13/10/2024 WWT Martin Mere, Burscough, Lancs

Snow Goose: I found myself with a free day, as Dawn took Autumn to her sisters for the day so I decided to spend the morning at Martin Mere and see if the snow goose I saw the previous weekend was showing any better today.

They are native to North America and are rare vagrants to the UK, but also a frequent escapee from waterfowl collections. There is a feral breeding population of snow geese also, thought to be around 100 pairs. 

Although these feral flocks are typically found on the Inner Hebrides and other smaller feral flocks in Norfolk and Hampshire. Any snow geese that  are usually considered to be genuine ‘wild’ birds are those occurring with carrier flocks of Greenland white-fronted geese in northwest, Scotland and Ireland. Yeah, so I think the fact it’s associating with greylags does it no favours. But who knows?

Lapwing: I spent a few hours in the hide overlooking the mere, watching c40 whooper swans many showing really close to the hide, honking and whooping at each other. 

 

In the fields surround the mere and flocking overhead where c2000 pink-footed geese were sighted and there were c150 greylag goose keeping the snow goose company on the mere too.

It was a really pleasant way to spend the morning, not only with the Autumnal flocks of wildfowl but with the company of Marcus and his dad Dave Owen. Good to catch up lads. 

Western The Kazakhstan, May 2024

Back in May I was given the opportunity to embark upon a work trip to survey for birds in Central Asia's largest country, Kazakhstan. This was a real privilege to work on a special project that has given me the experience of a life time. I was complied by Alex Poole colleague at WSP and a top bloke and a top ecologist, despite being a Villa fan. 

On reflection the one thing that was most notable about the trip was the difference in habitat types and how vast and distinct they were, so I thought I would lay this blog post out by each classification of habitat and the species observed within each one.

Steppe Eagle: TThis Kazakhstan Steppe is such an incredible sight spanning the horizon like the grasslands of Africa or the prairies  of North America. However, here they aredominated by  Boehmer's cat's-tail, narrow-leaved meadow-grass, northern bedstraw, lupine clover, tuberous Jerusalem sage, and Artemisia latifolia. 

The Steppe eagle is entirely migratory, probably migrating in greater numbers than any other Eagle in the world. Autumn migrations take the raptors to wintering grounds in nearby Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but also as far away as India, Africa, and the Middle East. The birds start to return to their breeding grounds in February. Many studies corroborate that Steppe eagles generally migrate lesser distances as they age.

Long-legged Buzzard: I was surprised how green the Steppe actually was, doing the research and looking at google maps and arial imagery the whole of this area looked bleak, brown, dry and uninspiring. 

Demoiselle Crane: One of my main target birds I was really hoping to see, was the Demoiselle crane. We had a trio fly low over the road one morning and landed in the field with about a dozen or so other birds, not far from the our car it gave us a really good opportunity to see them up close. 

Found primarily in open spaces with a wide range of visibility, there can be found living in upland areas, unlike most other cranes which can be found in wetland habitat. This crane species enjoys space and solitude, therefore their habitats vary from semi-arid savannas, grasslands, and Steppes, to high plateaus.

Black Kite:  We traveled further into the Steep looking for bustards and sand grouse spotting more Steppe eagles, white-winged larks, cranes and bee-eaters.

.

Tawny Pipit: There are not that many pipit species at this time of year on the Steppe so the only one we saw while while out surveying was the Tawny.

White-winged Lark: Along our survey route we found a large reservoir with ands we thought we would pull over and take look, hoping to find some waders. Instead we had a flock of European bee-eaters flying through. 

Black Lark: These striking large larks are one of the iconic birds of the steppes of Kazakhstan they are found in grassy steppe, particularly in areas interspersed with scattered shrubbery or wet patches. 

It was Alex who first spotted one of the trip in a wet area that we were scanning for waders and sandgrouse. The birds were pretty flighty and wasn't allowing us to approach too close.

Marsh Harrier: Post-Soviet fire and grazing regimes have govern the abundance of a key ecosystems on the steppe. Intensive grazing and fire patterns across the Steppes have changed dramatically over the past decades due to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Kazakhstan is now a global fire hotspot. 

Savi's Warbler: We surveys a huge river system and delta area which is one of the largest remaining natural deltas and inland lake in Central Asia. These vast wetlands provides a rich variety of habitats supporting a range of threatened species.

These wet areas were fantastic places, Alex and I spent a lot of time birding here, focusing on our target species and areas that of importance to the project.

Black-winged Pratincole: The Kazakh steppe, also known as the Kirghiz steppe, is itself one of the largest dry steppe regions on the planet, covering approximately 804,500 square kilometres and extending more than 2,200 kilometres from north of the Caspian Sea east to the Altai Mountains. 

Caspian Plover: We were thrilled to see this stately plover with a gentle, dovelike expression. Breeding male is stunning, with a white face and belly separated by a broad chestnut patch across the chest. Breeding female is plainer brown, and has a warm rusty-brown patch across the chest. One of our main target birds. 

The whole trip was amazing, thrilling, exciting a real life experience, one full of birding memories and good laughs.  

Black-eared Wheatear: So to read more and see more images, please click on this link below or see the Holiday and Trip Reports at the bottom of this blog.

https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/western-kazakhstan-may-2024.html

05/10/2024 RSPB Bempton Cliffs, East Riding of Yorkshire

Isabelline Shrike: Again I find myself up on the Yorkshire coast, again twitching some far eastern birds. First stop was for the two-barred warbler which I dipped, then to Thornwick Bay for the OPB when a issy shrike spp was recorded 10 mins up the road at Bempton.

