27 Oct 24 - Two American Species In Dorset On The Same Day?

I had spent the morning watching the Durlston Red-eyed Vireo which showed erratically, but regularly in the field, after we saw it released. I left at lunchtime, to nip home for a quick lunch, before heading to Brands Bay for my 13:00 WeBS count.

The Durlston Red-eyed Vireo

Once the WeBS count was completed, I left for Portland Castle, where a Red-necked Grebe had been on view since it was found about Friday lunchtime. It should have been too far to travel for a Red-necked Grebe, but this individual has been suggested as potentially the American holbollii subspecies. Strictly, this is incorrect as it also occurs in North East Asia, including Mongolia, China, South Korea & Japan. The main range of the nominate subspecies is the Western Palearctic, but there are eBird records from as far East as Kazakhstan.

Red-necked Grebe: holbollii. On the face of it, this looks good for holbollii with a longer, largely yellow bill and it also appears to be longer-necked. However, based upon the comments from BBRC, it seems like it will be a tough job to prove it and get it accepted

I didn't know much about the American subspecies, which is sometimes referred to as Holboell's Red-necked Grebe. A bit of digging on the internet revealed there are two accepted UK records:

• Gruinard Bay, Ross & Cromarty, shot (Sep 1925)

• Quendale Bay, Shetland (Feb 24). This individual washed up dead a few days later & was confirmed by analysis of biometrics and DNA of the specimen.

Red-necked Grebe: grisegena. This is the nominate grisegena subspecies photographed at South Haven, Studland (4 Jan 15) which looks significantly shorter-billed

I also found this information from BBRC.

• Identification of holbollii is problematic. It may show on average more yellow on the bill in breeding plumage, but firm subspecific identification rests on biometrics, holbollii being larger than the nominate subspecies. Claims of holbollii should include biometric evidence or details from a ringed or marked bird.

Red-necked Grebe: grisegena. This is the nominate grisegena subspecies photographed at Kuusamo, Finland (1 Jun 16) which again looks significantly shorter-billed

The Portland Castle Red-necked Grebe looked bigger in the field, but to be fair there were no other species with it to make a judgement. So, my comment is based upon many days of checking this Autumn's Great Crested Grebes in Brands Bay at varying ranges, including similar ranges on some occasions. It certainly looks longer-billed than the Red-necked Grebes I've seen around Studland over the last nearly three decades. Additionally, there is clearly a lot more yellow on the bill.

Fortunately, there are some excellent photos of the Portland Red-necked Grebe from the local toggers, including Pete Coe. Perhaps it would be possible to blow one of those photos up and do some measurements on the bill which would help to confirm the identify. While it wouldn't be possible to measure the exact bill length, the ratio of the bill length to the eye, compared to the bill depth at the nostrils might be possible to calculate. This could be included in the record, if it ends up getting submitted to BBRC. I think it looks to be a good candidate for holbollii. But I also think it's unlikely to be accepted by BBRC, based upon their criteria stated above.

Whatever happens to this record, it was an interesting individual to see. If it is proven to be holbollii, then seeing two different American rarities on the same day in Dorset would be impressive, as Dorset is the poor cousin of Scillies, Cornwall & Devon for American vagrants. The other thought I had whilst writing this Blog Post, I better make an effort to get some reasonable photos of the next Red-necked Grebe that turns up at Studland.

1 June 16 - June Started Early

June started early with an 03:00 departure to allow us to drive on the dirt track back roads near to our chalet, about twenty kilometres SE of Kuusamo. We were hoping to find a Hazelhen on these quiet back roads, but unfortunately, we were not that lucky.

We found this great view over the lake next to the accommodation as we crossed a nearby bridge

Looking South from the same bridge

Nearby we found three male Smew on a lake which apparently breed in small numbers in the area.

Smew: Male. They were surprisingly jumpy considering they were at the back of the lake. But they gave a brief & much closer flight view as they circled on the lake

Whooper Swan: Nearby were two Whooper Swans

We also saw a few Mountain Hares. Closer to Oulu, we had seen a number of Brown Hares, but all the Hares we saw in the Kuusamo were Mountain Hares: we were far enough North for Mountain Hares to be found at low level (Kuusamo is about 260m above sea level). The adults all seemed a bit too keen to get off the road as they saw us, even when we stopped at a reasonable distance. So perhaps the suffer from being hunted at some times of the year.

