New York Trip Report

American Robin: Please see the link below that will take you to my holiday and trip report section of my blog (see bottom of the page).

Here you can read my account from my visit to New York, an amazing city with lots to offer.

Yellow Warbler: You might not expect a busy city with busy parks surrounded by skyscrapers, traffic and hurly-burly of city life to be a productive birding destination. But like many cities there are some marvellous green spots that attract an eye-opening variety of birds that are drawn to these pockets of green during migration and to breed.

Cerulean Warbler: Late Spring may not be the best time of year to visit NYC as many birds in Central Park build their nests, lay eggs and raise their young at this time of year and migration halts.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird: So I concentrated my efforts on five main locations, Bryant Park, Central Park within Manhattan, Jamaica Bay  located on the southern side of Long Island. Sterling Forest and Doodletown upstate in Bear Mountain State Park.

Prairie Warbler: This allowed me to see a wider variety of birds and gave me the chance to experience birding outside of the city, visiting the southern coast and the forest hills upstate.

Black Skimmer: I was also extremely lucky to make some new friends, all experts in their fields, knowledgeable and welcoming.

Janet, Alan, Gail and Tom were great and their help and guidance were out of this world.

Worm-eating Warbler: Tom Stephenson is the co-writer of  'The Warbler Guide' one of the most extensively researched identification books on American warblers.

https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/new-york-june-2019.html

23/06/2019 RSPB Cors Ddyga, Anglesey

Savi's Warbler: Cors Ddyga is one of Wales' largest lowland wetlands and for more than 20 years, RSPB Cymru has been transforming these pasture fields into a wetland.

And have done a fantastic job too.

Savi’s warbler is, like the much commoner grasshopper warbler, a member of the genus Locustella. Literally meaning “little locust” a name given due to the birds buzzing like call it has.

Painted Lady: I didn't have to wait long before I could hear a low, insistent buzzing ringing out from the depths of the reedbed. Similar to gropper but a very different tone.

A first for me and great to see out in the open and showing well.

Also had a turtle dove, a nice surprise and the 2nd record for the reserve, or so I've been told and this rather worn looking long distant migrant butterfly, the painted lady.

09/06/2019 Pensychnant Conservation Centre, Conwy

Redstart: I recently received a lovely email from reader of my Blog, saying that one of my reports from Pensychnant inspired him to visit the place and he loved it. 

Well,  his email inspired me to visit the place again. Pensychnant is great, for a small donation you get to see pied flys, cuckoo and redstarts.

Having journeyed from Africa and Arabia to Wales each spring, redstarts seek out holes in broadleaved trees for nesting.

The pied flys were nesting in some boxes but were too busy foraging high up in the trees and often out of range for my lens.

However there were a pair of redstarts that were much more obliging.

This pair were actively attending a nest site and were busy bringing in food for their young.

 Barn Swallow: Another migrant from Africa, I got close to a couple of swallow who werenesting in the nearby out building.

So often overlooked, these marvellous birds are stunning, full of character and another amazing migrant.

08/06/2019 Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire

Black-headed Bunting: Migration hotspot Flamborough Head came up trumps this weekend as on Friday a very smart looking male black-headed bunting was found along Lighthouse Road.

Upon arriving on Saturday morning there were large crowds gathering alongside the road looking in to the hedge, I waited about 10 minutes before the bird made its first appearance before melting away again and disappearing.





The bird showed two or three more time, relatively well but i was only bale to mange some  poor distant  shots.

Still a new bird for this list, so I was very pleased indeed.

Ferruginous Duck: A little further down Lighthouse road near the golf course a Eastern sub-Alpine warbler was found, this was a little more illusive as it skulked under some brambles and within a young sycamore tree.

 The weather soon changed and the rain came along with some strong cold winds so Dawn and I decided to move on and try again for the fudge duck in South Yorkshire.

This time we got lucky as the bird was relocated to Jenny Browns Common where the bird has taken to following some male tufted ducks around a large pond.

25/05/2019 Bempton Cliffs RSPB, East Yorkshire

Gannet: I'm almost ashamed to say that I have never been to Bempton Cliffs before. I've spent a lot of time on the East Yorkshire cost, especially Spurn but never been across to the cliffs.

