Author: Jamie Partridge

Now that there is just about ample light in the mornings and since the 1st of March the gates have been opening from 7am (to strictly permit holders ONLY i should add)  I endeavoured my first pre-work walk around the patch of the year.  I met David Bradshaw and we walked round the lockwood. The Knot was still there, as was a Redshank, 6 Lapwings, 3 Jackdaws and 2 Meadow Pipits all flew north and a Stonechat was in an unusual spot, surely some movement.

I had just enough time to have a look for the Little Bunting and check the low levels of the East Warwick and in doing so passed the large Linnet flock, a quick scan and I briefly had the partially obscured flanks, primaries and rump of what was surely the Serin! (found more than 3 weeks earlier and not seen since, forgive me i don’t know the name of the finder).  2 minutes later and it was perched out showing the face pattern, bill and overall vibes for David and I to see in one of the bare willows. It stayed distant but David saw it again after i left followed but no sign all day after that.  Perhaps its an early morning thing but I will have another look tomorrow. Another new bird for the site, madness…

The London Wiki page says that the Little Bunting was seen again, as was the Scaup. Whats going on, all these birds on my patch, a patch which i’ve cursed (lots) and Loved (a few times) over the years. Bloody place

My weekends continue to deliver a mix of nice London finds and excellent birds twitched. Another excellent weekend with a mix of a couple of local surprises and a successful twitch in nice surroundings.  A fruitless check of Crayford (despite high numbers of gulls) was followed by a walk up and down Creekmouth. The below Juv Iceland Gull flew down the Roding and out onto the exposed mud at low tide.

I’m not sure if ts the bird from Crayford and I’d like tho think with this current situation in the country that there are more than one or two Icelands in the area.   The all too familiar large gull ‘raptor’ call alerted me to this 2cy Marsh Harrier . Missing a primary or two but seemed to be doing ok, Both birds were new for that area for me!

After a 5am rise on the Sunday, Rich B, a ridiculously dressed Dante and I headed down to see the adult Ross’ Gull on the south coast. A bird i’ve always wanted to see and after an unlucky miss of the bird on the mud at Ferrybridge we got good views of it at Radipole Lake. I think this species is the perfect small gull, all the features get me going, my pics don’t quite do it justice. A new gull species for me. Nice to catch up with a few people and meet some new! Condolences to old Filby who had his massive Swarro scope robbed, Urban birding…

After this we headed for the long staying Stilt Sandpiper currently at Stanpit (thanks Chris Ball for gen) and enjoyed scope views of it feeding across the inlet, flying about abit too, another new species and a wader i’ve wanted to see for some time. The below adult Mediterranean Gull was nice to take in too.

After that we were in the hide at Blashford Lakes for the gull roost where we saw the Ring Billed Gull, a nice 2nd w Caspian that rich pulled out and the bird that many are calling a Thayer’s Gull. With NO field experince of Thayers anywhere I’m not the person to make the call on it but it doesnt sit well with what I do know about the species and does resemble Herring Gulls that ive seen in the past. Not to disrespect the finder and thats all i can say really. No pics from this part of the day and to be honest i struggled with this way of viewing gulls as its miles (litterally) from how I like to study Gulls. Big thanks to Richard Bonser for driving and being sound whe it came to my Mcdonalds ordeal…

 

The London Bird Wiki page said that Sean Huggins had had  a good day at Creekmouth with an Adult Caspian and a possible Siberian Chiffchaff as the highlights, so the following Day Dante and I headed down to try and mop up that lot and any extras. The, presumed same Siberian Chiffchaff was one of the first birds I got my bins on properly and showed well on our first encounter. It was amoung 25+ Collybita Chiffchaffs.

Looking different in all lighting conditions as per: monotone and brown in the bright light and nice and contrasty with all the right tones in the right paces in the flatter dull light. (rusty ear coverts, green in the retrices and remiges , nice grey neck sides etc) the left hand ear coverts starting to moult and some body moult perhaps too on the left flank, this would be a little early but a decent indicator of Tristis which delay their moult until early spring. I didnt definitely hear it call, but will probably see it again and who knows, a bit of sun might coax some song out of it)

Next stop was abit of a fence hopper near Gallions Reach and an unexpected pinging in the reeds was of course the below Male Bearded Tit.  Great bird.

A last chance saloon check of the O2 and Thames Barrier park was made.  Very few large gulls at all and as I scanned the birds towards the shore Dante casually says “Adult Ring-Billed Gull” and there it was 4 metres in front of us among the common and black headed gulls!

After 15 mins of it just sitting in front of us and some brief flying about it flew east never to be seen again. It has quite a unique primary pattern so perhaps will be picked up again. However from tweets and correspondance from people along the south coast there is a movement of Common Gulls eastwards currently so perhaps is caught up in that.

