Sun 11th March 2012
Now into March, the expectation and the excitement of the forthcoming Spring has cranked right up. And as usual it has come too early. As soon as the date ticks over to March 1st, I start to imagine Sand Martins and Wheatears, yet nearly two weeks into the month I have not seen any (although both species were seen for the first time on the island today- yay!). Migrant-wise I have had a couple of singing Chiffchaffs clearly new-in on Fort Hommet and a White Wagtail at L'Eree. There has been a couple of Hoopoe sightings here but no-one has seen anything else especially exciting.
Little Egret - Rue des Bergers - March 2012
Long-tailed Tit - Rue des Bergers, March 2012
I was wondering why a pair of Long-tailed Tits were coming so close to me as I stood by the car in the car park - too close to focus the camera on occasion. Then I realised that they were trying to see off a "rival" bird (see below!)
female Red-breasted Merganser - Vale Pond, March 2012
This unusual bird has stayed on the pond for a couple of weeks now and one evening it was feeding very close to the hide. I thought that it was odd that after bringing its head up after feeding, it always seemed to have a shiny hat of water on its head - I would have thought the waterproof feathers would have repelled the water which would then just roll off it. There must be a reason for this water staying on the head like this.
Scandinavian Rock Pipit - L'Eree, February 2012
It is about this time of year that the littoralis Rock Pipits reveal themselves against the local birds. I have been studying Rock Pipits here for a while and I have found it impossible to differentiate Scandie Rocks from local Rocks in the wintertime. Only when spring plumage appears can one tell the difference - you can just see a few peach-coloured feathers appearing on the breast of this bird, indicating Scandinavian.
One of the oddest things that has happened recently is that, ten years ago, I appear to have found a new moth for Britain and I didn't even know it! Way back on 4th August 2002, I had been trapping moths for two full seasons, but this was mainly just the larger species, and I had just started to look at micro-moths. Also at this time, I bought my first digital camera, and I was posting the odd photo of the more distinctive micros on the internet and people were identifying them for me. So I sent in this picture, assuming that people would tell me what it was.
No-one at all offered an identification - no-one seemed to know what it was. So I just left it on file and forgot about it. A few years later, I was showing some photos to Phil who was visiting the island from the UK and he said it looked like a species of Metalampra and if so, would be an exciting record. I even showed him where I trapped it at the old house. He couldn't be sure which species exactly it was and I didn't realise the significance of the record at the time, and so I just left it on file again.
Then just last year, Peter showed me a paper that had been published in one of the "Ent" journals which was about the first record of Metalampra italica for Britain - in 2003, which was a year after my record. Peter knew the author and we sent off my photos and he confirmed that, yes my moth was also a Metalampra italica. So not only was my moth now the first record for the British Isles, it was actually the first time that it had ever been seen outside of Italy!
As the only evidence we have is my crappy photos, I am not ever going to try and claim this as an "official" first - I think that a proper identified specimen is required for that - but it is rather exciting to have found something so mega in my garden moth trap all those years ago.
Metalampra italica - Clos des Pecqueries, 4 Aug 2002
Tue 27th Mar 2012
I have not had a very good couple of weeks. I am not generally a sickly person - just one or two colds per year max - but I seem to have picked up a virus and it has really knocked me for six. I've had to take three days off work but it has been my energy levels that I have been really struggling with. The rest of the family have also been sick with it - all three kids having days off school and Rosie off work - it's been a right laugh here I can tell you. I am just pleased that it's happened now before proper migration has started.
But I have managed a few sojourns into the field and I dragged myself off my sickbed last Saturday to get more paracetamol from the Chemists. On the way back I pulled into the car park at Pulias and saw a female Wheatear perched atop a Tamarisk - a better medicine I cannot imagine, it really picked up my spirits.
Wheatear - Ft. Hommet, 19 Mar 12 - my second Wheatear of the year. I love it that I am able to have a quick check of a coastal headland each day on the way to work each morning (if I get up early enough!)
