Franklin's Gull, Hayle Estuary

Another gloomy and dull day on Sunday 30th October saw me heading off on the train to the Hayle Estuary in Cornwall to look for a Franklin's gull that had been seen somewhat erratically for the past few days. I was feeling tired and wasn't in the mood to spend 4 hours on a train (2 hours there, 2 hours back), but armed with food and drink, my MP3 player and the Sunday paper crossword supplement the journey wasn't too bad and allowed me time to contemplate my lot in life as the gorgeous Cornish scenery passed by.

I arrived at Hayle at around 11am and walked off towards the Carnsew Pool, seeing a kingfisher and a little egret along the quay by Asda. On the Pool were at least 6 mobile little grebes all constantly diving along with 2 female red breasted mergansers. Another (or the same) kingfisher was perched on seaweed covered rocks by the waters edge before being disturbed by walkers.

Kingfisher

 A few waders were feeding on the exposed mud - dunlin, redshank, grey plover, oystercatcher, curlew and bar tailed godwit - but my attention was quickly grabbed by a very close immature spoonbill busily feeding in the shallow water, presumably the long staying bird that has been around on and off for the past year. It had a small amount of black feathering in its primary tips, noticeable only when it flapped its wings, but its bill was still a pinky, yellowy colour with some darkening to black noticeable.

 Spoonbill

Spoonbill

I was a bit distracted by the spoonbill and finally remembered why I had made the trip to Hayle when I saw the large group of birders on the causeway bridge busily pointing their telescopes and cameras at the mass of gulls, ducks and waders roosting and feeding on the mudflats. I hurried down to the bridge as quickly as I could and on arriving a birder very kindly put me onto the Franklin's gull sleeping amongst the gulls quite close to the road - result, a British/life tick for me! A smart looking bird, black headed gull sized, with dark legs, dark grey upperparts with distinct black and white wing tips and a hint of a partial black hood as its head was tucked under its wings.

Franklin's Gull (Centre)

It eventually awoke and walked down to the waters edge where it stood around and sipped water for a while before yakking up a pellet and flying off south over Ryans Field and out of sight but I was very pleased to have seen it so well.

 Franklin's Gull

 Franklin's Gull

 Franklin's Gull

 Franklin's Gull

Franklin's Gull

Franklin's Gull with Teal, Redshank, Little Egret, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull and Wigeon

With the gull disappearing from sight I headed back to the Carnsew Pool to enjoy more close views of the spoonbill, probably the best views I have ever had, and it was nice to watch a spoonbill actually doing something! It was also very nice to point it out to a lady birder walking by who had never seen one before, she was very pleased and excited to see it.

 Spoonbill and Little Egret

Spoonbill and Little Egret

 Spoonbill

Spoonbill

Bar Tailed Godwit

At least 4 adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gulls were mobile around the Pool, feeding, preening and looking quite ghostly in flight in the sunshine which had begun to appear from behind the clouds.

Mediterranean Gull with Herring Gull

I wandered back along the estuary to the causeway bridge to admire the birdlife in what was now lovely light - a common sandpiper, 2 greenshank, teal, wigeon, ringed plover, 3 black tailed godwit, a grey plover, dunlin, lapwing, grey heron, cormorant, little egret, golden plover, Canada goose, lesser and greater black backed gull, herring gull, a 1st winter common gull, greylag goose, black headed gull, rock pipit, starling, redshank, curlew, oystercatcher, carrion crow and Mediterranean gull were all seen.

 Common Sandpiper

 Male Wigeon

 Lapwing and Teal

Lapwing and Golden Plover

Golden Plover, Teal and Black Tailed Godwit

The spoonbill appeared on the mudflats down river as the tide came in and the Franklin's gull was refound on the sand banks off Lelant railway station, distant views only through my telescope but still a striking and obvious bird amongst the black headed gulls and Mediterranean gulls.

It was time to head off home and I walked up to the railway station at St.Erth to catch the train home, having had a very enjoyable time and all for the princely sum of £10.10 for the train ticket.

Shrike Three! - Great Grey Shrike, Dartmoor

October 27th and a grey, dull and claggy but mild day saw us heading up to Warren House on Dartmoor for a walk and a look for a recently reported great grey shrike. It was half term holiday hell and we were expecting the Jocasta and Peregrine brigade from London to be overrunning the Warren House Inn but it was actually fairly quiet.

