Skagen, 27th May 2023

This morning I woke up slightly late but thankfully I did not miss much as the day started slow. I quickly headed out to the outer dunes and just as I arrived two Arctic Skua flew north west. A Corn Bunting flew past me (I only heard it) and then once at the top of one of the dunes I saw it perched out in the open through my scope. Overall, the sea was very quiet and at the end of my four hours observing I only managed 3 of both Black-throated and Red-throated Divers and 1 Gannet. On and over the land was a little better though and towards the latter half of the four hours I was treated to plenty of raptor activity. The first large raptor I had was a female Honey Buzzard that briefly circled before going south. Later on, 14 Common Buzzards attempted to migrate to the north east and made it almost completely out of sight through binoculars before bailing and coming back. This group were then later joined by others and I ended up with 24 up together at once. Loosely with this 24 was a male Honey Buzzard, which also made a couple of attempts to migrate. I also had at least two Red Kites (my first at Skagen) and a Marsh Harrier fly close past me. Unfortunately, I failed to get bird of prey that I picked up in the distance that looked good for one of the grey male Harrier species in my scope and so did not clinch the identification. I have since been told that the ringers (just south of me) had a male Hen Harrier go over, attempt to migrate, and then come back again, so presumably that is what I saw and I had just managed to miss it come closer in my direction. I also did not here the Zello (an app used here which acts like a walkie talkie on your phone) message reporting the Black Kite that was around. However, I was treated to some lovely views of more thunbergi Yellow Wagtails and the rufous female Cuckoo along with a persuing male.

Female thunbergi-type Yellow Wagtail below:

Photo to compare structure of Common Buzzard with adult male Honey Buzzard

Rufous female Cuckoo with male

Skagen, 25th May 2023

I headed out to World's End for observation due to the strong north westerly wind and was later joined by Dante. We spent the first part of our observation mostly looking north out to sea. We had 101 Red-throated Divers, which is a good total for this time of year, along with 5 Black-throated Divers and 1 Great Northern Diver. Dante kept a count of the Fulmar and Kittiwake numbers on his clickers and got up to 61 and 42 respectively. The sea progressively got quieter and quieter and not much was happening over the land, other than a nice flyover Rosefinch and a couple of Corn Bunting, so Dante decided to go for a walk around before heading back to the observatory. I stayed out longer and was treated to good views of a Merlin perched up on a post, plus at least two Honey Buzzards and 5 Common Buzzards. On my way back to the observatory I had 6 flyby Cranes.

Over at the ringing site for the day Lauren and Michael caught a thunbergi Yellow Wagtail, which is the first caught by the observatory. They also caught a Water Rail.

Sunrise

Barnacle Goose below:

Male Yellowhammer above and below

Merlin

Settling in at Skagen Bird Observatory

After a two hour flight from Stanstead Airport and then a further two hour train journey, on Monday evening I arrived at Skagen Station, where the current apartment guests Søren and Karen Marie kindly picked me up and drove me the short rest of the way to Skagen Fuglestation (Skagen Bird Observatory), where I will be volunteering until 2nd July. Earlier in the day a singing Greenish Warbler had been found, but after a tiring journey and unpacking my things I decided against going for it. Instead I went to bed quite early (like everyone else does here) in preparation for getting up at 03:30 in the morning - yes we are all that crazy but on the good days it is most definitely worth it.