A very Scarce bird in the South East of England and glad for Dante for finding. A decent day for finds and another weekend with scarce birds involved in london, 2018 going nicely so far.

 

 

The Little Bunting continues to show in its usual spot, Ive been back a couple of mornings in an attempt to see/photograph it better. These were my best attempts on tuesday.

Rich, Dante and I went for the Staines Horned Lark this morning. I cant believe i didn’t consider going before, What a great bird and showing some really beautiful tones that you just don’t see on many birds in this part of the world.  The rufous burgundy about the breast sides flanks and rump – beautiful.

Below looking different in warmer light. It flew about and called abit too.

It was then 2 Yellow legged Gulls at Crayford and not much else followed by some Common gulls at Wanstead. This untimely Juvenile plumaged bird was the highlight.

 

A last minute decision to check the gulls at the tip this afternoon and I got lucky. The first bird I saw even before I had got my bins and Camera out was this juv Glaucous Gull.

Unbelievable really, it’s just one day under a year since I saw one here on Jan 29th 2017 and before that there hadn’t been one for 20 odd years! Photography and views through a tight linked fence but not the worst in the world.

A cat and a grey heron turned up just as i snuck inside the fencing, the combination of all that flushed the birds. Below is a shot of the rubbish pile itself, not exactly pitsea land fill but still attracts the birds. 

On Friday 19th of January Paul W and David B quite brilliantly found a Little Bunting on the patch. Its the first record for the site and the 11th for London. Very Well done boys.

(Poor pics on this post everything was far away and the crappy light.) Dante and I got there first thing on Saturday. Its a spot with wildflowers seeded last spring that have gone over for winter but present good feeding opportunities for Reed buntings, Chaffinch linnets etc. They occasionally fly up out of cover into the Elder and Buddleia and this is where most people are seeing the Little Bunting. However Dante picked it out feeing on the mud away from the small crowd of 20 or so birders. If it hadn’t have been raining so hard id have had my camera out and you’d now be looking at some decent photos but the below shot will have to do. This was taken today when Dante and I came back with Rich for seconds.  We also heard the bird calling quite abit which was nice. 

Before the bunting today we called in at Crayford. with ‘our’ section of the Thames being so poor Rich has been checking this site more often and theres been a few nice Caspian Gulls as well a Juv Iceland Gull.

I like Gull sites like this, and don’t mind the distance, sites where the birds are feeding and then flying off to bathe and loaf with lots of turn over are great, the sound is much more exciting too lots of calling and feels like you could find something really decent. 

 

With a lack of Caspian Gulls on our part of the I thought I’d share these pics of a rather nice Caspian Gull from last weekend with old @Beachybirder.  I’m pretty sure it was Martin C, Rich, Dante and Josh who were the first to have this bird by the fishing boats mid December and its still there now, eager to be at the front of the bread queue.  It was the only casp we saw that day but Glaucous, Iceland, Yellow–Legged, Mediterranean, Kittiwake and the usuals put gull species day-count at 11.

Another work trip, this time fiddling with some Art at Venice Biennale. I had the odd hour during lunch or before work to spend some time photographing local larids. This post, inspired by one of my favourite of Chris Gibbins blog posts from a few years back, will hopefully be just as helpful as a reference point and display of variation within Yellow Legged Gulls as post in the link was for me with Caspian Gulls. Dont give a shit about gulls??? Fear not you can scroll right down to the bottom and there are some Black Redstarts and Black-Necked Grebes thrown in too!

Just a load of images really, showing variation throughout the plumage tracts and structures of these first winter birds. You’ll notice some birds with no replaced wing coverts, showing that it really can be 0-100% of coverts included in the post juvenile moult.

The next bird showing a ‘softer focus’ scapular pattern – closer to that of Caspian.

Folowed by a really grainy contrasty 2nd generation scapular and covert pattern.

The below birds 2nd generation coverts are taking on the adult grey.

The bird behind the first winter here looks quite Caspian like in this shot, the following image shows 2nd winter Yellow Leg, bit of a Caspy looking one in my opinion.

The following pale bird had me thinking I’d found a Herring gull there for a moment, Ive never seen a YLG with such a soft/delicate scapular pattern. The covert moult and tail pattern rule out Herring for me but certainly not how I like my Yellow legs! I think fading and wear are at play here. Note the funny pattern on the replaced central tail feather.

This spread wing and tail shot nicely segways into some tail pattern variation.

Another little anomaly that I noticed were 2(!) 2nd winter Yelow Legs with a faint p10 mirror. The holy texts say this is extremely rare and really only a Caspian / sometimes argentatus feature. Just goes to show- its never one feature alone with gulls!.

