3 Sep 22 - Lightning Strikes Twice & It Feels Good

I moved down to live in the Swanage area in July 1996 to spend more time watching the St Aldhelms & Winspit patch. However, after a few tough years of Birding without a lot of reward, I switched to spending more time watching Durlston. By the early 2000s, I had moved my focus to Studland & Poole Harbour, and largely avoided the Purbeck coastline.

In Summer 2017, I decided I should return to watching the St Aldhelms & Winspit patch again as it really was neglected with few Birders watching it. Soon after I returned to St Aldhelms, the Two-barred Greenish Warbler was found & that was the final confirmation that St Aldhelms needed a lot more of my time.

My first reward for the Birding visits was finding an Ortolan on 6 Sep 18 in the top of Pier Bottom Valley. I hadn't taken my scope that morning & I was struggling to figure out a Bunting sitting in front of the bushes at the back of the field. Fortunately, I had the camera & grabbed some photos. Looking at the back of the camera shots, the Bird looked like an Ortolan. I looked at the area again, but I couldn't see it. I pinged a couple of photos off to my mate Marcus, not really wanting to accept that I had just found my first local Ortolan. He responded quickly with a thumbs up which was good to know I hadn't just made a total balls up of the Id. Looking at the cleaned up photo, it was a blatantly obvious Ortolan, but I sometimes struggle with small images on the back of the camera. I ended up spending the next two or three hours trying to relocate it, with no joy.

Ortolan: St Aldhelms (6 Sep 18)

Fast forward to Sep 22. The alarm went off far too early, but I was keen to get out to St Aldhelms after a few days being side-tracked with Brownsea & Brands Bay Waders. I knew my mate Phil Saunders would be out early & also knew it can be dangerous to leave Phil looking at St Aldhelms when I wasn't there: just too much chance of missing something good that he had found.

Phil had arrived a few minutes before me & between the two of us, I think we covered the area pretty thoroughly by the time we reached & then checked Quarry Ledge and the sea. We also hadn't had that much reward, apart from two distant Wigeon that Phil picked up flying East over the sea, when we were at Trev's Quarry. They were clearly the Birds of the Day as they were a long overdue Patch Tick for both of us. Otherwise, all I had to show for about 4 hours effort was a few Whinchats, a Wheatear and a few common Warblers. We decided to knock it on the head, with Phil walking back on the main track, while I planned to walk along the coast path and return up Pier Bottom Valley.

Soon after saying goodbye to Phil, I heard a call I couldn't figure out or pin down the source. I could see a Bird perched in a bush about 90 metres away. I was struggling to identify it and I'm still not sure if that was what I heard calling. After another scan, I still couldn't see anything else calling & grabbed a few photos of the Bird I could see. Checking them, they were of little help as the Bird had turned away & I could only see the back of the head and the wings. I tried again & blew up the images on the back of the camera. Lightning struck twice as I could see a pale eyering on one photo & a pale moustachial on the other photo. I looked again & the Bird had gone: lightning really was striking twice. A couple of calls to Phil went unanswered and I figured he was probably out of range by Trev's Quarry. I left a message & followed up with a text.

I started searching for the Ortolan, but drew an initial blank. But at least Phil had rung back & was on his way. He joined me & we repeated the search. Just as I think we were both thinking this wouldn't turn out well, Phil heard it flying over our heads & he recognised it from the many months he spent living in Cyprus in his younger days. We both got onto the Bird and watched in dismay as it kept flying and flying, before circling and dropping into the top of Pier Bottom Valley. Phil found the flight call on the excellent Xeno-Canto website & that sounded a good match for what we had just heard. We had a good look in the fields around the top of Pier Bottom Valley, but failed to relocate it. It was time to call it a day, given we had both spent over six hours covering St Aldhelms. In addition to the Ortolan, there had been a bonus Pied Flycatcher and I also had a Hobby over the car park just before I left.

It had been hard work, but a rewarding day in the end. According to Steve Morrison's All Time Birds of St Aldhelms List on Bubo, this is only the ninth record he is aware of for the St Aldhelms/Winspit patch.

