FRIDAY
OCTOBER 31 - 2014
Emsworth
Harbour
14:00 -
Eastern harbour: Tide rising to high water in
about 3 hours. From the millpond seawall I could see a
flock of 40 Black-tailed Godwits clustered closely
together on the remaining piece of mudflat.
They all flew west at
about 14:10 towards Nore Barn. Also, 34 Brent Geese
with one family of 2 juveniles.
14:30 - Nore
Barn. The bay was filling up quickly. Plenty of
Wigeon and Brent Geese on the water, but I was a bit
late to catch the Black-tailed Godwits on the
mudflats. They all flew to the edge of the saltmarshes
where I counted 76 including two regulars G+WR and
ROL+RLR.
The only bird in the stream was a Common Redshank.
There has been no sighting of either the Spotted
Redshank or the Greenshank G+GL for a whole week!
Thorney
Island
Malcolm
Phillips went down to Thorney this morning via Peter
Pond where he got a nice shot of the raft with Grey
Heron and gulls.
Down on Thorney Island
Malcolm got a nice image of a Clouded Yellow
which apparently are very common during this warm
weather.
Warblington
shore
Peter
Milinets-Raby had another quick walk along to the
Langstone Mill Pond via Wade Court entrance this
afternoon - 1:45pm to 2:55pm.
Off shore from the pond ahead of an incoming tide: 20
Knot, 177 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone (very unusual here), 11
Lapwing, 1 Shelduck, 48 Teal, 46 Bar-tailed Godwit, 8
Grey Plover, 126 Brent Geese.
127 Black-tailed Godwits (colour ringed birds and
different from the other day? O+WY and G+RR and G+BG
and L+WL and R+GR),
12 Greenshank (7 with rings - G//R+NY//- and
G//R+BB//- and G//R+GB//- {These two birds almost
impossible to tell apart} and G//R+BRtag//- and
NB//-+YY//- and G//R+GR//- and RG//-+YY//-).
2 Kingfisher dashed
off the pond together and flew around the channel
before dashing back to the pond, 7 Sandwich Tern (6
resting on the mud by the pub and one flying around),
6 Teal and 1 Wigeon on the pond, 43 Teal and 13
Moorhen in the flooded horse paddock.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
reports a Grey Heron by the pond on the Hampshire Farm
site. Still quite a few Common Darters, males all red
and females duller. The log piles have a 'moving
population' of fungi some only lasting a day. He
watched a Sparrowhawk hovering over the plantation.
Just beyond and above the reserve a Kestrel was being
harassed by a couple of Magpies, which eventually saw
it off. A Buzzard appeared and circled for a while,
one of the Magpies flew toward it but veered off.
Chris got what he thought was a photo of a Clouded
Yellow until he saw the image on his computer screen
when he realised there were two butterflies joined!
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 30 - 2014
Nore
Barn
Malcolm
Phillips went down to Nore Barn early this afternoon
on a rising tide. He got a number of interesting
photos of Black-tailed Godwits.
First here is one of the regular juvenile godwits with
a prey it has just caught. Looks like some sort of
worm.
Malcolm also got a
couple of shots of a godwit stretching its wings. The
second one is particularly dramatic with the bird
completely disappearing beneath its outstretched
wings.
Of particular interest
for me was the fact that this godwit had a single
metal ring on its lower left leg. This is shown well
on Malcolm's second photo. I am very familiar with the
regular Black-tailed Godwit colour ringing schemes in
which a variety of coloured leg ring combinations are
used to identify the birds. But have never come across
a bird with just a single metal ring like this one. I
shall ask Pete Potts about it.
Finally, Malcolm got a lovely photo of a Wood Mouse
with its big eyes and ears crouching among the reeds.
Warblington
shore
Peter
Milinets-Raby had an hour to spare so he popped down
to the Warblington shore just ahead of the incoming
tide (1:30pm to 2:30pm). The highlights were as
follows:
69 Teal, 10 Greenshank (G//R+NY//- and RG//-+YY//- and
G//R+BRtag//- and ??//??+YY//- Full details not seen,
but different bird), 60+ Dunlin, 97 Black-tailed
Godwit, 174 Brent Geese, 4 Grey Plover, 1 Sandwich
Tern, 7 Lapwing, 33 Golden Plover, 17 Shelduck, 1 male
Pintail, 51 Wigeon.
