Spurn ~ 14 October

A thoroughly enjoyable day, the highlight of which was undoubtedly the Siberian Accentor (UK325) opposite the Easington Gas Terminal.

A walk down the point was profitable with a self-found and very showy Dusky Warbler along with SEO, 30+ Mealy Redpoll, 20 Ring Ouzel, 10 Woodcock, Little Gull, 100 WF Geese, 2 Bean Geese. Perhaps most impressive was the fall of thrushes and finches across the spit, including 60+ Brambling on the beach.

The Arrival of Spring

After what can only be described as an atrocious winter, it has been nice to finally see and enjoy the sun the past few weeks! Over this time, the first signs of spring have revealed themselves and this weekend I caught up with 2 of the earliest migrants.

Chiffchaffs have been singing their typical (and frankly quite irritating!) song for a couple of weeks now but I hadn't actually seen one until this morning. Although they are a rather common migrant I have never really photographed them before; so this year they are one of my top priorities. There is some way to go before I get the shots I want, but this is a very nice way to start the project. It's amazing to think that this bird weighs no more than 10grams, yet has probably travelled from the Mediterranean or even West Africa!

Yesterday I caught up with one of the most attractive migrants, the Wheatear. A fairly regular passage migrant in my area (though usually later in the year) but it is normally a very difficult bird to approach! I was alerted to this bird's presence on my local patch by a friend and I'm rather glad I made the effort to go and see him! Like the Chiffchaff, this is another long-distance migrant, wintering in the somewhat warmer climes of sub-Saharan Africa!

Finally, I would like to share some success! Over the past month I have been awarded 2 competition titles. The first is the Oasis PhotoContest; an Italian-based international competition, where I was delighted to be awarded 1st place in their Junior section with this image of a Glaucous Gull.

The photo can also be seen here on the Oasis PhotoContest website (please note this will be only available if viewed on a computer).
http://www.oasisphotocontest.com/gallery2013/junior/

Last week I was notified that I have won this year's Junior British Mammal Photographer of the Year with my image of a Common Seal. I was really chuffed to win this award (not least because I also won it last year!) but because I have been awarded my very own Bushnell Trailcam, which could become a real asset to my photography! The winning image can be found on the link below:

http://www.mammal.org.uk/photo_competition

Hopefully the first Willow Warblers will be appearing in my area over the next couple of weeks, and I will have to revisit the Dartfords at some point!

As always thanks for reading :-)

Portland Bill

A slightly rushed post this unfortunately that will include some photography and birding elements to it (mainly the latter!) as for the past 4 nights I have been staying at the Portland Bird Observatory. The weather was sunny which was great for everyone except those who wanted to see some birds and the wind direction was hopeless...still I saw a lot of species that in my neck of the woods would be amazingly rare.

On all 4 days numbers of Yellow Wagtails (peaking at 200) and Wheatear (peaking at 150) were impressive and far better than the odd two or three I see on my local patch!

Wheatear

Wheatear (it was interesting to note the extreme variation among this species)

Ravens were widespread and Little Owls we fairly common amongst the many quarries on the island...

Raven

Little Owl

Right now onto some migrants!

A nightingale was present throughout my stay though as always with this species proved very elusive.

Nightingale

Nightingale

It is astonishing to think that this small butterfly has possibly flown all the way from Southern Europe!

Clouded Yellow

Whilst seeing species in the hand is never as good as in the field, it was great to have the opportunity to see the birds up close.

By far my favourite part of the trip was the sea-watching. For photography it was absolutely useless (I really need to go on a pelagic trip!) but for birding it offered two lifers for me and some fairly close views of both. 

Balearic Shearwater passage was slow for the first couple of days but by the end of the week was amazing, with 382 counted on my final day (a portland record?). This is a species the IUCN view as 'critically endangered' so to see this number (sometimes in flocks of over 50 birds was really quite remarkable!)....

Balearic Shearwater

Balearic Shearwater

Balearic Shearwater (!!)

It's always nice to find your own birds and on Friday evening, whilst photographing the Balearics I was astonished to find this Long-Tailed Skua flying around offshore. Typically no-one else was around to enjoy this bird!

Long-Tailed Skua

Long-Tailed Skua

And finally to finish off some half-decent photographs of two species I have never really photographed well before, the Linnet and Kestrel...

Kestrel

Linnet

Linnet

Just a quick thank you to the Portland Bird Observatory for their great hospitality and company, as well as the BTO who funded me for this trip... I will no doubt be returning next year! As always thanks for reading!