Ortolan: The best photo showing the pale eyering

Ortolan: The best photo showing the moustachial stripe

6 Sep 18 - Local Ortolan

After another early Autumn of Birding around my local patches & not finding anything, a couple of days ago I went to the Northern end of Portland to look for a couple of Ortolans. It was a very pleasant afternoon & evening of looking in one of the quieter ends of Portland. But, there had been no sightings of the Ortolans since the late morning on that day, frustratingly followed by another brief couple of sightings the following morning. Well you can't see all the Birds you look for. It has been many years since I last saw an Ortolan in Dorset, as I have only made one other equally unsuccessful attempt to chase them on Portland in the last twenty years. However, I did see quite a few in Israel at Beit Yatir, Yotvata & Kfar Ruppin Kibbutz in 2014, so I've not been particularly worried about chasing them in the UK.

Whinchat: It is always a good start to see something interesting by the Renscombe car park

This morning I was out Birding again to St Aldhelms. I park at the Renscombe car park & generally walk down the main track to St Aldhelms Head. I always spend some time Birding in the weedy rough ground & checking the trees by Trev Haysom's quarry, now known to many national Birders as the Two-barred Greenish Warbler trees. Then I move onto St Aldhelms Head to check the quarry ledges & bushes at the Head. However, on the earlier trips this Autumn, the Head has been fairly quiet & the best Birding has been the rough ground by Trev's quarry. This morning I decided I was going to focus my time exploring & waiting in that area. This area is the top of a South Westerly facing valley which seems to act as a funnel for Birds to follow to the rough ground. There was a scattering of the usual suspects throughout the morning in low numbers: Whinchat, Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher, Tree Pipit & Redstart, as well as, some of the commoner Warblers. This morning it was clear watching the top of the valley that migrants were moving up the valley, with some feeding in the area before moving on. I was glad to confirm my feelings for this being a good spot to focus on. Then I picked up what looked like a Bunting grovelling at the base of some Brambles. It was just a bit too far for the binoculars & I had left the scope at home. I couldn't get closer from where I was standing. So, I picked up the camera to get some photos. Looking at the photos on the back of the camera, I was really pleased to see a pale yellow eyering & yellow moustachial stripe: Ortolan.

Ortolan: The pale yellow eyering, long pale yellow moustachial & streaky breast are spot on for an Ortolan

Ortolan: To give an idea why I turned to the camera for help. This is the uncropped photo with the effective 13x magnification that the Canon 7D & 100 - 400 mm lens produced. The Ortolan is clearly visible (not) just to the right of pale stone in the centre of the photo. I am happy to go out Birding without the scope, but I am rarely seen without the camera. It is fairly heavy to carry, but I've got used to its weight & today it proved its worth

I looked again & couldn't see it on the ground. But the ground was uneven & it was likely to have just moved out of view. I decided to walk back to the gate where I could walk into the field (as there is a public footpath through the field). I walked to the Brambles, but all I saw fly up were the group of Linnets & another group of House Sparrows. I don't think it went up with either group & it clearly wasn't by the Brambles. All I can assume was it had moved while I was walking back to the field entrance. After twenty minutes of unsuccessfully looking, I saw another Birder. He was a visiting Essex Birder, James. We spent another couple of hours looking for the Ortolan, but still drew a blank. All very frustrating, but I'm pleased to have found a local Ortolan & at least get some presentable photos to submit the record.

Ortolan: After grabbed the first quick photos (above), I scanned again with the bins & saw the Bunting had popped up from a small rut. I then grabbed a few more photos, now I could definitely see the Bunting through the camera

Ortolan

Ortolan

Ortolan

Ortolan: To encourage me to Bird locally after moving to Dorset in 1996, I started a Ten Mile from the house list which includes all of Poole Harbour, Wareham Forest & the Purbeck coast from Tyneham to Durlston. This brings the Ten Mile list up to 283. There are still a handful of scarce but near annual migrants to Durlston that I could pick up if I spent more time on the coast, rather than in my Poole Harbour patches

Ortolan: There have been several records of Ortolans at St Aldhelms Head in the 1980s & 1990s when the Head was regularly watched by local Birders, Peter Williams & ex-local Steve Morrison. Steve believes this might be the first record for St Aldhelms for about 20 years