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 28 - 2014
Emsworth
Harbour (east)
- from the marina seawall. 09:45 to 10:15. Tide was
good for bird watching with 4 hours to high water, but
sun was too bright.
Hedgerow Crane's-bill is still flowering on the marina
seawall.
Brent Geese 158 mostly along the east shore.
Some were in the town channel. Two families; one of 5
juveniles was by the old wooden jetty on the east end
of the town shore and a second with 2 juveniles in the
town quay channel. As usual the families tend to stay
close to the shore.
Brent
family with 5 juveniles - the third family of this
size I saw in Emsworth
today!
Black-tailed
Godwits 74 with two colour-ringed birds: WO+LW
flag, W+WN - shown in photo,
Greenshank 4 in a tight group in the town
channel. All four were colour-ringed, but I only
managed to read three of the combinations: OO+YY tag,
G+BY tag, RG+YY tag.
Nore
Barn 11:00 to
11:30 -
Brent Geese 80 - Families of 5 and 2 juveniles
in the upper Nore Barn channel. Another three families
of 5, 4 and 3 juveniles near the stream. The 5 brood
families were most likely the same as I saw here
yesterday. It means the family of 5 juveniles I saw in
the eastern harbour earlier was clearly a third
one.
Black-tailed Godwits 67 - almost certainly
including some from the eastern harbour. There were 3
colour-ringed birds: G+WR, ROL+RLR, W+WN (previously
seen in the eastern harbour). One of the unringed
godwits was limping with a damaged left foot. I have
seen this bird previously this autumn.
The only bird in the stream was a juvenile
Black-tailed Godwit. No Spotted Redshank or Greenshank
for the second day running. Where the heck have they
got to? There were plenty of Wigeon as usual, but no
sign of any Pintail as yet.
Summary
Brent Geese:
225 with 26 juveniles in broods of 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2,
2. It looks like a good breeding season!
Black-tailed Godwits: 141 (overestimate due to
movement between two harbours - more likely about
100)
with 4 colour-ringed birds: WO+LW flag, W+WN, G+WR,
ROL+RLR. All previously recorded in Emsworth this
season.
Greenshank: 4 - with 3 colour-ringed recorded: OO+YY
tag, G+BY tag, RG+YY tag
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
reports from today's visit to the farm
"This morning I took an early trip to the Farm - at
dawn. I went to collect a night camera, which I had
set up yesterday, I wanted to retrieve it before the
early dog-walkers were about. There was just a hint of
light when I first got there a little after six
o'clock. The Roe deer were feeding on the meadow south
of the plantation. In the half light I could see three
of them and I must have been within fifty yards before
the first one noticed me. She stamped her foot and
gave one sharp bark which sent them off towards the
reserve. It was then that I realised there were in
fact five of them. The last time I saw that many was
back in 2011, so I was really thrilled. There was very
little else to be seen, although I did disturb some
Skylarks. Strangely, there were a large number of
Rooks across the meadow. They didn't make any sound,
it was very earie.The picture is of the section of
fence where I get into the site.
MONDAY
OCTOBER 27 - 2014
Emsworth
Harbour
I started at
the millpond seawall at 10:00. From there I went along
to Nore Barn. The tide rising to high water at 13:00.
Harbour filling rapidly. Bright sunshine with a pretty
brisk south westerly wind blowing.
A cluster of 52
Black-tailed Godwits were gathered on one of the
remaining green mudflats in the eastern harbour
accompanied by a few Turnstone. I found two
colour-ringed birds, both having been seen in Emsworth
previously this season: G+WR and WO+LW
flag.
Another 13 Black-tailed Godwits were at Nore Barn with
one colour-ringed bird: ROL+RLR. This is an
'old friend' of ours. Ringed on 27-Oct-08, it has been
a regular winter visitor to Emsworth Harbour over the
past 5 winters. This was the first sighting of the
2014-15 season and our 73rd sighting in total.
