These birds are fairly dark-looking and what I would think of as typical for Rock Pipit (the last six are probably same bird).
This bird is perhaps a little paler:
... and this bird was particularly pale:
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Whitburn Steel pipits.
I went looking for the Water Pipit recently reported from Whitburn Steel. I did see the Water Pipit but, as can often be the case with the most interesting birds, it gave only brief views and flew off before I could photograph it. I got lots of Rock Pipit photos though. Here are a few which illustrate the variable appearance of these birds (and in the sunlight - none of them had dark legs!):
These birds are fairly dark-looking and what I would think of as typical for Rock Pipit (the last six are probably same bird).
This bird is perhaps a little paler:
... and this bird was particularly pale:
These birds are fairly dark-looking and what I would think of as typical for Rock Pipit (the last six are probably same bird).
This bird is perhaps a little paler:
... and this bird was particularly pale:
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Happy New Year
I found a Great Northern Diver at Sunderland South Dock on New Year's day. Some of us had been musing that this was a good potential site for divers to turn up, so it was nice to see a prediction come true.
On the same day, there was a remarkable southward passage of Skylarks. I counted 2610 in 70 minutes over the docks. The movement was most noticeable between the heavy snow showers but they kept coming no matter what, in flocks of up to 200 birds.
The accepted explanation for this appears to be that, in cold weather, birds move towards the coast and south.
Today there were much fewer Skylarks on the move but I did have a fly-over Snow Bunting and I managed to get a video of the Great Northern Diver using my new camcorder. This was taken at 70 x zoom and so the quality isn't too bad considering!
On the same day, there was a remarkable southward passage of Skylarks. I counted 2610 in 70 minutes over the docks. The movement was most noticeable between the heavy snow showers but they kept coming no matter what, in flocks of up to 200 birds.
The accepted explanation for this appears to be that, in cold weather, birds move towards the coast and south.
Today there were much fewer Skylarks on the move but I did have a fly-over Snow Bunting and I managed to get a video of the Great Northern Diver using my new camcorder. This was taken at 70 x zoom and so the quality isn't too bad considering!
Sunday, 29 November 2009
A Fantastic Winter Seawatch!
Mark phoned me on Friday and told me I might want to go seawatching on Sunday. How glad am I that I took his advice!
This was one of the best seawatches I have had. The wind was North-Westerly, force 6-7 and there were regular, torrential downpours - apart from that it was lovely!!
Almost all of the birds we saw were going North, into the wind, as seems to be the norm here. The theory is, at least after a strong northerly blow, that birds are returning North, having been pushed South by the wind. However on days like today, the birds are heading North before the wind has died down. Perhaps they drift South on the sea overnight, then feel they have to re-orient themselves the next day, regardless of how horrible the weather is!
The obvious highlights are indicated in blue below, but saying that we had 3 diver species, 3 skua species, 2 shearwater species, 2 petrel species, 4 auk species (without puffin!) and 11 duck species illustrates just how good it was today!!
Red-throated Diver 5N 6S
Black-throated Diver 1N
Great Northern Diver 4N
Manx Shearwater 2N
Balearic Shearwater 1N
Fulmar 230 N
"blue" Fulmar 1N
Leach's Petrel 1N
Storm Petrel 1N
Gannet 70N
Eider 11N 14S
Common Scoter 254N 12S
Velvet Scoter 2N
Long-tailed Duck 4N
Gadwall 2N
Wigeon 9N
Teal 19N 1S
Pochard 4N
Goldeneye 4N 1S
Red-breasted Merganser 10N 6S
Shoveller 2N
Grey Plover 11N
Bar-tailed Godwit 9N
Purple Sandpiper 4N
Snipe 1N
Bonxie 12N 1S
Pomarine Skua 1N
Arctic Skua 1N
Little Gull 8N
argentatus Herring Gull 2N
Kittiwake 2700+N
Black Guillemot 1N
Little Auk 2N
This was one of the best seawatches I have had. The wind was North-Westerly, force 6-7 and there were regular, torrential downpours - apart from that it was lovely!!
Almost all of the birds we saw were going North, into the wind, as seems to be the norm here. The theory is, at least after a strong northerly blow, that birds are returning North, having been pushed South by the wind. However on days like today, the birds are heading North before the wind has died down. Perhaps they drift South on the sea overnight, then feel they have to re-orient themselves the next day, regardless of how horrible the weather is!
The obvious highlights are indicated in blue below, but saying that we had 3 diver species, 3 skua species, 2 shearwater species, 2 petrel species, 4 auk species (without puffin!) and 11 duck species illustrates just how good it was today!!
