October 24, 2020

September 2020 part ii

October 24, 2020/ Mark Lawlor

During the last two weeks of September I saw a pleasing variety of species and there were some terrific days of birding. There wasn’t anything super-rare but there was a new species for Guernsey for me.

On 15th I popped back to Pleinmont after work in case the Pallid Harrier was still around but it had gone already. That day however I did see two decent local birds with a Common Gull on Vazon beach and an early Siskin go over the garden at home. On 17th I had a good patch record when two Teal flew past Pulias along the shoreline - I’ve only a handful of records for the patch. The next day before work the tide was very high and there were large flocks of gulls feeding on the critters collecting along the shoreline. At Vazon there were 11 Med Gulls and a Common Gull, probably more.

The next weekend arrived and on 20th I was up at Pleinmont at first light in decent, sunny conditions, albeit a little breezy on top. There wasn’t a lot of birds around the top of the headland but the first (probably) migrant Firecrests were showing well in the camping field, but apart from single Whinchat and Wheatear, it was quiet for grounded birds.

So I pushed on towards Mont Herault where there seemed to be more activity in the fields and just east of the scramble track I came across a terrific flock of Yellow Wagtails which were flying round and round me, diving in and out of the grass. There were probably in excess of 30 birds. In the large field a group of 5 Golden Plovers were warily striding around, concerned about the activity next door where they were just about to start clay-pigeon shooting (as soon as the first shots fired out 20 mins later, they were gone).

Golden Plovers - Mont Herault, 20 Sep 20

I knew that there was a Dotterel somewhere in this vicinity and I wasn’t sure exactly where, but I spotted a distant photographer crouching in a grassy field by the cliff edge so I presumed that was where it was. By the time I had walked there I couldn’t see the bird until a tiny head poked out over the slope towards the cliff. I thought that the best tactic would be to sit myself on the ground in the middle of the field and wait for the bird to head back inland. This it did, and pretty soon I had really close views as it tip-toed through the grass. Unlike the Goldies, this bird didn’t seem interested in the gunshots from the next field and just looked puzzled by them.

I pushed on along the clifftop further east and could see lots of birds in a cow field just over the next rise. When I got there I could see that this was another flock of Yellow Wagtails. It was difficult to tell how many were in and around the field as it was not all viewable, but it was a minimum of 30, but maybe even double that number. There were also plenty of Meadow Pipits and I could hear a faint lark calling somewhere. I eventually found it distantly in the grass and, despite not having my scope on me, I worked out that it was just a Skylark, my first of the autumn.

Yellow Wagtails - Mont Herault, 20 Sep 20

All of a sudden a Cattle Egret appeared in front of me and stalked around the cows’ legs. It took off every now and then but kept reappearing. Even though they are quite regular now, Cattle Egrets still have a legacy ‘mega’ tag to them and it is always a thrill to spot one. There had been a few sightings in the north and centre of the island at the start of the month but I’d like to think that this had arrived new in from the south and plonked itself in the first cow field it saw.

I’d noticed that one of the distant Yellow Wagtails was looking really grey-coloured and I thought it was possibly a Citrine. So with a little bit of clambering and scrabbling I managed to fight my way through to the other edge of the field for a better look. Here, many of the Yellow Wags were showing really close to the fence for some nice pics. The grey bird was also showing well and I was a little disappointed to see that it didn’t have the head pattern for a Citrine and was just an unusually grey Yellow. I suppose there is a possibility of an Eastern Yellow Wag but it is a little early in the autumn to be considering one of those.

Yellow Wagtail - Mont Herault, 20 Sep 20

Yellow Wagtail - Mont Herault, 20 Sep 20 - I think that the contrast in the coverts means this is probably a first-winter bird and the brightness of the yellow means it is a male (although I am happy to be corrected)

Whilst taking photos of the wagtails I heard an unfamiliar wader call and looked up to see that the Dotterel had finally got spooked and was heading east along the cliffs. However it turned round and went back the way it came, and I recorded the call on my new device. I headed back through the Mont Herault fields and stopped to look at the original flock of Yellow Wagtails again when a Hobby darted past in front of me, heading east. Then once again the Dotterel appeared and did another fly-past, and I got another, better recording.

