The DWT Brownsea Avocet hide can sometimes be a great place for Wader photography with nice light, still water & close Waders. It's well worth taking the opportunity when everything comes together and I've remembered to take the camera.
24 Jul 2024
17 Jul 24 - A Brownsea Redshank
20 Jul 2024
17 Jul 24 - Red Squirrel Behaving Badly
There appears to be a breakdown in etiquette training at meal times with the Red Squirrels on the DWT Brownsea reserve at the moment. I doing my normal volunteering on Weds and helping one of the wardens Nicki as she went through the Moth trap. Nicki pointed out that there was a Red Squirrel on the peanut feeder & I walked over to take some photos. While the Red Squirrel was very obliging, it was also showing poor manners of sitting on top of its food. Some Red Squirrel etiquette training classes are clearly needed.
10 Jul 2024
3 Jul 24 - My first Wildlife Officer Role For Marinelife To Guernsey
Back at the end of Apr 24, I took part in my first Marinelife survey on the Condor Liberation bridge from Poole to Jersey, via Guernsey. It proved a lot of fun. Recently, Marinelife have asked for volunteers from their surveyors to support having a Wildlife Officer on the Liberation about once a week. I was pleased to be the first Wildlife Officer of this season. The Marinelife WLO role is very different to the surveying role. The main differences are, the WLO is on the top deck engaging with and pointing out to the public about the Birds, Cetaceans and other marine life along the route, as well as, to promote the important work that Marinelife does. However, there isn't any formal surveying during the crossing. Finally, there is the opportunity to get off in Guernsey to stretch the legs for a few hours, whereas, during the formal surveys, the surveyors stay on the bridge to Jersey.
The check-in was very quick at the Poole terminal and soon we were being called to board the Liberation. I introduced myself to the information team on the ferry and they helpfully broadcast that there was a Marinelife Wildlife Officer on board. By that time, I was already on the top deck and chatting to passengers before our departure. The departure from Poole is always delightful, as the ferry passes the Dorset Wildlife Trust Brownsea Island lagoon: where there were distant views of the breeding Black-headed Gulls, Common and Sandwich Terns. This was when I felt a little bit guilty as normally I would be on Brownsea on a Wednesday. I will look forward to seeing my Red Squirrel mates this week.
Next we passed through the Poole Harbour mouth and the immensely beautiful Studland Peninsula, followed by Old Harry Rocks, before heading out to sea.
There was a significant South West wind and I switched to the port side of the ship for the rest of the journey, along with a few other passengers who stayed on the top deck. There were nearby rain squalls as we left the Dorset coast, but we were lucky and the top deck stayed dry.
As the ship headed out to sea, there were a few Razorbills and Guillemots from the nearby breeding colony at Durlston and the adjacent Purbeck coastline. Surprisingly, the only other Seabird was a lone Gannet. About fifteen miles out from the Purbeck coastline, a party of five Swifts headed North: presumably a post-breeding dispersal?
Thirty minutes before we reached Alderney, I picked up a pod of three Common Dolphins jumping out of the water as they attempted to reach the Liberation before we were passed: unfortunately, they didn’t close the distance before we passed them. Another two Common Dolphins repeated the manoeuvre a few minutes later and presumably they were part of the same extended pod. It was good to be able to point them out to the hardy passengers who were still on the deck.
As we got closer to Alderney, we started to encounter feeding Gannets from the Gannet colony on Ortac Rock, which had about four hundred Gannets sitting on it.
Three hours after our Poole departure, there was a Mediterranean Gull feeding outside the harbour as we entered Guernsey’s picturesque St Peter Port.
I joined the day tripping passengers for a look around the town. Some headed off to the shops and restaurants, but I had an enjoyable time exploring the historic Castle Cornet and its three museums. There was plenty of interesting history to see in the two hours I was there, before a gentle walk back past the harbour to the ferry terminal. There will be more on this to come.
After another quick check-in, I was back onto the top deck and engaging with the passengers before the prompt departure. The weather had improved for the return journey, except for the wind, but it was reasonably sheltered on the starboard side. The birds picked up as well with a Balearic Shearwater tracking alongside the ship for a few minutes, followed by two more distant Manx Shearwater and some feeding Gannets from the Ortac Rock. It was good to engage with the passengers who remained on the top deck and explain the migrations of these two species of Shearwaters and other Seabirds that occur along this route during the year.
The weather had improved a bit as we passed through Studland Bay. Plus, the local Marines were putting on a training session in the bay to entertain the passengers. It provided a good end to an enjoyable day which had allowed plenty of passenger engagement.
