Hooded Crow

The birding has been a bit slow this past week but I was eventually tempted down to Pagham Harbour to look for the Hooded Crow. It, or another one like it, had been reported regularly from the Medmerry site over the past couple of months but locating it there was pure luck.

With reports of a Hooded Crow on Pagham Spit the chances of success looked a bit more favourable and with a Sussex tick on offer it was worth making the trip.

Arriving early morning with the sun shining, the tide out, and no dog walkers in sight the prospects looked promising, although the area of beach to search did surprise me. Last time I was there it had mostly been washed away and the beach houses were under threat of disappearing into the sea.

After inspecting a few Carrion Crows I eventually found the Hoodie foraging by itself by the edge of a tidal pool. It let me approach to a reasonable distance but then when I tried to get closer started walking away to maintain a safe distance. Not too bad though, particularly as I had the light behind me.

I thought it would eventually get comfortable with me being there and I would get a better shot but just as it seemed to be gaining confidence the inevitable dog appeared over the top of the beach and the bird took flight landing on the Church Norton Spit on the other side of the harbour breach. Fifty yards for the bird, a twelve mile drive and half an hours walk for me.

There were other birds about but all a bit distant. The Peregrines were sitting on their island. Worth recording but just too far away for a good shot.

Fortunately I had another target. When I parked the car I had flushed a single Golden Plover from the shingle at the side of the Pagham Lagoon. It seemed reluctant to fly, or perhaps unable to fly and after a couple of record shots I left it in peace. Returning to the car two hours later it was still there so using the car as a hide I was able to get a few better shots.

It seemed healthy enough and was moving around without difficulty but this is a flock bird. I am not sure why it was by itself and or why it was reluctant to fly. It's not usually a good sign.

A few other shots  -  the long staying and very reliable Church Norton Whimbrel.

And a couple from a disappointing trip down to Dungeness. Ruff at Scotney Pit and  male Smew on Burrows Pit

The Smew was very mobile and in windy conditions I couldn't get a decent shot even though I tracked it around the various pits for most of the morning.

I also managed to see Tree Sparrows, Cattle Egret, a Great White Egret and probably the Whooper Swans. The later were in the right place, just north of Cockles Bridge feeding with the Mutes. I could see yellow on the bill but they were just too distant to be certain particularly as there were a number of Bewicks in the area.

White-tailed Eagle

White-tailed Eagle has been on the wish list for sometime but I couldn't really justify all that mileage for one bird. Fortunately a recent holiday had us stopping off at Portree on Skye and a trip out on the local boat Stardust gave me the views I had been hoping for.

Three birds were seen, the first two being a pair nesting on the cliffs a couple of miles south of Loch Portree. The views were a bit distant but we had the female sitting close to the nest and the male perched up about fifty metres away.

Distant shot of female with nest below left

Male close by

Further along the coast we had a second female

Second female, heavily blinged - tags, rings, and backpack transmitter

Second female swooping for fish

Second female with fish and state of the art backpack!!!

Heading over to Raasay

So where is the picture of the eagle snatching the fish from the water? - I didn't take it. You have the choice, watch the action or get the picture and I didn't want to miss seeing the eagle close up. Next time I will go for the picture.


Moving from one introduced species to another - the Golden Pheasants on Tresco. I doubt that there are any self sustaining populations left in the UK but the bird is still on the list so in theory still countable. On Tresco it is not really hard to find. There are a good number of un-ringed free to fly birds wandering around and they have little fear of humans.

Tresco is a privately owned fiefdom so I am not sure that the usual rules re the ringing of released birds apply and most sources suggest the numbers are regularly topped up with new birds.

It is a stunning bird to look at and as we were visiting the Abbey Gardens I was set on getting a picture. Slight problem, they have either had an argument with a lawn mower or the moult is in progress. Not exactly the picture I was looking for.

Golden Pheasnt in moult

The story of their arrival on Tresco is an interesting one. An exhibition of figureheads from wrecked ships had one for the tea clipper the Friar Tuck. In 1856 this ship was swept onto rocks whilst sheltering from a gale in St Marys Roads. Despite the best efforts of the customs men, large quantities of tea were acquired by the islanders  but it was also said to be carrying Chinese Pheasants which found their way onto Tresco.