Here
is a photo of ROL+RLR taken in 2011
There was a flock of
around 180 Brent Geese on the far side of the
eastern harbour by the marina seawall, but they were
too far away to age reliably. At Nore Barn I found
another 78 Brent Geese including two
families of 5 juveniles in each. There was no
doubt about these brood sizes as the families were
close together with their two parents. There was also
a what looked like two singleton juveniles.
The only birds in the stream when I left at 11:00 were
the two regular juvenile Black-tailed Godwits and a
Common Redshank. No sign of the Spotted Redshank or
the Greenshank.
A Red Admiral was flying on the shore path to the
south of the woods.
Brook
Meadow
Brian Lawrence
had a walk around the meadow today got a photo of a
female Stonechat on reeds near the Lumley pool on the
east side of the meadow. Brian said there were two in
the reeds near the houses in Lumley Road. Stonechat is
a first for the Brook Meadow bird list taking the
total to 62 and this year's list to 45.
Mystery
bird?
Chris Oakley
sent me a photo of a mystery bird that he saw on the
Hampshire Farm reserve today. He says it was light
brown, pale underneath and had a light eyebrow stripe
and a dark line from the corner of the eye. The head
was rounded and it had a small pointed beak. The
throat was pale, but Chris says the most prominent
feature was a distinct brown necklace which ran from
the throat and low across the chest. It only stayed a
short time moving from the Sloe bushes then onto some
dead thistles before flying off.
My first impression on
seeing the photo was of a Stonechat - the bill and the
pale throat fitted OK, but it did not look anything
like the one that Brian Lawrence got on Brook Meadow.
Another possibility is Spotted Flycatcher which on
jizz seems likely, though the 'necklace' does not fit.
Anyone got any other ideas?
Peter Milinets-Raby says always go with first
impressions. He agrees it is a Stonechat, almost
certainly a young bird. He attaches a photo taken from
the following website:
http://www.birdlist.co.uk/may2009.shtml
Ralph Hollins also
agrees that Chris's bird is a late juvenile Stonechat.
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 26 - 2014
Emsworth
to Warblington
Peter
Milinets-Raby was up early as the sun rose for a
marathon walk from Emsworth to Warblington along the
coast. Main observations were.
6:45am to 7:15am Emsworth Harbour off Mill Pond wall:
126 Brent Geese, 80+ Redshank (-//B+B//LW), 19
Turnstone, 8 Grey Plover, 14 Black-tailed Godwit, 5
Little Egret, 1 Greenshank (G//R+YR//-), 1 Ringed
Plover, 2 Meadow Pipits over south.
Mill Pond stream outlet: 1 Greenshank (G//R+BNtag//-),
1 Little Egret.
Off Beacon Square: (until 7:35am): 19 Black-tailed
Godwit, 16 Brent Geese, 46 Teal, 2 Grey Plover, 2
Wigeon, 22 Dunlin, 16 Canada Geese in far channel (one
with funny head pattern).
Nore Barn 7:40am to 8am: Peregrine flew over and
flushed everything that was on view and the birds all
took refuse in the deep gullies. The bird then headed
east towards Emsworth. After the dust settled, it was
impossible to count Brent, Wigeon and Teal: 16
Black-tailed Godwit noted, 15 Shelduck further out, 1
Greenshank, 1 Kingfisher perched on a white buoy along
the channel, In the stream 1 Lapwing and 1 juv
Black-tailed Godwit.
Warblington Shore 8:07am to 9:45am: Ibis Field: Male
Kestrel, 2 Goldcrest and 1 Chiffchaff in a tit
flock.
Conigar Point: Nothing, because as I arrived two
shooters were wading ashore with a very frisky
retriever dog. I stopped and chatted with them and
they had started since 5:30am and had shot 3 female
and 1 male Wigeon. Tamarisk Hedge: 1 Chiffchaff
calling.
