Elementary, dear Warbler

This Autumn has been filled with Yellow-browed Warblers, none of which had been seen by me. In my defence there had been few locally, well, none. They are somewhat of a London rarity, with the majority on the East coast. At the weekend, with one in Regent's Park for a couple of days, I thought it a good opportunity to join in with the Autumn fun. The warbler thought otherwise and... I dipped.  Must I concede and wait until next year?  I'd hoped not. Fast-forward to Friday, and it was still there after eight days.  What to do?  You guessed it.  After a 'joyous' hour on public transport it was into the bustling crowds of Baker Street, past the house of the great detective, before the relative calm of the park. A group of birders were already there, the little warbler wasn't... yet.  Although it had been seen, it was being elusive and not very vocal. With a bird of its miniature proportions it was going to be tricky to get.  But that's the fun of birding, isn't it? The wait was actually not too long, before we were called over to catch the silhouette of a YBW.  It vanished for a few minutes, before I managed to relocate it in a dense thicket.  This time it showed off (however briefly) its strongly marked wingbar and eyebrow. A stunning little Siberian migrant.  It even called a couple of times.. what a gem!   Autumn birding's now complete.

It didn't really pose for its shot, can you tell?

Oh, in other news I've upgraded my lens (so this shot really isn't a good start), but more on that later.  I'll just leave you with this Heron...

Autumn Begins...

The Autumn migration,  ah, that fantastic time of year.  In retrospect, I've never really been able to observe Autumn migration at its full capacity. The sheer number of birds passing can be incredible.  So it was, on Monday I found myself in an awe at the numbers, at the magnitude with which some species were present.

 Arriving at Seaford Head before the sun was fully risen, I was greeted by House Martins.  Thousands and thousands of House Martins.  The sky was full of them, the Sea, the cliffs... everywhere you looked there were House Martins.  It seemed rather an unreal sight to behold.  Three, to four thousand seemed about right.  I imagine I had watched them for at least thirty minutes before I could drag myself away to look at Yellow Wagtails, which were in decent numbers also, although nothing like the House Martins.  Over the day I had a respectable thirty-forty of these stunning yellow(ish) migrants.

Similar numbers of Wheatear were also present, with one field containing over ten.  It was a good field to say the least and, after two hours, some did come rather close.  I recall one surprising moment when a Wheatear ran directly at me and stopped no more than twelve foot away.  There was however, in rather typical fashion, a single blade of grass going across its face.  Here's one from twenty foot instead.

Among all the migrants - Whinchats, Redstart, Willow Warbler, Whitethroats and Swallows - I did make time for some non-avian wildlife. I must be mad.  I suppose it's excusable to be distracted by an Adder though isn't it? Yes, I was lucky enough to find my first ever Adder, basking in a gorse bush by the edge of a path.  Just amazing.  Seeing a wild snake was one of my hopes this summer, I'm sure I can make do with getting it in Autumn though...

Rather a nice way to break into the new season don't you think?

Ireland -the Gulls

A summary of the gulls from my Ireland trip, Larophiles (Gull 'enthusiasts') enjoy...

Ring Billed Gull:  We saw 5 RBG's, three adults and two 2nd winter birds.  There were 

two at Cork Lough, two at Tralee Wetland Centre and one at Castletownbere.  They showed pretty well too.

Mediterranean Gull:  Not quite as uncommon as the rest, but Med Gulls are always nice, and I got a surprise when we found eleven at Aghada!  There was a 2nd winter and ten adults which were coming into summer plumage, standing out well amongst Common and Black Headed Gulls.  There was also a 1st winter bird at Tralee Bay Wetlands.

Iceland Gull: We managed two Iceland Gulls, one at Tralee Bay Wetland Centre and one at Ballycotton Pier, both of them were 1st winter birds - I think.

Kumlien's Gull: A subspecies of Iceland Gull, but still a nice one to see.  There was a 1st winter individual showing extremely well at Kinsale Co. Cork.

Glaucous Gull: These huge birds are real stunners!  Dwarfing all the other gulls around them they're quite an impressive sight.  We had  1st winter birds at Kenmare Pier and Black Rock, with adults seen at Cahermore and Castletownbere.

Yellow-legged Gull:  A bird I'd been trying to see for a long time, and finally managed to get at Castletownbere, and if that wasn't enough it was sitting next to a Glaucous Gull!

Interestingly enough at the same location we found a Yellow-legged Herring Gull, surely just to confuse things.

Ross's Gull:  And of course the Ross's Gull.  This little beauty was at Kinsale Co. Cork, and showed unbelievably well. 

Really a fantastic trip.