And Yet More Rain

28th April - The weather looked promising for some passage waders, terns and gulls today, with the wind apparently switching towards easterly, though it was more north easterly.  I made an early morning visit and sat through almost persistent drizzle until 9am but got little reward.

The only passage seen was 2 summer plumaged Dunlin that flew in about 8:30am and landed briefly on the near spit for a matter of seconds before taking off.  They did a couple of circuits looking like they might land a few times, but in the end were last seen in the NE corner and probably departed that way - their black bellies were very obvious in flight.  A Common Sandpiper was possibly yesterday's bird.

4 Shelduck were present on my arrival, which were new in and looked to be all females.  Later in the morning, a further pair arrived from the south west and joined them.  The male indulged in much display and made the rest of the group quite flighty.  Hirundines were over the lake in good numbers - mainly Swallows, but House and Sand Martins well represented too.  Double figures of Swifts were also around though a little higher up.

A quick trip to the meadow, railway bank and paddocks found little else, though yesterday's Reed and Garden Warblers were still present in the same areas.

The black-ringed adult LBB Gull, that Jim R fortunately read yesterday as 3.X6, looks to be a bird ringed in Guernsey (details to follow) and was present in front of the island again.  It appears to be a male of a pair and I wonder if they are or will be local breeders.  They have been present on site for the last 3 days now.

Taken on 26th, when I was struggling to read the ring

Warblers Sing in the Sunshine

27th April - a quick visit this afternoon before school athletics club.  I had received a text from Dave P informing me of several birds on site, 2 of which were year ticks.

A Common Sand was working its way around the spit along with an LRP busily running backwards and forwards, but I made my way round to the railway bank.  I checked the meadow en route, which yielded little apart from 6 Blackbirds flying in and out of the railway hedge.  As I walked towards the 'reed warbler' reed bed in the centre of the southern bank, I could hear my first quarry singing away from the hedge - a Garden Warbler - year tick number 1.  As I attempted to see the bird, year tick number 2 started singing from the reed bed - a Reed Warbler.  These were the 2 birds Dave P had informed me about.  Then, as I waited to see the Reed Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat started rattling away just behind me in the same hedge as the Garden Warbler - year tick number 3!  I eventually got reasonable views of all 3 birds and it was nice to enjoy them in a bit of sunshine and warmth for once - maybe the sun brought out the songsters?

From the southern bank, I scoped the gulls on the spit and noticed a 2cy Great Black-backed Gull.  The first one here for a while and getting quite late, continuing the recent run of gulls that are obviously moving through the site.  I did a quick count of the loafing LWHG to see if my recent estimates were fair and counted 117 birds - so about right.

A Hobby zipped over from the sw being harassed by a Jackdaw and quickly departed.  On my return to the car, I noticed a Moorhen sitting in a nest in a willow overhanging the lake, probably about 7 feet above the water - hopefully not too high for the youngsters when they eventually leap down.

A Lull

26th April - I was hoping that the forecasted heavy showers might bring some birds in today, but the wind was too westerly and in the end a bit of a dull visit.

There were no waders on site at all, except for a few Lapwing and Common Tern numbers were down - 9 being my highest count.  Swifts were obviously on the move, with many noted during my visit and in the afternoon, during a sunny break between heavy rain bands, I counted 21 together, but many more would have been through.  Following the Swifts, my first Hobby of the year circled up northwards along the eastern bank.

LWHG continued to provide some interest - only about 80 on site at any one time, but 3 colour rings were seen: a 2cy Herring Gull with a red darvic, a 3cy Herring with a white darvic and a paired adult LBB Gull with a black(ish) darvic.  Unfortunately, only the white ring was read when Dave P turned up with a 60x lens - I must get a longer lens! Details awaited.

On arrival, I also saw what I'm pretty sure was a 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull.  It was only on site for  a few minutes before flying off and my one record shot shows the bird mostly obscured.  It stood out as having an obviously white as opposed to pale square-shaped head, dark streaking around the eye and a large broad-based and blunt-tipped bill.  The tertials were all dark centred and the coverts were dark and diffuse.  When it flew off, it showed a white tail and a black tail band and an upper wing pattern that I always think of as intermediate between LBBG and Herring and showing only a small primary window.  However, the scaps look a little pale and well-marked in this shot.  Again, open to comments.

The bird at the back!

Passage Terns

25th April - a very wet morning giving way to heavy showers in the afternoon saw a large movement of terns and Little Gulls along the Severn/Wash fly way, with many seen in our region, especially during the afternoon and evening.

I got a text from Dave P around midday saying he had 11 Arctic Terns on the pit.  I couldn't leave until after lunch - which was not going to be long, but got another text shortly afterwards to say that they had gone - birds were obviously on the move.

I arrived at about 12:30pm and sat in the car while a heavy shower went through and then joined a damp Dave P and Mick M at the western bench - a brolly was essential birding gear in this weather!  We scanned the pit and southern tree line looking for birds arriving off the river.  At about 12:50pm I noticed a small dark tern flying along the southern bank of the pit towards the SE corner - a lovely summer plumaged Black Tern that had obviously just arrived!  It proceeded to flying backwards and forwards along the eastern side of the lake.  Whilst this was going on, texts were coming in all the time about Arctic Terns and Little Gulls being seen in good numbers arriving and departing various sites just to the north of us.  Optimistic of joining in with this movement, we kept watch until the school run beckoned at 3pm, but no further joy - perhaps just a little too far south from the fly way.  A tight flock of 5 Common Terns was seen to descend to the lake and continue high eastwards, so they were obviously moving as well.

