Tuesday to Friday Sept 22 to 25 - North Wales

 This week Lyn and I did something we rarely do nowadays, we went on holiday.

Technically a mini-break, our destination was a friend's house half way up a mountain close to the tiny village of Llanllechid, near Bethesda. We were actually staying in a Premier Inn on the outskirts of Bangor, and commuting. It was something of a working holiday as we had volunteered to help our friend in clearing stuff prior to a possible down-sizing move next year....maybe.

Inevitably there were challenges (the Premier Inn room did not contain certain important facilities, and access to our friend's house involved slopes, a rocky driveway, a wheelchair ramp and stone steps) but we just about managed.

Importantly I got some birding in.

On the first morning, while exploring the garden I was surprised to hear the call of Choughs coming from the slopes above. Eventually I counted six birds in flight and got some distant flight shots. Later on I had another look and tracked down a pair in a nearby field.

Chough

My big day out was scheduled for Thursday. Back in the early 1980s, I used to visit Aber, just south of Llanfairfechan, where huge flocks of Curlew and Oystercatchers roosted at high tide. This week I managed to get there while the tide was still high, although I still needed my scope to count and identify the waders present.

I was quite relieved to find that the Curlews were still present in vast numbers. The species has been declining as a breeding bird in Wales, but I counted 1780 Curlews plus approximately 700 Oystercatchers before the receding tide led them to disperse along the Menai Straits.

Sorting through the plethora of larger waders I picked out 25 Bar-tailed Godwits, five Black-tailed Godwits, 15 Knot, many Redshanks, and an unexpected juvenile Ruff. About 50 Dunlins were counted on the wing, while offshore there were lots of Wigeon, and 180 Pintails. Bear in mind this was the first time I'd seen the sea for about five years.

Some Black-tailed Godwits in flight

Curlew and Oystercatchers (mostly)

Unfortunately the light was on the dull side, and the waders too distant for any decent shots.

My plan was to walk from Morfa Aber to Morfa Madryn and back, looking for birds on the way, and plants on the way back. Obviously I was hoping to find a rarity, but that didn't happen.

Wheatear

Rock Pipit

Other birds seen included a few Sandwich Terns, numerous Rock Pipits, a Ringed Plover, a Wheatear, a Great White Egret with about 20 Little Egrets, and a Common Sandpiper.

The botanising gave me lots of new plants, all very common in Wales but not necessarily in the Midlands.

Rock Samphire

Weld

Maidenhair Spleenwort

Other creatures seen include a Clouded Yellow, but arguably the highlight of the week was a large bat which flew through the open front door to the house in Llanllechid and proceeded to fly around the living room before it was eventually persuaded to leave. Our friend, Carol, showed a remarkable turn of speed as she rushed to another room in panic. 

Sunday September 20 - Morton Bagot

 After a cloudy start, the sun came out and the day warmed up.

My attempts to find unusual birds were again largely unsuccessful, although I did manage a new "latest date for Morton Bagot" when a Sand Martin was picked out from a small flock of House Martins and Swallows which were hawking insects over the field next to the Morton Brook. Although it was quite close at one stage I failed to manage even a record shot. The previous latest was 16 September 2011.

Other birds present which I didn't photograph included 28 Meadow Pipits, six Blackcaps, nine Chiffchaffs, a Grey Wagtail, three Green Sandpipers, and at least six Shovelers.

To be honest I got a bit bogged down examining plants and finding invertebrates. Even then there was nothing new, but I did at least photograph some of them.

Garden Spider

Hairy Shieldbug

Small Copper

Dragonflies on the wing included at least six Willow Emeralds, a Common Darter, and a Migrant Hawker. The last hurrah of summer perhaps.

On my way off the site I met Tony and Leigh who had dropped in to do a bit of Meadow Pipit trapping now that HOEF have mowed the grass in the favoured field. They had also been present pre-mow on Friday for a more traditional hedgerow mist-netting session. I was in time to see the first Meadow Pipit they caught.

Meadow Pipit - Tony & Leigh

Their full weekend results were:

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

Skylark 2

Blue Tit 37 (18)

Great Tit 8 (4)

Sedge Warbler 1

Blackcap 11

Chiffchaff 7

Robin 2

Wren 2 (2)

Dunnock 2 (2)

Meadow Pipit 5

Goldfinch 21 (1)

As always, the figures in brackets relate to re-traps, suggesting resident birds. So at this time of migration none of the warblers and pipits were re-traps, strongly suggesting short-staying migrants on the move. 

