Sunday Seawatching

I watched with envy as news of a Great Shearwater north past Flamborough Head on Saturday morning came out. I last saw one at Flamborough 10 years ago and then I was floating on the Yorkshire Belle just offshore. I have seen only one since - a fairly distant bird at Pendeen last year. News later came out of a Fea's-type Petrel north from Whitburn and tracked along the Northumbrian coast. This is a species group I have yet to encounter and as each outpost flashed up with positive news I smiled at my wife and commented how much I was enjoying our afternoon out without the kids.

In fairness to my infinitely better half we had just enjoyed the surprisingly weepy Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again after visiting her father who was just home after making his own threats to visit St Peter. Mike is on the mend now and it has been a pretty worrying time which has contributed to my lack of birding in the late spring (allied with an incredibly busy work schedule). One thing to aid my chances this autumn is I am moving my office base from Newcastle to Leeds in order to see my wife and kids a bit more and actually live at home during the week. When not on fieldwork...

So onto yesterday and the day after a blow always produces something, or so I'm told. For me it was creeping desperation to get in the mix as a colleague would phrase it. I set 5 alarms between 5 and 6am and it only took two to get me out of bed. Rain was forecast for midday and I was hoping for a leaden sky to help with viewing. I found myself driving east into the sun at 05:45 and cursed. Fortunately when I got down to the seawatching ledge below the foghorn a bank of cloud covered the horizon and more or less remained in situ throughout. It was 8 degrees C and pretty chilly but out of the wind on the ledge it was ok. I was beaten to the punch by Lee Johnson who had been going since 6am. He was still counting the shearwaters on his fingers and thumbs when I got there but had run out quickly. I cracked open the notebook and Manx Shearwaters were passing in numbers with Sooty Shearwaters liberally spread amongst them. We were joined a few minutes later by Craig Thomas and got down to an extremely productive morning.

Common Terns were moving en masse (although not in Spurn roost numbers). Soon after we started a lone Whimbrel whinnied overhead as it sallied north. A hulking skua lumbered north at mid-distance showing itself to be an intermediate morph Pomarine Skua at 06:40. It was an adult bird that had dropped its spoons. The odd Puffin was still to be seen moving offshore. Almost everything was moving north in reaction to the previous days blow displacing them into the North Sea. A group of Manxies seemed to hold a darker individual but it evaporated before the ID was clinched. At 06:55 a waif of a skua floated north, initially well off but coming in to mid-distance. It was partnered by an obvious Arctic Skua and as that powered away, the difference in build and flight-style revealed a smashing Long-tailed Skua. This was my first for Flamborough after having a couple in Northumberland, 4 off Spurn whilst working and a couple at Barmston. Lee had a Bonxie flying each way prior to my arrival and this made it that rare occurrence of a 4 skua day, all before 7am. Small numbers of Bonxies continued to run throughout with a southerly passage dominating in the first couple of hours before this reversed in the latter couple.

A small, dumpy wader flew south and was watched by Lee and Craig before seemingly ditching midway out. Neither was completely happy with what had been seen and what was probably a phalarope was let go. Me? I was busy scratching down the numbers and never saw a thing... A second Pom went north at 07:30, this time a light-morph adult with full-spoons one of the more majestic seabirds in my humble opinion. By this time Sandwich Terns had started to move and the Manxie/Sooty passage had quietened down a little. Two Black Terns fed off the head for 5 minutes at 07:47 before drifting north-east and out of view. Craig briefly had a Minke Whale surface and perhaps an hour or so later I had presumably the same animal briefly. A beautiful juvenile Common Gull initially passed south before returning to loiter with the gull flock beneath the cliffs.As the watch progressed a trio of Balearic Shearwaters headed north amongst a pulse of Manxies with individuals at 08:51, 09:17 and 09:56. All were at mid to close range and gave great viewing opportunities.