If true it must have been a self sustaining population for a good period of time.



Other birds seen on my travels

Black Guillemot

Manx Shearwater

Razor Bill

Eider 

Gannet

Common Guillemot

Hooded Crow

I also picked up Shag and Dipper but couldn't get a decent picture of either. Oh! and a hint for other bird photographers - you don't have to chase the birds. Use field craft, stay in cover, and wait for the bird to come to you.

Should have spent more time birding!

Cyprus

I had a week in Cyprus over Christmas on a family holiday. Whilst that meant no going off  by myself for the day birding, I did still get to see plenty of birds. We were based in Paphos so a walk around the headland always presented a good opportunities to see the birds, although unfortunately, not the Greater Sand Plover that I had been told were almost guaranteed there.

Waders were in short supply and the only ones I saw, Common Sandpipers and Golden Plover, hardly set the heart racing. Pictures were also harder to come by as I did not have the large lens with me.

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Golden Plover

Golden Plover

And with a Kingfisher sitting by one of the rock pools it felt just like being at home.

Kingfisher

The most common birds were House Sparrows, Larks, Black Redstarts, Stonechats and Hooded Crows.

Crested Lark

Crested Lark

Woodlark

Woodlark

Skylark

Black Redstart

Hooded Crow

Hooded Crow and Kestrel

We had one day up in the Troodos mountains and this was the one that I had been looking forward to. I had great hopes of seeing some decent raptors - but it didn't happen. We got up over 6000ft and had some great views out over the valleys but there were no birds flying. All I saw all day were Chaffinches and Sparrows and one very distant raptor that was too far away to identify.


Back down on the Paphos headland I finally caught up with a couple of decent birds, a Spanish Sparrow and a Sardinian Warbler.

Spanish Sparrow

Sardinian Warbler

Sardinian Warbler

I didn't see any signs of shooting or of the lime sticks that I have seen on other Mediterranean islands but there were caged birds around, in particular Turtle Doves. Its sad when I think how long I spend each year trying to see them in the UK.

Linnet

As always, I would have liked to have seen more. Perhaps I will be able to get back sometime in the future and spend a bit more time tracking down some of the birds but that's it for now.

Baltic Gull

Well. I am just back from holiday, a two week cruise around the Baltic. Plenty of food and culture, Stockholm, St Petersburg, etc. and with the benefit of a days mini Paleartic cruise across the North Sea at the beginning and end of it. I can really recommend sitting out on the balcony, in the sun, with a cold beer just waiting for something like a Storm Petrel to turn up. The trouble is that nothing did turn up. I had seen Petrels before as well as other sea going birds but this time it was just Herring Gulls and Gannets.

Herring Gull

Gannet

Things improved slightly as we moved north through the Baltic with the Herring Gulls gradually being replace by Baltic Gulls. I had not expected the Baltics to be much different from a Lesser Black-backed but these were a much more elegant looking bird with longer wings and a very dark back.

Baltic Gull

The idea then was to immerse myself in the culture of the places we visited and to enjoy a different type of holiday. The trouble is that I have a camera that just refuses to take holiday snaps and gets very excited when birds or butterflies come near. There were very few opportunities for pictures but there was always the unusual that showed that you were not back in England. Flocks of Barnacle Geese on most of the lakes where I would have expected Canada Geese and Carrion Crow replaced by Hooded Crow.

Barnacle Goose

Hooded Crow

and a Sand Lizard, perhaps not unusual but I cannot remember the last time I saw one in England.

Sand Lizard

The butterfly sightings were equally flat. I chased after a few whites whilst in St Petersburg hoping that I had an Appolo or a Black-veined White but they were all Green-veined.

Green-veined White

I did have one find, a Queen of Spain Fritillary which is a first for me. I did think about putting it in a box and bringing it back to England ... but that would be cheating.

Queen of Spain Fritillary

I left the sun and temperatures of thirty degrees plus in Sweden and Russia and I have come back to rain and gales. I need it all to clear up quickly as I still have that Brown Hairstreak to find. It should be my final butterfly of the year and I will then be able get back to the birding. That is, unless the Queen of Spain puts in a late autumn appearance over here as it did at Chichester a few years ago.