Green-winged Teal and more summer migrants

It's raining and cold outside as I type this from the warmth of my flat. A stark contrast to the blue sky of first thing this morning and the predicted temperature tomorrow. Anyway, went down to Crossness again for a few hours this morning where the drake Green-winged Teal was performing for those that had come to see it: -

drake Green-winged Teal Crossness 13th April 2013 - slightly better photo that yesterday's attempt... but only just

I recorded three first for the year here too, with a cracking male Yellow Wagtail in the paddocks, a couple of Sand Martins over as well as a Willow Warbler in bushes near the golf centre. Added to this a handful of Swallows heading northwest and a Common Tern on the river, Spring is indeed finally here. See what tomorrow brings.

male Yellow Wagtail in the paddocks today - after all those grey skies this winter, time to get the sun glasses out

Green-winged Teal at Crossness

I hadn't been to Crossness since Monday, and what with it being the last day of the holidays, thought it'd be rude not to venture out given the squally showers and a bit of south in the wind. Anyways, there was a nice winter plumaged Sanderling off the golf centre - my first of the year here - and a Swallow flew by midriver. There was also a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls on the foreshore, which had been absent for a while.

I trundled along to the incinerator outfall where I was hoping for a Garganey amongst the Teal and Gadwall. Always checking the common species, in this case Teal, is something you have to do here in London; it's not as if you've got vagrants in droves so it passes the time. And today was one of those days where there was payout as, just off the seawall, in amongst a small group of Teal and Gadwall was a blinding drake Green-winged Teal. Happy days, only the second Crossness record (last one was over a decade ago) and another good London bird that'll keep the punters happy.

drake Green-winged Teal Crossness 12th April 2013

 With the prerequisite hybrid check and the news banged out, I acted as an urgent taxi service for John A where I met him off the DLR at Woolwich. Back on site, along with Steve C and Mike R, all the ducks flew up but within a few minutes, with the heavens opening too, all had seen it. Half a dozen Swallows and my first House Martins - three of them - zipped west before John, Mike and I headed to the paddocks.

Looking from the screen, I picked up a Black-tailed Godwit. Now with 25 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits on the foreshore, just another of them? Nope, it wasn't as with a change in habitat and the knowledge of nominate (Continental) birds and this creature's appearance meant only one thing - this was a Continental Black-tailed Godwit, presumably a first for the site. John A had come to this conclusion too, so another good bird south of the river (though Rainham has recorded a couple of these under recorded beasts recently). See here for some previous discussion and shots of this form.

Tomorrow's another day. Well, it kind of isn't as it's Karen's birthday.

A rather more confiding Green-winged Teal that I photographed on Madeira in February 2010

First signs of Spring this morning

Thanks to the guys at the local computer store, they've managed to salvage my laptop from a virus that hit it big time on Monday - hence the lack of Icelandic updates but they'll come very soon. It was, to be fair, quite nice not to be laptop dependent and it was a good bit of rehab for me. Shame the local birding wasn't that great, with just a Grey Plover at Crossness on Monday the only bird of note (I should have known better to have wasted time going to Kelsey Park to look for a reported 1st-winter Ring-billed Gull on Tuesday, but couldn't resist the larid draw so close to home).

And so, having had a relaxing day with my parents in Hampshire yesterday, I decided I'd go the opposite direction to the current birding abyss of southeast London and stayed the night at Portland Bird Observatory. Very pleasant it was too, and it was even more pleasant to actually feel as though the winter may almost be over.

After arising and hearing that there was little in the garden first thing (just an Arctic Skua past through offshore), I headed out and did the circuit from the obs, past The Pulpit Inn and to Portland Bill itself. It wasn't a mega fall, but a male Redstart was really pleasant as was a female Black Redstart. There were at least a dozen Wheatears, and also a couple of Willow Warblers in amongst the flycatching Chiffchaffs. All very pleasant stuff.

male Firecrest at Portland Bird Observatory, Dorset 11th April 2013 - nice to see the 'fire' in its crest!

Back at the observatory, the ringers were decent enough to show me and others a couple of Firecrests - the first I'd ever seen in the hand. Off to Reap Lane and a half-hearted search for yesterday's Hoopoe with no luck, though another couple of Black Redstarts (including a stonking adult male) and umpteen Chiffchaffs and the odd Wheatear felt things were moving. I also got the feeling that Swallows were up for heading north with 25 or so going through in pulses, and in amongst them the odd Sand Martin too. Once again, just good to see some migrants and with the predicted rise in temperature this weekend perhaps the bottleneck further south may just be cleared even more.

