Tuesday 1st April [A beautiful spring day – at last!]
Not too much to report on the birding front. The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis are as difficult as ever. I spent 2 hours trying to get photos of them, but didn’t even press the shutter and admit to giving up. I saw a couple of Sand Martins Riparia riparia fly through and the usual Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus came in and washed up this afternoon in reasonable numbers, but they were the only new migrants that I was aware of.
Wednesday 2nd April [Sultry and still early morning]
The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis were feeding off Peg’s Point this morning and there were 2 Little Egrets Egretta garzetta ranging around the lake. I thought the oppressive and overcast conditions might bring some more Little Gulls in, but no such luck and after an hour and a half I came home. Joanna Dailey emailed this morning to say that white ‘YA’ the male Osprey that caused all the excitement last year when he kept getting under the nets at Blagdon Pumping Station, has just landed back on his nest platform at Kielder Water in Northumberland, to be greeted by his mate from last year. What brilliant news! Joanna went on to report that his brother was trying to mate on YA’s nest with a Tweed Valley bird yesterday, but the normal order appears to have been restored today.
Male Osprey White ‘YA’ back at Kielder Water today © Forestry Commission, England, 2014
This afternoon, the Barn Owl box at Top End was replaced and a new one put up beside the old one on North Shore, just in case there are owls using it. Warwick White (BTO ringer) and I went to have a look a week or two ago, but the box was in such poor condition we couldn’t check inside for fear of it falling to pieces altogether. Anyway, they have 2 new des res, so thanks to all those who paid to come to my winter talks which have part funded them, and to Paul Williams who made a very significant contribution to their cost. Finally, thanks to Keith and Linda at Specialised Nestboxes for making the boxes and Mike for helping to put them up. Great job!
Specialised Nestboxes team, North Shore Box. 2nd April 2014.
Thursday 3rd April [Mist all day with rain later]
I couldn’t visit the lake until early evening, but I did manage to spot the 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis off Wood Bay in the murk. An Osprey Pandion haliaetus was noted by Dr. Alan Herring at 1530 hrs this afternoon. It was harrassed by Lesser-black Backed Gulls Larus fuscus and departed NE towards Butcombe.
Friday 4th April [Overcast, mild with a slight breeze]
The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis were off Wood Bay and the Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos on the cill of the Spillway while I carried out my (April) Spring bird count this morning. Just as I had on 4th April last year I counted 28 Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita singing, there were also 20 Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla and 8 Willow Warblers Phylloscopus trochilus, neither of which were in on the same date last year. Of the residents, top count was 56 Winter Wrens Troglodytes troglodytes (cf. counts on 30th March). Oh, and I noticed a pair of (Western) Jackdaws Corvus monedula prospecting the Top End owl box already and needless to say, I saw no sign of the Osprey that showed up yesterday, during my 3 hour visit this morning. This evening I saw an adult winter Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus feeding over the Dam End. While I was watching the Little Gull, 2 Common Shelducks Tadorna tadorna flew west. Then I carried out a bat transect from the dam around Butcombe Bay during which I saw lots of Noctules Nyctalus noctula foraging over and behind the dam in the failing daylight.
Saturday 5th April [Overcast, but mainly dry]
The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis are still favouring the area between Wood Bay and Rugmoor Point when they aren’t being moved around by fishing boats. I spotted a small flock of circa 50 Sand Martins Riparia riparia feeding over Bell’s Bush and careful scrutiny was eventually rewarded with my second Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica of the Spring among them. I have just added a link to Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig’s blog under the title Young Birder on the links page and have to commend the excellent piece she has just written about the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, one of the world’s rarer birds. I had the very good fortune to see as many as 9 together in a puddle on the Minjiang Estuary in Eastern China on 21st December 2009, an unforgettable experience and one I hope birders of the future will also have the same good fortune to witness. Let’s hope Mya-Rose, and other youngsters like her, can make a difference for the good of the planet – it’ll be a sadder place without such an iconic species.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Fujian, China. Dec 2009.
Sunday 6th April [Overcast, mild with showers]
We still have the 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis on the lake and they even came close enough for me to grab some pictures late this afternoon in the drizzle. However, most exciting were the pair of Garganey Anas querquedula and a Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus at Top End, two new species for the year, and the half dozen or so Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica among the Sand Martins Riparia riparia. I guess the southerly winds have been speeding them our way. Last year it took me until 15th April to reach 100 species at the lake, and at present I’m on 92 spp., but I’ve missed 3 and am currently 5 spp. behind where I was at the same time last year, despite the cold spring we experienced back then. Up early with the lark tomorrow then…
Male Long-tailed Ducks, Rainbow Point. 6th April 2014.
Male Long-tailed Ducks, Rainbow Point. 6th April 2014.
Monday 7th April [Overcast, with a strong breeze and drizzle in the morning. Dry later.]
The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis are still present feeding east of Rainbow Point and the pair of Garganey Anas querquedula were still at Top End this morning. The flock of Sand Martins Riparia riparia and Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica are feeding over the Bell’s Bush area and the Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos was on the dam mid-morning too. I counted 5 Willow Warblers Phylloscopus trochilus and saw a lone female Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula off North Shore. Now’t new though!
Tuesday 8th April
No news from the lake today, though Sean Davies texted to say the Long-tailed Ducks had moved to Chew.
I was walking the SWCP again from Lamorna Cove along the very rugged stretch to Sennen Cove, a total of 13.7 miles thanks to a rather poorly signposted, and rather cruel, diversion just before Land’s End. I came upon a lady who was nest watching (Red-billed) Choughs Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax so managed to add them to my walk list having missed them at The Lizard.
