Pallid Swift - Selsey Bill

We got very lucky this morning after following yesterday's two probable Pallid Swifts (found by the Hunters) presumably one of  the same birds did a fly by (picked up by Marc Read) allowing us to get some better photos which appear to confirm the identification. The bird could have done with being closer and in better light but I think we've got enough but will have to wait to see if the BBRC agree. 

Presumed juvenile/first-winter Pallid Swift (above and below). The extensive and broad pale throat that extends below and beyond the eye and the pale forehead with an 'alien-eye' appearance all look good for Pallid. Structurally the bird also looks good for Pallid (see below) and the crown appears relatively flat (compared to the steep forehead of Common Swift). Furthermore there doesn't appear to be a strong contrast between the lores and the ear coverts. Typically juvenile Common Swift has a very contrasting and restricted white face with small white clearly demarcated throat patch and white lores that contrast with the ear coverts. Common Swift also often has a prominent white leading edge to the wing which is not apparant here either. 

Structurally the bird appeared to have a relatively shallow tail fork and broad arm and a relatively stocky caudal projection (above and below). The wing-tips also appear relatively blunt tipped. The lack of moult and the apparant fresh and uniform feather tracts indicate a juvenile/first-winter bird. 

In comparison Pallid Swift from today (above) and Common Swift (below)- Common Swift has a more rakish appearance, with a thinner hand and pinched in caudal projection and longer tail. Sadly there is only a hint of scaling on some images (more or an adult id feature anyway as both juvenile Common and Pallid can appear quite vermiculated on the underparts) and there is not enough detail in any of the photos that I got to see any finer details such as the contrast in the coverts and primaries or much in the way of overall colouration. However the pictures the Hunters got yesterday show milky brown coloured birds so hopefully by putting together all the details available- the large diffuse pale throat extending beyond the eye, the contrasting eye mask, the relatively broad bluntish tipped wings, the stocky caudal projection and the relatively shallow forked tail and the overall milky brown colouration captured in yesterday's images - seems on balance to favour Pallid Swift. In context of the time of year and the intense warm southerly airflow over the last few days that fits in with an established vagrancy pattern for this species- seems like a strong case for Pallid Swift. 

Yesterday's birds showing the milky brown colouration (Liz Hunter) 

Pallid Swift from Bulgaria above and Common Swift from Beddington below highlight some of the stuctural features as discussed above. These are both Spring birds but the structural features carry across as does the face pattern on these particular individuals. 

Weather chart for yesterday at around mid-day when the birds were first discovered. A deep southerly strong airflow originating from Iberia was in place. Pallid Swift are double brooded (unlike Common Swift) and late fledging birds on orientation flights getting carried north in strong tail winds are believed to be involved in these regular vagrant events to NW Europe in late October/November. Interestingly there was a Common Swift seen at Spurn today and in past late autumn 'Swift events', Common Swifts have also been involved so caution is required. 

References/Sources used:

Common and Pallid Swifts Photo Identificaton, Birdwatch, Andy Stoddart HERE

ID Handbook of European Birds, Nils van Duivendijk

Advanced Bird ID Guide, The Western Palearctic, Nils van Duivendijk

Flight Identification of European Passerines and Select Landbirds, Tomasz Cofta

The Identiication of juvenile Common and Pallid Swifts, Hans Larsson, British Birds: 111: 310-322

Wild Swift Chase

Deep southerlies have been blowing since yesterday and I've been keeping my eye on the bird news and the skies for Pallid Swifts which are almost guaranteed regionally in this kind of weather system. I did a bit in the garden this morning but only 25 Redwings of note. 

At about 1.30pm the Hunters sent out a message on the local Whatsapp group that they had just had two Swifts offshore Selsey Bill so I immediately abandoned the family and my post and headed down there. I spent the rest of the day (until dusk) waiting at the Bill but alas the Swifts were nowhere to be seen. Liz Hunter has a few photos of the birds and they look good for Pallids - hopefully will get some more detail when we see the photos on a computer later.  There's only one previous record of Pallid Swift for the Peninsula so will be a mega local record. 

A bonus pale phase adult Pom complete with spoons was a bit of a consolation prize and passage was steady off the Bill with 112 Kittiwake moving west, 58 Gannet, a presumed Arctic Tern and a few auks HERE. 

The moth trap was dissappointing this morning considering the weather conditions, just a Delicate was the only sniff of a new migrant. I'll be very surprised if there aren't migrants tonight after the Swifts off the Bill and the winds now blowing for well over 24 hours and feeling quite humid now with air from far south. 

