Pennington Marshes, October 2010

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

It was 10.10.10 and I suppose we should have arranged to start at 10 a.m. But by that time, a dozen or so of us were already enjoying a breezy day in the marshes. A grey start soon gave way to beautiful sunshine, the contrast symbolising the changing season which would be reflected in the day?s birding.

Flocks of Starlings, Goldfinches and Greenfinches were very active over the scrub and grazing marsh. A number of Swallows were hawking over the area for most of the day, together with a few House Martins. Other small-bird activity during the day included a distant flock of Linnets and plenty of Meadow Pipits, but careful checks found us both Rock and Water Pipits too. The odd Grey Wagtail and a few Pied Wagtails were appreciated, but we were somewhat surprised to find a late Yellow Wagtail among the cattle, especially one without a tail! Less surprising were several passage Wheatears.

The sea-watching was not too productive, though there was one very active and elusive Red-throated Diver to confuse with two feeding Cormorants.

There were plenty of the more common ducks in the pools, though the odd Pintail drake in partial eclipse proved a challenge and a good find. There were only modest numbers of Brent Geese, which were easily outnumbered by Canada Geese, whose grazing-neighbour was a Roe Deer.

Waders were a better bet generally: one of the pools by the path produced a male and a female Ruff, as well as long views of a Water Rail. Around the grazing marshes were several Curlews and Little Egrets. On a rising tide, the off-shore shingle-bars sported an assortment of Great Black-backed Gulls, Grey Plovers, Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers, Knot and Dunlin, with eight Avocets making a brief touch-down. The patch of shingle beach near the breakwater produced several Turnstones and one Sanderling (photo). The pools were even more rewarding, because among the larger numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, Redshanks and others were a few Greenshanks and one juvenile Little Stint.

But the best came almost at the end of the walk, as we returned from the Keyhaven pools. A flock of Golden Plovers had landed in a pool which we had watched earlier. As we stopped to scan them I noticed that one stood out from the others. The most obvious feature was that it was in a later stage of moult than the rest, with shadows of its summer patterns still visible. But it seemed to have a more slender build too. I had seen plenty of American Golden Plovers on the other side of the Pond and the alarm bells started ringing. The difference was obvious to everyone else. Seen through the scope, the ground coloration of the mantle was distinctly greyish-brown, rather than the bright gold of the surrounding birds. I couldn?t believe my luck when the bird raised its wings to show a greyish under-wing shading which was much darker than that shown by one of its neighbours. Moult plumage is not covered well in reference books, but I could find nothing in them that evening to change my initial diagnosis. It had been a very lucky find to conclude a pleasant day out.

Ray Reedman

Northumberland – 7th – 10th June 2007

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

Members (photo: Ray Reedman)

In view of the way the weather turned during the week after we got home, we were the luckiest people! We had a perfect trip?

Some of us had been able to set out earlier in the week to make additional visits: Harry and Lin spent time in the Lake District and joined us with tales of Eagle Owls in Lancashire. Mary and I spent Wednesday exploring a part of the Peak District and casually came up with some very convincing Black Grouse and a Raven on moorland stretches. It is fair to say that we thought that a good start.

On Thursday morning we met Colin, Bill, Ted, Alan, John and Ruth at Fairburn Ings RSPB near Castleford. Tree Sparrows were at the feeders to greet us, though we were less lucky with the Willow Tits. This site consists of a collapsed coal-mine and its associated spoil heaps, which, exactly fifty years on, provide a remarkable range of dry and wetland habitats with an assortment of warblers, wildfowl and waders. Perhaps our greatest surprise was a female Goldeneye, but a whole family of Black Swans came a good second.

The final 150 miles or so took us up past the Angel of the North and on to Embleton, on the Northumberland coast, where our hotel looked out onto sand-dunes, a golf course, and Dunstanburgh Castle. It was no surprise therefore that most of us were out at 6 a.m. next morning searching through the multiple offerings of a nearby nature reserve and enjoying the visual feast of auks, Gannets and terns off-shore. On subsequent mornings we repeated the exercise below the hotel, finding Little Terns among the many birds off-shore, while the dunes and hedges below the hotel produced numbers of chats, pipits and buntings. Three Grey Partridges fed on one of the fairways, but Colin?s sharp ears had located a Grasshopper Warbler. No surprise then that we were twice back in the gloaming after supper, eventually to locate a shadowy bird reeling from the top of a small bush.

But all of this was incidental to the main trips?

Guillemots (photo: Ray Reedman)

Friday was spent on the Cheviots, in moorland terrain south-west of Wooler. We had hardly parked the cars below the heights of the curiously-named Skirl Naked when our local contact, Trevor, spotted the first Dipper in the stream. We soon found Whinchats, Stonechats and Wheatears up the valley, with Willow Warblers in the ancient alders, but the hour we spent watching the steep hillside opposite was the most magical. The calls of Ring Ouzel brought us views of at least two and maybe three birds, as each challenged its neighbours. Oystercatchers and even a pair of Goosanders flew along the valley, while Curlews fluted along the skyline above us.

In the second valley we made our bid for specialities in a heavily-wooded spot by another stream. Spotted Flycatchers obliged, but Pied were less helpful, and Redstarts likewise. But we did see a Red Squirrel move through the canopy. A pair of Curlews spent some time over the hill-top in pursuit of a very tatty Buzzard, but it was the Peregrine streaking past later that made a more impressive sight. As the afternoon wore on, birding was somewhat less fruitful, until a pair of Lesser Redpolls showed up. A Painted lady Butterfly was the first of the season for most of us. We spent an age scanning the hillside bracken for Red Grouse, but eventually decided to pursue another lead. Trevor told us of a high moorland road where we might do better. And we did! It took about ten minutes to find a family group which showed beautifully in the scopes. As we searched, Alan saw a Merlin streak low over the moor, but it was too quick for the rest of us.

