Hoopoe

OK, I said I was going to post all Somerset stuff on the new website, but a couple of things......

First, I just had to show off this Hoopoe, found by my Dad just outside our village on some scrappy fields yesterday. I love how we're surrounded by top-class nature reserves and the birds just turn up on old farmland.

Secondly, I would really appreciate it if you could add the new website/blog www.avalonwildlife.co.uk to your links or blog lists. I'm trying to get the ball rolling so as much traffic as possible is really important right now. I'm currently trying to create a blog list like the one in the sidebar as a page for the new site but its a bit HTML-fiddly, so might be a while, but I will try and create reciprocals for any links.

Thanks a lot

Pied-billed Grebe

 As planned, we were down at Ham Wall nice and early, a little too early in fact, as thick fog was hampering the search for the Pied-billed Grebe. Could have stayed in bed another half hour!

I imagine the crowd got a little bigger than this later on

Not great viewing conditions

Eventually, as the fog started to burn off a little, the bird swum out from the reeds right in front of the viewing platform. It looked great through the scope, a really smart bird, the first i've seen in summer plumage. The visibility was still too poor for photos though, but hopefully you can just about make out what it is.

Podilymbus in the mist

17th February EDIT: the much nicer weather today allowed better views, but  it was still a little far for photies

Male Marsh Harrier at Ham Wall from a couple days ago

Great Grey Shrike

A wind direction switch to South-east gave me a very enjoyable final day on Blakeney Point, with plenty of birds, mainly overhead

Short-eared Owl in off the sea

Mid-morning a phone call alerted us to a Great Grey Shrike on The Yankee. It soon moved out in to the harbour where it chased Linnets around the saltmarsh, apparently without success

A Woodlark that dropped in briefly near The Plantation was a  Point 'tick' for all present

A male Hen Harrier quartering the saltmarsh rounded off the day nicely

I have a couple of hours to try and find something tomorrow morning, then its back to (relative) civilisation in Somerset.

More important things than birding

Phew, what an evening! Well it would have to be to warrant such an improbable blog title.

I was out watching the wader roost at dusk, and things were looking good, with a Purple and Curlew Sandpiper joining building numbers of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin. While looking through the scope I heard a distant 'pop', looked up and saw a red flare falling over to the East, a quick scan of the sea revealed an upside down boat with 2 people struggling desperately to hold on, one without a lifejacket. The sea was really messy too, with big swells and massive breakers hitting the beach, they were clearly in really bad trouble. I rang 999 for the first time in my life and got onto Great Yarmouth coastguard and relayed the situation, and they scrambled the Wells lifeboat. After that all I could do was watch and wait, I felt so helpless watching these two strangers in their distant battle between life and death, knowing there was absolutely nothing more I could do. I waved frantically in the hope that they would see me and know that help was on the way, but I doubt they noticed.

They were rapidly drifting East with the tide so I legged it down the beach, scope, tripod and camera flying about everywhere and got to a high spot on the dunes where I could see them well enough to relay information to the coastguard guys as they rang me for updates.

Pretty soon a RIB appeared out of Blakeney Harbour and was clearly looking for the boat. I was waving them over in the right direction from the shore, I don't know if they could see me or not, but the guys on the upturned RIB noticed them and fired off signal flare to mark their position. The rescue RIB saw this immediately and hooned over to them, going over some big old breakers at the harbour mouth. They soon had the 2 stricken crew into the their RIB and began taking them back to safety, just as the lifeboat turned up. After that it looked like the lifeboat went to have a go at salvaging the boat, but it was getting too dark to see much so I left them to it.

The stricken boat and the crew clinging on for dear life

The rescuers on the way

The flare being fired off

The rescue

The crew being taken back in, stopping to talk to the lifeboat guys.

Massive respect to the two blokes who came out of Blakeney in their RIB for the rescue, I have no idea who they are but hopefully will find out tomorrow so I can shake their hands. They did a great job getting through some difficult seas. Top marks too to the lifeboat for getting out so fast from Wells, even if they weren't needed for the rescue in the end, hopefully they got the boat back.

So back to birding, i'll keep it brief:

Early morning seawatching was noticeably slower than yesterday evening, just a few Arctic Skuas and Bonxies. 

The beach at dawn, with the high tide being pushed worryingly close to the dunes by the wind

Fortunately, later on a Barred Warbler turned up at the Long Hills and showed well in an Elder bush for a few minutes before disappearing out onto the saltmarsh, and probably to the mainland

 Curlew Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper

All photos Copyright to Joe Cockram

24 Shades of Greenish

The Greenish Warbler was still showing well in the brambles this morning, but soon moved into the plaantation, where it was much less showy. Apparently this is the 24th record for The Point, which must make it the best single site in the UK for Greenish. Does anyone know any better?

Like yesterday, there were very few other migrants around, 1 Pied Fly, 1 Whinchat, 2 Yellow Wags and 2 Willow Warblers were all I could find, plus my first Sooty Shearwater of the year this afternoon.

