Black Tern

We went over to Shoreham today, to see the juvenile Black Terns, that have been feeding around the harbour for the past few days. We parked up at the Lifeboat station and had great hopes of getting pictures of them sitting on the rails around the station.

As we arrived there were a number of Sandwich Terns feeding over the water but no sign of the target birds. Fortunately after a short wait Dave picked them up approaching from the other side of the harbour.

Black Tern

They are a great bird to see flying. Very different from the Sandwich Terns, mostly low over the water and very elegant, making the Sandwich Terns look rather clumsy alongside them.

We watched them for about an hour but in that time they did not appear to land anywhere. The best we could manage, were a few all to distant flybys. 

Black Tern

One of the Sandwich Terns was a bit more obliging coming into land on the spot we had reserved for the Black Terns.

Sandwich Tern

Earlier that day after the rain had cleared we had spent some time around Pagham Harbour looking for migrants. It seemed like ideal conditions, a clear night with heavy early morning rain, it looked a certainty for a fall of migrants waiting to cross the channel.

Once again it was a disappointment. There were a few birds around, Spotted Flycatchers, Yellow Wagtails and a single Redstart but numbers were low and I have still failed to see a lot of the usual autumn migrants. Even worse, decent opportunities for photographs seem to have dried up this year.

Spotted Flycatcher

Willow Warbler 

Things must improve soon!

Selsey Bill Seawatch

I am still not totally convinced on the merits of seawatching but with the forecast for today promising a favourable SE wind I thought I would give it a go. I am now the proud possessor of a copy of "Flight Identification of European Seabirds" and I needed to put some of the theory into practice. For me that means getting a picture and being able to study the identification features at home.

I picked Dave up just before six and we headed down to Selsey Bill, which would offer the chance of closer encounters and better pictures opportunities than our own bit of coast. We should have got up earlier, the dedicated seawatchers had been hard at work for an hour or so when we arrived and we had just missed a Pomarine Skua, our key target for the day.

First bird through was a Cormorant. Not really what we were looking for but a good opportunity to check out the camera settings and flight shot techniques.

Cormorant

We then had a steady trickle of the more common birds through, Terns, Divers, Kittiwakes and  Whimbrel, with the occasional, more interesting, Skua species. Perhaps not as good as we had expected but enough to keep the interest.

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Common Tern

Kittiwake

Whimbrel

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a picture of the Little Tern. We also had Black-throated and Great Northern Diver through and Common Scoter.

Black-throated Diver

Common Scoter

Lots of Gannets feeding off shore but these three seemed to be travelling with a purpose.

Gannets

Light and Dark Phase Arctic Skuas but no Bonxies that we could see.

Arctic Skua (Dark Phase)

Arctic Skua (Dark Phase)

Arctic Skua (Light Phase)

And in the end we did get our Pom although it was a long way off and it was difficult to identify until we saw the tail feather spoons.

Pomarine Skua

Large crop of the above showing spoons

We headed for home mid afternoon, happy that we had seen most of our targets. There were still a good number of the hardened seawatchers waiting for more Poms to come through and they had their reward when four went past, close in, late in the afternoon. Great video on the Selsey Blog, not sure who took it but I believe the term used now is Respect.

Close on eight hours of seawatching and I actually enjoyed it. I could become a convert, although I am not sure I could maintain my enthusiasm all through the winter.

Info    Phase or Morph  -  which term should I use. I found the following definitions:-

Phase
noun – traditional (becoming archaic): a genetically determined variability of coloration among individuals of the same species without being attributable to, associated with, or determined by subspecies, race, or geographic population.


Morph

noun – (1) biology: a recognizable group, distinctive for some specific attribute of form or structure, within a species; (2) an individual of a recognizable group within a species known for having two or more groups distinguishable by form or structure; (3a) ornithology: a group or an individual within a species known to vary by form or structure; (3b) an individual bird distinctive for a specific permanent plumage color within a species known for various genetically determined plumage colors that do not vary by age, season, breeding condition, or geographic subspecies status.


Chromer

noun – (Kevinism) an individual bearing a specific, permanent coloration that is one of two or more color variations typical of the species and not attributable to genetic mutation or defect or to age, season, breeding condition, geography, or subspecies status.



