11 Nov 24 - Double Plus Good

In his classic book 1984, George Orwell introduced his Newspeak language, where words were removed from the English language to simply it. But the removal of words were also to control the population from being able to fully express themselves. So, many words like fabulous, tremendous or amazing were replaced with the phrase Double Plus Good. Well here is my use of Double Plus Good.

After a run of grey days at St Aldhelms, the morning started off with the promise of a change in the weather. Still conditions, high cloud, as well as, a lot of clear sky. There were regular parties of a few hundred Woodpigeons on the move and all heading South East towards Durlston. A lone Fieldfare headed North which belatedly was my first of the Autumn. I had just passed the open barn when a Golden Plover flew over calling. It circled on a number of occasions, hoping for some mates below to call back. But as St Aldhelms isn't a wintering site, it didn't get a response & finally moved on. I saw Ian Parsons who is one of the most recent Birders to move to Purbeck & waited for him to catch me up. There was plenty of Skylarks appearing from the fields, but so far nothing too exciting. We carried onto the hedges at the very top of Pier Bottom valley, just North of Trev's Quarry. This is the start of my favourite corner of the patch. It's a migrant trap and it's always worth a good look. There was a party of at least eight Yellowhammers skulking in the bushes. They weren't close, so I set the scope up to check them. All were Yellowhammers, until I saw one with a dark chin and a bit of dark rufous on the mantle. It was tucked well in & I could only see parts of it. I had to move the scope three times before I got a clearer view. My initial thoughts were right: a Male Cirl Bunting. I called Ian to look through the scope, whilst pleased to have finally joined the Cirl Bunting in Purbeck Self-found Club. It flew into the bare field next to the bushes, but it was too far for more than a record shot. But over the next hour it appeared in the closer bushes and allowed a few photos.

Cirl Bunting: Male

Cirl Bunting: Male. Showing its underwing as it prepares to take off. Cirl Buntings have a shorter primary projection compared to Yellowhammers. My perched photos aren't good enough to see this, but it's a feature I will look for in the future. However, this open wing looks pretty rounded

Cirl Bunting: Male. A good view of the white in the tail. However, this can be variable enough to overlap between the sexes and ages of Cirl Buntings, as well as, Yellowhammers

Cirl Bunting: Male

Cirl Bunting: Male. My best upperwing shot

Even better, while I was scoping the bushes with the Yellowhammers & the Male Cirl Bunting in them, I picked up a second Cirl Bunting again tucked well into the bushes. On this occasion, I could see it wasn't an adult Male. Initially, I could see it had a bit of dark rufous flecking in the gorget, as well as, on the wing coverts. Like the adult Male, it appeared in the closer bushes on a few occasions, which allowed me to get some photos. Initially, I thought it was an first Winter Male as, it seemed brighter than a couple of Purbeck Females I've seen over the last two Springs locally. But being in the breeding season and with the possibility they might settle down on territory, on both occasions I didn't linger with those Females.

Cirl Bunting: Female. Note, the rufous flecks in the gorget & the pale yellow spot on the lower ear coverts. After the post breeding moult in Oct, young males should have black feathering on the chin and throat with white tips, unstreaked breast and rufous on the upperparts according to this Spanish ringing guide by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze, which Mike Morse suggested I read. Therefore, this second individual is a Female

Ageing and sexing of non-adult Males is tricky. But after reading up, I now believe it is a Female, albeit I'm uncertain about its age. As these St Aldhelms individuals haven't held territory at St Aldhelms and were out of the breeding season, I felt more comfortable hanging around and watching them, as well as, putting the news out about them.

Cirl Bunting: Female. The new Dutch ID Handbook of European Birds states that Cirl Buntings have a characteristic dark line in the supercilium. This small dark line is visible in the harsh crop just above the eye. There is also fine streaking in the rear collar, which Yellowhammers don't show

Ian was short on time, so he moved on in the hope that the Pallas's Warbler (see my last Blog Post), that Phil Saunders had found a couple of days earlier might still be around: but it had moved on. Eventually, I managed to get reasonable photos of both Cirl Buntings, albeit the light wasn't great.

Cirl Bunting (right) with a Yellowhammer (left): Note, the Yellowhammer is a bit larger, bulkier and longer-tailed

Cirl Bunting: Female. A close up of the Cirl Bunting showing its crown pattern, not that it's an ID feature

Yellowhammer: A close up of the Female Yellowhammer for comparison. Note, the stronger yellow colours and lack of any rufous feathering on the breast or wing coverts. This individual has a pale yellow ear covert spot, but it isn't as clear as on the Cirl Buntings

Cirl Bunting: Female. A clearer view when it perched in the top of the bush. Now I'm looking for it, I can just see the dark line in the supercilium and the ear coverts spot really stands out

Cirl Bunting: Female. Sexing Cirl Buntings that aren't adult Males is difficult. But I think I've cracked it: Males always fly right and females always fly left, providing you are standing in the right position

Cirl Bunting: Female. Unfortunately, this photo isn't in focus, but it does show the dull brownish-grey rump of Cirl Bunting. Yellowhammers have a rusty-coloured rump

It certainly had been a Double Plus Good morning with my first St Aldhelms Cirl Buntings. The day wasn't over yet, but as Orwell didn't produce a phrase for better than Double Plus Good, I will have to leave the rest of the time at St Aldhelms to the next Blog Post.

