Buff-breasted Reeves

Sunday, 06 September 2009

High tide 13.14 (4.6m) Low Tide 18.40 (0.9m)

Light to moderate W to SW breeze, sunny a.m. cloudier p.m., warm

Although I arrived too late for the early-morning rush of migrants it quickly became apparent that there were few new migrants in the bushes area but I still found myself wandering aimlessly around. It sometimes becomes a habit for the “patchworker” to look into empty bushes just for the satisfaction (though that’s not quite the right word) that you haven’t missed anything. Which is quite ridiculous at Farlington considering the amount of scrub could hide a herd of elephants and it would be perfectly possible not to see them! In fact, I have known one or two wardens that have struggled to find the herd of cattle…

Birds were, erm, everywhere of course it’s just that there weren’t many migrants. There was a thin scattering of the usual Blackcaps, and a meagre three each of Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff. Two Cetti’s Warblers tried to sing to each other and a trickle of Meadow Pipits headed northwest overhead. A group of 50 Swallows belted through low southwest over the main fields. A group of 40 finches circled around, comprising 3:2 Greenfiches and Goldfinches. One of the bomb-crater ponds held a very showy Sedge Warbler clambering around the rushes therein, while three more accompanied Blackcaps out from the reedbed further on. My first Pied Wagtail in four visits to the reserve this week flew over – perhaps the first migrant one of the autumn.

Bearded Tits could be heard calling in the reedbed and, as I walked past the information building, a smart adult male Kestrel landed on the fence behind but flew off before I could get my camera attached to the telescope. Never mind. Moving onwards a little group of chats – two each of Wheatear and Whinchat - perched on the fenceline along the track caught my attention. I was soon engrossing myself in a little bit of digiscoping with mixed results:

The north-east “slip field” held another Chiffchaff and a Great-spotted Woodpecker, the latter disturbed from the bottom of a dead-looking Hawthorn tree. The best sighting in this area was of a juvenile Kestrel chasing a Kingfisher, although I use the word “best” loosely as I would be the first to admit that I didn’t want the falcon to catch the fisher. And so it was: Kingfisher 1, Kestrel 0. Chalkdock held a total of 22 Great-crested Grebes and 5 Wigeon (my first in that area this autumn) floating about on the water, and the head of a Harbour Seal bobbing around a little further out. I’m sure it’s body was under the surface somewhere it’s just that I couldn’t see it – now look, I’m only reporting what I actually SAW! A Common Buzzard was being mobbed by a party of three Kestrels just to the north of the harbour.

The tide was already quite high and the saltmarsh areas of North Binness Island were attracting the usual Grey Herons and Little Egrets. As I walked southwards along the seawall path I flushed a Common Sandpiper from the shoreline which flipped across the near creek onto North Binness Island but later ziz-zagged ahead of me twice to be flushed again, and then again from along the seawall. Common Sandpipers are the Wheatears of the wader world in that they tend to fly ahead of you and don’t learn fast enough that it’s better to back-track behind you to avoid being flushed again rather than landing just in front! But I’m very sure that, if you ask a Common Sandppier his or her perspective on things you might get a rather different opinion!

Scanning across the saltmarsh areas, including both North Binness and Long Islands, I counted ten Grey Herons and 19 Little Egrets actively hunting for food as the tide reached its peak and flooded all the various creeks and leeks. I didn’t stop very long to watch but I have noticed before that they tend to catch a combination of invertenrates and fish, the former being flooded out from their hiding places in the saltmarsh and the latter brought in by the tide. Although doubtless the herons might take anything that moves, including voles.

Another 14 Great-crested Grebes were on the water to the south of North Binness Island. And then I looked out to Baker’s Island and was greeted with the sight of a couple of sail boarders that had landed there. Great! Now let’s be clear here: these islands are part of a nature reserve and have huge NO LANDING signs on. They are also the major high tide roost for many of the waders and wildfowl that live in Langstone Harbour. As it was the hundreds of Curlew that otherwise would have been on Baker’s Island had been displaced to Long Island and North Binness Island. The only notable gathering of birds left on Baker’s Island was of Cormorants – 31 stood on the near shore - but virtually none of the other expected birds were to be seen in that area. Even the usual Osprey was flushed by the sail boarders and was seen heading southwards to Hayling Island. Three Shelduck, two Dark-bellied Brent Geese and several Little Egrets later the sail boarders went on their flushing way but only to be replaced by a kayaker paddling himself very close to the islands…

Looking inside the seawall at Farlington again the Deeps now invited my attention. Stood around one of the last remaining areas of water on this side of the reserve was a group of 13 Little Egrets and 5 Grey Herons, with another of the latter flying over. Various small birds flicking about here included Linnets, Meadow Pipits, Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears. Feeding on the muddy areas at the front of the deeps were three Dunlin, four Black-tailed Godwits, while asleep was a Shelduck and three Oystercatchers.

Moving on to the southern point of Farlington I relocated the Osprey on one of the shorter posts in the harbour off the distant west side of Hayling Island. There were single Turnstone and Dunlin on the shingle here but the tide was too high for anything else. Rounding the corner of the seawall I could see that Little Binness Island was brimming with Oystercatchers. There were at least 900 of them, occasionally flying around when one of the many boats in the harbour today came a bit too close. As I approached the main lake I counted another 480 Oystercatchers there, so getting on towards 1500 on or around the reserve today. Others had remained uncounted with the Curlew on Long Island earlier.

Four Whinchats were in their usual place on the fenceline near the lake but I didn’t stop long to look at them. There were waders on the lake to look at, and my lunch to eat! The lake held a good roost of birds, including 271 Grey Plovers and 18 Knot. Scarcer species were two Common Sandpipers, a Common Snipe, a Spotted Redshank, up to 15 Greenshank and, the best by far, two Ruff. The latter were small juvenile females, also called Reeves, one asleep amongst the 471 Redshank, and the other feeding with a group of Dunlin. Both were very brightly coloured buff almost all over, and typically scaly-looking on the back. Various other odds and ends flew over the lake, including a group of 17 Yellow Wagtails and two Sand Martins.

Another brief look thorugh the bushes as I left revealed two Redstarts calling to each other but remaining frustratingly difficult to see. I did evntually manage to see one of them well but all too briefly. I wonder what else I had missed in this area earlier?!

Selected bird records and counts:

Dark-bellied Brent Goose 2

Shelduck 5

Wigeon 13

Great-crested Grebe 36

Osprey 1

Common Buzzard 1

Kestrel 5

Sparrowhawk 1

Redstart 2

Wheatear 5

Whinchat 6

Swallow 50+

Sand Martin 2

Yellow Wagtail 20+

Greenshank 15+

Common Sandpiper 3

Lesser Whitethroat 3

Oystercacther 1500+

Grey Plover 271

Common Snipe 1

Knot 18

Cormorant 31+

Redshank 471

Spotted Redshank 1

Greenshank 15+

Great-spotted Woodpecker 1

Kingfisher 1