30 Oct 24 - Last Knockings On Brownsea

It's hard to believe, but my third season volunteering on the DWT Brownsea reserve has ended for the year. This time there are no planned Winter Members Days to support. Myself & three of the other volunteers, Carrie, Linda & David, were just putting the walkie-talkies back on their charging units at the end of the afternoon, when I looked through the window & saw a Firecrest. I pointed it out to the others. We saw it briefly, before it moved out of view. Heading outside, it was still feeding by the window area & provided a nice ending to the season on the island.

Firecrest: They are a species I seen regularly around Purbeck. But I never tire of seeing them

Firecrest: It was a species that Carrie & Linda hadn't seen before, so it was a nice ending to their season as well

Firecrest

18 Oct 14 - Studland Grey Seal

A few times a year, I bump into a Seal around Poole Harbour. Further into Poole Harbour & away from the Studland & Harbour Mouth area, I think they are mainly Common Seals. However, I have seen slightly more Grey Seals around the Studland peninsula, although I have seen some Common Seals there as well. Clearly, they have to pass through the Harbour Mouth to get further in. For the first time, I've had a camera to get some photos to support the identification. Frustratingly, all I normally see is a head poking out of the water & looking around before it drops out of sight again for another few minutes. Only once in Jan 05, have I seen a Common Seal pulled out of the sea & sitting on the rocks between Middle and South Beaches. This allowed the small size & distinctive appearance with the tail & head both curved up, to be seen.

Grey Seal: Looks like a long face so tentatively identified as a Grey Seal. South Beach (16 Oct 14)

On the 16 Oct 14, I spotted the distant shape of a Seal head poking out of the water of South Beach. I took some photos & after looking at them decided it looked like a Grey Seal. A couple of days later I was back down at Studland with Peter Moore looking for Yellow-browed Warblers as Paul Morton had confirmed the Yellow-browed Warbler found on the 10 Oct was still around (or Paul had found another very close to where my YBW had been). We tried where Paul had seen it and then moved onto to check out where my second Yellow-browed Warbler on the 11 Oct had been along the edge of the Littlesea Nature Trail. We had no joy with either YBW, but did find a couple of new Firecrests for the Autumn on the Nature Trail.

Firecrest: I failed to get any worthwhile photos, so here is one from Knoll Beach last year (13 Nov 13)

Walking back to the cars at Middle Beach, I saw what I assumed to be a distant dog in the water, but checked it anyway. A quick scan confirmed it was the Seal & it was still around. A quick 80 metre jog up the beach, got me closer to where it had dived. Unfortunately, it was a bit further out when it came up, but still much closer than where I saw it off South Beach.

Grey Seal: Grey Seals have more parallel nostrils, whereas Common Seals have V shaped nostrils which nearly meet at their bases

Grey Seal: Grey Seals also have a flatter forehead shape, compared to the raised forehead shape of Common Seals

Grey Seal: Head colouration and blotches aren't useful features as both species tend to be quite variable. But this does show the snout is quite prominent (even though it is partly angled away)

Grey Seal: Yawning with boredom at the time we are spending to confirm the identification from the first sighting

Grey Seal: A final view of the head shape, before it dived again

13 Nov 13 - Colour vs Monochrome

After the Diver party, it was back to regular birding. With the sunny & still weather, conditions were great for looking for birds along the bushes behind Studland's Southern beaches. The highlight was this cracking Firecrest. This is favourite of most UK birders, given they are so well marked compared to their commoner cousin, the Goldcrest (see Mystery Bird Photo). They are also even more hyper as they move around feeding. Studland usually has a few Firecrests overwintering in regular spots.

Firecrest

 Firecrest

Firecrest

Next stop was Knoll & Middle Beaches. Studland is the most important wintering grounds for Black-necked Grebes in the UK. Currently, the numbers are still building up with their peak in January. In January 2011, Steve Morrison counted an 80 roosting together (along with several Slavonian Grebes). Most feed in the eel grass off Knoll, Middle & South beaches, but a few can often be found closer to the harbour mouth & in Brands Bay. Today, 29 of the 33 birds were off Knoll & Middle Beaches. normally, by late morning, they are well dispersed in small parties throughout the bay, so it was a pleasant surprise to find 26 in a single tight flock.

Black-necked Grebe: Panoramic view of half the flock with the Needles in the background

Keeping to the monochrome theme, this cracking Gull flew in & landed on the beach. About 10 years ago, Graham Armstrong had a flock of 5 of these birds on the beach which was an impressive total for Studland. Last March, I had a conservative count of 350 birds on the beach.

Here is a closer photo of a Black-necked Grebe off Pilots Point a few days later. To me, they always look like large Dabchick's rather than a Slavonian Grebe. Best told from Slavs by the high forehead, black extending in a curved patch below the red eye and the rounded rear end to the body. They are also smaller, with a more rounded, short body, thinner neck & thinner, more feeble bill (albeit these are more subtle features). In contrast, Slavs have a gently sloping head peaking well behind the eye, with have a much whiter face with the black in a straight border not extended below the eye and a more elongated rear end to the body.

Black-necked Grebe: Shell Bay, Studland (16 Nov)

Black-necked Grebe: Close up showing the head shape & pattern

Mystery Gull?

No prizes for identifying this as a Mediterranean Gull.

Mediterranean Gull: Adult winter bird

Colour ring studies have shown that some of these wintering birds originate from colonies in Holland, Belgium & France, although some will be birds that have bred locally in Poole Harbour.