9 Aug 18 - Soaring In Devon

It's been a tough week recently, following, the desperately sad news that my good Birding mate, Brian Field died recently following an unexpected heart attack while out Birding in West Cornwall. I have known Brian since the early 1980s & we have spent about five months travelled abroad over seven Birding trips. I will come back to write a longer Post & tribute to Brian later this Autumn when I've got a bit more used to this sudden news. My last Birding trip with Brian was earlier this year when we both had a great trip to Northern Colombia in Feb/Mar 18.

Brian Field: Enjoying a late breakfast stop in the Santa Marta Mountains, Colombia (6 Mar 18)

Brian's funeral was in his home town of Truro on 8 Aug 18 & it was a tough & emotional day for everybody. It was good to catch up with a lot of old mates associated with the South West during the day. I stayed down West with another good mate, Pete Aley & his wife Ali in Plymouth that evening. It was Pete who first introduced me to Brian after they both arrived at Plymouth Poly together in 1980 & immediately they started putting the Poly on the map for young Birders to enjoying a lively Birding & twitching scene & come away with a degree as a bonus. The following day, Pete & I headed out to check out a couple of local Birding sites. The main stop was Soar to the East of Plymouth. There were a few migrant Willow Warblers & Whitethroats around, but low numbers of migrants overall.

Yellowhammer: I'm always happy to see Yellowhammers

However, it proved to be a better day for insects.

Migrant Hawker: Female

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary: Pleased to see these second brood individuals which have really declined in recent years in Dorset. Hope they are doing better in Devon

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary: The same individual

Wall: I saw several, but this tatty individual was the only one that posed briefly for a photo

After nearly completing a circuit of Soar we reached the cafe Pete had said we would be able to get a drink. This proved to be a lot better than I had expected. It was a large open barn next to a few tents for hire & a few friendly farm animals. It certainly was a popular place for the local mums to natter, while their kids played & made some animal friends. Some excellent coffee & freshly made cake. A good day out given the circumstances.

Toy Snake at the cafe: This would catch a few of the local visitors out if placed on the Arne reserve

28 May 15 - April: A Variable Spring For The Studland/Ballard Patch Year List

Somehow I spent too much time out Birding earlier in the Spring & didn't get the chance to do an April round up for the Studland/Ballard Patch Year List. Well now the Spring migration is almost over, I had better do a quick catch up. Having finished March one ahead of my target of 130, I decided on an ambitious 150 for the end of April. All I needed to do was to hit a couple of good migrant arrival days & it should be possible. The month started off quietly with the Easter Bank Holiday on 3 - 6 April. Good Friday, true to form for a Bank Holiday, was a write off of constant rain. It finally cleared & allowed me to get out that afternoon. The highlights of which were my first Hirundines: a party of six Sand Martins, followed by a single Swallow North over South Haven. A scan in the evening revealed the Great Grey Shrike was still present on the edge of Godlingston Heath (I last saw it the following evening). Wildfowl were on the move on the next day, with a departure of 54 Brent Geese & 3 Canada Geese and eight Common Scoter flying East past the harbour mouth. More unusual, were singles of Jackdaw & Rook moving North over the harbour mouth. Despite being common species at the Ballard/Greenlands Farm end of the patch, they are fairly scarce visitors at South Haven & are only seen as they move North in small numbers over the harbour mouth. Most of the records are late Autumn & I think these are my first Spring records. It was slim pickings on Easter Sunday, despite spending a fair bit of the day in the field. Finally, the cold wind dropped on the Easter Monday and left clear sunny skies. A good day to check out Ballard Down for migrants. I was pleased to find a small fall here. I quickly added Blackcap & Willow Warbler to the Patch Year List. I'm sure Blackcaps must Winter around the gardens in the village, but it is a species I rarely see until the Spring. However, it was still fairly quiet with a couple of parties of Wheatears and just the occasional Swallow & Sand Martin quickly moving through.

Wheatear: It's always a good day when I bump into parties on the patch (6 Apr)

Yellowhammer: Male. Old Harry & Ballard Down are easily the best places in Poole Harbour to see this species (6 Apr)

The highlight came when I reached the ridge of Ballard Down: a Red Kite appeared over the ridge by the trig point, right above my head. I had a short opportunity to grab a few photos, before it slowly drifted off towards Old Harry. I thought it would turn to follow the Studland Peninsula North, but instead it headed steadily out into Studland Bay. I lost it about a mile out, still heading for central Bournemouth. I added the first House Martin to the Year List later in the morning.