Ortolan: This was the final decent photo. In the next photo it was partly obscured as it dropped back into the small rut. I will be back at St Aldhelms tomorrow just in case it hasn't moved far

Ortolans have had an interesting status in Dorset in the last few years. They used to be regular from the end of Aug to early Sep at Portland in the 1980s & 1990s, but were always scarce elsewhere in the county. Since that they appear to have become scarcer. There was only one record for Poole Harbour seen by Nick Hopper at Ballard Down in Sep 07. Then a few years ago, local Poole Birders Nick Hopper & then Paul Morton, started night recordings at Portland & Poole Harbour, respectively. What followed was one of the more surprising Birding discoveries in Dorset for many years. Nick & Paul were regularly recording Ortolans at every site they left their recorders running overnight. Nick generally has sessions of leaving his recorder running overnight at Portland & has regularly recorded Ortolans calling at night as detailed, including sound recordings, on the Portland Bird Obs website every Autumn in recent years. Paul then tried recording at a number of locations including Lytchett Matravers, central Poole & occasionally at other locations in Poole Harbour. In 2016, Paul identified thirteen individuals calling at night over central Poole as detailed including sound recordings on the Birds of Poole Harbour website. He also had a brief morning sighting of one he flushed at Soldiers Road that year. Paul has had smaller numbers recorded in the last couple of Autumns which are detailed on the Birds of Poole Harbour sightings pages. The overall discovery by Nick & Paul, assisted by analysis by well-known sound recordist Marcus Robb has been written up on the Sound Approach website in a couple of articles here & here. To me their results are excellent & I totally believe their records. Given how skulky Ortolans are then it is no surprise that despite Nick & Paul recording these Ortolans at night, that few get seen the next morning. Their best nights have only had two or three individuals often in the middle of the night. So, it is not surprising that they aren't found the following morning, as they have probably travelled a long distance since they were recorded. There are many evenings where I've heard Redwings calling in the evening & gone out the following morning & not found any Redwings. But, those Redwings I heard calling at nine or ten at night have have flown on for another eight hours or more before dawn.

29 Aug 14 - Crucial Imminent Vote For Scottish Birders

In under 3 weeks, there will be a crucial vote for all Scottish Birders. Scottish Birders will be asked to decide "Do You Wish Your List To Become Independent From The UK". This post can now reveal for the first time some of the real facts behind the Yes campaign.

The date for this crucial referendum has been chosen with great care by the Yes campaign. They have gone back & scoured history & selected the key date of 18 Sept for it's historical significance. There has been a lot of speculation in the press, about it being on the anniversary of some big battle. That is just coincidence. This blog can now reveal the true significance of the 18 Sept. It is only 5 days after the only UK Hawk Owl in living memory was found on 12 Sept 83 near Lerwick (and 4 days after it disappeared). The Referendum was chosen to celebrate the day the Bressay finders planned to go birding a couple of days later & were lucky to relocated it on Bressay. The historical significance of this date is therefore obvious. Some of the key people behind the Yes campaign managed to twitch this bird on Bressay & grip it back on those who got to see it near Lerwick. The subliminal message is also clear: it was there on the 18 Sept, but it was not actually seen on that date. So if you live South of the border, you will be denied to get this on your UK list, when the next one turns up in Shetlands. Also if you did see it, you will have it removed as it will no longer be in the UK.

Hawk Owl: Will we ever get another chance to tick in the UK: if there is a Yes vote it seems unlikely. Zwolle, Holland (29 Nov 13) 

The timing of the vote has a second significance. The date is also just before the start of the main Shetlands & Fair Isle Birding season. In recent years, Birders have headed to the Shetlands & Fair Isle from mid September onwards from all over the UK. A Yes vote might seem appealing. After all, if Scotland becomes independent, then the UK birders won't be allowed to tick Birds in Scotland. So most will stop going & be forced to return to the traditional old haunts of the Scillies & West Cornwall.  Perhaps Lundy (the site of a number of Firsts for the UK) will again become popular. So it would seem appealing to a Scottish voter to vote Yes. After all, it will be easier to make a booking on Fair Isle or get a seat on a plane there, if there are only Scottish twitchers trying to get there. Also, a Yes vote will appear to provide a greater chance of a self found Scottish mega. But with the loss of all those English Birder's eyes covering the Shetlands & Fair Isle, maybe less rarities will be found. It would bring a premature end to the Shetlands tourist season & maybe the Fair Isle Bird Obs will have trouble filling its accommodation with purely Scottish Birders through the year & would run the risk of eventual closure. So some big potential home goals by voting Yes, but the Yes campaign have stayed silent on these risks.