Mountain Hare: Great to see this superb Mammal. Sadly, I only seen a few in the UK & none have been really close. They are still a heavily persecuted Hare wherever there are Grouse shooting interests in the UK

Mountain Hare: The black ears with the white edges, white bellies & white legs were great to see

Mountain Hare: Eventually, I saw this youngster disappear off the road & then freeze not too far in. Like the pale eye ring

We spent some hours birding in one of the Gosney's hillside sites, but it was surprising at how quiet the forests were: apart from the ever present mozzies. Frustratingly, we flushed a Hazelhen as we were walking up the main path on the hillside, but it didn't fly until after I had walked past it & the first I knew was of a shout behind me: I never saw it.

Reindeer: Youngster. Getting desperate for another Mammal to add to this post. They weren't very common. On one occasion, we saw a couple in an office car park just feeding on vegetation. An early morning youngster

Reindeer: We saw a few each day in the Kuusamo area, including this roadside party

Reindeer: Male

In the afternoon, we tried a lake on the edge of Kuusamo. The highlight of the visit was a distant breeding plumage Red-necked Grebe.

Red-necked Grebe: Nice to see it in summer plumage rather than the winter plumage I normally see at Studland. Unfortunately, it was well beyond realistic photographic range & all I could end up with was a record shot from the SX60 on a ridiculous 130x magnification, with a delayed timing to try reducing vibration on this high magnification

The mid afternoon rain set in again & make it even harder to find Bird activity. So we decided to try a layby site to the North of the Ruka ski centre, where we had a chance of seeing Siberian Jay. We ended up putting food into the empty feeders & sat it the car, hoping that some Siberian Jays would appear. At least, we managed to stay dry & catch up on some food & drinks, but no sign of the hoped for World Tick. Finally, it stopped raining & there was a chance to walk one of the hillside paths. By now it was early evening & as the Bird activity seemed to drop off in the evening, we were not surprised we didn't see that much. Time to call it a day, head back to the chalet for an early night. We had a 01:45 alarm call to get some breakfast, before heading off to Kuusamo to meet our guide for the Kuusamo guided tour the following morning.

Whooper Swan: Party of a twenty strong flock on the way back to the chalet

2 Feb 15 - January Summary For The Studland/Ballard Patch Year List

In the last Post, I provided an overview of the Studland/Ballard patch. In the last few years, I have found I haven't been as motivated to get out onto the Studland/Ballard Down patch as often as I was getting out when I was doing a patch Year List. So to incentivise myself, I've decided on another patch Year List. I won't be registering for the Patchwork Challenge15 as it is too large a patch & I don't want to narrow my attention down even further to a smaller sub-patch within the Studland/Ballard patch. I won't be competing against anybody other than my younger self from previous years (2008, 2009 & 2011). I will aim for monthly patch updates on the Blog as to how the Year List is going, but will put occasional extra Posts in when good birds warrant them. It will be possible to follow all updates on the Year List by clicking on the Label Studland15 on the right hand side Label list.

Great White Egret: This was the highlight of the first few hours on 1 Jan. Two Great White Egrets turned up during the Autumn & this one was still around in January. Quite remarkable given there were only a couple of previous records & they stayed minutes before moving on from both Studland & Poole Harbour (11 Jan 15)

My best Studland/Ballard Down patch Year List is 176 in 2009 (following BOU taxonomy). This excludes Crap or Feral Pigeon which I saw, but I ignore all of the Crap or Feral Pigeon individuals I see in the UK as I don't believe there are any wild pure Rock Doves, left in England. My target for 2015 is 180 (again ignoring Crap Pigeon).

Black Guillemot: The second stunning species for the patch Year List & only my second Studland & Poole Harbour Black Guillemot. After being incredible elusive with only 3 brief sightings in about 3 weeks around Studland (including my refound sighting off Old Harry on 19 Dec 14), it was then finally pinned down on the Poole Harbour Pelagic on 1 Jan in the Brownsea Channel. It was often in that area in the first half of Jan & visible from the Studland Houseboats. Photo taken on the Poole Harbour Pelagic (1 Jan 15)

I have had a great start to the Year List. I've been able to get out on the Studland/Ballard patch on all, but three days in January. Overall, I managed to spend about half the daylight hours out Birding. The patch is about 3 miles from top to bottom and about 3 miles from East to West at the bottom, but it tapers to a narrow point at the Northern end at South Haven, which is the Southern side of the Poole Harbour mouth. The land area is about 4.5 square miles, but there can be a lot of exposed mud at low tide, especially in Brands Bay and there are extensive bay & sea views from the Studland peninsula & Ballard Down. This makes the overall area considerably larger, but like the PWC rules, I'm happy to count Birds seen from inside the patch boundaries, even if the Bird is outside the boundary (e.g. on Furzey Island or closer to Brownsea than Studland). Given it is possible to see a long way out to sea from Old Harry & Ballard Down, then it seems inconsistent to have a fairly narrow boundary on the inner boundaries.