Grey Heron flight call - Pleinmont, 20 Sep 20

Driving home, I stopped to look at L’Eree beach and had a nice selection of waders and gulls, including 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5 Golden Plovers (maybe the Pleinmont birds), 4 Med Gulls and a Common Gull. So, nothing very rare found but a super September day in the west.

During the next work week, I didn’t have any real chance to do any quality birding but I did have a migrant Snipe over Ft Hommet on 22nd. There seemed to have been a bit of arrival of Robins and they were much more visible on the headlands, for example this bird feeding in the top car park at Pulias which looked tired enough to have just arrived. These birds often seem to be greyer and paler orange than local birds. But it may just be my imagination - wishfully imagining that they have flown from exotic locations to get here, when it could be the case that they were actually born three bushes away!

The next weekend the winds switched to the north and so Saturday morning, 26th September, I was up on the rocks at Jaonneuse for some seawatching with the guys. And it was a very good morning, with 52 Sooty Shearwaters being a massive count, the most I have seen in a day for over a decade, and some passing pretty close inside the reef. Saw a single Common Scoter and the first few Kittiwakes of the autumn. There were not very many skuas, with 9 Bonxies and 2 Arctics, but we did see a single Pomarine. I had my camera out at the time and managed a (not very close) video. I also managed to get my scope on it and it was relatively good views.

Pomarine Skua - video stills - Jaonneuse, 26 Sep 20

I had a spare hour or two in the afternoon and so I popped out and checked a couple of south coast spots that would be sheltered from the northerly winds. Prevote always looks perfect for hiding a rarity and when I saw a woodpecker dive into a small bush at the bottom of the valley, I immediately thought “sapsucker!” or “middle-spot!!”. Of course, it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker which flew back up the valley into the larger trees. This was an unusual location for this species which is rarely seen away from the centre and east of the island and this tiny coastal valley in the south-west is not ideal - perhaps it was a migrant after all. There were a few Firecrests and Chiffchaffs in the bushes and I was lucky to spot a roosting Barn Owl in a nearby copse which very politely gave me a few minutes to take some nice pictures.

The winds continued northerly the next day and I was able to give the seawatching a second shot from Jaonneuse. It wasn’t quite a good for shearwaters, although there were more Manx than yesterday. It was much better for skuas however and a total of 49 Bonxies was one of my best days ever for those big boys. Just 3 Arctics wasn’t very many but we saw two excellent Pom Skuas inside the reef. The first was at 0952, a cracker of an adult - with spoons! - and the second one at 1014 was a darker juvenile which showed some helpful ID pointers, like the different rump tone compared to the mantle. This made four Poms in the autumn so far which I think is a record for me.

I was more than satisfied with these, but then at 1030 another skua appeared, taking interest in a couple of Sandwich Terns. This immediately flagged up as a possible Long-tailed Skua since it was not dissimilar in size and had an almost glowing pale head, which looked white in the bright sun. We watched it pass not too far out and even though it was difficult to get fine detail we were very satisfied on the identification (see diagram below for features noted). This was very exciting - a four-skua day! (in fact a four-skua hour). Only my second sighting for Guernsey, the first being in September 2013, which I notice passed at a similar time, 1030. It is still only the 15th record for Guernsey, despite regular seawatching over the last 20 years. You can’t leave early if you want to see decent skuas it seems.

Long-tailed Skua JAO 27Sep20 notes copy.jpg

And then just as September was finishing I got a nice easy Guernsey lifer - a Red-necked Phalarope. Monday 28th there was a grapevine message about lunchtime for this bird at Vale Pond. But I was at work of course and I estimated a 50/50 chance that it would still be there on my way home. But it hadn’t flown off, or been eaten by a heron, and I saw it from the hide late in the afternoon. As can be seen from the photo, it wasn’t very close in, but was phalaroping around in the middle of the lake. For some reason this species has been incredibly rare in Guernsey, this being only the 3rd sighting on the island, so a good one to get.

