Week 28 26-10-2014 Birds Spotted: 1

Sorry for no update last week but I'm being hit by the harsh reality of the British weather.

One thing I've noticed about creating a blog around bird photography is that you need half decent light in order to stand any chance of getting a half-decent shot. With the weather being largely terrible for the past couple of weeks, I've had less and less opportunities to get out. And once' I'm out the light has generally been so poor I've been forced to use higher iso levels that I'd typically be happy with.

Still I did manage to get one new bird in the past two weeks of general pain and suffering, so let's take a look at it.

Dartford Warbler

I've had so many near misses with this elusive little bird. Every time I've been to Arne, I've heard them, but never been quick enough to get a photo of them. A quick tail flash is all I've normally seen, and I was giving up hope of getting a half decent shot as the weather turn.

Still a visit to Arne on Saturday saw my luck was in and the distinctive churring alerted me to the nearby warbler. I was able to get a good 20 feet towards him (or her) and it showed no signs of being scared. In fact it hung around for a good 3 minutes and only flew off when a young family came close.

This gorgeous bird is only found in a few locations in the UK and Dorset is one of its hotspots. Noted for its long tail, buff breast and red eye markings, it's a very distinctive warbler that has a distinctive churring call. It's very rare due to its limited habitat and there's thought to be just over 3,000 breeding pairs.

This is the closest I could get, around 20 feet away, which shows just how small it is!

And here's a crop of the little fellow.

So that's it for birds this week. I'm now up to 120 photographed birds with another 152 left to find.

Spotted what I suspect is a Meadow Pipit.

A fuzzy Long-Tailed Tit in flight.

A Mistle Thrush. As noted earlier, the day was overcast for the most part :(

A selection of geese and waders at Middlebere.

I also went to Stanpit late Sunday afternoon, but the light was even worse, which made for some pretty disappointing shots.

A group of Brent Geese.

Another that refused to pose for me :)

A group of Lapwings.

Lapwings in flight.

The back of a Redshank.

And a Cormorant.

Week 21 07-09-2014 Birds Spotted: 3

So we're now into September and migration season is in full swing. Taking the moment to look up into the sky for a few moments has the chance to reward you with a new passing bird, while your local haunts are bound to have new species there, especially if they are close to water sources.
I was still on holiday this week so I've had the chance to do a bit more birding than usual. My first trip was to Hengistbury Head where I was on the lookout for migrants. I wasn't disappointed...

Wheatear
I've been hoping to see one of these thrushes for a while now and my trip didn't disappoint. The Wheatear is a summer migrant, spending several months with us before returning to central Africa for the winter. It's a gorgeous looking bird with a distinctive black stripe on its face and a slightly orange breast. While there are around 240,000 breeding pairs it is still found on the RSPB's amber list due to rapidly falling numbers. Regularly seen between March and October, I saw a pair of birds on one of the cliff tops. I managed to get a few quick photos before they hit the beach and eventually flew out to sea. Here's hoping they made the trip safely.

A clifftop Wheatear. Note the black stripe and the white one above that.

A more distant shot of the same bird on the beach.

Wigeon

My second new bird was a flock of Wigeon. Due to it being migrant season, every time I saw a flock of birds fly overhead I'd take a shot in the hope it would be something new. My tactic paid off as I was rewarded with what I thought were Teal. The large amount of white on the wings is a  dead giveaway that it is in fact a Wigeon (something I found out on the ever helpful Birdforum.net).

The Wigeon winters in most parts of the UK, flying over from the likes of Russia and Iceland, it's a medium-sized duck with a yellow forehead and pink breast (although these are possibly in eclipse plumage.

The large white wing markings indicate Wigeon, not Teal.

The rest of my trip was relatively uneventful, although I saw some nice Stonechats and Wigeon. I also met a lovely chap called Phil who I spoke to for around 10 minutes and pointed out some new bird locations for me.

Anyway, here's what else I saw.

There were plenty of Stonechats around. Here's a juvenile.

A pretty male.

And another juvenile.

A male Linnet stopped by the Natterjack Toad pond.

As did a Meadow Pipit.

And a female Reed Bunting.

Shelduck flew overhead.

And so did a Jay.

Little Egrets were taking advantage of the tide being out.

Looking for suitable fish to eat.

A scaring off the other Egrets.

Noisy thing!

I spotted a Long-Tailed Tit.

Who had a fall out with a ChiffChaff.

Hiding in the bushes upon losing.

And here's the obligatory Pigeon shot.

I then took a trip down to Queen's Park golf course to see if the Grey Heron was there.

A Magpie greeted me on the way to the pond.

No Heron, but I did see a Moorhen.

And a young Moorhen attacking a Terrapin.

I then took another trip to Hengistbury Head on Sunday, getting my third bird.

Warning! Record shot alert.

Water Rail

This shot was taking with my powershot on maximum zoom so it's terrible. It's good enough to show this amazingly secretive bird though.

