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

Meare Heath extras

As well as yesterday's star bird, the Hudsonian Godwit, Meare Heath also produced a few more good species - all seen from the same spot whilst watching the Hudwit.

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit - 156th species photographed in Britain this year

Bittern

Common Cranes - presumably from the local reintroduction scheme, so 'untickable' for the photo list

This one's OK though: Great White Egret, one of two seen (#157)

First Hobby of the year (#158)

Little Ringed Plover (#159)

Wood Sandpiper (#160)

A week in waders

Waders dominated the last week's birding during a family holiday in Northumberland - twenty-one species in all without really trying too hard. Top marks for rarity went to a Collared Pratincole and a Stilt Sandpiper (which I never managed to photograph), but just as rewarding was time spent on various beaches with some less celebrated, but still very attractive species:

Sanderling: a characterful and beautiful bird in almost any plumage - this one sporting the rufous face of summer plumage

Sanderling: one of a small flock on the beach near Amble

Sanderling: a roosting bird

Sanderling: looking more like a spring-plumaged bird

Sanderling captured in motion - not easy given the speed at which they run

Sanderling: another one at a canter

A flock of Sanderling roosting on a rocky promontory - with patience I got pretty close and managed to leave the flock undisturbed. This almost cost me wet feet though as the tide came in behind me - just below the welly-tops fortunately

Sanderling close-up 

Part of a Sanderling flock in flight

A few Dunlin were with the Sanderling flock

This was as close as I got to a (Red) Knot - a small flock in flight with Curlew

Oystercatcher

Turnstone

Ringed Plover

Golden Plover - a small flock were on the beaches around Holy Island

Avocet in flight at Cresswell Ponds



Redshank

A Pacific Golden Plover in Staffordshire on the way home, just a four mile detour from our route, would have made it 22 waders for the trip. Unfortunately, it chose the hour before our arrival to disappear after having been a sitting duck for most of the previous week. Spooked, no doubt by the spectre of Mitchell and Son, who arrived to dip it too en route to Derby shortly before ourselves as we headed in the opposite direction. This Little Ringed Plover was one of several at Middleton Lakes RSPB where the Pacific Golden Plover had been seen.

And breathe...

Dorset's Smooth Snakes and Sand Lizards could finally un-clench on Monday morning as it became apparent that the Short-toed Eagle had moved on. Although I saw the bird twice and only really had to wait a couple of hours between the initial sighting and my own, it still left me with a buzz which I took with me on my return to work on Monday. I always expect something mega-rare in the first week of June because (i) there always is (ii) I'm always busy after a half-term break, and tied up the following weekend with the start of the camping season, Claire's birthday etc etc. No surprise then that a Spectacled Warbler turned up in Norfolk. But not even that prediction being proved  correct could wipe the smile off this week as the Eagle had already got June off to a flying start.


Terrible photos of tiny waders #1: Little Ringed Plover at Swineham 24th May

Terrible photos of tiny waders #2: just a single bird present for the day

I had the whole week off, and, fortunately with hindsight, we decided not to go away. The downside of this was that the bills still rolled in through the letter box, and I was constantly reminded about the windows needing cleaning, gutters wanting fixing etc. The up-side was that I could get away with a lot more local birding and was a bit freer to twitch should something good turn up.

Terrible photos of tiny waders #3: Temminck's Stint at Lodmoor, 30th May

Terrible photos of tiny waders #4: here with a Ruff for size comparison.

It started with the best of intentions, flogging the patch in the hope of re-discovering the Black-winged Stilts which turned up last time I went away, or the Great White Egret which had been burning the candle at both ends, going out early and coming back late to roost and feed at mystery locations. The Stilts returned - but to nearby Lytchett Bay not Swineham, and, having dissed this site in a previous post I was too proud to beg it's guardians for access to the off-limits location. Several early/late shifts failed to turn up the Egret as well, so not a great start to the week.


Spotted Flycatcher at Morden Bog: taken just 3 days before the Eagle arrived

Treecreeper at Morden Bog with spider

But perseverance was rewarded with a patch tick in the form of a Turnstone. Not exactly a bird to get anyone else's pulse racing, except perhaps Marcus, but surprisingly rare at Swineham. By Wednesday, the Turnstone looked like it might be the highlight of the week: a poor return for my efforts by any standard. Then things picked up with a Serin at Durlston that morning, a Ross's Gull on the Exe Estuary in the afternoon, and the following day a Temminck's Stint at Lodmoor offered the chance of a Dorset tick which I duly snaffled up in a quick smash and grab.

Twitching the Temminck's provided an opportunity to catch up with the Arctic Tern which has summered with the Common Terns in recent years

Arctic Tern in the foreground - a slighter, shorter-legged and more blood-red billed bird than the Common Tern behind

Throughout the week my kit was packed for an emergency twitch - 'have leave, will travel' being my motto at times like this - and news of a Slender-billed Gull in Norfolk had me haring off in that direction on Monday in pursuit. Reason and mathematics fortunately intervened soon after as it dawned on me that (a) I wouldn't get there before dark (b) it was Bank Holiday Monday so I might be stuck on the M25 until Tuesday. I had got no further than Longham Lakes by this point, and the bird disappeared in any case, so a lucky escape there at least.

Arctic Tern on the left - not the long tail streamers and neat black line on the trailing edge of the primaries

Here quite a dark-billed Common Tern coming in to land...

Bee-eaters were appearing everywhere throughout the week: on the ringing nets at Portland Bill, on wires at Durlston, and chatting up the locals in bars with their smooth continental patter. I was up and down to the Portland and Purbeck coast like a quarry lorry but just couldn't get there fast enough to add one of these stunners to my Dorset list. Then the Eagle appeared to sweep all the best laid weekend plans away with one flap of its awesome wings. I spent the rest of the weekend resisting the massive temptation to write blog posts with Eagle-based puns in the title, figuring they would all be taken by other bloggers anyway. Andy Mears said he was looking forward to my post, so good to know it was eagley-awaited by one person at least. See what I did there?


...and a Sandwich Tern to complete the collection

And one more of the Ross's Gull - High Arctic wanderer and bird of the week until elbowed out of the way by a certain raptor from warmer climes.

LRP at Longham

An early visit to Longham Lakes was rewarded with a Little Ringed Plover (pictured), plus singing Cuckoo, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sedge, Reed and Garden Warblers. Clouds of Swift were swarming over the eastern lake - my count of 200 birds was almost certainly an under-estimate.

Plover lovers

Full of the joys of spring, a pair of Little Ringed Plover, including this ringed bird, were in front of the hides at Ibsley Water, digging nesting scrapes, displaying and mating - see images of this fascinating breeding behaviour here. Between these moments of activity there were long bouts of resting, the birds no doubt still recovering from the exertions of a long migration, and some occasional sparring with passing Lapwing and Redshank. 9 Goosander (including 2 males) and a Black-necked Grebe were also present. Rounded the day off with a trip to Weymouth with the family, catching up with a Spoonbill at Lodmoor and the Alpine Swift at Radipole Lake in the process, a new bird for Dorset for me. At one point it was chased away from its preferred feeding ground over the roof of Aldi by a gull, and had to go up-market to feed over the roof of Matalan instead. Spring 2010 continues to deliver...