tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58647537657459206252024-03-17T13:50:05.746+00:00Rotherhithe & BeyondRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.comBlogger607125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-77794948789914511652018-08-24T19:28:00.003+01:002018-08-24T19:28:54.243+01:00Two visits to Kent this weekOn Tuesday morning, I set out with Dante on my first coastal mission of the autumn. There wasn't really a specific weather related reason why Tuesday was the day, more to do with other commitments for the rest of the week. But it turned out pleasantly satisfying in a low key kind of way. After all it's still August so it's the warm up before the big autumn event kicks off. We headed to the White Cliffs area, parked in the NT car park and then walked east towards Langdon Hole and Fan Bay. It was a nice, foggy morning which felt later in the autumn than it actually was. To cut it short though, the birds were decent enough with highlights being a Black Redstart in the bottom bushes at Langdon Hole and a Pied Flycatcher briefly in the gully at Fan Bay. Add to that a Tree Pipit, a Wheatear, 40 Willow Warblers, 15 Lesser Whitethroats and a couple of Reed Warblers, for a landlocked London birder it wasn't too shabby.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Black Redstart Langdon Hole, Kent 22nd August 2018</b></td></tr>
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However, by 11.30am the fog had started to lift and the birding quietened down in the Dover area. And so with that, we headed off back up the A2 and felt it was rude not to make the now annual pilgrimage to see the returning Bonaparte's Gull at Oare Marshes. On arrival, we checked East Flood where highlights were adult Curlew Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank among the copious amounts of Black-tailed Godwits. And then we headed to the Swale where on the first scan of the mud, the Bonaparte's Gull was found - much to the relief of some old boy who'd been looking since 9am! I headed out to it, chucking bread in the process - but, as I've found on my travels, Bonaparte's don't seem too fond of bread and this bird was no exception. It did walk a bit closer to investigate the excitement though: -<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfLZ2LDFW2nFMzWylGjEkE411ppcvWG8zpTersOBMdic6LSQ5FImSluEEQJsRs-1OHyHxVSkXkfammqUKnof98u5-sQBHZ6OuwkAD8l0RExuzGz5Fcjvj_TsoAUmG8pxUyGImXP0bWTo/s1600/BP9A0203+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfLZ2LDFW2nFMzWylGjEkE411ppcvWG8zpTersOBMdic6LSQ5FImSluEEQJsRs-1OHyHxVSkXkfammqUKnof98u5-sQBHZ6OuwkAD8l0RExuzGz5Fcjvj_TsoAUmG8pxUyGImXP0bWTo/s400/BP9A0203+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Bonaparte's Gull Oare Marshes, Kent 22nd August 2018</b></td></tr>
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Once this was done, we headed back to Rotherhithe where there was a distant juvenile Mediterranean Gull and four Yellow-legged Gulls on the mud by the Hilton Hotel. There was also a dog briefly, but my aggressive stance towards the owner meant that it (and the owner) weren't there for long. I think those who have been with me in the past, be it Rotherhithe or Dungeness, have felt uncomfortable about how I deal with dog walkers but it does seem to work. If you don't shout or throw your wait around, then they just continue to do as they please. My hobby doesn't infringe on them, so why should their mongrels disturb my gulls!<br />
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Anyway, the next day (Wednesday) I'd calmed down and after going into school to get the GCSE results (a day earlier than the kids as always), I woke the lad up from his slumber and we headed off back down to Kent. This time, to see a juvenile American Black Tern at Dungeness that had been nicely found by Stephen M the evening before. After a few minutes wait, the bird showed up hawking over the water from Makepiece Hide, along with 20+ Black Terns (the largest number of these I'd seen for a good while).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>American Black Tern Dungeness, Kent 23rd August 2018</b></td></tr>
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It was a thoroughly satisfying bird because despite being generally distant, it was nice to have a bit of a memory jog as I'd seen only two previously, the first for Britain in Somerset in October 1999 and then one in Oxfordshire in August 2009. This bird was obviously smaller than the Black Terns, something I'd not remembered from previous experiences. The lack of contrast/greyness on the underwing was great too as well as the obvious grey flanks. There were a couple of Great White Egrets on the Burrowes Pit too, that a decade ago would have deserved more than just the cursory glance I gave them. And we rounded the trip out with a couple of loaves at the fishing boats - with this brute of a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull being the highlight: -<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Yellow-legged Gull Dungeness, Kent 23rd August 2018</b></td></tr>
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And that was that. Bring on the autumn.RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com82tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-79487850889909140532018-08-23T23:40:00.002+01:002018-08-23T23:40:44.310+01:00mid-August back in LondonI've been back in London now for just over a week, and bar a fair bit of time spent in school sorting bits out, I've been enjoying the gull action pretty intensely.<br />
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It all started on Monday 13th August when Josh, Dante and I headed to Rainham Marshes where on the incoming tide there were a couple of 1st-summer Caspian Gulls - the first one was German muck, but the second one at Coldharbour Point was this rather handsome chap: -<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-summer Caspian Gull Rainham Marshes, London 13th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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Dante and I then headed to Crossness, where at the outfall this juvenile Little Gull was parading itself if a little distant. This bird was essentially in full juvenile plumage: -<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajulcWH4GmsvBuRtGXAAV_4nnqCzqsI2ICZ4r0CJZeMCrO45l2Pakkc2RRu0tu1e6iV2SsNXPDAUJdjHwCCSroex8cLlD8whqem89NwHz7ckZnE9K6fdf0Wn6uTUbz6WYrFm5TR_UZSg/s1600/BP9A9810+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="824" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajulcWH4GmsvBuRtGXAAV_4nnqCzqsI2ICZ4r0CJZeMCrO45l2Pakkc2RRu0tu1e6iV2SsNXPDAUJdjHwCCSroex8cLlD8whqem89NwHz7ckZnE9K6fdf0Wn6uTUbz6WYrFm5TR_UZSg/s400/BP9A9810+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Little Gull Crossness, London 13th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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Tuesday 14th August was quiet, with very little at Crossness while Rainham too the next day was hard work, except for the expected good numbers of Yellow-legged Gulls. But all birds there are frustratingly distant, which can't be said for this juvenile Yellow-legged Gull that turned up on Greenland Dock on the evening of 15th August: -<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Yellow-legged Gull Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe 15th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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I headed to the Bird Fair on Friday 17th August, but was in a particularly unsociable mood once I entered the place. There are so many people there who are pseudo birders, and so many of the good guys from back in the day have had to sell out to eek a living. The amount of what I call 'false friendships', founded on social media whoring and selfies, beggars belief. But I always enjoy the Art Marquee, so I bought a nice original Red-rumped Swallow painting from Stephen Message. As well, I saw two juvenile Caspian Gulls on the way there with Josh, at his Tanholt site near Peterborough. One of the birds was a German ringed individual X525, having been seen previously in Cromer, while the other was this rather beautiful tea coloured lad: -<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgluFAPKml-BCtfi2I5w7MxRRpjrEymr3RcFQQ45_Jin_11uUY0lytTfo8mWIcUISky-xe1DKhVmn8Gm3wOTl19JN2hED07iJ2U7_KAPvRZyYSZ2bXUfQhyphenhyphenZ_iKo2tEwjAPgbQuZWzCkE/s1600/BP9A9906+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="788" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgluFAPKml-BCtfi2I5w7MxRRpjrEymr3RcFQQ45_Jin_11uUY0lytTfo8mWIcUISky-xe1DKhVmn8Gm3wOTl19JN2hED07iJ2U7_KAPvRZyYSZ2bXUfQhyphenhyphenZ_iKo2tEwjAPgbQuZWzCkE/s400/BP9A9906+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Caspian Gull Tanholt, Cambs 17th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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Saturday was hard work, with a Common Sandpiper at Greenland Pier, Rotherhithe starting things off well and the six juvenile Arctic Terns that headed upriver at Rainham Marshes mid-morning weren't bad either - but the gulls were disappointing there, with no sniff of a Caspian, and so I headed to a pleasant barbecue in Epping for the rest of the day. On Sunday 19th August, I stayed nice and local with leisurely views of at least six juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls on the mud by the O2 in Greenwich: -<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls Greenwich, London 19th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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Dante joined me at the O2 on Monday 20th August, and we had a juvenile Mediterranean Gull flying upriver as I arrived, four Yellow-legged Gulls as well as this 2nd-summer Caspian Gull (which has previously been seen by Josh and Dante at Thames Barrier Park in July): -<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2nd-summer Caspian Gull Greenwich, London 20th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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A relatively subtle looking thing, with a slightly too beady eye for my liking, so perhaps some German influence in there somewhere! But the neck streaking and the retained P10 feather showing a decent mirror both are pro-Caspian features. Two Yellow-legged Gulls at Rotherhithe that afternoon, a 2nd-summer and a near adult, were particularly showy: -<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEB2T2hP4qs5TOdUY2m6G37Dxw6zRjS0C09D9d0RAlf3E8bxxklTNC0xccgtc1L3iKo7UC_TJ-p-VzlfyaXKOwB8RwAcUN4qDtmMh5aXH0QsGCSq4JP_D1sGHmfAfEem38YGq0faD5Us/s1600/BP9A0039+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEB2T2hP4qs5TOdUY2m6G37Dxw6zRjS0C09D9d0RAlf3E8bxxklTNC0xccgtc1L3iKo7UC_TJ-p-VzlfyaXKOwB8RwAcUN4qDtmMh5aXH0QsGCSq4JP_D1sGHmfAfEem38YGq0faD5Us/s400/BP9A0039+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Yellow-legged Gulls Rotherhithe, London 20th August 2018</b></td></tr>
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So all in all, it has been a fairly pleasant ease back into London birding. I'm ready for the autumn now and whatever that has to throw at us...<br />
<br />RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-12788453193855695582018-08-20T00:51:00.000+01:002018-08-20T00:51:14.492+01:00Saint Paul Island - Alaskan birding at its best<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Alaska’s a massively wildlife rich place, but for the last
few years there has been one place that has been the aim above any other. Remote, lying midway in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia, St. Paul
Island was essentially the reason for my trip here. Probably best known to most
for being one of the main harbours in the TV show The Deadliest Catch (and its
associated King Crabs), it is also one of the real jewels when it comes to
seabirds. Spring and autumn time, it functions (along with Gambell) as North
America’s equivalent to Corvo where Asian mega vagrants are what the hardcore
ABA listers go there for. St. Paul is essentially a rock of 22 square miles with
just a couple of flights a week from Anchorage that are weather dependent, one
hotel that is attached to the airport (or is the airport attached to the hotel?), meals served in the canteen of the Trident Fish Factory… you get the
idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">However, my main aim of this summer's trip to Alaska was to see
Red-legged Kittiwake on St. Paul Island and that I certainly did. It is
probably the most accessible place to reliably see this species, and so due to flight schedules I was able to spend four fantastic days on this rock. Though still
outnumbered by Black-legged Kittiwakes quite considerably, there are good
breeding populations on the cliffs and they come into the harbour at times,
sitting nicely on the jetties. I saw them in several spots, often flying by
