The end is nigh...

...no, not the end of the world (not quite yet, anyway), but the end of my review of 2018, broken down into two bite-sized chunks, of which this is the second. And if you're thinking 'well it's a bit late for all this', you'd be right. I spilt a bottle of water over my laptop over the Xmas break, and it took a while to recover the hard drive and procure a new one before I could bring these musings to you.

Purple Emperor, Bentley Wood

But back to 2018, and we pick up where we left off in July and the middle of the long, hot summer. The first day of the month saw me over the border in Wiltshire at Bentley Wood, well known for its population of Purple Emperor. It didn't disappoint, and a pristine male feasting on dog dirt provided some exquisite if smelly photo opportunities.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

My summer search for rare Odonata continued and I was lucky to catch up with Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly on a local heathland just before the last of its breeding pools dried up in the baking sun. Even more exotic was a mini-invasion of Southern Migrant Hawkers - I travelled to Somerset to see my first only to find that the first for Dorset had turned up at Lytchett Bay when my back was turned.

Southern Migrant Hawker, Priddy Mineries, Somerset

August

The first half of August saw us in the French Alps for a family holiday. Two trips to the Col de la Colombiere provided some of the highlights of the trip - a couple of close encounters with Lammergeier, the first just above the car park at the col, the second a reward for an arduous climb to the ridge above the col.

Lammergeier, Col de la Colombiere

The col also held an excellent selection of butterflies, most notable among which were the rare Apollo and Mountain Clouded Yellow. We also enjoyed close encounters with Ibex and Alpine Marmot and a long list of new butterflies for my European list including, Alpine Heath, Lesser Mountain Ringlet, Meadow, Mountain, Shepherd's and Niobe Fritillary

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Apollo, Col de la Colombiere

Second only to the Lammergeiers for mountain majesty was a Short-toed Eagle which sat in a pine tree watching us as we got our of the car just below the Col de la Colombiere. My children continue to remind me how I babbled excitedly at complete strangers parked next to us about this and forced them to marvel at it through my telescope. Well I still maintain it was genuine interest they were feigning.

Short-toed Eagle, Col de la Colombiere

September

Back in Dorset and autumn migration was well underway with many common migrants passing through one of my favourite local sites, Greenlands Farm near Studland. Yellow Wagtails, Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers were present on every visit along with the occasional Osprey. 

Spotted Flycatcher, Greenlands Farm

The end of the month saw me teaming up with David Bradnum, Howard Vaughan and Bob Vaughan once more on the long road north to Shetland. Before boarding the ferry we had seen a Woodchat Shrike and a Rose-coloured Starling at Barns Ness, and the American White-winged Scoter at Musselburgh - my second encounter of 2018 with this bird.

Woodchat Shrike, Barns Ness

October

Our week on Shetland was perhaps not a classic but we still saw some excellent birds - Citrine Wagtail, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Pied-billed Grebe, American Golden Plover, Common Rosefinch, Marsh, Melodious and River Warbler being the highlights.

River Warbler, Unst

While the Eastern Yellow Wagtail was a tick for all four of us, views were brief and distant compared to a very obliging Citrine Wag which was present on Bressay during our stay. This bird allowed a close approach and when we had got as close as we dared it started walking towards us!

Citrine Wagtail, Bressay

Back on the south coast October was passing uneventfully - until the 15th that is, when news of a Grey Catbird in Cornwall got the birding world asking 'will it stay until the weekend?' Fortunately it did, and Jol Mitchell and I couldn't resist the lure of adding this stellar American rarity to our British lists. A jolly day with Messrs Bradnum and Lowen for company.

Grey Catbird, Land's End

November

After the excitement of Shetland and the Grey Catbird in Cornwall in October, I didn't get out much in November - but there was still time for the birding world to throw up a few more surprises in 2018. Chief among these was a late Little Swift. I had promised myself that the next time one of this species roosted on a building at dusk I would go and see it come off the roost at dawn. This one went to roost under a streetlight, allowing me the luxury of twitching it in the dark on arrival, staying over in a local motel and going back in the morning to photograph it in glorious sunlight.

