Wykeham Raptoring

On Saturday a couple of work mates joined me in an attempt to catch up with returning Honey Buzzards at Wykeham Forest. Paul and Pete are colleagues and mates and we have been trying to do this for a couple of years. We went for the last weekend in May as its the only one I had free but we were aware we could be a couple of days early but felt it was worth the chance as there had been a strong movement of birds across the UK. We arrived on site at 09:45 and the weather was tropical. Hot and humid with barely a cloud in the sky but the forecast was for humid weather and potentially heavy showers in the afternoon. Ideal raptor weather. 

Active scanning by yours truly (left) and Paul (right). It was HYOT at this point.

Within seconds of arriving there was a male Goshawk over the far ridge. This was soon followed by a plethora of Buzzards, a couple of Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk. A further, more distant Goshawk was stretching its wings before a small falcon moved west along the far side of the valley. I casually called it out as a Kes but thankfully my more observant colleagues said it looks weird. Shorter tailed than a Kes and yet with a shorter hand and weaker flight than a Hobby. The bird had a dark back, wings and tail and buffy, orange belly and underwing coverts. It looked hooded with a pale gingery head. It flew slowly west and circled at the head of the valley. When it circled it showed a white face which all three of us picked up and Pete felt it also showed a small, black mask although neither Paul or I noticed this. The white face and hooded look was the most obvious feature and along with the structure and underwing coverts plus the jizz it all added up to a female Red-footed Falcon. Sadly too distant for photos as it flew along the far side of the valley but extended views and 90 minutes after presumably the same bird arrived at Long Nab. Potentially the same bird went south at Spurn mid-afternoon, one of five in a two day period for the site.

We persevered and added a couple of additional Goshawks including an absolute flyweight male that took a little while to decipher as it was so scrawny and small but the jizz was all nazgul. A Red Kite meandered east along the valley after Paul picked it up with Buzzards and was lost to view. We shifted watch point and the rain began, just a light shower but it threw up the small gos again and he gave it the beans as he undertook an aerial pursuit on a feral pigeon. The piebald columbid managed to evade the Goshawks clutches but it was awesome to watch. Continued rain caused a change of plans and we headed back into the forest.

We rolled up at Wykeham Nurseries as I assured my colleagues that this was the place for Turtle Doves. Despite their scepticism (sitka spruce and Turtle Dove?) I assured them that they were in the right place. Just a few minutes of watching Lapwings nesting amongst small spruce saplings confused them enough and then a small dove was espied by Pete feeding in the margins. It allowed reasonable approach and Pete papped it before we moved on. Another bird was feeding in a different field and we got extended views before it flew up into a tree. A superb bird and great news that they are back - fingers crossed for them this year. We decided to have another bash at the watchpoint.

Another Red Kite worked west and was seen intermittently over a 20 minute period when we also saw a couple of Goshawks including a monster female bird. It was obvious that the watch ending deluge wasn't far off when I picked up a distant raptor circling. It moved south-east closing the distance a little and showed a white rump on a brown ground colour. Ringtail harrier. I got the boys on it but it was obvious it wasn't a Hen Harrier. It was incredibly long-winged and long-tailed and just seemed to float. My thoughts narrowed and when it decided to put the hammer down to climb and move east it showed a bounce and lightness plus a very long hand, Montagu's Harrier. It was transitting over the valley like the patrolling birds I'd seen when they were fresh in at El Hondo in Spain and lacked the power of the Pallid Harrier from the winter. Paul had already seen a couple of Pallid's this year, the juvenile female that I saw on the Humber and the adult male holding territory in Bowland plus the female Monty's at Blacktoft and he shared my view on the ID. Pete also felt the bird was incredibly rangy and buoyant. Two rare raptors in one day and despite the lack of Honey Buzzards we were delighted with the outcome. The only way it could have been better was if a Short-toed Eagle flew through (and we got a photo).