Red-Necked Phalarope - Vale Pond, 28 Sep 20

The final sighting, well hearing, were some Crossbills at Le Guet on 29th. I didn’t see them so I wasn’t sure how many, but there were at least 2 or 3 birds calling. I may have doubted myself, assuming I had misheard, but I had the sound recorder on and was able to double check when I got home.

The only other interesting bird was a colour-ringed Ringed Plover that I had at Vazon on 17th September. The info came back quickly and it had been ringed at the nest in the spring, on an island in the German Baltic. It is not the first migrant Ringed Plover from the same scheme that we have seen on Guernsey.

Colour-ringed Ringed Plover - Vazon, 17 Sep 20

Moth trap-wise there was just one weekend night that was suitable for trapping but nothing hugely significant was caught. Three migrants were a Pearly Underwing, a Vestal and a European Corn-borer.

October 03, 2020

September 2020 part i

October 03, 2020/ Mark Lawlor

It’s quarter to six, Sunday evening on 13th September. My wife is at work and me and the kids are tucking into a delicious pasta dish I made them for tea. The bird alert goes off and a photo flashes up of a possible Hen Harrier at Pleinmont. I glance at the phone screen and……..”frickin’ hell it’s a bloney PALLID!!!”

I dashed around, collecting everything together I needed whilst my daughter finished of the last few mouthfuls of her tea, then told her we were definitely going out for a drive in the car. As is usual in these circumstances I got stuck behind a slow driver who didn’t seem to comprehend the importance of the situation. I arrived on the headland maybe about 25 past 6 and was mortified that the bird had not been relocated since the news went out - how very dare it! I parked up just east of the scramble track and forlornly scanned the fields.

This was starting to get very familiar as, about the same time last year, I had pulled up in more or less the same spot after work one day, to dip out on Guernsey’s first Pallid Harrier - and not by too much either. I was certain that this bird had headed off east, never to be again but at least this time there were plenty of people looking. I kept scanning the Mont Herault fields and was momentarily fooled by a distant Short-eared Owl quartering the area.

Nothing had been seen of the Pallid for almost an hour, and I was entering the beyond-disgruntled zone. Then a message popped up that it had apparently just been showing east of the watch house, which was however just over the rise from where we were and therefore not visible. I was contemplating dashing into the car and racing round there when another message flashed up from someone else that it was now flying by the Vau de Monel which was 180 degrees from the other sighting. My reply of “It can’t be in two places at once!” was indicative of my total confusion and I was flummoxed as to where to look next and what to do.

It was now about five to seven and I was frantically spinning back and forth, stressfully scanning and scanning in any direction. Then I heard some shouting from behind me and the guys who were on the taller mound were desperately trying to attract my attention. They were silhouetted against the sky and I couldn’t really tell which way they were pointing and the shouts did not arrive at my ears as fully-formed words. I panicked and dived into the car to get closer to them, u-turning quickly and bouncing through the field (which my daughter found hilarious). The phone went off within a few yards of setting off, I skidded to a halt and it was Wayne telling me they could see it towards the TV mast - an area which was not still visible for me. So I revved up and sped away again, only to stop suddenly for a second time as Wayne was now flagging me down by the roadside. He pointed out that it was currently very low over the Societe fields but I still couldn’t see the sodding thing!

I thought rather than trying to glimpse it from where we were, since I was in the car, I might as well just drive right up to the fields in question. I set off again and bounced to a halt in the pull-in, flung myself out of the car for the third time in a minute, and had a superbly close fly-past of the beautiful PALLID HARRIER, as it slowly flapped across the road in front of me. Success! And a much deserved grip-back on last year.

