Mark and Simon arrived in effervescent mood, having tracked the Bearded Vulture for 12 hours until it crossed the border and made it on to Mark's impressive Cambridgeshire list. That was a great start to their weekend! 

Saturday, W - NW wind, sunny spells.

Having consumed a little too much beer and having enjoyed a little too less sleep, we started proceedings off with a seawatch standing in front of the seawatching hide. Team Birdo wouldn't seek the comfort of being inside the hide, oh no! (only joking - covid restrictions meant there was no room).

A couple of hours revealed a smart first calendar-year Yellow-legged Gull, adult Mediterranean Gull, several Sooty and Manx Shearwaters, Great and Pomarine Skuas, but best of all, a Merlin that came 'in off'. After food, we headed round a quiet Old Fall loop (highlight a smart first calendar year Caspian Gull -see below), before heading over to Bempton. 

First calendar-year Caspian Gull. Gorgeous! 

I haven't seen many early October Caspian Gulls, so good to see this bird moulting into first-winter plumage, with still lots of retained juvenile feathers and quite a lot of streaking on the crown. The bird did some nice stretches showing off Persil white axillaries, a good indicator of a pure Casp.

We spent the afternoon at South Landing, where at least three Yellow-browed Warblers zipped around among their drabber Chiffchaff cousins amid frenetic Long-tailed Tits. Late on, Ben picked up a skein of geese coming in from the southeast over the sea. Orange bills and feet suggested Greylags at first but as they closed in, it became apparent that they were Bean Geese! 19 of the beauties! They went overhead, uttering an occasional low honk. We were pretty sure they were Tundra Beans, but waited until later to check the photos to be sure. The geese looked like they were looking to land somewhere, but a check of all likely spots revealed little. Fresh in from Denmark probably, absolute class. We ended the day as we started, with an enjoyable hour's seawatch, followed by a superb home-cooked curry - nice one Ben! An artist in the kitchen as well as with a paint brush!

Sunday - strong NW wind, heavy showers

With a fresher wind and heavy squalls tumbling like airborne glaciers down the North Sea, we again started with a seawatch, although small flocks of Redwings and Blackbirds were arriving from the sea. Only Mark was sharp enough to pick up the two Grey Phalaropes which were called by the birders in the hide behind us, but we did get lots of Sooties and Manxies, a distant Pomarine Skua, a couple of Bonxies, Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser etc. It looked good for a Leach's Petrel, but if we couldn't pick up a phalarope, we had no chance really! Some showy Harbour Porpoises and some porpoising Grey Seals were smart. 

Sooty. Class carving from this South Atlantic beauty.

 

We decided we should check out Old Fall again. A Short-eared Owl flew over as we walked past the golf course - high up in the blue sky, a fresh arrival we suspected.

Highflying Shorty

Old Fall hedge was alive with birds - lots of small flocks of Redwings erupted from the depths as we walked down to the plantation; Blackbirds streamed down the hedge and headed off across the fields, where yesterday there had been none. Brilliant stuff - migration in action! A tired Brambling reluctantly flew up into the hedge from the grass. Siskins and Lesser Redpolls called overhead. Down at the plantation, Redwings and Blackbirds flew in every direction. I waited by the bridge as the lads carefully walked up the north side of the wood - 52 Blackbirds and over 30 Redwings flew out of the bushes and into the hedge - amazing! Nothing rarer was among them, but this was a thrilling spectacle.

After a quick stop for lunch and packing our bags, we did South Landing again, which revealed several (continental?) Coal Tits, a smart Ring Ouzel, a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers and lots more thrushes. We walked the loop round Whelkie Wynds, a wood just east of Flamborough village, but it was relatively quiet, with three Bramblings the only birds of note. 

Redwing, caught by ringers near South Landing. What a stunning bird!

We ended the day with what else, but another seawatch. It was quiet, but a relaxing way to end a fab weekend on the headland. We didn't find 'the big one' but enjoyed a wide range of fab migrants, from seabirds to geese, thrushes to tiny Siberian sprites. Class!

 

Welcome to the Pterodrome!: Madeira Trip Report September-October 2020 - Part Two - The Birds

The following is a brief report on our sightings of birds during our five and a bit days on Madeira last week. For some notes on our itinerary, check out the first post by scrolling down. I will follow this blog up with some of the more notable wildlife sightings...

Birds

Teal, Anas crecca

A female (or Green-winged Teal, A. carolinensis, seen at Machico)

Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris rufa

A couple of coveys seen on the approach to Pico Do Arieiro and also heard calling at Caso Do Sardinhia.

Trocaz Pigeon, Columba trocaz

Several seen in the Palheiro Gardens, Funchal, with a few seen in the mountains in various places, often sitting on telephone cables. More unusually, one was just above the coast at Canico.

  

Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto

A few seen around villages. 