I'm off for a short break next week, so hopefully I'll have something different to report next time.

Friday September 17 - Weekly roundup

It's always a bad sign when I title a post "weekly roundup". What it means is that I've tried my best and come up with not a lot.

On Tuesday I walked around two of the lakes at Earlswood and saw nothing better than a Little Egret and the 5cy Yellow-legged Gull. I did at least take a photograph of a bird.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Morton Bagot on Thursday wasn't much cop either. I counted 45 Meadow Pipits heading south, and 49 House Martins which were basically just feeding. There were still at least seven Shovelers on the nearest flash, but this time the cows didn't help me out so I had poor counts of Teal, Snipe etc.

When the sun came out I spotted a Willow Emerald damselfly dangling in the hedge by the flash field.

Willow Emerald

Our garden somewhat bucked the trend as I found a new bug, Cinnamon Bug while I was gardening on Wednesday. 

Cinnamon Bug Corizus hyoscyami

My app identified September Cranefly Tipula paludosa in my moth trap this morning. There were 51 actual moths, 26 of which were Lunar Underwings (new for the year).

Lunar Underwing

Going back to birds, Tony Kelly caught a remarkable 54 Blackcaps (and 12 Chiffchaffs) at the sewage works earlier this week. It always amazes me how many Blackcaps are caught in mist nets in autumn compared to the number I actually manage to see.

Sunday September 13 - Morton Bagot (and some garden moths)

 It was extremely wet overnight, and after seeming to desist, the rain returned shortly after I arrived. By the time I reached the flash field it was chucking it down. The saving grace was that it was quite warm and there was virtually no breeze.

I had seriously considered going to Earlswood, but the lure of the patch proved too great and I had resigned myself to a quiet, damp birding morning. What I hadn't expected was two patch ticks, and given the conditions, even less anticipated was that they were both migrant moths. Sorry to disappoint.

The first was a seemingly white moth I kicked up as I made my way around the scrape field. I chased it and was pleased to find that it was a Vestal. This is a species I had only ticked (in the garden) a few weeks ago, so to get one at Morton Bagot was a proper bonus.

Vestal

Shortly afterwards, as I approached the flash field I kicked up another moth. This turned out to be a Rush Veneer. I get one or two in the garden during the year, and they seem to be turning up more often in recent years. Another migrant.

Rush Veneer

Anyway, what about the birds? The first bit of encouragement came when a flock of 25 Snipe flew around me. I guessed they had been flushed by cattle from the flash field, and when I finally got there I did indeed see a herd of cows and lots of Snipe. Unfortunately they were in the long grass with an indeterminate number of Lapwings and Teal.

The scrape field and the field next to it also contained three Stonechats and my only Whitethroat today. All its companions have left for sunnier climes.

An interesting development is the appearance of a muddy patch between the nearest and furthest flashes. It's quite difficult to view, but seems to be a favourite area for Green Sandpipers and Snipe at the moment. It has potential, but you'll need a scope.

Part of the muddy patch

On Saturday, John Chidwick had visited and counted eight Shoveler. This morning they were still present on the nearest flash, but hard to count due to intervening vegetation. Later on numbers were augmented by the arrival of another four, making 12 in total.

As the rain pepped up and I reached the Kingfisher Pool a small flock of birds were working their way past me along the hedge. They included at least six Blackcaps to add to a few I'd heard earlier, and about four Chiffchaffs. Once in position at the viewing point, I checked the adjacent hedge and was surprised to see two or three Spotted Flycatchers. They were in exactly the same place as they had been last Sunday, so even though I didn't see them in the week, I suspect they are the same birds.

Spotted Flycatcher

I spent an hour sheltering from the rain, entertained by low flying hirundines including up to six Sand Martins, possibly a record count for the site. (It wasn't even close, the record is 11).

Just as the rain stopped I realised I was going to be late back unless I got a shift on, so my return was hot, sweaty, and uneventful.

However, I mustn't forget to mention Friday night's garden moth trapping. I caught 115 moths of 28 species which included one which was new for the garden. The BulrushVeneer is a species I had ticked this summer at Spernal STW, but I was pleasantly surprised to find one resting on the side of the house well away from the nearest watery habitat.

Bulrush Veneer

I would have to concede that like most reedbed specialists, it's not much of a looker.

Thursday September 10 - Morton Bagot

 I was out early this morning, hoping to intercept the roosting Geese before they headed off. But you have to get up really early to see them, and as I arrived at 06:00 they were already flying away. Slightly less expected was a count of 119 Mallard on the nearest flash. They too started to head away later. 