Adult pale phase Pomarine Skua 

Kittiwakes on the move 

2nd-calender Gannet 

Bits and bobs

It's half term this week so I've been squeezing in birding around work and family stuff. My dad came to stay over for a couple of days (we went on wild goose chase trying to get hold of my Uncle's Zeiss bins- mine are in for repair)  and then my sister came to visit too. Yesterday was a work day around the Lodge with Matt in torrential rain and Tuesday was in London working. 

A garden birding session was okay this morning HERE with highlights including a Brambling going over, 4 Egyptian Geese, over 700 Woodpigeon over, a couple of Redwing over, the Redpolls are still around, a few Siskins and Skylarks over and the Tawny Owl last night. I'm repeatedly failing to pick up Crossbill going over despite them being picked up almost daily in suitable conditions on the nearby coastal watch points- not sure what's going on, maybe they are strictly following the coast. I'm pretty sure I had a Woodlark but couldn't see it and couldn't find it on the passive recording either so I'll wait for a solid one for a garden tick as they seem pretty regular locally so hopefully a matter of time.  

After my sister left I popped over to Pagham Harbour and walked from Church Norton down west side. A couple of first-winter Arctic Tern flying over the car park were a surprise and there was a nice selection of waterbirds out on the estuary compromising quite a wintery scene HERE including 70 Brents, 250 Teal, 100 Wigeon, 30 Pintails and numbers of Knot, Grey Plover and Dunlin. 3 Avocets were presumably the ones from Ferry earlier on in the week. 

The evenings have been mild and the southerly air flow started last night so I'm hoping for some more migrant moths. There were 12 Rusty-dots last night and also had Clancy's Rustic, Silver-Y, Rush Veneers etc. Getting about 26 or so species of approx 70-80 individuals so pretty steady. 

First-winter Arctic Tern over

A bit wintery out there- Knots, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Dunlin and Teals

Feathered Thorn- some lovely late autumn moths at the moment including Merveille du Jours, Green Brindled Crescents, Sallow, Beaded Chestnuts, Dark Chestnuts and Chestnuts, the odd Lunar Underwing still and a few other bits and bobs

Grey Shoulder Knot (right) and Blair's Shoulder Knot

I went for Chestnut on this one

Gardening highlight this week was harvesting a water melon that I successfully grew in the greenhouse. Also got some Raspberries still to pick but basically it's all wrapping up out there. We also did some hedge trimming this weekand and started planning the winter works that will include putting in an irrigation system for our wild hedge, planting spring bulbs, re-pointing the patio and doing a good tidy up. Also need to plan some more detailed planting to target certain moths and butterflies by adding to our meadows and borders. 

Weekend

Been a fairly quiet weekend doing family stuff but managed to get in a short session on the ferry and tramway yesterday and a good morning garden session before spending the day at the Weald and Downland Museum today.

Birding highlights included 3 Avocet on Ferry yesterday (been fairly thin on the ground round here in recent weeks) and an interesting Rock Pipit and today the garden birding was pretty good with Grey Plover a garden tick, over 3000 Woodpigeon going over, my first 5 Redwings and 2 Fieldfare of the autumn, a couple of Mistle Thrush and a few Song Thrush, the 15 or so Redpolls are still in the garden and overall there were 42 species of over 3400 individuals HERE.

The moths have been pretty quiet with the temperature down to 6 C last night but still getting the odd NFY. We have a period of quite a significant southerly airflow from Wednesday this week so that could be very interesting for moths and late autumn vagrants like Pallid Swift. 

Avocets on Ferry

Cattle Egrets at Marsh Farm 

Woodpigeons on the move (above), meanwhile they are still breeding in the garden (below)

Had this Rock/Water Pipit come off Yeoman's Field. Looked like the outer-tail feathers were white but there was no sign of any supercilium on other photos so presumably a littoralis Rock Pipit. More photos and sound recordings HERE

Lesser Redpoll in the garden 

Feathered Ranaculus- NFY

Flame Brocade- always impressed to see these 

Dark Chestnut 

 

A couple of recordings from this morning- Grey Plover going over and Redpolls in the garden 

East Head- Yellow-browed Warbler

Met up with  Marc Read this morning at dawn to give East Head and Snowhill Marsh area a bash. Turned out to be our most successful day of the autumn with Marc finding a Yellow-browed Warbler and we had a Black Redstart, 4 Woodlark, 2 Crossbill, 2 Dartford Warbler and some good vis mig including over 200 Redpoll, 60 Siskin, 4 Yellowhammer and 1200 Wigeon moving south to boot. Ebird list with a few sound recordings from today HERE , 67 species of 2746 indivduals.

