Grafham Water 30 June 2012

Another blowy morning with a couple of light showers spent four hours along the dam and lagoons area prior to midday

Waders are beginning to move through with a Curlew through south, 2 Redshanks on the dam, 2 Avocets and 2 Green Sandpipers on the lagoons otherwise - 3 Little Egrets, 7 Teal on the lagoons, 3 Red Kites, 4 Common Buzzards, 5 juvenile Lapwings on the lagoons, 4 Common Terns,  8 Yellow-legged Gulls (3 adults, 1 4th calendar year, 3 3rd calendar year and 1 2nd calendar year), 31 juvenile Pied Wagtails along the dam indicative of a good level breeding success no sign of any juvenile Yelllow Wagtails yet though, a lone Meadow Pipit along the dam was presumbaly a migrant. Many species of warblers again singing with vigour.
A male Ringlet butterfly was the first that I have seen this year...

Didn't take any photos today so here's a happy June memory from one of my trips to China taken just outside Songpan, Sichuan province in June 2010...

adult male Siberian Rubythroat in song 

Grafham Water 25 June 2012

My early morning balcony coffee was disturbed by the familar though unexpected call of a Kittiwake (an adult) that was being mobbed by the local Black-headed Gulls as it flew north along the River Ouse, presumably blown inland by the recent strong winds....

  Shelduck duckling 
On to the dam at Grafham for 0700: 8 Yellow-legged Gulls (3 ads, 1 4th calendar year, 1 second calendar year and 3 3rd calendar year birds) 8 Common Terns,1 adult Redshank on the dam, 6 early returning adult islandica Black-tailed Godwits flew over SW towards the lagoons though were not seen later,  4 Yellow Wagtails was a low count of breeding birds.
At the lagoons 4 Avocets and a single Turtle Dove were the highlights 3 Gadwall and 12 Shelduck ducklings were signs of at least some successful breeding this season....



Sedge Warbler 


3rd calendar year Yellow-legged Gull
Linnet


Avocet

Grafham Water 23 June 2012

third calendar year Yellow-legged Gull
An afternoon wander around the lagoons and along the windswept dam...
Yellow-legged Gulls again present in numbers with c14 around this afternoon (3 adults,  1 4th calendar year, 2 2nd calendar year and  8 3rd calendar year 6 of which flew off very high SW) along with c 20 LBB's and increasing numbers of juvenile Black-headed Gulls, a lone LRP on the lagoons, c 150 Swifts, a single Hobby and 3 Red Kites

juvenile Long-tailed Tit




Grafham Water & River Ouse at Little Paxton 19 June 2012

An afternoon visit to Grafham where 8 Yellow-legged Gulls, 2 Little Egrets and 2 Hobbies were the highlights followed by a couple of hours along the River Ouse path as far as Island Pit mainly in search of dragonflies with impressive numbers of Banded Demoiselles, a few of Four Spotted and Scarce Chasers and best of all a single male Norfolk Hawker. Few birds of note 3 Turtle Doves and single Green Sandpiper on Island Pit were the pick.

Common Buzzard 

Grafham Water 17 June 2012

Did three hours early morning along the dam and lagoons area, nice morning, a fresh SW wind and sunny.

A further increase in Yellow-legged Gulls today with certainly 12 present this morning - 4 ads, 1 4th calendar year bird, 2 2nd calendar year birds and at least 5 3rd calendar year birds, one of the latter was colour ringed and based on the coding appears to have been ringed on the Balearics.
Otherwise 2 Little Egrets, 1 Common Sandpiper, c400 Swifts were the best of it. Several Willow Warblers in full voice this morning indicative of failed first broods.

Willow Warbler 

Grafham Water 16 June 2012

A blowy but bright early morning for three hours along the dam..

An influx of Yellow-legged Gulls was evident as follows: 1 adult SW and 2 on the res., 1 2nd calendar year bird on the res; 2 3rd calendar year birds SW and 3 on the res., 1 4th calendar year bird on the res. Adding to the gull interest was a 3rd calendar year GBB that had been colour ringed on NW Scotland.
Otherwise 1 Little Egret, 6 Common Terns, c600 Swifts  and c 20 Swallows and the local raptors were about it.....

Adult Yellow-legged Gull - very large individual

The very minimal white mirror on P9 is indicative of birds from
western populations typically Portugal & Spain 


Grafham Water 10 June 2012

Spent a couple of hours early morning along the dam, very calm sunny and warm...

Rather quiet waders limited to 2 Dunlin different birds to yesterday one probably race schinzii or alpina and the other probably race arctica; otherwise an adult and a 3rd calendar year Yellow-legged Gulls, 8 Common Terns were just about it, due to the calm sunny weather very few hirundines present and not a single Swift....