So perhaps it should be Chromer, although I am not sure that I would be allowed back into seawatching circles using such language!

Arctic Terns

In the afternoon we moved on to Inner Farne. Similar birds but also the chance of seeing Arctic, Sandwich and Common Terns. The Arctic Terns were the reason for visiting here. Again I had seen them before but never this close. A feisty bird, they nest next to and on the paths and you come under constant attack from birds warning you to keep away from their nests. Wear a thick hat if you go there.

There must be a balance for the Arctic Terns. Nest close to where the people go as it protects against the predator gulls but keep the people away from the nests to protect the eggs. It was interesting that some of the birds took no part in the mobbing of the visitors, choosing to sit calmly on the nests as the people walked past just a few feet away. I wonder if these are older birds who know that they are safe and are happy to let the more excitable youngsters get on with the harassment.

It is difficult to believe that these tiny eggs will hatch in a few weeks and by the end of the year the young birds will be down in the South Atlantic part way through an annual 56,000 mile migration.

The Sandwich and Common Terns were a bit harder to find than the Arctic. The Sandwich Terns were nesting in a tight colony in the centre of the island.

Although their name suggests they should be easy to find, the Common Terns were in short supply on the island with just a few lone individuals found nesting.

The islands still show a brutal side. Gulls wait to attack and steal food from returning Puffins. They also predate nests stealing eggs and chicks. It looks harsh but they have to live and they also have chicks to feed.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

It is not a cheap trip, £35 for the all day birding trip and £26 to the National Trust for landing rights. Expensive but well worth it. The National Trust also has to get the balance right. Allowing people onto the islands inevitably means some disturbance and abandoned nests. However, the money they make goes to providing wardens and to protecting the birds. Keeping the cost high will deter some visitors but I have to say, not me. I will be going back at the first opportunity that I get.

Have the National Trust got the balance right? The boats were very crowded, I would say overcrowded, and there were lots of people on the islands. Most were not birders and many seemed to be surprised by the Arctic Terns attacking them. A well aimed brolly, handbag, or flailing arm could do a lot of damage to these small birds. I also wonder if all the money is being used for the benefit of the birds. I could not find any details of visitor numbers or income but they could easily be taking £5-10K a day. I hope it is all being spent on the birds.

Common Terns

I was back over at Selsey today. My targets were to get a good picture of an Arctic Tern, to see a Cuckoo, and if there were Pomarine Skuas coming through, to get a look at those as well. There have been plenty of Cuckoos reported but, so far this year, I haven't even managed to hear one.

My first stops were the Pagham Harbour Visitor Centre and Church Norton looking for the Cuckoo. There were lots of small birds around in the bushes but no sign of the target bird. My best shot was of this Red-legged Partridge in the Church Yard.

Red-legged Partridge

Down at the bill things looked a bit slow, although there had been a couple of Arctic Skuas through earlier. I was told that there had been a Roseate feeding offshore so I decided to walk along the beach to take a closer look at the Terns. There were a few feeding over the water but with the tide rising the shingle bar was being covered and the Terns were moving onto the groynes to roost.

Terns at rest

Now all I needed to do was to find an Arctic Tern. The Sandwich Terns I can spot, the Arctics and a possible Roseate were a different level of problem.  I was looking for a Tern with slightly shorter legs, longer tail streamers, and a slightly paler upper-side, more the shade of the Sandwich Terns. Is there a difference?

When faced with this sort of problem I usually photograph everything and take the pictures home to check against the diagnostic details.

You only get about an hour before the groynes go underwater and the Terns move back out to sea. I took plenty of pictures and spent hours checking through them at home - and the conclusion - lots of pictures of Common Terns. There may have been an Arctic or a Roseate in amongst them, I may even have seen them, but I couldn't identify them.

The experts sitting at the bill can pick them out at a hundred metres and I struggle with the pictures two feet in front of my nose. I still have a lot to learn.

So here are a few pictures of Common Terns

and a Sandwich Tern

No success this time but I had great fun taking the pictures and I will be going back for another go.

