Friday September 30 - toying with Tardebigge Res

 Earlier this month I was surprised to discover that Tardebigge Reservoir was low. I had probably missed the peak wader passage time, but even a substantial edge of compacted gravel seemed to offer some hope.

So I've made two more visits to the reservoir this week, hoping that the site's elevated location (160 metres above sea-level) though not the highest point within the Circle, might bring me some visible migration.

Tuesday's visit was dire. The Meadow Pipit passage was a modest 28 in an hour, and there was a handful of Chiffchaffs were in the hedgerow bordering the canal. 

Despite this set-back I gave it another go this morning in the fog. It was actually a little bit better. The Little Egret was back, and there were some waders, albeit just two Green Sandpipers lurking on the far bank.

Little Egret

As the morning wore on I accumulated a small quantity of visibly migrating birds; 33 Meadow Pipits, 18 Skylarks, and 13 Chaffinches. 

I roamed a little further this time, and was pleased to find that the farmland above the reservoir was mainly arable. A large flock of corvids and double figures of large gulls were the main feature, and most of the fields looked like the kind of stubble you get from intensively farmed land. There were very few areas with arable weeds like these:

Probably Scentless Mayweed

I am guessing that this is the area which in the distant past held flocks of Yellowhammers and a few Corn Buntings. There was nothing of that kind today.

After Tuesday I was close to deciding never to come here again, but I think it is probably just about worth a few more visits.

Sunday September 25 - Meadow Pipit day

 Tony tipped me off that he would be ringing at Morton Bagot today, so I arrived relatively early but still missed about an hour's worth. The nets had been erected in the Red-backed Shrike field, and with very little breeze they were proving quite effective.

At one point it appeared that the Meadow Pipits which were the target of this morning's effort, were taking the piss. 

Meadow Pipits perching on the nets meant to be catching them

But the ringers had some tricks up their sleeves. A tape of Meadow Pipit calls and songs was luring passing birds into the field, and although they often perched on the nets and guide-ropes they soon dropped into the field. Periodically the ringers would march towards the nets, ending with a short sprint to encourage the birds into flight, some of which would forget about the nets they were previously standing on.

The exact number of Pipits was hard to establish. A total of 44 had been caught by the time I left, but I would say for every one caught, at least five evaded capture. I understood they hadn't retrapped any, so my personal count of 110 Meadow Pipits may be hundreds short.

Another Meadow Pipit laughing at us

Eventually I decided to go for a wander. The nearest flash is now at the most visible its been for years, but contained hardly any water and no birds. Instead, the topmost of the new scrapes boasted the only water and mud, and delivered a Common Snipe. 

Common Snipe trying to hide in plain sight

Other migrants seen were six Swallows, seven House Martins, a Blackcap, and a Chiffchaff. At least 50 Goldfinches, five Skylarks, a Grey Heron, a Snipe, and two Kestrels shared the Meadow Pipits' field.

It will be very interesting to see how things develop when we finally get a prolonged period of rain.

Saturday September 24 - early autumn migration

 Before I get to today's exploits, I need to refer to some Thursday night ringing at Morton Bagot. Tony was using his thermal imaging equipment to creep up on roosting birds. He caught two Skylarks, a Meadow Pipit, and a Wheatear, the latter being the first he had ringed at the site.

Skylark

Wheatear

This morning I opted to try for some visible migration. Tardebigge Reservoir stands at quite a decent height above sea-level, and so I went there for 09.00am. This is probably over an hour later than would have been ideal, but it was the earliest I could manage.

The viz-mig aspect of the visit was pretty uninspiring. Just 12 Meadow Pipits calling as they headed south (although to be fair I only actually saw one of them, so there may have been several more), four Swallows, and two Redpolls which were my first of the autumn.

The reservoir itself contained nothing better than a Little Egret, plus 14 Tufted Ducks, three Great Crested Grebes, 62 Canada Geese, and 84 Mallard. I think it would be wise to try to pick cloudy days for future visits as the sun was blinding behind where most of the birds were gathered.

Little Egret

The best period came when I scanned a hedgerow leading along the towpath to the south-west. At least seven Chiffchaffs were darting around with a tit-flock, and 10 Chaffinches were also in view. Then on a distant hawthorn I spotted a chat sp which turned out to be a Wheatear. 