Arctic Tern (photo: Ray Reedman)

Saturday was the real highlight of the trip. On arriving at Seahouses, we found Eider ducks lounging in every available corner. We booked ourselves onto the boats in a state of high anticipation. The weather had been too rough lately, but we had timed it perfectly and enjoyed a smooth run out to the first rocks. There is nothing quite like the excitement of seeing strings of Guillemots and Puffins streaking past the boat, sometimes within a few feet ? unless it is the excitement of a skein of twenty or so massive Gannets doing the same thing! Kittiwakes and Fulmars also passed close by. The place was seething with birds! Soon we were by a rock and eye to eye with Cormorants, Herring Gulls, a young Grey Seal and a Great Black-backed Gull. A Shag and a Cormorant stood side by side as if to ensure that we made note of their differences before going any further.

None of that had really prepared us for the mass of birds thronging the cliffs as we approached the outer island of Staple. The gentle swell of noise was the second thing to register as we ran into the landing. Then, as we climbed the steps into the throng of birds, we experienced the pervading fishy scent of the thousands of sea-birds that occupied the rocks and burrows of this tiny island.

Suffice it to say that the next two hours were extraordinary, as we watched birds attend eggs and chicks. Guillemots hurtled in on the wing, stalled, plummeted into the throng, and then waddled absent-mindedly to find their partners. Razorbills quietly showed them how to behave more sensibly. Shags shuffled around stealing bits of nesting material to add to their flat structures. Kittiwakes returned, shouting their name as their changed places on the high dome of weed. Fulmars sat tight in soft corners. Inevitably, it was the Puffins that entertained most. Hurtling in like large mechanical beetles, and carrying precious cargoes of sand-eels, they dropped next to their burrows and were underground in a trice. A bird would then reappear, look around, find a bit of height on a rock, wind up its wings, and then hurtle off again on the next mission. Funny to watch, but not so funny if you are that tiny bird trying to dodge the lurking Herring gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls! Amazingly we also saw one tiny Rock Pipit gathering insects for her young near all of this chaos and danger, and even a butterfly or two.

Puffins (photo: Ray Reedman)

All too soon we were on the boat again for the run to Inner Farne, via rocks where a close encounter with the story of Grace Darling gave us an even closer encounter with some massive adult Grey Seals. Through a turbulent gap for a short way, we then made the smoother run to a landing under St Cuthbert?s Chapel.

This was the bit that we remembered so well from Bill Oddie and David Attenborough ? or from Alfred Hitchcox?s ?The Birds? to be more honest! As we climbed the path, Arctic Terns swooped and screamed in indignation as they protected territories built within inches of the boardwalk. It was a curiously paradoxical privilege to have one perched on my hat and trying to drill through to my scalp with its blood-red, sharp little bill. As for the guano assault, it took three goes to sponge that out of my jacket later! The beautiful little blighters were everywhere for the first stretch, but they had no manners and it was a relief to get beyond them to watch the large cluster of beautifully-behaved Sandwich Terns. Then came the gentle Eider Ducks curled up in the weeds or on the rocks, then many more of the now-familiar auks, Shags and Kittiwakes. And there was even an Oystercatcher in a rocky hollow near the lighthouse.

With a bit of time to spare for some more challenging birding, some of us spent the last half-hour searching through the flock of terns on the beach rocks near the landing stage. Most of these were non-breeding birds, some with clear signs of immature plumage. They included Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns, but we were hunting for some Roseates that had been seen the day before. No luck though, and a Ringed Plover was not much compensation.

Grey Seal (photo: Ray Reedman)

The return journey was still an active one, though not for a bunch of birded-out passengers. Ted and I were the two lucky ones who spotted the one Manx Shearwater of the day. And those impressive Gannets just kept on streaming past on their way back to the Bass Rock (real specimens of Sula bassana, these!), which was some 50 miles to the north.

One final pre-breakfast session on Sunday, and then we were on the road south, but with an important break of a couple of hours at Blacktoft Sands, near Goole, some 160 miles down. The fifteen mile detour proved to be well-worth the trouble, with the pools, reed-beds and bushes producing, among other things, Avocet, Bittern, Black-tailed Godwit, Bearded Tit, Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl, Tree Sparrows, and even two Garganey drakes.

Making our way home from there independently, Mary and I switched on our own kettle soon after 7 p.m. We had over 900 miles on the trip meter, an immense increase in the year list, and several hundred photos to process later. We both agreed that this had been one of the best birding trips ever. Our heartiest thanks for that go to Colin for his superb planning and to the others for their good company.

Ray Reedman

Extremadura – 4-10 May 2006

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

4th to 10th May 2006. Jonathan Cooke, Francis Hicks, Renton Righelato

The benefits of an early start to Heathrow, a BA flight spot on time and prompt disembarkation were irritatingly countered by an hour?s wait for baggage at Madrid?s Barajas airport and a further hour for the Hertz agent to issue us with our car! Though it felt more like driving a tractor at first ? a Kia Sorrento ? a 4WD vehicle was necessary for the rough tracks we anticipated (and met). A two hour drive, in thick mist on the south side of the mountains, took us to the Sierra de Gredos, where we were to stay a night at the pleasant Parador.

Much of our itinerary was based on John Muddeman?s ? A birdwatching guide to Extremadura?. The maps in the book are poor and one should not rely on road numbers given! Roads can have several different numbers and those given in the book often differ from those on the ground, which may differ from those on road maps. It is important to verify routes with village names etc.

En route from Madrid the motorway (A5) provided a sparse but pleasant range of species including White Stork, Cattle Egret, Common Crane, Crested Lark, Spotless Starling, Spanish and House Sparrows. The road into the mountains from the motorway added Red-rumped Swallow and Azure-winged Magpie.