Yesterday morning I headed out with Dante to World's End (one of the observation/vismig points here). Cycling on route we heard at least 2 Marsh Warbler (my first of 7 lifers I managed throughout the day), plus lots of Whitethroat and a couple of Lesser Whitethroat,  It did not take long for us to move off again though because there were just swarms of midges everywhere. Dante stated that this was the worst he has ever known here. We decided to walk round to the outer dunes where thankfully less midges were about. We had great views of a Great Northern Diver that cut across the land, shortly followed by another one a bit further out. 2 Black-throated Divers then cut across the land too. It was great for me to see both of these new species for me in such quick succession as it really allowed me to make a comparison on their structure and behaviour and I already feel confident identifying the main diver species even when they are a lot further away. 2 Hobby migrated north east, as well as several Sparrowhawk. The cloud cover and rain moving in from the south seemed to be keeping most birds relatively low and the lighting conditions made features of birds over the sea fairly easy to assess. However, with the birds over the land the lighting made it a bit more tricky. Through my binoculars I picked out my first ever Velvet Scoter flying over the sea and later I saw a flock of 8 flying about. 2 Red-breasted Merganser flew east and Dante picked up a pair of Garganey over the land just south of us. After a while of trying to tune out the mimicry of the Whitethroats (I am sure they don't do this back home) we managed to pick out a singing and calling Common Rosefinch. A flock of 80-100 thunbergi (Grey-headed) Yellow Wagtails regularly flew around and dropped in front of us. It was great to get such good views of this new subspecies for me and we also managed to pick out a few Blue-headed Wagtails too. Dante got onto an interesting individual which looked like it had a darker head than the other wagtails. However, the presence of a slight pale supercilium ruled out the possibility of a feldegg Black-headed Wagtail. But then we got onto another darker headed bird and this one did not have any hint of a supercilium. At certain angles it looked so much darker than the surrounding wagtails but in the end Dante decided that it probably had a bit too much grey showing on the nape for a feldegg. On our way back to the observatory to avoid the worst of the rain we attempted to have a quick stop and listen at Ellekrattet, Denmark's northernmost deciduous forest, but again the swarms of midges meant that we did not stop still for long at all. Back at the observatory I enjoyed watching a White Wagtail and I also had a quick snooze.

Once the rain had eased off again I headed back out towards the outer dunes. Instead of going into Ellekrattet I took a path that went to the side and up towards a house. From the view point here I had good views of Hawfinch, 2 Hooded Crow flying west and 2 Raven flying south. Despite seeing quite a few now, I still have not got used to the sight of Bitterns flying about. All the gulls went up and were noisy. A quick scan of the sky got me onto an Osprey heading south. Usually they just power through any conditions and continue migrating north so it was told it was unusual to see one going the other way in spring. Dante and Lauren then found a Red-breasted Flycatcher further south and most birders headed off to try and see it. I decided to continue north towards the outer dunes as I had intended to. Thankfully I was not made to regret my decision. I may not have seen the Red-breasted Flycatcher, but I did get to see 2 Black Guillemot fly east, a minimum of 5 Red-backed Shrikes and a migrating ringtail Hen Harrier that went over directly above my head. On route back to the observatory I heard a singing Icterine Warbler whilst watching a Spotted Flycatcher and a Rough-legged Buzzard flew low north before shortly returning south. My eBird lists from Tuesday morning and then the afternoon can be seen here and here.

Arctic Terns

Bittern

Hen Harrier

Rough-legged Buzzard

Male Red-backed Shrike

Female Red-backed Shrike

This morning I again headed to the outer dunes with Dante. The clear sky and minimal wind meant that it was a slower morning than yesterday. However, I was still very happy with what we got. Out to sea we had: 3 Shag west, 14 Red-throated Diver east and 9 west, 2 Black-throated Diver east and 2 west, 1 Black Guillemot east and 2 west, 1 Barnacle Goose east, 1 Arctic Skua, 6 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Velvet Scoter, 2 adult Kittiwake, and 1 male Goldeneye. 6 Honey Buzzard migrated north, the regular pair of Common Cranes flew about, as did the rufous female Cuckoo and a couple of Hawfinch. I had a brief view of a Short-eared Owl. A decent number of Tree Pipits buzzed above our heads and there was some corvid activity with Carrion and Hooded Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies and Jays all attempting to migrate. Dante got me onto a distant Ring Ouzel and we also heard the Rosefinch again - I hope I actually see one at some point. Just I was leaving 5 Common Buzzard flew back south after attempting to migrate. I am now having a rest in the observatory and as I am writing this I can see a group of Eider from the kitchen window. Full eBird list from this morning here.

Sunrise above and below

Adult female Honey Buzzard below:

This female appears to show a 6th 'finger' (longer p5) which is a feature of Crested Honey Buzzard, but no other feature seems to suggest any possibility of a hybrid. 

Adult male Honey Buzzards below:

Cuckoo

The Rest of April Summary

Spring at Beddington Farmlands has at times felt very slow this year and overall been a bit underwhelming. However, I have still had some quality birding moments since my last blog post. So here's a summary of the highlights from April...