Plain Swift, Apus unicolor

Very common everywhere. A regular 'screaming party' of about 16 seen most evenings by the coast at Canico.

Pallid Swift, Apus pallidus

A small group seen and a few individuals at Caso Do Sardinhia.

Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus

A few seen by the rivers and in the small wetland at Ribera Brava.

Common Coot, Fulica atra

A pair on the wetland at Ribera Brava.

[Zino’s Petrel, Pterodroma madeira]

After seen many Desertas Petrels over the previous week, a Pterodroma seen from Porto Moniz seemed lighter in flight, more bouyant and with more frequent flapping - it could have been this species. Hard to put our fingers on why it felt different, a bit like the difference between Arctic and Common Tern at a distance. However, without closer views we couldn't rule out Desertas Petrel so it goes down as a possible.

Desertas Petrel, Pterodroma feae/deserta

Four seen from our balcony at Canico was brilliant, followed by up to 30 individuals seen on the Desertas Trip. Stunning birds, with a distinctive arcing flight, never seen to flap once! When feeding doing tight figure of eight turns. The chunky bill confirming this species was noticeable on closer birds, while the amount of white on the underwing never approached that supposedly shown by Zino's. There is some dispute as to whether the birds breeding on the Bugio in the Desertas are a separate species from Fea's Petrels breeding on the Canaries. I will leave that to the taxonomists, but either way, an absolutely spectacular taxon!

Great Shearwater, Ardenna gravis

One seen with five Desertas Petrels moving ahead of a squall on the way back to Funchal from the Desertas. 

Cory’s Shearwater, Calonectris borealis

Abundant. Large numbers (several hundred) seen off Porto Moniz and along the south coast, indeed whenever we looked at the sea. Some spectacular feeding flocks, diving in from a height in the style of Gannets off Porto Moniz. Class birds. 

Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus

c50 seen off Porto Moniz on Tuesday, with c30 seen on Thursday. Some of the more distant birds may have been the following species...

Little/Barolo/Boyd's/Audobon’s Shearwater, Puffinus iherminieri?

At least ten seen from Porto Moniz on Tuesday and a couple seen on Thursday. Undoubtedly distant individuals slipped through without a confident identification. 

Bulwer’s Petrel, Bulweria bulwerii

Our first record was of a dead individual by the shops at Porto Cruz :-( Two superb birds flew past the boat on the way out to the Desertas, followed by a fully feathered chick in a nest hole on Deserta Grande. Another single seen from Porto Moniz on Thursday.  

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea

One at the river mouth at Manico.

Little Egret, Egretta garzetta

One in the Palhiero Gardens and three on the beaches at Caso Do Sardinhia.

Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus

One at Caso Do Sardinhia.

Turnstone, Arenaria interpres

Several seen at the rivers at Ribera Brava and Manicho.

Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus

Three flew west past Porto Moniz on Tuesday, with one east there on Thursday. 

Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus

One west at Porto Moniz on Tuesday.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus

Small numbers seen loafing about in Funchal Harbour.

Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull, Larus michahellis atlantis

Common around the coast, with c200 loafing on the jetties in Funchal Harbour. All presumably Atlantis. 

Roseate Tern, Sterna dougallii

Two very white small terns that flew past Canico on Friday evening were thought to be this species.

Common Tern, Sterna hirundo

Several seen at Porto Moniz and one on the Desertas trip.

Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo

Fairly common around the island.

Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus

Very common throughout the island.

Rock Sparrow, Petronia petronia

Three seen at Caso Do Sardinhia.

Berthelot’s Pipit, Anthus berthelotii

Common and confiding in open habitats, eg at Pont Do Parho, Pico Do Arieiro, Caso Do Sardinhia.

Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea

Common around the coast and along the rivers.

Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs

The very distinctive form maderensis was common in woodland areas and in the parks. 

Greenfinch, Chloris chloris

A flock of 15 seen at Pont Do Pargo.

Atlantic Canary, Serinus canaria

Common throughout the island.

Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla

Common throughout the island in suitable habitat.

Spectacled Warbler, Sylvia conspicillata

Two or three showed well in scrub near the car park at Pico Do Arieiro. These pics are of a couple of juveniles that were very inquisitive. Note the small stature compared to Whitethroat, very short primary projection and huge rufous wing panel.

Madeiran Firecrest, Regulus madeiriensis

Probably the most abundant bird in the forest, often very confiding. 

Robin, Erithacus rubecula

Fairly common in wooded areas.

Northern Wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe

One on the approach to Pico Do Arieiro and two seen at Caso Do Sardinhia.

Blackbird, Turdus merula

Small numbers around Canico and in wooded/garden areas throughout the island.