Little Swift

Little Swift

Continuing the November swift theme, a Pallid Swift at Chesil Cove late in the month enabled me to add this species to my Dorset list, putting to bed the ghost of the Christchurch bird a few years ago which was taken by a Sparrowhawk just minutes before my arrival.

Pallid Swift, Chesil Cove

December

If November saw me not getting out much, December saw me go almost into hibernation, as opportunities to get out and about trickled to a halt. Just a couple of highlights spring to mind: a Mandarin Duck, a proper Christmas Cracker of a bird, which took up residence in Poole Park; and my last Dorset tick of the year, a very co-operative Little Bunting which spent a few days grovelling on the verge of a Portland side-street.

Mandarin, Poole Park

And so there you have it, a year in memories and pictures. With thanks as usual to all those who shared them, and particularly those who I neglected while searching for them!

Little Bunting, Chiswell

Shetland: part the second

To say there have been complaints about the absence of fresh content in this space would be overstating it. But a few loyal readers have passed comment to this effect, so I have been stung into action by these gluttons for punishment. And where better to resume than with a follow-up to the almost popular Shetland: part the first post.

River Warbler on Unst

Probably the bird of the trip, and only my second in the UK

After proving initially skulky, it eventually gave us extended views

In this post I will canter through the rarity highlights. The first couple of days had produced very little on this front but the discovery of a River Warbler in a small iris bed on Unst changed things. We arrived at the site to find what would become a familiar Shetland scene that week: sheeting rain and no sign of the sought after bird! Both problems were fleeting though and within a short while we had enjoyed good views of this ultimate skulker as it walked between stands of iris. Returning later in the day in better weather we enjoyed extended views and photo opportunities as it bathed lower down the burn. A summer plumaged American Golden Plover was a bonus on our first visit to Unst, and our only rare wader of the trip.


Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Unst

A very grey and white individual with just a hint of a buffy chin and vent

An elongated hindclaw is a feature of Eastern Yellow Wagtail

During the middle of the week Shetland went wagtail crazy - first turning up a presumed Eastern Yellow Wagtail on Unst (consolation for dipping a Pechora Pipit, the less said about which the better). This was a tick for all of us since the split from common or garden Yellow Wagtail. The monochrome vagrant looked and sounded the part, and turned up at a place, at a time of year and with avian company which suggested an eastern origin, though it remains to be seen whether it passes muster with the rarities committee.

Citrine Wagtail, Bressay

An approachable individual

Note the complete white ear-surrounds

Having made a couple of long-distance excursions to Unst earlier in the week, on the Thursday of our stay we elected for a shorter island hop to Bressay, where a Citrine Wagtail had reportedly been showing well. We couldn't have known just how well: after a careful approach it walked towards us for a remarkably close encounter.

Common Rosefinch, Mainland

Barred Warbler, Mainland

American Golden Plover, Unst

Other minor rarities kept us entertained - a few Barred Warblers, including the one pictured here, found at Busta House Hotel by our own Bradders, a Marsh Warbler at Sumburgh and a Common Rosefinch on a mainland beach. Remarkably, Yellow-browed Warblers were notable by their absence, and we scraped just a handful in contrast to the daily sightings of the previous year.

Marsh Warbler, Sumburgh Quarry

Yellow-browed Warbler, Unst

Yellow-browed Warbler, Unst

Not a bumper year by Shetland's high standards, perhaps, but some quality all the same. I can probably wrap up Shetland in just one more post - so come back soon(ish) for the final instalment.

Dawn 'til Dusk (part IV): River diva keeps everyone waiting on last night

The climax of a long, hot and happy day came when I joined 50 other eager souls who had waited all week for a chance to see the River Warbler singing from private land in Norfolk. Access was skillfully organised and cheerfully managed by Dick Filby among others. The bird had been singing the previous evening from 8:00 pm, so by 8:30 pm a few nerves could be detected. By 9:00 pm some were fearing the worst. Hobbies, Kingfishers and Barn Owls (top) came and went, but no River Warbler. Then, at 9:20 a breath-taking, powerful, persistent song exploded from the reedbed, shortly before the singer showed from shrubs, reeds and thistles. Even in this sub-record shot (above), taken in near dark, the rounded tail of a Locustella can just about be seen.