8th April:

The first Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat of the year were all found by 10:15. Dodge, Glenn and I heard a Cuckoo a few times, which unfortunately Anand did not get as he was too far away. A smart male White Wagtail was out on the southern island of the North Lake.

Comma Butterfly

9th April:

Early in the morning I decided to venture all the way into the under-birded depths of the South East Corner. The habitat looks really good for spring migrant passerines to drop in. What I found instead, to my surprise, was a female Cape/South African Shelduck flying around with a male Shelduck. I was drawn to it by it's rather unrecognisable call (it was the first time I had ever seen one, let alone hearing one). I thought it was getting chased off by the male Shelduck, but given that with future sightings I have still never seen it without the male Shelduck, I have come to the realisation that they are indeed paired up. On route back out of the SEC I almost stood on a female Wheatear than was hunkered down in some grass just to the side of the path. I managed a total of 11 Green Sandpipers, 10 Little Ringed Plovers and 9 Cetti's Warblers whilst rinsing the whole site and then headed to my usual vismig point on the mound. I was not staying long, but as Arjun was there I stayed a bit longer despite the quiet sky. But then to our surprise a Curlew flew (silently) low south past us. This was the 4th record for the site this year already - nowadays there are usually only one or two records a year! Even more crazy, this one was exactly a week since the last one and reported only one minute later in the day! Full eBird list here.

Sunrise

Curlew

This Cetti's Warbler showed well for Arjun and me on 100 Acre

10th April:

Dodge and I arrive at the Farmlands late morning for a brief visit to check if anything had been brought in by the rain and wind. We didn't get much but the highlight had to be the row of Swallows lined up on the Phase 3 Wet Grassland fence. It is a sight that we don't often get here and one that is getting increasingly scarcer. Other highlights included 10+ Sand Martin, 6+ House Martin, 1 male Wheatear and a heard only Yellow Wagtail.

12th April:

I hadn't been feeling well so had a day off from my internship/the Farmlands for a couple of days. Of course that's when Arjun found a Yellowhammer on the mound. Once a more regular winter site here, they are now a tricky bird to get. Arjun told me it was hanging around to I tentatively got up and went on the bus to go and see it. I only managed flight views but they were good enough for me so after an hour and a half I got the bus back home and went back to the usual sitting around doing nothing whilst I didn't feel great.

13th April:

Charlie caught a glimpse of what he thought was a Redstart species flush up off the path as he drove by in the vehicle, with Marcus in the passenger seat (we had only just swapped over). He texted me so I headed over to them. They were kindly waiting for me before getting out of the vehicle to minimise the possibility of scaring it away, despite the fact that Marcus had not yet seen it. As I approached them I saw it flick across and I confirmed to Charlie that it was indeed a Redstart species. We waited for a long time but it never really showed itself. I confirmed it was a Common Redstart when it did the briefest phrase of song. Thankfully, Marcus eventually managed to see it and actually got the best view out of all of us and was actually able to see it was a male. Charlie and Marcus went off to do what they were actually planning to do and I waited for longer to see if the Redstart would show any better. I waited through the hail storm and it had still not showed itself again so I decided to head off. My second patch tick in as many days!

14th April:

I was leading a bird walk with Charlie. The Yellowhammer was still hanging around and I managed to see it sat in a tree as well as flight views this time.

15th April:

A fall of 10 Wheatears on the mound doubled my previous high count for the site.

Male Wheatear

16th April:

Sunrise above and below

This visually impaired Fox curiously investigated what I was doing whilst at the vismig point:

17th April:

Early morning I found a Whimbrel out on the North Lake. Whilst walking towards my vismig point and getting closer to the Whimbrel I spotted a female Wheatear in a tree at the corner of the North Lake. Once at the vismig point the Whimbrel flew off south before veering east and towards where I knew Charlie was. I called him but he was already onto it as it was vocal. Charlie then found a Golden Plover (2nd record of the year) on Phase 3 so I headed over to him to see that. We were the only two people to see the previous one and later that day Dave came along and reported it had gone so again Charlie and I were the only two birders to see it.

