Stejneger's Stonechat

In January 2017, Dave I visited  Dungeness twice and spent a good part of that time searching the area around the quarry for a suspected Siberian Stonechat, possibly a Stejneger's. We had checked the identification features but really had no idea if we would be able to identify the bird if we caught sight of it. 

We needn't have worried. We didn't manage to see it and although disappointed at the waste of time did have to smile when we subsequently found that DNA  analysis had shown it to be a European Stonechat. 

I had a sense of "deja vu" when another possible was reported at Medmerry. Researching the identification features again, left me with no more confidence than for the Dungeness bird, that I would be able to make the identification. Did I really want to spend time looking for one Stonechat, amongst a lot of other Stonechats, that I probably wouldn't recognise as being anything out of the ordinary anyway.

I left it a couple of days but in the end I had to go. It was on my patch and it would help heal the open wound left by the failure at Dungeness.

 

The directions to the thistle Field were easy to follow and there were already four or five people watching when I arrived. All very promising but the downside was that there were a lot of Stonechats in the field and it was a very bright morning. Not the sort for looking for subtle differences in feather hues let alone trying to get a photograph of them.

After a couple of false starts I did manage to pick up one bird that looked different. It looked more like a Whinchat with strong supercilium's but with a broad white throat. Further observation showed that overall the bird looked paler than those around it with less colour on the belly and with an unstreaked apricot rump.

Viewed from other angles the supercillium barely showed up and at times I thought I was getting two different birds mixed up. You had to follow it until the angle changed and the white reappeared.

To me it looked a good candidate and other more experienced birders had similar views. Clearly it stood out from the other European Stonechats around it but was the variation within the limits of the European species? More worrying, would I have just written it of as another Stonechat if I hadn't been told that it was there.

A DNA sample had been collected the day before and the only way the bird will be accepted is on the basis of this sample. 

Watch this space............ The news is not good, no DNA could be extracted from the sample so it doesn't count. Looked good at the time though.

Lammergeier

 

I had just arrived home from photographing the Grey Phalarope at Widewater when a message popped up on Twitter to say that the Lammergeier had been seen near East Dean. I knew it was travelling south and I had joked about getting a garden tick, but I hadn't really expected to get a chance to see it. The obvious route for it was down through Kent and out across the channel.

There really wasn't any choice, I jumped back in the car and headed off towards East Dean which is about a 50 minute journey. I pulled over just after crossing the Exceat bridge to check the Twitter messages for updates and realised that it had moved and was flying above the Friston Forest. Quite frustrating really as I was sitting in Friston Forest car park and couldn't see anything through the trees.

I had to retreat to more open ground at the Exceat bridge to get a view out over the forest.

The Lammergeier was distant, only really visible with binoculars, but there was no mistaking it as glided over the forest accompanied by a flock of crows and at least one Buzzard.

I tried driving along the Litlington Road but couldn't get any views of it so ended up at High and Over along with a lot of other birders and watched it from there. It was distant all the time I was observing but it is amazing what detail the camera can pick up given that it was barely visible without the binoculars.

I watched until it went to roost in a tree just north east of the Long Man Brewery on the Litlington road. It had made one close pass at High and Over before I arrived there, so I am sure there will be some good pictures about. There is also the chance to go and see it leave the roost in the morning but I get the feeling that it might be a bit busy along there. Perhaps if it is still around in a couple of days I might give it another go.

The main event of the day was meant to be photographing the Grey Phalarope but that ended up being a bit overshadowed by the Lammergeier. Still, an excellent bird for the local patch and well worth recording.

As with most Phalaropes it showed little fear of people, often approaching within a few feet of the observers.

It makes it easy to get good pictures but perhaps a little less rewarding in that the skill element necessary to get that picture is non existent.

I also find that I am starting to gather a lot of  images of these "rare" but easy to photograph birds. The Red-backed Shrike is another example.

Great bird though and who can turn down the opportunity of adding just a few more good pictures to the collection.

Lapland Bunting

 

Actually the blog covers the Lapland Bunting and a juvenile Purple Heron. No UK life ticks all year then two come along in just two days.

Better still I had really good views of the Bunting. This is a bird where I was not confident in making the identification. I knew that I would need either plenty of time to check the features or some good pictures to enable me to check later. Spook it after a quick view and there would always be an element of doubt.

The location was Beachy Head where the bird had been reported a number of times over the previous three or four days. I arrived early and headed towards the trig point which was one of its favoured spots. There were a couple of people already there who pointed me in the right direction but I just couldn't locate it. It was only when they made a second effort that I realised the bird was in long grass about twenty feet away instead of the twenty metre area I had been scanning.

