A Few Additions

Wren - Still singing away!

Having spent the early part of the week meticulously going through the thousand or so images of my recent trip to Spain, I decided that this weekend my attention should return to our very own Spring migration. Having said that I did manage a few early morning midweek trips to Brandon Marsh, which produced White Wagtail, Reed Warbler and Common Sandpiper.

Before my trip to Spain some migrants had been arriving in large numbers, such as Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. However, for other species the arrival locally has been very poor and upon my return the trend seemed to be continuing. For the time of year many of our summer visitors are worryingly absent. There are very few Swallows and Sand Martins around. Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers are also conspicuous by their absence. This is probably down to southern Europe recently experiencing poor weather. Southern Spain and Portugal have had hailstorms, in fact it did hail during my stay, heavy rain and cool northerly winds have also been a factor.

One Of Several Yellowhammer @ Napton

Saturday morning was spent with Jim Rushforth checking out the woodland and pool areas at Brandon Marsh in the hope that a few Common Whitethroats and Sedge Warbler had dropped in. Jim had in fact had his first Common Tern on East Marsh Pool on the Friday and so we were hopeful of more to follow. At one stage near the Olive Seat bench, which overlooks the Newlands reed bed, I was positive I'd heard a Cuckoo call but dismissed it after nothing further was heard. Despite a few reports from other regulars of Whitethroats neither Jim, Martin Durkin, who'd now joined us, or I managed to connect. The morning did produce 2 Little-ringed Plover, all three Hirundines, and the Redshank and Oystercatcher now seem well established, the midweek Reed Warbler was also still singing away within the Goose Pool reed bed.

Distant Record ♂Common Redstart

Today was a much better day all-round! With clear skies overnight there seemed a lot more around at Brandon Marsh Swallow, House and Sand Martin were all in good numbers and it wasn't long before I'd finally recorded my first Common Whitethroats of the year. ♂♀Muntjac Deer were a pleasant sight on the bank at Sheep Field and It probably looks like I did in fact hear a Cuckoo yesterday after all. The first arrival of the year was first heard calling from the Central Marsh, later seen flying off towards New Hare Covert.

Shortly after returning to the marina a nice surprise came when a phone call from Richard Mays alerted me to a ♂Common Redstart showing well at Napton Reservoir. Only minutes away it wasn't long before I had the bird in my sights on an adjacent field, sadly way too far for any distant images! During my half hour or so stay I further recorded of note: 2 Orange Tip Butterfly, 8 Yellowhammer, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Raven overhead and a Curlew, heard but not seen!

The Rio Velez

Yellow Wagtail (Blue-headed)

With our flight time home not until the evening we took the opportunity to visit another interesting birding site. Although I consider this to be one of the best all-round site's I've visited thus far on my trips to Spain, I do have some reservations about recommending it!

The estuary of this particular river is directly beside a naturist beach and close to a naturist campsite. Although the genuine naturist is no problem whatsoever, as Dee discovered, the area obviously attracts a few sordid characters and is also becoming notorious as a gay pick-up spot! Having said that, we did come across a few strange characters but during our afternoon visit we never in any way felt threatened, especially with me being such a handsome chap!! However, the area concerned is only a very small part of a sizeable site and can be avoided.

Beautiful Swallowtail

The Rio Velez is situated approximately 35kms east of Malaga, near the town of Torre del Mar. The estuary of the river is surrounded by extensive reed beds and marshes. When the river is not in flow , the estuary becomes a large lagoon and the remainder of the river dries out and becomes walkable or drivable for around 4kms.

During our visit the river was in slight flow and the lagoon was well advanced. Immediately after parking at least 3 Nightingale were singing in the reeds and giant canes and a number of White wagtail were on the waters edge. A large group of Black-winged Stilt were settled at the base of the lagoon and Monk Parakeet could also be heard.

Woodchat Shrike

As we made our way upstream a couple of Woodchat Shrike were constantly flitting from ground to perch and it wasn't long before we discovered Little-ringed and Ringed Plover. Savi's Warbler and Baillon's Crake could also be heard from deep within the reed bed but we never managed a viewing during our stay. This is also an excellent place to see Spanish Sparrow, with at least 5 recorded during our stay. Further upstream the area is carpeted with wild flowers and the water reasonably well vegetated with reeds, Tamarisk and Oleander. Several Butterflies were on the wing with a number of various Fritillary, Clouded Yellow and my favourite Swallowtail.