As the watch progressed a few Common Scoter and Teal passed with the majority heading north but the wildfowl highlight was a single female Goosander south. Also later in the watch were a scattering of waders with 3 further Whimbrel north, 3 Curlew north and 1 south, 10 Redshank south, 8 Dunlin south and 5 Turnstones south (coming from offshore - the usual backward and forward of Turnstones and Oystercatchers around the cliff base was ignored with bigger fish to fry). 10 Black-headed Gulls north were par for the course and hopes of a biggie faded as time went on. We abandoned the watch at 10:45 prior to the rain arriving half an hour later and I had my seawatching urge sated. For now. Full counts from yesterday are below:

Teal N: 25 S: 15
Common Scoter N: 23
Goosander S: 1 (female)
Cormorant S: 29
Shag S: +
Gannet N: +++ S: +
Manx Shearwater N: 335 S: 10
Balearic Shearwater N: 3 (08:51, 09:17 & 09:56)
Sooty Shearwater N: 40
Fulmar N: +
Curlew: N: 4
Redshank S: 10
Dunlin S: 8
Turnstone S: 5
Sandwich Tern N: 112 S: 10
Common Tern N: 305 S: 3
Black Tern N: 2 (07:47)
Great Skua N: 26 S: 15
Pomarine Skua N: 2 (06:40 ad intermediate morph without spoons & 07:30 adult pale morph with spoons)
Arctic Skua N: 14 S: 5
Long-tailed Skua N: 1 (06:55)
Puffin N: 12 S: 2
Guillemot N: +
Kittiwake N: +++ S: +
Black-headed Gull N: 10
Common Gull N: 1
Herring Gull N: + S: +
Lesser Black-backed Gull S: 1
Great Black-backed Gull S: +

Present: Shag, Fulmar, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull 3, Common Gull 2, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Linnet, House Martin & Swallow.

Crete - Stuffed with Raptors

A family holiday took us to Crete, Rethymno to be precise. The birding around the hotel was pants and there weren't any herps or butterflies either! Despite this I managed to slip away into the mountains for a couple of days and saw some things.

Griffon Vulture

The headline is that I managed to connect with Lammergeier. Not only that but I had excellent views of an adult meandering along a spine to the south-west of Mount Psiloritis within 15 minutes of getting into the right sort of habitat. So so jammy. I was showing my brother-in-law Ady what I do when I go birding and gave him a tour of the closest mountains keeping my powder dry for the following day. As it was we had phenomenal success and he seemed to enjoy my passion and insanity...

Gorge for breakfast

I picked up a distant Honey Buzzard circling on the flank of the spine just above some olive groves. Honey Buzzard doesn't breed on Crete so presumably a non-breeder or failed breeder ambling south. It had just come up out of the olive grove where it must have roosted and I handed the bins to Ady. He couldn't pick it but got on something else higher up and handed the bins to me. I expected it to be a Griffon Vulture as these were extremely common in all upland areas of Crete I had seen. What I got was a massive long, thin winged raptor which had a passing resemblance to a large eagle but with a much more active flight style and bringing its wings in a downward V to turn. A Griffon floated about above and this was 10-15% smaller than the Lammergeier. The orange head and breast glinted briefly in the sun showing that it was an adult Ossifrage. I handed the bins to Ady who enjoyed the bird for another minute or so before it dropped over the back of the spine not to re-emerge. I was frankly ecstatic, my hope of seeing one tempered by the knowledge of the difficulty in connecting and the short duration I had to go birding. Amazing amazing birds.Sadly no photograph or film as just a little too distant.

The mountains in the background were the scene of the Lammergeier

The birding in total was restricted to two mornings in the car and two walks around the local area (which was dire). Aside from the resident Feral Pigeons, Collared Doves, Swallows and Italian Sparrows (lifer - woo) there were a couple of Woodchats, a sprinkle of Sardinian Warblers and a handful of Crested Larks. No gulls or shearwaters on the sea and no geckos. My sister and daughter saw a Balkan Green Lizard swim across the pool before diving to cover and there was a pretty cracking Swallow roost of perhaps 1,000 birds that came in at night.

The coach across to the hotel from the airport revealed the first Griffons, Buzzards and Hooded Crows whilst incidentally I bumped into Great Tit, Pallid Swift, Blackbird and a Grey Heron. A further heron on the move along the coast appeared to be a Night Heron but was seen badly from a moving vehicle. A trip to Chania to swim with the Sirens of myth and legend gave up Yellow-legged Gull whilst seen from the coach was a single Eleonora's Falcon over coastal woodland (my only one of the trip) and a distant Bonelli's Eagle over a coastal gorge. Best of all a very big Loggerhead Turtle in Chania's Venetian harbour.