among the Black-legged Kittiwakes, but also in the town harbour and cliffs at Ridge Wall and Reef
Point. Proper quality birds, with that big eye allowing them to feed
nocturnally (similar to Swallow-tailed Gulls!): -</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_3vcS62wjakGI0DMT-DaQRMICnoUrn56LeuS0S0hyphenhyphenYvFBxcWWNOisH8os4b-RPA_kNgyI0Hkce9AR7XE38alg2EM_5wJf0XCuzA8JKabkVCxBmtEaGwA7BKTjIRTAvGMKOYgcyoGBSk/s1600/BP9A7965+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_3vcS62wjakGI0DMT-DaQRMICnoUrn56LeuS0S0hyphenhyphenYvFBxcWWNOisH8os4b-RPA_kNgyI0Hkce9AR7XE38alg2EM_5wJf0XCuzA8JKabkVCxBmtEaGwA7BKTjIRTAvGMKOYgcyoGBSk/s400/BP9A7965+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Red-legged Kittwake St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Shortly behind Red-legged Kittiwake, St Paul is a mecca for
some crippling alcids. And they show exceptionally well too. Most of the cliffs
are loaded mostly with Brunnich’s Guillemots and lesser numbers of Guillemot
(nice to write these Anglicised having had to call them Thick-billed and Common
Murres out in the field!). Plus the two clowns of the Pacific in abundance too,
Horned and Tufted Puffins: -</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WBJCPcv9MhBP3WNqqi6YYapW_CermBS9DH36n3Rj2fJ-trcTxalikWBCIz6Bk0aRaB7UriPh0dgcPZNY8PohRqhQxBFIimEwdITwHH_olSVjF57RSbFr4iOmz1HR2ID0WPbdu2tAGkI/s1600/BP9A8366+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WBJCPcv9MhBP3WNqqi6YYapW_CermBS9DH36n3Rj2fJ-trcTxalikWBCIz6Bk0aRaB7UriPh0dgcPZNY8PohRqhQxBFIimEwdITwHH_olSVjF57RSbFr4iOmz1HR2ID0WPbdu2tAGkI/s400/BP9A8366+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tufted Puffin St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Horned Puffin St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjzmuEbjlmBkREs1fL5_9csDvQl5ejQQNR1cFBeUU855d2YW_zM1UAqzZSYJNT5_pb-15w8g4SghgkcRHTSJAOHRSuJE2dFv4zQkwp0-H9pODZUPpYi1hfKLzEYQlGZKmcSHXJGmZDuI/s400/BP9A8093+copy2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Brunnich's Guillemot St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of the reasons a lot of birders come to St. Paul though
is the views of breeding auklets, where elsewhere they’re often distant lumps
on the sea, here they are up close and in your face. Parakeet Auklets and the
much scarcer Crested Auklets chill out on rock ledges before heading into their
nests in deep rock crevices, while the gremlinesque Least Auklets seemed to
prefer the boulder beaches to breed. All such good birds, and a massive thrill
to see in such good numbers: - </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwhwXFhTOzxCpGSPwX3JwClgyDTgo_yBdp4Vi7UxWjbEPgS5gM8s_sHqFJ7h_G0Z7-mmLhbjWhcU4g6uF15t2m3uqTxpmXCI95LHlbcygxZ1kYqWS0jthOuqC2cmZlmOB5Jeektwt3Jg/s1600/BP9A7299+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwhwXFhTOzxCpGSPwX3JwClgyDTgo_yBdp4Vi7UxWjbEPgS5gM8s_sHqFJ7h_G0Z7-mmLhbjWhcU4g6uF15t2m3uqTxpmXCI95LHlbcygxZ1kYqWS0jthOuqC2cmZlmOB5Jeektwt3Jg/s400/BP9A7299+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Parakeet Auklet St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiLJ3A8re2SWD_vdbWqJ2hvN6lXtwH9F-jZofAhsBINy-nDJmfAn41gWmyL9LoUNbjoPhlY3N2vs7kIzi3GNuzgwkz8naAX0XNVtqkJRlequL-Yg7GN5hZ_QwGJUeOQ24wrvNI4FUtrg/s1600/BP9A7570+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiLJ3A8re2SWD_vdbWqJ2hvN6lXtwH9F-jZofAhsBINy-nDJmfAn41gWmyL9LoUNbjoPhlY3N2vs7kIzi3GNuzgwkz8naAX0XNVtqkJRlequL-Yg7GN5hZ_QwGJUeOQ24wrvNI4FUtrg/s400/BP9A7570+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Crested Auklet St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__qWS0O25YkgN3LY7O2SuhKJcmW2aUgf8ikZG7jgk8TF7NKpvfqyanVH2z44Nf3sK8N3ePWfLkOw0klAKXse3ccXP54oe2b22hOuR4ecJQ2wrjMi35Wh7xQSDBV09gQWE-U47DmQlqGo/s1600/BP9A7730+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__qWS0O25YkgN3LY7O2SuhKJcmW2aUgf8ikZG7jgk8TF7NKpvfqyanVH2z44Nf3sK8N3ePWfLkOw0klAKXse3ccXP54oe2b22hOuR4ecJQ2wrjMi35Wh7xQSDBV09gQWE-U47DmQlqGo/s400/BP9A7730+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Least Auklet St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
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R<span style="font-family: "calibri";">ed-faced Cormorants were the commonest breeding cormorant
on the cliffs, and having only seen them at relative distance in Japan
previously, the views on St. Paul of this range restricted species were rather
better: -</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKejeFMq3BpWYkGwYuweor8IhpT3CoHcgkf6qvuQM85x2l8rIPGV2z09pFVSTlQqb7UiZ50UPVAEfvruajBGzvRV5pQ-RFWwwkxrVU12YshVHdrxAa-bClOC-nmDnpKc1n8sZqL55NhE/s1600/BP9A8200+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKejeFMq3BpWYkGwYuweor8IhpT3CoHcgkf6qvuQM85x2l8rIPGV2z09pFVSTlQqb7UiZ50UPVAEfvruajBGzvRV5pQ-RFWwwkxrVU12YshVHdrxAa-bClOC-nmDnpKc1n8sZqL55NhE/s400/BP9A8200+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmA0FLvEAFIKorNzEjKTxbeWN0WZ3mR7MqOo8Gdtu-rnoqca1UJKNdHbQUNI1WAwNCZl9drjDT4W14aGOoLM4BQx_D9fZusvxhwSD-9dQCv4aKSfq-m9v5uBfhrV10QvT8Ba7CJt1HqZ8/s1600/BP9A8382+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmA0FLvEAFIKorNzEjKTxbeWN0WZ3mR7MqOo8Gdtu-rnoqca1UJKNdHbQUNI1WAwNCZl9drjDT4W14aGOoLM4BQx_D9fZusvxhwSD-9dQCv4aKSfq-m9v5uBfhrV10QvT8Ba7CJt1HqZ8/s400/BP9A8382+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Red-faced Cormorant St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">St. Paul though has other birds too, and where the four most
common species are Grey-crowned Rosy Finch, Rock Sandpiper, Lapland Bunting and
Snow Bunting then you know you’re in for a decent haul. Habitat wise, a lot of
the island was grassland with nearly fledged Rock Sandpipers hopping about
pretty regularly – so you get a bit blasé given elsewhere they’re a target
bird: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYKZQ1XmXi3do6DjMw2vLGzbMv4RuM8Pt3iMXOlMX2sqdgr1Z34yRlIl8D-9dS0vk7aaeBHT_iJbGYX2r-QzHZlfUdX27P2iz7WOreY6CbvMMYZBtIpo-ML_rLAuC974szwn7t5w2OjU/s1600/BP9A8344+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYKZQ1XmXi3do6DjMw2vLGzbMv4RuM8Pt3iMXOlMX2sqdgr1Z34yRlIl8D-9dS0vk7aaeBHT_iJbGYX2r-QzHZlfUdX27P2iz7WOreY6CbvMMYZBtIpo-ML_rLAuC974szwn7t5w2OjU/s400/BP9A8344+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>young Rock Sandpiper St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBs7L8WXKzQif_Bd5_w93o5t5T4zoV3GIdOuDH6-Ika5364luH1fzTWQ2DpoGJmw5s9PcjOEfHIL12qlQqr_mgFHl6HzbCUXuOGeODOzGZm0lfgfFtHOsTQZg3IqZBkqnXiX-blvYXco/s1600/BP9A8443+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBs7L8WXKzQif_Bd5_w93o5t5T4zoV3GIdOuDH6-Ika5364luH1fzTWQ2DpoGJmw5s9PcjOEfHIL12qlQqr_mgFHl6HzbCUXuOGeODOzGZm0lfgfFtHOsTQZg3IqZBkqnXiX-blvYXco/s400/BP9A8443+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Grey-crowned Rosy Finch St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvY99F5UoyArjdjmgc49ObedjZ2u7PXuYCpOwneU_SfzuvQ8uly8nlzUqBBmzpey0bPh_6RRHYZqj9n6xTpAWS179MfU3oRm71X3tuMW4lPxtZ4cLEzhOQcvA5RCuc-UP9KS2jBPCjf28/s1600/BP9A8463+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvY99F5UoyArjdjmgc49ObedjZ2u7PXuYCpOwneU_SfzuvQ8uly8nlzUqBBmzpey0bPh_6RRHYZqj9n6xTpAWS179MfU3oRm71X3tuMW4lPxtZ4cLEzhOQcvA5RCuc-UP9KS2jBPCjf28/s400/BP9A8463+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Snow Bunting St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdzG-eh9lyXobAmYdpCF6FIp9CXBAoiyyMZfGXL8k594we6APn-25GBcy0FPXnvkPXmMSye6-3exzyu2YAFwwfyzILnWca_6lLksXMSYupUcw2ICXzPlT11hcs1HMV7BOzabMaWEqDfY/s1600/BP9A8454+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdzG-eh9lyXobAmYdpCF6FIp9CXBAoiyyMZfGXL8k594we6APn-25GBcy0FPXnvkPXmMSye6-3exzyu2YAFwwfyzILnWca_6lLksXMSYupUcw2ICXzPlT11hcs1HMV7BOzabMaWEqDfY/s400/BP9A8454+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgxOIjmPgGXLTUD2ibXmWjeeZ-vp1V9x5EpRkPPTLOm6OayN_U7lN50BWlVBbfkl30E5of1p8RK051ZOm_Rk-jbRtNPbaTsI9dA3Lfvc5Tu8Eh3V1aKznzRGUBoH5Olw4-B_izRbNA-I/s1600/BP9A7791+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgxOIjmPgGXLTUD2ibXmWjeeZ-vp1V9x5EpRkPPTLOm6OayN_U7lN50BWlVBbfkl30E5of1p8RK051ZOm_Rk-jbRtNPbaTsI9dA3Lfvc5Tu8Eh3V1aKznzRGUBoH5Olw4-B_izRbNA-I/s400/BP9A7791+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lapland Bunting St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A lot of the Rock Sandpipers could be found foraging in
flocks at Salt Lagoon just outside of town while walking around other lagoons
such as Antone Lake and Pumphouse Lagoon provided some pretty mega views too: -</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6f2q_XTCyQBoWoYG743VILJORk7r9caTRECyeL6bbxm7iZwjzgpS0xmH1Gg2oy0JJOHQnDmZVgKZysdpqThgItJ6bW0gqS0YPN8y5JiDwBReGj7wKu388Ca3n2YnjCChY2N-kMjDzws/s1600/BP9A8156+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6f2q_XTCyQBoWoYG743VILJORk7r9caTRECyeL6bbxm7iZwjzgpS0xmH1Gg2oy0JJOHQnDmZVgKZysdpqThgItJ6bW0gqS0YPN8y5JiDwBReGj7wKu388Ca3n2YnjCChY2N-kMjDzws/s400/BP9A8156+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK__iSeyEGI-tiygUHOk_vwIGwLxN4mcfgNjrc3YbiPHwycvuseXqbNLiuVvS2tvePrO2xcHb8Nfj5JsuAV8hhJ_NNC1P7Z0szkWDBLvUfTXFix8K7AopaFSpUQDK9RFm0QsSnnxi8Dnw/s1600/BP9A7856+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK__iSeyEGI-tiygUHOk_vwIGwLxN4mcfgNjrc3YbiPHwycvuseXqbNLiuVvS2tvePrO2xcHb8Nfj5JsuAV8hhJ_NNC1P7Z0szkWDBLvUfTXFix8K7AopaFSpUQDK9RFm0QsSnnxi8Dnw/s400/BP9A7856+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rock Sandpiper St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Dreamland if you’re into your Arctic waders. There were
several Wandering Tattlers seen along the coast – probably about a dozen in
total – while Semipalmated Plovers and Red-necked Phalaropes evidently bred on
the islands: -</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpqyBWr2Cil4n5tinReNVoAjYLBJB3RDNsnbomeMEnjjgh3f5pZpcoarmXFXgGoDIqETeK0UdIw2_94X354qi-nfFQogikXunBLIKwn2SK73AQZNAyfoo-2OLH3jsJ6vOZfnXSNamW78/s1600/BP9A7890+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpqyBWr2Cil4n5tinReNVoAjYLBJB3RDNsnbomeMEnjjgh3f5pZpcoarmXFXgGoDIqETeK0UdIw2_94X354qi-nfFQogikXunBLIKwn2SK73AQZNAyfoo-2OLH3jsJ6vOZfnXSNamW78/s400/BP9A7890+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Red-necked Phalarope St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I also located a flock of seven Pacific Golden Plovers at
High Bluffs, on the west side of the island, one afternoon while a Grey
Phalarope flew in off the sea there too (as well as there being a big flock of
them out to sea from Reef Point too one morning).</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTvQRC2Khrf8rx38ZBrieNLSNjUX8hXLasNQKuVBuDuwhGedaHoTyn1UIjtiuUtVO4nC113gcREgg9WJtwkrK2AOFgzMnmgLTVrEK1aJUWtn4tRq_ywboF2oC74X_hL-PBFaah6Dhh6M/s1600/BP9A8312+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTvQRC2Khrf8rx38ZBrieNLSNjUX8hXLasNQKuVBuDuwhGedaHoTyn1UIjtiuUtVO4nC113gcREgg9WJtwkrK2AOFgzMnmgLTVrEK1aJUWtn4tRq_ywboF2oC74X_hL-PBFaah6Dhh6M/s400/BP9A8312+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Pacific Golden Plover St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There were lots of Harlequin
Ducks around the coast, as well as Long-tailed Ducks as well as a couple of
White-winged Scoters from Northeast Point one afternoon. Across the island, I
saw about 15 King Eiders – including twelve together at Northeast Point – while
this one in town on Salt Lagoon was the showiest of the crew: -</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUelFUfI0P0U6NZw59uD4riK6-e4zqWss89dBZh2iidITRFmOX8nGqeobztzAWcJ8FHMX5P4OeS0nPH66jXaIjPewq_c81CEAqX0L1tG3kAg02b-f7ISNAS8zbh4hMrsT8CVq6z_Cs2y4/s1600/BP9A6891+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUelFUfI0P0U6NZw59uD4riK6-e4zqWss89dBZh2iidITRFmOX8nGqeobztzAWcJ8FHMX5P4OeS0nPH66jXaIjPewq_c81CEAqX0L1tG3kAg02b-f7ISNAS8zbh4hMrsT8CVq6z_Cs2y4/s400/BP9A6891+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>King Eider St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I spotted a couple of Vega Gulls during the trip, a
third-summer and first-summer, but both birds were a bit distant among the
Glaucous-winged Gulls. An Arctic Skua ditched down on Antone Lake on my last
morning, a handful of Short-tailed Shearwaters cruised by offshore while this
Short-eared Owl quartered the grassland on the first evening on the island: -</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wHgKw62Au2t_hmw48Mt_oc_9k-AURuTUcuGDbF7_cMkC5j35Gi9CESEeXVuKLgYXZKoh1xGuwWfQkALTJjyb6NUivTJmkWgFPNoJLBrlFxcCsW1L0be4XMA5AACVKVwcOnG2ERZQpnA/s1600/BP9A7014+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wHgKw62Au2t_hmw48Mt_oc_9k-AURuTUcuGDbF7_cMkC5j35Gi9CESEeXVuKLgYXZKoh1xGuwWfQkALTJjyb6NUivTJmkWgFPNoJLBrlFxcCsW1L0be4XMA5AACVKVwcOnG2ERZQpnA/s400/BP9A7014+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Short-eared Owl St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Other than the birds,
the island is packed full of Northern Fur Seal rookeries which meant a good number
of the beaches were off limits during my trip. But they showed nice enough, and
it was obvious too it was pupping season, particularly at Zapatni Bay. There
were also some Harbour Seals and one afternoon while seawatching from Webster,
in the northeast of the island, a couple of Fin Whales breached a few times