Hit and Run

Last weekend the arrival of a female Siberian Stonechat at South Landing spurred me into action and I managed to creep away for a couple of hours to have a look. A quick reference to Martin Garner's invaluable Autumn book from the Challenge series refreshed what the points of interest were, especially as there were initially thoughts (unfounded) of Stejneger's. Thankfully I have also been working on heaths in south Devon and had become acquainted with the white-rumped intergrades into rubicola from hibernans. On arrival it looked to be a pale and a uniformly pale peach rump was shown in flight as well as the upper-tail pattern pointing to a female Siberian rather than Caspian. The bird showed exceptionally well along a series of posts and I got great views although the light was somewhat dull and I made do with some cruddy record shots.

A Swift hawking by Highcliffe Manor was my first on patch this year after seeing a couple in the week around and about. A trip to Thornwick Pools failed to locate much of interest but news of a Wood Warbler at South Landing had me speeding in that direction post haste. I failed to see the bird but I was the only person who wasn't on site as it was found to hear it sing as a couple of penny spins were let go before it melted away. Good enough for a patch year tick anyway...

Some stuff

So the last couple of weeks I have been back at work and based in Devon. This has been pretty successful with some good birds, some good inverts and some good plants. The first week I was working with Pete and we had the fortune to find a Goshawk territory with some incredible views of the birds going about their business. I managed the following snap which doesn't bare comparison with Pete's selection.

Last week was less birdy although I saw the Goshawks again and had Pied Flycatcher briefly but it had its highlights. Monday commenced early for me as I had to head to Devon via Dartford and had to do some Cetti's Warbler monitoring. My first Lesser Whitethroat of the year was present on the Dartford site and I had pretty much finished work by 9am but I then had to haul to 220 miles to Devon. I had a slow amble down with stops at Portland as I hadn't visited the obs before and managed to catch up with my first Whimbrel and Arctic Skua of the year. A jaunt to the Axe estuary was great as I finally laid eyes on this pretty cool piece of Lyme Bay which I had read about in the Backwater Birding thread, then blogs and latterly through PWC and twitter. Not much in the way of birds, just a handful of Whimbrel but a great place to see.

Pearl-borded Fritillary

Work was largely uneventful but I got to see my Uncle Mike and his wife Maureen. It was the first time I had visited their house in Brixham and it was really good to see them in a different context to recently after more than a decade without making the effort. A hearty meal and we were soon talking rubbish! Work continued to be relatively steady but I did my first butterfly survey and despite the less than ideal conditions we had at least 9 Pearl-bordered Fritillarys. I also found some very early Green-winged Orchids which was a new plant for me.

PWC Tick fest

I was granted a couple of hours to go birding this afternoon as news of bird after bird trickled in at Flamborough. My wife could see I was starting to get angsty and sent me on my way. The main cause of my interest was a female Garganey on the outer head. This is a potentially difficult bird and the lack of one in late March, early April meant that I wasn't optimistic that it was a species I would connect with. I managed brief views on Head Farm Pond and saw Andy Hood there. In amongst the cloud of hirundines were a number of House Martins which were also new. A quick stop at roadside flash provided a Green Sandpiper wading in the shallows with a brace of Pheasants.

I knew I had limited time and to make the most of it I headed to Thornwick Pools. I opened the car door to a rattling Lesser Whitethroat which was my first PWC one for 2017. At the pools I could hear a cacophony of several acros and Sedge Warbler was easy to untangle. After a while I saw and heard a Reed Warbler. In amongst a few Pied Wagtails was a single female Yellow Wagtail and also a distant White Wagtail. The final new bird of the flying visit was a Common Sandpiper which dropped back in after 20 minutes or so. Also knocking about were 5 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Snipe and 1 Little Ringed Plover. Garganey, Common Sand and Green Sandpiper are new birds for the headland taking me to 187. Also up to 122 species/149 points on the head.