The first mornings birding was to the west of Mount Psiloritis and a breakfast of Ravens and Red-rumped Swallows with a side order of Pain au chocolat and Lattes. Moving from a gorge just above the resort into the hills of Arkadi. Here we had Black Kites and Kestrels tussling with Buzzards and Ravens later joined by a female Honey Buzzard in the heaviest of natural moults. Greenfinches and Goldfinches were in the trees and a White Stork circled Arkadi Tip. A handful of Eastern Black-eared Wheatears roamed and these proved very common in the mountains.

White Stork

Into the raised farmland Griffon's were on the hunt and a giant sylvia with a white eye proved to be Eastern Orphean Warbler, my first of this species. Bee-eaters farted overhead and I attempted to explain how gloriously coloured they were to my brother-in-law whilst they appeared to be monochrome pinpricks in the sky. Crag Martins were seen briefly at this point too. The Lammergeier happened soon after and then we moved onto a sad looking reservoir and the results were predictable with a handful of Coots, Mallard and Little Grebe the sum total. A couple of Turtle Doves darted across the road and further stops yielded more raptors and a Grey Heron at Amari Dam Reservoir. From here looking south two super distant large raptors gave the distinctive jizz of further Lammergeiers over a high peak and a Black Kite was escorted across the lake by 2 Buzzards. It was getting very hot at this stage and coffee and ice cream were essential. We knocked it on the head soon after.

Nida Plateau with the Western Peak of Mount Psiloritis in the background

The following day saw me head to the Nida Plateau nestled between the peaks of Mount Psiloritis at 1400m after dropping down from 1700m. These were some serious roads and I wound myself up through village after village until finally I left Anogeia. I had already seen a brace of Hobbys bombing one of the almost infinite number of Griffons. Moving onward there were further Black-eared Wheatears and then the drop onto the plateau. My only Hoopoe of the trip was present on the cropped turf used for grazing goats. A strong breeze blew and the distinctive 'chow chow' of Red-billed Chough filled the air as two flew high overhead. This was not the Chough I was hoping for alas. There were a few butterflies in evidence with Cretan Small Heath and Clouded Yellow amongst the large numbers of Small Whites. Also in evidence in the bushes around the plateau were Blue Tit, Wren and Stonechat. On trying to leave the plateau I went the wrong way and found myself on a gravelled road with no barrier and several hundred metres of sheer drop. I did a very ginger 7 point turn in my tiny Suzuki. An aquiline dot at that point remained unidentified.

Cretan Small Heath

That was pretty much it for birding. We did see a few Feral Goats as our one mammal of the trip. A Cretan Water Frog was seen hiding by a water feature at the cafe by the dam and bothered by the kids on a trip out. Other butterflies included Cretan Grayling whilst frog bothering, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and quite a few Swallowtails. An additional lepidoptera in the form of Hummingbird Hawkmoth was great whilst a larger hawkmoth species visited us at dinner one night to try and sample our wine. We didn't let it. And that was our trip to Crete.

Rose-coloured Starling

I got very jealous of the Rose-coloured Starling at Ashington the other week but news of numbers building up in central Europe and an impending invasion left me optimistic and seemingly with good reason as on Wednesday last week this little cracker was found at Flamborough round the back of Thornwick Pools before it relocated to St David's Lane at North Landing. I was in South-west Scotland enjoying the sun and finding Goshawk territories. Much fun was being had but not for dissemination here sadly. I did however think that catching a flier may get me back in time to catch up with this bird and the Grey-headed Wagtail also in the same area. Alas for the latter it was not to be but I got almost immediate views of the Starling flying out of the garden it favoured. After 30 mins of obscured views in the hedge it finally flew into the garden but it teased by hiding at the back before plucking the courage up to get stuck into the fat balls that had kept it occupied all day. Eventually it did succumb and was on show for a minute or so on the lawn before disappearing again. With that I took my leave but an excellent time was had and lovely views of a super male.

Surprising Black Cock

I was out and about last week in the Angus Glens when I came across these guys. One was a few metres away and promptly went to sleep in front of me. Bonkers.