albeit distantly.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAiGBDzjyodmHeo78G5J9XrnW7WO0JyR2ObYj2mXSdSJVTSiyeIN_rdxvWVT40cQHhfEIqG-QfHtkJgJ86dbrpkl4-C1J0WBsmH5z-R5K9qoq72vYq8qXORxOBxSWnumIKHxxdu6wbnhQ/s1600/BP9A7364+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAiGBDzjyodmHeo78G5J9XrnW7WO0JyR2ObYj2mXSdSJVTSiyeIN_rdxvWVT40cQHhfEIqG-QfHtkJgJ86dbrpkl4-C1J0WBsmH5z-R5K9qoq72vYq8qXORxOBxSWnumIKHxxdu6wbnhQ/s400/BP9A7364+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Northern Fur Seal St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The only land mammal that was about, and quite abundant,
were the Arctic Foxes. It’s a blue morph that occurs on St. Paul, and there
were quite a few family groups about during the trip, particularly in the town
as well as a den near our hotel at the airport.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtio_V_srEARfOXJHeiHXkgxlSekLa1j2NgMAExCPWpWtZ3AM47eSpCB2sg5oH9WGaIIochHdcEZ-rEFWa70cTaYV1nPb8fLxAK710WDjPO2dlMtv8qQQd7TWtn4ZP9HvursaOiWa7nYI/s1600/BP9A8049+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtio_V_srEARfOXJHeiHXkgxlSekLa1j2NgMAExCPWpWtZ3AM47eSpCB2sg5oH9WGaIIochHdcEZ-rEFWa70cTaYV1nPb8fLxAK710WDjPO2dlMtv8qQQd7TWtn4ZP9HvursaOiWa7nYI/s400/BP9A8049+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf41PPrT9r08qi9fNktXIeqDJmwDNuHqZCbL8cVzLcJRXAHuoLyyrt3EiwAnAloK8lcX8iqnrONoH7W7LFIDAP6Ma4QXAmVCufkbsRswsN4dmobbJMEvp8TX-KDNthjZwcgBOQQWeF6E0/s1600/BP9A8257+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf41PPrT9r08qi9fNktXIeqDJmwDNuHqZCbL8cVzLcJRXAHuoLyyrt3EiwAnAloK8lcX8iqnrONoH7W7LFIDAP6Ma4QXAmVCufkbsRswsN4dmobbJMEvp8TX-KDNthjZwcgBOQQWeF6E0/s400/BP9A8257+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Arctic Fox St. Paul Island, Alaska July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Doing St. Paul as an independent traveller is tricky, and
you do have to go through St. Paul Island Tours. It’s not cheap but, as with
everything in life, you get what you pay for. I lucked out with a decent group
of five of us (two Belgians and two Americans), all of us happy to just keep on
going and lap up as much as possible on the island during our four days and three
nights. Much appreciation too to the two resident guides there, Claudia and
Sulli, who were chilled out, accommodating and showed us the place nicely. It’ll
be a trip I remember for as long as I live – such a decent place, and full of
birds and remoteness. Thoroughly recommend it above most of the places I’ve
ever visited.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b></b><br /></span>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-60635799862756391862018-07-29T10:09:00.000+01:002018-07-29T10:09:53.022+01:00Alaska's Kenai Fjords - glacial birding in the rain<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Monday night, I’d stayed just a few miles north of Seward
overnight, ready for a full day on the Kenai Fjords on the Tuesday. I’m not
usually one for planning things in advance, but I booked this boat trip a month
or so back. But one thing I didn’t book was the weather, and so it actually
rained pretty much continually throughout the day…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In typical American fashion, everything was laid on for you
and hyped up. But it was more than a pleasant day out despite the weather. I
imagine that you’d be blown away by the scenery in blue sky days, but I am
still left imagining. I’d opted for the nine hour trip, which took in Northwest
Glacier – reason for me doing this was that Kittlitz’s Murrelets favour the
glacial waters, and shorter trips wouldn’t have given me access to this
habitat. And it was a success, with two birds seen relatively well with
potentially a couple of others a little bit more distant. This was just one of
eight species of alcid that I saw during the day – with the highlight for me
being my first Horned Puffins, some of which showed fairly decently in the
gloom: -</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-v622MUuVx15zYUIdGGlH1ml0iFJwBsyRgjAoRc8ouLtSyZ25l3bnDWGclU0hczsEurWhyXjWor2w4sUrrn0Kn5oNiWQYAYdKpFDSvy3bRT7Dk2CQC2OhXipKPAibuLqpuk9dSkMnkdU/s1600/BP9A6599+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-v622MUuVx15zYUIdGGlH1ml0iFJwBsyRgjAoRc8ouLtSyZ25l3bnDWGclU0hczsEurWhyXjWor2w4sUrrn0Kn5oNiWQYAYdKpFDSvy3bRT7Dk2CQC2OhXipKPAibuLqpuk9dSkMnkdU/s400/BP9A6599+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Horned Puffin Kenai Fjords, Alaska 24th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also saw my first Parakeet Auklets, with 15-20 seen in
total including a small raft. Tufted Puffins, just like Horned, were really
numerous particularly around the Chiswell Islands. Marbled Murrelets, Pigeon
and Common Guillemots were present in good numbers too, while there were a few
Rhinoceros Auklets around too. If the light had been better, I may have taken a
few shots that were worth keeping but, you can’t have everything.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the things I did have today though was plenty of
Humpback Whale sightings, with five individuals in total. The star performer
was this one though, that breached several times in the calm waters coming into
Northwest Glacier: -</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDIs01yvmnqQ-egI-Xwjqlhg_EI_XaJpeZRDqYqmsQuf2CMqIeMKJ3PA8Nz-M_UDbK38k3xG0XAQ_YjskJrhPf1mTHdN8DCr5tUeTcA47SXdlIhRDffmQaVk7i8nhJl-lmkkrzOFpXNI/s1600/BP9A6658+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDIs01yvmnqQ-egI-Xwjqlhg_EI_XaJpeZRDqYqmsQuf2CMqIeMKJ3PA8Nz-M_UDbK38k3xG0XAQ_YjskJrhPf1mTHdN8DCr5tUeTcA47SXdlIhRDffmQaVk7i8nhJl-lmkkrzOFpXNI/s400/BP9A6658+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Humpback Whale Kenai Fjords, Alaska 24th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were quite a few Harbour Seals around too, while 10 or
so Sea Otters in total including half a dozen dozing about in the harbour as we
left first thing: -</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3uPHb4MYN-qMTyAd8OKPa1ieBx-doKYQM127627tWgrV9mnqULBgyZ0siH75r0vxwsLiYKa7u8NmCUQ2JaWNGEZmXH3aVS6La3c1fjdQdxtv68UCsnC3_2e62BDeeSEF_RZX7VnWIMM/s1600/BP9A6469+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3uPHb4MYN-qMTyAd8OKPa1ieBx-doKYQM127627tWgrV9mnqULBgyZ0siH75r0vxwsLiYKa7u8NmCUQ2JaWNGEZmXH3aVS6La3c1fjdQdxtv68UCsnC3_2e62BDeeSEF_RZX7VnWIMM/s400/BP9A6469+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sea Otter Kenai Fjords, Alaska 24th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bald Eagles too were fairly common, and included this adult
bird as we headed back into the harbour. They were either on beaches or sat up
in tall trees like this bird: -</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKT_1Le-viojLNFazTi11q1jKaFN3trCtSHSPfXbeLBxM1zCPSFpb-AxKnPnCxm2lAQghCqBMrFUO9C-T1vABZAgn5p0H7Yn3mRaPAqlAZ1cDHeM7fQVsfVQdcraMA-2AukGBICqQxzXI/s1600/BP9A6855+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKT_1Le-viojLNFazTi11q1jKaFN3trCtSHSPfXbeLBxM1zCPSFpb-AxKnPnCxm2lAQghCqBMrFUO9C-T1vABZAgn5p0H7Yn3mRaPAqlAZ1cDHeM7fQVsfVQdcraMA-2AukGBICqQxzXI/s400/BP9A6855+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bald Eagle Kenai Fjords, Alaska 24th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so, that was that. Given the pretty inclement weather, I
felt I lucked out on the views of the glacier as that area seemed to have a
climate all of its own. And while everyone else marvelled at the glacier, I
came back from the tour having enjoyed a load of good birds, decent scenery
even on a dull day and being given a load of excess chicken wraps (they’d made
too many) which meant I didn’t need to buy dinner in the evening. A result all
round.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiX-pGR4RcOGBYSc0c4Qb3Hia4hTuK9IY0yrTtEQKsUTEYwPtbAzRVFwafZt6w-Jz-NYsI2BKLI2gvGhyyP7vC3jh1PE4JwZZvkiAK8C3YMc7GPopMLpSs6OJI93zaZ3hxhK8WmFcS2I/s1600/BP9A6713+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiX-pGR4RcOGBYSc0c4Qb3Hia4hTuK9IY0yrTtEQKsUTEYwPtbAzRVFwafZt6w-Jz-NYsI2BKLI2gvGhyyP7vC3jh1PE4JwZZvkiAK8C3YMc7GPopMLpSs6OJI93zaZ3hxhK8WmFcS2I/s400/BP9A6713+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Glaucous-winged Gull Kenai Fjords, Alaska 24th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b></b><br /></div>
RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-18932346692589465182018-07-24T06:43:00.000+01:002018-07-24T06:44:11.869+01:00Alaska... escaping the heat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve just finished my first full day here in Alaska, and
having arrived to lovely blue skies yesterday, it has been a day of cloudiness
and drizzle today. Lovely stuff, given the last month or so of relatively
oppressive London heat. Alaska had always felt a long, long way from home and I
appreciate it is, but with some Icelandic Air flights (via Iceland), I was
surprised how short the journey to Anchorage was – just a 6 hour 50 minute flight
from Keflavik airport yesterday.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, Anchorage as a city itself is pretty average. Mind
you, every American city is just that. But when you’ve got the calls of Mew
Gulls continually and some nice juvenile Bonaparte’s Gulls too (a plumage I’d
never seen) then it wasn’t all that bad. Westchester Lagoon was where I
started, and the common grebe there was Red-necked, with several pairs and
decently sized young. There were also half a dozen Short-billed Dowitchers too,
and on the cutoff lake the other side of the highway a Belted Kingfisher and a
showy Lesser Yellowlegs were present (as well as about ten juvenile Bonaparte’s
Gulls and lots of Mew Gulls). Not a bad couple of hours post arrival.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSp9ODAtFyq1-OEsoAZpA1u9iDx8azWzg-GfcEEt3d3H9AqOajyBUxMTjbgpdAcRfqblLbQ5W23qmThe9Qyg4vgbPBHs0JPVXazV4TxBa2WKW0q7CdHM_GOWgC_91uXqUDjPhJg7QZmQ/s1600/BP9A6256+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSp9ODAtFyq1-OEsoAZpA1u9iDx8azWzg-GfcEEt3d3H9AqOajyBUxMTjbgpdAcRfqblLbQ5W23qmThe9Qyg4vgbPBHs0JPVXazV4TxBa2WKW0q7CdHM_GOWgC_91uXqUDjPhJg7QZmQ/s400/BP9A6256+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Mew Gull Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage, Alaska 22nd July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnZ5_KjzA89nraD3twux8_707-Hkobb0I_CQQwcnXslGjiiTBZa_PghR2XXIvsoBMckVEj9ffD-jxZegp3mfX9lsxt3xNek762vdIFfjSfAUA16-8qq2MlHn8mFWdgK-5_LJ1-Da0hfo/s1600/BP9A6162+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnZ5_KjzA89nraD3twux8_707-Hkobb0I_CQQwcnXslGjiiTBZa_PghR2XXIvsoBMckVEj9ffD-jxZegp3mfX9lsxt3xNek762vdIFfjSfAUA16-8qq2MlHn8mFWdgK-5_LJ1-Da0hfo/s400/BP9A6162+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Bonaparte's Gulls Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage, Alaska 22nd July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And it was onto this morning, where typically I woke up
before my alarm at 5am. So after trying to get back to sleep, and failing, I
headed back out. After briefly revisiting yesterday’s sites, I went south on
the Seward Highway a few miles south of Anchorage. Potter’s Marsh was the spot,
and it wasn’t too bad. Redpolls and Audubon’s Warbler seemed to be the most
numerous passerines, while a group of waders from the boardwalk were made up of
c.20 Short-billed Dowitchers and both species of yellowlegs. Nice stuff, with most
of the dowitchers being juveniles. Green-winged Teal were present too, while the
bird I’d been searching for – Rusty Blackbird – put in a brief appearance, with
two birds flying low overhead before plummeting into the thickets. And that was
that…</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffdegAep7i_i81nkBlxLmwE_Yrc7XYyIZ_MxIXGiwJtlRGrKvKgvEB1jmXtMLQldiYIXlokwO3Z-ROIg3MazL9XGbNtiG0W0hkDTGx_3fc9ixlU8XsUjufyN1Hb1P0alnmM52tN8WVss/s1600/BP9A6318+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffdegAep7i_i81nkBlxLmwE_Yrc7XYyIZ_MxIXGiwJtlRGrKvKgvEB1jmXtMLQldiYIXlokwO3Z-ROIg3MazL9XGbNtiG0W0hkDTGx_3fc9ixlU8XsUjufyN1Hb1P0alnmM52tN8WVss/s400/BP9A6318+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher Potter's Marsh, Anchorage, Alaska 23rd July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I headed south along the Cook Inlet, in the direction of Seward
which is where I’m staying this evening. Birding en-route was actually quite
slow, with not much on the lakes bar the odd Arctic Tern though I did manage to
see my first ‘Sooty’ Fox Sparrow of the trip midway between Portage and Seward.
Arriving in Seward, first port of call was obviously going to be the harbour,
where there were good numbers of Glaucous-winged Gulls – I was actually surprised
about the purity of the vast majority of these here, with just a couple of
American Herrings and ‘Cook Inlet’ (hybrid American Herring x Glaucous-winged)
Gulls present.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The weather wasn’t ideal as I headed south towards Lovell’s
Point and the end of the road. Nevertheless, there were still five Harlequins
(all female-types) and a few Marbled Murrelets and Pigeon Guillemots offshore.