Red-necked Grebe: A species I would expect to see sometime in the year on the patch, but they are erratic & I've often had to wait till late Autumn/early Winter to see one. Typically there is only one individual a Winter, so to have had up to three individuals around on the between South Haven & South Beach for most of Jan is excellent (Jan 15)

Despite its relatively small size, the variation in habitats within the patch is impressive. There are tidal mudlflats, sandy beaches, a freshwater lake known as Littlesea, with a couple of smaller lakes. These are surrounded by heathland, dunes, deciduous & coniferous woodland and wet marshy areas. Greenlands Farm is mainly grassy fields, which through grazing has been changed to grassland from the surrounding Godlingston Heath (heathland). Ballard Down is a mixture of chalk grassland, farmland and chalk sea cliffs. There is also the small urban development of Studland village, albeit it is a very leafy village. Overall, it has micro versions of nearly all of the habitats found in Poole Harbour, with the exception of open wet fields for Waders & dense urban sprawl (not surprisingly I don't miss that, although it would make Waxwing a potentially easier species). As a result, it is easily the best local patch within Poole Harbour.

Spoonbill: Another erratic species with usually about one wayward individual in Brands Bay for a few days in a year. Some years, I've only got them on the Studland patch Year List, by seeing Spoonbills flying in or out of Brownsea. But this year, Spoonbills have been regular feeding visitors to Brands Bay with a peak of six individuals on 20 Jan 15 representing a new Studland record count. Brands Bay (22 Jan 15)

Another reason to try for a patch Year List was the presence of some good species on the patch in late December: the wintering Great White Egret, an erratic & rarely seen Black Guillemot & the Green-winged Teal found on New Years Eve. Unfortunately, despite spending an hour or two on a near daily basis scanning & rescanning the Teal flock in Brands Bay, I was unable to refind the Green-winged Teal. Previous individuals have been elusive in Poole Harbour, but a couple of previous Poole Harbour individuals have been relocated in different locations (to their original location) in Poole Harbour, so perhaps it is still lurking somewhere else locally.

Great Grey Shrike: Easily the Bird of Jan on the patch. Only the second record in the last 25 years (the other being in Mar 11). Godlingston Heath (24 Mar 11)

As I was running out of new species to add to the Year List, one that I was struggling to find was Grey Wagtail. Whilst being an erratic Winter visitor, I have usually seen one in Jan. But I hadn't been able to track any down at their usual haunts, so I thought I had missed it. Finally, I found a lone individual feeding quietly on a frozen, flooded pool on the Littlesea Nature Trail.

Grey Wagtail: It would be hard to miss this in a Year List, but I was glad to get it in Jan. Littlesea (23 Jan 15)

I finished on 123 species in Jan (BOU of course), not counting some distantly scoped Crap Pigeons flying over Poole. I had expected that it should have been possible to get to 120 species & had set myself an ambitious Jan target of 125. So to get 123 was an excellent Jan total given how small the area is. I am already over 2/3rds of the way to my end of the year total of 180 species. It will now get difficult to add more than one or two species before the Spring migrants arrive.

Peacock: I've also started the Butterfly patch list, although I won't be keeping a patch Year List. At some point, I will probably see the completely untickable & feathered Indian Peacock as they occasionally appear on the Brownsea shoreline. Greenlands Farm (Jan 15)

I managed to miss Kittiwake & Redpoll. Additionally, there was also a pager report of a Velvet Scoter at the South Haven (from an unknown observer on one occasion, but the news was slow getting out & it had moved on by the time I looked soon after hearing). There were a handful of other potential species that could have occurred including Eider, Spotted Redshank (only about one or two records a year), Golden Plover (generally only a cold weather species in the Winter, but also an erratic Autumn visitor), Siskin & Crossbill. Potentially, the Green-winged Teal could have put in another appearance, so the 125 total could have been feasible.