The
only changes of note on a disappointingly chilly day were the
appearance of 12 new Stonechats at the Bill and a Manx
Shearwater through on the sea there. Yesterday's Chesil Cove Iceland
Gull was again in situ, 18 Black-necked Grebes were still
in Portland Harbour and a Red-throated Diver passed by off the
Bill.
Iceland
Gulls and Great Skua
- Chesil Cove and Ferrybridge, 27th February 2014 © Joe
Stockwell Yet
another birding blog (top Iceland Gull - Chesil Cove), Keith
Pritchard Birding
Portland UK (middle Iceland Gull - Chesil Cove) and Pete
Saunders (bottom Iceland Gull - Ferrybridge, and Great Skua)
Chesil
Beach and Ferrybridge were again the spots to spend time today, with 2
Iceland Gulls doing the rounds and a Great Skua popping
up from time to time; a Common Buzzard heading south over
Ferrybridge was also of note. Elsewhere, the 2 Black Guillemots
were still in Portland Harbour and 4 Red-throated Divers passed
by off the Bill.
Scaup
- Ferrybridge, 26th February 2014 © Joe
Stockwell Yet
another birding blog
...and thanks to Ken
Dolbear for a nice little selection of early spring bugs from the Obs
garden today - from top to bottom, Green Shieldbug, Gorse Shieldbug
and Hairy Shieldbug:
In
terms of Portland rarity value today's highlight was certainly a Scaup
which was discovered amongst the mergansers at Ferrybridge; nearby, a Great
Skua was again on Chesil Beach, whilst Portland Harbour came up
with 19 Black-necked Grebes, 6 Slavonian Grebes, 5 Great
Northern Divers, 4 Red-necked Grebes and the 2 Black
Guillemots. At the Bill a Merlin was the only new arrival
of particular note, although a Sparrowhawk heading north at
height was a presumed migrant, 3 Purple Sandpipers lingered on
and 2 Red-throated Divers, a Black-throated Diver and a Great
Northern Diver passed by on the sea. Migrants elsewhere included
the first visible passage of Meadow Pipits, with 5 north along the
West Cliffs at Blacknor.
A
likely new Glaucous Gull that headed north off East Cliffs at
the Bill was the bird of the day, but there were again signs of spring
passage getting going: new Lesser Black-backed Gulls are
beginning to appear everywhere, 3 Black-headed Gulls and a Mediterranean
Gull moved up-Channel off the Bill and a Grey Heron heading
north up West Cliffs there. Making up the list, a Great Skua
dropped in briefly at Ferrybridge, the 2 Black Guillemots were
still in Portland Harbour, 2 Great Northern Divers were at
Chesil Cove and 4 Red-throated Divers passed through off the
Bill.
With
a nice mild airflow still established today looked quite promising,
but in the event migrant activity was limited to a handful of incoming
Lesser Black-backed Gulls; a decent count of 14 Ravens
together over Blacknor might also have included some newcomers. Events
were otherwise much as in recent days, with the 2 Black Guillemots
still in Portland Harbour, at least 1 Purple Sandpiper still at
the Bill and 7 Red-throated Divers, 3 Common Scoter and
2 Red-breasted Mergansers through on the sea there.
Today's
gull offering concerned a Glaucous Gull that spent a little
while off Chesil Cove early in the morning. Two exceptionally early Manx
Shearwaters provided the best of the sea interest off the Bill,
where 6 Common Scoter, 5 Red-throated Divers and a Great
Northern Diver also passed by amongst a conspicuous westward
passage of other common seabirds. Five Purple Sandpipers
remained at the Bill, the 2 Black Guillemots were still in
Portland Harbour and the Short-eared Owl popped up again at
Ferrybridge, whilst yet another Puffin was found among the
quantities of dead seabirds continuing to wash ashore on Chesil Beach.