Pook Lane: 60+ Redshank (-//B+B//OW), 51 Bar-tailed
Godwit, 16 Grey Plover, 135 Dunlin, 8 Ringed Plover,
171 Golden Plover resting on the mud. 88 Brent Geese,
5 Wigeon (some left!!!), 3 Greenshank (RG//-+YY//-),
68 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Spotted Redshank
(W//-+GR//-), 6 Lapwing, 41 Teal, 3
Shelduck.
'Spurting'
behaviour
Tony Wootton
paid a visit to Nore Barn on Friday afternoon (Oct 24)
and captured the Spotted Redshank and a juvenile
Black-tailed Godwit feeding together in the stream.
Most interesting from
my point of view, the godwit was 'spurting'. This
behaviour in which a wading bird apparently spurts
water from its bill during feeding has been frequently
observed in Emsworth, though it continues to puzzle
the experts who have no explanation as to what is
going on. See the special 'spurting' web page for more
details and photos and a link to an article I wrote
for a learned ornithological journal on spurting
behaviour in a variety of waders. See . . .
Spurting
behaviour
Sabre
Wasp on Hampshire Farm
Chris Oakley
had another fascinating insect on Hampshire Farm site
today - a type of Ichneumon Fly (Rhyssa
persuasoria) commonly called a Sabre Wasp. He
found it on one of the plantation posts and it became
immediately obvious where it got its name from. On a
couple of occasions Chris said it waved its ovipositor
around just like a sword, what with that, and its
scorpion-like stance it appeared quite fearsome. There
were two of them but the other flew off.
Chris also had six
Commom Darters around the pond which included two
coupled pairs. He says the deer are still in the
plantation but with so many dog-walkers about they are
keeping their heads down.
Rock
Pipit
Rock Pipits
are occasionally seen along the Emsworth shoreline at
this time of the year and Neill Foster is pretty sure
he had our first of the winter in Emsworth between The
Fisherman's path steps and the old jetty this
mid-afternoon - "Legs and bill very dark, pale
eye-ring obvious. Feeding on, behind and in front of
the sea wall of the houses behind the foreshore". Pity
no photo.
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 25 - 2014
Brook
Meadow
Malcolm
Phillips is back from his holiday in Cuba to resume
his photographic activities in Emsworth. He got this
nice shot of a Grey Wagtail perched on the
railway bridge in the north-east corner of Brook
Meadow.
No sign of the Water
Rail, but Malcolm sent me a photo he took in Cuba of a
Clapper Rail, which bears a striking
resemblence to our own native Water Rail.
Hampshire
Farm
Charlie
Annalls finally managed to find the Hampshire Farm
site today and was both surprised and excited to find
her first ever Clouded Yellow. She says there
was also a deer in amongst the "plantation" but was
very shy and moved off before she could capture an
image.
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 24 - 2014
Nore
Barn
09:30 - Tide
rising to high water in 3 hours. The regular birds did
not settle in the stream this morning due to human
disturbance, but they were all in the vicinity, ie
Spotted Redshank, Greenshank G+GL, two juvenile
Black-tailed Godwits, Little Egret, Lapwing and Common
Redshank.
I counted 28 Black-tailed Godwits, including
one colour-ringed:
WO+LW flag. This bird was ringed as a male
chick in north Iceland by Ruth Croger and Pete on 13th
July 2010, which makes it 4 years old. It is easily
recognised as it has a tiny 'flag' attached to the
white ring on the right leg. It has been a regular
early wintering bird (Oct-Dec) in Emsworth Harbour in
each year since it was ringed, presumably moving on
elsewhere for the rest of the winter. This was my 3rd
sighting in Emsworth this season.
I counted 35 Brent
Geese in the Nore Barn area; 17 were at the top of
the Nore Barn channel including an astonishing 10
juveniles. I have found in previous years that Brent
Goose families tend to gather together near the shore.
It was not easy to work out the brood sizes as they
were all moving around together, but I think they were
4, 3 and 3. There was another flock of 18 Brent Geese
in the lower stream with one juvenile. That takes my
personal proportion of juveniles to adults to a very
healthy 19.85%. However, this is likely to
overestimate the actual breeding success as I have not
counted any large flocks of Brents where juveniles
tend to be much scarcer.