Wednesday 9th April
Melanie Patch emailed to say she had seen the Garganey Anas querquedula at Top End. She also saw the hirundine flock at Bell’s Bush in the evening and thought there might have been House Martins among them, but couldn’t be sure. John Thorogood also emailed to say “When I pulled off the road by the Wood Bay seat yesterday afternoon and watched 3 Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica fly past I thought my chances of finally seeing Sand Martin this year were really good. But no, despite walking from there to Top End and back, I didn’t see another hirundine! Never seem to go on the right days. Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita and Blackcap Sylvia atricapillus were the only migrants in song. (Common) Kestrel Falco tinnunculus being chased by Pied Wagtails Motacilla alba yarellii over the dam area. Met four gents in a car who reported 2 Garganey at Top End but by the time I got there, they were hiding; the Garganey, not the gents! The lake looked a picture in the late afternoon sunshine.”
I walked from Sennen Cove past Cot Valley and Pendeen Watch, where I’ve spent many happy hours birding in the past, and packed in at Trevean Cliff, after 12.4 miles. I saw a few more (Red-billed) Choughs Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax along the way. The mystery though, is that I have yet to see a Northern Wheatear anywhere along the walk so far. Still, the sun shone and everything was right with the world today! The walk was stunning.
Thursday 10th April
Paul Williams reported a couple of Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus flying west, but no sign of the Garganeys.
I had a gruelling but really enjoyable day along the SWCP. I started at Trevean Cliff, where a Peregrine Falcon was sitting on a rock outcrop and didn’t seem in the least bit bothered by my being only about 40 metres away. The path was every bit as challenging and, in places exposed, as I’d expected and it took 5 hours to do the 11 miles to St. Ives. The bonus was that I saw a small pod of Common Dolphins and a Grey Seal along the way. After a brief rest and change of shoes and socks I decided to push on to the Old Quay House Inn at the head of the Hayle Estuary (another 2 hours) where after a meal and a couple of lemonades, I saw an Iceland Gull from the car park. Another 16.9 miles covered.
Friday 11th April [Warm and sunny]
What a difference 3 days away makes! Although there’s not much change with the birds other than a few extra Common Coot Fulica atra nests, a Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, 2 Common Sandpipers Actitis hypoleucos and the welcome return of the 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis off Peg’s Point, the spring warmth has encouraged many insects onto the wing and the Green-winged Orchids Anacamptis morio are beginning to show their heads. I saw a couple of dozen spikes in flower. There was a Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus at Ash Tree and a couple of male Orange-tip butterflies Anthocharis cardamines among the 5 species I saw flitting around, and Dark-edged Bee-flies Bombylius major were also visiting flowers behind the Top End hide. John Thorogood reported a pair of Grey Wagtails Motacilla cinerea at the dam.
Saturday 12th April [Cool and cloudy with a stiff breeze]
I managed to visit late this afternoon and there were white horses racing down the lake. What a contrast to yesterday. I saw the 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis between Wood Bay and Rugmoor Points, but the big change were the hundreds of Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica, with a few each of Sand Riparia riparia and House Martins Delichon urbicum over the water.
Sunday 13th April [A sunny day with a cool breeze]
There were 4 Common Sandpipers Actitis hypoleucos on the south end of the dam this evening, and a smaller number of hirundines over the dam end than over the lake yesterday. The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis were off Wood Bay and the pair of elusive Garganey Anas querquedula still in residence, but as Garganey is a Schedule 1 species, I will not continue to report them should they show any signs of breeding. A policy I have pursued at the lake for a number of years. Tomorrow, I shall be on the SWCP again for a couple of days, so if you have any news to pass on please email me. Thanks.
Monday 14th April
John Thorogood walked at the lake for a couple of hours and saw the 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis from Rainbow Point towards the far bank. He also heard Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita, Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla and a couple of Willow Warblers Phylloscopus trochilus. Thanks John.
I walked the 13.9 miles of the SWCP from the Old Quay House Inn, Hayle, to Portreath with friends Ann and Colin. We saw at least 61 Atlantic Grey Seals on the beach at Mutton Cove east of Godrevy Point.
Tuesday 15th April
No news from the lake today. I visited at dusk but saw nothing of note. I’ll look again tomorrow.
I walked 12.6 miles of the SWCP from Portreath to Perranporth in Cornwall. Having seen no Northern Wheatears on the whole walk before today, I saw at least 25 along the cliffs today.
Wednesday 16th April [Sunny and warm]
There’s not a great deal to report from my visit today. A Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos was on the dam and of the occasional breeding wildfowl, I saw a pair of Northern Shovelers Anas clypeata and 4 pairs of Gadwall Anas strepera on the lake. Lots of butterflies were on the wing in the sunshine.
Thursday 17th April [Overcast and windy]
The 2 male Long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis were back from their brief visit to Chew, and riding the waves off Peg’s Point. I heard my first Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus singing (one each in Pipe Bay and Home Bay reeds) and saw 2 broods of Mallards Anas platyrhynchos (5 juvs at Top End reported by Paul Willams last week, and 6 juvs at Orchard Bay). There were also small numbers of hirundines (the 3 usual spp.) ranging around the lake. Last year I’d recorded 100 spp. of bird at the lake by 15th April. This year I’m still well behind as shown on the phenology page. Good numbers of Early Purple Orchis mascula and Green-winged Orchids Anacamptis morio are flowering now and both should be showing in All Saint’s Meadow at the end of Butcombe Bay in the public access area over the Easter period.