Double Dot

This morning at Flamborough I was working my way along Old Fall Hedge when a message came out that June and Malcolm had found a pair of Dotterel near Highcliffe Manor in a drilled field. I worked out whether it would be quicker to run round or too drive to South Landing - the latter and I pegged it back to the car. Various folks were assembling but I was first on the scene only for June to say they'd just spooked across the field out of view. Dotterel is a bird I need for Yorkshire so I was very keen to catch up with them. I outpaced the other birders to the corner only to see them dive over the cliff thanks to an erstwhile jogger and his dog. Curses were heard from those arriving a moment too late whilst I was delighted to see them it was very fleeting.

Thankfully the birds, a male and female did the decent thing and relocated back in the field allowing very good views. They were flighty throughout and a Skylark put them up. Sadly after 10 minutes or so the Coastguard Helicopter flushed them to the horizon and they disappeared to the North-west. I managed a few brief record shots and a bit of breathy video. These were number 318 for Yorkshire and 200 for Flamborough.

North-west Sydney with Steve

Female Golden Whistler

An early start after a tiring day was a struggle but a little caffeine and we were under way. Steve had a plan to take us across the city to the North-western margins to look for some of the birds that I had yet to connect with. We had loads of success in the North Richmond and Windsor areas. We started not long after dawn at Mitchell Park in the Cattai National Park where new birds came thick and fast. An Eastern Great Egret was new as we approached and straight into the cool woodland where Lewin's Honeyeater piped up only to be replaced by Brown Thornbill, Mistletoebird, Golden Whistler and Crested Shrike-Tit. We could hear Whipbirds all over the shop. Bar-shouldered Dove was joined by Peaceful Dove and Grey Shrike Thrush. I managed to pick out a Spangled Drongo in the trees and we heard Bell's Miner (although I didn't manage to connect with one). Wonga Pigeon was heard long before being seen but Bronze Cuckoo-Dove was easier to catch up with. A female King Parrot was sat up in a tree and we saw a couple of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters.

Grey Shrike-thrush

King Parrot

Lewin's Honeyeater

Wandering along the tracks finally revealed a male Wonga Pigeon piping up and views of Eastern Whipbird,  a charasmatic and elusive species. We found Bronze Cuckoo-Doves foraging not far from the path but the temperature was increasing and we pushed on. A Collared Sparrowhawk was seen moving along the river. Our final new bird for the site was Variegated Fairywren alas not in as smart plumage as it could have been but great to contrast with the Superb Fairywrens we had been seeing.

Nutmeg Mannikin

Peaceful Dove

Red-kneed Dotterel

Scarlet Honeyeater

Spangled Drongo

 Long Neck Lagoon in Scheyville National Park was a dry woodland, contrasting with the wet woodland at Cattai. It was much quieter already as the temperature picked up but Scarlet Honeyeater made up for that and we also added Yellow Thornbill and White-headed Stilt. As with in Jervis Bay it was evident that Noisy Friarbird were moving through in good numbers and this would be a constant throughout the remainder of the trip. We made the trip up to Pitt Town Lagoon where almost immediately a Swamp Harrier moved overhead. Here we had excellent views of Golden-headed Cisticola and a trio of Intermediate Egrets were resting out on perches. The lagoon was stacked with Red-kneed Dotterel, Grey Teal, Australasian Shoveler and a variety of other common waterbirds.

White-headed Stilt

Swamp Harrier

Golden-headed Cisticola

Our final stop of the day was at Bushell's Lagoon. On the way a gaggle of Royal Spoonbill refused to embrace their inner Yellow-faced Spoonbill. We found a dead Budgie by the side of the road, alas one of the feral morphs. As we approached a number of Dusky Woodswallows were collected on posts and these were joined by Zebra Finches. Walking down to the lagoon were loads of raptors with Brown Goshawk, several Whistling Kite which were the first of the trip, Nankeen Kestrel, and a couple of Australian Hobbies which were hawking high above. A couple of young White-bellied Sea Eagles joined the raptor-fest. White-faced Herons were notable as were some Estralid finches working the orchards on the fringes. We had good views of Double-barred Finches and some Nutmeg Mannikins were expected fare. These mixed with the Zebra finches but we couldn't find any Plum-headed Finches. We packed up and stopped to look for White-winged Trillers not far away whilst flagging due to lack of sleep and the heat. A feral goose disgraced itself by taking bread but we were celebrating my last lifer of the day when an Azure Kingfisher gave us a brief flyby. We moved off and Steve dropped me in central Sydney for my train to Canberra. A brief goodbye and one of my best birding weekends was over. Immense and thanks again to Steve. His account with superior photos is here:

https://stephenhey.wordpress.com/2018-2/11th-march-windsor-and-north-richmond/

Sydney Pelagic

Antipodean Wandering Albatross

Before I get too far into this let it be known that this was one of if not the best days birding. I saw some of the most iconic species out there, met new people and it was sunny and pleasant. There are superior write-ups (and far better photographs) for the day in the links below:

https://stephenhey.wordpress.com/pelagics/10th-march-2018-sydney/

http://www.sydneypelagics.info/reports/20180310.shtml

I booked onto a pelagic out of Sydney for 10th March way before my trip. It excited me a lot. This was the highlight to the entire trip as far as I was concerned. I adore being offshore and have very sturdy sea legs so don't suffer from mal de mer. Nick Addey very kindly put me in touch with Steve Hey, a Scarborough birder who has decamped to Sydney and equally kindly Steve offered to put me up for a night and show me some birds after the pelagic and the following day. Steve went above and beyond and I cant thank him or his lovely wife Vicky enough.

Tawny Frogmouth

After a night out on the razz in Sydney with my brother he gave me a lift pre-dawn to Rose Bay where I met Steve and he introduced me to a few of the stalwarts of the pelagics including Roger McGovern, Frank Antram, and Greg Mclachlan. These were a cracking bunch of folks and in total 23 were aboard for the trip.

Several Crested Terns and many Silver Gulls were foraging about the harbour but we couldn't pick out any Little Blue Penguins as we left. It took a while to get clear of the Heads but once a mile or two off the first Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were seen crossing the bow. A little chum and a swarm of these cracking birds was present off the back. As we ventured further it was pointed out that a handful of Flesh-footed Shearwaters had joined the throng. Immature Pomarine Skuas came and went, largely disinterested in the shearwaters but hoping that the oily slick may contain a choice morsel. A nudge in the ribs from Steve helped me to see a distant Short-tailed Shearwater that flitted in and out of the flock like a compact Sooty. By this stage several hundred wedgies were off the boat, all dark phase, and I was picking the Flesh-footed out with a little more ease. Hutton's Shearwaters were seen passing in small numbers, rarely interested in what was going on and very reminiscent of Manxies in behaviour.

Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters

Pomarine Skua

Pomarine Skua

Not too long out and a single Bottlenose Dolphin briefly came into the boat. Soon afterward a pod of Risso's Dolphins came past ignoring the lore that they dislike boats by showing well for a couple of minutes. Unlike other dolphins they were hard to photograph due to their brevity at the surface and I came away with nothing. The latter is a species that has avoided me in British waters and one that I was hopeful of seeing on this trip. The make-up of the swarm of birds at the back of the boat remained somewhat static with occasional shouts for Hutton's and Short-tailed Shears and skuas coming and going. A single Australasian Flying Fish was a delight skipping over the surface and perhaps indicating that there was more going on underneath the water than was evident. Plenty more were seen as the day progressed.

Black Petrel

Black Petrel

After a couple of hours we got close to Brown's Mountain, an underwater seamount near the shelf edge. This is a noted hotspot and almost immediately the shout went up 'White-necked Petrel'. This caused absolute mayhem as the stocky Pteradroma did a fly past. This is a hard bird to connect with in Australian waters and whilst breeding not far away was a lifer for many on-board including some with over 700 species on their Aussie lists. My photo doesn't do it justice but it was superb. Soon after we came to a stop and all hell broke loose. A Black Petrel was seen amongst the numerous Flesh-footed Shearwaters and sat immediately off the back of the boat. A smaller Pteradroma, Gould's Petrel, an absolute gem, circled the boat. This is a 'cookaleria' petrel and very slight in comparison to the earlier white-necked. It is unusual for them to show well so two close fly pasts were near unprecedented. This was the first of seven sightings for the trip of which I saw six and none half as well. A Wilson's Petrel fluttered just off the boat and was a lifer to my chagrin after I missed loads last year in the South-west.

