Fair Isle Photos

Just a quick one before going to play football!

80 degree bank over north haven in an 8 seater plane, mega!!!

Young Fulmar that got stuck in a field and couldn't take off so what do you do? Throw it off a cliff! Seriously cool feeling!

Self found lifer! Digibinned as it fed with twite through the obs window! Just a little bit of Fair Isle Magic!!!

Quick visit to the Flashes this evening after dipping on the Tardebigge Garganey.

1 Juv Arctic Tern was on the mud looking like it was roosting with the Common Terns but then flew off south at 8:45pm. Have been checking out the Juv Common Terns to try and pick one out and making myself familiar with the plumage so that I could pick one out so it was really nice to find one this evening. All dark bill, no gingery/brown across the back, shorter legs all noted while the bird was on the deck and also the cap seemed darker and more well defined. Then when it flew the jizz was more bouncy and also an all white rump, no dark bar on the trailing secondaries and a more diffuse front black bar on the front of the wing all noted. A plumage I hadn't seen before and also an Upton lifer taking me to 136 life and only 108 for the year.

Also 3 Greenshank had passed through earlier by 3 people in the hide (none of whom had put it in the book!) Other wise 8 Green Sand, 8 Teal, 1Little Owl on the Chimney and 28 Curlew roosted.

Cornwall 23rd July-5th August

So in this post I will write a summary of what birding I managed to get done in the 14 days I spent near Penzance, Mousehole on a family holiday. (Square brackets after a bird either mean number on life list in red or year list in green)


Day 1 23/07
From House
100+ Manx Shearwater [170]
1 Shag [171]
24 Common Scoter [172]
30+ Gannet
50 Curlew


Day 2 24/07
From House
5+ Fulmar [173]
25 Common Scoter
100+ Manx Shearwater


Day 3 25/07
Gwennap head
1 Balearic Shearwater [245] [174]
500+ Manx Shearwater
15+ Razorbill [175]
3 Guillemot [176]
1 Great Skua [177]
250+ Gannet
20+ Fulmar
10+ Kittiwake
5 Rock Pipit
2 Med Gulls (Ad, Juv)
1 Stuart Croft! (Spooky coincidence from Upton Warren!)


St. Ives
2 Med Gulls (Ad, Juv)


Day 4 26/07
Marazion Marsh RSPB
Beach
c20 Sanderling [178]
5 Dunlin
4 Med Gulls (2nd Summer, 3 Juvs)
5 Ringed Plover


Reserve
1 Sedge Warbler
4 Reed Warbler
2 Blackcap


Day 5 27/07
Pendeen
1 Balearic Shearwater
150 Manx Shearwater
100+ Gannet
20 Fulmar


Cornish Headland
3 Chough [179]
5 Raven
1 Roe Deer


Day 7 29/07
Sennen Cove
3 Med Gulls (Ad, 2 Juvs)
10+ Gannets, flying over head whilst body boarding


Hayle Estuary
5 Whimbrel
20+ Curlew
4 Redshank
5 Little Egrets
5 Med Gull (3ad 2juv)
3 Common Sandpiper


Day 8 30/07
From House
4 Common Sandpipers
1 Juv Med Gull
1 Commic Tern
4 Rock Pipit


Day 9 31/07
Gwennap Head
2 Sooty Shearwater [246] [180]
2 Storm Petrel [247] [181]
3 Balearic Shearwater
500+ Manx Shearwater
5 Razorbill
2 Guillemot
1 Minke Whale


Fishing Trip out of Penzance
1 Balearic Shearwater
5 Manx Shearwaters
2 Storm Petrel


Day 10 01/08
Mousehole
2 Med Gull (ad, juv)
11 Turnstone
20+ Manx Shearwater
100+ Curlew roosted on St Clements rock


Day 11 02/08
Praa Sands
2 Whimbrel
1 Common Sand
6 Med Gull
2 Shag
Most seen at close range from a kayak


Hayle Estuary
2 Whimbrel
1 Dunlin
11 Greylag Geese
1 Common Sandpiper
2 Little Egret


Day 12 03/08
Mousehole
11 Turnstone
Juv Med Gull
Hummingbird Hawkmoth
100+ Manx Shearwater


Day 13 04/08
Gwennap Head
Puffin [248
6 Sooty Shearwater
15 Storm Petrel
5 Balearic Shearwater




Day 14 05/08
Sennen Cove
3 Med Gull 
1 Whimbrel
5+ Kittiwake (over head whilst surfing!)

From House
60+ Manx Shearwater (Means that I have now seen Manx Shearwater everyday for 2 weeks, awsome!)

Went out in search of Turtle Dove around south Worcs today and failed found one of these though-

Okay so it wasn't that plastic but may as well have been. Popped into Upton Warren on way home with 4 Summer Plumaged Black-tailed Godwit and 9 Green Sandpipers at the flashes as well as 1 Little Egret at the moors being the highlights. Freedom is GOOD!


Also here's a few (one) interesting site that some of you might appreciate (if any body reads this!)


http://www.trektellen.nl/ Is a migration place bird count site where you can find peak counts of birds like 7114 Great Shearwater past at the Butt of Lewis! Wow http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=193&land=5&site=0&datum=20070908&taal=2


I'm sure I had another website that I wanted to share but can't remember now! I'll put it in the next post.


Oh and a big shout out to the person from Vietnam that visited here! 

A text from Brian Stretch just as I was going to work alerting me to a Female Red-necked Phalarope on the Flashes meant that the work day was going to seem longer than usual! But all was not to fear and when I arrived at the flashes around half 7 she was still present.

Possibly the same bird that dropped in for a day on fathers day last year? Will it happen again next year? Also present were 3 Green Sand and its nice to see the 2 LRP chicks have fledged as well as the 3 Avocets.

Long Blog posts are to much effort at the moment. Might try again in the summer for some time, but for know thought I'd show you my first attempts at recording bird song. Brought a mic for my iPod touch from Amazon for £5 quick download of a free app and I was off to Straw's Bridge NR to record this, comments appreciated.

http://ia360700.us.archive.org/12/items/GreatReedWarbler/GreatReedWarbler.Ilkeston18.06.mp3

BOOM

BOOM

Okay so there on a bit of a different level, but two lifers. More later

Well its been over a month and a half since I posted on here! Thought I best update it.


Last time I posted it was at the beginning of April after a suffolk trip, to summarise went for the Lesser Kestrel dipped managed Pallid Swift though other highlights including Med Gull, Bearded Tit (all 6 English tit species in 1 day) Kittiwake and visiting Minsmere for the first time.


Been birding lots at Upton Warren recently with Long-eared Owl being a real highlight a bird showed superbly well hunting around the North Moors. 


More recently a walk over the public footpath by Grovely where I had a male Yellowhammer which was nice and several more over Bittel and also a fly through Hobby.


A male Whitethroat has been singing over the back of my garden for the just over a week, Dad heard a Whimbrel on  22nd flying over the garden and just today I had a Red Kite flying high east just up the road from the house.