The rest of the afternoon was spent about town, and particularly along Nash Road
– where the feeders produced Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pine Siskin and a
Rufous Hummingbird that seemed bizarrely out of place in the cold. The beach at
the end was good for some nice looks at Northwestern Crow, a tenuous species if
ever there was one, as well as some really dark looking Song Sparrows and a
load of Glaucous-winged Gulls and Kittiwakes. A family party of Trumpeter Swans showed well by the roadside too, as did a female Common Merganser and her chicks.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2srBT7vVv_Ocv5mjqNTmFvQn76UWtXBhNTi148tIUkmNy4wjf1i54fPON9g6CqMnk0i-3rp6gRnnhjYtLHKtAiE2-bV_W4w5nPEgQVk41h5MCoEAl-dSVqeIHERLRZlGYNwmP8M0ApUg/s1600/BP9A6344+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2srBT7vVv_Ocv5mjqNTmFvQn76UWtXBhNTi148tIUkmNy4wjf1i54fPON9g6CqMnk0i-3rp6gRnnhjYtLHKtAiE2-bV_W4w5nPEgQVk41h5MCoEAl-dSVqeIHERLRZlGYNwmP8M0ApUg/s400/BP9A6344+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fox Sparrow Seward highway, Alaska 23rd July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgu-8I-OG_2y3bqe9SuPrgNGVgq6G_VuvCPi1Z8PuOfhXTxfdm3WWLz2leSemmwRNKJb9fyIqTlcUOL-NSGVst2c9Kf90ya-ePZ8eJNeQ1OUDPpYoE0sf3MOb0PU17ep_o8rLBsnzGTI/s1600/BP9A6391+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgu-8I-OG_2y3bqe9SuPrgNGVgq6G_VuvCPi1Z8PuOfhXTxfdm3WWLz2leSemmwRNKJb9fyIqTlcUOL-NSGVst2c9Kf90ya-ePZ8eJNeQ1OUDPpYoE0sf3MOb0PU17ep_o8rLBsnzGTI/s400/BP9A6391+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Trumpeter swan Seward, Alaska 23rd July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back at my accommodation, Orange-crowned and Wilson’s
Warblers buzzed about, as did a family group of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. All in
all, a relaxed and pleasant day rounded off with some Alaskan Cod and chips. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-11668283537622178102018-07-17T23:48:00.000+01:002018-07-18T23:15:07.423+01:00Med Gull madness close to home<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Living in Rotherhithe does have some perks. Dockside views, less than a minute's walk to the River Thames and a bunch of nice restaurants. And midsummer Mediterranean Gulls...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This year has been really good for the species so far, and after an adult here in Rotherhithe on 6th July, I found the first juvenile here on Sunday evening (15th July) on a post-World Cup Final scan: -</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS66pnW4jasKN9t_y8xxjmlYJdtMgacZI5xE_Seo45dSp3Yq8ETlrgdQDzg-Gfn638q2RZkchkLl8WhOEih35mbYV5ghyphenhyphengHBmILTRYHhtBJG3qBB1ar3XjWkgrnFOLYtri7lJGQJhq9bg/s1600/BP9A5732+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS66pnW4jasKN9t_y8xxjmlYJdtMgacZI5xE_Seo45dSp3Yq8ETlrgdQDzg-Gfn638q2RZkchkLl8WhOEih35mbYV5ghyphenhyphengHBmILTRYHhtBJG3qBB1ar3XjWkgrnFOLYtri7lJGQJhq9bg/s400/BP9A5732+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Mediterranean Gull (bird 1), Rotherhithe, London 15th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As usual, this bird was on the River Thames by Greenland Pier and loved the loaves that I dished out for it. And given the extended summer we're having, where I've almost forgotten what rain looks and feels like, the light each evening is pretty lovely when looking north. And it was again the case yesterday after work, where I recorded two juveniles for the first time ever here - Sunday's bird and a new bird (bird 2): -</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Zc5Mm7cCbUYnK848hQTHx-K8HqztcnYeWfWb7JP3Gof5YtjF1_IULbAr7TmSRDFOKrvC6teoFVGGy7vbO81l9fBjxIGXmW0CsqsCGjrk6_oWRHw1KmAOUbrBtwHQBvq3Cketd7qiDeA/s1600/BP9A5789+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Zc5Mm7cCbUYnK848hQTHx-K8HqztcnYeWfWb7JP3Gof5YtjF1_IULbAr7TmSRDFOKrvC6teoFVGGy7vbO81l9fBjxIGXmW0CsqsCGjrk6_oWRHw1KmAOUbrBtwHQBvq3Cketd7qiDeA/s400/BP9A5789+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Mediterranean Gull (bird 2), Rotherhithe, London 16th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyP_Zod3cRdyqxhLvegLdFUGXNjpyb3_ZA8Tc5wBwVSiTBWzsjg6QV9nx0RXR7vekOAa_lSVnJ1Ysd_HKo7amgglJNxZBtEAAnqBWdgxfjuZiPHz7O2lFJNYl1oULV9xV5cnO5TNzQrxM/s1600/BP9A5824+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyP_Zod3cRdyqxhLvegLdFUGXNjpyb3_ZA8Tc5wBwVSiTBWzsjg6QV9nx0RXR7vekOAa_lSVnJ1Ysd_HKo7amgglJNxZBtEAAnqBWdgxfjuZiPHz7O2lFJNYl1oULV9xV5cnO5TNzQrxM/s400/BP9A5824+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Mediterranean Gull (bird 1), Rotherhithe, London 16th July 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then to today, having had a hideously busy and sweaty day at work, whacking a couple of loaves out mid evening was just the tonic. Just like yesterday, there were two juvenile Med Gulls, one new (with a metal ring - that was unreadable) and one from the previous day.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TPKQNbguP-0QFbo4z6krIP9HBxgMN9oY0t5XU-5XSDW3a8TLX6TVtUALCHsc3U6hEANlsJPMJaQ5YOH9Ipsfa9ud89IbLACzB5copFdPcipfCwdSWHDx597ut1FwgwJo0tQcdr9RH7s/s1600/BP9A5832+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TPKQNbguP-0QFbo4z6krIP9HBxgMN9oY0t5XU-5XSDW3a8TLX6TVtUALCHsc3U6hEANlsJPMJaQ5YOH9Ipsfa9ud89IbLACzB5copFdPcipfCwdSWHDx597ut1FwgwJo0tQcdr9RH7s/s400/BP9A5832+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Mediterranean Gull (bird 3), Rotherhithe, London 17th July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvujiyC-kpyQgVG5Sp6BxHUssCfR7snUIFBlqlzhE3dijlp8FVT9u4DFPT4izlpHYAKz3gEN75Y5EpN-3IRcZUA2TH1hNgldGTIbrL0Y7LEwMx79XDYEs9_YUTUP0ATGuSF7tHCSXtpE/s1600/BP9A5881+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="640" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvujiyC-kpyQgVG5Sp6BxHUssCfR7snUIFBlqlzhE3dijlp8FVT9u4DFPT4izlpHYAKz3gEN75Y5EpN-3IRcZUA2TH1hNgldGTIbrL0Y7LEwMx79XDYEs9_YUTUP0ATGuSF7tHCSXtpE/s400/BP9A5881+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Mediterranean Gull (bird 2), Rotherhithe, London 17th July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So that's three days and three juvenile Mediterranean Gulls. All in the shadows of Canary Wharf and one of the most urban landscapes the UK has to offer...</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-5805720120161215452018-07-06T21:25:00.002+01:002018-07-06T21:25:31.289+01:00The gulls are back in London town<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was a bit annoyed about not being around last Sunday to again do the gulls locally. The less said about a visit the Clevedon the better, but let's just say I wasted a day sitting about and walking around a pretty dire town centre to no avail. And for something I'd had to convince myself to go for anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But a few late weeknights with work nonsense have meant I've been unable to check the local gulls as much as I would have liked. Even so, midweek it was noticeable there were a lot more Black-headed Gulls about (they're largely absent from Rotherhithe for the first three weeks of June each year). And then this evening, on the river near by home, I had this lovely adult Mediterranean Gull - the first one I've had in Rotherhithe this year.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FuZRCDNxxVVVkFvz_kgeYNxALsw1llFrKsKlWi_mVUv56IMHYXWfp0gCi3U3uytEQaSjNarnNRb4ZWCwO-mqaUEa2_9mnpp8BR6ohJda_Acqsc6wx7iMlxHjfOsIbg3BelGgGK6jU2E/s1600/BP9A0192+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="800" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FuZRCDNxxVVVkFvz_kgeYNxALsw1llFrKsKlWi_mVUv56IMHYXWfp0gCi3U3uytEQaSjNarnNRb4ZWCwO-mqaUEa2_9mnpp8BR6ohJda_Acqsc6wx7iMlxHjfOsIbg3BelGgGK6jU2E/s400/BP9A0192+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Mediterranean Gull Rotherhithe, London 6th July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plan was that I'd find my first juvenile Yellow-legged Gull of the year, as Jamie and Dante had been to Thames Barrier Park this afternoon and seen four, but it wasn't to be. Though I'm hopeful that'll change over the course of the next few days.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-17394189410534683792018-06-30T22:53:00.003+01:002018-06-30T22:53:30.875+01:00The last day of June mission<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a pleasant day today around the usual sites in southeast London and saw a couple of nice birds - an adult Kittiwake and the continuing Bonaparte's Gull. But I was on a mission, as today was the 30th June. In both 2017 and 2015, I'd found London's first juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls of the year on 1st July and so I was craving a June record. And with the hot weather, I thought there could be a good chance today...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But ultimately, this was a mission that I'd failed - for this year at least. Another June in London goes by without a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull! A pretty insignificant mission to all but three people, but a mission one of us will succeed in sooner or later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, it was a good day nonetheless. Having picked up Karen after her overnight flight back from the US, I headed out to the O2 at Greenwich for a couple of hours while she got a couple of hours of sleep. The low tide gathering of gulls had three ringed Great Black-backed Gulls, with two ringed as chicks in Norway in 2017 and another a Pitsea ringed bird. Also there seems to be good numbers of juvenile Black-headed Gulls already getting into London, so perhaps a decent year has been had. But the real surprise for me here was while scanning the river, I noticed a smallish gull flying west at relative height - the dark grey mantle and black-tipped wings told me it was an adult Kittiwake! Beautiful blue skies and an urban backdrop made the experience all very bizarre, and within a couple of minutes it was all over as the Kittiwake headed off west, spiralling and gaining height over Canary Wharf: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WaS27l4KWG2LMzWa_fdmnk-vZDFc5wnV5HUQn3mt26e1TWz7dmxSntuMQ1WuQM0tSTZzXAxwpMJYZn1wHz0kd6wmEFnarDsdoWB6sCGfppAJGfPYrDVrgf-Pyz7B_QOsfBJp6Rxt6JA/s1600/BP9A0063+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WaS27l4KWG2LMzWa_fdmnk-vZDFc5wnV5HUQn3mt26e1TWz7dmxSntuMQ1WuQM0tSTZzXAxwpMJYZn1wHz0kd6wmEFnarDsdoWB6sCGfppAJGfPYrDVrgf-Pyz7B_QOsfBJp6Rxt6JA/s400/BP9A0063+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Kittiwake Greenwich, London 30th June 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a spot of lunch, I headed out again and coincided a visit at Crossness with high tide. Barry W was about, so the Bonaparte's Gull was quickly located again as it fed actively around the outfall in the early evening sunshine: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutdf6AukU2-lTC5eOmfjHdIlRgX8cIjFVIt2H3q6N0QGp7p5vp94ixKrUD7Gn4egTP4qjoJ-2kiim7ltkUqWHh-NcLS2mn6AU7FS-IFiuh_06UmtUqOxcaIYEuVoGFq9_NvRzCfS1I00/s1600/BP9A0118+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="800" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutdf6AukU2-lTC5eOmfjHdIlRgX8cIjFVIt2H3q6N0QGp7p5vp94ixKrUD7Gn4egTP4qjoJ-2kiim7ltkUqWHh-NcLS2mn6AU7FS-IFiuh_06UmtUqOxcaIYEuVoGFq9_NvRzCfS1I00/s400/BP9A0118+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-summer Bonaparte's Gull Crossness, London 30th June 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was good to see this bird again after not being able to get down during the week, and with there now being in excess of 500 Black-headed Gulls at the outfall, there is a degree of concentration needed to stay on it for long once you've located it! Not a lot else around though, with bread hurled out in Thamesmead, Woolwich and Greenwich not producing much at all. </span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-60899005050001428372018-06-23T22:08:00.003+01:002018-06-23T22:08:50.337+01:00Bonaparte's Gull Crossness today<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imaginatively titled as it is, it does what is says on the tin. I'd been at the Year 11 Prom last night until 1am dealing with the usual shenanigans, so it wasn't until 10am that I surfaced this morning. I was out the flat within the hour, and headed on the usual southeast London birding (gulling) circuit that I seem to do every weekend day. Thamesmead was the first stop, and the gulls weren't feeling the bread I lobbed out off Princess Alice Way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So on to Crossness where the tide was on its way out slightly. Still pretty high, and as I walked east towards the outfall it was obvious there were lots of Black-headed Gulls about, considerably more so than last Sunday. There'd been a couple of Med Gulls the last couple of visits, and every visit is seeing an increase in the numbers of juvenile Black-headed Gulls - which are underrated lookers. So it was just one of those days, where I started scanning for something different as I always do. After c.5 minutes, on the water at mid distance, was a gull that took my interest... that immediately screamed only one thing, a 1st-summer Bonaparte's Gull. This time, the dark nape was one of the first things that grabbed me (as well as the small size) before I looked at its thin, black bill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Always worth getting closer looks, I chucked a couple of slices out and the commotion was enough for it to come in - showing its lovely underwing as it did so. And yes, there is was - another Bonaparte's Gull found! The third one I've found here, and the fifth I've seen at Crossness since finding the first for London as recently as 2012. A mega track record for this site, especially considering we're talking about a North American species in the southeast of England. And bizarrely too, the second Bonaparte's Gull I've found in 2018 after the one at Killybegs in February. It'd be nice to find something different next!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-summer Bonaparte's Gull Crossness, London 23rd June 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's always a good day when you see or find something locally here in London's bird abyss, so after an hour or so - having watched it from 12.15pm to 1.10pm - I left for home and an enjoyable brunch with Karen. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a Little Egret about too, and the first Redshank I'd seen on the Thames for a month or so, so assume the first autumn returner.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-41138032192108254492018-05-28T22:34:00.002+01:002018-05-28T22:34:24.617+01:00Rose-coloured Starling Dungeness<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been a long while since I saw an adult Rose-coloured Starling. I can't remember the last one I saw but it is over a decade ago. Not that there haven't been ones to see, it just seems that I've got more lackadaisical about things with age. That said, I remember being over the moon with the first one I ever saw, an adult, at Moelfre, Anglesey during the summer of 1994. Then again, I was only 13 at the time so youthful enthusiasm back then was a given.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So roll forward to the last few days, and it seems like we're in for a bit of an influx. There have already been about a dozen turn up in the last week, and reports of good numbers on the continent suggest they're only just arriving here. But given that the London birding was a little predictable, and I'd faffed about on whether to spend a few days up north, an adult at Dungeness was going to be a pleasant diversion from moping around locally.