Cape May Warbler: Would as many birds of this calibre be found with a reduced coverage of Birders in the field following a Yes vote? Baltasound, Unst (29 Oct 13)

But again the Yes campaigners are not telling the Scottish Birders the full picture. They talk about the positives of keeping the Scottish Birds for Scottish Birders. Of how only the Scottish Birders will be able to tick species like Capercaillie, Ptarmigan, genuine Rock Dove & Crested Tit.

Rock Dove: It would be no longer possible for UK Birders to tick Rock Doves looking like this. The Yes campaign want this kept only for Scottish Birders. Instead, UK Birders will be left desperately trying to find a pure looking individual in Trafalgar Square (having had to take the whole family there as a cover story) or perhaps hoping for a lone, clean-looking Racing Pigeon to flyby at a coastal site (& hoping no questions are asked). Sollas, South Uist (4 June 12)

But what the Yes campaigners are not being honest about is the Yes campaign plan to strike off all those birds Scottish Birders have seen in England or Wales. This is their secret plan, which they managed to avoid being mentioned so far. Amazingly, it was not discussed in the recent TV debates. Today, a Scottish based Birder could book a week's holiday & head South for some easy English specialities ticks: such as Yellow-legged Gulls, Melodious Warblers & Ortolans. All of which could be fairly easily seen with a week's stay about this time of year at Portland Bird Observatory and all of which are currently tickable. If we hear a sudden appearance increase in the numbers of Scottish accents around Portland in the coming weeks, we will know that Birders living North of the border are getting these easy ticks in while they can (as they fear a Yes vote). But it will all be in vain, a Yes vote will mean all of your lists will be purged of these species. This blog has it on good authority, that Lee "Good" Heavens has already been provisionally booked to police the purges of the Scottish Birders lists. This blog understands that controversially, part of the payment for this work, is the agreement that he will be allowed to join (& remain) in the top 10 Scottish listers following the completion of these purges.

Short-toed Eagle: In the event of a Yes vote, this will be struck off your list if you saw the Scillies bird or this year's bird in Dorset or Sussex. If you saw it in Hampshire, then prehaps you should be honest & quietly change it to a Buzzard in your notebook. The Yes campaigners are hoping to attract the votes of those people that appear on Birdforum to add useful quotes to the thread of the latest UK mega to say "they would never go beyond the end of their road to see the bird". Morden Bog (31 May 14)

Yellow-legged Gull: This rare English breeding bird only breeds at a handful of sites in Southern England, but is fairly easily seen in Poole Harbour at this time of year. There have only been a handful of Scottish records this year. Scottish Birders will be forced to work hard to add this to their lists in the event of a Yes vote purging them of one seen South of the border. Brands Bay (21 April 14)

Melodious Warbler: Portland is one of the best locations for this species. With an average of only one or two a year in Scotland, this is a species you might end having to twitch an outer island to see after a Yes vote. Winspit (8 Dec 13)

Cirl Bunting: A bird most Scottish Birders will lose off their lists. With only 3 island records this millennium, this is very likely to be purged from Scottish Lists by Lee "Good" Heavens. It is likely to the first lost in a series as the Policeman, as he likes to be know, removes all the birds ticked on those old Scillies trips. Velji Do, Croatia (5 May 14)

Ortolan: Again Portland is one of the best UK locations for this species & the Yes campaign will purge this off your list if you have seen it there. It is likely to be a costly Fair Isle twitch to tick this one if the Yes campaign get their way. Yotvata, Israel (11 April 14)

So now the truth is being revealed about the real risks to your lists in the event of a Yes vote, then it is clear there are only 2 real options: Vote No or in the event of a Yes vote, move to Fair Isle.