Sierra de Gredos

Afternoon 4th May; weather showery, c 15C. The promised Citril Finches were not obvious in the car park of the parador, which did, however, boast Crag Martin and Black Redstart on its walls. We left to take a short drive west a few km then south toward the car park for the walking circuit of the Gredos peaks. Because of the poor weather, we walked around along wooded stream banks and farmland that afternoon. Bonelli?s Warblers were singing stridently in any patch of woodland; notably warmer brown than the autumn vagrants in the UK. Green and Great spotted Woodpeckers, Pied Flycatcher, Firecrest, Nuthatch and Three-toed Treecreeper (with a much louder song than we are used to with our Treecreeper) were also in the woods. Rock Bunting was the common bunting in the area, even where there were few rocks. Ortolan Bunting was difficult to find, though one was heard singing and seen briefly. Birds of prey seen here were Short toed Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Red Kite, Black Kite, Kestrel, Hobby. Greenfinch, Serin, Siskin, but still no Citril Finch by the end of the day.

Frustrated by this, some of us prowled the hotel car park early the next morning, eventually hearing and seeing a Citril Finch on one of the pines. We went up to the car park at the end of the road into the mountains, stopping in various habitats of the way, adding Little Egret, Woodlark, Woodchat Shrike, Roller, Bee-eater and the Spanish race of the Yellow Wagtail to the birds of the previous day. The walk from the car park into mountains was delightful: Griffon and Black Vultures, Booted Eagle, Black and Red Kites; lots of Skylarks, Thekla Lark, a Water Pipit, Chough and the highlight ? half a dozen Bluethroats (spotless but assumed White) singing in the brush. We should have spent longer here, but had to move on to Trujillo in the afternoon.

On our return journey to Madrid the next week, we spent a few hours on the southern slopes of the Gredos at 400-500m. The woodland and farmland provided excellent views of Honey Buzzards, numerous Golden Orioles, Bee-eaters and a Citril Finch.

Trujillo

We stayed five nights at the Posada dos Orillas in the beautiful old centre of Trujillo. Not the cheapest of hotels, but excellent rooms, disturbed only by the clacking of White Storks and yells of Lesser Kestrels, both species nesting on the buildings around the Plaza Mayor.

In the gardens around the town were Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Tree sparrow, Hoopoe, Bee-eater, Red-rumped and Barn Swallows. Amongst the Common Swifts around the bull ring were a small number of Pallid Swifts. Black Kite were the commonest large raptor; Kestrel and Lesser Kestrel the common smaller birds of prey. A Golden Eagle flying over a spine of low hills just west of the town was a surprise.

From Trujillo, we took a number of trips around the countryside to see the main habitats: open cork forest; rolling savannah with cattle and sheep, spectacularly covered in wildflowers in May; agricultural areas mostly with wheat and some rice paddies. These do not always correspond with the descriptions in Birding in Extremadura as the state of grazing of pastures and the position of crops can vary from year to year. There are numerous small valleys with streams or dips with ponds ? these were often worth stopping to check. At one close to Trujillo a Melodious Warbler was singing its heart out sitting on the outside of a bush through the middle of the day.

Savannah

In several places we saw Great Bustard and Little Bustard on the savannah; 13in the largest party of Great Bustard, a huge bird and powerful flyer. Parties of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse were seen occasionally, the best spot being a watering hole off a track running N from the EX 373 to Monroy, 10 km from its junction with the EX208/N524 north of Trujillo. This spot was also good for Stone Curlew. Crested Larks were the predominant lark species, with Short-toed Lark, numerous Calandra Lark, and the troublesome Thekla Lark also seen here. Tawny Pipit was relatively scarce on the savannah and Corn Bunting was ubiquitous. Quail were occasionally heard calling. Southern Grey Shrike were common along roadsides throughout the region.

Griffon, Black and Egyptian Vultures patrol the savannah and at one point we saw perhaps a hundred birds collecting on the ground around something we could not see. Black Kites everywhere, but the Black-shouldered Kite proved totally elusive. Montagues Harrier was seen in several places, particularly numerous on the EX373 from Trujillo to Monroy. We saw one Marsh Harrier in the same area. Little Owls were occasionally seen on roadside posts.

Wetland

We visited little wet land: a reservoir SE of Zorita (Embalse de Sierra Brava) and rice paddies near Vegas Altas. Islands on the reservoir had Black necked, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Red Crested Pochard, Black Winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover, Gull Billed Tern, Little Tern breeding. A roadside pond with a reedbed had a group of Great Reed Warbler. Rice paddies, which have to be searched for as the flooding is moved from year to year, had a similar range of species. The area around Vegas Altas was recommended for Black Shouldered Kite, but they escaped us. Cetti?s Warbler and Zitting Sisticola were heard in several places.

Monfrague

The Monfrague national park has a series of bird-watching honey pots along the EX208 and CC911. Parking spots, often with hides and explanatory notice boards, look on to rock outcrops with colonies of Griffon and Black Vultures, nests of Black Stork, Spanish Imperial Eagle (excellent views) and Eagle Owl (we only saw the chick).

The vertiginous top of the castello at the Sanctuario de Monfrague is described as a good vantage point for surveying the region and seeing raptors from above. We spent some hours here searching the swifts: numerous Common Swifts, a few Alpine Swifts, but no White Rumped. Local birdwatchers told us that they are now extremely rare, though I understand that Dave Cotteridge saw some the following week. Perhaps due to the air conditions, we saw relatively few raptors from the castello, but elsewhere around the park we saw Short toed Eagle, Booted Eagle (a common bird everywhere) and a rather distant Bonelli?s Eagle, as well as Griffon, Black and Egyptian Vultures.

