Parrots in the rain

I was prepared for today. I'd looked at a number of weather forecasts, with all saying it was going to be grim. And it sure was and typically, with my waterproof jacket that probably hasn't been waterproof for the last decade, I got extremely wet. Fortunately though a small group of Parrot Crossbills - four of them in all - decided to bed down last night at Gunner's Park, Shoeburyness, Essex and because of the abysmal conditions were still about this morning. Two males and two females about, getting blown about in the seafront pines - extremely showy, so even in the poor conditions managed a couple of average shots.

male Parrot Crossbill, Gunner's Park 13th October 2013

Must admit that structurally, they were really bull-necked and all birds seemed to show a relatively meagre 'crossed-bill' so all pro-Parrot features. Being a London birder, Crossbill isn't a species I see often at all so regular experience would help - though I was slightly underwhelmed by the smallish lower mandibles and actual bill size. Though the deepening kink towards the bill tip was pretty unique on these smart birds. I'd have liked to have watched them for longer, but with me and optics thoroughly soaked enough was enough.

Yesterday, with just the morning to play with, I headed out to some local spots. There was a 1st-winter Arctic Tern at Woolwich Ferry at high tide, while Crossness produced an adult Little Gull off the golf centre and an Arctic Tern that flew through mid morning could feasibly have been the same as that at Woolwich.

A quick trip to Kent

After yet another weekend has gone, and it's back into the school routine supplemented by being the Azores Bird Sightings bitch (a job in itself in October!), time to reflect quickly on yesterday's events.

News of the continued presence of a nice adult Lesser Grey Shrike on Sheppey, well found by Mike Buckland the previous evening, meant John A and I headed out of London for a change of scene. Arriving at Harty Marshes in the warm sunlight was pleasant for the time of year, and though a lovely bird, the harsh light, haze and distance put the whole event in the 'good scope views' category. I haven't seen too many Lesser Grey Shrikes in Britain, so a nice adult like this was decent enough.

adult Lesser Grey Shrike Harty Ferry, Kent 6th October 2013 - a bit distant but note the extensive white primary bases, long primary projection, white outertail and pale-based bill

After yesterday's dip, we then re-visited Cliffe and the Lesser Yellowlegs was seen from the viewing ramp; looking into the bright sunlight, rather distant and with a haze probably ranked this as one of my more forgettable experiences of this species, not least with the showy bird in Galway a couple of weeks ago still in the recent past.

Back in London, there was no sign of the Little Gull at Woolwich Ferry and with the Thames Barrier having a test day, and with its gates up, loads of gulls were attracted to the churned up sediment and current; shame that I could only find a single adult Yellow-legged Gull amongst the larids. So that was it for the first October weekend of 2013

Guillemot and Little Gull in London

The week caught up with me this morning, and having pressed the snooze button too much, I was going through Woolwich (on the way to Crossness) when John A called me to say that he'd found a Guillemot on the river. A patch mega, and a bird I'd never seen in London before so abandoning plans to grab supplies at the local Tesco, I whacked it up a gear and got there as soon as possible. In just over 10 minutes, there it was - a winter-plumaged Guillemot... not that much in some circumstances, but all about context here. It was bloody distant too, in Barking Bay and then heading upriver towards the barrier. A nice Ruff on the foreshore and a Kingfisher added value.

With a few people turning up to see the Guillemot, including Jono L and Nick C en-route to Pembrokeshire (I admire their youthful enthusiasm!), I left Crossness with David B and we decided to head to Grain. A couple of hours there produced two Firecrests, but little else, and the Lesser Yellowlegs at Cliffe didn't behave during our brief visit.

Back in London, I stopped off at the Woolwich Ferry where there was this nice adult Little Gull lingering with the Black-headed Gull flock. Chucking bread out managed to bring it in, so although the light was dull and shots grainy, probably the best views I've had of the species in London. Also a 1st-winter Common Tern here.

adult Little Gull, Woolwich Ferry complete with tower block backdrop

Ticks but no tick

A rather chronologically inept, belated post triggered today by the news of a couple of American wood warblers on Corvo (3 weeks tomorrow I set off for my annual after party adventure). For the second time in the space of a year, Galway scored with an Eastern KIngbird and just like the first time, this mega had done a bunk. This time, with the bird on Inishbofin, the masses of birders managed to locate a Blackpoll Warbler that was actively moving east through the island.