Langstone
Mill Pond
Peter
Milinets-Raby went for a short walk to the Langstone
Mill Pond just as the tide dropped at 3:30pm. The
highlights were:
2 Greenshank (one very close to allow a record photo -
coloured ringed bird with tag G//R+BRtag//-
(previously seen on 24-Mar-14), 2 Sandwich Tern by the
pub, 40+ Brent Geese, 6 Grey Plover, 2 Black-tailed
Godwit, 42 Dunlin, 40+ Teal, 2 Grey Heron.
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 23 - 2014
Nore
Barn
10:00 - I got
the bike out for a change this morning and cycled to
Nore Barn. I was not expecting to see much as it was
only 2 hours to high water. I met Brian Lawrence at
the stream which was by now quite full of water.
We were pleasantly surprised to see the colour-ringed
Greenshank G+GL, the two juvenile Black-tailed
Godwits, a Common Redshank, a Lapwing, a Little Egret
and two Teal on the edge of the stream by the
saltmarshes along with 6 Mute Swans on the water. A
second Little Egret visited briefly but flew west to
feed along the shore. Surprisingly, the Spotted
Redshank was not present this morning.
Juvenile
Black-tailed Godwit, Greenshank and Common Redshank at
Nore Barn
A much
better shot of the Lapwing at Nore Barn than
before
A Jay was calling
loudly from the woods to the north of the stream.
Brian told me he saw lots of butterflies on the
Hayling Billy Line yesterday, mostly Red Admirals and
Commas.
I also met Roy Ewing who was clearing the edges of the
main path to the north of the woods. He told me this
was a regular and important job to keep this path
clear for walkers.
Anne de Potier has put up a poster on the Nore Barn
Woods notice board with information about and a photo
of the newly colour-ringed Greenshank along with links
to web sites for more information about colour-ringed
Greenshanks and the Greenshank Project in general.
BTO
Garden BirdWatch
Seasonal
update: After a quiet winter and spring, last quarter
(April to June) saw a return to normal garden bird
numbers thanks to warmer and drier weather. Some birds
seemed to have a particularly good breeding season,
with both Great Tit and Blue Tit population numbers
peaking earlier than in the previous two years; at the
end of May rather than the middle of June. Corvid
numbers also increased, but sadly Chaffinch and
Greenfinch numbers remained low, potentially due to
the effects of disease.
To keep track of which birds are doing well in your
area, have a look at the results pages at . . .
http://bto-enews.org/NXK-2WEK7-3UEDCR-1BAQG5-0/c.aspx
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 22 - 2014
Railway
Wayside
I had a look
at the wayside to the north of Emsworth Railway
Station from the ramp. Noted several plants still well
in flower, including White Dead-nettle, Bristly
Ox-tongue, Creeping Thistle, Yarrow, Smooth
Sow-thistle, Hoary Ragwort and some excellent heads of
Common Knapweed.
Brook
Meadow
The temporary
concrete bag wall has been restored to its original
condition. The bags that were thrown into the river
have been retrieved and placed back on the wall.
I had a very good view
of the Water Rail moving up river almost in
front of the old gasholder. This was my first sighting
of the bird which has been seen several times in this
area since Sep 22. I actually managed to get a
reasonable shot of it too!
It was very good to
see and listen to a small flock of Starlings
chattering away in their merry manner in the Ivy
covered bushes to the west of the Seagull Lane patch.
These are the bushes usually occupied by House
Sparrows.
Grasses are
flourishing again with Cocksfoot, False Oat-grass,
Perennial Ryegrass, Annual Meadow-grass and Tall
Fescue all showing spikelets. Drone Flies were
on the Hogweed flower heads.