The effort paid off to some degree. A Cetti's Warbler (same one as in spring?) was singing in the usual hedge, 17 Teal, two Shovelers, three Green Sandpipers, at least 10 Snipe and a similar number of Lapwings kept showing in the marshy grassland between the two flashes.

Shovelers

I had started at the church for a change, and the walk back through the scrape field was quite productive. A Yellowhammer, several Reed Buntings, a Grey Wagtail, and at least 18 Meadow Pipits flew over. Three Stonechats, a Whinchat, a few Swallows, and a Sand Martin lurked at the north end of the field.

Swallows

My new found enthusiasm for plants gave me Wild Carrot, Broad-leaved Dock, Curled Dock, and Soft Rush for my PSL list.

Tuesday September 8 - Earlswood Lakes

This morning it rained, well drizzled, constantly until I arrived at Earlswood. A light westerly and grey clouds overhead made it feel like autumn really has arrived.

As I donned my wellies in the Malthouse carpark a steady stream of Tits kept me entertained, and with them several Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap. Yep, definitely autumn.

I had one goal, which was to see the second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull which John had recently photographed. The usual fifth calendar year bird was still present, and it didn't take me long to locate the 2cy bird. 

After that success the remaining visit was on the disappointing side. Nevertheless the dull weather had forced all the hirundines down, and among the 80 or so Swallows were about 25 Sand Martins (not found on the alldayer), and about a dozen House Martins.

Apparently absent were waders. Not even a single Common Sandpiper or Snipe was visible. I ended up at the bottom end of Windmill Pool counting Teal (nine), and noticing at least one Bullfinch (another species missed on Saturday). A Little Egret appeared, but I ended up peering at Docks and wondering how to identify them.

This one is Wood Dock I think.

Morton Bagot - Sunday September 6

The day after the alldayer invariably supplies birds which failed to show up on the big day. Today was no exception. The big news from Earlswood was an Osprey found by John Oates at 08:00. It remained for about fifteen minutes before heading south, but I think if I'd had the opportunity to go for it, I would almost certainly have arrived just too late.

It was all change at Morton Bagot too. The ringers opted for Spernal STW, while I joined Dave for our usual mid-morning circuit. 

We had a brilliant time, the sort of day that makes you wish the WestMidsAlldayer was a weekend event, and not just for one day. I reckon if you tallied up Earlswood, Morton Bagot, and Spernal's total for the two days you'd get a figure of 82 species.

Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself. As I clambered out of my car at Netherstead, Dave had already spotted two Stonechats in the usual spot. Whilst trying to relocate them I spotted a male Redstart and a Lesser Whitethroat. Not bad for starters.

Redstart

Lesser Whitethroat

In addition we saw the first of an eventual seven Common Whitethroats before hearing a Yellow Wagtail calling as it flew over. Five minutes later it either returned, or another one went over. Unfortunately neither of us managed to actually see it/them. We then repeated the feat with a heard only Meadow Pipit, the first here this autumn.

We'd have been reasonably happy if that had been our lot, but the day just kept getting better. Another Stonechat and a Whinchat were in the scrape field, and although we couldn't see much more than a few Teal and Green Sandpipers on the furthest flash, things improved at the nearest. The big highlight was when Dave spotted there were Spotted Flycatchers hunting from the hedge which divided the nearest flash from the Kingfisher Pool. It soon became apparent there were at least five there, plus another Redstart (this time a female/immature), Chiffchaff and Blackcap. We were willing one of the Spotted Flys to morph into a Pied Fly, but you can't have everything.

Spotted Flycatcher

Instead regular scans of the nearest flash gave us 30 Teal and eight Lapwings.

By now I was running a bit late, so we had to up the pace. Nevertheless we located a Whinchat on the tree guards, before Dave heard a Tree Pipit calling as we reached the raptor watch point. Fortunately for me I heard it's third "speez" so could add it to my year list.

Whinchat

Meanwhile the ringers were having a decent time at Spernal. They caught five Cetti's Warblers, a Reed Warbler, and a Sedge Warbler, all species which were additional to anything seen at Earlswood or Morton Bagot this weekend.

Butterflies seen included Clouded Yellow, Brown Argus, Common Blues, Small Coppers, and Small Heaths, and we also saw Silver Y (moth), and Dark Bush Cricket.

If only every weekend could be like this.