I spent a frustrating half hour with just an occasional view of a head popping out of the long grass but eventually it showed well.....

and finally came out onto some open ground where I could get some better pictures. 

I had always thought this was quite a timid bird that was easily flushed but this one did not seem at all concerned at our presence. It was happily feeding for the whole time I watched and did not even move when some walkers passed within about ten feet of it.

Lapland Bunting has been on my hit list for a while now. It is one that I feel I should have seen and I have come close on a couple of occasions but have always just managed to miss it. It was nice to be able to cross it off my list and even better to get such views.

If I had good views of the Lapland Bunting then the juvenile Purple Heron that I saw the previous day was the complete opposite. Rather than stand around all day waiting for it to come out of the reeds I decided to go along early evening to watch it go to roost. Less time wasted and a better chance of seeing the bird but the downside would be the reduced chance of a picture in the lower light levels.

I just hadn't realised quite how dark it would be when the bird went to roost. I arrived at Burton Mill Pond at about five thirty with the expectation that it would fly sometime between then and six thirty. It was actually six thirty five when it appeared and it was just visible through the gloom flying above the reeds. 

Fortunately I had spent the waiting time, gradually turning up the ISO on the camera from my usual 400 setting until I got to 16000. The pictures are not good but at least you can see that it is a Purple Heron. At the time it was too dark to be sure but the camera view is a lot brighter than the image I was seeing.

I am amazed the camera could even focus at these light levels let alone catch the bird in flight. It's not all good though, as enlarging the subjects gives a very grainy image.

at roost

I have seen Purple Herons before in Spain and in South Africa. Got a slightly better picture as well but it's nice to get the UK tick.

Hippo Hollow South Africa 2016

So a great couple of days and two UK life ticks. The experience wasn't even spoilt by not being down at Pagham Harbour when Nighthawk came through. You have to leave some birds for another day.

Blair's Mocha

 

The moth trap is still proving to be an interesting distraction in these times of covid-19. With a small urban garden, close to the sea and a couple of miles from the nearest countryside, I hadn't really expected to see too much in the way of numbers and variety in the trap. I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised. True, the numbers are not huge, probably a maximum of forty to fifty a night, but as a beginner the challenge of identification has been enough to keep me occupied for a good few hours each time the trap is run.

The following is just a selection of some of the moths caught. There is nothing special about them, I just feel the need to keep an occasional record on the blog. Google permitting I will be able to return to and read them again in future years. 

My first moth is a Blair's Mocha. Previously an occasional migrant species but now resident on the south coast. Just a fascinating shape particularly with the appearance of a streamlined head. One of the benefits of global warming and of living on the south coast is that we get to see these species before the rest of the country.

Blair's Mocha - Cyclophora albipunctata

The picture was taken in the lid of the sample pot as I have found these Geometridae difficult to photograph. Sure enough, when I tried to transfer it to a better background it took the opportunity to escape. I may not be an expert on handling moths but one thing I learnt from birding is get your record shot first then worry about getting a good picture.

The next moth, a Blood Vein, required me to use a different set of skills, those of butterflying and in particular the pursuit of the Pearl-bordered species. I disturbed this one whilst walking along the North Wall at Pagham and watched as it disappeared into the distance. There then followed a half hour search and pursuit, during which it regularly disappeared form sight and often settled in spots where it couldn't be photographed, but eventually I got the picture.

Blood-vein - Timandra comae

One from the trap, a Campion. Nice looking moth and easy to identify as it is reasonably fresh and still shows the purplish marbling on the wings. The picture below that is of the very similar looking Lychnis. When the Campion is older and faded they are harder to tell apart. You are then comparing the width of the wing, the kidney and eye shapes on the Campion being more distorted, and the shape of the outer white cross line on the forewing. More subjective and not easy unless you have the two side by side.

Campion - Hadena rivularis

Lychnis - Hadena bicruris

And now for something completely different, a Chinese Character. This species holds its wings erect when at rest and resembles bird droppings. The camouflage seems to work with birds reported to often ignore it when feeding. At only 10-13mm long and looking like something you don't want to put your hand on this moth is easily overlooked.

Chinese Character - Cilix glaucata

 There are a number of Noctuid moths called ‘Wainscots’. The name refers to their colour and pattern rather than suggesting closer family links. They are generally off-white with veins giving the appearance of longitudinal whitish stripes all the way down the forewing. Below are two of these, the Common and the L-album.

Common Wainscot - Mythimna pallens

L-album Wainscot - Mythimna l-album

Most moths rest with their wings flat or curled up close to their bodies. There are, however, a few examples of moths that will rest with their wings held aloft like a butterfly. Below is a Cypress Carpet showing this behaviour, with the picture after that the same moth with its wings flat.