13 April 14 - Watching Me, Watching You

We spent the rest of the day around the Kfar Ruppin kibbutz. There are extensive fish ponds that you are allowed to drive around & which really needs a car: given the size of the kibbutz & the numbers of fish ponds. Also having a car helps as a mobile hide allowing a closer approach to many of the birds. There are also plenty of fields to check out as well. There is a great bird hide overlooking a reasonable sized pond, with bushes & uncultivated areas behind it. The numbers of birds present on the kibbutz is just incredible and more like numbers on a bird reserve, rather than a farm. There can't be many farms in the UK that have those numbers of birds on their land. It's well worth a couple of days staying here with some much good birding on the doorstep.

This was an old watch tower: But it looks like another design on the theme of bird hides

The kibbutz was still a working farm & well as a significant fish farm

Olives were also an important product

Pygmy Cormorant

Black Stork: Dull billed sub adults flying over one of the fish ponds

White Stork: Both White Storks & Black Storks were commonly found on the kibbutz

Night Heron: Immature & adult of the nominate nycticorax subspecies of the Old World. The remaining 3 subspecies all occur in the New World. There was a roost of around 40 birds in the Palms by the bird hide

Osprey: No surprise seeing Ospreys here with all the fish ponds

Chukar: Late afternoon saw us looking for Black Francolin in the fields alongside the road to the kibbutz. We saw this bird as we were driving back a farm track, but were disappointed on stopping to find it was just a Chukar

Black Francolin: After some further searching we found this male. This is the nominate francolinus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, Turkey, Asia Minor, Israel to Iran & Iraq. I had forgotten how stunning they are since the last ones I saw in India in 1991

Turtle Dove

Smyrna Kingfisher: This is the nominate smyrnensis subspecies, (also known as White-breasted Kingfisher), which occurs from North Israel to the Arabian Peninsula across to NW India

Pied Kingfisher: The nominate rudis subspecies of Africa through Israel to Turkey

 Pied Kingfisher: Who could ever get bored of this feeding action

Collared Flycatcher: This female was around the flat in the kibbutz, but was always shy & elusive 

Collared Flycatcher: Female. A better view of the wing panel

Great Tit: This is the terraesanctae subspecies which occurs in NW Syria, Lebanon, Israel & Jordon

Jay: This is the atricapillus subspecies which occurs in South Syria, Lebanon, Israel & West Jordon

Dead Sea Sparrow: Male

Ortolan: There were several birds around the pond in front of the bird hide

Egyptian Locust

Egyptian Locust: What a fantastic pair of eyes

Simon photographing the Dead Sea Sparrows

After another great days birding we headed into Beit She'an to find some of the restaurants were open this time. Getting back to the kibbutz, the Scops Owls were calling again, so I had another look for them. Initially, I saw a couple of birds in a similar area to the first night. Then after some more looking, I found a very obliging bird which was calling from a low tree & only 4 metres off the ground. He seemed quite happy for me to take some photos & in the end I left him there still calling away. With such a density of Scops Owls on the kibbutz, then it's a great place to see them.

Scops Owl: They do like calling from the Palm trees

Scops Owl: Initially, I only had chance for a quick couple of shots of this bird, before he flew. But then he came back & settled down to calling from what looks to be a favourite perch

Scops Owl

Scops Owl: The bird of the trip for me as this bird was so showy

Scops Owl: Watching Me, Watching You, the latest product from 'Head & Shoulders'

12 April 14 - A Cracking Scops Owl

We left Eilat after an early breakfast to head up to the Kfar Ruppin kibbutz, near to small town of Beit She'an, in central Eastern Israel & close to the Jordanian border. This kibbutz is set up to attract birders to it numerous fish ponds, good fields & bird hide. It is also has a ringing station, but no ringing was going on while we were there. The first stop was the fields at the start of the Ovda road for a final look. There were a few migrants moving South West through the valley.