A marked trail from the park centre at Villareal de San Carlos took us through some of most spectacular wildflower meadows I have seen and through woodland with large numbers of Woodchat Shrike singing and displaying. Here, the Nightingale song was complemented by Orphean Warbler. Subalpine Warbler was to be seen in the cistus scrub and Sardinian Warbler in several scrubby habitats.

We saw 140 species in the six days, including more raptors than I have seen anywhere and plenty of bustards, the iconic birds of the plains. Birds hoped for but missed: White Rumped Swift, Black Shouldered Kite, Black Bellied Sandgrouse and lots of other less special species that are to be found in the area. Overall an excellent trip in an area with perhaps the greatest avian diversity in western Europe. If I did it again, I would (a) stay longer – there were many areas we simply had no time to visit; (b) stay at least two nights in the Gredos and in the Monfrague park; (c) get up earlier in the morning!

• Black necked Grebe
• Little Grebe
• Great Crested Grebe
• Cormorant
• Cattle Egret
• Little Egret
• Grey Heron
• Purple Heron
• White Stork
• Black Stork
• Shelduck
• Mallard
• Red Crested Pochard
• Griffon Vulture
• Black Vulture
• Egyptian Vulture
• Golden Eagle
• Spanish Imperial Eagle
• Short toed Eagle
• Booted Eagle
• Bonelli?s Eagle
• Red Kite
• Black Kite
• Marsh Harrier
• Montagu?s Harrier
• Common Buzzard
• Honey Buzzard
• Sparrowhawk
• Kestrel
• Lesser Kestrel
• Hobby
• Red legged Partridge
• Quail
• Moorhen
• Coot
• Crane
• Great Bustard
• Little Bustard
• Black winged Stilt
• Stone Curlew
• Collared Pratincole
• Little Ringed Plover
• Lapwing
• Common Sandpiper
• Black headed Gull
• Little Tern
• Gull billed Tern
• Pin tailed Sandgrouse
• Rock Dove
• Woodpigeon
• Collared Dove
• Turtle Dove
• Cuckoo
• Great Spotted Cuckoo
• Little Owl
• Eagle Owl
• Barn Owl
• Common Swift
• Alpine Swift
• Pallid Swift
• Hoopoe
• Bee-eater
• Rollor
• Green Woodpecker
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Skylark
• Crested Lark
• Thekla Lark
• Woodlark
• Short toed Lark
• Calandra Lark
• Crag Martin
• Sand Martin
• Barn Swallow
• Red rumped Swallow
• House Martin
• Tawny Pipit
• Water Pipit
• White Wagtail
• Yellow Wagtail
• Grey Wagtail
• Wren
• Dunnock
• Robin
• Nightingale
• Bluethroat
• Black Redstart
• Northern Wheatear
• Stonechat
• Blue Rock Thrush
• Mistle Thrush
• Blackbird
• Blackcap
• Orphean Warbler
• Sardinian Warbler
• Whitethroat
• Subalpine Warbler
• Zitting Cisticola
• Cetti?s Warbler
• Great Reed Warbler
• Melodious Warbler
• Bonelli?s Warbler
• Firecrest
• Spotted Flycatcher
• Pied Flycatcher
• Great Tit
• Coal Tit
• Blue Tit
• Long Tailed Tit
• Nuthatch
• Short toed Treecreeper
• Woodchat Shrike
• Southern Grey Shrike
• Azure winged Magpie
• Magpie
• Jay
• Jackdaw
• Chough
• Carrion Crow
• Raven
• Spotless Starling
• Golden Oriole
• House Sparrow
• Spanish Sparrow
• Tree Sparrow
• Rock Sparrow
• Linnet
• Goldfinch
• Greenfinch
• Siskin
• Serin
• Citril Finch
• Chaffinch
• Hawfinch
• Reed Bunting
• Ortolan Bunting
• Cirl Bunting
• Corn Bunting
• Rock Bunting

Renton Righelato

Estonia – Apr 2005

by Dot Lincoln

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

Having accepted the unexpected offer from ?Moonsund Eco? of a free place on a promotional tour of bird reserves in western Estonia, I cannot praise the experience too highly. Apart from the flight , everything was included: accommodation in one fair sized and one small guest house (no ensuite facilities , just a communal sauna ? but organised to be single sex !, all meals with mostly good plain cooking and plenty of it, all transport by minibus, small boat and ferry: our every need was taken care of . The first main day we spent in part of the huge nature reserve at Matsalu Bay on the west coast of the mainland. At various points around the bay there are high metal watch towers left from Russian occupation times, and now used as bird observatories. Struggling up the flights of steep stairs with a scopak on the back and standing exposed in a howling gale at the top was quite something. Although elk, white stork and cranes plus terns and gulls were seen from here, we soon descended to comparative warmth at ground level. The highlight of this day and indeed the whole trip was the small open boat trip through the reedbeds to the not very open sea of the bay where we had superb views of numerous white tailed sea eagles, immatures and adults, swooping and fishing in the sea. There were also close views of Caspian tern, and green sandpiper.. The weather was much like North Norfolk in February and as I was wearing my usual six layers of clothing ? thermal, wool, fleece and windproof etc I did not get cold except at the top of the towers. In better weather and with more time I believe you could spend a whole day going from tower to tower round the enormous bay, but you would have to drive round on the roads as much of the area is inaccessible wetland and protected area.