Whinchat in the morning sun

Willow Warbler

Yellow Wagtail

Greenish Warbler

Today got off to a disastrous start as I got up too late for any good seawatching (Rookie move, I won't be caught out like that again this Autumn), but was rescued in fine style.

While checking Near Point late in the morning, a warbler popped it's head out of the suaeda, showing a bloody big supercillium and a large pale bill. That was enough to set the pulse racing as we had high hopes after seeing news of Greenish Warblers arriving further North. It soon jumped out fully to reveal a whacking great wing-bar and seal the deal. Greenish Warbler has been a bit of a bogey-bird for me, i've never seen one in the UK even after spending seasons at places like The Farnes (which scored today I see) and The Point, so I was on cloud 9. The bird was however being a right little shite and a nightmare to see in the suaeda so we left it be. An hour or so later I went for another look and was delighted to find that it had moved to some nearby bramble bushes, where it showed excellently for the rest of the afternoon, in front of an admiring crowd. 

There were hardly any other migrants on The Point today, which is somewhat typical of Greenish Warbler days here, 'The biggy travels alone' as they say!

Dotterel and Roseate Tern

For the past week or so i've been making a daily sleck out to the end of the beach to check up out the wader roost. So far i've enjoyed good counts of our common waders, up to 800 Oystercatchers, 300 Ringed Plover, 100 Dunlin etc., but with none of the hoped for goodies. The reward came today as I was scanning through and came upon this juvenile Dotterel, in all its scaly, peachey loveliness. It showed nicely as it roosted and fed on the shingle, before it was flushed by a bunch of wankers walkers.

This was the first Dotterel i've seen since this one, being used as a lure bird in Malta last September, and as I watched todays bird, I couldn't help but worry for it with such perils to come on its migration. Do your bit to help it avoid such a sorry end by joining Birdlife Malta here.

 As we watched the Dotterel, the call of a Roseate Tern alerted us to this adult, and a juvenile feeding offshore. This was the first time i've watched Roseates feeding, and I was amazed at how different from the other terns they are. Rather than flying along fairly slowly, stopping to hover and then dive, the adult was pelting along at full speed, and suddenly pulling a J-turn and making low angle dives at great speed. After catching something, it would toss and catch it's prey in mid-air, call to the young bird which would settle on the water, and then fly down and feed it on the surface before repeating the procedure. Unfortunately most of this happened too far away for photos, but it looked great through the scope. The adult did come just about close enough for a record shot:

Very little passerine movement today, just a couple of Pied Flycatchers including this one in the rain on our washing line.

A nice tame Turnstone

Not quite biblical, but very nice all the same

Yesterday afternoon, the chart for today was looking absolutely perfect, biblical even, and so hopes were high for a classic Blakeney Point autumn fall. It didn't quite pan out like that, but was still a very enjoyable (and very long) days birding.

There was very little around on the ground in the morning but with easterlies and leaden skies you can be sure that given time, something will turn up. That something came in the form of this juvenile Honey Buzzard that flew in off the sea at The Hoods and then over the harbour. Allowing us to rush out of the Lifeboat House and see it as it went west after a timely phone call alerted us to its presence. This was another case of a meal being rudely interrupted by a flyover, but i'll forgive it its poor timing. The first i've seen on Blakeney Point, and my first since Raptor Camp on Malta almost a year ago, hopefully this one will cross The Med at Tarifa.

A bit of rain looked like it could drop something in, but only gave us this Tree Pipit, the first of the autumn.

We heard news of a Barred Warbler and Wryneck elsewhere on The Point but carried on looking for own stuff, only getting a very few Pied Flycatchers and Willow Warblers, but this Black Tern low over the shingle ridge was nice.

(This Pied Fly from the much sunnier day before)

Eventually, and as the evening light was fading, I managed to find a Wryneck between the Hoods and Long Hills, but only ever had flight views.

A last gasp effort on Near point found a few new Willow Warblers and Pied Flys, but birds were clearly looking to roost so I called it a day. This Hare provided a chance to take something over than the truly abysmal photos taken earlier in the day. I like this photo a lot, just a shame it was so dark by then.

Restricterine Warbler

The easterly element to the wind produced the goods for us again today:

The day started with a 2 hour seawatch before work, the early get-up being rewarded with 1 fully-spooned up Pomarine Skua, 19 Black Terns, 1 Little Gull, 7 Arctic Skuas and a Bonxie, along with an assortment of ducks and waders.

Teal, Eider and Shoveler

There was a total dearth of  migrants on the deck this morning, with all of yesterdays goodies seemingly having left overnight, so it was a bit of surprise when the first passerine migrant of the day was this Icterine Warbler showing uncharacteristically well in the suaeda. Unfortunately it was in a part of the reserve with no public access, hopefully any further goodies will be in unrestricted areas.

 Pied Flycatchers also arrived in the afternoon, with a total of 12, including this 'classic' Blakeney Point bird on the Plantation fence. 

A couple of Whinchats also arrived at the end of the day, as they tend to do