I grabbed my camera and fired off some shots as it passed closest to me but they were unfortunately out of focus. The bird took its time and hunted round the bottom of the fields for a while before eventually disappearing behind the slope. It was so exciting to see a Pallid Harrier - my first one since I was in Israel all those years ago. I have not seen this species in the UK as it was still a pretty gripping rarity when we moved over here. The colour of this bird was astounding, a deep and glowing orange on the underparts and also on the upper outer-tail feathers, like LED lights along the tail. The face pattern was ideal for Pallid with the pale goggles contrasting with the dark face, and a fully pale collar, with the chocolate-coloured boa over the nape looking pretty uniform. It didn’t return straight away and seemed to just disappear because it was travelling so low. The same or another Short-eared Owl appeared in the field below us for even better views than before. A short while later I picked up the Pallid Harrier again over the scramble track and it flew towards us and gave us another relaxed fly-past which I managed a video of, but it was well after 7 pm now and the light was getting too dull for good photos. Satisfied with two excellent views, I headed home.

Back to the first week of September, when my birding opportunities become less flexible due to returning to work. After school on 2nd September I popped up to Pleinmont on an unlikely search for a Bonelli’s Warbler sp that had been briefly there the previous day. Despite only a short visit it was pleasing to see a few migrants about with 2 Redstarts and 3 Whinchats together at one point. I think that this was due to the amazing numbers of flying insects swarming in the balmy conditions. There was also a Reed Warbler in the trees and 3 Swifts feeding over the headland. Calling in at L’Eree, as many as 35 White Wagtails fed in the saltmarsh with a single early-arriving Grey Wagtail.

3rd September and it was high tide as I made my way to school. A large flock of gulls was feeding at the surfline at Pulias which contained 7 different Med Gulls which is an unusually high number for there. One of them was a very brown individual which initially looked confusing but I assume was a late moulting juvenile bird. A brief stop at Richmond, Vazon a few minutes later revealed two more Med Gulls, one of which was wearing a coded ring - RR1E. This bird is from a ringing project at a colony on the Atlantic coast of France. On the way back from work called in at the Vale Pond and saw the Cattle Egret that has been there a few days.

juvenile Mediterranean Gull - Pulias, 3 Sep 20

The next weekend was a no-birding weekend for me as Rosie was working all day, both days, but I did have a brief look from the car on 6th for the Pec that had been found at Richmond the day before, but only saw a Knot. After work the next day I did successfully see the Pectoral Sandpiper on the beach but not very close as it was quite low tide. It flew in from the west just as I was about to set off home, so not very satisfactory views. So I tried searching again on 10th when I was able to get pretty close to the wader flock for potentially cracking photos, but of course it was not amongst them.

The rest of the second week was quiet. I did get out to Pleinmont for an afternoon scoot around on 12th but there was few migrants. At least 5 Firecrests in the valleys seemed to me to be local post-breeding birds rather than new-in arrivals.

Moth-trapping was quiet at the start of September but livened up big style on the night of 11th. I blearily wandered outside towards the trap in the morning and tried to focus on what seemed to be a small bird resting, spreadeagled on the patio. Straining my eyes through the gap in the grapevine I thought crikey, that’s a moth, and a bloody big one! A few steps closer and I could see what it was, an absolute beaut of a CLIFDEN NONPAREIL, one of the most enigmatic species there is, and a new species for me.

I could see it was already starting to vibrate its wings and I was afraid it was going to fly before I got anywhere near it with a pot. So I decided that running in to get my camera was the best option and took some in situ shots of it sat on the tiles.

Satisfied that I got some shots for the record, I dashed inside again to collect a larger pot and I was lucky enough to catch it before it flew, which meant that I could get some proper pictures of it later in the day. It always rested with its forewings slightly open revealing the blue band, unlike the Red Underwings I get which always seem to have their wings closed. It even looked spectacular from underneath. 2020 seems to have been an excellent year in the UK for the species which no doubt is reestablishing itself in the country. The same night as I had mine, two more were also trapped on the island.

The other good species recorded was from the next night (12th) when I was surprised to see a distinctive Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) resting under an egg box. Well ‘good’ as in a new species for me and only the 3rd record for the island, but not good overall since this is an invasive species which is increasing exponentially in Europe and not good for gardeners with box hedges.

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Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

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September 2020 part ii

September 2020 part i

Just A Bird