Although they are on the green list with over 1,000 breeding pairs I've never seen a Water Rail. They stick to reeds, which can make them very difficult to see. A little smaller than a Moorhen, they're notable for their long beaks and distinctive walk. I was looking at a Little Egret and saw this sneaking behind it, clearly on the lookout for food. I've heard them in the past (they have a distinctive squealing call like a pig) but this is a lifer for me. Now to get a better shot :)

It's a terrible shot, but it's definitely a Water Rail.

So that now puts me on 111 birds, with another 161 still to find.

Female Reed Bunting.

Carrion Crow.

Little Egret fishing.

And one that landed about 20 feet in front of me.

A 100% crop of Lapwings, Little Egrets and Black-Headed Gulls.

Flying Lapwings.

A young Stonechat.

And an Adult.

A curious Starling

Hungry House Sparrow.

A thirsty Meadow Pipit.

More Wigeon.

Week 20 31-08-2014 Birds Spotted: 5

Hooray, it's migrant time, one of the most interesting times for bird spotting.
To celebrate my birthday I decided to go to Arne as I heard that an Osprey was currently in residence there while it stocked up on reserves to get it back home. I went out eager and was not disappointed...

Osprey
Okay, I was disappointed because my shots are terrible :). I was fighting heat haze and an incredible long distance, so these shots are strictly record shots.
What an incredible bird though. It's huge in size, and has been a big success story for the RSPB, thanks to numbers continuing to increase in Wales and Scotland. It''s also started breeding in England, supported by large stretches of water. It feeds primarily on fish and is famed for grabbing them, in its long powerful talons. Unfortunately this one was quite happy to spend all his time on a feeding station, meaning I didn't get to see it fly. It's unclear how long it will stay in Arne, (it's residing on Midllebere Lake) so I feel lucky to have spotted it, even if my pics aren't the best.

Not the greatest shot but you can clearly make out the white head and underbelly.

Another shot of the Osprey from the Canon 400mm

And one using my powershot SX50.

Whimbrel

I uploaded about 12 photos of suspected Whimbrels to Birdforum.net. So a big thanks to Nutcracker for confirming the one I suspected to be this rare migrating bird. It typically breeds in Scotland each year, flying through during the sping and winter. It's identified by darker wings, a slightly shorted bill and (this is my own personal identification tag) a more serious look than the Curlew. Up to 500 pairs breed each year, but it's still on the RSPB's red list. Like the Curlew it eats molluscs, invertebrates and even tackles crabs. If you don't leave in Scotland or the Orkney islands then you need to get lucky and hope one flies through your local patch.

It's call is a good way to identify the Whimbrel. The head markings are quite distinctive too.

And another passing shot, making it a little easier to identify.

Here's a Curlew for comparison. Look how happier and lighter it looks.

Greenshank
This is another migrating bird that is typically seen on passage. I knew it was about due to its piercing call, which is impossible to mistake. Unfortunately I couldn't see any on the ground, but managed to get a couple of shots in flight. Again, they're not perfect, but do identify this wader. It gets its name thanks to its long green legs and is a medium-sized, fast-flying wader. This one is possible a passage bird, but they do apparently winter in the area according to the RSPB's website.

You can just about make out its legs in this shot!

A better shot of its distinctive white rump.

A second bird I saw a little later.

Teal
This was an absolute piece of luck. I didn't notice the ducks until I enhanced the photo in lightroom. Even if I had saw them first time around eclipse plumage meant I wouldn't have recognised them. Teal are small dabbling ducks, typically found all year around in most parts of the country. During the summer males have very distinctive chestnut heads with green eye stripes, but they're not seen in this shot. Most of the North Wintering popular from Europe is found in the UK, so the RSPB has awarded it amber status.

I was looking at the Egrets and didn't see the Teals fly past.

Sandwich Tern
I've already spotted Common Terns, so it was nice to get this one before it headed home for another year. It's another amber status bird, with small breeding populations in certain parts of the UK. One such site it Brownsea island where these birds must have come from. I saw a juvenile and an adult. You can recognise them over other terns due to their black bills which finish with a yellow tip. Around 12,000 pairs breed in the UK and it can be seen from March to September, meaning these must be soon flying home.

Here's an adult Sandwich Tern.

Diving for some tea.

The young wasn't having as much success.

Another shot of the adult. Lovely bird.

So that's it for another week and I felt like it's been a good one. I am now up to 108 birds with 164 left to find. Something tells me it's going to start getting tougher!

Redshank looking for food.

A Stonechat was having a fight with an unidentified warbler.

Little Egrets were flying.

Swallows were still flying around as well.

With this one being particularly acrobatic.

A Vulcan from the air show that was on in Bournemouth.

More planes I don't recognise.

A flock of Redshanks.

A flock of Curlew.

Curlew were everywhere.

Eating crabs...

Flying...

And pretending to be Whimbrels...

A fuzzy Buzzard via the Powershot.

Fuzzy Black-Tailed Godwits.

And a Green Woodpecker stopped by.

A possible Greyling Butterly.

Spoonbills. I need a tripod for stronger shots.

A shot to highlight how far away the Osprey was.

Possible Fallow Deer.

A Sika Deer.

A group of fuzzy Shelduck.