Black-winged Stilt

Despite a little early in the season Yellow Wagtail were everywhere, two Hoopoe seemed to follow us around constantly and we finally made contact with the Parakeets. Also recorded of note during a terrific few hours were: Woodlark, Crested Lark, Cetti's Warbler, Fan-tailed Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Lesser Kestrel, Spotless Starling and Crag Martin.

During our long weekend we also visited Gibraltar for the day and although primarily for sight-seeing we did record of note: Blue Rock Thrush. A selection of images during our stay can now be found at my Flickr site.

Laguna de Fuente de Piadra Pt2

Curlew Sandpiper on Small Lagoon

After moving back towards the information centre there are a couple of hides to visit overlooking two further small lagoons and after the long walk a welcome sit down. Northern Shoveler, Little Grebe, Pochard, more Stilts and a very pristine looking Black-necked Grebe in full breeding plumage, but sadly to distant for a decent image.

As we walked up the hill towards the main hide a Collared Pratincole flew through heading towards the main lagoon.

Black-winged Stilt

Gull-billed Terns were constantly moving back and forth from the main lagoon, a few Black Tern were also seen plus a Slender-billed Gull and a Curlew Sandpiper almost in summer plumage. Away from the water and a couple Woodchat Shrike were spotted on a nearby fence, two Red-rumped Swallow, Sardinian Warbler, Linnet and Willow Warbler were also recorded.

Once you've investigated the main part of the site your able to drive around the rest of the lagoon and stop off at the various observation points. We found that its best to do this in an anti-clockwise direction. There's plenty more reed and scrub to investigate too, picking up a pair of Stonechat and although its a little early in the season for the main Warbler population we still managed a few more Reed Warbler and Zitting Cisticola.

One of Many Corn Bunting!

At one point there's a walk which takes you closer to the main lagoon, sadly this was closed during our visit so we had to make do with distant views of Marsh Harrier and a group of Black-tailed Godwit.

By the time we arrived back at our start point we'd finished an excellent bays birding with more Corn Buntings you could shake a stick at, and perched atop one of the power pylons a Booted Eagle to finish the day!

Laguna de Fuente de Piadra Pt1

Wood Sandpiper

A beautiful start to the day and Breakfast on the terrace had the usual entertainment overhead, many Swift which included at least three Pallid, Swallow, with at least two Red-rumped, and several House Martins. In the surrounding Broom, Sardinian Warbler and the usual Serin were a constant. My first Cuckoo of the year, and in fact Dave's first since moving here, could be heard in the distance and yet another visit overhead from one of the local Booted Eagles.

Today's outing was to The Laguna de Fuentes de Piedra, a vast saline lake almost 7 Kms in length and 2.5 Kms in width and is about an hour or so's drive from Dave's villa. The lake, together with the areas of scrub, marsh and reed beds that immediately surround it , has been given the status Reserva Natural and has been fenced off to prevent human interference.

One Of Several Crested Lark

Although the lagoon is fed with water from several Small streams, it's dependant on adequate rainfall in the winter months if it's not to dry out before spring. When we arrived just after lunch I would say that the lake itself was around 3/4 full. There is a modern visitors centre and a chat with the receptionist, who spoke a little English, had us up to date with anything of interest.

Behind the information centre is the first lookout point and here we spent a half hour looking out onto the vast lagoon. On the Lagoon itself Greater Flamingo, accompanied by at least six Lesser Flamingo, plus a healthy number of Avocet and a selection of Gulls which included Herring, Slender-billed, Black-headed, Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed. Although a little early in the season plenty of Gull-billed Tern were already on site and one or two early Black Tern were amongst them.

Excellent Numbers Of Cattle Egret

Moving down from the lookout point to a large marsh area and several pools and it wasn't long before we'd recorded Cattle Egret, Black-winged Stilt, Redshank and Common Sandpiper, Fan-tailed Warbler were numerous, constantly zitting overhead. A walk along the Lagoon edge added Corn Bunting, Crested Lark, Sardinian Warbler, Goldfinch and a lone Willow Warbler, a small flock of Dunlin were constantly in flight.