Female Wheatear

Whimbrel above and below

Golden Plover

18th April:

Charlie and I cleared vegetation off the southern island of the North Lake with a volunteer. A male White Wagtail showed well.

Male White Wagtail below:

20th April:

Duncan Bulling found the first Swifts of the year and later in the day I also saw two.

Male Orange-tip Butterfly

Peacock Butterfly above and below

21st April:

Dodge and I were hoping that the NE wind with an overcast and drizzle would produce the goods and within 15 minutes of arriving we had two adult Mediterranean Gulls circling high above us before continuing south. 50 minutes later and we were beginning to lose our optimism, but a flyover Lesser Redpoll was a welcomed boost, being only the second record for the site for the year at the time. Once I was in the office with Charlie and Dodge had gone home Ian found a Whimbrel, which dropped down onto Phase 3 Wet Grassland. From the window I could see a minimum of 7 Swift and a load of Hirundines. After leaving the office I had a good flock of 17 Yellow Wagtails fly low north over 100 Acre. They continued past the treeline and over towards the golf course/Mitcham Common. 5 Wheatear were on the mound but by the time myself and Dave had got to Phase 3 the Whimbrel had vanished. However, there were a further 11 Yellow Wagtails. A late 1st winter Common Gull circled over the North Lake late afternoon. I ended the day on 72 species and my full eBird list can be seen here. In the fading evening light Steve Shimwell and Tomos Brangwyn found a singing Nightingale by the North Lake hide - the same place as the ones on 15/04/20 and 13/04/21. Could it be the same bird using the same migration route each year and just went unnoticed last year?

House Martin

22nd:

Knowing that it was likely that the Nightingale would still be present in the morning my mum and I made an extra effort to get up and out early, with the aim of getting to the North Lake hide for first light. Rather surprisingly we were actually on track to get there for first light, but just as we were about to get there I got a phone call from Glenn. I somehow knew what he was going to say he had found... a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. It was in a patch of bramble at the west end of Phase 3 Wet Grassland, just inside the perimeter fence. I stood for a minute and debated whether to try for the Nightingale first (a patch tick for my mum) or turn around and go for the Grasshopper Warbler (a lifer for us both). We indeed chose the Grasshopper Warbler and headed back to near where we had walked past only about 5-10 minutes beforehand. As we approached Glenn said it had just gone quiet and played us back (quietly) the tape he had managed to get on his camera. Thankfully, my mum and I did not have to wait too long for it to start up again. Glenn headed off to go and check for the Nightingale whilst we stayed to enjoy the Grasshopper Warbler for a bit longer. It then went quiet for a good 15 minutes so we decided to walk around Phase 3. Only about 50 metres down the path and it started reeling again so I headed back to see if I could catch a glimpse of it whilst my mum continued around Phase 3. Annoyingly, it had now relocated to a denser patch of bramble, which greatly reduced my chances of seeing the bird. If I had waited a little longer originally then perhaps I would have got a fleeting glimpse of it flying between the two bits of bramble. Glenn confirmed that the Nightingale was still present and still singing. Unfortunately by the time my mum and I had got there it had gone silent and was never detected again, even with our return in the evening for one final try. Instead we managed to get onto 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls flying south.

Adult Mediterranean Gulls

23rd April:

Charlie and I led a guided walk for the Brighton RSPB group. I had some time to bird the site beforehand. Glenn had already found a male Ring Ouzel and a Fieldfare in the South East Corner as I walking down the road towards the Farmlands. As I got up to the mound upon my arrival to the site I bumped into Anand and Dodge. As I approached them I spotted an Egret flying south above there heads. I pointed it out and then they said it was a Great White Egret. I was obviously not quite awake yet and still had to look at it for quite a while before it sunk in that it was not the usual Little Egret that flies almost the exact same route most mornings. Glenn then found a male Redstart so we all went over to look for it. We were treated to splendid views of it feeding in the trees along the bank of one of the old sludge beds. Given the such poor views of the one Charlie had found me just 10 days prior to this it very much felt like a full patch tick, which indeed it was for Anand. 14+ Wheatear (of which most were females) appeared on the mound during a spell of light drizzle (my new highest count for the site) but unfortunately I had to start heading off to meet Charlie and the RSPB group. Well at least that is what I thought until Charlie contacted me to explain that they were going to be late so I could enjoy some more time with the Wheatears. Just as we started the walk Anand found the first Whinchat of the year and it happened to be just a bit further on from where we all were, so Charlie and I took the group to see it. The typical behaviour of Whinchats perching proudly on vegetation and fences meant that it was a relatively easy bird to point out to people on the walk. Ian and Nick found another Redstart by Mile Road gate.