Red Kite: A species I only gave myself a 50-50 chance of seeing as they are mainly erratic Spring migrants through Dorset on days of fine sunny weather & light winds. I was very relieved to have seen a Red Kite without any effort. I had expected to spend a lot of time sitting & scanning for one this Spring (6 Apr)

The sun brought out Butterflies, with small numbers of Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks & Brimstones on the wing. I have managed to see Butterflies in every month of the year on the patch so far this year. It should be easy to keep seeing them until Nov.

Peacock: (6 Apr)

Small Tortoiseshell: (6 Apr)

It was slim picking the following weekend. After a week of warm, sunny conditions, the weekend saw a return to colder Northerly based winds which quickly halted the migration. The highlight of the weekend was a lone Redstart, hanging around a group of Wheatears in one of the Old Harry fields. The same pattern seemed to reoccur the following week, but I wasn't able to get out on the patch over the weekend (due to the twitch to Scillies for the Great Blue Heron).

I was keen to get out for the final weekend of the month. It didn't take long to find the first Whimbrels & Common Terns in Brands Bay. Slightly more surprisingly was my first Whitethroat was on the edge of Greenlands Farm. I typically expect to see them first on territory at Old Harry, but they hadn't arrived by the second weekend of the month (when I saw the Redstart). A distant Cuckoo calling was another recent arrival, but I had to wait until the start of May before I finally saw one. The other two highlights were a couple of Whinchats at Greenlands Farm, & as expected, the Reed Warblers were back on territory at South Haven. However, the most unusual record of the day was a Red-legged Partridge on Greenlands Farm: nearly ten years after my only other record in Oct 2005 of four individuals. I wonder where that came from.

Whinchat: One of two with a Stonechat party on Greenlands Farm (25 Apr)

The final April visit started with an early visit to South Haven. Frustratingly, over the two decades the beach has been severely impacted by dog walkers. When I first moved to Dorset, there used to be a good high tide roost of Waders at Pilots Point. Some days, it seems that half of Poole & Bournemouth feel the need to let their dogs run unhindered & crap wherever they like on the beach. The result is you need to be out early to stand any chance of Waders on the beach. This morning I got their before the hordes & found three Whimbrels on the beach. Even better there was a big feeding flock of Common Terns off the harbour mouth, with a couple of Little Terns in with them. This was a species I only gave myself a 50-50 chance of seeing on the patch, so I was really pleased to see them. The final highlight of a day spent covering as much ground as I could, was a Garden Warbler feeding on the edge of the South Beach wood. This brought my end of April total to a disappointing 147 species. While I managed to add 16 species in April, it was the first end of the month I had dropped behind my 2009 reference total. By the end of Apr 2009, I was on 148 & finished the year on 176). However, I had managed to miss a number of common Spring migrants this April, so I wasn't too surprised.

20 July 14 - A Few Coastal Butterflies

Popped out for a few hours this afternoon to look for Essex Skippers at St Aldhelms. I don't know they are here, but assumed they would be. But in the end, I struggled to find many Skippers with only a handful of Small Skippers & Lulworth Skippers seen, as it was cooling down by the time I started to look for the Skippers. Still a good selection of other common Butterflies seen, along with several Oak Eggars. Also the chance to submit my first count for the Big Butterfly Count. It takes 15 minutes to do & a couple of minutes to upload your sightings & you can even do it on a smart phone, if (unlike me) you chose an area with mobile coverage. So give it a go. They are only interested in the 21 commonest Butterflies & day flying Moths & full details are on the Big Butterfly Count site.

Peacock: A stunning upperwing pattern

Peacock: The underwing doesn't give any indication of how great they are when they open their wings

 

Painted Lady

Oak Eggar: Male. These were flying around very fast & erratically, like a demented Painted Lady on speed. I assumed they would turn out to be one of the Eggar species, but it took quite some time to finally see one land. Note, they are not dependent on Oak trees, but they get their name from their acorn-shaped cocoons. Perhaps they should have been called Acorn Eggar

The walk out from the Renscombe car park goes past a number of arable fields. One field still has a couple of male Corn Buntings which have been just hanging on at this site, although the numbers have declined from when I first started to watch the area over 25 years ago. Yellowhammers are another species which are still hanging on here, but in better numbers locally than the Corn Buntings. Either species brighten up the walk out to the headland.

Yellowhammer

Finally, it's getting to the time of years when the Bush Crickets & Grasshoppers start getting a lot commoner. Again a group I've been trying to get into for a number of years. The Bush Crickets aren't too hard to work out, but I find the Grasshoppers to be a trickier as some species come in a variety of colours.

Field Grasshopper: Nymph. Adults are generally brown, grey or green, but some nymphs come in this distinctive pink colour

Field Grasshopper: Nymph. The v shaped white marking on the pronotum (thorax area) is sharply angled and the pronotum forward of kink is shorter than the area at the rear

Field Grasshopper:This is what adults more typically look like (Langton Matravers, 27 June 10)