Wheatear (very distant)

So there was just enough to make me think that further autumn visits might prove worthwhile. 

Tuesday September 20 - A lucky day

 This morning I chose to visit Morton Bagot, but parked at the church with a view to heading south first and ending up back at the flash field by midday in the hope of a better chance of pulling back the Willow Emerald seen by Sam. It was a good plan, and had unexpected consequences.

The weather was perfect, hardly any wind and largely grey skies to begin with, the sun appearing from about 11.30. After hearing a Mistle Thrush near the church, and the first of three Grey Wagtails the early signs were encouraging.

They say you make your own luck, but really it is just very lucky if you are in the right place at the right time. As I reached the bee-hives much later than if I had followed the normal route, the first Siskin of the autumn made its presence known as a calling bird flew over unseen. That was nice, but better was to follow.

A couple of days ago I had twitched a Pink-footed Goose at Tardebigge Reservoir, and as luck would have it the bird called several times. This was an unfamiliar call to me since my previous experience has always been of calling flocks of birds on the east coast, so the individual calls are lost in the general gabble. So I took note.

Shortly after hearing the Siskin I heard a goose call, and it immediately reminded me of the Tardebigge bird. Perhaps it was the same bird? I dashed through a gap in the hedge and found three geese flying west, not particularly high up. I looked to see if one might be the bird and was stunned to see that all three were Pink-footed Geese. Dark heads and necks, dark bills, brown bodies and a hint of grey on the upper wing coverts. The call was a double syllable, slightly squeaky "poo-up" call, nothing like the familiar Greylag's call. This was the second for the site, the last being in 2010 (pre-blog). 

As the birds disappeared behind a copse I dashed through another gap, scrabbling for my camera. I got onto them again and actually had them momentarily in the view-finder, but as I pressed the shutter they disappeared over a ridge and I missed them. It was a shame but I doubt the camera would have helped much anyway.

The rest of the morning was good. My first Song Thrush for a while, at least 85 Meadow Pipits, two Whinchats, six Stonechats, four House Martins, a Swallow, seven Blackcaps, and six Chiffchaffs. 

Meadow Pipits

Singing Robins were everywhere, and I logged 24. In fact my final species total was a healthy 54.

The only let down, apart from there being few photo opportunities, was that the nearest flash is again close to drying up and I managed just two Snipe (on the HOEF scrapes), two Grey Herons, and four Teal (on the furthest flash).

Another disappointment was the dearth of Willow Emeralds. It looks like I'll have to hope for some next year. 

But it was a good day, and I'm not complaining.

PS: The moth trap went out for only the second time this month and I caught 89 moths of 17 species. New for the year were Lunar Underwing (30, which equals my highest previous yearly total - but in just one night), Garden Rose Tortrix, and what is either Epinothia nisella or Epinotia cinereana. The latter is very scarce but can only be identified through dissection.

Lunar Underwing

Garden Rose Tortrix

Epinotia nisella/cinereana

It seems that picking the right night is just as effective as trapping every Friday night for the Garden Moth Survey. 

Sunday September 18 - A change of scene

 This morning I decided to break the habit of visiting Morton Bagot every Sunday, and try somewhere else. Rather unimaginatively my choice was Earlswood. A few early morning Whatsap posts informed me of an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a Common Sandpiper, neither of which I was to see.

The cool weather had raised the number of hirundines over the lakes and I counted/estimated 160 Swallows, 90 House Martins, and seven Sand Martins from the chilly vantage point that is the causeway. 

The main highlights were a couple of chats with birders I rarely see; namely John Chidwick and Matt Griffiths. I also walked right around Windmill Pool seeing two Ravens and not much else, before locating a very young Little Grebe on Engine Pool.

Little Grebe - juv

The morning seemed likely to end with a Sparrowhawk chasing the hirundines over Engine Pool, but my phone intervened. 

A Pink-footed Goose had turned up (probably relocating from Upper Bittell) at Tardebigge Reservoir. Sensing a tick I made an about-turn and set off.

As twitches go, it proved pretty straightforward. A quick walk down the towpath and I found the reservoir unexpectedly low and containing at least 178 geese. The 179th was the Pink-footed Goose. It appeared to be a juvenile, and at one point was calling anxiously. Definitely of wild stock, I decided.