Not a yellow-Legged gull i know but a second winter Med Gull with a particularly lovely primary pattern.

I couldn’t not post this. A great looking adult, pretty much all of the adults I was seeing had this slightly larger white tips to the primaries than i’ve traditionally expected. Looks amazing though! Some with complete white tip to p10.

Thats probably going to be more of less it from me regarding Yellow-Legged Gulls untill the 2nd winter birds begin getting saturated bills and eye rings around March…Love that!

There was abit of waiting around during the day so just outside where i was working I could see multiple Black Redstarts feeding on the berries of a huge Virginia Creeper growing in a little courtyard. There were up to 11 birds at one point, all different ages/sexes, almost like a tit flock they would come and go during the day.

The following bird seems to be a first winter Male, note the moult contrast across the greater coverts, the new black shiny inner feathers contrasting with the browner juvenile outer feathers,also all median coverts are new. The face pattern is coming in and more of the wing is second generation. It seems more advanced than they often are at this age in the uk. Probably (similar to gulls) as they’re born earlier than birds from northern/central Europe. therefore have longer to develop.

One last thing. Venice is full of Black-necked grebes, must have seen 100’s from boat trips to and from the airport

 

 

I was debating on whether or not to organise the birds in this post taxonomically or not . However if I were to do so the first 20 or so photos would depict a load of scruffy eastern Gulls, so to keep peoples attention I thought id just write in whatever order they pop into my head.

12 Days away with work and a lot of spare time in the mornings and late afternoons. Birds were concentrated into any ‘green’ space, with a racecourse and a golf course being the best areas in the city.

Most birding was done on Abu Dhabi island itself however a day trip out with Abu Dhabi resident Oscar Campbell into much more remote and spectacular habitat was a better reflection of the regions avi fauna.

Wheatears were abundant and performative. Six species seen during the trip the most abundant were Isabelline and Desert…

Isabelline Wheatears (above) and Desert Wheatears (below)

In refernce to Desert Wheatears, I remembered reading that Asian Desert Warblers have a habit of ‘tailing’ Desert Wheatears and funnily enough I found one of these handsome sylvids doing exactly that!

Both Red-tailed and a female Variable Wheatear were on a private site with no photogrpahy, which is a shame as they were all fantastic and very unfamiliar.  Perhaps the rarest for the region Was a Northern Wheatear (below) that i ran into on the Sadyaat Beech golf course (apparently only one or two get recorded on passage each autumn on Abu Dhabi island.)

My personal Favourite of the trip, however were Hume’s Wheatear, with a couple of birds seen in the more remote areas visited, those glossy black upper parts head and wings looked amazing in the bright light.

Shrikes were fairly widespread and at time tricky, its taken me a while to get my head round them infact. Durian were the most common on the whole. Turkestan Shrikes usually come through in numbers earlier than my dates but a few  were noted: the first 3 images below are ad female Turkestan followed by a 1w Turkestan – note the white underparts that contrast greatly with the warm brown uppers.

Below a 1w and 2cy + Daurian Shrikes. Although it has taken a while to get my head round them a key seems to be the buff underparts and less contrast with upperparts (Daurian) as well as buff super as opposed to the whitish super of Turkestan.

 

Steppe (above) and Southern (below) Grey Shrikes were also seen and heard in most places

five species of Lark were noted with Crested the most populous.

A Hoopoe Lark was a notable record for the island itself in Autumn and looked incredible on the Golf course, giving an idea of what one would look like if it turned up on a British south coast Golf course. This was actually one of the most amazing birds I’ve ever seen, didn’t expect to go so bonkers over it before seeing it but it blew my mind.

Saw a couple of Short-toed larks (below) between the racecourse and the Golf course as well as hearing mostly the odd flighty Skylark .

Desert Larks were seen high up in the Wadi’s (dry mountain riover beds) in groups of up to 15 birds. excellently camouflaged with their subtle ‘Chup’ or ‘Chilp’ (as i noted) calls giving them away

On this Occasion The Desert Larks were sharing the dry mountain habitat with a singing Southern Grey shrike,  Plain Leaf Warbler and Scrub warbler as well as a handful of Striolated Buntings

Another abundant group of birds were pipits. With Tawny and (Coutelli) water pipits the most abundant although there were large numbers of Red throated Pipits on the golf course rough areas, they shared this habitat with about 6/7 Richard’s Pipits which remained difficult to photograph on the deck!

