30 Aug 24 - A Good Ending To August For The Historic Isle Of Purbeck Year List

I'm two-thirds through the year on my Historic Isle of Purbeck Year List challenge for 2024. The target is to comfortably pass the two hundred species barrier, following BOU taxonomy with no reintroduction species or feral pigeons. I was on 175 at the end of Jul 24, which was relatively disappointing compared to my previous Poole Harbour Year Lists attempts. However, I had been abroad for a month from mid-Jan to mid-Feb and consequentially I missed a good chunk of the first Winter and four expected Winter species: Merlin, Woodcock, Jack Snipe & Brambling. However, Jack Snipe can be tricky to locate at the best of times and Brambling is most easily seen as a Vis Mig species in late Oct - early Nov.

The size of the two areas are broadly similar. Poole Harbour adds in the good & well-watched Lytchett Bay & Swineham patches: which allow a few easy Year Ticks that are very hard to unlikely to see in the Isle of Purbeck such as Bittern, Pochard, Garganey, bonus Waders, Water Pipit etc. But the latter patch includes the Jurassic coastline with easy bonuses such as Red-legged and Grey Partridges, Puffins, Corn Buntings, much better migrant Passerines & seawatching. But a lot fewer Birders watch this coastline and lack of coverage is a downside.

My best ever Poole Harbour Year List is 206 in 2011, with the record of 209 being achieved by Nick Hopper in 2008. In comparison in 2022, I reached 195 by 24 Oct in the Isle of Purbeck and would have finished the year on about 205. But instead, I headed out for two back to back tours to very remote parts of Indonesia with Bird Tour Asia for seven weeks, followed by an eight day bout of Salmonella picked up in Bali or on the plane home. This meant I didn't see any additional species. The Isle of Purbeck Year List record is 202 achieved by James Leaver in 2023.

Wood Sandpiper: This was a species I reckon I only had a slim chance of seeing in the Isle of Purbeck. So, I quickly headed over to Brownsea to see it. I didn't have my camera with me, but I just managed to squeeze it onto the DWT Brownsea TV screen whilst showing it to visitors (3 Aug 24)

Fortunately, Aug 24 has provided a good start to the Autumn, with my first Yellow Wagtails and the bonus Wood Sandpiper on Brownsea at the start of the month. It was the best part of three weeks before I saw another new species, despite getting out every Birding locally nearly every day. The weather cracked up on 22 Aug when Storm Ernesto battered the UK and produced some nice seawatching at Durlston. The highlight was a couple of bonus Sooty Shearwaters, with another on the following morning. That afternoon I finally bumped into a Ring-necked Parakeet. Up to a couple of years ago, this was an easy species to see around Studland and I often bumped into them elsewhere locally. However, I'm only aware of a handful of sightings this year, thanks to a decision by the Studland Golf Course to employ a pest controller to shoot them over the last couple of years.

Ring-necked Parakeet: A few years ago, I started seeing them around my Swanage house. However, thanks to some Parakeet-hating golfers, the small Purbeck population that has probably never reached twenty individuals might well disappear completely (29 Aug 18)

Things picked up when I went to Brownsea on 24 Aug after a Little Stint was found there by local Birder & Brownsea volunteer Graham Armstrong. I then found an eclipse Male Garganey & Graham upped my Year List again with a Curlew Sandpiper. I didn't dare to dream of a three Tick day at this stage of the year.

Garganey: Eclipse Male on the DWT Brownsea TV screen (24 Aug 24)

I thought a Grasshopper Warbler on 29 Aug would be the last Year Tick of the month. However, after a wonderful day spotting on the Birds of Poole Harbour Bird Boat, I was heading home, when local Purbeck Birder James Leaver rang about a Wryneck he had just found on his evening walk patch at Knowle Hill. The car was rapidly spun around in Corfe Castle and a few minutes later, I met up with James. It was a nerve-racking ten minute wait as the sun slowly lowered, but then James saw it pop up again. Another bonus Year Tick that I wasn't banking on, left me on 184 at the end of the month.

Wryneck: We didn't try to get close to get better photos as we didn't want to disturb it, in case other local Birders wanted to look for it the following morning. In the end, nobody did look for it & it could still be around

Wryneck: It seemed happy to take in the last of the evening sun

In addition to the four Winter species, still have a few fairly easy species to see: Storm-petrel, Bonxie, Short-eared Owl, Pied Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Warbler & Ring Ouzel. Then I will be reliant on some scarce & rare Autumn & Winter species to push me over the two hundred barrier. At this point, it seems possible and the challenge will help me get out Birding daily over the next few months.