 

 

Welcome to the Pterodrome!: Madeira Trip Report September-October 2020 - Part One

 

I was lucky enough to be offered a flight by my old mate Philip Precey to Madeira, an island off Portugal. He was heading there last minute to put together a wildlife trip for his company, Wildlife Travel.

The remote island of Madeira is well-known for its endemic wildlife and for hosting the only known colony of Zino's Petrels in the world, with only c80 pairs (almost close to extinction when the colony was discovered a few years ago). On the nearby Desertas Islands, the only known colony of Desertas Petrels breed, although there is some debate as to the taxonomic status of these birds and whether they are a subspecies of Fea's Petrel, which breeds on the Canaries. They are a chunkier version of Zino's. Add to this spectacular whale and dolphin possibilities, outside chance of the world's rarest seal and a host of endemic insects and plants (and a small number of land birds!), and you have one exciting destination for a few days birding!

I have recently been vicariously salivating over sightings of Pterodroma petrels down in Cornwall, made by my mates Dunc (check out his Ely10 blog account here) and Mark (@GrafhamBirder) and the chance to catch up with one of these mindblowing seabirds was not to be missed...

Itinerary

Sunday 27th September. 

Flight from Heathrow (3 hours with a strong tailwind!), Coronavirus test on arrival and then restricted to our AirBnB (at Canico, just west of the airport) until the results came through. Fortunately, we had a balcony overlooking the ocean and the negative results arrived after only five hours! During this time we saw our first four Desertas Petrels and a mum and calf Bryde's Whales (!) along with about 200 Cory's Shearwaters. Once released from house arrest, we found a spot with a better view of the ocean from 6pm til dusk.

Monday 28th September

Seawatching at Porto Moniz, the northwest corner of the island (about an hour's drive), followed by visit to Europe's steepest cable car down to a secluded community, with some interesting plants. Then a visit to Pont Do Pardo lighthouse, the very western tip of Madeira, good for American vagrants (not while we were there). We had a quick look at the river mouth of Ribera Brava and nearby tiny wetland, but didn't see much.

Tuesday 29th September

Whale watching trip off Funchal. In a rib, with Ventura, was great with knowledgeable guides and good w-w etiquette. However, the trip which was sold as 3-4 hours only lasted 1 1/2 hours before we came back in. Nevertheless, we did get great views of Short-finned Pilot Whales and Bottlenose Dolphins. Expensive for the short duration!

We then went to the Palheiro Gardens in Funchal, a well-known spot for Trocaz Pigeons. Here we bumped into a British birding couple who said they thought they had heard Zino's Petrel before dawn that morning up at Pico Do Arieiro. This seemed unlikely, but we thought we would give it a go anyway. We went up before dusk, but sadly the peaks were enveloped in low cloud and it was drizzling! We waited an hour until dark in this spectacular location, but then gave up as it was really grim and any self-respecting petrel would have stayed at sea level in the warm!

                            

Wednesday 30th September

The undoubted highlight of the trip was a visit by boat to the Desertas Islands.  This was a full day trip aboard the Bonita Da Madeira and I could not recommend it highly enough. The journey was a couple of hours each way allowing great views of seabirds, including stunning views of Bulwer's and Desertas Petrels, plus Atlantic Spotted Dolphins and Short-finned Pilot Whales. Best of all, following a swim and an informative tour of Deserta Grande, we saw a Mediterranean Monk Seal! - absolute mammal mega and something we didn't really think we'd see. Most of the locals we'd asked about this species said they were very rare and elusive and hard to see, so this was an undoubted highlight of the trip.

 

Thursday 1st October

Walk at Ribera Do Frio in the morning along the lavada through the Laurel Forest. Most of the native Laurel Forest has gone, but this easy walk took us through some great natural vegetation, with some cool endemic plants. 

We then went up to Pico Do Arieiro to have a look at the view in the daylight - absolutely amazing! We then headed north down to Porto Moniz for another seawatch.

Friday 2nd October

Did a long walk at the eastern end of the island along the mountainous peninsula to Caso Do Sardinhia, again supposedly good for migrants etc but apart from two Greenland Wheatears, not on the day we were there. Neverthless, as with everywhere on Madeira, spectacular scenery, lots of endemic plants and a few cool birds. We checked out the river at Machico (little!) on the way back and then did a last bit of seawatching at Canico to end the trip. 

If you want more specific details, please drop me a line, or check out the really useful website MadeiraBirds.com

Desertas Petrel with its only known breeding island of Bugio in the background.

Welcome to the Pterodrome! - Madeira, 2020

Desertas Petrels, what astonishingly superb birds, carving arcs across the Atlantic. All taken from a boat between the Desertas Islands and Madeira, yesterday. Just a few pics to whet your appetite for later...

HUMPBACK WHALES OFF FLAMBOROUGH!