I eventually caught up with a Cuckoo flying west to east along the North Wall at Pagham Harbour. It disappeared in the direction of Pagham Church but I did not bother pursuing it. By then the rain had set in and there was little chance of a picture.

Black Tern

There has been a distinct lack of birds showing over the past week with even the local resident birds keeping a low profile. Reports from sites along the south coast have indicated similar situations. In an effort to liven up the birding and the blogs, we decided to travel down to the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve. Pennington Marsh as it is more commonly known.

When I was last there at the beginning of August to see the Long-billed Dowitcher there were a lot of birds about and recent reports on the Hampshire site had looked good. In particular we hoped to see Black Terns and to get some decent pictures of Curlew Sandpiper and there was always the chance that Dave would get to see the Long-billed Dowitcher that was still being reported occasionally.

When we got there it looked like another bad decision. The lagoons were mostly dry and there were no birds to be seen on them. Even the Coots had disappeared. We sat for a while and watched the seaward side as the tide came in. There were a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover being driven in by the rising tide and a couple of Pied Wagtails feeding off the mud. Interesting but not what we had driven all that way for. At least the Herring Gull that joined us for lunch gave some picture opportunities.

Herring Gull and Friend

Lets Play

Having eaten our lunch we decided to walk along to the jetty. It's a good spot for Turnstones, if you want them, and there are a number of posts sticking out of the water that are used by the Gulls and Terns.

There were a couple of Terns there when we arrived and others flew in as we watched. The problem was that they were mostly juveniles with just a couple of adults in transition between summer and winter plumage. I had not given any thought as to how to identify Juvenile Terns and we had left the Collins back in the car. The Sandwich Terns were easy to identify but the Commons and Blacks were giving us a bit of a problem. Local birdwatchers seemed equally confused. In the end it was a case of photograph everything and try and work it out later.

Two Common Terns and a Sandwich

Common Tern

They look different but it must be two Commons

Juvenile Black Tern

Juvenile Black Tern

So, not many birds about but still an interesting day and at least I have learnt something about identifying Juvenile Terns. I will have to start thinking about amending the novice birder description in my introduction.

A Few Quiet Days Birding

Its all been very quiet on the birding front lately. I have been out plenty of times but its just the usual suspects around, I have not managed to see anything new or unusual. I have had some target birds in mind, Turtle Dove, Flycatcher, Little Tern, Osprey and they are about, if only in small numbers, but so far not visible when I am there. Still it's great getting out into the countryside early in the morning, it really makes you feel alive. I know my luck will change soon, I just need to go birding even more often to make it happen!

The following pictures are the best from the past weeks birding and where better to start than the ubiquitous Whitethroat.

Whitethroat - Seaford Head

Linnet - Hope Gap

Another Whitethroat - Hope Gap

Rye Harbour looked like giving the best chance of seeing the Little Terns and at first I thought I was in luck, but you start to get suspicious when you realise they are not moving.

Perhaps if I added a bit of blur in Photoshop ......

Plenty of Common and Sandwich Terns there and a few Mediterranean Gulls on the edges of the Black-headed Gull colonies.

Sandwich Terns nesting amongst the Black-headed Gulls

Sandwich Tern

and in flight

Common Tern with half a fish

Mediterranean Gulls

I also called in on Arlington Reservoir. There are Turtle Doves around there somewhere and I often hear them calling but I have yet to see them. The Osprey did drop in whilst I was there but unfortunately I was off investigating the river just below the weir which is usually a good place for Damselflies and I missed it.

I did get to see a Great Crested Grebe trying to swallow a large fish. It took about a quarter of an hour to get it down as the bird was getting tired and the fish kept slipping out. It did succeed in the end but as it sailed off into the distance it still had the end of the fishes tail sticking out of its mouth.

Great Crested Grebe with its catch

Just a quick swallow

Proving a bit harder than expected - keeps slipping out

All gone - nearly!

 Do birds suffer from indigestion?

Nice to see so many so many fledglings about as well. This Pied Wagtail was busy trying to keep three hungry youngsters happy.

Already bigger than its mum.

And to finish off a nice sunset shot of a Sanderling in full summer Plumage.

Sanderling