Richard’s Pipit and Tawny Pipits (Below)

Red Throated Pipits (below)

White Wagtails were predictably the most common Wagtails, most were stunningly crisp, with totally white flanks and more extensively white tipped Greater Coverts, I half arsedly assumed these birds to be eastern Alba, with reference to geography too i should add.

also in small numbers (perhaps 4 seen over the trip) were the subspecies Masked wagtail (below) Moticilla Alba personata, 

Both Yellow (above) and Citrine (below) Wagtails were present on the Golf Course, often calling one after another which was useful. In terms of yellow apparently Thunbergi are the most common on spring passage but good Beema and Feldegg also fairly regular… I also found a first for the UAE follow this for details.

Laughing Doves were everywhere…

Little Green Bee eaters were perched around most half built buildings…

As were Pale Crag Martins…

Lawns and roadside turfed areas usually had a Hoopoe or two about…

This Lesser Kestrel was apparently late for the region and shows much more grey/blue in the coverts than the western-most populations. as well as being perhaps a shade darker about the head and underparts. Certainly not to the extent of ‘Pekinsis’ but surely from somewhere more easterly. Interesting bird

Mushrif Palace Gardens are a well known wintering site for Oriental Honey Buzzard, 2 birds were seen around the site including a bird i accidentally flushed off the deck. The below adult female gave close views.

I also wanted to include a shot of it higher up to reference more regular views of large birds of prey. Quite distinctive, but still ‘Honey-ish’ although noticeable more eagle-like in active flight

Other Raptors included many Marsh Harriers seen almost anywhere, Ospreys similar, Common Kestrels and a both an adult and a Juv Greater-Spotted Eagle, seen in poor light although fairly close, circling with Marsh Harriers pre roost at a mangrove site near Dubai…

…This last site held a great number of herons etc fishing in an outfall. Grey, Purple, aswell as Great, western Reef  (below) and Little were abundant. Glossy Ibis too in a 30+ strong flock.

I didn’t spend lots of time looking for waders as the better sites for them were harder to get to and to tidally dependant for my time but a quick trip with Oscar to so e habitat one evening produced things like Black winged stilts, Lesser Sand and Kentish Plover (both pictured below) of interest.

The golf course had the odd Little stint and Curlew Sandpiper as well as many Stilts, Greenshank and Redshank , and of course the numerous Red-Wattled Lapwings as well as things like the below Temminck’s Stint, But wasn’t the best or most flattering place to photograph shorebirds. Update! I was reminded today how I didn’t mention Crab Plover in this post, Well we saw a good number of them in one tidal mangrove site, Great birds, how could i have forgotten!

A walk along the edghe of a large mangrove site in Abu Dhabi was poorly timed oin terms of the tide, with hopes of a close Terek/Marsh Sandpiper or similar crushed i made do with this greenshank and Whimbrel.

The waterways and coast line were patrolled by the odd Caspian Tern, heres a terrorfying looking adult.

Gull–Billed, Saunders and both Lesser and Greater–Crested terns were also seen. The latter two at a site Oscar and I visited together, were 5 arctic Skuas were briefly seen harrasing Greater–Cresteds also a small party of Red Necked Phaleropes.

Lesser and Greater Crested Terns

Greater-Crested Terns

This site also revealed a single adult Sooty Gull, a Gull Tick!

This gets us onto the gulls nicely. The go to species in the UAE is Steppe Gull – Larus Cachinanns Barabensis – totally similar 1st win plumage to Caspian Gull,”best ID’d on structure at this age”. being thicker legged, more horizontal stance , shorter thicker bill etc. Other ages relatively easy due to mantle tone and emerging primary pattern etc heres some examples in ascending order of age.

Heuglins Gulls were probably the next most numerous, 1cy birds being further behind in terms of moult, with the below bird almost complelty Juvenile plumage.

and here’s a second winter Steppe alongside a similary aged Hueglins

With a smaller number of Caspian Gulls present

Theres lots ive missed out through just wanting to get the post over with but I’d love to go again. Many Many thanks to Oscar Campbell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LP and I thought we would visit Dunge on a mid November day. At a glance around the fish hut and roosts visible from the road Gull numbers seemed low, however once out at the boats themselves the high tide had concentrated a group of loafing birds on the shore and a near by incoming fishing boat was good for turn over.  The first Caspian Gull of the day was this 2cy, pretty much one of the first birds I laid eyes on as we approached.

After much bread throwing and the fact that the fishing boat was now being pulled ashore rather than gutting, numbers on the beach grew, however the next Caspian gull was picked up much further out at sea flying towards the group – another 2cy,

Both birds showing one of my favourite features – P10 mirror on a second winter- just one of a list of things that make Caspian Gulls the best large white headed gull out there!  The below 1cy Yellow-legged Gull was also present on the beach.

Later we sat in the hides on the RSPB reserve and another 2 YLGs were seen aswell as one beautiful and one strange 1cy winter caspian Gulls although too distant for decent photography. The strange bird looked good enough on the deck but in flight had a bang on Herring gull tail pattern – odd.