On the 20th I saw my next migrants when there were two Sand Martins and a Swallow feeding over the Vale Pond one afternoon. The Merganser was still hanging around - I wonder if it's actually ill? The raptors are showing ridiculously well over the Claire Mare at the moment, with multiple Marsh Harriers and Buzzards almost constantly hanging in the air there. The female Pochard is still on the pond and I managed to get some photos.
Pochard - female, Claire Mare, 19 Mar 12
The sunny weather has brought some insects out. I had another Oak Beauty at Perelle Garage and a Waved Umber in the house, but I am not thinking of getting the trap out yet - perhaps in the Easter hols.
Common Wasp - garden, March 2012
Sat 31st March 2012
The highlight of the last few days of March was on Wednesday (28th) when I popped to the Marais Nord on the way back from work, as I was hoping to find my first Willow Warbler of the year. There were quite a few Chiffchaffs feeding around the side of the lake and as I reached the far corner I heard a very clear call just off the path, which was a loud and obvious Yellow-browed Warbler. It was a big surprise because I had assumed that the bird seen earlier in the winter had gone since no-one had seen it for two months - 23rd January to be exact. It called and showed very well in the trees but I found it very difficult to get a clear photo. It was quite manky around the head, no doubt due to heavy moult. The first time I have seen a Yellow-browed outside the autumn.
Yellow-browed Warbler - Marais Nord, 28 Mar 2012
Grey Heron - Vale Pond, 30 March 2012
Field Wood-rush - Fort Hommet, Mar 2012 - my latest plant-tick
Fri 6th April 2012
The major news this week is that I have seen my first Red-rumped Swallow for Guernsey, and also my first for Britain!*
It had been a quiet and frustrating week for me since Rosie was working extra shifts as it's the school holidays, and Abigail has been quite ill with the virus, so I have been stuck inside far too much than is healthy for a birder. But, on Wednesday, we had booked a lunch at the Longfrie and I was meeting Rosie there, and also my visiting parents. So I was frantically trying to get all 3 kids properly dressed and ready to go, when the MEGA-ALERT grapevine text came through - Red-rumped Swallow at Fort Saumarez!! Only a few Guernsey records ever and none twitchable for yonks, and more importantly, it was a species I needed for my British List. The timing was terrible. Just 15 minutes earlier and I could have just set off early and seen it on the way there. However, I didn't have time for that and drove to the Longfrie not a happy pixie at all!
I thought, it'll be there after the meal I'm sure. Except I wasn't sure at all. Swallows fly a lot. It could just head off at any time. Eventually everyone arrived and we ordered our food. I sat there for a bit. I sat for a bit longer. I sipped my coke. I was grumpy. Very grumpy. I explained to Rosie why I was grumpy. She wasn't impressed. "I need to go see this bird, I'll be back in ten minutes" I said. And I was off.
After negotiating the idiots on the Guernsey roads, a few minutes later I pulled into the Shingle Bank car park and jogged over to the assembled group of 6 or 7 birders. It was still around - YAY! I soon saw it as it fed above the skyline quite distant, and then luckily it flew towards us and it flew past quite close. Satisfied, with a decent view, I ran off again back to the car and was back again before my starter had arrived - lovely-jubbly. A tick-and-run merchant of the highest order!
[ (*) - Yes, I do count birds I have seen here in Guernsey on my 'British' List. I think it is only fair that I do since I live here. What other National list are these birds going to go on? France? Er, I don't think so. As my list is non-competitive it doesn't matter a jot to anyone (and as if I'd care anyway!). I reckon that Guernsey is much more British than those Norwegian islands in the northern North Sea anyway....]
Actually, the Red-rumped Swallow did stick around and I finally got a chance to go look for it this evening. It has moved to the Grande Mare area and I pulled into Rue des Bergers about 6:15. There were plenty of Swallows around the cow fields, and plenty of Sand Martins feeding over Grande Mare Lake, but the Red-rumped wasn't with either of these. So I thought I was going to dip out when I saw another group of 5 or 6 hirundines over a different field closer to the nature reserve. I walked into the field and soon saw that the Red-rumped was with them - excellent! I positioned myself half-hidden by a hedge and it started feeding right above me and was passing me within just a few yards as it fed up on the low-flying flies. Due to its high speed and the falling light levels, my photos are a bit poor, but it was great to have such a rare bird to myself.