Male Redstart above and below

Male Wheatear

24th April:

I was at home, but Glenn found a pair of flyover Cranes - a patch tick for him. He also found a Garden Warbler (which would have been a patch tick for me)! So I was more gutted about missing the Cranes but the Garden Warbler meant more contextually.

25th April:

Another day away from the Farmlands for me. Glenn had a Tree Pipit and the first Hobby of the year was reported on the Path News WhatsApp group by Russ.

26th April:

I was joining Andy (MKA Ecology) on his survey but first headed to the office. Duncan then found a Garden Warbler along the permissive path so I went to twitch and patch tick that before joining Andy on the survey. As Duncan and I headed towards the South East Corner and towards Andy, a Greenshank flushed up off one of the old sludge beds and towards us, continuing over the mound and away to the north west. Andy and I had a singing Mistle Thrush (a sometimes tricky bird for the Farmlands) in the South East Corner on the border with Beddington Park. After we were done with the survey I headed north to 100 Acre, where I rejoined Duncan. We had a Common and Green Sandpiper together on one of the beds. 2 Hobby glided about amongst the Swifts and Hirundines. Having covered the entire site it was apparent that the Whitethroats had finally had that proper push and had arrived on mass and I ended on a count of 37. On my way out I bumped into Dave at the South Lake hide. He was trying to get his eyes on the loud singing Lesser Whitethroat. It was very close but annoyingly tricky to lock onto as usual. It went quiet and after a little while longer talking to Dave I decided to go. I hadn't got far when the Lesser Whitethroat started singing again to I turned back to Dave and told him it had started up again. He instantly resumed searching for it but instead managed to get onto a female Redstart! It sat still long enough for us both to get some pictures of it but after that it was not seen again. Once I had got home Dave also found a flyover White Stork.

Female Redstart

27th April:

Charlie and I had a meeting with the bird group executive committee members late morning. On route to the office to prep for the meeting I had 2 adult Great Black-backed Gulls drop in on Phase 1 Wet Grassland (the first ones since 21st January) and a Greenshank fly about calling. Glenn and Steve Thomas were on the mound and had already had it. So a decent start to the day, but one that went downhill for me once I got to the office. Glenn and Steve went on to get 2 Ringed Plovers fly north east, a Redshank over and four minutes later a Spotted Redshank circling before heading off east. Ouch! Spotted Redshank would have been a patch tick for me (I have had 5 patch ticks already this year and this was the first one I have missed). It was clearly an extremely good wader day. Days such as this are becoming less frequent here and I was stuck in the office prepping for a meeting. They went on to get 2 Whimbrel flying west 10 minutes after the Spotted Redshank. Because they were going in the opposite direction to everything else I just about managed to get on them as they disappeared into the distance. 25 minutes later and Steve was now heading towards the office ready for the start of the meeting. Glenn got a Golden Plover flying south, which was shortly followed by a Corn Bunting - the latter of which has become a Beddington mega and one that Steve has never seen on patch before. To top off his day Glenn saw a White Stork flying south east over in the direction of Croydon, which Dave, Ian and Nick also managed to see. So overall an incredible day for the Farmlands!

Adult Great Black-backed Gulls

Male Grey Wagtail

28th April:

A relatively slow day. The highlight bird was not even narrowed down to a definite species! As I was looking at the female Peregrine through my binoculars I got onto a Tern flying behind it in the distance. It was flying west and away from myself, my mum and Glenn. I failed to get them onto it and with the poor views I got of it I had to stick it down as a Common or Arctic Tern, also referred to as a 'Commic' Tern.

29th April:

Another 70 species day. eBird list here.

Hobby

30th April:

A Greenshank and smart male and female White Wagtail were the highlights.

Sunrise above and below

Greenshank

Phonescoped male White Wagtail

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Mating Green-veined White Butterflies above and below