Tuesday 30 August 2011

Still quiet..

..with these westerly winds.
Very few passerine migrants but waders seemed to everywhere.

7 Common Sandpipers
8 Whimbrel
and in low tide Greenshanks and Spotted Redshank on the river Glaven channel.

Only about 20 Linnets and M Pipit numbers slowly building.
1 Eider on the sea.

Next week will hopefully be better as it really is quiet on Blakeney Point at the moment!

Sunday 28 August 2011

Autumn begins - Thu 25th Aug

A recent fall had me heading up to the Point with high expectations .... The reality was that nearly all the migrants had already moved on!

A nice male Red backed Shrike was still hanging around the bushes at the start of the walk near the river Glaven.

At the Watchhouse 1 Phyllosc in the area where there had been a Greenish Warbler would not play ball and refused to show itself more than a few times in flight. One Whitethroat was the only other migrant seen!

1 lone Swift over Blakeney Marsh, as rain moved in, may be the last of the year here..

There were still signs of summer with a few butterflies like this Small Copper hanging in there:



Small Copper


The clouds produced a dramatic sky ... but no rare birds




A few birders were twitching the Shrike. I am hoping there will be a bigger crowd pleaser here this autumn .. Only a few weeks before the main fun and passage really starts:

Friday 5 August 2011

Pec Surprise

Walked into N Hide at Cley late morning and was asked to help out with the ID of a wader which they suspected was a Pec Sand.

Bird flew in closer, nice Adult Pectoral Sandpiper! Released the news and a few birders including S Gantlett managed to see it before it flew out of sight. Seems to like the left corner looking out from the hide.

Cley is looking in perfect condition for a really rare wader this month.


This was the best shot I could manage on my phone when the bird briefly flew in closer to the hide. Before it was chased away by the usual Avocet pair that attack any close waders!

I was surprised by how yellow the legs were. The pectoral band was very defined. The structure was very similar to a miniature Ruff, hunched over when feeding. Size was smaller than the Green Sandpipers next to it.

Stopped at Buxton Heath on way home briefly. One Crossbill flew over but highlight for me (of the day!) was a new moth. A Beautiful Yellow Underwing . Dayflying Heathland species which I did not even recognise until I looked it up.