Basking time

It's several weeks since winter was confidently declared over in this neglected corner of the internet. Sufficiently long ago in fact to make this pronouncement that spring has arrived an overdue statement of the obvious. Nowhere has it been more so than at Swineham, where the Adders and several of the early spring butterflies have been out for a while now thanks to an ongoing warm spell. A visit last weekend also produced my first 'proper' migrant birds of the year there in the form of not just one but four Little Ringed Plover on the floods which are still referred to grippingly as 'the Stilt pools'. While unsympathetic habitat management continues to take the shine out of visiting Swineham of late, some photos to prove that at least the sun hasn't deserted the old place completely:

Adder enjoying the early spring sunshine

Check out those eyes

Brimstone is uncommon at Swineham

Comma is more typical of the site

Of the butterflies that over-winter as adults, the Peacock seems to be doing particularly well this year 

Speckled Wood at Swineham: once known as the Wood Argus, this butterfly may over-winter as either larvae or pupa

Chiffchaffs can be seen all year round at Swineham but they are now singing almost constantly

Little Ringed Plover at Swineham

More on wintering warblers

At one point on Saturday the Portesham Pallas's Warbler appeared to be associating with a small group of Chiffchaffs, plenty of which have been over-wintering in our mild climate this year. In truth, I think it was just that they were all gorging on insects in the same area during the sunniest part of the day, as when the sun went in, the Pallas's become more elusive, and when it did reappear it was very much on its own. I say 'Chiffchaff', but with recent DNA test results suggesting that the colybitta, tristis and abietinus sub-species Chiffchaffs were all present in Ireland this time last year, the possibilities seem increasingly endless. But we don't want to spark another Chiff-off between those fractious boffins, do we, so let's just make the altogether more straightforward comparison between Chiffchaff and Pallas's Warbler instead. You know, like one of those ID articles in the magazines. Or a not very challenging 'Challenge ID' piece.

Chiffchaff - no wingbars, a narrow supercilium, and sullied, yellow-washed underparts

Pallas's Warbler - two wingbars (one hidden here), a strong supercilium with matching crown stripe, and pure white underparts

Chiffchaff - very plain wings

Pallas's Warbler - a riot of wingbars and brightly tipped tertials, not to mention a 'cycle helmet' head stripe pattern

Chiffchaff feeding on a bee - a substantial meal

Pallas's Warbler - not feeding on a bee

Chiffchaff dipping its tail to reveal a plain rump

And you won't see a rump like that on a Chiffy! Ok, I admit it, it wasn't an ID post after all, but a thinly veiled excuse to post more photos of that Pallas's Warbler. Can you really blame me?

Furrowed yellow brows

It's been a week of head-scratching and furrowed brows - yellow brows, specifically - looking for rare Phylloscopus warblers - ultimately successful in terms of seeing them, but a bit frustrating trying to photograph them! A report of a possible Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler in Weymouth yesterday, the rarer of a species pair with Yellow-browed Warbler, saw me heading there late morning. By the time I arrived the bird had already been identified as the commoner of the two by finder Joe Stockwell. A Hume's would have attracted considerable interest, but with so many Yellow-broweds around this autumn, no-one else seemed to have followed up the sighting. With no bird and no birders present, therefore, all I had to do was find it.

Yellow-browed Warbler (#233), Weymouth, 30th October - a washed out looking bird, you can see why Hume's was considered a possibility

Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler (#234), Durlston, 31st October - duller-grey green upperparts compared to Yellow-browed

I wandered up the Rodwell Trail, a wonderful green lung of Sycamores, sallows and brambles running through suburban Weymouth, and eventually heard the Yellow-browed calling about 100 yards from the original sighting. It had taken the best part of an hour to see it, and it took another couple to get some record shots for the photo yearlist.

The Weymouth Yellow-browed - note the double wing bar, pale feet and legs and pale base to the bill

The Durlston humei, note the single wing-bar... 

...and the dark bill, legs and feet - all indicative of Hume's

Today seemed like a case of Groundhog Day, with another late morning report of a Hume's at Durlston, scene of my mad dash for a Pallas's Warbler earlier in the week. The Hume's had been discovered by the finder of the Pallas's, Warren Clayton, clearly on a roll - or perhaps eating a roll as he was enjoying refreshments from Durlston Castle's restaurant balcony when he heard an unfamiliar call coming from the trees below.

The Weymouth Yellow-browed - very clean white underparts - interesting how the 2nd wingbar on the median coverts is much more subdued in this photo than the one above. Both species show a hint of a crown stripe

Another view of the Weymouth Yellow-browed

I arrived at Durlston around midday to join Warren and Steve Smith looking forlornly down into a large area of trees and scrub which offered plenty of hiding places for a tiny central Asian vagrant. With no sign or sound of the bird for over an hour we feared for the worst, but a faint call encouraged us to stick around. The calls became more frequent and strident - certainly more strident and lower pitched than the Yellow-browed I was hearing the previous day - and after the best part of 3 hours we got our first view of a small pale bird flitting distantly through the vegetation. A short while later a more extended view provided a brief window of opportunity to get some record shots, enough at least to confirm the key features.