An old Icelandic friend at Crossness today

I headed out locally to Crossness. An adult Kittiwake was on view distantly as I arrived, thanks to John A who'd managed to get himself up there a few minutes earlier than I had. That snooze button on the alarm was well used this morning...

Anyway, a singing Chiffchaff was all that the Spring sunshine could muster up, but 37 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits were migrating birds, and included an old friend that I saw at Crossness last April too: -

Originally ringed as an adult in southwest Iceland on spring passage in April 2000, this bird (red over lime on the left leg, green over lime on the right leg) has done the rounds - initially wintering in Ireland and then switching to Chichester harbour latterly and nesting. Vigfús Eyjólfsson gave me this helpful reply of its history last spring, so who knows to date where it summered/wintered between then and now: -
26.04.00  Grafarvogur, Reykjavík, SW Iceland
27.04.00  Pollengi, Árnessýsla, S Iceland
07-25.08.00  Swords Estuary, Co. Dublin, Ireland
02-08.12.00  Wexford Slobs, Co. Wexford, Ireland
23.04.01  Solvellir, Rangárhreppur, S Iceland
24.04.01  Pollengi, Árnessýsla, S Iceland
13.12.01  Baie de l,Aiguillon, France
01.08.03  Rogerstown estuary, Co. Dublin, Ireland
28.07-15.09.04  Swords Estuary, Co. Dublin, Ireland
20.11.06  Wexford Slobs, Co. Wexford, Ireland
01.05.08  Álftafjörður, E Iceland
25.05.10  Austurey, Iceland (nesting) 
09.09.-01.11.10  Chichester Harbour,  W Sussex,  England
14.03.11  Canvey Island, Thames Estuary, Essex, England
09-27.08.11  Bartlett Creek, Motney Hill, Kent, SE England
21-23.10.11  Bosham Channel , Chichester Harbour, Sussex, England
21.04.12  Crossness, River Thames, London, England

There was also another ringed Black-tailed Godwit, from one of the UK ringing schemes, that I'm awaiting details on...

Harlequin Ducks in Iceland

I got back home this afternoon, after a really enjoyable week in Iceland. A fabulous country, and I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone - it's Scotland on a grand scale with volcanoes, clean air and full of friendly folk. As well as a fair few interesting birds (including the obligatory gulls), and very few birders there is a lot to find and discover. Admittedly, I did luck out on glorious sunshine all week but I reckon these beauties would look pretty special in the rain too: -

 

Harlequins at Grundarfjörður 4th April 2013

Harlequins were quite easy to see, and I managed to locate the odd bird on most days of the holiday - down in the southwest near Grindavik (in the bay at Hraunsvik), in the south at Vik and then in the northwest at Grundarfjörður. April is the time of year when they start heading off from their coastal wintering grounds back onto the rivers where they breed, so some seemed paired up whilst others were still in small flocks feeding amongst the surf and rocky coastlines. Earlier in the winter, they'd be larger flocks in the bays while a few weeks on, it's when the long lens brigade pap them on the fast flowing rivers in their breeding habitat. First time I've ever seen drakes in sparkling plumage so an absolute pleasure (saw some in Washington/Oregon in minging kit last summer).

Iceland introduction

It's been a funny old Spring, especially when you come to Iceland from London and it feels a fair bit warmer. Having arrived late on Saturday night, the last few days of another 'non-birding' holiday have been action packed, with Karen and I making the most of the long days and enjoying the south and southwest of the country while staying in Reykjavik, a lovely city. First morning found us conveniently staying a mile or so away from a couple of American Wigeons at Njarðvík. Here's one of them: -


drake American Wigeon Njarðvík 31st March 2013

Did a nice little loop around the tip of the Reykjanes peninsular, where amongst the nice remote scenery I managed to locate a third American Wigeon of the day - at Garður - before sampling the thousands of distant Eider and gulls, and then half a dozen Harlequins and a Surf Scoter bobbing up and down in the surf at Hraunsvik were pretty neat, albeit a bit distant and into the sun. What have been nice all trip are the copious amounts of borealis-type Eiders, the males complete with sails and orangey bills: -