21 Sep 14 - Up Narff

Over the last couple of weeks there have been a lot of early starts & plenty of local birding. Despite a lot of looking, it just hasn't been as good as hoped locally, although the Great White Egret around the Middlebere & Studland patches have been a definite bonus. While it's been good for commoner migrants & Waders, the hoped for Wryneck or Passerine goodie just hasn't appeared. Of course to increase the chances of finding or seeing something better, I could have had a day or two at Portland. Or to increase the chances more, a trip to the East coast, which seems to be dripping in Wrynecks, Red-breasted Flycatchers and other goodies, could have been planned. But being loyal to the local area, I've kept Birding mainly around Poole Harbour. At the end of the day, I keep telling myself finding a Wryneck on the patch is more exciting that one on the East coast.

Wryneck: One of the problems with Studland is there is just so much cover for a Wryneck to hide in. Beit Yatir, Israel (8 Apr 14)

Finally yesterday, I had decided to give myself a decent lie-in, after a quick look at the weather at dawn, showed it was still conditions & misty again. Next thing I knew it was nearly 09:30 & the lie-in had been achieved. But soon after the pager mega alerted: Masked Shrike at Spurn. By the time, I had finished breakfast & could have reacted, a calculation of what time I could get there after the 6 hour, 310 mile trip), had me arriving about 16:30, assuming no traffic holdups etc. So getting a bit tight. I should have gone anyway at this point, but a bit of untypical dithering (when a British Tick was involved) & it was looking very tight. Later in the day, I was frustrated, I hadn't got going sooner, as this was only a third for Britain & I hadn't see either of the previous two. It was also the first mainland Tick for me this year, as all the potential Ticks had been on Fair Isle (Swinhoe's Petrel, Hermit Thrush & Cretzschmar's Bunting), Crag Martin (whilst I was in Israel) or a scattering of flyby Fea's Petrels. The following morning, I was up early, in case it had stayed, but with clear overnight skies on the East coast, I expected I would be heading early to Studland. But a quick check of twitter & it was still there. Urgent phone calls with my mate, Peter Moore, to confirm he could abandon his parental football duties. He could & better still, he had it confirmed that he would still be married on his return, despite missing the football. So by 07:30 we were heading North. A good run & arrived in early afternoon. Even better as we pulled into the car park, we met my mates, Edge & Gav from the Croatia trip, who were just leaving. They had taken the really courageous approach of driving Southampton to have breakfast in a Nottingham motorway services. So we quickly jumped into their car & were chauffeured back to the Masked Shrike field. It only saved a 1/4 mile walk back up the road, but it was really a great help. We arrived to find the Masked Shrike sitting in the hedge, only 40 metres from the crowd. By the time, we would have got there on foot, it would have been further back in the field. On subsequent visits to the field, it remained, stubbornly much further away, so that lift really helped.

Masked Shrike: 1st Winter. UK & Ireland Tick 516 (following BOU/IRB rules) & no Mickey Mouse Club species to pad out the list. My full list can be found on Bubo

Masked Shrike: 1st Winter

Masked Shrike: 1st Winter

Masked Shrike: 1st Winter

Masked Shrike: 1st Winter

Masked Shrike Hedge: It was generally in the far end of the hedge, but the above photos were taken when it was about 40 metres away

The first record was a well twitched individual at Kilrenny, Fife which was around from 29 Oct - 14 Nov 2004. This was followed by a single day bird on the 1 Nov 2006 on Scillies. The latest individual is still present for it's third day on the 22 Sep 14. I think that Masked Shrike is the best looking of the Western Palearctic Shrikes and here are some photos of adults taken in Israel this Spring.

Masked Shrike: Adult. Yotvata 11 April 14

Masked Shrike: Adult. Yotvata 11 April 14

8 April 14 - The Green Green Grass Of Israel

One of the birds we were all keen to look for in Israel was Long-billed Pipit, which was a Western P tick for me. Yoav suggested we tried Beit Yatir, which is an area of upland grassland next to a conifer forest & close to the border with the West Bank. So after a late night out looking for Nightbirds, we were up for dawn to head off to Beit Yatir (about 45 minutes drive). This took us back into the central hills & once we passed the town of Arad, it suddenly became very green & lush again. The first stop was around an ancient ruin, which we quickly explored, but didn't stay long as this wasn't Yoav's site.

It was very lush after the Dead Sea area once we passed Arad

Rock Dove: Of the palaestinae subspecies which occurs in Israel, Sinai & the Arabian Peninsula

Blue Rock Thrush: Female of the nominate solitarius subspecies which occurs throughout Europe, North Africa & the Middle East, with some wintering down in Central Africa

Black-eared Wheatear: This is the black-throated form of the melanoleuca subspecies, which is also called Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

It was only another mile or two before we reached what we think was Yoav's site. We were looking for a lush valley of fallow fields surrounded by stoney hillsides. In the end, we think we went up a different & smaller valley, but later came down Yoav's valley. Unfortunately, we failed to find any Long-billed Pipits, but there were plenty of other birds to make it a great morning's birding.