Pink-footed Goose

While I was there, Steve Whitehouse turned up and added it to his Worcestershire year-list. Steve had heard a Green Sandpiper, and we both spotted a Shoveler. So despite plenty of gravel (I hesitate to use the word mud) waders remained off the menu.

However, it looks worth a few more visits.

Friday September 16 - The tricky stuff

 This morning I changed my plans, and found myself attempting to twitch a first for Morton Bagot. Not a bird, a dragonfly. In fact strictly speaking not even a dragonfly, a damselfly. On Wednesday Sam MacVie identified a Willow Emerald damselfly in bushes close to the gap in the hedge through which we watch the nearest flash. The species has been on the radar for a few years having spread from the continent into south-east England about ten years ago, and then slowly expanding its range north and west. They appeared in Warwickshire about three years ago, and looked a good bet for the patch.

Anyway, Sam got the spoils, while I got a frustrating morning which was a little too cold, a little too windy, and not sunny for long enough. I didn't see it. Instead I totted up four Stonechats, a Whinchat, and four Green Sandpipers before switching my attention to insects.

My dragonfly tally was about half a dozen Common Darters, and some Hawkers (probably both Southern and Migrant if only they'd settled). 

So that's three scarce insects known to have occurred at Morton Bagot but not seen by me; Willow Emerald, Lesser Emperor dragonfly, and Brown Hairstreak butterfly.

While hanging around, staring into bushes, I got to reflect on the debate about whether the Obsidentify app is a good thing or not. Most naturalists seem pretty positive about it, but a few dissenting voices see it as leading to bad habits like not bothering to research an identification. 

I think I'm in favour of it. I took this photo of what I assumed in my ignorance would be some kind of potter wasp. In fact the app led me to the hoverflies.

Two-banded Wasp Hoverfly

Many insects cannot be safely identified from a photo, but the app can cut through pages of uncertainty and get you close to an identification. The Two-banded Wasp Hoverfly is not a scarce hoverfly (a wasp mimic), but I'd never heard of it.

A huge gap in my knowledge is plants. I can do a few of the easy ones, but the majority are just "flowers". Point the camera at them and you still end up nowhere because you don't know which bit of the plant is the diagnostic bit. However, the app will narrow it down. 

Autumn Hawkbit

In this case the app led me to the Hawkbits, part of the bewilderingly complex daisy family. I went home and read up, discovered that I needed to see the way the stem meets the flowerhead, went back and photographed it from underneath, giving me an identification of Autumn Hawkbit.

So I foresee a project for the next few years, to finally crack plants. The Obsidentify app may be my pocket-sized expert getting me passed the initial hurdles that have always knocked me back.

Common Darter

Fortunately I do know some stuff, the yellow stripe down the legs of the above leading me to yet another Common Darter.

Tuesday September 13 - more of the same

 Tony K tipped me off that he would be doing some ringing from dawn at Morton Bagot this morning. With several Wrynecks being found in Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the last two weeks, I left the house pre-dawn with a shopping list of improbable rarities in mind. Perhaps impossible might be more appropriate.

Sunrise

I arrived in time to assist (slightly) Tony erect some nets, and before long he had his first Meadow Pipit. These were the focus of this morning's session, and I had to mentally knock Wryneck off the list of birds to be hoped for.

Meadow Pipit

Unfortunately I was not able to stay very long, and after failing to encourage a Whinchat to approach one of the nets, I returned home to help Lyn. By the time I returned, Tony was packing up. He had caught 20 Meadow Pipits, a Whitethroat, six Blue Tits, a Great Tit, and a Reed Bunting. It's not Fair Isle I'm afraid.

For the next two hours I trudged round a part of the patch, and accumulated a pretty decent chat score. Two Whinchats, and five Stonechats was a better return than my last visit.

Whinchats

Stonechats

The field which had held the nets was busy with birds. I counted a minimum of 60 Meadow Pipits, 38 Swallows, 12 House Martins, and at least one Skylark. The morning was warming up, and I had the feeling that they were all feeding up on flying insects before continuing south.

The flash field was slightly disappointing; 33 Teal, a Mallard, two Green Sandpipers, and four Snipe. However, a single Sand Martin was the first since the spring.

Another new arrival was a young Mute Swan on the Kingfisher Pool, again the first for a long while.

Mute Swan

I had a few jobs to do from midday, so had to abandon the site for another day.