Red-throated Diver 5N 6S
Black-throated Diver 1N
Great Northern Diver 4N
Manx Shearwater 2N
Balearic Shearwater 1N
Fulmar 230 N
"blue" Fulmar 1N
Leach's Petrel 1N
Storm Petrel 1N
Gannet 70N
Eider 11N 14S
Common Scoter 254N 12S
Velvet Scoter 2N
Long-tailed Duck 4N
Gadwall 2N
Wigeon 9N
Teal 19N 1S
Pochard 4N
Goldeneye 4N 1S
Red-breasted Merganser 10N 6S
Shoveller 2N
Grey Plover 11N
Bar-tailed Godwit 9N
Purple Sandpiper 4N
Snipe 1N
Bonxie 12N 1S
Pomarine Skua 1N
Arctic Skua 1N
Little Gull 8N
argentatus Herring Gull 2N
Kittiwake 2700+N
Black Guillemot 1N
Little Auk 2N
Saturday, 28 November 2009
More camera testing
This new dSLR has a video or "live view" mode. It really doesn't allow great results when hand-held, especially with the long lens on. However perhaps it might be useful for capturing fly-pasts during seawatching from a tripod. Here's a first attempt from the tripod - things can only get better!
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Testing a new camera!
After a recent trip to Spain with Oliva Rama Tours to look for Iberian Wolf (we saw 2 between us!) my camera was stolen from my checked in luggage!
It was a fantastic trip with Iberian Wolf, Wild Boar, 300+ Great Bustards, 3 Little Bustards, 5 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, 3 Black-shouldered Kites etc. etc. etc. but I have no photos to show here. My memory card was in the camera - so there's a lesson - take your card out of the camera and put it safe on the way home!
Anyway, I already have my replacement camera from the insurance and it's a Nikon D90 - a slightly more modern model. So I took it out for a test drive today.
Here are one or two photos from Herrington Country Park:
Black-headed Gull
"nordic" Jackdaw
"nordic" Jackdaw with Jackdaw behind
Moorhen
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Found List
Seawatching has been a bit frustrating at Whitburn recently, at least in comparison with previous years. Seemingly permanent Westerlies finally started to have a hint of Northerly in them in the last three days.
Today looked like it had some promise early on - Kittiwakes seemed to be coming past with much more speed and purpose and large numbers of very distant Manx Shearwaters were bombing through.
Bird of the morning was a juvenile Sabines Gull - poor distant views as it was only picked up having almost passed us to the north. It was a landmark for me though seeing as it was a "find tick". Sabine's Gull is a species I have always wanted to find - ever since I started reading Heinzel, Fitter and Parslow 25 years ago!
So, my "found list" is the number of species I have found in the UK, for myself (or at east as part of a group having made a contribution to the finding) using punkbirder rules – and it is now at 263.
To be honest it is the only birding "list" I really care about - I get a thrill from discovering a bird for myself or discovering a bird with friend(s).
263 is not a great total but it's not terrible either. Here are the "easiest" species I have never found in the UK.
Today looked like it had some promise early on - Kittiwakes seemed to be coming past with much more speed and purpose and large numbers of very distant Manx Shearwaters were bombing through.
Bird of the morning was a juvenile Sabines Gull - poor distant views as it was only picked up having almost passed us to the north. It was a landmark for me though seeing as it was a "find tick". Sabine's Gull is a species I have always wanted to find - ever since I started reading Heinzel, Fitter and Parslow 25 years ago!
So, my "found list" is the number of species I have found in the UK, for myself (or at east as part of a group having made a contribution to the finding) using punkbirder rules – and it is now at 263.
To be honest it is the only birding "list" I really care about - I get a thrill from discovering a bird for myself or discovering a bird with friend(s).
263 is not a great total but it's not terrible either. Here are the "easiest" species I have never found in the UK.
- Common Crane
- Scarlet Rosefinch
- Rough-legged Buzzard
- Subalpine Warbler
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Red-footed Falcon
- Dusky Warbler
- Rustic Bunting
- Alpine Swift
- Marsh Warbler
- Ortolan
- Woodchat Shrike
- Short-toed Lark
- Hoopoe
- White Stork
- Desert Wheatear
- Bee-eater
- Green-winged Teal
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper
- Red-rumped Swallow
- American Wigeon
- Ring-necked Duck
- Great White Egret
- Corncrake
- Golden Oriole
- Kentish Plover
- Hume's Warbler
- Olive-backed Pipit
- Lesser Scaup
- Ring-billed Gull
- Tawny Pipit
- White-billed Diver
- Serin
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Booted Warbler
- Blyth's Reed Warbler
- American Golden Plover
- Arctic Redpoll
- Thrush Nightingale
- White-winged Black Tern
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Lesser Grey Shrike
- Marsh Sandpiper
- Pied Wheatear
- Blue-winged Teal
- Night Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Wilson's Phalarope
- Glossy Ibis
- Stone Curlew
- Ferruginous Duck
- Great Spotted Cuckoo
- Squacco Heron
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Snow Goose
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Desert Warbler
- Isabelline Wheatear
- Ruddy Shelduck
- Bonelli's Warbler
- Ross's Gull
- Red-flanked Bluetail
- Isabelline Shrike
- Sardinian Warbler
- Great Reed Warbler
- Boneparte's Gull
- Lanceolated Warbler
- Spotted Crake
- Pallid Harrier
- Citrine Wagtail
- Black Stork
- King Eider
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