The ploughed fields which run adjacent to the lagoon held Spotless Starling and good numbers of White Wagtail along with a number of Yellow Wagtail, which included at least two Blue Headed. At the end of the track a pair of Black-eared Wheatear in a partly ploughed field, plus a singing Reed Warbler in the reed bed, and overhead Lesser Kestrel, plus three White Stork high above probably on passage.

A wooden footbridge runs through the centre of several smaller lagoons and this offers excellent views of some of the Wader species. Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint, Ruff, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Kentish, Ringed and Little-ringed plover were all recorded during our stay.

More to follow.......

Good Friday (Spain)

View From The Terrace!

Although primarily our Easter break in Spain was to catch up with my buddy Dave and especially to check out his new house, birding was obviously going to take centre stage at some point. Little did we realise that in fact our birding was going to take on a slightly different aspect.

After picking us up at Malaga airport the 20 minute drive seemed to take us higher and higher into the local Sierra's, finally reaching our destination after Dave had negotiated a series of roundabouts, at what I thought was breakneck speed, the Spanish way Dee tells me! I'll leave you to decide on what you think of the new house says he.

What greeted us as we made our way up the steps to the terrace was simply stunning. Behind and to the right stood mountains, part of the Sierra range and still extending higher from our vantage point, lights from other villas in the town of Mijas still higher still. From the centre and to the left panoramic views of the town of Fuengirola, the lights of Malaga away off in the distance. This all compounded by a clear moonlit night, the light of which was shimmering off the Mediterranean which lay directly ahead. In fact I could use several more superlatives but I simply can't describe the beautiful setting of his new house, well done Dave!

Up with the Larks on Good Friday morning and an hour on my own on the terrace in beautiful early morning sunshine. It wasn't long before my birding (Obsession), sorry instincts, took over and after leaving the UK in early spring migration, summer had suddenly arrived overhead with Swift, House Martin and Swallow in excellent numbers. A tour of the grounds also produced Sardinian Warbler, Serin, which are a constant, Jay and House Sparrow.

Rock Bunting (Record Shot)

After breakfast Dave took Dee and I on a mini tour of his grounds, which contains a whole diverse habitat of flora and fauna. Some small Lizards were scurrying around, a few Butterflies on the wing (too distant for id) and suddenly directly above two Booted Eagles, possibly a pair! Dave tells me regular visitors to the area. As if this wasn't enough for me to digest another large Raptor soaring overhead after we'd returned to the terrace turned out to be Short-toed Eagle, could this get any better?

In the afternoon a leisurely walk further up the mountains at Refugio de Juanar a vast esplanade of Pine, Olive Trees and stunning views. Unfortunately, being a Spanish holiday the place was extremely busy and noisy too, the Spanish are not known for their subdued conversation. The best of the birding on the walk was Crested Tit, Rock Bunting, Coal Tit and an unknown Raptor which flashed quickly through!

Apologies for the late post but computer problems prevented me from blogging while in Spain and there are more posts to come!

Local & Brandon

Local Tree Sparrow

Yesterday evening I took an afternoon stroll around the marina grounds to see if anything interesting had arrived locally. Chiffchaff have been singing for a few weeks now but I've yet to record any additional summer visitors other than several Sand Martin, which took time out on Saturday morning to skim across the water for a quick drink.

I'm glad to report that our Tree sparrow population seems to be doing well, with several still using the many feeders dotted around the marina. It's noticeable too that these have in fact been joined by a small House Sparrow population but they appear to be living in harmony.

Linnet @ Brandon

With the extraction of a vast amount of reed bed around the marina late last year, a decision that I'd rather not comment on, it remains to be seen what affect this will have on the incoming Sedge and Reed Warbler population. I know that through my observations it had an extremely detrimental effect on what was a very healthy Pied Wagtail roost!

Although at this time of year I'm not entirely happy doing it I'd promised to complete two small chain-saw jobs at Brandon Marsh this morning, so took the opportunity to have a good tour around prior to work. Having had two or three Willow Warblers on my last few visits strangely enough there were none to be found today! Three Little-ringed Plover and a lone ♂Wigeon on East Marsh Pool were the best I could muster, along with a small number of Linnet, a single Swallow and 10 or so Sand Martin. Good number of Blackcaps and Chiffchaff were constantly singing around the wooded areas and a number of Bluebells have flowered in New hare Covert.