The smaller grassy valley

The start of the larger grassy valley (heading in to the right behind the hill) & the view looking towards the Dead Sea

In between the two valleys, was this stoney hill: This was where we saw most of the birds 

White Stork: This is the nominate ciconia subspecies of the Western Palearctic & Western Asia, which winters to tropical & South Africa

White Stork: We saw good numbers feeding in the greener parts of Israel, presumably stopping off to feeding before continuing to move North

Lesser Kestrel: Male. Nice views of a circling bird showing the blue-grey unmarked face, clean underwings & elongated central tail feathers

Chukar: This is the sinaica subspecies which occurs from the North Syrian desert South to the Sinai

Wryneck: Always a great species to see

Sardinian Warbler: Female. I assume this is the momus subspecies as this appeared to be a bird on territory. The nominate melanocephala subspecies is a scarce migrant in Israel

Collared Flycatcher: Male

Black-eared Wheatear: Male. Some of the males have pale throats, although the black-throated birds are more common in the melanoleuca birds

Black-eared Wheatear: Female

Pale Rock Sparrow: I was really glad to see these as the last ones I saw were in Turkey in 1986

Ortolan

Jackal: There were at least 2 Jackals here, both quite wary of us

Skipper sp.

By late morning, it was time to head back to the accommodation, check out & head off to Eilat: which was to be our base for the next 4 nights. But first we started a ritual to celebrate the ticks as the car was so dusty.

Celebrating the ticks: Hume's Tawny Owl, Nubian Nightjar & Black Bush Robin

25 Jan 14 - More Birds At Tal Chappar

Rather than head straight to the Tal Chappar sanctuary, we spent the first couple of hours birding to the North of Chappar village. There are scattered groups of trees here which are home to the enigmatic Indian Spotted Creeper. I was luck enough to have seen one at Bharatpur in 91, but was keen to see another & it was still an Indian tick for Bill. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours we had drawn a blank, not helped by some fairly imprecise directions (again) for the best area.

Wryneck: Always happy to see this strange Woodpecker

Indian Red-winged Busklark

Indian Red-winged Busklark

White-eared Bulbul: Me & my shadow

Desert Lesser Whitethroat

Eastern Pied Wheatear: This is also known as Variable Wheatear as there are 3 distinct colour forms across its range. All the other Eastern Pied Wheatears seen were the picata form which have a white belly. However, this looks like the opistholeuca form which is essentially black with a white vent & it should be wintering in Northern Pakistan 

Large Grey Babbler: The dark bill, black lores & intense yellow eye separate it from Jungle Babbler

Finally, we abandoned the Indian Spotted Creeper site & headed of to the pakora stall for a filling breakfast. Next stop was the Tal Chappar sanctuary where the main quest was Stoliczka's Bushchat. This looks an obvious species in it's male Summer plumage, but given it was still January it was going to be a lot harder to pick out from the female Siberian Stonechats in the park. This wasn't helped by Stoliczka's Bushchat being far more of a ground feeder than the Siberian Stonechats are & hence much easier to overlook in the knee high grass.

Red-naped Ibis: The white shoulder patch immediately separates this species from Glossy Ibis

Red-naped Ibis: They are much broader winged than Glossy Ibis (see the The Grey & Brown Of Gujarat post for a Glossy Ibis in flight)

Red-naped Ibis: I think this is a better name than it's alternative name of Indian Black Ibis

Pallid Harrier: Male. The black is limited to a narrow wedge in the wing, compared to the male Montagu's & Hen Harriers, where the black continues to the leading edge. Note, the clean grey underwing, which separates it from a male Montagu's Harrier

Montagu's Harrier: Male. Note the black on the leading edge of the upperwing primaries. This photo also shows the 2 dark bars on the underwing secondaries & fine rufous barring on the underwing coverts. Montagu's Harriers also have a black bar on the upperwing secondaries (the far end of which is just visible on this photo)

Tawny Eagle: Worn adult. This Eagle has a shorter, narrower hand (end of wing) & doesn't have the bulging secondaries of Steppe Eagle

Tawny Eagle: Immature. The underwing coverts are paler than the flight feathers & it has a pale inner primary flash & a narrow white trailing edge to the secondaries

Tawny Eagle: Immature. A second individual

Tawny Eagle: Dark phase adult

Imperial Eagle: Juvenile with broad white tips to secondaries & greater coverts & pale streaking on the rest of the wing & mantle. Note, the fairly long yellow gape

Demoiselle Crane: Showing how difficult it will be to find a ground feeding Bushchat in a small clearing in the grass

Demoiselle Crane: The track we were on went close to where they were feeding

Demoiselle Crane: Unfortunately, there weren't any other tracks we could have taken to avoid flushing them

Indian Roller: I needed to brighten up this post

Paddyfield Pipit: Quickly back to dull coloured birds again

Siberian Stonechat: Female

Isabelline Wheatear: Note, the black tail, uniform pale upperparts, heavy bill & head and black alula

Wild Boar: We saw several parties of Wild Boar in the sanctuary which had some domestic or inbred genes in them as well as the normal grey looking Wild Boar