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jamie P and I met at Crayford, and despite good numbers of gulls, there wasn't much in them today in a brief look. Getting down to Dungeness mid afternoon was easy, with there being delightfully little Bank Holiday traffic. However, seeing the bird in the trapping area was not easy at all - and it took us a couple of hours. We'd just started walking back towards the observatory when I got a message from Andy A saying that it had reappeared. And what a stunner it turned out to be: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIGhVap_HJu9dyuUTQY1XqQJFh04or3x1yPWE3vhzI1eNa4mEvT-_t0JPVXJIfQx9zhilaXu6_eFNP6YW1j6aq6JAkf4zdllMDJMk8ZYAKJiXVLDI6aWDN-V5nQEYItDpnch3N7e-ECI/s1600/BP9A8009+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIGhVap_HJu9dyuUTQY1XqQJFh04or3x1yPWE3vhzI1eNa4mEvT-_t0JPVXJIfQx9zhilaXu6_eFNP6YW1j6aq6JAkf4zdllMDJMk8ZYAKJiXVLDI6aWDN-V5nQEYItDpnch3N7e-ECI/s400/BP9A8009+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Rose-coloured Starling Dungeness, Kent 28th May 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Initially sat up on the tops of the bushes, we spent nearly an hour with the bird as it spent a lot of time devouring caterpillars in deep cover. A cracking looking thing, with its mantle glowing in the evening sun.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-70911957250601621902018-05-27T20:34:00.000+01:002018-05-27T20:34:38.610+01:00Late May in London<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">London birding continues to be hard work, which is par for the course at this time of year. Yesterday was horrific, with a handful of Sand Martins and a couple of Swallows at Crossness the highlight. That was how bad it was, and there didn't seem to be much going on at the outfall so I couldn't even spend time searching through the Black-headed Gulls. At least an afternoon and evening in Essex, at Karen's parents and a wedding, gave some purpose to the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And to today, having battled back into London through the intense thunder and lightning flashes, I was awaiting my big reward at Crossness this morning. Predictably, it never came, but I was happy-ish with a distant Sanderling in Barking Bay while an adult summer Mediterranean Gull flew upriver - which I think is the first one I've had here this year. With loads of gulls to search through, I took my time but the reward never came. And so I headed to Crayford, via Thamesmead (where a Buzzard flew high east). I always enjoy the gulls here, whatever the time of year, and today there were loads about. A good flock loafed on the Jolly Farmers waste ground, and among them was this rather large and manky 1st-summer Caspian Gull: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVcmfjCK8XhWdI9yL91u8K51mkIWKPvdMog-SJkklQ3nuzGl4TavjbmmYv62KtIdxSPwH27RA6zNrNvSSVvY-648Q6X8r2VzoRrzSCOzg3EU-y1tfggCb7tFZpBve5mkVVJHm-8NTW8k/s1600/BP9A7831+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVcmfjCK8XhWdI9yL91u8K51mkIWKPvdMog-SJkklQ3nuzGl4TavjbmmYv62KtIdxSPwH27RA6zNrNvSSVvY-648Q6X8r2VzoRrzSCOzg3EU-y1tfggCb7tFZpBve5mkVVJHm-8NTW8k/s400/BP9A7831+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-summer Caspian Gull Crayford, London 27th May 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It kept to the back of the flock, and at times had a snooze, but it took off when I was evidently distracted by the ringed gulls, of which there was a Suffolk ringed Herring and a handful of North Thames Gull Group birds. </span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-68945693336523948512018-05-21T22:32:00.000+01:002018-05-21T22:32:57.027+01:00Expensive misbehaviour<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rule of life - work hard and treat others how you would expect to be treated. Evidently that hadn't been the case one October weekend back in 1994. I'd been grounded for something, who knows what for, but I remember distinctly calling the infamous 0891 700249. For those youths who weren't around in those days, this was the Birdline North West hotline and you were fed the news by the voice of mainly Ted Abraham, and occasionally Alan Davies or John Gregory. All heroes to a 13 year old kid. Anyway, that Saturday evening despite knowing I wasn't going anywhere the next day, I phoned Birdline North West 'just to see what was about'. Well, to cut a long story short, it was carnage - two mega birds had been found that day, a Song Sparrow at Seaforth that was 20 miles from home and the first ever twitchable mainland bird (and the first since 1989 anywhere) and a Greater Yellowlegs on the River Eden in Cumbria (the first fully twitchable one since Minsmere in 1985). Bad times for a naughty boy and despite trying, my generally legendary parents did not budge. I must have done something very poor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I was punished with 'Song Sparrow Sunday' as it was known at the time. Scillies emptied out, there were big crowds watching from the mound at Seaforth the next morning and the bird performed admirably for the day. As did the Greater Yellowlegs. By the next weekend, I'd evidently managed to get back into my parents' good books but the Song Sparrow was long gone. My Dad took me up to see the Greater Yellowlegs in Cumbria that showed nicely as it fed in a small channel at Rockcliffe. But 24 years later there hadn't been another Song Sparrow! And before the Seaforth one, they'd largely been a Fair Isle speciality - so being honest, I expected to have to pay top dollar to avenge my misbehaviour of 1994. And sure, that was of course the case with the latest one, turning up predictably on that isolated isle...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Song Sparrow Fair Isle, Shetland May 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fair Isle's 2018 Song Sparrow was trapped and ringed in the plantation originally, and then performed nicely through the comfort of the observatory's window as it came to seed in the garden there. Very nice indeed, and a stark contrast in environment to the mean streets of southeast London. </span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com58tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-13706672895631894602018-05-20T11:11:00.002+01:002018-05-20T11:11:42.362+01:00Terek Sandpiper at Rye<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Terek Sandpiper was found mid-morning yesterday (Saturday) at the very pleasant Rye Harbour NR. For some reason, I really fancied it - not often that I have a desire to see birds I've seen a lot of before. But who would turn their nose up at another Terek? I actually had to look into the archives of my notes to find out how many of them I had seen in Britain previously - the answer being a paltry three (Bowling Green Marsh, Devon in June 1996, Frodsham, Cheshire in April 1999 and then one at Cliffe, Kent in May 2005). So of course I fancied another...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having had the car serviced in the morning, and then waited for Karen to enjoy her Royal Wedding watching, we headed off from London in a very civilised fashion at 2.30pm and arrived at Rye within a couple of hours. Getting to Rye is one of the most pleasant drives you can do from London to the south coast, and with the sun shining all was good. Then after a 15 minute walk, the Terek Sandpiper was performing really well on the Salt Pool (just north of the Ternery Pool) as it fed along the west end of the lagoon.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Terek Sandpiper Rye Harbour, East Sussex 19th May 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although Terek Sandpipers are a fairly common fixture further east, they're a bit of a unique species that I never tire of seeing. And this was easily the most showy one I'd seen in Britain. The reserve was full of activity too, with the sight and sound of Mediterranean Gulls pretty much constant while Sandwich Terns flew over all the time, and there was even a decent Curlew Sandpiper on the walk to and back from the Terek. And by the time we had finished at Rye, there was one last thing to do... find a nice country pub to punctuate the journey home.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Terek Sandpiper Rye Harbour, East Sussex 19th May 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-10706688168158501782018-05-12T22:56:00.001+01:002018-05-12T22:56:06.871+01:00Caspian Gull at Thamesmead<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It has been a couple of weeks since I did a post - last weekend was too hot and sunny for much to be about in all honesty. So I made the most of a very pleasant time with Mum and Dad, seeing some bits like Garden Warbler and Surrey heathland stuff in the process. And then on the Bank Holiday Monday, a trip to Dungeness revealed about four Little Gulls on the RSPB reserve, along with a couple of Great White Egrets on Dengemarsh, and a few Whimbrels and Bar-tailed Godwits moving along the coast. We also managed to get the young lad his first ever Turtle Dove on Romney Marsh, as it purred in the blistering heat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so to today, waking up to the promise of grey skies and rain - just what you need for birding in London! And with rain forecast from midday, that when I headed out. First stop, aside from the local Rotherhithe spots, was Thamesmead and the river off Princess Alice Way. Typically on arrival, there were no gulls present and just a load of scrotes playing their drill music. However, things changed within a couple of minutes and half a loaf: -</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-winter Caspian Gull Thamesmead, London 12th May 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the first Caspian Gull I've had at Thamesmead for ages, as the winter we have had really hasn't been great for them by recent high standards. It was quite a nice one too, and though probably coming from a western population given its propensity to linger around, I wouldn't be labelling this bird with the increasingly used 'German muck' label.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crossness in the rain was full of promise, but delivered two Wheatears in the paddocks and four Dunlin at the outfall. Swift numbers were well up though compared to last weekend, presumably due to the inclement weather. Nearby at Crayford, there were loads of gulls but nothing too special with the highlight being a 1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull on the roofs by the recycling centre.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-66807876055198498632018-04-29T23:49:00.000+01:002018-04-29T23:49:48.558+01:00Arctic springtime in London<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm writing this having just thawed out from a day out and about in London. The biting wind and overcast conditions were a far cry from last weekend's summer weather. However, London usually has more promise with laden skies and rain with this weekend being a fairly satisfying one locally...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a good stroll round Crossness yesterday with John A, where there were some moderate highlights with a male Wheatear, a 1st-summer Yellow-legged Gull, 7 Swifts and 2 Swallows topping the bill. Waders were surprisingly absent, with single Black-tailed Godwit and Common Sandpipers as well as 3 Redshank. A check of Russia Dock Woodland didn't produce the previous day's Spotted Flycatcher that Richard PJ had seen but Blackcaps were belting it out from every patch of cover.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Wheatear Crossness, London 28th April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then on to today, with a day around London with Dante and Jamie P as it had been a while. The wind was bitter and you could tell the northerly element, which seemed to get worse as the day progressed. Yet starting off at Southmere, Thamesmead early on it was obvious that the hirundines had been having a rough time - about 80 Swallows, 25 House Martins and 5 Sand Martins in all - with many sitting on the railings by the car park (that is now bollarded off to stop pikeys settling again). This was the largest amount of hirundines I'd seen here since May 2014, the day I found a Red-rumped Swallow here but alas it wasn't to be today.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Swallow Southmere, Thamesmead, London 29th April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nearby at Crossness, it was quiet and dull although a Hobby was a decent enough site as well as having a good opportunity to see what was around wader wise on the paddocks. So with the weather feeling like it was mid-February, it was back to what we know best and a check of Crayford and the area around Viridor and Jolly Farmers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd actually thought that it would be a quick check and move on, as I'd not heard of anything at the site recently. But how wrong could I have been. I could talk you through things as they happened, but I think the totals speak the loudest - this was an excellent gulling session, and I can't remember ever seeing three white-winged gulls together at a London site, let alone in April. A juvenile Glaucous Gull, two Iceland Gulls (a new 2nd-winter (seen at Rainham Marshes previously) and a juvenile that has been around for a while) and at least two 1st-winter Caspian Gulls.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Glaucous Gull Crayford, London 29th April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highlight for me, undoubtedly, was the juvenile Glaucous Gull as it was my first here at Crayford. I picked it up initially in flight, but it was a really small bird or at least that's the sense we got when we first saw it in the morning. The 2nd-winter Iceland Gull (seen previously at Rainham by Jonathan W and Shaun H) was a great bird too, with a nice amount of moulted grey on its mantle. While there were at least two 1st-winter Caspian Gulls, with one a bit better than the other piece of presumed German muck.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Iceland Gull Crayford, London 29th April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgko1f7b9v3jkeX4qJFXE_OPfebOWx_h6vFTGrMQehMy_nezWAKyUV7xirOfrJ6zcKlQLALxKVhw8r-6amdzJTPYvBhMxUDcaFfdW_CCCylzrGGlwRqA1X0QLA14Bc-bX5VMH3m4ez2Xho/s1600/BP9A7213+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgko1f7b9v3jkeX4qJFXE_OPfebOWx_h6vFTGrMQehMy_nezWAKyUV7xirOfrJ6zcKlQLALxKVhw8r-6amdzJTPYvBhMxUDcaFfdW_CCCylzrGGlwRqA1X0QLA14Bc-bX5VMH3m4ez2Xho/s400/BP9A7213+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2nd-winter Iceland Gull Crayford, London 29th April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did break our productive gull session up with a couple of hours at Nazeing GP in the Lea Valley. No sign of the Red-rumped Swallow there, but it was fun enough scanning through the large hirundines at least when we were out of the wind. So that was it for another weekend, and onto the working week once again.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-64005765045191970072018-04-22T22:56:00.003+01:002018-04-22T22:56:32.079+01:00Back birding in springtime Britain<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I landed back in London last Sunday, and predictably the last week has been manic. Catching up on the things I should have done over the Easter break, trying to fend off any lingering tiredness while fending off the oppressive London heat in what has been the hottest April temperatures here for over half a century. And add to that, I spent until 3pm yesterday (yes, Saturday) in a work thing too so it was jolly nice to be out and about when it finally happened...