Iceland Gull -
Portland Bill and Ferrybridge, 22nd February 2014 © Ted Pressey (top
- off the Bill) and Pete Saunders (bottom - at Ferrybridge)
...the little patch of
?oil on the primaries of the right wing looks to confirm that the two
sightings refer to the same individual.
Good
gulls are stealing the show just at the moment, with today's offering
being an Iceland Gull that flew west past the Bill early in the
morning and then passed through at Ferrybridge during the afternoon.
The rest of the day's interest consisted of 8 Red-throated Divers
and 2 Common Scoter through off the Bill, 2 more Puffins
amongst a selection of dead seabirds washed up on Chesil and 3 Red-necked
Grebes and the 2 Black Guillemots still in Portland
Harbour.
Great
Skuas and Glaucous Gull - Ferrybridge, 21st February 2014
© Pete Saunders (top Bonxie and Glaucous Gull) and Debby Saunders
(lower Bonxie)
Ferrybridge
was the place to sit and wait today, with 2 Great Skuas and a Glaucous
Gull passing through at various times. A Chiffchaff - an
early migrant? - was new at the Bill, where 3 Red-throated Divers
and 2 Great Crested Grebes passed through on the sea and 3 of
the wintering Purple Sandpipers were about.
Guillemot
- Ferrybridge, 20th February 2014 © Debby Saunders
...although the weather
has quietened right down, weakened auks - quite a few, like this one
on the saltmarsh at Ferrybridge, turning up in unlikely spots -
continue to feature in some quantity.
A
Glaucous Gull through Chesil Cove in the morning was perhaps
most likely a newcomer rather than one of the previous individuals
reappearing. The rest of the day's events were more mundane, with a Red-throated
Diver through off the Bill and singles of Mallard and Black
Guillemot (along with relatively low numbers of divers and grebes)
in Portland Harbour.
putative
Kumlien's Gull - Portland Bill, 19th February 2014 © Martin Cade
...although first called
- on a brief view into bright light - as an Iceland Gull, it was soon
apparent when it reappeared a few minutes later in flatter light that
the outer primaries were shaded darker and the tail was extensively
dark; sadly, from the documentation point of view, these 500+m record
shots are as good as it gets. Over the years, we've seen plenty of
Iceland Gulls fly past the Bill in similar circumstances but have
never got an impression other than of them having creamy/white,
semi-translucent outer primaries and, at most, the faintest of
tail-bands.
Also today, this
Hummingbird Hawk-moth found flying in a garage at Southwell was the
first immigrant moth recorded this year, even if it does seem most
likely to be a hibernating 'left-over' from last year (photo ©
Paul Baker The
Bagsy Blog):
Although
a Firecrest was a decent discovery at Suckthumb Quarry, it was
again the sea that got most attention: tantalisingly brief/distant
views of what looked likely to be a Kumlien's Gull provided the
main interest off the Bill, where a conspicuous westward passage of Common
Gulls, a few Mediterranean Gulls on the move and 20 more Red-throated
Divers were also of note. Four Purple Sandpipers remained
at the Bill and the 2 Black Guillemots were also still in
Portland Harbour.
dead
Puffins - Chesil Cove, 17th February 2014 © Tom Gale
...two of yesterday's
three dead Puffins; a look at the Cove today revealed a fair few more
sorry-looking auks bobbing about just offshore - many no doubt
destined to end up coming ashore before long.
Fairer
conditions made a quick return and prompted a nice little flurry of
movement on the sea, with 14 Red-throated Divers, 4 Little
Gulls, 2 Wigeon and a Great Skua through off the
Bill and singles of Red-throated Diver, Great Skua and Little
Gull through off Chesil Cove. Yesterday's settled Great Skua
was also still about for a while at the Bill, a Skylark arrived
in from the south there, a Great Northern Diver was settled off
Chesil Cove and the 2 Black Guillemots were still in Portland
Harbour.