Red-rumped Swallow - Rue des Bergers, 6 April 2012
Sat 15th April 2012
It's mid-April and everything's right with the world. Well, of course it's not, but at this time of the year, who cares! The migrants are piling through, the insects are all emerging, the sun is actually out, I've not had to go to work - if this was a Disney film, I would be breaking out into song just now. I exaggerate, but after the pretty boring Winter we've had here bird-wise, the arrival of Spring is exciting.
The highlight of my week was on Wednesday morning when I opened the bedroom curtains and immediately saw a cracking Cuckoo fly past the house, just 10 metres or so away, and at eye level. It was a major surprise for my bleary eyes and it was the first Cuckoo I've had in Guernsey for about 6 or 7 years. They have occurred of course but I've been unlucky I guess.
I have managed to get two visits in to Pleinmont in. Last Saturday morning (7th) there were lots of Phylloscs around - mostly Chiffchaffs, but a few Willow Warblers - but a splendid male Redstart by Mabel's field was the best. You can't get a much better looker than a male Redstart. There wasn't a great deal more variety but I probably had a Grasshopper Warbler briefly by the cliff path.
Redstart - Pleinmont, 7 Apr 12
Dwarf Pansy - Pleinmont, 7 Apr 2012 - These tiny, tiny flowers by the cliff path were my first sighting of this species. It is a speciality of Guernsey, as it only grows in a few spots on Scilly in the UK.
I also had a couple of hours this morning round Pleinmont. Again, not much variety, but I always enjoy the flocks of Swallows that arrive in over the sea and fly around the cliffs. I estimated about 100 arrived whilst I was there. The best migrant I saw was a Tree Pipit flying north over the camping field. I was surprised there were no Whitethroats or Yellow Wagtails in - perhaps there is some kind of weather blockage further south.
Wheatear - Pleinmont, 14 Apr 12
Chiffchaff - a migrant feeding amongst Alexanders, Lihou Headland, 14 Apr 12
Yesterday I took Abigail and her friend to play at Bordeaux. Whilst they made dens and swung on ropes, I pottered around the scrubby area. There was regular hirundine passage with Swallows past every couple of minutes, and I had my first two House Martins of the year. I spent quite a bit of time looking for interesting insects to photograph.
Firebug - Bordeaux, 13 Apr 12
St. Mark's Fly - Bordeaux, 13 Apr 12
Gooden's Nomad Bee - Bordeaux, 13 Apr 12
Slow Worm - garden, 12 Apr 12
Thu 26th April 2012
In the last post, when I was gushing about the arrival of spring, I obviously hadn't looked at a weather forecast. Almost immediately the winds swung round to the North and stayed there for about a week. Nearly all the migrants' journeys north had been blocked and it kept raining, so basically I put the muckers on it. Mid-April can be one of the best times of the year, but this year it was the poorest that I can remember. The odd migrant crept through, with a few Yellow Wagtails noted and a couple of Whimbrel, but last week was pitiful.
Herring Gull - L'Eree, 16 Apr 12 - this was not the bird I was looking for!
However, just as I was about to cry into my Leicas, yesterday there was a sudden change. A right old hoolie blew in from the south - which should of course help the migrants on their way north. Even though the last two days have been really, really windy, the number of migrants has increased manyfold, and I even saw my first Swiftstoday. I've seen double-figure flocks of Wheatear by the roadside and a super male Redstart on the Old Aerodrome. Quite frankly it is looking great and when the wind dies down tomorrow, all these birds will hopefully put on a cracking show. And I'm especially excited as, on Sunday, the mighty Sultans are having our annual crack at the Guernsey 24hr Bird Race record. Get in!!