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aside from a couple of hours yesterday evening around Rotherhithe, where Russia Dock Woodland was alive with the sound of Blackcaps but little else, today was my first opportunity to do some springtime birding. It started with an epic fail, because I slept in past the time I could escape my area due to London marathon road closures. So when the roads did finally open mid afternoon, I headed off to Crossness to see what I could see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a pleasure to be out and about in the sunshine, and it was the first time I'd birded Britain under blue skies for what has felt like an eternity. Admittedly, things started off quiet with little in Barking Bay or on the Thames foreshore by the golf centre. However, a roosting godwit near the outfall looked very bright and small, so persevering with it when it finally put its head up was worth it - as it was a lovely summer Bar-tailed Godwit. There were also a dozen lingering Black-tailed Godwits the other side of the outfall, plus a decent number of Common Terns.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfohQGhyUxlbb0Qa9ggllYwtowr3HjCPMzGoLMsy7bseqOJhkUM-So0ZhBNpVYf26nhoLV-z4i-qoMvEtbUwSpHr1HQLIUMsGUWf0e9dhoc-iu1QqZ-wVlnDe_nc984bMumgP43_3RXg/s1600/BP9A7022+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfohQGhyUxlbb0Qa9ggllYwtowr3HjCPMzGoLMsy7bseqOJhkUM-So0ZhBNpVYf26nhoLV-z4i-qoMvEtbUwSpHr1HQLIUMsGUWf0e9dhoc-iu1QqZ-wVlnDe_nc984bMumgP43_3RXg/s400/BP9A7022+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Black-tailed Godwit at Crossness, London 22nd April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The paddocks, though, provided the undoubted highlight of the visit - a stunning male Whinchat, that showed well but briefly in the first paddock down from the Thames path: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjfahnYI1_0jUZXAnx6JoPseImZ7gh9U7sYHVg4vqZCJfV9Jf_m4OQp_9RPZ40YsVWo3_SjQr2EV8IiV9fHPUJYdn1cJJEdIOb2LERIjdqxu3orAX2CO7fQIv9-XnpnB87RO9C337eLI/s1600/BP9A7062+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="778" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjfahnYI1_0jUZXAnx6JoPseImZ7gh9U7sYHVg4vqZCJfV9Jf_m4OQp_9RPZ40YsVWo3_SjQr2EV8IiV9fHPUJYdn1cJJEdIOb2LERIjdqxu3orAX2CO7fQIv9-XnpnB87RO9C337eLI/s400/BP9A7062+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>male Whinchat at Crossness, London 22nd April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was also a female Wheatear in the main paddock area, which showed nicely for me and Mick S (who'd seen three in this area the day before): -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2g8ZUr8b29wqHf1FjAnBOEI6UuiyHtp9SW-t3eJNbyfJGMRCs52HD4EJewFWjyIVosb8RMJbfyHLB4jSHsdPwFB32HYZuO71C0Yx5OPwY0A0ZDohrVPyOTMIryRPDTgnkAungt8R6PxA/s1600/BP9A7041+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2g8ZUr8b29wqHf1FjAnBOEI6UuiyHtp9SW-t3eJNbyfJGMRCs52HD4EJewFWjyIVosb8RMJbfyHLB4jSHsdPwFB32HYZuO71C0Yx5OPwY0A0ZDohrVPyOTMIryRPDTgnkAungt8R6PxA/s400/BP9A7041+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Wheatear at Crossness, London 22nd April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And with Whitethroats, Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers and a single Lesser Whitethroat singing all in all a very rewarding visit. Cue the deterioration in weather for next week...</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-44221719315175838912018-04-21T23:39:00.000+01:002018-04-22T00:11:42.691+01:00NZ day 1 - Tawharanui and Muriwai<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Three weeks ago now, we stepped foot on New Zealand soil for the first time. After arriving early on in the morning, we had a bit of a tortuous time getting our car from Hertz due to understaffing on Easter Sunday, but thereafter it was plain sailing. Target for the day was to stay awake til the evening, so with this in mind what could be better than some fresh air and (reported to Karen as a little) birding. Tawharanui and Muriwai, both north of Auckland, were the places we would visit. First stop though was Warkworth, where we had breakfast in the autumn sunshine and where I saw my first Red-billed Gulls by the river there: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYt2kOJfxRgEAgSoMmL7qJfGT7FS9bb0bIinVntcN46VbaCSiouREUggUemr3eZUEr9t5Bh_Sr5sj0DhLfW_7MGH0bJhNWnxIA4zTfPgtLaynPXfaXtw32gqqZcsyukFcwK_7i0ZbVA4/s1600/BP9A1174+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYt2kOJfxRgEAgSoMmL7qJfGT7FS9bb0bIinVntcN46VbaCSiouREUggUemr3eZUEr9t5Bh_Sr5sj0DhLfW_7MGH0bJhNWnxIA4zTfPgtLaynPXfaXtw32gqqZcsyukFcwK_7i0ZbVA4/s400/BP9A1174+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Red-billed Gull Warkworth, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After this pit stop, it was on to the beautiful Tawharanui Regional Park: -</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things you have to quickly get used to in New Zealand is the situation with their endemic birdlife - it is grave, and was graver. Therefore they closely monitor a lot of species, and hence they have an elaborate amount of rings on them. Additionally, and more disconcerting from a moral listing perspective, their most rare birds have been 'translocated' to safe areas i.e. predator free zones. And to be predator free, it often means a fence somewhere... almost Jurassic Park style! But once you get this, you're good to go and enjoy New Zealand's birds which is exactly what I did.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnvv0hnOoLQvkgbRo1RxqWq1_CRMc-udp_uIXdNYJlQoe9xXvbviYaI2BC0WdTVisWC4EDhTNZ4Pr5nW_OSCY_5p_o9Xv_KMJYkQ9N_VOY76mfoDev-9-cqmcbMukp4chF0Y-K7NBB60/s1600/BP9A1284+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnvv0hnOoLQvkgbRo1RxqWq1_CRMc-udp_uIXdNYJlQoe9xXvbviYaI2BC0WdTVisWC4EDhTNZ4Pr5nW_OSCY_5p_o9Xv_KMJYkQ9N_VOY76mfoDev-9-cqmcbMukp4chF0Y-K7NBB60/s400/BP9A1284+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Variable Oystercatcher Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering Tawharanui, there was lots of obvious birdlife with Pukekos (Australasian Swamphens) the most prevalent, while Swamp Harriers patrolled the skies. On the lagoon, I saw my first of many New Zealand Paradise Shelducks as well as a handful of Brown Teals, which were the only ones I saw all trip. Add to that a nice showy Variable Oystercatcher and a couple of Caspian Terns, and with the sun beaming down, life was half decent.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLcBi_z7TIdsmfZmzp9zextQ_yeiduMAlzI-jaZb06TeLb_zTzecUHmKK5yew411lpIVJhUpdFWI04Npx7SLQmB61F7erGaat4Qhvcfoz4RXDfPdQok8Ogjvn8bWY8yk-7JvMzA_PoDs/s1600/BP9A1210+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="800" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLcBi_z7TIdsmfZmzp9zextQ_yeiduMAlzI-jaZb06TeLb_zTzecUHmKK5yew411lpIVJhUpdFWI04Npx7SLQmB61F7erGaat4Qhvcfoz4RXDfPdQok8Ogjvn8bWY8yk-7JvMzA_PoDs/s400/BP9A1210+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>drake Brown Teal Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>New Zealand Paradise Shelduck Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjp2WLu4HXR8D4EjX9WcYhjb3Y-osHPW9skbvlMFzqzCBVeN4p3d5zZiKnHgMcJsC-y0r3xsuhK3oSW9-SAhBdvMI1Yjg233qiHnOcsECSRAnoRm3L0rdIr_KEsV_VIiZj9c1gISiuBIE/s1600/BP9A1627+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjp2WLu4HXR8D4EjX9WcYhjb3Y-osHPW9skbvlMFzqzCBVeN4p3d5zZiKnHgMcJsC-y0r3xsuhK3oSW9-SAhBdvMI1Yjg233qiHnOcsECSRAnoRm3L0rdIr_KEsV_VIiZj9c1gISiuBIE/s400/BP9A1627+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pukeko (Australasian Swamphen) </b><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We then parked up by the beach, and thanks to John B, I walked a short way up the Ecology Trail to be confronted with three absolute beasts from a time gone by - Takahes! Following their rediscovery in the Fiordlands of South Island in 1948, and massive issues with predation, the population has been translocated all over New Zealand to areas that are either islands or are predator free. Even in the original rediscovery area of the Murchison Mountains, the population is supplemented by released birds. They're fascinating to watch as they chew the grass: -</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Takahe </b><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also in this area, I saw what were to be my only North Island Robin and North Island Saddlebacks of the trip while good numbers of Tui and New Zealand Bellbirds were great to see for the first time.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJgvJdhhPVSFHirOMUa5MV_OuU-BhAXTFxrlPARc-D6ChygNrHRh4zcHTsUHW4oJy93QUGY9PDOW0226QXB46LRM5V1Ffot46mdAJblRYCncwu62fiXdpe-gm0EE2zOvIIUGwkVX8AS8/s1600/BP9A1613+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJgvJdhhPVSFHirOMUa5MV_OuU-BhAXTFxrlPARc-D6ChygNrHRh4zcHTsUHW4oJy93QUGY9PDOW0226QXB46LRM5V1Ffot46mdAJblRYCncwu62fiXdpe-gm0EE2zOvIIUGwkVX8AS8/s400/BP9A1613+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tui </b><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHJPKfQu74yqfEP8769bN4HjUOuHl8Kj5ijmQ7b7peE_BAX1Ih6oJc4qO5vZK9c6koE43CiR7UP8LTfdPscBV_ST9dRdQka0VIS3mEHniGoITZA0gFy1puurI4FThHI6SGeIyNhv2y5A/s1600/BP9A1571+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHJPKfQu74yqfEP8769bN4HjUOuHl8Kj5ijmQ7b7peE_BAX1Ih6oJc4qO5vZK9c6koE43CiR7UP8LTfdPscBV_ST9dRdQka0VIS3mEHniGoITZA0gFy1puurI4FThHI6SGeIyNhv2y5A/s400/BP9A1571+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>North Island Robin </b><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Karen was relaxing on the beach, and when joining her I was able to locate three or four New Zealand Dotterels which evidently seem to breed in the area, as well as a group of White-fronted Terns and good views of both Red-billed and Kelp Gulls.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>White-fronted Tern Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>New Zealand Dotterel Tawharanui, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Reluctantly having to leave this wonderfully scenic spot, we drove from the Pacific coast to the Tasman Sea where there is a well known colony of Australasian Gannets at Muriwai. And so, after the hour's drive, I spent a pleasant hour with these birds. Though it was on the late side for breeding, there were still some stragglers left with their young: -</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Australasian Gannets Muriwai</b><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">, North Island 1st April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And that was that, with the sun starting to dip a little and fatigue rapidly setting in, we were Auckland bound for a spot of dinner and then a long, much appreciated sleep.</span></div>
RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-84578545986277692982018-04-10T12:57:00.001+01:002018-04-10T12:57:56.362+01:00A long way just for gulls - NZ<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm currently enjoying a break from Britain, and decided on New Zealand. Yes, it's a fair way away from Britain so you may be wondering why I'm here. Of course there are all the albatrosses, the lovely native Takahes, Keas, kiwis and the like plus mega waders such as Black Stilts and Wrybills. Predictably though, I'm here on a mission for two gulls that you get nowhere else in the world - now that's the reason I've come to New Zealand!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, there is a lot to be said about this place and with its dramatic and ever changing landscapes, it is hard pushed not to be impressed round most corners. I'd day the North Island is a bit like a sunny, trendy Wales with its rolling hills while the South Island is a mix of Wales, Scotland and then Iceland... so pretty spectacular. Karen and I have come on a fairly whistle stop tour (not unusual!) which has taken in a drive from Auckland right down to Dunedin, with a ferry crossing in between. Seas with albatrosses, vineyards with fine wine, rivers with white water rafting, beaches with penguins, forests with kiwis and mountains with parrots. All done. But for now, I'll leave you with the two reasons for pushing me to come to this wonderful place - Black-billed Gull, the world's most threatened species of gull, and then Red-billed Gull.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Black-billed Gull Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Red-billed Gull Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand April 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plenty more photos of critters and landscapes to come...</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-38142564816340515012018-03-25T20:43:00.004+01:002018-03-25T20:43:55.233+01:00This weekend's London gulls<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was the last weekend for a while that I'll be able to spend time with the London gulls, and despite the warmer conditions compared to last weekend, there was still an obvious amount of passage. But it was hard going and Saturday was one of those days that are easily forgettable - there were a few rings at Crayford but nothing better than that, Thamesmead provided the realisation that it really was spring as a lot of the wintering Black-headed Gulls had moved off from Southmere, while Creekmouth was slightly better. Here, the darker of the two juvenile Iceland Gulls from last Sunday was still around and one of the Yorkshire ringed Herring Gulls was still about too. A couple of Curlew, an Oystercatcher and a handful of Black-tailed Godwits were on the foreshore as the tide came in late afternoon.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Iceland Gull Creekmouth, London 24th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Onto this morning, and I had a good gull session at Crayford with Andy L and Mick S. It's really obvious this time of year to see the Lesser Black-backed Gulls pushing through, though one of the most frustrating things too with these is the distant rings. I had a Dutch bird this morning, as well as one from the northwest (probably Walney), but couldn't do anything with the specifics due to the distance. There was also a yellow-ringed Herring Gull from Yorkshire, that we just about got the code for. It's not like Thames Barrier Park for views! However, average views aside, there were two splendid 1st-winter Caspian Gulls on show this morning - the first bird remaining extremely faithful to the corner of the green building at Viridor recycling centre (much like a couple of birds this winter), while the second was a hulk of a bird showing initially at the recycling centre and then in the flooded fields at Bob Dunn Way.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-winter Caspian Gull (bird 1) Crayford, London 25th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-winter Caspian Gull (bird 2) Crayford, London 25th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Common Gull numbers seemed to be down on previous weeks, and try as I might, I couldn't muster the Ring-billed Gull reported across the river at Rainham on Friday. That's probably it for me with the London gulls for a while, so nice to sign off on a weekend with both the good 'uns (a white-winger and the obligatory Casps).</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-25895504712424630362018-03-22T23:14:00.000+00:002018-03-23T00:16:13.909+00:00Sunday 18th March - mega day of London gulling<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It isn't often that I use superlatives about birding in the capital, but the Sunday just gone was incredible in a London context...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was snow on my car as I set out from my Rotherhithe home early in the morning. I met up with Jamie P and Dante in the Multiplex cinema car park in Beckton shortly after 8am, where we then did the rather dull walk along the River Roding to Creekmouth, an area of mud bordered by a waste recycling centre and a massive flood defence structure. The first decent bird of the day was a juvenile Iceland Gull that Dante located on the river by the flood structure. With a couple of slices, it was with us: -</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Iceland Gull Creekmouth, London 18th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Walking up towards the outfall, the settling ponds on the right were full of gulls too and included two yellow ringed 2nd-winter Herring Gulls with a code 'Y:...' which will have been ringed at Rufforth tip in the last year or so.