Nore
Barn
14:30-15:00 -
Tide falling. The Spotted Redshank was in the stream
feeding with its regular companions the now
colour-ringed Greenshank G+GL and the Little Egret. I
was very surprised to find not one, but two
juvenile Black-tailed Godwits feeding in the
stream for the first time ever. Strangely, there was
no sign of any adult Black-tailed Godwits while I was
there; we have had only one juvenile in the stream for
the past week or so. This must be a very good feeding
area. Here is one I caught preening, showing well the
pale fringes on its wing scapulars.
Others: 84 Wigeon, 17
Brent Geese including 6 juveniles in two families of 4
and 2. Just as I was leaving Nore Barn most of the
birds in the harbour were spooked by an overhead
Buzzard, which was chased off by a Carrion Crow.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
reports from the farm: "It was a cool afternoon on the
Farm with a little sunshine but at least the wind has
gone. There were three Buzzards over the east meadow
which seems to establish my sighting of a young bird
during the summer. I saw a pair of Siskin on one of
the young saplings. The birds seem to like these trees
as they are out in the open with clear sight lines. A
female Pheasant flew up at me as I was walking along
the top hedgerow, missing me by a couple of feet. It
gave me quite a fright.
The picture shows what I believe to be a Tarnished
Plant Bug (Lygus rugulpennis), yet another
form of shield bug, feeding on an Ox-eye Daisy.
Despite it being late October there are still a good
selection of flowers growing in the grass. The Cat's
Ears are flowering in profusion which gives a lovely
yellow sheen to the meadow."
Grey
Wagtail
Peter
Milinets-Raby can tell winter is on the way, when he
gets Grey Wagtails in his garden. "At lunchtime today
a female popped in for five minutes to explore the
pond as well as the rest of the garden. Luckily it
stood still a couple of times for some crispish
photos, otherwise I deleted all the other 50+ photos I
took."
Brent
Geese
Unfortunately,
not local, but Tony Wootton got this great shot of a
family of Brents, one adult and five juveniles, in
flight during a holiday in Norfolk.
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 21 - 2014
Nore
Barn
14:15 - 14:45
- About 4 hours after high water, so the tide was
pretty well right out. There was a gale blowing,
though fortunately it was north westerly. The worst
winds at Nore Barn are southerly and south westerly
which blow right in your face. Northerlies are fine as
one gets the shelter of the woods and bushes.
The first thing I saw when I got to the end of
Warblington Road was a good flock of 68
Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the mudflats, the
most I have seen here this season. Great to see them
back and hopefully, they should be regular here until
at least the end of the year. Despite the sun glinting
off the wet mudflats I managed to read four
colour-ringed birds, including two 'old friends'.
G+WR - My 5th sighting of this very regular
Emsworth wintering bird (104th sighting), but the
first time at Nore Barn. This is the same pattern as
last year when it started off feeding in Emsworth
Harbour (east) before moving to Nore Barn in late
October.
W+WN - Another common Emsworth wintering bird,
but my first sighting this season. Maybe it has come
via Kent as it did last year? Ringed at Farlington in
2010 this was my 54th sighting of it in Emsworth. As
noted in previous years the white ring on left leg
looks yellow.
O+OL - Photo. This was my second sighting in
Emsworth this season. The first was in the eastern
harbour in August. Ringed on Thorney Island 26-Jun-05
as a first summer male (juvenile). It has been seen
occasionally in Emsworth over the years, but is not a
regular winterer. This was only the 8th Emsworth
sighting.
R+LG - Photo.
This was my 5th sighting of R+LG in Emsworth, though
the first this season. I saw it four times in early
winter at Nore Barn last year.
The Spotted
Redshank and Greenshank G+GL were also feeding in
the lower stream channels with the godwits. The
juvenile Black-tailed Godwit and a Lapwing
were in the low water stream. The Lapwing was my
first of the new season at Nore Barn, but it and
others should be regular here from now.
As the tide fell a mixed flock of Black-headed Gulls,
Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwits gathered in the deep
channel at the lower end of the stream, presumably to
shelter from the strong wind.
MONDAY
OCTOBER 20 - 2014
Juvenile
Brent
Ralph Hollins
went to Nore Barn yesterday (Sun 19 Oct) hoping to see
the Spotted Redshank. But he saw something much more
unexpected - a single unaccompanied juvenile Brent
which had been hiding in the saltings but which headed
out into the stream outflow when Ralph disturbed it.