Great
Skuas and Mediterranean Gull - Portland Bill, Chesil Cove
and Ferrybridge, 17th February 2014 © Martin Cade (top Bonxie - the
Bill), Tom Gale (middle Bonxie - Chesil Cove), Pete Saunders (bottom
Bonxie - Ferrybridge) and James Gale (Med Gull)
...and a bit of
scene-setting video of the Bill Great Skua:
The
weather quickly returned to form with dreary skies, showers and a
fresh southerly throughout the day. Wrecked seabirds continued to
feature, with grounded Great Skuas at the Bill and Chesil Cove,
together with further passing singles off the Bill and at Ferrybridge;
3 more Puffins were amongst a varied haul of dead birds at
Chesil Cove, whilst the constant trickle of Kittiwakes passing
the Bill included a good many right along the shoreline or some even
cutting across the land. A Long-tailed Duck was a new arrival
off Chesil Cove, whilst other sightings of note included 2 Red-throated
Divers and a Little Gull through off the Bill and the 2 Black
Guillemots still in Portland Harbour.
Great
Northern Diver and Shag - Portland Harbour and Ferrybridge,
16th February 2014 © Simon Johnson (Great Northern Diver) and Andrew
Maynard (Shag)
Today
was the perfect antidote to our recent weather travails: unbroken
sunshine, barely a breeze, warm...need we go on. Bird-wise, 3 Yellowhammers
and a Golden Plover heading north at the Bill provided a hint
of spring round the corner, but there were few other changes: 6 Red-throated
Divers, 2 Little Gulls, a Black-throated Diver and a
Great Skua passed through off the Bill, 4 Purple Sandpipers
and a Black Redstart were still about on the land there and the
2 Black Guillemots - together with the usual suite of divers
and grebes - were still in Portland Harbour.
The
first Small Tortoiseshell of the year was on the wing at the
Obs.
Leach's
Petrel - Portland Harbour, 15th February 2014 © Dave Foot
...and another bit of
storm action at the Bill:
Also from today at
Portland Harbour, Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe (© Pete
Saunders):
...and one of the Black
Guillemots (© Keith Pritchard Birding
Portland UK):
...and the Ferrybridge
Short-eared Owl (© Brett Spencer Brett's
Goosey Ganderings):
We've also been meaning
to re-visit last week's White-billed Diver. We were quite surprised
not to receive more comments on this bird as, to us, it really didn't
seem that straightforward and we'd pondered for ages over the
identification before uploading the photos: having been jammy enough
to have seen a fly-by White-billed Diver in the past we had particular
trouble reconciling the apparently dark neck of the Ferrybridge bird
with our fading memory of the Bill bird that looked arrestingly
pale-headed/necked as it flew by; that said, we were keen on the
shape/colour of the bill, whilst the apparent pale shafts to the
flight feathers looked to be the clinching feature. A few days ago Dan
Brown kindly got in touch to query the identification; the gist of
Dan's comments were as follows:
I'm pretty
sure this is a pale GND. I appreciate that the bill looks pale but
many do have very clean bills and this bird show a dark outer
cutting edge and a thin dark culmen as well which WBD should never
show. I would imagine that the dark culmen is more extensive but the
angle prohibits checking it. The
apparent pale primary shafts are actually sheen on the outer web,
again GNDs frequently look like this and a WBD should have very
obvious white shafts. I also think there is too much contrast
between the underwing coverts and flight feathers. These are
generally paler in WBD. And lastly the eye looks too large and not
beady. I may of course
be wrong as I didn't see the bird in the field but for me this a
GND.
We got
back to Dan expressing our view that pale shafts were clearly
visible on the outermost primaries, even if it was hard to make out
whether it was the shafts or the outer webs of each feather that
were pale on the rest of the flight-feathers. Dan replied as
follows:
Have looked at the
pictures again and especially at the shafts and you are right the
pale streaks change from outer to inner primaries. In the outers
they do indeed appear to be pale shafts whilst in the inner
primaries the pale panel appears to be the whole inner web. The
outer shafts are still no where near as pale as they need to be
and there some good example of GNDs showing this e.g.:
http://www.birdguides.com/picture?f=414713
esp this with an obvious pale outer
primary shaft but paler inner webs to inner primaries. If you look
at the colour of the legs and compare it with how a white shaft
should look it is still no where near pale enough.