We parked up outside the Inn at around 12:30 and decided to walk first before having lunch and so off we headed to Golden Dagger and the Soussons plantation. It was very quiet birdwise in the strong breeze but once inside the cover of the trees in the plantation it was quite pleasent and warm and I managed to see a green woodpecker, 2 raven, a buzzard, a pair of bullfinch, a flock of around 50 flighty and nervous fieldfares with a few redwings devouring rowan tree berries and a red admiral.

There were quite a few birders wandering around with glum faces as the shrike had been seen earlier but had flown off out of sight and after wandering about and scanning around for ourselves with no luck I had resigned myself to not seeing it as we started to head back along the path towards the Inn for some lunch.

As we walked back towards the Inn a group of birders were avidly watching something ahead of us and as we negotiated the wet and muddy footpath along the valley bottom towards them they informed us the shrike was on show just as it flew off and out of sight! However it soon reappeared on top of a bush, looking pale and ghostly in the dull light. The views were a little distant and the light wasn't great but it was very nice to see my third shrike species for the year in Devon and my 4th great grey shrike ever.

Soussons/Warren House where the shrike was eventually seen - looking stunning despite the gloomy weather

 Great Grey Shrike - zoomed and cropped and awful photo

 Great Grey Shrike and Sheep

 Great Grey Shrike

Great Grey Shrike

It was very mobile and flighty, moving from bush top to bush top and occassionally hovering over the ground when it looked most impressive as it flashed its white wing patches and white outer tail feathers against its black and grey upperparts. It also chased a butterfly unsuccessfully and despite regularly hovering and dropping down to the ground it never seemed to catch anything.

Great Grey Shrike - photo courtesy of DBWPS website

We enjoyed a nice lunch in the Inn before heading home via Derriford Hospital to visit father-in-law and sister-in-law and to take mother-in-law home, a bit of a busmans holiday for me but I was glad to have seen the shrike after what initially felt like it was going to be a bit of a dip.

Wembury, October 26th 2016

It has been a very busy and stressful time at work - my 83 year old father-in-law ended up in hospital after falling over and breaking his leg and my sister-in-law has had her stem cell transplant on my unit resulting in me feeling very tired and emotional and in need of a wildlife fix and so I headed off to Wembury on October 22nd for a contemplative walk.

It was grey and dull but mild when I arrived off the bus at Wembury and my first stop was the toilet block where I actually found some moths - a bloodvein, a garden carpet, 10 rusty dot pearls and 2 feathered ranunculus.

 Feathered Ranunculus - one of my favourite moths

Rusty Dot Pearl

I constantly checked the undergrowth for small birds along my walk but only found the usual birds - robins (lots!), blackbirds, song thrushes, wrens, dunnocks, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, chaffinches, goldfinches, goldcrests and a coal tit - but unfortunately no yellow browed warblers in what has been a bumper autumn for them.

On the rocks along the shore were a curlew and 3 little egrets with the oystercatchers while along the beach with the ripits and mipits were a few pied wagtails and a grey wagtail. Offshore gannets were flying around and 2 1st winter black headed gulls were coasting up and down the shoreline. It was strange to hear 3 male cirl buntings singing - a male near the horsefields before being chased off by a nearby pair and a male with an attendant female at The Point while a second male was heard nearby.

A few plants were still in flower in what has generally been a mild October - honeysuckle, bramble, toadflax, violets, red campion, etc.

 Honeysuckle

Violet Sp.

Overhead a buzzard, 2 kestrels, woodpigeons, skylarks and meadow pipits were seen and heard but there didn't seem to be any direct migration with birds moving in all directions. The antics of 2 ravens tumbling together kept me amused for a while with the stunning coastal backdrop behind them.

 Raven with Penlee, Cornwall in the background

 Raven

Ravens

I met David at The Point and we headed over to the cafe at Jennycliff for a breakfast bap and a slice of cake before heading home to veg out in front of the TV with 2 bottles of red wine - and by the time I went up to bed I felt a lot better after a chilled out and enjoyable day.

French Dragonflys

October 14th and after our visit to the Avon Dam it was off to France for the weekend on the ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff with friends Julie and Matt. A fairly quiet crossing with relatively calm seas but I didn't sleep well and on arriving in Roscoff it was grey and overcast. We did the usual things despite the eventual arrival of rain but as we headed back to Roscoff in the afternoon for our overnight stay the clouds cleared and the sun came out.