In the evening we were driven to the ferry port at Hapsalu where there were scaup in the harbour. En route to Hapsalu we saw the flat terrain with fields recently ploughed and waiting for potatoes or carrots to be planted and large grassy areas of hay meadows still brown from the ravages of winter. Hooded crows were evident and white stork nesting on the occasional chimney. The crossing to the large island of Hiiumaa (the whole of which is a protected nature reserve) took one and a half hours across the shallow sea, a distance of about 20 miles. We saw lots of sea duck but had closer views of them all once on the Island. We stayed for three nights in a small guest house hidden in the woods, and in the grounds among the trees I saw siskin, bullfinch, a pair of crossbills and lesser and middle spotted woodpecker. The two days on the island were spent being taken to various bays around the island and walking by the sea and through the coniferous forests. There were flocks of common and velvet scoter, eider duck and innumerable long tailed duck constantly on the move. The sheltered bays revealed Bewick and Whooper swans, also mute swan (a fairly recent addition to this area) and several groups of smew. By rights the swans should have moved on in their migration, but were held up by the strong northerly winds, as were the expected but yet to arrive flocks of waders and warblers. The only waders we saw were a group of about fifty avocets in one bay, and the occasional lapwing and oystercatcher.The final day was taken up with the return drive across the island to the ferry port, the ferry tripand the one hour drive to Tallinn. We had had snow showers the whole of the previous day but the mainland had evidently had more so the landscape looked like fairyland, with snow on the conifers and bare branches of the deciduous trees. A walking tour of the mediaeval old town of Tallinn and a splendid meal in a Russian cellar restaurant completed this excellent trip provided by ?Moonsund Eco? a small enterprise formed to promote nature and landscape conservation. They will provide tailor made trips with guides and accommodation if requested on www.moonsund.ee.

St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly – Oct/Nov 2004

by Renton Righelato

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

29th October – 1st November 2004

After a week of gales from the South and East and a telephone call with Doug Page on St Agnes telling me the island was inundated with birds, I couldn?t resist it. I took the train from Reading on Thursday afternoon only to find the line was washed away at Exeter and near Penzance and there was no e.t.a. So, jumping off at Taunton, the next train back to Reading and into my car for a night ride to Penzance, feeling guilty about carbon emissions, but I had to get there.

By 10 that morning, I was on St Agnes, gasping at Porth Killier beach, bouncing with hundreds of Chiff Chaffs feeding on the weed; hundreds of continental Robins, some with such pale breasts one had to look twice; and dozens of Black Redstarts. Four Waxwings flew by, though no sign of the Pallas?s Warbler Doug had seen on the beach yesterday. But as we walked up to the Lighthouse, there flitting along the hedgerow in the sunshine amongst the Chiffs, that spectacular little bird, all yellow stripes and rump.

This was the biggest fall I can recall in Scilly for many years; there were in excess of 300 Chiffchaffs, 500 Robins and 50 Black Redstarts on St Agnes alone and probably a similar density on the other islands. St Agnes kept me busy though: over the next couple of days the Waxwing numbers grew to at least 12. A stream of the common late migrants, like Redwings, Fieldfares, Brambling, Redpoll, Woodcock, Golden Plover, Snipe, Short-eared Owl, Blackcaps, some late Swallows and a not quite good enough view of a Barred Warbler. On the sea: a Grey Phalarope and parties of Little Gulls inshore and a Great Northern Diver further off.

That weekend Pallid Swifts were being reported all along the eastern seaboard; it had to be only a matter of time before one appeared in Scilly. So I wasn?t surprised when it came on the pager ? Pallid Swift on St Mary?s. However, although visibility and my imagination were good, I just couldn?t see it at 2-3 miles range. Later that afternoon, though, as I was counting finches in a turnip field a swift shot over me, with pale flight feathers and rounded wingtips. Dragging Doug Page from the Liverpool match, we had splendid views on and off until dusk when it went to roost on Castella Down.

On the Monday morning, just before leaving, I stood under the apple trees in the Parsonage garden, with Firecrests and Goldcrests beside me and Waxwings eating the windfalls around my feet ? sadly no camera, but the memories are vivid.

Canada – Jun 2004

by Ray Reedman

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

The last place I had expected to see a Turkey Vulture was over the centre of Montreal, but Mary had spotted one circling in front of our hotel window: it was probably close to the northern edge of its range. Mind you, I hadn’t expect to find a whole colony of Cliff Swallows building nests at the old docks either, but Montreal did produce some unexpectedly good basic birding. Red-winged Blackbirds were displaying in the parks alongside singing American Robins and Common Grackles. Dusky Chimney Swifts and shiny Tree Swallows were overhead. Black-capped Chickadees, Grey Catbirds and Brown Cowbirds graced the Botanical Gardens, where a drake American Wigeon joined some Mallards in a pool. American Crows were on the rooftops, Great Blue Herons flapped overhead and Ring-billed Gulls swirled over the line of the St Lawrence.

Spring came very late to Canada this year, as the wet, untilled fields showed. Travelling by rail to Quebec, it was easy to see Starlings, Grackles and displaying Red-winged Blackbirds along the fence lines. The open fields were dominated by the ubiquitous American Crow: no Rooks and Wood Pigeons, of course, just a few Mourning Doves in the woodland fringes.

We were lucky enough to catch up with a late winter flock of Cedar Waxwings as they stole apple blossom from a suburban garden in Ste Foy. As they did so, resplendent Yellow Warblers and American Goldfinches patrolled their new territories. In another garden, Purple and House Finches, Savannah and Chipping Sparrows were still using the winter feeders – and testing my ornithological French to the limits!

A week later, as we drove through New Brunswick, we came across the first of many Red-tailed Hawks and Ospreys over forest and lakes and saw a mass of Double-crested Cormorants along the St John River. When I spotted a Snipe over a marshy bit it was in the knowledge that this was the American race, but it was gone in a trice. Barn Swallows were arriving and still fairly scarce. Scarcer still were Canada Geese, as we were in the southernmost part of their breeding range: there were just a few pairs dotted along our way, with goslings visibly six weeks behind those back home. But at least these were the real thing! An occasional Belted Kingfisher sat on roadside wires.

A woodland margin in Prince Edward Island produced the first woodpecker, a Northern Flicker. More Yellow Warblers showed up in similar habitat, while the burgeoning deciduous canopy of Anne’s “Haunted Wood” at Green Gables produced spectacular orange and black American Redstarts, as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a Red Squirrel.