Lets start with my first thoughts as we walked down to the cliffs form the visitor centre and coffee shop.


The sights of distant gannet, the sounds of calling kittiwakes and the smells of fishy bird poo!

Words like mesmerising, breath-taking, amazing, awesome all spring to mind.
This is the only gannetry in England and is growing annually.









Simply brilliant, not just the shear numbers and sights of a massive sea bird colony going about their daily business but just how close some of these bird get is brilliant.

Razorbill: With over three miles of sheer cliffs, rising to 400 feet Bempton is the best place in England to see breeding seabirds (over 200,000).

Five viewing points give spectacular close-up views of puffins, gannets, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars.

Razorbills are actually the closest living relative to the Great Auk, which is now extinct.

Kittiwake: Hanging on the wind like a puppet on strings watching the kittiwkaes float of the breeze was great.

They were also actively taking mud from the top of the cliffs, they use this mud in their nest building. 

Thir nest, which is typically placed on a narrow ledge, is a compact structure made of seaweed, mud and some grass.

Fulmar:

Puffin: After a searching the cliffs from all five view points we finally manged to see a puffin that was close on the cliffs.

We spotted dozens on the after and flying up on to the cliffs but never in view perched upon them.

I was really keen to show Dawn the puffins,  she wasn't getting very excited over the kittiwakes or the fulmars but puffins are a bird most people swoon over.

 Guillemot: Guillemots were by far the most nemous bird on the ciffs, they choose breeding sites on long narrow ledges, usually on sheer cliffs, and will squeeze as many bird as possible onto each ledge, with nesting pairs often in bodily contact with one another.

They find strength in numbers and hope that this strategy will prevent predatory birds with larger wing spans from being able to land.

Gannet: Apart from the birds the sights of the weather beaten, eroded cliffs, the wild flowers and coves were another sight to behold.

Barn Owl: Another treat and an unexpected treat was a day time hunting barn owl over the fields adjacent to the cliffs.

Highly recommended, I loved this place and will be sure to make another visit next year.

25/05/2019 Hornsea Mere, East Yorkshire

Baikal Teal: This week I brought and received my new Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and I was super keen to get out and start using it, and there is no better place then  Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire.

Dawn and I started the day at the RSPB reserve Bempton Cliffs but made a stop at Hornsea Mere, Yorkshire’s largest freshwater lake.

For few days a stunning drake Baikal Teal continued its journey north after spending time in Cambridge and Kilnsea.

This was a tricky bird to pin down only a few minutes before we arrived the bird flew off to a narrow bay at the back of the lake, well out of sight. We had to drive over to Wassand Hall and walk down to their hide.

After a long walk getting lost on a huge estate I eventually found the hide and was rewarded with some great view of the bird.

Lesvos Trip Report

Krüper's Nuthatch: Hello all, please check out my Lesvos trip report, simply go the the bottom on my blog and under the holiday and trip reports you will see the link to Lesvos, May 2019.

Black-eared Wheatear: Gary and I had a great time with plenty of birds and orchids.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler: Lesvos is one of the most premier and loved places in Europe for watching birds. Specialties like breeding cinerous bunting and Krüper's nuthatch, as well as a migrant hotspot.

Squacco Heron: Not only did we have a chance to explore the island on our own we also went out with best and most knowledgeable local bird watching guide on the island, Eleni Galinou who took us on a brilliant guided tour.

White-winged Black Tern: We stayed in Skala Kaloni, where 130 bird species have been recorded on its gulf, which includes the Messon region, the salt-pits, and the Vouvari river.








Black Stork: I also had a surprise guided trip for my birthday to see the wild orchids of Lesvos with the legend Jan Van Lent.

Rose-coloured Starling: We weren't disappointed by the what the island had to offer.

https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/lesvos-greese-2019.html

06/05/2019 South Kirkby, West Yorkshire

Iberian Chiffchaff: Oh fudge! A bank holiday grip, yeah I went over to South Kirkby near Wakefield to see the fudge duck that spent yesterday on a small duck pond, but alas the day I decide to go it disappears.

The drake ferruginous duck has been in the area for a few weeks now and has a tendency to show up and then do one, before returning on another day.

Nice consolation bird was this male Iberian chiffy that was constantly calling at the end of Carr Lane, the same road the duck pond was on.