White-necked Petrel

Gould's Petrel

Interrupting my reverie was the shout of 'albatross', nay 'ALBATROSS'. A hulking mollymawk scooted over the ocean. I knew from my research I was a month early for albatross but I had a 50/50 chance of seeing one. I was delighted - this was what I really wanted. Initially identified as a Shy Albatross, it became evident it was White-capped Albatross, currently a subspecies of Shy but split by some authorities. It flew round for a good while and settled at the back of the boat amongst the thronging shearwaters. At this point a third species of Pteradroma joined us although this was by far the most expected. Formerly part of Great-winged Petrel, Grey-faced Petrel is the eastern Australian equivalent and appears suitably different. One became two and later twenty as they materialised out of nowhere. We moved off towards the shelf edge soon after losing only the albatross.

White-capped Albatross

White-capped Albatross

Grey-faced Petrel

At the shelf edge there was little added until I spotted two more White-capped Albatross and then we were joined by a monster - an Antipodean Wandering Albatross. This leviathan of the air cruised in and smashed into a throng of shearwaters sending them in all directions. They bounced off it in flight and its shear size was mesmeric. This was a peak experience. It was the avian spruce goose. Incredibly we had one of the White-capped Albatross and the wanderer with us for much of the remainder of the trip as we turned and headed in.



Further Short-tailed Shearwaters were seen and a candidate Fluttering Shearwater but sadly it was not to be. I missed a Sooty Shearwater and a couple of Wilson's Petrels but frankly I didn't care. The Wandering Albatross remained until just a couple of miles offshore. A small pod of Risso's Dolphin's showed briefly and just off the heads as we returned a large dolphin was nearly run over and I got decent views of the fin and back. A False Killer Whale! Amazing.

As we passed the nudist beach a couple of the Aussies tried to convince me there was a colony of brown boobies on the rocks before collapsing into fits of giggles about willie wagtails. It takes all sorts I guess! Still no penguins. It was quite late in the afternoon and Steve suggested trying Centenary Park for a few species. A handful of specials were on the cards and we bumped into local raptor expert and the dude impersonator Biggles of Solander. Biggles is avant garde, Biggles definitely smokes large quantities of cannabinoids and has done since the late 60s however Biggles knows birds of prey in the Sydney area. Unfortunately before I even know what we are looking for he says they aren't there. The Powerful Owls, the aren't there. They have an alternate unviewable roost and sadly we won't be seeing them today. Ah, Biggles you bugger. Thankfully he had lots of gen on where to find Tawny Frogmouth and before you know it I found one near the regular roosting areas. Not bad considering how busy the park is. A classic Australian bird and full of character even if it didn't actually move. The final part of the parks charismatic triumvirate is Buff-banded Rail and some patience sees excellent views of an adult briefly before a juvenile gives us a little more of a show. Elsewhere in the park we see my first Hardhead, which is a Fudge duck sort of thing and a Little Black Cormorant.  We thank Biggles and push on to a golf course to make hay in the final hour of sun.

Juvenile Buff-banded Rail

Hardhead

A Grey Butcherbird on the wires is a superb start at the golf course. This is a micro-currawong or Australian Magpie and has a shrike like niche and a heavy bill, perfect for dismembering lizards, small birds and mammals. On the course itself an Australian Black-shouldered Kite hovered. Having not seen its European counterpart this was an excellent sighting. The introduced Spotted Dove was singing from the scrub as dusk approached and we found none of the crakes or rails that we hoped for. If Spotted Dove was reminiscent of Laughing and Collared Doves and felt a bit plastic the delightful Bar-shouldered Dove was quite opposite. A delicate bird in markings and build it looked resplendent as we peered into its hiding place amongst the thorns. The sun finally started to drop and whilst we found no quail on the fairways we did find some roosting Red-whiskered Bulbuls to round the day off with yet another lifer. A couple of well deserved beers were imbibed ahead of a brief sleep prior to another jam-packed day.

Australian Black-shouldered Kite

Bar-shouldered Dover

Eastern Water Dragon

Grey Butcherbird

Red-whiskered Bulbul