The many inlets on the island had more Great Blue Herons, Ospreys and the first Bald Eagle. A solitary pair of Blue-winged Teal was contemplating – rather forlornly, it seemed – a nesting site by a pool where the reeds were still brown and scythed low by a late and severe winter.

The more remote forested area of the island’s northern tip seemed alive with Ravens, while Gannets, Great Black-backed Gulls and the scarcely-smaller American Herring Gulls fed offshore. A trio of Common Eiders was in full breeding plumage.

Next, we drove down into Nova Scotia, where a beautiful pair of Northern Harriers was hawking over a coastal farm. At a quiet rural house outside Truro we had a fleeting visit from an early pair of Ruby-throated Humming-birds, while a neighbour’s feeders hosted a Hairy Woodpecker.

In the lakeside park in Dartmouth, Black Ducks and Mallards were plentiful, but the woodland there swarmed with Black-capped Chickadees that came to the hand to feed, as did the Eastern Chipmunks and Red Squirrels. Blue Jays and American Crows were nearly as bold. But it was the less obvious that I really treasured: a Red-breasted Nuthatch with a jazzy facial pattern; a family of slate-coloured Dark-eyed Juncos feeding in the leaf litter; Song Sparrows singing and feeding in the marginal reeds; an Ovenbird flitting frustratingly and noisily inside dense bushes; finally the nuthatch movements of the spectacular Black-and-white Warbler. Equally memorable were the beautiful Lady’s Slipper Orchids, Nova Scotia’s Provincial flower, that were in full bloom on the forest floor.

The lakes there also attracted a pair or two of Common Loons – our Great Northern Divers – in their incredibly smart black and white summer plumage, as well as Ospreys and Bald Eagles. It was here that we saw a Common Tern, the only tern of the whole trip.

We saw a lot more of the large fishing raptors when we went north to the rugged Cape Breton Island. At Baddeck we watched them patrol the Bras D’Or Lake as we ate our meals. There was also a large breeding colony of Great Cormorants on an island there, this species becoming more prevalent in maritime and more northerly areas.

However, it was the woodland behind our hotel that gave me some of the best moments, with a singing male Blackburnian Warbler, a diminutive Yellow-bellied Flycatcher with a large moth, a foraging male Common Yellowthroat, and the hidden, but distinctive song of the Eastern Wood Pee-wee. American Crows, American Robins, Common Grackles and even Yellow Warblers seemed plentiful there. And the “kronk” of a disturbed Raven was well worth the dusk walks among the helicopter-sized man-eating mosquitoes!

It was while watching the antics of more feeding Gannets off the northeast coast in a chilling north wind that I spotted Bank Swallows – Sand Martins back home – feeding around the cliff edge. Summer was in some evidence after all. Earlier that same day we had seen another winter-style flock of Cedar Waxwings. The seasons were in a true mess! As we toured through the highest part of the Cabot Trail among the Ravens and Red-tailed Hawks, the deep red of the breaking maple leaves contrasted breathtakingly with the bitter greens of new aspen and birch. In the third week of June it was like an English April up there – and there was still reluctant grey snow on the northern slopes!

Was there a particularly memorable moment? I can’t think of many motorway breaks that would produce a Bald Eagle, a pair of balletic Ravens and a Northern Flicker all within a minute. And the one that nearly got away? A Ring-necked Duck that, in a soporific moment, registered in my mind as a Tufty!

Canada is a vast country and the birds can seem to be thinly dispersed. The prime objective of our trip was to visit family and to tour the Eastern Provinces. Birding opportunities were secondary and my bonus was to find birds as we went. It was a great season for such a trip. I can only imagine what I might have found if I had been really trying!

An Arctic trip: Lapland and the Varanger 4-14 June 2004

by Renton Righelato

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

Red-necked Phalaropes at Ekkerøy

Four years ago I went with Finnish friends on a birding trip through Lapland and on to the Varanger fjord. I was so impressed by the range and numbers of birds and by the beautiful arctic light, that this year I arranged a similar trip with a friend new to the arctic. We flew to Helsinki and on to Rovaniemi where we hired a car and stayed initially near Kuusamo in the east of Lapland. Here there is a mixture of bog and birch forest on the low land and ranges of hills with old coniferous forest. It is here that the famous (at least in Finland) Kuusamo bird race is held in mid June. We stayed in a beautifully equipped log cabin on a lake, with a splendid bog a mile away – Cranes, Broad Billed Sandpipers, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and Redshank, Red-necked Phalarope, Dunlin, Snipe etc; on the fringes Little Bunting and Waxwings and in the surrounding birch forest, lots of Capercallie. And all the time, the song of the ubiquitous Wood Sandpiper.

A day’s search of the Valtavaara ridge found Siberian Jay and a singing Greenish Warbler but failed to produce a bird that I had been longing to see, the Red-flanked Bluetail. Fortunately, I had arranged to go out for an evening’s owling with Olli Laminsolla, the organiser of the Kuusamo Bird Club and a professional ornithologist. He showed us Eagle Owl, Hawk Owl and Tengmalm’s Owl at their nest sites. Although the latter two species are not disturbed by people, with Eagle Owl we were much more circumspect, watching from a distance of well over 100 m.

Olli had just heard of a singing Bluetail on a different Ivaara ridge, so rather than go to bed, we continued through the “night”; around 4 am heard the song in a beautiful area of old growth boreal forest and eventually located this spectacular bird perched at the very top of a fir in bright sunshine.