We had our late lunch picnic on the benches overlooking the beach at the botanical gardens near Roscoff and I managed to see 3 common darters and a southern hawker buzzing around along with speckled wood and small white while 2 brent geese floated past on the water.

Southern Hawker

 Common Darter

 Common Darters

 Common Darter

 Common Darter

After another poor nights sleep at the hotel in Roscoff due to other noisy guests it was back to Plymouth on the morning ferry on Sunday 16th. It was bright and clear but with slightly choppy seas in the breeze and I wandered around on the upper deck to see what I could see, with the first hour of the trip providing the best sightings as usual.

As we left Roscoff harbour 4 brent geese flew along the shore while 2 Sandwich terns and a winter plumaged Mediterranean gull flew around amongst the black headed, herring and great black backed gulls. Heading off into the English Channel and gannets started to make an appearance and I picked up 5 Balearic shearwaters heading west in a loose group, unfortunately a little distant and disappearing from view all too quickly. A flock of around 30 waders were picked up heading south and as they drew nearer they revealed themselves to be knot. A fulmar and a razorbill were the only other birds of note before the sightings dried up except for the continual presence of yet more gannets.

I had some distant views of 4 auks flying low over the waves, 1 at least could have been a puffin but I wasn't absolutely sure. Unfortunately there were no sightings of any cetaceans or great skuas. There were also no fishing boats out of Plymouth to attract sea birds as we neared the Eddystone Lighthouse and so the ferry journey came to an uneventful end but it had been a good trip and the anticipation of sightings had been as exciting as usual.

A busy week at work but on Saturday 22nd October we had a quick walk along the coast path at Wembury in a strong easterly wind which seemed to have blown all bird life away with just 2 meadow pipits, a pair of stonechats, a male kestrel, 3 little egrets and a curlew with oystercatchers along the beach and gannets offshore being the best of it but 2 red admirals and 2 small coppers were a nice surprise.

Small Copper, Wembury

Ring Ouzels in the Mist - Again

Friday 14th October and with reports of ring ouzels at the Avon Dam it was time to head out there for a look. It was a grey and overcast day but as we walked up to the Avon Dam from the car park at Shipley Bridge it became increasingly misty.

A dipper showed very well along the stream and a great spotted woodpecker called noisely from a pine tree but kept itself hidden. As we crossed the small bridge over the stream as the path headed up onto the Moor I noticed some thrushes feeding in the trees on the right and a scan through my binoculars revealed at least 4 ring ouzels amongst redwings, mistle thrushes, song thrushes and blackbirds but they were all very nervous and flighty and after grabbing a beakful of rowan berries they were flying off or diving into cover.

Ring Ouzel

Mistle Thrush and Ring Ouzel

Heading up along the path to the Dam it became increasingly misty with the views becoming increasingly obscured but I did find a male kestrel perched in a tree. Arriving at the quarry and there were 3 birders with massive camera lenses pointing at the bushes and as we got nearer to them 10+ ring ouzels flew out of the quarry bushes and across the valley before diving into the cover of the rowan trees, giving their distinctive "tac" calls as they went. Again they were nervous and flighty, grabbing at the rowan berries before disappearing into cover or flying down to the ground and disappearing amongst the bracken and were a mix of adults and juveniles but it was difficult to assess exact numbers as they were so flighty and the mist was hampering viewing.

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzels

Ring Ouzel

Heading back to the car and the 4+ birds I had seen earlier by the small bridge were still present so I would guess there were at least 14+ birds present in the area, it was just a shame that the views were distant and not great in the mist, the same issue I had on my visit in October 2014.

Blackbird and Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel

Heading home via Ashburton for lunch and the rain began to fall, at least it had been dry on our walk, and as we drove along the A38 near Smithaleigh I saw a dead barn owl by the roadside, a sad sight and one that I have seen here before a few years ago.

Slovenia and Croatia, Part Two

October 2nd and it was back on the train for the next leg of our tour, a journey from Ljubljana to Divaca for a visit to the Skocjan caves, a vast limestone cave system and a UNESCO and RAMSAR site. The weather had turned and it was grey and wet and cool but by the time we arrived at the ticket office at the caves the rain had stopped and after emerging from the first of our underground tour of the caves (which was amazing) the sun was starting to appear from behind the clouds.