 

Blackpoll Warbler, Inishbofin, County Galway September 2013

One of the earliest Blackpolls to be found in Britain and Ireland, a shame that it was probably not destined to be on this planet for much longer given the state of its tick-infested head. Anyway, it was nice to return to the island - fond memories of a nice twitch with John A and Josh J a few years back.

I'll be out locally tomorrow as after a shattering week at work that day on Fair Isle in May 2003 is feeling like a nice investment. Good luck to those heading north for the Thick-billed Warbler.

Action patch

This weekend has been nice. Relaxing in London yesterday, with two 1st-winter Yellow-legged Gulls the highlight of my Rotherhithe patrol and then with east winds blowing (and a visit from Karen's parents curtailing me to just local stuff), I headed to Crossness mid-morning today where I met up with John A.

It started off pretty nicely, with only the second Garganey of the year found feeding in amongst Teal on the Thames foreshore just off the golf centre. A nice, relatively showy bird that seems to be a juvenile (though they're often quite tricky to age in autumn). Moving east, a check of the paddocks produced a juvenile Hobby, 3 Skylarks and a nice mixed finch flock but nothing to write home about. Walking back along the river, there was a NTGG ringed Herring Gull but all was rather quiet.

Garganey, Crossness 29th September 2013

So after both heading home, it was a bit of a surprise to hear that a Razorbill had flown through the Thames at Gallion's Reach, Beckton. As I was by the river at Rotherhithe - chucking bread out to just the local Black-headed Gulls - I prolonged my stay here, just on the off chance that this auk would have kept on coming west upriver. It didn't. Needless to say, just as I'd got back in I received a call that there was now a probable Fulmar at Beckton...

A pretty mega bird, the thought of one of these oil-spitting bastards on the Thames was more than enough to have me heading back out. It's often a strategy game when it comes to looking for seabirds on the Thames - knowing which urban shithole you can park in and where you can't, in order to access the Thames path. But as it happened, this boy was heading gradually east and, with John A on the case, it wasn't long before it could be viewed mega distantly from the west end of Crossness looking towards the Barking outflow.

Fulmar, Crossness 29th September 2013

Unfortunately it seemed quite weak, making just short flights before ditching back down again. It gradually made its way to the river bend by Crossness lighthouse, by which time it had got the attention of the local gulls. To be honest, I wouldn't rate its chances for lasting out the night but we'll see.

gull fodder?

Back at the golf centre, and it was now well gone 6pm, John A pulls out a nice Greenshank in amongst the Redshanks. And then, just having a quick scan before packing in for the day, I locate a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper too - a big bird for Crossness, and the first I've actually seen on the south side of the river (the previous ones I'd seen were in Barking Bay). So all in all a nice day's birding close to home, which is always nice.

Showy American waders in Ireland September 2013

It's been that time of year, and once again my Irish trips have been rewarded by some outstanding views of juvenile American waders. September low pressure systems always mean a few displaced birds from Arctic Canada and Greenland, and 2013 has been no exception. Although I'd stop at going anywhere near saying it's been a bumper year (with Buff-breasted Sandpipers being particularly thin on the ground), even an average year produces lost birds that have no fear...

Lesser Yellowlegs (1st-winter) Ballyconeely, County Galway September 2013 - above 3 photos

Baird's Sandpiper (juvenile) Ventry, County Kerry September 2013 - above 2 photos

Pectoral Sandpiper (juvenile) Ballinrannig, County Kerry September 2013 - above 2 photos

Wilson's Warbler Dursey Island 21st September 2013

It's like the stuff of dreams this one. I must have read through Keith Pellow's finder's account umpteen times and seen that gripping photo (those old fuzzy ones really are the best!) every time I've thumbed through Vinnicombe and Cotteridge. Wilson's Warbler Rame Head, Cornwall October 13th 1985. The sole Western Pal record - 'the rock' has yet to get a sniff.