Cypress Carpet - Thera cupressata

Cypress Carpet - Thera cupressata

And below a Latticed Heath holding a similar position. This moth was in the kitchen for most of the day and seemed to hold the vertical wing position for all of that time.

Latticed Heath - Chiasmia clathrata clathrata

A Delicate, not rare but the first one I have seen and below that a Pale Mottled Willow. The latter being easy to identify from the white spots around the kidney mark.

Delicate - Mythimna vitelina

Pale Mottled Willow - Paradrina clavipalpis

Another Geometridae, the Light Emerald. It is said to be common but I have only ever seen one of them, this on a leaf at the side of the trap. I nearly missed it but I have now got into the habit of searching all the vegetation close to the trap.

Light Emerald - Campaea margaritata

The Orange Swift is part of the Hepialidae family. These are primitive moths that have no working proboscis or mouth parts, so only live about a week. There are around 500 species worldwide with just five occurring in the British Isles.

Orange Swift - Hepialus sylvina

Underwings have been plentiful in the trap of late. They are mostly varieties of the Yellow underwings and strangely most are in very poor shape. Rather than show those, here are two in better condition, a Copper Underwing which unfortunately I could not get to open its wings and a Red Underwing which was more obliging but only when sitting on the Red Blinds. I think the identification as Copper Underwing rather than Svensson's Copper Underwing is correct but I can't be sure hence the Amphipyra agg designation.

Copper Underwing agg - Amphipyra agg 

Red Underwing - Catocala nupta

I haven't yet found a reliable method of getting the moths to display the underwing. Perhaps its pure luck......

and below a Setaceous Hebrew Character included because it was showing some of the underwing. It makes such a difference to the pictures.

Setaceous Hebrew Character - Xestia c-nigrum

I have included a picture of the Rush Veneer as a representative of the Micro Moths although at 12-15mm it is actually bigger than many of the Macros.

Rush Veneer - Nomophila noctuella

I include the next two pictures because the use of camouflage by moths is fascinating. I understand that thousands of years of natural selection will have developed wing colours and patterns that match their natural habitat. However, there seems to be more at play here. 

I placed the Treble-bar below on a stone wall where it stayed for about twenty seconds before relocating to an adjacent wooden panel. It then proceeded to move around in what appeared to be an attempt to line up its wing markings with the woodgrain. Unfortunately in my attempts to get a picture I flushed it so never got to see the final result.

Treble-bar - Aplocera plagiataplagiata

The Willow Beauty was another example. I placed it on a piece of plain wall and it quickly relocated to this textured area.The match is so good it looks as though the moths wings are transparent. Does this show a level of self-awareness, of the moth knowing what it looks like, or is it just coincidence. I am not sure but it is something I will be looking for in the future.

Willow Beauty - Peribatodes rhomboidaria

So much more to see and wonder at. Why didn't I start looking at moths years ago?

Dotterel

I haven't been spending much time birding lately, but Tuesday's news of three Dotterel, on the downs just south of Ditchling Beacon, soon had my attention. I have seen them before but never in Sussex and my only picture is a distant, barely recognisable shot.

There are a number of traditional stopping off points along the South Downs, that are regularly used by the Dotterel on their spring and autumn migrations. Reports are less and less frequent as the years go by but opportunities to see them still exist.  

Dotterel

I have searched the Ditchling Beacon and Balsdean areas in previous years but with no luck. Unless you spot the bird flying in, they can be very difficult to locate. They have good camouflage and tend to hunker down in dips and gullies and stay still for long periods. It can seem a thankless task, searching for something that is difficult to see, when you know that there is a near certainty that it is not even there. However, someone found these three and they deserve my thanks for putting the report out.

It was a bit different when I went off in search of my first Sussex sighting on the Wednesday. Good directions made the area easy to find and a small group of observers already onto the birds made the exact location clear. In many ways it was a little disappointing to find such a difficult bird with no real effort on my part.

However, I wanted a picture and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity. I spent about an hour just getting brief glimpses of a couple of the birds roosting in amongst the chalk and stubble. Eventually they did move and I got my picture opportunities. Distant but much better than anything I have had in the past.

Dotterel

Dotterel

There were good numbers of Wheatears foraging along the fence lines as I walked back to the car but unfortunately there were no Whinchats visible.

Wheatear

And a few pictures from earlier in the summer, Corn Bunting, House Martin, and Spotted Flycatchers. 

Corn Bunting

House Martin

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

 

Nice to see the Dotterel and as I said above, the pictures are better than anything I had before, but looking at them again they are not really good enough. The challenge of getting a good picture is still there.