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.