A shame the Hume's didn't show as well as this Chiffchaff at Durlston

Another massive Purbeck twitch: from left, Joe and Jol, resurrecting the Mitchell curse (they left before the Hume's reappeared); Warren, Durlston's top rare Phyllosc-finder this autumn (sorry Hamish); and Steve 'Birding Poole Harbour and Beyond' Smith, taking a break from 'beyond' to grace us with his presence

So while my week off has hardly been rarity-packed, seeing Pallas's, Yellow-browed and Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in consecutive days is certainly not to be sniffed at. Finding them would have been even better - so well done Warren and Joe.

A nice Short-eared Owl in the fading light at Portland Bill on 30th October

House Sparrow with the Old Lower Light at Portland Bill

Visiting old friends

It's half-term so I've been visiting old friends. First up was Swineham, with whom I was pleased to reacquaint myself after a lengthy absence. Next came a trip to Lyme Regis to see my two godsons and their parents, old college friends.

Male Bearded Tit - Swineham, 25th October

Female Bearded Tit, Swineham 25th October

We took a walk along the impressive new coastal defences to the east of the town before climbing up the hill to watch the first half of Lyme Regis v Cullompton Town. The new sea wall appears to have come a bit late for Lyme FC, as the pitch slopes perilously seawards a couple of yards in from the touchline. The players had enough trouble controlling the ball without that to deal with: the match would best be described as a perfectly good game of running around spoilt by very occasional outbreaks of football.

Buzzard, Bestwall, 25th October

Chiffchaff, Swineham, 25th October

Monday saw us heading from one World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast, to another, the City of Bath, to meet up with a friend visiting from Australia, at a gathering which my god-daughter also attended. With all three godchildren thus met in the space of a few days, and their annual dose of spiritual guidance administered, it was time for some birding today.

Little Egret, Holes Bay, 27th October

Redshank, Holes Bay, 27th October

In previous years, the last week of October has given me the chance to see some pretty good birds: Eastern Crowned Warbler (2014), Hermit Thrush (2013), Stejneger's Stonechat (2012), and Steppe Grey Shrike (2011) to name a few. There's been nothing quite so exotic within reasonable striking distance so far this week, so I returned to my checklist to see what still needed snapping for the photo yearlist.

Poole Harbour from Baiter Park

Corfe Castle from Baiter Park

Turns out that Common Scoter and Oystercatcher were still on the wanted list, so I headed to Holes Bay where two of the former have spent the last few days. The Scoter, both drakes, were a good distance out at first but came a little closer in poor light. Oystercatcher was always going to be easy, though I'm not quite sure how I've managed to miss them so far this year. Hopefully there are a few more easy ones to dig out before the list grinds to a halt for the year.

Common Scoter, Holes Bay (#230th species photographed in 2015)

Oystercatcher, Holes Bay (#231)

Evening at Middlebere

A fine evening at Middlbere after work this evening - not much time before the sun went down, unfortunately, but enough to find a couple of Firecrests by the cottages. Chiffchaffs were the other main event, with 20+ along the track to the hide.

Back to Purbeck

After the excitement of yesterday's Greater Yellowlegs twitch, I spent a couple of hours closer to home this morning looking for migrants at the excellent Durlston Country Park. I didn't have to go far before stumbling across a cracking male Redstart. After that it proved to be harder going, though plenty of Blackcap were in evidence and I also heard my first Whitethroat of the year.

Male Common Redstart

Male Blackcap (#147)

Chiffchaff

Having checked the meadows and scrub it was down to the cliff edge where I knew I could guarantee adding Fulmar to the photo year-list. Several duly obliged and a Raven also gronked past a few times as I watched.

Fulmar (#148)

Fulmar

Raven

As I studied the Fulmars a dark shape came out of the sun, momentarily casting a large shadow over me: Peregrine. It stooped towards the Guillemot colony, honing in on a small party of birds which were flying out to sea, and appearing to grab one in mid-air. Ultimately, it could not hang on to the auk which wriggled free and dropped to the safety of the water.

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine's legs straddle an apparently prone Guillemot...

...but it managed to turn and get away

A short but productive stop at Soldiers Road on the way home added two photo-ticks to the year list without leaving the car, Dartford Warbler and Woodlark - both Schedule 1 species so photographed from a respectful distance (see here for some sensible advice and a summary of the law on photographing Schedule 1 species). If only some respect had been shown by the two different parties of dog walkers who arrived during the time I was there and ignored the polite but prominent signs asking them to keep dogs on a lead, precisely to protect ground nesting birds such as these.

Dartford Warbler (#149)

Woodlark - a good species to bring up #150 for the photo list in 2015

Male Stonechat