The question is 'isabelline or red-tailed shrike' you see,  not only do sabellinus and phoenicuroides are structurally and physiologically closely related but they share genetic characteristics too!

Both species have similar moult patterns, breed later and have longer migrations than the eastern races, and as one might expect show a longer wing, second primary and primary projections. 

Olive-backed Pipit: This part of Yorkshire at the moment is buzzing with some brilliant birds and almost has the feeling of November on Shetland. Its dripping in YBW, RBF and a selection of other leaf warblers like the recent pale-legged and two-barred. 

Shoulder to shoulder with dozens of birders and toggers right up against the wooden fence, where the bird showed well at first in the dappled light of the leaflitter, before moving into the taller grass and between the trees. 

Another bird that you would expect to see on Shetland in November is OBP, a long-distance migrant moving in winter to southern Asia and Indonesia with a few overshooting and this bird finding its way to a caravan park in Thornwick Bay, Flamborough. 

Whats next? Whatever it is I hope I can move quickly enough to see it. 

01/10/2024 Crosby Marina Lake, Sefton, Merseyside

Black-necked Grebe: Present for over a week now, this BNG has been favouring the smaller boating lake that sits beside the massive marina lake. I arrived after work in late afternoon while the bird was busily feeding on the far side of the lake being watched by local photographer Vicky Outen, and after a catch up we decided to approach the bird on the otherside where it showed really well. 

These small grebes closely resembles the Slavonian grebe but in all plumages it has a small and characteristically up-turned bill, a steep forehead and peaked crown. This small grebe is unmistakeable when in summer plumage - it has golden tufts of feathers on its face, contrasting with its black head and neck. 

During winter they are predominately white with a poorly defined black cap, which distinguishes it from the crisper-looking Slavonian Grebe.

29/09/2024 Stamford Bridge, East Yorkshire

Hoopoe: This long staying bird that has taken up residence in a small housing estate just north of York, happily feeding on the manicured lawns has been here for over a week now. 

With its pinkish-brown body, distinctive black and white wings, long, black, downcurved bill and a long pinky-brown crest which it raises when it gets excited, the hoopoe is a sight to behold.

They don't breed in the UK, and only about 100 might turn up in the UK each year - normally on the South Coast in spring when they are migrating north from Africa to Europe and offshoot and end up in England. They tend to be solitary birds.

Kris, Gary and I saw the bird last week wen we were passing back from Flamborough, but only saw the bird a few times briefly before the light  went. This time we pulled up, jumped out and bingo! The bird was foraging for leatherjackets outside of number one Fox Grove. 

Not particularly rare these days, but forever a such a great bird to watch. 

29/09/2024 RSPB Bempton Cliffs, East Riding of Yorkshire

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler: This bird is huge, the second British record after the he first, a morbid bird found on St Anges, Scilly in November 2016. But, due to some family commitments I and to wait a full day before mobilising and jumping in the car with Iggo, Paul Baker and Steve T.

Remarkable record this being the second confirmed record for Britain and even more remarkable that I managed to get any photos of it. A shy species that usually forages for insects on the forest floor, sometimes climbing up low shrubs and vines to glean prey making even seeing the bird very difficult. 

Pale-legged warblers resembles Arctic warblers but with dark greyish crown contrasting with olive-greenish mantle and pale greyish pink legs and feet. They are indistinguishable from the very similar looking Sakhalin Leaf Warbler visually (or oftentimes even in hand), and in the field it can only be told apart by its call (~6Khz instead of ~5Khz) or characteristic song.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come as its not even November yet. What else is out there waiting to be found? Or what next will be blown on to our shores?

22/09/24 Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire

Barred Warbler: Today started with so much promise, with the hope of twitching my first Pallas's grasshopper warbler or PG tips. One was found by a local birder the day before although news broke late which left us leaving very early on Sunday morning for Tynmouth. 

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly the PG tips did a bunk over night, not surprisingly. We stayed until we were sure it was gone before heading down to South Gare, an area of reclaimed land and breakwater on the southern side of the mouth of the River Tees in Redcar and Cleveland.

It was here that a showy barred warbler had been seen pretty consistently in a small area of dense scrub in a small hollow that the locals call the Bomb Hole. 

Yellow-browed Warbler: After having our fill of the brilliant barred Kris and I headed further south to Flamborough where the weather started to deteriorate with thick fog and drizzle greeting us upon our arrival. 

Blackcap: By the time we pulled up the Eastern olivaceous warbler, which had been showing well all morning had also done a bunk. Luckily I had bagged the bird last year at Long Nab, Burniston.

Kris and I ended up meeting up with Gary and Sarah before searching for RBF and YBW that showed well despite the thinning fog.

Red-breasted Flycatcher: One our way home kris got a message from Carl saying that there was a hoopoe on the way home in Stamford bridge near York. The bird was flighty but we had some brief  views before it went to roost in a willow behind the houses. Big thanks to Carl for the heads up. 

15/09/2024 Fairhaven Lake, Lytham Saint Annes, Lancs

Black Tern: I have recently purchased the 200-800 f9 canon lens and the canon R7 and I have been really keen to get out as much as I can and practice with it.

It's been a big learning curve thus far, with a heavier bigger lens and new controls on the camera it's taken a while to get to grips with the new kit. 

One of the things I wanted to practice with was fast moving birds, and boy, these back terns where defiantly a good subject to practice on. The pair were constantly on the move, whizzing through the air and foraging on the water and in all honestly I really struggled. The auto-focus wasn't capable of tracking the birds and the crop sensor made things more difficult at 800mm to track the birds.

These where the best I could manage with the time I had. Despite my frustrations it was great to spend the afternoon with these pair of back tern. They are great birds.