As a
reminder, here are the important bits of the Ferrybridge bird (©
Pete Saunders):
...and,
out of interest, here's a photo of the recent Brixham White-billed
Diver for comparison (© Mark Darlaston):
...and
here it is wing-flapping: https://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=419627
...finally,
a fly-by Great Northern Diver at the Bill from our archive (©
Martin Cade):
If we
have to be honest, we're struggling to see that the Ferrybridge bird
has a dark culmen - or at least, it's no darker than that shown by
the Brixham bird. The matter of the primary shafts is clearly
crucial and we're still pondering on that subject - bearing in mind
that the photos are heavily cropped and were taken in dreadful light
(we're pretty sure it was pouring with raining at the time), are
they not a wee bit too obvious and still don't rule out
White-billed?
Many
thanks to Dan for taking the trouble to comment so fully and for
searching out some interesting reference photos.
The
ferocity of the overnight storm was enough to drive an unseasonable Leach's
Petrel into Portland Harbour, as well as wrecking at least 2 more Puffins
at Chesil Cove; 5 Bonxies also passed through at the Cove, with
a Little Gull and likely Arctic Skua through off the
Bill. A Short-eared Owl was at Ferrybridge, the 2 Black
Guillemots were still in Portland Harbour and the diver and
grebe tally there included 17 Black-necked Grebes, 13 Great
Northern Divers, 10 Slavonian Grebes, 6 Black-throated
Divers and a Red-necked Grebe.
The
only memorable events today concerned the weather - again: a morning
of constant driving rain gave way to a slightly clearer afternoon
before violently strong winds set in during the evening. The birding
was certainly best forgotten: a Black Redstart was at Reap Lane
and at least one of the Black Guillemots was still in Portland
Harbour, but very little meaningful fieldwork was possible anywhere.
Black
Guillemot, Black Redstart,
'Atlantic' Cormorant, littoralis? Rock Pipit and
Slavonian Grebe - Portland Harbour and Portland Bill, 13th
February 2014 © Pete Saunders (Black Guillemot and Slavonian Grebe),
David Rashley (Cormorant) and Joe Stockwell Yet
another birding blog (Black Redstart and Rock Pipit)
In
improved conditions there were one or two minor surprises, notably the
appearance of a second Black Redstart at the Bill, where the Purple
Sandpiper flock increased to 8. The day's other events were much
as might be expected: 8 Red-throated Divers, 2 Common Scoter
and a Great Skua passed by off the Bill, 11 Bar-tailed
Godwits, 2 Slavonian Grebes and a Little Gull were
at Ferrybridge and the 2 Black Guillemots were in Portland
Harbour, where the diver and grebe totals included 21 Black-necked
Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe.
Glaucous
Gull - Ferrybridge, 12th February 2014 © Pete Saunders
...and a bit of video
from the sharp end of the storm at the Bill:
Another
day, another pretty ferocious storm. A Glaucous Gull was a nice
early highlight at Ferrybridge before the rain set in and washed out
the middle of the day. A sudden pulse of 3 Great Skuas through
off the Bill marked the arrival of the clearance in mid-afternoon,
after which a Little Gull through Ferrybridge, a dying/dead Puffin
off the Bill and a host of Kittiwakes everywhere (including
unlikely locations such as Barleycrates Lane) were the pick of the
sightings. The 2 Black Guillemots were also still in Portland
Harbour.
Today's
dose of wind and rain was a short-lived affair that didn't last beyond
mid-morning, with decent conditions for the rest of the day. The only
newcomers of any note were a few Shelducks and Curlews:
6 Shelducks dropped in briefly at Ferrybridge and another 3
passed through off the Bill, whilst 13 Curlews at Ferrybridge
was a higher count than usual. Elsewhere, the 2 Black Guillemots
were still in Portland Harbour and a Little Gull passed though
off Chesil Cove.