A dawn start at Flamborough Head led to disappointment in the drizzle. Conditions for migrant birds looked great - I must have got something wrong! - as the Old Fall Circuit yielded virtually nothing. One Wheatear, a couple of Lesser Redpolls and several Goldcrests was all I could find. Not quite the epic fall that had inspired me to spring out of bed earlier on. There was a surprise in store, however. I decided the fresh northeasterly may offer more value over the sea and news of a White-chinned Petrel off Norfolk confirmed my decision - I grabbed my scope and headed down to the fog station.

Arriving at the seawatching hide, news was surprisingly mediocre, with only a handful of skuas and Sooty Shearwaters moving. 1000 Kittiwakes was impressive though, so I decided to stay a while. A little later, a guy walked up and said he had seen a whale breach - twice! This was interesting; I had never seen a Minke Whale breach although I was aware they did it, but only rarely. This would be cool to see, but as I scanned I feared I had missed my chance. A few tense moments later and the yell of 'Humpback!' came from Andy Malley in the hide - panic! 

Scanning the sea, a large dark shape appeared, like a rocket emerging from the sea, it span round, two immense wing-like white pectoral fins flung wide and the whale launched backwards causing an immense splash. A Humpback Whale! A massive Humpback Whale - ABSOLUTELY MEGA! 

The whale breached a couple more times, then lay on the surface, smashing one of it's pectoral fins on the surface. It then fluked, dived under before starting a long series of cataclysmic breaches. At one point, it became clear there was a second individual as I saw another whale breach further out very shortly after the first whale had landed. Two Humpbacks! I had always dreamed of seeing this leviathan off the Yorkshire coast, but never expected to see a prolonged display like this. The whale/whales carried on cavorting for the best part of an hour, gradually heading north and further out and as news spread, quite a crowd gathered along the clifftop. Even at a great distance, the immense splash caused by the breaching could be seen easily through bins. The blow was seen frequently, large and bushy, hanging for a few seconds. Absolute scenes! One of the greatest things I have ever seen.

Upper two pics you can see the white pectoral flippers contrasting with the black body as the whale twists over on it's back for maximum splash. The bottom pic shows the whale fluking, whacking it's massive tail on the water.

Off-piste to Spurn

I don't go to Spurn much these days, but I should, it's a great place! Spent a great, though exhausting day with Philip, walking the Point, then Sammy's Point and Kilnsea Wetlands. A keen easterly was still blowing in from the North Sea, but crystal clear azure skies were not conducive to a fall of migrants. Nevertheless, my first Yellow-browed Warbler, a real gem, showed briefly at Sammy's and a Jack Snipe bounced stealthily with a Common cousin in the cut reeds at Canal Scrape. Our long walk revealed small numbers of migrants, including Whinchat, Wheatear, Tree Pipit, two Redstarts, Spotted Flycatcher, Siskins and Brambling, whilst Kilnsea Wetlands held two Little Stints, assorted Mediterranean Gulls and a gang of Black-tailed Godwits. A dashing Wood Sandpiper finished the day off nicely, though the show had been stolen by a few smart Sea Aster Bees, a species I have looked for elsewhere and failed to see. 

Spotted Flycatcher, just after eating a Large White butterfly, at the Wire Dump

Wheatear at the Point; Sea Aster Bee not on a Sea Aster.

Jack Snipe bouncing around furtively, to the left of the larger Common Snipe.

Classic Drift

The wind turned to the east mid-week and a flurry of drift migrants appeared on the Yorkshire coast. Rich Baines found this juvenile Red-backed Shrike in the Bay Brambles at Flamborough on Friday, and it was still showing well in the late afternoon sunshine. 

Quick dash for a Little Stint

After working at Ripon City Wetlands in the morning (50+ Pink-footed Geese west, 5 Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank, 5 Crossbills etc) made a quick dash back there after tea to see a cute juvenile Little Stint. My first at the site and always a great bird to see. 

York Cattle Egret and Whales off Staithes!

10-11th September: Led two back-to-back pelagics off Staithes for Yorkshire Coast Nature. The first was great with many sightings of at least seven Minke Whales, whereas the following day, rougher seas meant it was a struggle and I only saw one Minke. There were some great feeding frenzies of at least 50 Grey Seals, hundreds of Gannets etc, but no whales. Also saw a handful of Manx and Sooty Shearwaters and a couple of Great Skuas. Great fun!

Sadly my poor photography skills don't do these superb beasts justice. 

 

 

9th September: Put the cricket bat down for a quick twitch to Wheldrake Ings to see my first York-area Cattle Egret that had been found by Craig and Duncan on the Low Grounds early evening. Sol came with me and was chuffed to get a ride in Craig's truck! After watching the bird, seemingly a juvenile, for a bit, something flushed the bird and the accompanying Greylags and it flew out of sight. It was last seen heading towards Bank Island and was not seen again by dusk, though I was home playing cricket in the street by then.