Thanks to Condor Ferries and the crew of the Condor Liberation for making me welcome on board and for their support to Marinelife.
18 Jun 2024
18 Jun 24 - Wall Mason Wasp
I've recently had a conservatory added to the house. I was sitting in the conservatory, when I spotted a small, slim Wasp fly in through the open door and into a two or three mm hole in the kitchen door frame. This was the old outside door, but is now an internal door. I had freshly painted this door a few weeks ago & this hole wasn't there at the time. I saw the Wasp fly out of the hole & head back into the garden. It returned a few minutes later, when I managed to get these photos with the mobile. I don't have any books on Wasp ID, so I forwarded the photos to my mate Steve Morrison who is up on his Wasps. He has replied it is a Wall Mason Wasp, Ancistrocerus parietinus.
Looking it up on the BWARS website, it looks to be a relatively widespread species in England & Wales up to Yorkshire, with less frequent records in the far North of England & Scotland. June & July are most likely flying months with less frequent sightings in May & August. The BWARS website states it is a tube-dweller and often nests in the stems of bramble and elder. The Flowers visited are Sea-holly, Bramble, Hogweed and Thistles. There are certainly plenty of Brambles in the field next to my house.
Unfortunately, I was on Brownsea yesterday and the conservatory door was locked. Today, I've been in the conservatory with the door open, but I've not see the Wall Mason Wasp. I'm guessing it has given up & looked for a better nesting hole. A pity, as I wouldn't have objected sharing the old backdoor with the Wall Mason Wasp.
29 May 2024
29 May 24 - Irish Hares
This was day two of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron twitch. After successfully seeing the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Pete Aley & I ended up at The Mullet by the end of the first day. On the second morning, I was pleased to get good views of an Irish Hare at Cross Lough, before picking Pete up from his hotel. I have seen Irish Hares on my last two visits to Ireland, but this was the first time I've had good close views.
I saw another Irish Hare chasing another individual around as we were heading off to Annagh Marsh.
29 May 24 - Spring Birding On The Mullet
This was day two of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron twitch. After successfully seeing the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Pete Aley & I ended up at The Mullet by the end of the first day. I dropped Pete at his hotel & headed to Cross Lough to kip in the car. I was up early the following morning to have a look around the Lough in the hope of seeing the Black Duck. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it. But there was a distant over-summering Whooper Swan, several Wheatears & some Northern Marsh Orchids.
After picking Pete up from his hotel, we went & had another look for the Elegant Tern in the Tern colony on Inis Doire Island, which was close to Pete's hotel. We gave up looking after a half hour without any success. Next we headed off to Annagh Marsh on The Mullet. This turned out to be a very large field about a quarter of a mile long with a predator proof electric fence around it. We had been told by some of the Irish Birders on the previous afternoon, it was worth a look, when we said we were thinking of visiting The Mullet. It was an impressive site, with damp meadows and plenty of Sedge-fringed pools. It was clearly a good place for breeding Waders with Lapwing, Snipe and Redshank all present and breeding there. It was a good example of what can be achieved if breeding Waders can be protected from Mammalian predators.
We did also see some nice Irish Hares on The Mullet, but I will cover them in the next Blog Post.
28 May 2024
28 May 24 - Overnight For A Night (Heron)
One the afternoon of 26 May 24, reports appeared on twitter & RBA of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron in Ireland, with the initial twitter suggestions that it was probably ringed. At the time, I dismissed this as an escape on the basis of it being ringed and I carried on with the decorating I was doing. I didn't look at the phone again for any subsequent updates until I finished painting that evening. The updated news was it had been seen by some of the nearest Irish Birders, who had photographed it and confirmed it clearly unringed.
I had a think about a trip over to Ireland While I was eating. I looked at the logistics to get to County Mayo. The good news is I had driven to within a few miles of its location on my last trip to Ireland and so I knew the roads. There wasn't room on the ferry from Pembroke Dock with the start of the UK's half term and it would have mean a longer drive up to Fishguard. But that was an earlier departure and it was getting very tight to try & catch the overnight ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare. The news suggested that the Yellow-crowned Night Heron might have been around for a while and therefore there was a good chance that waiting for a day wouldn't be a problem. It would also allow time to see how the first UK Birders fared in their various routes to get there.