From Kuusamo, which is on the arctic circle in Eastern Lapland, we moved north, in snow and rain, 600 km to the Varanger fjord in the north of Norway, stopping frequently to explore the changing habitats. Reindeer are everywhere; other mammals we saw were arctic hare and arctic fox. The roadside turned up Lapland Buntings and huge numbers of the feldegg (black headed) race of the Yellow Wagtail. In low old birch forest, we saw Siberian Tits and as you go north the Brambling replaces our Chaffinch.

Long-tailed Skua near Ekkerøy

After two days we got to the Varanger; the arctic sea is rich in fish and so full of seabirds and the coastal tundra and willow scrub is rich in breeding waders, skuas and a good many passerines. We stayed in a house on the beach at Ekkerøy, with Eider, King Eider, Goosander and Mergansers offshore, Red-necked Phalaropes swimming in the bay and Red-throated Pipit feeding young in the garden. Bluethroats were almost anywhere there was a bush to nest in, vociferous and prominent, quite unlike the skulking little brown things we see drifted on migration.

We took a boat from Vardø to Hornøya, which has the one of the densest and most diverse seabird colonies I have seen, including five species of auk – Puffin, Common, Brunnich’s and Black Guillemot and Razorbill.

On the tundra, often many kilometres from the sea, Arctic Skuas and Long-tailed Skuas heavily outnumber the Arctic Terns that seem to spend 101% of their time defending themselves. On the deeper pools, Velvet and Common Scoter, Smew and Long-tailed Ducks. In marshy areas, Ruff, Temmincks Stint and, of course, Wood Sandpipers. We were told that there were about 30 White-tailed Eagles around the Varanger and along the beach, close to our house, four of these huge beasts were hanging out.

We missed Rustic Bunting, supposedly numerous but very furtive and with a very short song period, and Steller’s Eider, that had already passed through. In all we had a delightful ten days and 141 species, including many of my favourite birds, two of which are shown below.

by Ted Rogers

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

Our traditional spring time birdwatching trip took five ROC members to the much vaunted birding island of Lesvos. Taking the first available direct flight of the year from Gatwick we landed safely at Mytilini Airport, where we picked up our nine-seater minibus (an ideal vehicle for up to 6 normal sized people or possibly 9 hobbits).

The drive across the island took us to our rented house in Skala Eressos. Most birding visitors to Lesvos choose Skala Kalloni as their location, with its geographically central location and proximity to some of the best known birdwatching sites. Not being inclined to follow the crowd, we chose Skala Eressos as our base (in the North West part of the island) and, as we seemed to be the only birdwatchers staying in the village, we certainly achieved that objective!

Any concerns that we had about Lesvos being overrated as a birdwatching destination or our choice of location ill advised, were soon dispelled on the first morning, when our pre-breakfast walk took us along the sea front to an area where the small local river enters the sea. The reedy river mouth was teeming with birds, warblers included Olivaceous, Reed, Sedge, Great Reed and Cettis and, upstream, waders included Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper and Ruff. Among the reeds we found Little Bittern, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron and a diminutive Little Crake, while, overhead, wheeled Red Rumped Swallows, Martins and Alpine Swifts. With other obvious migrants like Golden Oriole, Grey-Headed Wagtail and Spotted Flycatcher it would be fair to say that the week started with a bang! After a pause for a late breakfast (time had rather flown when we had been having fun!) we headed inland into the surrounding hills, where a rough track added other delights like Cretzchmars Bunting, Crag Martin, Sombre Tit, Masked Shrike, Woodchat, Subalpine Warbler, Raven, Long-Legged Buzzard and Lanner Falcon. We finally retraced our steps (thoroughly satisfied) to Skala Eressos for an excellent meal (and a small sampling of local wine).

On day two we stuck with our policy of finding our own birds in the local area and headed off for a morning walk around a local hill known as Sappho?s Mound which gave us our first Lesser Grey Shrike, Beeeaters, Rock Nuthatch and Chukkar. The afternoon was spent in the hills above Eressos mainly in search of the ?must see? Cinereous Bunting, which gave themselves away by their simple song delivered from prominent rocks. As we scanned the surrounding mountain side a purple patch of raptor activity provided Short Toed, Bonelli?s and Booted Eagles before we headed back down to the minibus parked at the edge of the village. A movement in the local orchard showed that, at migration time on Lesvos no bushes or trees should go unchecked, as some careful searching turned up a number of Wood Warblers, an Icterine Warbler and several Spotted Flycatchers and then, a truly stunning male Collared Flycatcher.

The rest of the week was spent visiting the more famous (in birdwatching circles at least) areas around the island. The birding didn?t disappoint, with views of terns (including White Winged Black), Glossy Ibis, Slender Billed Gull, Rufous Bush Chat and Tawny and Red Throated Pipits around the Kalloni Salt Pans; Kruupers Nuthatch and Firecrest at Achladeri; Isabelline Wheatears, Roller and countless Red Backed Shrikes on the way to Sigra; Black Kite at Ipsolou Monastery and numerous Lesser Kestrels near Sigra, to name but a few.

As always, we didn?t see all the species that we would have liked, both Red Footed Falcon and Pratincoles evaded us, not to mention Olive Tree Warbler and Scops Owl (I said not to mention them!). Also, the weather, which had been fine all week, broke on the penultimate day, but we all thoroughly enjoyed our week on this lovely island. Would I say that Lesvos is overrated? I would say definitely not and also don?t feel that Kalloni is the only area worth visiting.

Sardinia – May 2004

by Colin Wilson

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

Alghero from the Promenade

I went with my wife and another couple to Alghero, a Ryanair destination, for a long weekend. It wasn’t a birdwatching trip but who can resist packing the binoculars!

Around Alghero, a nice old town with lots of restaurants and cafes, generally reasonably priced, the birdlife was limited but the surrounding seashore contained Shag and Yellow-legged Gulls. The highlight was the Swifts, hundreds of them and at night they filled the sky with their screaming. The other bird of the town was the Spanish Sparrow, very common everywhere.