Orange Underwing Moth

The 'Tip' area was my final port of call after work and lunch in the Nature Centre and I managed to get my first shots of a mysterious little chap called a Bee-Fly, which has a spectacularly long proboscises, making it look well adapted for taking pollen. I also recorded my first Green-veined White Butterfly of the year and also managed a quick shot of an ageing Orange-under-wing Moth before it took to the wing. Many thanks to Jason http://shenstonebirder.blogspot.co.uk/ for the Moth ID.

Migration Update #3

A Welcome New Arrival (Willow Warbler)

With boat painting matters taking priority over the past week I've still managed to fit in a number of sessions at Brandon Marsh, mostly early morning.

On the migration front the only additions since my last post have been a small number of Willow Warblers, the one pictured above found singing his little heart out near the farm area this morning.

A Fox near the main entrance on my arrival on Saturday morning and with low cloud a good number of Sand Martin had come down with decent numbers around East Marsh Pool, the odd Swallow mixed in!

Today a shock to the system with -5C when I left the marina but the day started off well enough with one of the local Little Owls perched atop the telephone pole. While I was busy scrapping the frost from the car windscreen a Yellowhammer was already singing away and several Skylark could be heard in the adjacent field. Having seen a large black bird land in a field on route to Brandon I pulled off the A425 for a better look to find a Raven, a rare sight to find a local one not on the wing!

I decided to take a different route than normal on arrival at Brandon and having met up with Martin Durkin in the car park we made for the Farm Field area in search of anything interesting, Wheatear, Stonechat or Whinchat, we weren't being fussy. Alas no but the above pictured Willow Warbler bucked up the spirits!

Many more Blackcaps are now on the reserve and after finding my first female♀ of the year near Wright Hide, where a second Willow Warbler was singing, a pair of Blackcaps were also seen near the bench on route to Carlton Hide. Other highlights of the day were 6 Goldcrest, Little Ringed Plover and the two Willow Tits I've been watching for some weeks were finally seen mating, sadly all I got was one blur on top of another when I cracked off a few shots of the happy event.

Another positive for Brandon was the sight of a Buzzard on what looks to be an old crows nest, which these birds are prone to using. If this is in fact confirmed as a nesting bird I'm reliably informed that this would be a first for Brandon. Also seen during my visit to were 2 Swallow, various numbers of Sand Martin, 2 Redshank, 3 Oystercatcher and 3 Treecreeper. No Butterfly records during this visit but with the early frost who can blame them.

Migration Update #2

Black Redstart @ Napton Reservoir!!

I managed to squeeze in a few hours at Brandon Marsh yesterday afternoon and decided to take a tour of the less travelled areas of the reserve, having established that the pools were extremely quiet!

A number of Butterflies were on the wing and I managed various small numbers of Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock. Just off one of the conservation areas I discovered a small pool which was brimming with Frog Tadpoles, a welcome sight on a reserve that doesn't do too well for frogs and Toads.

Sunday's Blackcap was still vocal in New Hare Covert and also observed was a lone ♂Swallow still hanging around the Lafarge works and probably one of the local nesting ones back on site. Other than the usual sightings it was a pleasant but quiet visit.

Orange Tip

Yesterday evening I took a quick tour of the local areas with Dee and spent a very enjoyable half hour at Napton Reservoir practising flight shots with the camera and enjoying the late evening sunshine. It wasn't until later when reviewing our many images that I got a surprise when I drilled in on a distant shot. To my amazement what appears to be Black Redstart jumped out at me, a very pleasant surprise and a first for me locally.

Sadly no further sign of the Black Redstart at Napton and unfortunately today my usual Tuesday Brandon birding day was rudely interrupted, when I spent most of the morning with other members of the conservation team rescuing the team boat. Which for the second time had been vandalised and sunk by some low life's, who'd intentionally filled it with sand to sink it. Fortunately the individuals involved were photographed and I'm sure things will develop further.