So once again on Friday night, I boarded the Ryanair Stansted to Shannon 7pm flight, this time with Josh J, intent on giving Achill Island a good bash what with the odd AGP, Pec, Baird's and Lesserlegs all fresh in on the Atlantic coast the past 24 hours or so. Business as usual commenced with the customary Papa Johns in Shannon town, before heading north up into Galway. Chatting the usual nonsense just south of Gort, I check the phone and it's the mega text so, opening it up just expecting another (presumed) Fea's to have gone past somewhere, it's proper adrenalin time. MEGA Co.Cork WILSON'S WBLR male Dursey Island at west end in Scott's garden tho elusive. Thrusting my phone to Josh, while the usual nonsense comes out of my mouth, the car is spun round and it's off to the badlands of deepest, darkest Cork and The Beara peninsular. Rock and roll time, here we go.

With a bit of Spin SW and Ferry Corsten churning out the tunes, punctuated by a Tesco stop in Limerick, we hit Eyeries on The Beara at 2am where we bedded down for a night in the car. Thankfully, although mega mild, it was nice and overcast and feeling pumped for the morning, life was good.

Waking up just shy of 7am, we gave a nice looking beach and outflow nearby a look but there was no rare there so headed west the half hour to Dursey Sound where Josh and I became numbers 11 and 12 in the queue respectively. The first Brits to invade the party. An hour or so wait for the cable car to open was perked up by the usual craic from the likes of Vic, Aidan K, John M, Conor F, Seamus E, Jimmy D and the king of West Cork Kieran G - the man who we've to thank for smoothing things over on this one.

No phone reception, we were all oblivious to the bird still being present until we got half way across Dursey Sound. The Dom Joly of 21st century twitching, Dan P, had kindly let me know the bird was still about. So in the gloom, things were big time cheery. Once on Dursey, three of the birders on our cable car got a lift while the couple of us that couldn't be squeezed in had to partake in the calorie crunching hour long walk to near the west end of the island. Still shrouded in mist, and with the weather quite fresh, it was pleasant enough but we'd have preferred to have got there a bit quicker given the circumstances...

After walking across the island, there'd been little in the way of real cover until we reached Derek Scott's garden. A veritable feast for any lost yank fresh in. Walking down into his place though was entering something almost unreal - a jungle of trees, purposefully planted by a birder to attract migrants on their first stop in or last stop out. This guy was a true gent, lovely and thankfully content with the behaviour of the small crowd that had descended. Giving us the lowdown, he welcomed us in and took a place looking over willows, conifers and an isolated sycamore. Just 10 minutes or so I'd arrived, the bird had been seen but had disappeared as they do. Within half an hour though, with a little bit of anxiousness in the interim, a bright yellow bird flitted up in the nearby willows, but before you could get your bins fully on it the bird disappeared down into cover. Obviously the Wilson's Warbler (doing what they typically do when I've seen them in the US), a short while later it flew up into the sycamore and I got a look of its rear end, wings and mantle though not ideally its face was covered by leaves - but within an instant it was off again.

Wilson's Warbler Dursey Island, County Cork

The crowd continued to behave really well, with just low level noise and the odd bit of moving around when someone had a sniff of it. Once we realised that the bird was doing a bit of a circuit, people thinned out a bit to search and the Wilson's Warbler then became seen more often. It wasn't particularly vocal, unlike a number of yank warblers I've seen either in Britain and Ireland or on the rock, but with patience the views ended up being more than ample. That yellow glow, black cap, beedy eye, greenish mantle, long tail and flesh legs made up a bit of a stunner of a bird. Moving its way through the pittisporum, feeding on craneflies, it for once felt like one of those days that you live for. Whatever you think of the whole twitching malarkey, this was really one of those days you'll take to the grave.

Everyone who tried to get on did in the end. Despite the rigidity of the Cork Council cable car initially (where locals are allowed to jump the queue!), later shuttles til 7pm were laid on as well as an enterprising boat-owning sheep farmer who ferried a few Brits over too. Most of all, Derek Scott - the gentleman that he is - needs to be sincerely thanked for his generosity, and openness to the whole event. If anyone's reading this and would like to thank him personally, email me as Derek gave me his email.

Proper old school twitch, and despite loving a bit of searching for my own stuff these days, you really can't beat something like this. The seconds are better than the firsts. Nice and chilled out too given our fortunate positioning. You just can't beat a good yank!

Unfortunately the bird wasn't about on Sunday, and I genuinely feel for those that made the effort. Nobody deserves that, not least some of the good lads that I know went.