Our hotel, the Angedras was ten minutes walk from the town and breakfast on the terrace allowed House Martins and Collared Doves to be added to the list, with more Sparrows! From our balcony, Serin was heard continuously and Greenfinch. Spotless Starlings were also observed here.

The town is small and only occupied us for a day so we hired a car and headed for Capo Caccia, a headland with a lighthouse and Neptune’s caves, a tourist attraction beneath it. A brief stop to run down the 653 steps to the caves and back up, and then take oxygen for a few minutes was a very productive birding experience! From the steps the views of bird filled cliffs – Yellow-Legged Gulls at close range with lovely photo opportunities of them amongst flower strewn ledges, and the sound of Alpine Swifts twittering overhead was enjoyable. Once back on top and recovering a Peregrine flew past with an unfortunate bird in its claws, possibly one of the many Crag Martins feeding around the rocks.

A view from Monteleone

On the hillsides Sardinian Warblers were evident and Linnets in brilliant summer plumage. Most enjoyable was a Blue Rock Thrush enjoying the sunshine and working back and forth giving great views.

We moved on to places North and on route found plenty of Bee-eaters, Kestrels and numerous interesting birds we didn’t stop for. Close to Stintino the furthest point North we visited a good marshland area was found but we had no time to stop and a Common tern (probably) was all we could note.

The following morning, leaving wives in bed, we ventured out at 6am and, in somewhat dank conditions found a marshy area between Alghero and the airport. Our list included Cetti’s, Nightingale, Zitting Cisticola, Little Egret, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Stonechat.

A donkey enjoys spring flowers on the road to Bosa

After breakfast, we headed South along a beautiful coast road to Bosa. Stopping on the way we saw Buzzard and Griffon’s Vulture in good numbers and the whole area was worthy of exploring further. During the afternoon a stop in the hills at Monteleone (see picture) provided more sightings of Blue Rock Thrush and Woodlark. This latter bird seemed to be singing in lots of places in the countryside and was a delight.

All in all I think Sardinia is an island worth exploring further. It is interesting because many of the Field Guides show holes in the bird populations and species like Lesser Whitethroat, Nuthatch, Olivaceous Warbler and Dipper don’t appear there at all. Redstart, Whitethroat and Meadow and Tree Pipits only pass through. The habitat in the North looked good and it is quite a substantial island where there are lots of wild areas offering more potential. If you get the chance, I recommend you go birding there and see what you can find – the island is nice enough even if it you don’t find massive rarities.

Danube Delta – 16-17 May 2004

by Renton Righelato

A copy of the text of this report is available to download here.

In mid May, I had a business meeting in Bucharest on to which I managed to add a couple of days to visit the Romanian part of delta of the Danube. It is a huge area, the biggest wetland in Europe, and not easy to access without a guide. So I made contact with Dragos Onciulenciu who runs a fishing and bird-watching tour business in the Delta and arranged to spend a couple of days based on his “floating hotel”, moored near Tulcea. I was the only guest, lavishly entertained by Dragos on what turned out to be a converted prison hulk that predated even Ceaucescu. The conversion was actually quite good, with the exception of the narrow board beds, and the site, in a quiet spot on the St Georges Channel, was lovely.

The Delta is huge and it takes at least a week to see it properly. I had a day and a half, so I planned an itinerary with Dragos to see the birds I was most interested in – my key targets were Slender-billed Gull and Paddyfield Warbler. Wherever we went, Lesser Grey Shrikes, Rollers, Bee-eaters covered telephone wires and any other suitable perch; Red Footed Falcons outnumbered kestrels. Herons were ubiquitous: I saw Grey, Purple, Night, Squacco, Little Egret, Great White Egret, Bittern, Little Bittern; and White Storks were as tame as Robins.

We took off first around the southern side of the Delta, to an area of lagoon which White and the rather dirty Dalmation Pelicans frequent. They were ther, but more importantly, in the reeds with a Marsh Warbler-like song, were several Paddyfield Warblers; much more distinct than the field guides would have you believe, with their capped appearance, sandy bodies and long tails.

A few kilometres further, beside a derelict shoe factory (post Ceaucescu much of the manufacturing economy collapsed, leaving derelict factories and towns full of unemployed people), in what was probably an old waste water reservoir, were hundreds of Black Headed and Mediterranean Gulls breeding and standing out among them a few giraffe-like, Slender Billed Gulls! Great! Ticks ticked, I could go on and enjoy the hundreds of Collared Pratincoles mobbing me, the Black-winged Stilts, Black, Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns and many of the other birds of southern European marshes. In scrub a little inland, singing Barred Warblers took me by surprise and it was a delight to see plentiful Red Backed Shrikes.

In my day and a half, I saw some 120 species and there were around 120 more species that I would probably have seen if I had spent a week there and done the area properly.

Although it is internationally recognised as a habitat of global importance, this is an area under threat. Much of the Romanian part of the old Delta is privately owned (by powerful establishment figures) and is gradually being eroded by development (the growing part of the delta is in the Ukraine whose environmental credentials I know nothing of). Hunting and fishing are major businesses in Romania – I was told that the Prime Minister is also President of the Hunting association – and so I was disturbed to find the carcass of a White-tailed Eagle on a beach in my wanderings, cause of death unknown (we collected it to take to the Biosphere Reserve’s laboratory).

Although there was much I found difficult to accept in the country – all the Romanians I spoke to complained of the corruption, there is clearly a lot of racial intolerance, there are gross and growing inequalities in wealth and the central plain is a hedge-less agricultural desert – the Delta and the forests are still spectacular and I would love to spend enough time to see them properly.

For anyone interested in seeing the Danube Delta properly, Dragos has sent me a proposal for a week tour for a small group (no more than 10), using in his ship hotel as a base for going around the area; best time May to mid June. Contact me if you are interested.