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikz_njWF9HDbQzoWrPTXrSZyQC1DfnWzffJ2jExIPr9rf_yxBsVciRyP2gHecPXnRRvgB-vjUYJSbDFrVuVqQO96EoxfJ4NsQnijZBU_t3fWkp6rBe5YQIyTTKTTO48hxdDuulPt49cYE/s1600/BP9A0544+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="800" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikz_njWF9HDbQzoWrPTXrSZyQC1DfnWzffJ2jExIPr9rf_yxBsVciRyP2gHecPXnRRvgB-vjUYJSbDFrVuVqQO96EoxfJ4NsQnijZBU_t3fWkp6rBe5YQIyTTKTTO48hxdDuulPt49cYE/s400/BP9A0544+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Yorkshire-ringed 2nd-winter Herring Gull Creekmouth, London 18th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Up at the outfall, it was pretty peaky weather wise but as usual the gulls were loving it. Remarkably, I was scanning through a group and found another juvenile Iceland Gull - distinctly different from the paler bird above: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuSOgMvfEpc2gX7taoGVM6ismkDbaQfOfQLwcywVMh3EBgaiVNrqDIypPn6Hm27bAGRHgyo3WU4IVkar2Cu6r2CdYpCSkgzMB7Ok6iN_923-2gIq0Df_05089aN0JDSoM-hSfyq5JYvY/s1600/BP9A0744+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuSOgMvfEpc2gX7taoGVM6ismkDbaQfOfQLwcywVMh3EBgaiVNrqDIypPn6Hm27bAGRHgyo3WU4IVkar2Cu6r2CdYpCSkgzMB7Ok6iN_923-2gIq0Df_05089aN0JDSoM-hSfyq5JYvY/s400/BP9A0744+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Iceland Gull (bird 2) Creekmouth, London 18th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jamie ran back to make doubly sure it was a different bird, and found the original bird still present. While he was doing that, I picked up a 2nd-winter Caspian Gull bathing in the Thames. Even though it's a year on, and so much changes plumage wise, I do wonder whether this is 'Creeky', a 1st-winter that lingered here for a lot of last winter. Anyway, enough of speculating, as this bird came a bit closer and then</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> headed up the Roding and into the melee by the warehouses where we saw it on our way back. Not a classic bird, with a whiff of German in it, but nice enough: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_iZ_W7ii5gUdDSDXWtPgq_XqmwvG6tMRz-WyI6EOZW6TXimLKECR0rJP9KQlPvoRnJThuR3QRKncMrvdlP7FmVq6UZFlC_iYYcM8K-Vf69UhWO8xwX1U1doeCGK7N7WXw0Id5_1l7zo/s1600/BP9A0713+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="800" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_iZ_W7ii5gUdDSDXWtPgq_XqmwvG6tMRz-WyI6EOZW6TXimLKECR0rJP9KQlPvoRnJThuR3QRKncMrvdlP7FmVq6UZFlC_iYYcM8K-Vf69UhWO8xwX1U1doeCGK7N7WXw0Id5_1l7zo/s400/BP9A0713+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2nd-winter Caspian Gull Creekmouth, London 18th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Out at the outfall, there were also four Yellow-legged Gulls on and off, which included an adult, a third-winter and two first-winters. All very nice, and the first time for a while that I've seen more than one at any London site. As we headed back along the footpath, a Mediterranean Gull flew into the large numbers of Black-headed Gulls present while Jamie picked up a different second-winter Caspian Gull - a really neat looking, spindly legged bird with a large P10 mirror - while Dante's third-winter Casp in the same area felt rather more German...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2nd-winter Caspian Gull Creekmouth, London 18th July 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so that was that with Creekmouth - easily the best visit I've had there and it just shows what London can produce with a bit of weather and diligence. We headed east from here, and after a quick Tesco pit stop, poked our noses in at Rainham to see if we could do a quick job on the White-fronted Geese. We couldn't find them, though there were 3 Ringed Plover and an Avocet in Aveley Bay. We decided against a visitor centre riverwatch and so headed south over the Dartford Crossing, and within minutes had pulled up in Crayford.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were good numbers of gulls milling around the area, and the first stop was the wasteground at Jolly Farmers. This is a nice area to get close to gulls and get some rings, and so that was my plan. Andy L pulled up, and just as he had done so I picked up an adult Iceland Gull - and shouted as such, as this was believe it or not my first ever adult white-winged gull in London! And it was Dante's first adult ever too, so the four of us got to work with a papping session.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult-type Kumlien's Gull Crayford, London 18th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mick S turned up a short while later, and asked whether it had a bit of grey in its primaries - which got us looking at things a bit more deeply, and it did indeed seem that was the case. And so, when it flew, we were all onto it which revealed fairly obvious dark subterminal bands to P8 and P9. An adult Kumlien's Gull it was! Which was pretty good stuff here in southeast England; and to my knowledge I seem to think this is the first Kumlien's in the southeast this winter...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXOL5d6de8dlgWIlF__s104L0Arcdp8LhXD-TZ8rlXkBx_rW9PIwrO0DxOZaLTi-UJzLBiOqo02XDIRRbkD8EMsR_NFIiJJWKVvIaZFsedAA6HCVA3sQ-uqpjWDGuVu5ZBxw5hJvToXE/s1600/BP9A0845+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXOL5d6de8dlgWIlF__s104L0Arcdp8LhXD-TZ8rlXkBx_rW9PIwrO0DxOZaLTi-UJzLBiOqo02XDIRRbkD8EMsR_NFIiJJWKVvIaZFsedAA6HCVA3sQ-uqpjWDGuVu5ZBxw5hJvToXE/s400/BP9A0845+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult-type Kumlien's Gull Crayford, London 18th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After twenty or so minutes, the Kumlien's Gull took off and headed towards the recycling centre. Where despite looking we were unable to relocate it though three adult Mediterranean Gulls were present, including a pair. However in need of having to do the weekly shop, I had to head back to Rotherhithe though a quick stop at Southmere revealed this Danish-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDbeX6eMFKT5wH_7_nvApJwmAMMLIS1vqJofE41RCwDI89OQhMzppbGjqqeeY7xqTdMuDO5Y8CfUJyHWsMtrCxcIaqOhLf83RYTDuwz6nZMdmJQEaPEMq7TokXGtFu9Ag1M30JzjNxu8/s1600/BP9A0920+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDbeX6eMFKT5wH_7_nvApJwmAMMLIS1vqJofE41RCwDI89OQhMzppbGjqqeeY7xqTdMuDO5Y8CfUJyHWsMtrCxcIaqOhLf83RYTDuwz6nZMdmJQEaPEMq7TokXGtFu9Ag1M30JzjNxu8/s400/BP9A0920+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Lesser Black-backed Gull Southmere, Thamesmead, London 18th March 2018 - ringed as a chick on Langli, Varde, Denmark on 3rd July 2010; I saw it in Thamesmead on 4th February 2012 and it was seen at Rymer, Suffolk on 27th February 2016, as well as now back on Langli as a breeding adult.</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So in summary, it was a pretty good day of London's gulls - possibly the best with an adult-type Kumlien's Gull, two juvenile Iceland Gulls, three Caspian Gulls, four Yellow-legged Gulls and four Mediterranean Gulls. Remarkable what a bit of searching in good old London town produces.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-85284887245054704882018-03-17T23:35:00.003+00:002018-03-17T23:35:53.378+00:00Avocets at Crossness and a London Shag<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The predicted fall in overnight temperatures did indeed happen, and I was greeted this morning by some fairly persistent snow showers. A check of the Rotherhithe sites produced nothing of note, but not too surprising given that just over 12 hours previously it had been 15 degrees or so! These cold weather movements don't literally happen overnight...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so to Crayford, where there were few gulls on Jolly Farmers and not lots of birds about at the recycling centre either - though it evidently did get better later in the day as Andy L had an Iceland Gull. But that was after I left, as I headed to Crossness while the tide was still out and mud was exposed. Remarkably there wasn't a Lapwing in sight, as this was the species severely displaced a couple of weeks ago with the cold snap, but there was a fair bit to look at. Most notably 4 Avocets (three together off the golf centre and another distantly in Barking Bay) along with 20 Black-tailed Godwits, half a dozen Dunlin and a third-winter Yellow-legged Gull.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Avocets at Crossness, London 17th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After checking Southmere and Thamesmere, I headed north through the Blackwall Tunnel and into the shadows of Canary Wharf. Yesterday, Sean H had found a 1st-winter European Shag on Millwall Outer Dock yesterday, and he'd messaged me earlier today to let me know if was still present. Rather embarrassingly it took me over an hour and half to find the thing! I walked around the dock, and then also around Millwall Inner Dock, only to find it where I'd first looked. I'll assume it flew back in again!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>European Shag at Millwall Outer Dock, London 17th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Shag was the first one I'd seen in London, or at least the first one I can recall. It is a species that I had been looking for fairly avidly here in Rotherhithe, so this sighting was a bit bitter sweet - Millwall Outer Dock is literally opposite Greenland Dock, on the other side of the Thames! So near yet so far...</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-56948703656263675072018-03-16T19:30:00.000+00:002018-03-16T19:30:20.695+00:00Got G0UT at Crayford last Sunday plus a new Caspian Gull & Purple Sand<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another week passes me by in a manic fashion, so it isn't until now I've had the inclination to write about a good day locally on Sunday morning. Dante met me, as usual, at Canada Water and we headed off east to Crayford to where the gulls hang out. When we arrived at the recycling centre, the sharp lad picked out a 2nd-winter gull that appeared briefly, and was red-ringed, that had a couple of things going for it as a Casp. After a few minutes, it reappeared and with the scope trained on it, we were able to clinch it as none other than the notorious G0UT. It later located to the nearby Jolly Farmers wasteground, where I picked it up at much closer range and papped it: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W2TM9LzYM8wJSAdWqF682_n2KjwbTD7Nmy4GfpqFLnUcFBQ_ex4WvULm2s2cUv-xhgCzF_snKtRIU_mtPXNrA4v8Y2utpJT38CxF7aQ4WkNeZERbjc2FhSirLPMV529sNa_iX0GFIXA/s1600/BP9A0247+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W2TM9LzYM8wJSAdWqF682_n2KjwbTD7Nmy4GfpqFLnUcFBQ_ex4WvULm2s2cUv-xhgCzF_snKtRIU_mtPXNrA4v8Y2utpJT38CxF7aQ4WkNeZERbjc2FhSirLPMV529sNa_iX0GFIXA/s400/BP9A0247+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>presumed Caspian x Herring Gull (G0UT) Crayford, London 11th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">G0UT was ringed as a 1st-winter Caspian Gull at Pitsea tip, Essex on 25th March 2017 - it has the unfortunate claim to fame of being the last Caspian Gull to have been ringed there (if it actually is one). Two days after ringing Josh J had found it in west London at Hammersmith on 27th March 2017 and here, and at the nearby London Wetlands Centre, it lingered until 2nd April 2017. By 13th April 2017, it was in The Netherlands at Katwijk (photo </span><a href="http://www.ntgg.org.uk/cgi-bin/content.cgi?p=sightingr&i=CASGU023" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) and was then back in west London by 23rd July 2017 where it lingered around Fulham intermittently until last seen on 1st January 2018 - looking like </span><a href="http://www.ntgg.org.uk/cgi-bin/content.cgi?p=sightingr&i=CASGU025" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on 31st July 2017. Then it was on the east Norfolk coast at Happisburgh on 6th March 2018 before deciding to head back to the delights of Crayford last Sunday, 11th March 2018. Good history so far, and a great case study of how a relatively crap looking 1st-winter Caspian Gull gets progressively worse as it ages... be interested to track this bird into adulthood fingers crossed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, there was a more clear cut and aggressive 1st-winter Caspian Gull on the roofs by the recycling centre briefly mid-morning - a bird I'd not seen previously so assume one that was passing through London and back to the continent. March is a decent time of year for there to be an influx of new Caspian Gulls into London, having presumably wintered elsewhere in the UK, and filtering east/southeast as they filter back towards Germany and beyond.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwSLeAxMQLAC7np5zW5zsobJOdHA772jHFqs7lyDPJw3-8oCLO-TtVHT9BKa8lqz6XnmCKuZrzOPlBuDjk0QkJHTR1QlcdKajxyjBPTF5g9UMvqM0U6152STlGSMq_sTr3thueNduQPc/s1600/BP9A0164+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwSLeAxMQLAC7np5zW5zsobJOdHA772jHFqs7lyDPJw3-8oCLO-TtVHT9BKa8lqz6XnmCKuZrzOPlBuDjk0QkJHTR1QlcdKajxyjBPTF5g9UMvqM0U6152STlGSMq_sTr3thueNduQPc/s400/BP9A0164+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>1st-winter Caspian Gull Crayford, London 11th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other site we visited on Sunday was Swanscombe Marshes - a big shout out to Barry W who gave us expert directions, with precision, which meant that I was able to see my first Purple Sandpiper in the London recording area and the lad to see his first one ever. And what's more, we managed to park in a place that meant we didn't get a parking ticket and the ever present pikeys at this site didn't nick any of my wheels! Not my fondest of sites, but with the target bird and 10 Turnstones, pretty good stuff for London. Plus a Yellow-legged Gull and Rock Pipit thrown in too for good measure.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-48736938668793182482018-03-10T23:25:00.000+00:002018-03-10T23:25:17.250+00:00What a difference a week makes<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I headed out today not bothering to wear a jumper. Admittedly I did still have my coat with me, but turn the clock back a week and the ground was covered in snow as I set out. A quick check of Greenland Dock revealed Black-headed Gull numbers were down, so perhaps a sign of spring as the numbers do reduce from now on. But a visit to Crayford and specifically the wasteground at Jolly Farmers revealed winter's grip was still there, with a shed load of gulls which included this Dutch ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs-KlEZeyoIH7aX4SX6qhYFqR3Fl2jG_X30NpLJbmwvtqzHO76WspCSjZdlqIL7_8-mLguMsBOle43OKGwaH5cPPRK2x00gcs-Nu-Iw2om_Dn0y5XijM1rQlXyTBFKAdmbLhbAPSIbtM/s1600/BP9A0027+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="800" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs-KlEZeyoIH7aX4SX6qhYFqR3Fl2jG_X30NpLJbmwvtqzHO76WspCSjZdlqIL7_8-mLguMsBOle43OKGwaH5cPPRK2x00gcs-Nu-Iw2om_Dn0y5XijM1rQlXyTBFKAdmbLhbAPSIbtM/s400/BP9A0027+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Lesser Black-backed Gull K.PAC Jolly Farmers, Crayford, London 10th March 2018 - ringed as a juvenile on Texel, The Netherlands on 14th July 2008; seen at Crayford Marshes previously in 2011 and 2013 as well as in northern Spain and back on Texel.</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a bit of a smoky 1st-winter Herring Gull too, but it was just that, as well as a fair number of Thames ringed Herring and Black-headed Gulls. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While there, I met Andy L who said that the usual crew were off to Dungeness for the afternoon. So I cheekily grabbed a place in the car with him, Richard S and Mick S. After the usual fry up at the Oasis Diner just outside Lydd, we were at the fishing boats early afternoon and the loaves were out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Jamie P and Laurence P there too, it wasn't long before an adult Caspian Gull turned up: -</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJ-e_9oGkcoUZ5B6TE8nxCioJZ6WiY26kQ8y_XmsTbKpQgqfMtxGfcc9UuS_Qxv5VZSgCJTVxmhTV5344ompjqrfFi7wozMu5fgdK5u-HxX5BVhlwr41N3WBuxt6UJnPhjrm77ljZ40E/s1600/BP9A0079+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJ-e_9oGkcoUZ5B6TE8nxCioJZ6WiY26kQ8y_XmsTbKpQgqfMtxGfcc9UuS_Qxv5VZSgCJTVxmhTV5344ompjqrfFi7wozMu5fgdK5u-HxX5BVhlwr41N3WBuxt6UJnPhjrm77ljZ40E/s400/BP9A0079+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBS80VGubpgHKmvVk_2cCaVordMnWe49sA4_zKE039A_YKVyow6N8-uQcoeis3C_qttG0cH9_PVrkaQfUxpiQosLMy4DuhVQJbSMeS-Uv-c2_av4jB6rVGOdq5QzcX7mRbmWWROz8CLao/s1600/BP9A0101+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBS80VGubpgHKmvVk_2cCaVordMnWe49sA4_zKE039A_YKVyow6N8-uQcoeis3C_qttG0cH9_PVrkaQfUxpiQosLMy4DuhVQJbSMeS-Uv-c2_av4jB6rVGOdq5QzcX7mRbmWWROz8CLao/s400/BP9A0101+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Caspian Gull Dungeness, Kent 10th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This bird was a bit of an interesting beast, with a decent underside to P10 and primary tongues, while it had nice bright legs and also a hefty looking bill on it. A really nice bird to see, as seeing adults these days - now that Pitsea tip is no longer - is pretty tricky. A juvenile Glaucous Gull was also about, but didn't want to come close at all: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpP5CwCL7i6dy20zDnbZAo2_DYjMSThoXsxfvB0JBDs5hMAdSDto8K2CKbCiOjtkSNwVFHMOjc-YxKfzVSfYERiZQWSdJvDnMaxsHmbD5M7ClGr7K-DZzI0bBgc5Xbx2ZVd_v_0KKTiE/s1600/BP9A0071+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="800" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpP5CwCL7i6dy20zDnbZAo2_DYjMSThoXsxfvB0JBDs5hMAdSDto8K2CKbCiOjtkSNwVFHMOjc-YxKfzVSfYERiZQWSdJvDnMaxsHmbD5M7ClGr7K-DZzI0bBgc5Xbx2ZVd_v_0KKTiE/s400/BP9A0071+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>juvenile Glaucous Gull Dungeness, Kent 10th March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, despite staying until near dark there was little else of interest to look at. Three Sandwich Terns that headed west were pleasant enough, and an adult Mediterranean Gull was as always nice.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-8141684937704319802018-03-04T21:45:00.001+00:002018-03-04T21:45:26.529+00:00Beast from the east birding... just!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">School stayed open all week. And so it should have done, despite a moderate amount of snow. But what that meant for birding was unfortunately no snow days for me. So Saturday was the first time I was able to get out and experience what the cold weather had done to London's birdlife.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started in Rotherhithe, at Russia Dock Woodland, where Thursday's snowfall and easterly winds had produced a remarkable record of a forlorn looking Dunlin (I'd seen an iPhone video of it!) and Richard PJ managed to flush up a Woodcock the same day. There was still considerable snow on the ground first thing, and so I did a thorough sweep of the area and it produced - I flushed a single Woodcock from undergrowth to the right of the Stave Hill entrance, my first one ever in Rotherhithe. Very happy when a plan comes together, it was off to Canada Water to pick Dante up. While waiting, I had a new BTO metal-ringed Black-headed Gull so should hear about that sometime this week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did a sweep of a few Rotherhithe sites that I'd not done beforehand, but there was little except a few Fieldfares and Redwings moving through, and so we ventured on to pastures new. Dante had done really well on Thursday and Friday at the O2 Greenwich, with a Little Gull, 2 Kittiwakes and a Golden Plover highlighting events, but I didn't really fancy that this weekend. After a brief stop in Woolwich opposite Thames Barrier Park, where there was little, we headed to Thamesmead and the small lake adjacent to the Morrison's. Here on Thamesmere the day got going again with a 2nd-winter Caspian Gull (or more likely Caspian Gull with Herring genes) on the ice - a nice showy bird, calling like a Caspian Gull but without the P10 mirror as well as feeling a bit Herring-like facially. I'll let you have this picture that makes it look most Caspian-like :)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcIY0BvptZD8GfM2xdAPFLjEJtWEucPYjGsk4t10f6p6aMcsxvH-_PEYKOko0Qc8fM65KFvoBGnzrxSlrkgfmwyqMqNSk-Nr_se95aNj2cjUJd-wExI-WOVnk_Y3nveEg0Ovf3Xeqphc/s1600/BP9A9846+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcIY0BvptZD8GfM2xdAPFLjEJtWEucPYjGsk4t10f6p6aMcsxvH-_PEYKOko0Qc8fM65KFvoBGnzrxSlrkgfmwyqMqNSk-Nr_se95aNj2cjUJd-wExI-WOVnk_Y3nveEg0Ovf3Xeqphc/s400/BP9A9846+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Caspian Gull (or hybrid) Thamesmead, London 3rd March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up on the ice here was a white-ringed Black-headed Gull from a scheme I didn't immediately recognise. So getting cr-birding up on the phone and a quick check revealed it was from Croatia. Marvellous, and so I quickly emailed the details to their gull guru Luka J, and within 15 minutes he'd emailed me back saying it was indeed one of his from the rubbish dump in Zagreb: -</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Black-headed Gull SN2N at Thamesmead, London 3rd March 2018 - ringed at Jakuševec dump, Zagreb, Croatia on 26th Feb 2017 and seen at Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 23rd Dec 2017</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Onto Crossness, where we had a decent walk - firstly to Barking Bay where a number of waders (including 2 Avocets and a Grey Plover) were distantly foraging on the mud on the other side of the river. And then we walked east, where a handful of Lapwings on either the path or any area of decent grass were evidently products (victims) of this cold snap. As were the remarkable numbers of Dunlin present, with upwards of 500 birds milling about.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVB4JLwp7vF5U8brllZzy0IWHHkdt09n3OV5u4XLVOQOluVh_O1pDo_Ej5dAdAH4mvQS6sz2MbIPshMwEP_onAx45edvXhzAipziR_zPIgOmpL-WDkuFO8QoOFrvtBeCEdneZfyvECW4g/s1600/BP9A9908+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVB4JLwp7vF5U8brllZzy0IWHHkdt09n3OV5u4XLVOQOluVh_O1pDo_Ej5dAdAH4mvQS6sz2MbIPshMwEP_onAx45edvXhzAipziR_zPIgOmpL-WDkuFO8QoOFrvtBeCEdneZfyvECW4g/s400/BP9A9908+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lapwing Crossness, London 3rd March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A drake Pintail too was a good record, along with another Avocet and Grey Plover, as we walked from the golf course towards the outfall. 54 Shoveler, 69 Fieldfare as well as a dozen Wigeon were also fallout from the week's 'beast from the east'. Really great stuff, topped off by a male Black Redstart on the walk home.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngJRJa0ZltRbksXgkhFxMtEBVGESz2KF4fa4D58gUQessxVqi4LZj6ylxRzk3joSdWZtiS9uusewes_HHN1lNaXR6NPTcA7iht9mlAE76ycgUwgup8csukspLNBAVu4PuCmu_vDRWg8M/s1600/BP9A9913+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngJRJa0ZltRbksXgkhFxMtEBVGESz2KF4fa4D58gUQessxVqi4LZj6ylxRzk3joSdWZtiS9uusewes_HHN1lNaXR6NPTcA7iht9mlAE76ycgUwgup8csukspLNBAVu4PuCmu_vDRWg8M/s400/BP9A9913+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>drake Pintail Crossness, London 3rd March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5EyewKoSz6ZgNEmUlAxwBElW2zOaz09KIOP8HaKPbai34YAr1bAkVuYuxW2bm44qIxZ-zh13lPT1owUsLa0DA3z7BoWQitL5BnfMK0Soy4OOqASyqKNqZrUw9BPVMBJtQJGdGL7PHsE/s1600/BP9A9936+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="800" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5EyewKoSz6ZgNEmUlAxwBElW2zOaz09KIOP8HaKPbai34YAr1bAkVuYuxW2bm44qIxZ-zh13lPT1owUsLa0DA3z7BoWQitL5BnfMK0Soy4OOqASyqKNqZrUw9BPVMBJtQJGdGL7PHsE/s400/BP9A9936+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dunlin Crossness, London 3rd March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3bkPo_qZFq_C6ncLXvzrh5arQ4OMUJG7Sss9qu2S3O94Djq-6o7djLejtYbG5EegVF6PnrbFNGKlh8AVLpXJFVqB6Lb_L9HV7HpKlzp31JKmNgtbdqZmxtbvyjodX-3rJ2_EyjMG0f4/s1600/BP9A9920+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3bkPo_qZFq_C6ncLXvzrh5arQ4OMUJG7Sss9qu2S3O94Djq-6o7djLejtYbG5EegVF6PnrbFNGKlh8AVLpXJFVqB6Lb_L9HV7HpKlzp31JKmNgtbdqZmxtbvyjodX-3rJ2_EyjMG0f4/s400/BP9A9920+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Avocet Crossness, London 3rd March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTTA4hdaS0ulTHi9ToJ_q1p0kCqPh-bhE90bsoWq7RqTEkb8MS3Xvg3WiMxMZxlIRVKSAYH5blgcS85pFXfuf9uHPwRQKPajSTbA97aycPj6ZqlAED_CQlPD7D9_lj1e8u6Ey7tFVF3c/s1600/BP9A9951+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTTA4hdaS0ulTHi9ToJ_q1p0kCqPh-bhE90bsoWq7RqTEkb8MS3Xvg3WiMxMZxlIRVKSAYH5blgcS85pFXfuf9uHPwRQKPajSTbA97aycPj6ZqlAED_CQlPD7D9_lj1e8u6Ey7tFVF3c/s400/BP9A9951+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>male Black Redstart Crossness, London 3rd March 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A check of Southmere, Thamesmead produced half a dozen Pochard and a load of gulls but little of interest in them, and a rather disappointing Crayford continued the trend. As the gloom increasingly descended, we stopped off at Danson Park where there was a single North Thames ringed Black-headed Gull. And that was that for a decent Saturday's birding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today was much quieter, largely because I was hemmed in by a sporting event for several hours as well as doing some pre-trip planning for Easter. But I did manage to get out around Rotherhithe - two North Thames ringed and two metal ringed (one German and one British) Black-headed Gulls. Another week of madness at work before those Wheatears and Sand Martins start arriving! Possibly.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864753765745920625.post-22259633001492130862018-03-03T22:01:00.000+00:002018-03-03T22:01:13.988+00:00A day in Dorset and Hampshire<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Sunday (25th February) seems a long time ago now, but I've finally got round to a quick post about a splendid twitchy day with Jamie P and Dante. We set off at the rather amicable time of 6am from Rotherhithe, and after a lovely crisp winter's morning drive, arrived in a freezing cold Weymouth before 9am. Before we'd arrived, the target bird - an adult Ross's Gull - had already been seen at Lodmoor RSPB. But it hadn't been there for long, and just as we arrived, there was news that it had been found again at Ferrybridge...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So three or so miles of driving, through the winding streets of Weymouth, and we arrived at Ferrybridge to be greeted with 'it has just flown off over the shingle bank and out to sea'. As it was so early in the day, and knowing the afternoons seemed to be better anyway for this bird, I wasn't actually too fussed. And so we headed to Chesil Cove to have a scan of the bay, which was nicely sheltered from the easterly wind. Nothing there so we ventured to Radipole Lake RSPB, which is where the Ross's Gull had favoured the most the previous day. After an hour or so of waiting around, the adjacent golden arches were too much of a temptation, and so we all ventured in. Having just devoured my first Big Mac Grande (first ever, not of the day!), and with Dante midway through his and Jamie still waiting for his vegetarian thing, a phone call from Steve A said that the Ross's Gull was back! Literally 200 metres of frantic walking, McDonalds in hand, we all headed over and there it was - the adult Ross's Gull: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySlSoMVbvv_IBRzYh1lRh2S155OS2sK2lNmju730kPXeSQg3qoy10G_zYnZydo1iYwPRR8aezPon17SE5Mg5NoqfXQrjTYrKAw7TQw3XZOiv0GSCw5TKAOiIhyphenhyphen2nvXoFDpIgiv7OdJ-Q/s1600/BP9A9583+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySlSoMVbvv_IBRzYh1lRh2S155OS2sK2lNmju730kPXeSQg3qoy10G_zYnZydo1iYwPRR8aezPon17SE5Mg5NoqfXQrjTYrKAw7TQw3XZOiv0GSCw5TKAOiIhyphenhyphen2nvXoFDpIgiv7OdJ-Q/s400/BP9A9583+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ross's Gull Radipole Lake RSPB, Dorset 25th February 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It was obviously a smart bird. With just a very slight pinkish hue and a subtle neck ring, its tiny bill gave it a nicely cute appearance as is always the case for the species. This was the sixth adult I'd seen in Britain and Ireland, and one of the best when it came to views. The crowd were enthralled, so much so that some parisitic local scrounger took it upon themselves to nick a scope from the crowd, and rode off with it on his bike!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There had obviously been a load of ringing having taken place in Weymouth, and I was able to get a couple of metal rings from birds in the car park at Radipole before the prize bird appeared: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_L0xGeII5cSzmlMGxRNtdiiTFa1Pc2W4KzIANslrPXdaGYub0qMYbX7KVywiRqqswd6qfxXlMjHo9Z_ONk7kJztdw_xo5MDFZnv9e4K2d7crm1P3oxR4q94Ly63HCo9gtaRjFDww6Sk/s1600/BP9A9500+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_L0xGeII5cSzmlMGxRNtdiiTFa1Pc2W4KzIANslrPXdaGYub0qMYbX7KVywiRqqswd6qfxXlMjHo9Z_ONk7kJztdw_xo5MDFZnv9e4K2d7crm1P3oxR4q94Ly63HCo9gtaRjFDww6Sk/s400/BP9A9500+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Herring Gull Radipole Lake RSPB, Dorset 25th February 2018 - ringed as a chick in Weymouth on 17th July 2006</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEb6_vYjCi_GjJUfv4bko3j9huBRz2cMqHszQNP1XCHQzyYl0fDXY412flUyeeLDylX1lh3yCRXWw4gR09-SksUKlgiuYjIR-cUJZV5x6dIr9DR0qAktfohFeVAiVRP2DyetUKKRmqSA/s1600/BP9A9460+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="800" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEb6_vYjCi_GjJUfv4bko3j9huBRz2cMqHszQNP1XCHQzyYl0fDXY412flUyeeLDylX1lh3yCRXWw4gR09-SksUKlgiuYjIR-cUJZV5x6dIr9DR0qAktfohFeVAiVRP2DyetUKKRmqSA/s400/BP9A9460+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Black-headed Gull Radipole Lake RSPB, Dorset 25th February 2018 - ringed as an adult at the same site on 31st October 2014</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And with everyone happy, we headed off east and into the living cemetery of Christchurch. A lovely place it was, and with the sun shining at Stanpit Marsh, the 1st-winter Stilt Sandpiper was quickly located off Fisherman's Bank. Distant views but perfectly acceptable through the scope. A Polish ringed Black-headed Gull and a pukka breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull showed a lot better on the near side of the creek: -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3pmAEOP-pVpC4PLGTf6aVD9IVwh9B6W4ZYY3wToU223PrbKnu9VJhRtK6f9plZTwRF_G2HCzopdeIvXmdMdjCpbaoiZHBXP6kdYfbjh3nGvSA6NlRIiOJXhyphenhyphenoMXyehkhHUNygEa3EkE/s1600/BP9A9682+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3pmAEOP-pVpC4PLGTf6aVD9IVwh9B6W4ZYY3wToU223PrbKnu9VJhRtK6f9plZTwRF_G2HCzopdeIvXmdMdjCpbaoiZHBXP6kdYfbjh3nGvSA6NlRIiOJXhyphenhyphenoMXyehkhHUNygEa3EkE/s400/BP9A9682+copy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>adult Mediterranean Gull Stanpit Marsh, Dorset 25th February 2018</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">With it getting towards the time for birds going to roost, we headed north twenty or so minutes to Ibsley Water, Hampshire to do the gulls coming in for the evening there. As we arrived in the hide, the regular adult Ring-billed Gull was already present and then next on the menu was a 2nd-winter Caspian Gull that piled in with other large gulls on islands to the left of the hide. And then twenty or so minutes later, I located the target bird in the same area, a well-watched juvenile 'Thayer's Gull'. Admittedly it was distant, but it felt at odds to what I'd have expected from this species/form and I'd have been inclined to have put it down as a Herring Gull if I'd seen it in London. An interesting one though, initially found by a birder who I've got a lot of respect for.</span>RBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818526650971120952noreply@blogger.com3