Mid afternoon, I noticed a pale alba wagtail working its way along the near bank of the spit.  I'm never too quick to call White Wagtail, as I've seen quite a few pale-looking female Pieds in the past.  On scrutiny, however, this bird showed pale, clean flanks below the brownish tinged wings, a pale grey smudge to the sides of the breast with a white line bordering the black bib, a clearly demarcated black cap from the pale grey mantle and more importantly, the pale grey extending to the rump and upper tail - so a classic White Wagtail.

Later, a 3cy gull caught my eye, that showed a very dark grey mantle, approaching LBB Gull in colour.  I put the other observers onto it and we pondered its ID.  I thought that it was probably a Yellow-legged Gull, though it's getting a bit late for them.  I grabbed a couple of record shots when it walked out on the spit, though the mantle shade appears lighter in these than it did in the field.  The head and bill shape look good for YLG - the bill being particularly broad based and blunt-tipped looking very yellow with the large red gonys spot showing through the black terminal band.  It also shows a reddish orbital ring and some red on the gape line.  On the closed wing, the outer greater coverts look a little Herring Gull like, showing evenly spaced spotting, though the inner coverts are more diffuse - this shows better on the open wing and is also better for YLG.  Many of the juvenile median coverts had been replaced with grey. The tail was white contrasting with a neat black tail band and the grey mantle and the under tail coverts had just a few sparse spots around the sides.  The legs were beginning to show a pale yellow colour, particularly on the front of the tarsus, which just about shows on the photos.  The eye was dark, but it is immature and I have seen older YLG than this show a dark eye.  In flight, the wing looked OK for YLG and also showed a smaller primary 'window' than I would expect on Herring Gull. So I concluded that this was indeed a 3cy Yellow-legged Gull, but I'm open to comments.

Grey mantle appears lighter than in the field

Open left wing just showing - note the yellowish legs starting to appear

Reddish orbital ring a red in the gape line

The gulls flew at about 2:30pm and Dave P commented 'I've got a Yellow-legged Gull'.  I assumed he meant the bird above, but in fact he had found a cracking adult bird - another unexpected bird.  It was more distant and in the poor light, a blurred record is below.  It had incredibly yellow legs and was a full summer bird, though the bill had a small dark line towards the tip, which was also pale.  It was a big bird (compare to the nearby LBBG), so probably a male.

There were probably around 100 LWHG on site - many immatures - and judging by the birds above and the number of different colour-ringed birds being seen, many are moving through the site.

More CR Gulls

25th April - a couple of colour-ringed gulls from Saturday 21st have been reported back.

A 2cy Herring Gull with a red darvic ring was present late morning and I assumed that it was likely to be LX3T seen previously, but Mick M who was present later in the day read it as WX3T.  Obviously ringed during the same session as the other gull at Pitsea Landfill, Essex on March 10th.  A map of the sighting is here:

http://www.ntgg.org.uk/cgi-bin/map.cgi?p=recmap&t=r&r=GR58190

There was also a 3cy Herring Gull present with a dark blue darvic with pale pink/faded orange KCL.  This fitted the combination of a gull from Gloucester Landfill - I had previously seen an adult LBB with such a ring, coded GEY.  Sure enough, it was ringed there as a 1st year on 25th September 2010.  It had a further 5 sight records from the same site, last seen on 13th July 2011.  This is the first record away from the landfill.

One Throat or Two?

22nd April - an early morning visit today found a Sedge Warbler singing on arrival.  It was in willow and bramble by the lake edge just north of the bench on the west side and only my second this year.

None of the hoped for waders appeared, probably because it was sunny and cold - just above freezing.  Yesterday, I had missed a Whimbrel by a few minutes, that had only landed for a matter of minutes following a short shower, before continuing northwards.  I had received a text from Alan S at 15:36 while I was cutting a hedge, decided that I had a good chance of connecting, so jumped in the car and inevitably received a further text en route at 15:42 saying it had gone.  I reckon it takes about 10 minutes door to lake side, so another unlucky dip.

I visited the meadow and after crossing the rail track heard a Whitethroat singing about 100 yards to the west up the track.  A new bird for the year, so I walked towards it for a view and watched it singing and working its way eastwards along the track side.  Nothing much else of note, so I walked back across the track and along the southern path.  A Whitethroat was singing about 100 yards ahead of me - I pondered whether this was another bird, or the same one moving slightly quicker than me.  As I walked towards it, it carried on moving eastwards towards the south east corner, so may well have been the same bird on the move.

On the north bank, a male Mandarin flew from the workings and splash landed very close to me before taking off again.  This may well be the same bird I had seen at the same time and place last Sunday.

So a few new arrivals - can't be long before some waders appear.

Cuckoo

20th April - I made a quick stop this afternoon before the school pick-up and found Stan B by the bench who said that he had had a Cuckoo calling 15 minutes earlier.  A few minutes later and right on cue, it started up again, calling from the north eastern side.  This is a fairly typical arrival date for me for Cuckoo and always a nice bird to hear in Spring.

Yesterday evening, Mick M, Alan S and myself found a 2cy Herring Gull with a red darvic on its left leg.  After a bit of effort through Mick's 60x lens, we eventually read it as LX4T.  This fits the coding and colour of the North Thames Gull Group and they have replied saying that the gull was ringed at Pitsea Landfill on March 10th, just under 6 weeks ago.  A map is shown here:

http://www.ntgg.org.uk/cgi-bin/map.cgi?p=recmap&t=r&r=GR58197