White Stork: Stopping off on migration

Crowned Sandgrouse

Ortolan 

Then it was for a final walk around the sewerage works at the nearby Ne'ot Smadar kibbutz.

The Ne'ot Smadar sewerage works: A mixture of open pools

The Ne'ot Smadar sewerage works: As well as landscaped reed beds

Rock Martin

Tree Pipit: This is the nominate trivialis subspecies

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Wheatear: Female

A quick check on the car reveals a few recent additions: Striated Heron (far left), the Grey Phalarope (middle) & Pied Kingfisher (for Simon on far right)

Bush shelter: Travelling back to the main Dead Sea to Eilat road, we saw this great bus shelter. How long before this would be vandalised in the UK

The bush shelter proved to be a good omen as we had great views of the real thing, Nubian Ibex, at the En Gedi turn off.

Nubian Ibex: This desert Goat occurs in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yeman, Eritrea, Ethiopia & Sudan

Nubian Ibex: These ones are clearly used to tourists photographing them

Nubian Ibex: I couldn't resist another photo

Carrying on North, we left the arid Dead Sea area and passed into the West bank. The further North we got, the greener & more agricultural it was. It was a quick journey as the road bypassed all the main towns and we only made a couple of quick stops when we saw birds of interest. Passing through the border fence at each end was pretty quick with just a quick scan of the passports at the exit point.

The West Bank: The Southern end where it started to get green

White Stork: We passed a rubbish tip where at least 90 White Storks were feeding along with at least 20 Cattle Egrets

Tank & Cafe: Soon after leaving the West Bank we saw this closed up cafe with tank in the car park 

We arrived at the Kfar Ruppin kibbutz around mid afternoon & were soon being shown to our accommodation, a self catering flat, by David: who as well as running the accommodation was also a birder. This gave us a chance to catch up with directions for a few birds. The key birds here were Long-billed Pipits on the nearby hills near to Beit She'an & Dead Sea Sparrows (which we had missed near Eilat). David confirmed there were a few pairs of Dead Sea Sparrows on the kibbutz & after a quick drink, we were ready to head out birding. We started on the kibbutz, but later explored an area close to Beit She'an.

Pygmy Cormorant

Black Kite

Montagu's Harrier: Male

Moorhen: Immature of the nominate chloropus subspecies which occurs throughout the Palearctic, wintering to Arabia & South China

Bee-eater: It's great when you see them this well

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Clamorous Reed Warbler: This is the levantinus subspecies of Northern Israel with the similar stentoreus subspecies occurring in Egypt. There are a number of other Asian subspecies which occur from Arabia, to the Indian Subcontinent, SE Asia & Indonesia

Palestine Sunbird: Male

Palestine Sunbird: Male who must have seen some Hummingbird Hawk Moths given it was frequently trying to copy them

Dead Sea Sparrow: Male

We headed into Beit She'an to try & get some food. But everything was closed up as it was the Jewish Sabbath. So we ended up with plan B: a few bits from the garage & self catering. It was dark when we got back to the kibbutz & we could hear Scops Owls calling. I put the food plans on hold & grabbing the torch & camera headed out to see if I could get some photos. For me, some of the most enjoyable overseas birding I can remember is walking around at night looking for Owls. I'm always up for the challenge, especially for the smaller Owls. It's rarely quick, but if I see good views of the Owls, then it is really rewarding. I knew from previous experience in Europe that Scops Owls will call for ages from the same perch, but can be tricky to find & won't respond to a tape. But that wasn't a problem, as I didn't have a recording anyway. But there were several around & all calling to each other & so not having a tape wasn't going to be a problem. After about 15 minutes, I had seen a couple of brief flight views as birds moved perches, but that was all. Finally, after about an hour of looking, I located one calling from the top of a palm tree & got some reasonable photos. Time to cook some food at last.

Scops Owl: This is the cycladum subspecies which occurs from Southern Greece to Turkey, Israel, Jordon & South Asia Minor. Still managed to photograph all the Owls seen, although the following evening I had brief flight views of a Barn Owl, so that is currently amended to photographing all the family of Owls I've seen since getting the camera (but the family of Barn Owls will now have to wait till I can get a shot of a Barn Owl in the UK)