Skocjan Caves

We then had a walk around the wooded rim of the large doline (cave collapse) and I managed to find a few birds along the way including black redstarts, a serin, a grey wagtail, 2 raven, yet more willow tits and 2 male cirl buntings. A lesser spotted woodpecker called and drummed in a leafy tree but I couldn't see it but 5 crag martins flitting around with swallows gave some nice views as they rested at times on a church tower.

 Skocjan Caves

 Crag Martins

Cyclamen

An excellent dinner and a good nights sleep at a charming guest house near the caves was very restfull despite a massive overnight thunderstorm but a wet and grey morning prevented me from having an early morning bird walk. However by the time we were heading off on our second underground tour of the caves the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to appear. The second tour was even more amazing, like the goblin kingdom from the film of The Hobbit, and after the tour it was back to the train station in Divaca for the journey to Pula in Croatia via Buzet.

Pula was very interesting with the highlight being the remains of the large Roman amphitheatre, the 6th largest surviving amphitheatre in the world. Being on the coast felt more like being on holiday and the weather wasn't too bad either with just 1 grey and cool day due to the Bora wind, a famous dry and cold wind that blows from the north east and goes as quickly as it comes but is good for vines and wine production. We stayed on the wooded Verudela penninsula just outside the city which was very peaceful and quiet and provided some excellent wildlife sightings.

 Pula Amphitheatre

Temple of Augustus, Pula

 Yellow Legged Gull, Pula

 Yellow Legged Gull

 Yellow Legged Gull with Shags and Black Headed Gulls

 Yellow Legged Gulls

Yellow Legged Gull

Our hotel room was on the top floor with a balcony overlooking holm oaks and pines towards the sea. From the balcony I saw a few birds - a flyover yellow wagtail, 2 late flyover swifts, yellow legged gulls, a male sparrowhawk, lots of jays, blue and great tits, robins and 2 firecrest. I kept the balcony light on overnight and had a variety of moths attracted to it by the morning but I have no idea what species they are.

Balcony Sunset, Pula

 Jay

Jay

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While enjoying a nice glass of Croatian wine on the balcony as we watched the sun going down on October 6th I noticed a few splashes offshore and a quick scan with my binoculars revealed a group of at least 10 bottle nose dolphins leaping out of the water and tail splashing before splitting into 2 groups and swimming off in opposite directions. Another group of at least 5 more dolphins was further out but the views even with binoculars were distant and it was all silhouetted against the setting sun before it was too dark to watch them.

I was pleased to have seen them despite the viewing conditions but the next morning on a walk along the coast path near the hotel I found at least 5 bottle nose dolphins swimming by close to shore - they were moving quickly and only showed briefly at the surface before they were gone but I was glad to have had better views of them.

Bottle Nose Dolphin

Various fishing boats were returning to the port at Pula while we were watching the dolphins and were attracting large numbers of gulls behind them as they were processing their catch and discarding bits of fish and as I scanned through them I found a few Yelkouan shearwaters amongst the gull melee. However they were distant and eventually flew off south, having either had their fill or having had enough hassle from the gulls who were chasing them at times and making them plunge into the sea to escape them.

The highlight for me though were the butterflies seen along our walks along the coast path by the hotel, flitting about the flowers on the rocky cliffs.There were walls, small whites, red admirals, painted ladies and clouded yellows along with common blues, holly blues, Langs short tailed blues, small coppers and bath whites, a new butterfly for me and like a cross between a small white and an orange tip. Also seen were colourful Italian wall lizards basking in the sun and the occasional hummingbird hawkmoth dashing by.

 Wall

 Clouded Yellow

 Wall

 Small Copper

 Painted Lady

 Langs Short Tailed Blue

 Small Copper

 Clouded Yellow - helice form

 Langs Short Tailed Blue

 Brown Argus

 Bath White

  Bath White

 Common Blue

 Langs Short Tailed Blue

 Italian Wall Lizard

Italian Wall Lizard

October 7th and it was time to start the journey home with a flight from Pula to Zagreb, taking 40 minutes instead of the 7 hours it took in total by train. We stayed in Zagreb overnight before flying home to Heathrow and the last bird I saw for my trip list were rooks feeding with jackdaws and hooded crows in the fields on the bus ride to Zagreb airport.

And so a very successful trip indeed, much more enjoyable than I expected and with a life tick to boot. I would certainly return and would quite like to explore more of The Balkans region. We packed a lot in and I felt pleasently exhausted on my return home, having seen some good wildlife and with a trip list of 61 species of birds, not bad for a mostly city based holiday.