3.X6 LBB Gull

I have received details back on the adult LBB Gull seen on April 26th - 28th bearing a black darvic with white 3.X6 (see here) - thanks to Paul Veron for the information:

It was ringed as an adult on 13th June 2010 at Burhou, Alderney, Channel Islands, was seen again at Alderney the following August and this is the first sighting since then.  It appeared to be a male of a pair, so I wonder if it is a local breeder.

Here is a picture of it after ringing:

A Late Shanks

28th May - I stopped in after work to see the Greenshank that had been found by Dave P in the afternoon.  Surprisingly, my first here this year, with the only other record being 2 brief birds seen by Wally S a few weeks ago.

Better late than never!

The hybrid Shelduck was still present, first seen on Saturday and obviously the same bird seen at Dorney Lake on May 17th.  It looks to be a Ruddy Shelduck x Common Shelduck, which gives it a bit of an Australian Shelduck look, especially the white collar.

The previous afternoon, a Ringed Plover, probably tundra, was present on the spit - small and dark backed.

Also a pair of Shoveler had appeared from somewhere, though had gone again today.

A Quiet Week on the Patch

25th May - Just a couple of visits this past week and it feels like Spring is drying up.

An early afternoon visit on Tuesday 22nd before school pick-up found a Redshank and Dunlin both in fine summer plumage, together with 2 LRPs and today on a morning visit, just an LRP.

On Monday 21st, I had decided to go for the Cattle Egret that had been found in North Bucks on the previous Saturday.  A detour on my way home from work was slightly easier than making the trek up north and back on the weekend with my family commitments.  I had good instructions on where to go and at 6:45pm was watching the bird feeding along a fence line in a cattle field together with a Little Egret.  It was a lovely warm sunny evening, so I spent some time watching the bird bedecked in its fine summer garb.  It seemed little concerned with the few walkers who were passing by occasionally.

I then decided to visit Manor Farm, as it was nearby and a new site for me and records many good birds.  Again, following instructions that had been given for the original location of the Cattle Egret on Saturday, I was soon parked up and walking out to the floods.  The western side appeared to hold most of the waders and I counted 4 Common Sands, 3 Ringed Plover, 2 LRP and 2 Oystercatchers together with 4 Little Egrets.  Whilst watching these, a Little Owl started calling from a large tree not too far from me and as I looked, it flew down towards the hedgeline next to the floods.  A pleasant evening - I called home at 7:30pm and said I was heading back.

At about 8pm, I received a text from Simon N informing me of a male Red-footed Falcon along the Jubilee River!  This site is about a 20 minute drive south of where I live and I was weighing up whether I was going to have time to get there before it got dark.  Jim R, who had located the bird, phoned me shortly later and said that the bird was sitting in a tree, so it sounded like it might roost there.  He said, "Are you coming for it?", to which I replied, "Yes, but I'm about 40 minutes away".  I phoned home again, explaining my change of plan and then had a stressful journey down wondering if I was going to make it.  Luckily, it was a light evening and I eventually arrived on site at 8:50pm, following Rob A along the last stretch of the drive.  Graham S was sitting on the river bank with his scope pointed at the top of an oak tree on the opposite bank and there it was, a lovely 1st summer male Red-footed Falcon.  The light was still pretty good, so I was able to watch the bird for a little while and note its plumage.  It fanned its tail at one point revealing all juvenile barred feathers with no moulted adult feathers at all.

A little walk from here and a Nightingale was singing.  A late flying Hobby flew past and as I walked back to the car, the Red-foot had dropped down from its high perch, presumably to roost.  All in all, a very pleasant and exhilarating evening - I returned home for 9:50pm and a late dinner!

Sanderling

18th May - Dick S had paid an early morning visit and posted his sightings to the yahoo group.  It included seeing a winter plumaged Dunlin, which I thought was potentially an interesting bird.  So I made my way down just after 10am for a quick look.  In the southern bay of the spit, I quickly located 3 waders, An LRP, a Dunlin in transitional plumage, with some rufous on the mantle and a few black spots on the undersides and a Sanderling - great! This bird had presumably arrived in the intervening period.  I took a record shot and sent the obligatory text to get news out, but at c10:25am all 3 birds suddenly flew for no apparent reason.  The Sanderling called a few times as it did so.  I could not relocate the birds by 10:45am when I had to leave, but it is possible that they are hidden somewhere on the spit, as I didn't check all areas.  17 days since my last year tick, so hopefully this will be the start of an end to that lean period!

Record

The other thing of note this morning was 13 Shelduck all asleep across the spit.  This is a record count for me at this site and following yesterday's report of 10 at Dorney Lake, which isn't too far away, I wonder if these have relocated.

There were 8 in this group, so I've obviously 'chopped' some off!

Cold and Wet!

15th May - I arrived at 9am this morning when the band of rain appeared to have moved through, but it felt freezing with a north westerly blowing through at about 7 degrees - I wish I'd worn my winter gear!

The most obvious thing on arrival was the large number of hirundines flying low over the water - I can't think that there was much flying for them to feed on though.  Swallows and Sand Martins predominated, I guesstimated about 100 of each, with smaller numbers of House Martins, about 50.  At one stage the Swallows in particular started landing on a convenient stick and also on the spit edge.

2 LRPs were the only waders noted, presumably the same 2 that have been seen recently.  At 10am, another small wader flew in, but unfortunately it was just a Dunlin - still another passage wader at least.

Along the west bank a pair of Coot had 6 small youngsters - the third pair I have seen with young along this bank - I wonder how many will survive?

I left to check out some other sites, but returned briefly in the early afternoon to find much the same, though the weather had become a bit sunnier and warmer.  Hirundines were less obvious, but Swifts were around in good numbers, maybe 80 - 100 birds wheeling about.  A Hobby also circled over heading west.

Another quick stop at 4:30pm, as I had heard that a possible interesting wader had appeared, but alas no.  However, as I stood on the west bank, a 2cy Peregrine appeared low from the west and buzzed the end of the spit.  I first saw this bird on April 18th and it has been seen twice in recent days as well - quite brown on the back and quite dense but fine dark streaking on the breast.  The Peregrine flew through having a go at a Lapwing on its way and departed to the east.  The attack had made the Common Terns form a tight group and I counted 33 birds, my largest count to date.  Often there are 10 or less on the lake, with many fishing in the nearby Thames.  Oh, almost forgot, as I drove in, a Hobby was flying north over the A4155 in the village.

A7GX

On the 26th April, I noted a 3cy Herring Gull with a white darvic and black letters A7GX.  This matched a scheme in Sussex and I received the history yesterday.

The gull was released from an RSPCA wildlife centre on 30th July 2010 as a juvenile on its maiden flight.  It was released at Pett Level, E. Sussex.  Subsequent sightings have been received from:
Alexandra Palace, London: 3rd January 2011
Springfield Farm landfill, Bucks: 4th February 2011

It's all Gone Quiet...

11th May - a quick pre-work visit this morning.  A Ringed Plover and LRP were lurking on the back of the spit and were the only waders of note.  Duck numbers are dwindling - just a single male Teal, the long staying male Wigeon and a male Shelduck.  In the south-east corner, 31 Tufted Duck were gathered and an adult Common Gull was loafing on the near spit.

No year ticks since May 1st in what should be a productive period!