borealis Eider Bakkatjorn 1st April 2013

Yesterday and today have been predominantly about seeing the sites, which here in Iceland are pretty spectacular - the volcano Eyjafjallajökull that brought Europe to a standstill three years ago, Geyser, The Blue Lagoon and a couple of pretty spectacular waterfalls. Amongst this, though, I managed a couple of lingering Barrow's Goldeneyes on Lake Úlfljótsvatn, a regular adult Ring-billed Gull and an adult Little Gull on the small pond at Bakkatjorn, to the west of Reykjavik, another drake Harlequin at Vik and a bizarre hybrid Wigeon x Mallard. Not as many gulls as I'd have hoped, though local word told me this would be the case down here in the southwest. Off up northwest tomorrow, so hopefully there'll be a few more white wingers to see up there...

adult Thayer's Gull photoshoot

It is now or never on this one, as later today I head off to Iceland hopefully to see Iceland and Glaucous Gulls in good numbers so I'll try and do the odd post from there if I get the time. Anyway, I was hoping to do a post from yesterday when I went to Thetford and saw the (sort of) Black-bellied Dipper and a couple of Otters in the river. But, to cut a long story short, the day was grey, there were loads of people and the whole scene just didn't fill me with much enthusiasm to spend much time there nor write much about. Seems like everyone else has enjoyed their time in Thetford, so fair play.

So let's get back to the job in hand - adult Thayer's Gulls. Like the other ages, and as you'll see below, they are structurally very variable and you have to watch out for American Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull hybrids too. However, what seems to hold true is that on all birds P10 is pale tipped with an indistinct dark subterminal band, with the black on the outer web extending to the primary coverts, a mirror on P9 with black running through the leading edge (this mirror seems more extensive in the field on more individuals than literature suggest) with P6-P8 having pale-tipped tongues. P6 has a nice subterminal band, and on quite a few individuals P5 is unmarked (though on some there is a smudge of dark on the outer web of this feather). Once again, all the photos here are taken 16-23 February 2013 in northern California.

notice the short-legged appearance, dark eye and tepid bill colour. Structurally, too, this bird is quite squat and would be labelled in the 'classic' bracket of this species.

A more snouty individual with a pale eye - see the two images below for the same bird. Note the bright pink, relatively short legs and relatively dark grey mantle.

Purplish-pink orbital ring, tepid bill and even though the eye appears pale there is still some speckling present.

Thayer's Gulls have a very pale looking underwing, with dark markings restricted to the tips of the outer primaries. The leading edge of P10 shows a darkish tongue.

A typical individual, looking quite Iceland Gull-like in its facial expression - though note the dark iris

Same individual as above and below, illustrating a relatively well-proportioned looking gull

Just like a pale iris isn't always wholly pale, good views of a gull with a dark iris from a distance show paleness on closer inspection. Note the peppering in the iris of this bird; its orbital ring is pretty indistinct but it is purplish pink.

Quite a nice pose here, illustrating the upper and under primaries on a pretty classic looking bird - though many birds showed a more extensive mirror in P9 than I was expecting. This bird was no exception - the white mirror protudes well onto the outer web though is still bordered by black on the leading edge. Also note how on P9 and P10 the black tongue goes up as far as the primary coverts.

Another photo of the bird above.

A pretty classic looking, presumably female Thayer's Gull. This is the image of the species I grew up with, but there is far more variability in this species which presumably means that in a WP context, not all vagrants are being picked up.

A paler-eyed, longer billed individual to the bird depicted above. Again, note the distinctive nape hue and darkish grey mantle

A heavy-billed individual with a pale eye, though this is still peppered by dark spots. The rich pink legs and short tibia are typical of Thayer's Gull.

And finally for this post, watch out for imposters such as this bird - presumably an American Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull. They're pretty common in California, so must be pretty common in the Arctic regions where they interbreed. So, although unrecorded as a vagrant to Europe, they shouldn't be discounted: -


Glaucous-winged x American Herring Gull - note the rather dopey look and smudging akin to Glaucous-winged Gull and the paler mantle compared to Thayer's Gull.

same bird as above - very Thayer's-like primaries (though a large P10 mirror is almost tipped and note the extensive dark on the undersides of P7-10).