Ralph hopes it survives on its own as, while walking
back to Langstone along the shore, he found the body
of another juvenile Brent washed up dead in the
tideline.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
paid a windy visit to the farm this afternoon but as
usual it was very rewarding. He saw three Roe Deer,
one buck and two does, in the plantation area. Chris
also saw yet another baby Common Lizard making the
most of the weak sunshine. Chris caught a female
Common Darter and the Noon fly (Mesembrina
meridiana) both basking in the sunshine in
what is probably a unique single shot. Well done. Noon
flies usually have a distinctive orange-brown patch on
the wings where they meet the body.
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 19 - 2014
Godwits
in Emsworth
Yesterday
Peter Milinets-Raby went along the seawall around
Emsworth Harbour with the family for a walk (4:30pm ).
He spotted a flock of 86 Black-tailed Godwits resting
on the stream entrance in front of the town. He only
had binoculars, but could see at least four birds with
rings.
I decided to have a look this afternoon with the scope
at about 13:30 on a falling tide. I found a flock of
58 Black-tailed Godwits in the same area that Peter
had seen them yesterday, feeding on the green weed
shore near the town. I went through them all with the
scope, but only found one colour-ringed bird, but a
very old friend - G+WR.
G+WR has been
one of the most frequently recorded colour-ringed
Black-tailed Godwits in Emsworth Harbour. In fact,
this was our 103rd sighting since the bird was ringed
on Farlington Marshes in Sep 2008 as an adult male and
our first since 18-Aug-14. It will be at least 7 years
old.
O+RO - ran it fairly close with 96 sightings,
but again this bird has not been seen here since Jan
2011 and it is probably deceased. It was ringed on
Thorney Island in June 2005 as first summer bird ie
hatched in 2004.
Also in the harbour were 16 Brent Geese with
one juvenile.
W+GO - is the
Emsworth record holder with 113 sightings, but I have
not seen it since Sep 2012, so I fear the worst. It
was ringed at Farlington in Oct 1995 as an adult so it
was at least 19 years old when I last saw it in
Emsworth! This must be close to a longevity
record?
Pete Potts says "The UK longevity record for islandica
Black-tailed Godwit is c.23 years old i.e. 23 years
between date of ringing and recovery. The Dutch hold
the record with a limosa bird I think which is c.30-32
years old! However, we hope to beat the UK record in
the next few years as our first birds were marked in
the early-mid-1990s with sizeable catches in 1995 and
esp. 1998. We made the first catch in Iceland in
spring 2000 so again in a few years' time they will
start producing new records with luck."
Greater
Burdock
I had a look
at the rare Greater Burdock plants at the end of the
Washington Road path just before the entrance to the
Emsworth Recreation Ground. There are not so many of
them as in previous years. However, they are covered
with burrs which would cling to your clothing if you
got too close.
The cluster of burrs
at the top of long stalks distinguishes this plant
from the more common Lesser Burdock where the burrs
are more spread out on shorter stalks.
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 18 - 2014
Blashford
Lakes
In the
interests of self preservation (high winds and heavy
rain forecast for Keyhaven), Tony Wootton took the
Havant Wildlife Group to went to Blashford and the
safety of hides. They saw lots of fungi and birds,
including this nice male Kingfisher.
For the full report go
to . . . http://familyfellows.com/hwg-walk-reports-2014.htm
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 17 - 2014
Nore
Barn
10:00 - Tide
falling slowly. The stream still had plenty of water
in it. Feeding in the stream were regulars Spotted
Redshank, colour-ringed Greenshank (G+GL).
There was also a
Common Redshank and a juvenile Black-tailed
Godwit - confirmed by Pete Potts this afternoon -
see below. Interesting, we also had a solitary
juvenile Black-tailed Godwit in the Nore Barn stream
at this time last year.