On a positive note I'm pleased to say that the new temporary viewing screen is now finished and open to the general public. The screen allows you to see first hand the work completed so far on the new Phase 3 reed bed development. The path is accessible from the Carlton Hide and will be open until such time as the work begins on the new hide. View BMVCT Blog

Finally from a migration birding perspective Chiffchaff's now seem well established, more Blackcap's are now singing around the reserve and two Little Ringed Plovers were the only additions on East Marsh Pool. More Butterflies on the wing today with Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Brimstone and my first Orange Tip of the year near Primrose Bank.

Migration Update #1

Sandwich Tern

With spring migration now starting to gain momentum I thought I'd delicate the coming posts mostly to recording the most exciting time in any birders calendar. This time last year I was lucky enough to spend the best part of spring in Canada getting a first hand experience of North American migration and so missed the best part of the UK migration period.

With this in mind I've spent the best part of the weekend on the lookout for any new arrivals. With high pressure dominating birds who are currently held up in southern Europe can now make a push northward. First reports of Sedge Warbler and more sightings of Osprey in Warwickshire today whet the appetite. Of course being a land locked county has its downfall and I always feel that anything us Warwickshire birders encounter out of the norm is really hard work.

Brimstone

Having said that Saturday morning at Brandon Marsh didn't produce anything of note on the migration front but today things started to improve a little. My first singing Blackcap of the year in New Hare Covert, a ♂Swallow over the Lafarge works and two Hirundines over River Meadow, difficult to get a definite ID due to the height and bright sun but likely Sand Martin. A Little-ringed Plover also made a brief appearance on East Marsh Pool, dropping on to Willow Island for a brief stay before making off south.

House Martin (Library Image)

This afternoon a very successful 90 minute visible migration stint on the end of my pontoon with wall to wall sky and camera and binoculars at the ready. This actually paid great dividends with Sandwich Tern, House Martin and 3 Swallow. Also seen and heard of note during the watch: 15 Skylark, 7 Meadow Pipit, 3 Chiffchaff, 37 Fieldfare, 4 Redwing and a lone Red Kite, which drifted across the marina at height heading north.

Of course the warm weather is starting to produce other sightings and over the day I managed Peacock Butterfly at Brandon and a first report of Grass Snake was also forthcoming. The marina also produced Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral.

Spring Has Sprung!

Mining Bee

Although boat maintenance matters have taken precedent over the past week I've still managed to fit in some good birding sessions, mostly early morning and mainly at Brandon Marsh.

Spring is now definitely in the air with a few warm days more recently and last Tuesday I managed my first Butterfly of the year with a Small Tortoiseshell at Brandon. With the warmth building the first Grass Snakes should soon emerge and under one refugia I checked a Field Vole was enjoying a nap before the rude awakening. The flowers are also starting to break through with Coltsfoot, Cowslip, Lesser Celandine and Primrose already recorded and Frogspawn was discovered in one of the pools on the conservation area. Various Bee species are also out and about and a population of Mining Bees has once again inhabited the ground near the large Oak Tree on the Central Path.

Coltsfoot

Over the week I've dicovered a number of nesting birds on site, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Dunnock, Wren and a Green Woodpecker was busy escavating in one of the woods. I'm certain too that a pair of Willow Tit I've been following recently will nest and the amount of Goldcrest on the reserve is very encouraging.

Yesterdays visit produced my first Little Ringed Plover of the year and this morning I managed my first two Sand Martin, when two birds broke through the murk over East Marsh Pool. With the weather set to continue in a similar vein, early migrants that have made it into southern Europe should begin to pour north. The high pressure system that is now over the UK stretches all the way from northern England to the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with the whole area experiencing light winds. I fully expect to hear the first Willow Warblers at Brandon over the coming weekend.

Green Sandpiper

This mornings Brandon session was blighted by mist and fog but it was good to see four Shelduck on site, two of which spent a long lingering time investigating the newly refurbished Shelduck burrow on Willow Island. A Green Sandpiper was on Teal Pool and at one point the recent two Redshank were joined for a short while by two more, which after some debate flew off north. Good numbers of Chiffchaff are singing throughout the reserve and there are still a few winter visitors around with Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Fieldfare and Redwing all recorded over the past few days!