An afternoon balcony birding session added a Hobby and a cream crown Marsh Harrier high north-east to the days modest tally

Dunlin - probably race alpina and arctica 


Grafham Water 9 June 2012

After a couple of hours yesterday afternoon with not much to show I returned to the dam this morning at 7.15 with the lingering thought of the remote possibility of a windblown seabird; stayed until midday and went home without the anticipated seabird sighting. A fresh wind still but warmer and drier....
A male Peregrine over was unexpected; 1 Hobby through east; 2 Red Kites and 2 Buzzards over Diddington Wood; 1 Ringed Plover on the dam; a pair of Turnstones on the dam until late morning when they flew off south, failed breeders perhaps; 2 Sanderling on the dam early am only, 1 Dunlin a male had the look of race arctica, a windblown late or early returning migrant; 14 Common Terns feeding frantically; 1 Sandwich Tern through east at 09.40; 5 Yellow-legged Gulls around today (1 adult, 2 2nd calendar year and 2 3rd calendar year); c 600 Common Swifts and interestingly four found dead perhaps due to starvation/exhaustion following the spell of cold wet windy weather; c 50 Swallows and c 200 House Martins.

Common Tern




male Turnstone


Dunlin - quite probably race arctica - note the small stint like appearance, shortish bill, dull buff fringing on the upperparts (lacking the rich rufous fringes of  race schinzii or alpina) small diffuse black belly patch and the plain greyish brown coverts. The white collar indicates that this is a male. 







Grafham Water 7 June 2012

Early afternoon visit to the lagoons and dam area in cloudy then rainy conditions 1 Ringed Plover, 1 LRP, 1 alpina Dunlin, 1 3rd calendar year Yellow-legged Gull and a half decent view of a Nightingale were the pick

No local photographs today, here's one from my archive......

Green-backed Kingfisher - Tangkoko - Sulawesi - Indonesia - September 2006

Grafham Water 5 June 2012

Walked the dam and lagoons area for three hours early am in somewhat warmer and drier conditions

Rather quiet; 1 Red Kite over Diddington Wood, 1 Lttle Egret and a male LRP on the lagoons, 1 3rd calendar and 1 2nd calendar year Herring Gulls and c 500 Swifts and 12 Crossbills west over the lagoons were the most notable sightings.

Grafham Water 4 June 2012

Three hours early morning along the dam and lagoons area produced 2 Little Egrets, 1 Sanderling along the dam, 2 3rd Calendar year Yellow-legged Gulls and an impressive gathering of Common Swifts totalling c1600 with c 150 Swallows and c 4 House Martins.
A return visit mid afternoon produced a Hobby, a single Black Tern for 10 minutes before it flew off east and an immature male Scarce Chaser

immature male Scarce Chaser 

Grafham Water 3 June 2012

Visited the dam and the lagoons briefly early morning, raining with a cool northerly breeze...
2 Sanderling on the dam, 2 Avocets on the lagoons, 2 2nd calendar year and 1 3rd calendar year Yellow-legged Gulls on the dam then flew towards Paxton Pits..

Grafham Water 2 June 2012

A couple of hours at the dam and a brief visit to the lagoons...
Possible Sykes's Wagtail (beema)
(better quality images on Ornisobscura flicker site)

flava wagtail race identification is challengiing to say the least but this male wagtail is a very strong contender for Sykes's Wagtail a bird of south-east Russia and western Siberia and following a few days with a strong easterly airstream in late spring the timing couldn't be better. I have seen this race in the breeding range and this bird looks spot on it would be a long odds fluke for any hybrid such as 'channel' wagtail to look like Sykes's to this degree. The status of birds resembling Sykes's in Britain is confused with most being considered or rather dismissed as variant flavissima, 'channel' type hybrids or genetic flukes. I've checked well over a hundred pictures labelled 'Channel Wagtail' (flava x flavissima hybrid) on the web and none have quite the appearance of Sykes's as this bird most clearly does; the possibility of a genetic fluke remains of course.

The key features:
Strikingly pale grey head with non contrasting ear coverts
Short white stripe in ear coverts
Broad white supercilium (a little narrow infront of the eye perhaps)
Broad dark loral stripe reaching bill
Broad white sub moustachal stripe
white chin yellow throat
Brighter green upperparts
Looked ever so slightly larger than the local flavissimas
Call sounded somewhat more strident


Otherwise 3 Sanderling and 6 Ringed Plovers on the dam, 2 Avocets and 3 Little Egrets on the lagoons.