Black
Guillemot - Portland Harbour,
10th February 2014 © Pete Saunders
In
altogether quieter conditions there were only a handful of reports.
Plenty more auks, including at least 2 more Puffins,
were washed up dead on Chesil Beach, whilst live sightings included
the 2 Black Guillemots and a scatter of divers and grebes
in Portland Harbour and 2 Red-throated Divers through off the
Bill.
Black
Guillemots, Great Northern Diver and Continental
Cormorant - Portland Castle, 9th February 2014 © Brett Spencer Brett's
Goosey Ganderings
The
calm after the storm certainly wasn't that benign, for although the
sun was a more or less constant feature it remained very windy until
well after dark. Wrecked seabirds again featured, with plenty of
exhausted Kittiwakes sitting it out offshore and a Puffin
amongst a miscellany of sickly, oiled and dead auks ashore on
Chesil. The 2 Black Guillemots finally teamed up off Portland
Castle, with at least 1 Sandwich Tern and a good total of 15 Great
Northern Divers amongst the other reports from Portland Harbour.
Elsewhere, the Glaucous Gull was settled briefly on Chesil, a Great
Skua dropped in equally briefly at Ferrybridge and a Red-throated
Diver passed through off the Bill.
Little
Gulls - Ferrybridge, 8th February 2014 © Brett Spencer Brett's
Goosey Ganderings
The
continuing stormy weather saw to it that it was again the sea that got
pretty well all the attention. The sheer relentlessness of the wind
looks to be getting to Kittiwakes in particular, with totals of
well into the hundreds at both the Bill and Chesil Cove, as well as at
least a three figure total through Ferrybridge; Little Gulls
amongst them included at least 4 at Ferrybridge, 2 at Chesil Cove and
a single off the Bill. Another wrecked Puffin (which was
seemingly eventually killed by gulls) at Chesil Cove was of
considerable interest, whilst further additions to the mix included Sandwich
Terns at Chesil Cove and Portland Harbour, a Red-throated Diver
through off the Bill and the Black Guillemot lingering on off
Portland Castle.
Slavonian
Grebe and Razorbill -
Portland Harbour, 7th February 2014 © Joe Stockwell Yet
another birding blog
...and thanks to Pete
Saunders for a slightly different angle on yesterday's White-billed
Diver:
On
a much brighter day pretty well all attention was given to Portland
Harbour, where a second Black Guillemot (a flightier bird out
towards the middle the harbour that was additional to the long-stayer
off Portland Castle) was the pick of the new arrivals; other totals
from there included 21 Black-necked Grebes, 10 Great
Northern Divers, 8 Slavonian Grebes, 7 Black-throated
Divers, 3 Red-necked Grebes and singles of Kittiwake
and Sandwich Tern.
White-billed Diver -
over Ferrybridge, 6th February 2014 © Pete Saunders
...our first reaction on
receiving the top photo of a 'Great Northern Diver' was to think that
it was surely a White-billed Diver: the bill shape looks OK and the
bill doesn't appear to have a dark tip, the beady black eye stands out
against the pale face etc, but then we realised it had really quite
dark sides to the neck which maybe wasn't so good; the clinching
feature looks to be the pale shafts to the flight feathers which,
unless they're some sort of weird illusion, are diagnostic of
White-billed.
The
days are starting to vie with one another in some sort of
miserableness stakes right now, with yesterday's violent storm being
replaced by today's dawn 'til dusk rain. Fortunately there were still
a few birds to be seen, with the identity of the best - what looks to
be Portland's second record of a White-billed Diver that flew
over Ferrybridge during the morning - only being realised on
examination of a photograph during the evening; the adult Glaucous
Gull off the Bill at dawn, an increase to 11 in the Great
Northern Divers tally in Portland Harbour and Little Gulls
at the Bill (a passing single), Ferrybridge and Chesil Cove (4 at
each) were also of particular note. The Sandwich Tern and Black
Guillemot remained in Portland Harbour, 2 Pale-bellied Brent
Geese and a Sanderling were at Ferrybridge and 3 Red-throated
Divers passed through off the Bill.