1st-summer Iceland Gull - L'Ancresse G.C., 23 Apr 12 - hope this fella stays 'til Sunday
White Wagtail - Pulias, 25 Apr 12 - lots of these around at the moment
Star-of-Bethlehem - Apr 12 - a tick, found these in the field by the Vale Pond
Moulin Huet & Jerbourg - Apr 12
Sat 28th April 2012
Today the mighty "Sultans of String" did the Guernsey BIrd Race. We had a great laugh as usual and a great time birding, seeing some quality birds. The problem with bird-racing is that you are constantly rushing around, which means that there is definitely no time for photography. This is a shame, so instead I have decided to illustrate our day with drawings. So I present to you:
Guernsey Bird Race 2012 - The Graphic Novel
And that was the day. Even though we had our lowest proper total ever (first one in 2000 was just a practise), we finished in very good spirits. We had such low expectations of the day due to the weather, that it was difficult to feel surprised by the poor showing. And the total was irrelevant compared to one of the best morning's birding I've ever had in Guernsey. I cannot remember such a heavy Spring fall of migrants, with warblers everywhere we looked. It was truly a spectacle.
As always we learnt a few tips and tricks for future races (which will of course remain secret) and we felt that doing a week earlier than usual was a benefit. I think it is something to consider in future, doing it in the last weekend in April rather than the first in May. Also, I think we enjoyed it more knowing that we were not in direct competition with anyone else, just with ourselves.
Sun 6th May 2012
With the massive influx of birds which arrived over last weekend, this week has been really busy with migrants. Often, when May arrives, numbers quickly tail off, as most common migrants are already pairing up in the UK. But due to the blocking weather, there were lots of late Willow Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Blackcaps and White Wagtails everywhere I went.
The first thing I wanted to do was take a proper look at the Mandarin that we found on the Bird Race at the Grande Mare. It was still present at Monday lunchtime and posed well for the cameras - a beautiful-looking duck. Mandarin is not on the Guernsey list because we think that it is likely that the few records we do have of the species are from collections in France or perhaps Jersey, where they seem to have a handful of free-flying birds. But we don't have any here in Guernsey as far as we know, so this bird has at least flown across the sea to get here. (As you can tell from the photo below, it wasn't very wary of me).
female Mandarin - Grande Mare, 30 Apr 2012
Thursday was another good day for migrants, with another large arrival. This time however, rather than warblers, it was mainly Wheatears. In my lunch hour walk around Fort le Crocq, I estimated at least 100 Wheatears on the beaches either side of the headland - there were birds dotted along every few yards. There were also about 50White Wagtails with them, and two male Redstarts were feeding in a roadside garden. Rather a superb half an hour. And that evening, just as it was getting dusky, I noticed a Whitethroat feeding in the rough plot across the road from us - a house tick!
male Redstart - Fort le Crocq, 3 May 2012
But the last few days things have quietened down somewhat, and I was out for a couple of hours earlier today without seeing a proper on-the-deck migrant. So there has been a decent clear out in the better weather at the end of the week. More rain is forecast however, so I am sure that migration is not over yet.
Rock Pipit - Fort Hommet, April 2012 - This bird appears to be nesting nearby and is collecting material for that nest - dog hair it looks like! It is just my personal impression, but I think that breeding-plumaged Rock Pipits get whiter below and greyer (less brown) above the further south you go in the country. The northern birds I used to see seemed always to be browner than the birds which nest here on the island.
Turnstone - Fort Hommet, April 2012
Shelduck - Fort Hommet, April 2012
Lousewort - L'Ancresse, 6 May 2012 - A very restricted distribution on the island, only growing in a few places, but where it does, it is rather plentiful.
Wood Forget-me-not - L'Ancresse, 6 May 2012 - The wild Wood Forget-me-not is apparently the same species as the garden variety, and so this is probably a garden 'escape'.
Yellow Dung Fly - Chouet, 6 May 2012 - successfully carrying out its duties, pollinating a Hogweed.