I had another look at ferries to Rosslare when there was early news that the Yellow-crowned Night Heron was still there. There was a smaller ferry running from Pembroke Dock and the day time crossings were full. The first option to get across was that evening's overnight ferry. This is my preferred option anyway, as the ferry arrives around breakfast time the following morning & it allows the full day to get to the location and hopefully see the target species. My other preference is a day time return crossing a day or two later, which allows a bit of contingency time in Ireland, some Irish Birding and a good night's sleep. The day time crossing also allows for some Cetacean and Seabirds to be looked for on the crossing. However, with the smaller ferry & the school holidays, the return daytime ferry was full & I couldn't book the car on it. In the end I decided to settle for two overnight ferry crossings with two days and one night in Ireland. I booked the car onto the ferry & rang my old mate, Pete Aley to confirm I was going & my plans. Pete had been looking at various options for getting across, but after a few minutes, he rang back to say he was interested in teaming up.
In the old days, I would meet up with the Plymouth Birders for an Irish trip at Aust services. This was just before the Severn toll bridge. We would park one of the cars and then carry on with the remaining car. This caused a few problems as the on road parking site we used wasn't ideal & more so, there was one trip where the Plymouth car followed the M4 & before they knew it, they had crossed the toll bridge. They had to return to England again to follow the M48 to Aust services. An expensive mistake in the days before we had mobile phones. Anyway, with the tolls abandoned, we decided to meet up on an urban road, just over the bridge at 22:30, where we could park Pete's car for a couple of days. This gave us plenty of contingency time to get to Pembroke Dock before the last arrival time of 01:45. We arrived about an hour early. We were quickly out of the car on the ferry with our sleeping bags and pillows, and were just in time to grab the last seats we could lie down on in the lounge. However, I don't think I got more than a broken hour or two of sleep on the three & a half hour crossing. But I had enjoyed a few hours of sleep before I left the house & that was enough to keep me going for the following day.
We were off the ferry just before 08:00 and five hours later, we were pulling up in the small village of Belcarra about forty miles North of Galway. It had been a pleasant drive across Ireland, on the quiet by English standards, roads. The drive had given Pete & I to have a good chat about Birding on various trips and also put a tentative plan in place for the rest of the trip. Belcarra is halfway between Galway and The Mullet and we were both up for heading in that direction later in the day. I was also keen on looking for the Irish endemic Cryptic Wood White Butterfly on the journey back to Rosslare. I had a couple of good sites in Northern Ireland, but that wasn't on our route. But there was a site about thirty minutes off our route on way back.
We met an Irish Birder as we pulled up, who confirmed that the Yellow-crowned Night Heron was on show & roosting in a tree behind the community centre. A few minutes later, the car was parked up & we were watching it with a handful of other Irish Birders and bemused locals who were seeing what all the fuss was about.
There was also a lower path next to the river. We checked it out a couple of times, but the views were never as good as behind the community centre.
At one point, I popped back to the car & an Irish guy started asking me questions about the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. After a couple of minutes, he explained he was an RTE reporter & when his cameraman arrived, he asked if he could do a short interview. The result was both Pete & I made it onto the RTE national news that evening, along with Eric Dempsey of Birds Ireland Photography: fame at last.
We had to shelter a few times in the community centre as several short, sharp showers arrived, but they cleared after a few minutes. We had been hanging in the hope that the Yellow-crowned Night Heron would drop into the river to start feeding on the local White-clawed Crayfish, but it didn't. But I did manage to see my first native White-clawed Crayfish from the lower path as we waited.
Eventually, we decided to head off to The Mullet. There was an Elegant Tern hanging around a Sandwich Tern colony, which also had a few Arctic Terns in it. After a ninety minute drive, we arrived at a small croft, where we could distantly scope the colony. Google Maps showed that the island the colony was on was only one kilometre away, but with the poor light it seemed further. We had been told that at any time we would see about fifty or so Sandwich Terns, but that number would increase to a couple of hundred or more Terns, if they were spooked. This was the best chance of seeing the Elegant Tern, unless we saw in fly in or out of the colony. We spent about forty-five minutes looking, but without any joy. The plan for the evening was Pete was booking into a local three star hotel, while I had a booking in the Focus Hotel at Cross Lough. There is a toilet at the Lough and it's a great place for sleeping in the car, with the added bonus of some early morning Birding. We found a great pub in Belmullet for evening, where I managed to avoid the Guinness: Ireland is about the only place I half-regret giving up drinking back in 2011.
I said goodbye to Pete about 22:00 & headed off the short distance to Cross Lough for the evening. I arrived at the same time that another couple arrived & I was ready to get some well-deserved sleep in the car while they were still mucking around with putting a tent up. It had been a good successful day and the UK/Irish List has increased to 563 with eight species only seen in Ireland.
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