Slavonian Grebe and
Kittiwake - Portland Harbour and Ferrybridge, 5th February 2014
© Pete Saunders
...and a great
scene-setting video from Chesil Cove and Chiswell © Sean Foote The
Portland Naturalist:
...events were
considerably less dramatic at the Bill but there was still a good sea
running there:
The
storm that was brewing yesterday evening turned increasingly violent
and, at least between Chesil Cove and Ferrybridge, caused general
chaos. With the exception of another Puffin that passed through
off the Bill and the adult Glaucous Gull that appeared in
Chesil Cove, the birds were probably much as might have been expected:
9 Great Skuas passed through Chesil Cove, 3 Little Gulls
went through Ferrybridge and 3 Red-throated Divers and 2 Little
Gulls passed the Bill; Kittiwakes and Fulmars in
particular were numerous offshore, with a trickle of the former also
passing through at Ferrybridge.. The only other report of note was of
the Black Guillemot still in Portland Harbour.
Not
a sniff of a let-up in the stormy weather today, in fact by the
evening the wind sounded to be stronger at the Obs than it has been at
any time so far this winter. A Manx Shearwater through off
Chesil Cove was, like the Puffin at the same site over the weekend, a
very good mid-winter record; 6 more Red-throated Divers passed
through off the Bill, with another single settled at Chesil Cove.
Portland Harbour was again busy, with totals that included 350 Red-breasted
Mergansers (the highest count this winter), 7 Great Northern
Divers, 5 Black-throated Divers, a Mallard and the Black
Guillemot.
With
a south-easterly freshening all day ahead of the next weather front
there were few opportunities for anything other than seawatching. Odds
and ends of movement offshore included 12 each of Brent Goose
and Teal through off Chesil Cove and a 'Blue' Fulmar and
6 Red-throated Divers through off the Bill. The Black
Guillemot and 6 Black-throated Divers remained in Portland
Harbour.
Black-necked
Grebes and Bar-tailed Godits
& Mediterranean Gulls - Ferrybridge, 2nd February 2014 ©
Brett Spencer Brett's
Goosey Ganderings (Black-necked Grebes) and Debby
Saunders (Bar-tailed Godwits and Mediterranean Gulls)
Considerably
more pleasant conditions than those we put up with yesterday allowed
for wider coverage today. The Puffin was still in Chesil Cove
at dawn, but sea interest otherwise consisted of just 2 Red-throated
Divers through off the Bill; an adult Glaucous Gull over
Chesil Beach at Ferrybridge was presumably the long-stayer making
another excursion into the Portland recording area. Portland Harbour
totals included 19 Black-necked Grebes, 16 Slavonian Grebes,
7 Black-throated Divers, 2 Red-necked Grebes, the Eider
and the Black Guillemot, whilst on the land singles of Purple
Sandpiper and Black Redstart were again at the Bill.
Little Gull -
Ferrybridge, 1st February 2014 © Pete Saunders
With
the wind having increased to well into gale force it was another day
for staring at the sea. A Puffin that appeared several times in
Chesil Cove was a real surprise (although reported rather frequently
over the years by visiting watchers, particularly off the Bill, we're
actually aware of very few - if any? - multi-observer, mid-winter
records of a live Puffin at Portland before this). Two Little Gulls
also lingered in the Cove, with 2 Red-throated Divers passing
through, whilst 29 Kittiwakes, 3 Sandwich Terns and a Little
Gull passed through Ferrybridge (and the Bar-tailed Godwit
tally there increased to 12); seawatching at the Bill came up with
just singles of Red-throated Diver and Great Northern Diver.
The only other reports came from Portland Harbour, where the Black
Guillemot and a variety of divers and grebes were still present.