Sat 26th May 2012
An interesting and enjoyable day today, albeit quite frustrating. It started off great when I stood on the back doorstep drinking my cup of tea, enjoying the early morning sunshine. Quick as a flash, a superb Hobby came hurtling towards me from between the trees in the neighbours garden. It skipped over the shed roof and flashed its streaked underparts at me from just 20 yards away, and carried on down the driveway and across the road. Such close views, I think it was chasing the local House Martins. I've seen a few Hobbies soaring over the garden, but not whizzing through it like this.
Then at quarter to nine, the grapevine text arrived : "singing Greenish Warbler at Pleinmont". Finally, a second rarity this spring, after the Red-rumped Swallow. Unusually, I was just able to get dressed and run out the door straight away for this one, and I was on site about 30 minutes later. Mark Guppy was there, who found the bird and he explained it was moving around quite a bit, feeding in a circuit, and every now and again stopping to sing. It was mostly in the Sycamores by the roadside above Pezeries Bay. Julian and Liz arrived and we looked around the area for a while until someone found it singing quite close to the road.
We were very close to the bird but we just couldn't see it as it sang away in the back of a small Sycamore. Full credit to Mark for picking out the song on this bird - I would have most probably walked straight past it. It was different when you really listened to it, but it's not exactly a distinctive, unmissable song. It starts off as a Chaffinchy-warble, ending in a short Wren-like trill. Whilst we were waiting for it to show I managed to get a couple of recordings on the Remembird, but it was so windy, it was difficult to get a clean sound.
song of Greenish Warbler - Pezeries, Pleinmont, 26 May 2012 - the best I could manage on such a windy day.
After a while it did show itself briefly, as it quickly move through the backs of the Sycamores. I never managed to see it very well, just a very pale phyllosc flicking between the trees. I did eventually get my bins on it but it was feeding very high up above my head. The most distinctive feature was the very pale yellowish lower mandible. It then quickly filtered through the trees and away, and we could not find it again before I had to go. But despite the disappointing views, this was a new bird for my Guernsey List, only the second record for the island. (Below is a photo of the bird taken by Mark before I arrived.)
Greenish Warbler - Pleinmont, 26 May 2012 (M.Guppy)
As I left the site at 10:45-ish, to get back for family stuff, the grapevine message came through for Black Kite over the Greenish Warbler site. As I was by Rocquaine, I 'scoped back towards Pleinmont and could see 3 Buzzards and a Marsh Harrier circling over the headland but no kite. So, I just missed the bird by a few minutes.
Sun 20th May 2012
I have not been able to do very much computer-wise recently, as the techno-bods at the Education Dept have been trying to "fix" my laptop which went haywire about a month ago. Also in the last week or so, events have conspired against me to limit my birding: Rosie's shifts have been unhelpful, the rain has been terrible at times, and I have had my third bad cold this year already. But it doesn't seem that many other people are having much better luck as the rarity count this May has been awful so far - just a few very brief Bee-eaters and Orioles. Lunchtime of the 12th wasn't bad with Spotted Flycatcher and good views of 2 Garden Warblers at Fort Saumarez, and on 16th, I found a Black-tailed Godwit at the Vale Pond. But that's been the best of it I'm afraid, so here is a singing Goldfinch to brighten the mood.
singing Goldfinch - Fort Saumarez, 13 May 2012 - spectogram
Of course, even without the birds there is still plenty to see, and the find below is potentially the most interesting. I was out briefly on L'Ancresse Common and I collected a few plants to ID back at home. On one of the Field Wood-rush seed heads I noticed a Coleophora case. The main species that feeds on this plant is Coleophora otidipennella, and the case is a pretty good match for it. If true, this would be a new species for Guernsey.
potential Coleophora otidipennella larval case - L'Ancresse, May 2012
Green-veined White - Rousse, May 2012
a rove beetle sp. - garden, May 2012 - arching its tail up, I suppose to look menacing
probably Silpha tristis - garden, May 2012 - a largish, snail-eating beetle - yuk.
Dandelion - garden, May 2012 - despite its ubiquity, this family of plants has to be one of my favourites, the golden colour is just so intense and then they suddenly turn into the amazing scrum of fairies like below.