A man passing by
reported having seen a small white bird with an
upturned bill feeding in the channel south of Nore
Barn Woods. The description sounded like an Avocet so
I went to have a look. However, all I found was a
Greenshank which does have a slight upturn to its
bill, so that could have been the mystery bird.
I had a quick look at the pond in the field at the top
of Nore Barn channel, where I spotted a Kingfisher
perched on a rock, but unfortunately it saw me before
I could get my camera out and flew off. This was the
second Kingfisher I saw today. The other was on the
river on Brook Meadow below the S-bend.
Just 11 Brent Geese were on the western mudflats, but
no juveniles.
Later
news
I met up with
Pete Potts and Anne de Potier at the Nore Barn Woods
celebration event this afternoon. Amazingly, the
juvenile Black-tailed Godwit was still in the stream
area and Pete confirmed it was a juvenile.
Anne told me she had seen the original colour-ringed
Spotted Redshank W+GY in the Nutbourne stream.
However, the regular colour-ringed Greenshank GY+GY
had not yet turned up. This bird has been regular at
Nutbourne for the last 10 years.
Interestingly, Pete told me has now got data from the
GPS tracking devices that he put on some of the
Greenshank. This shows that the birds went to
Scotland, Norway and Sweden to breed.
Bird
strike
Patrick Murphy
was looking at the garden through the dining room
window when he saw a Woodpigeon flying straight
towards the window. Patrick said there was quite a
bang but the bird flew off and appeared to be OK
except for a few lost feathers and bruises.
Nore
Barn celebration
This afternoon
I attended a ceremony to celebrate the completion of
the new seawall defence to the south of Nore Barn
Woods. A large number of volunteers and other local
people assembled on the shore by the new wall. Roy
Ewing, Chairman, Mike Thomas Project Coordinator and
Maggie Gebbett, Volunteer Fundraiser all gave short
speeches thanking all those who had been involved in
the project which was successfully completed this
autumn.
Finally, the tape was
cut by the Chairman of the Friends of Chichester
Harbour to a round of applause.
Langstone
Mill Pond
Peter
Milinets-Raby popped down to Langstone Mill Pond this
afternoon (1pm to 2:45pm): He walked in along the Wade
Court road & paddocks. The highlights were as
follows:
Horse paddocks: 1 Skylark over heading south, Bumped
into a large Tit flock which contained 8+ Long-tailed
Tits, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Chiffchaff, 3+ Great Tit, 5+ Blue
Tit, and surprisingly a Green Woodpecker.
Partially flooded Horse paddock north of pond: 11
Moorhen, 32 Teal, 4 Grey Heron, 2 Pied Wagtail.
Langstone Mill Pond: 3 Grey Heron, 17 Teal.
Off shore: 9 Golden Plover, 12 Grey Plover, 63
Bar-tailed Godwit, 28 Dunlin, 5 Greenshank, 8 Knot, 8
Sandwich Tern resting on the mud by the pub, 54 Brent
Geese, 94 Black-tailed Godwit (some with colour rings,
but too far away, probably the same birds from my last
visit), 50+ Redshank (B//-+B//LN and B//-+B//WL), 6
Lapwing.
Late afternoon, the best news of the year was Peter
discovering his first Frog in the garden pond
(At long last - it has taken five years for them
to find it!)
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
reports: "It was a pleasant afternoon with the sun
breaking through making it quite warm. There was a
flock of Greenfinches over the meadow. They have been
around for couple of weeks now and the number seems to
be growing daily, today there were around one
hundred.
The variety of fungi is fascinating. On one of the log
piles there was a growth of tiny orange 'horns' no
more than a millimetre or two long. It is so difficult
to identify fungi.
I got a nice picture of a Peacock butterfly, it's in
perfect condition so I assume it's newly hatched.
I saw a group of flies basking in the sun on some old
fence posts. I gather they are Noon Flies,
Mesembrina meridiana, the photograph
in Chinery is not very good but there is a better one
in the Collins Nature Guide. The Ivy flowers are
really heady with perfume at the moment and are
attracting all sorts of insects. I even found some
blackberries which still tasted good."
For
earlier observations go to . . October
1-16