We then tried for the Black-necked Grebe at Norton but dipped. A juv Red-thoated Diver was the highlight there with some more Redpolls. When I got there was a flock of 25+ Redpolls on the feeders. 

A very nice little day. Yellow-browed and Crossbill were Peninsula ticks. Now on 203 all time and 186 for the year.  

Yellow-browed Warbler (above and below). Quite a sub-dued foremost wing bar on the left side (invoking thoughts of Hume's) but overall the bird was quite bright and green tinged with more of a wing-bar on the right side too. 

Black Redstart

Redpolls on the move (above) and one in the garden (below). All the ones we saw well today were Lessers. 

Wigeon moving south

Brents building up in Chichester Harbour- about 250 now

Rustic Bunting Update

I've heard back from Magnus Robb on the first-winter (presumed male) Rustic Bunting I had on 12th October on Cape Kaliakra. I saw the bird well but briefly and sadly wasn't able to get a photograph and failed to locate it despite hours of searching. 

However as usual, at the time, I had my sound recorder on recording passively and when I saw the bird I could see it was calling and could hear it too. When I processed the recordings later I certainly had a ticking bird but I wasn't sure how to confirm it was the Rustic or one of the 200+ Song Thrush that were also on the Cape that day and calling. Original recording HERE and below. 

I tried some analysis myself last night and the sonogram looked like a tick as well as sounding like one with a shorter arm at the start of the inflection. On Song Thrush it looks more like an inverted tick and also the top of the tick has a higher frequency and the sonogram is also more needle like. 

However I wasn't certain as my sonograms were not as sharp as I needed so indeed it was time to send it to Magnus for some guru analysis and this was his reply:

Yes you definitely have a Rustic Bunting in the recording. Attached are sonagrams of the first four calls, after which it continues but is much fainter. Song Thrush can show a V-shaped call of similar duration but the descending side of the V will always be stronger than the ascending side, fading out before it reaches the initial high frequency again. In this bird the right side is always stronger and ends at a higher frequency, very typical of Rustic. Nice one!

If accepted this will be the 5th record for Bulgaria. 

Back Home

After the late night return flight on Thursday it was straight into work on Friday in London and then I've spent the weekend catching up with paperwork and post trip stuff. 

Therefore I've only had time to do the moth trap which has been actually quite interesting with a few new for years and a nice selection of migrants- now on 559 for the year and 621 all time. 

While I was away there were some great birds on Corvo including another Prothonotary Warbler, two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Chestnut-sided and Cape May Warblers and looks like the American Goshawk from last year is now resident on the island! All the news from Corvo and Flores as usual on the Facebook group HERE. There was a westerly airflow but it wasn't from any strong weather features which just confirms that Corvo only needs some kind of westerly wind. 

A nice period of westerly winds this week on the back of some strong features too so probably more to come soon. If I had more flexibility I'd head out there this week but half term is coming up and I've got two weeks in Oman in late November and then nearly three weeks in Thailand in January so I better do some work and do family stuff and also top up the coffers as after the recent Malta investment I'm pretty broke. Fingers crossed the 'everything bubble' doesn't pop too soon, gold at record highs and everything else rallying on the global economy (which is unprecedented) so looks like the whole thing is going to blow it's top again similar to the first rinse cycle in April but possibly deeper this time. Who knows- the take home is get as much birding in while we can.  

Note to self for next autumn- 'take off' the whole period from late September to late October and don't book in any other trips until December/ January, book in nothing and no commitments, set aside enough money, let everyone know I'm out of the matrix for all that period including half term and then spend the whole period twitching the weather between Bulgaria and the Azores.  

Golden Twin-spot- the second record here

Merveillie du Jour- always welcome here. A NFY

Flame Brocade- another welcome NFY. After a period of low moth catches in September seems like things have got more interesting again with over 30 speices of 100 individuals again at the moment.

Oak Rustic

Channel Island Pug

An unseasonal Swallow-tail moth 

Bulgaria October 2025 Moths and Butterflies Update

I had the moth trap on most nights and there was quite an interesting selection of late autumn insects.

There were also quite a few butterflies on the wing mainly Red Admirals (which may have been migrants), Eastern Dappled White and Clouded Yellows and there were a few Rush Veneers in the grass on the Steppe and a few Hummingbird Hawkmoths around.  

Updated Lep project HERE, now registering 425 species for the project site, an additional 12 species this trip subject to verification. A few highlights and interests below. 

Previous update from our September trip this year with some even smarter moths HERE and from June this year HERE . Been a good year. 

Tiliacea sulphurago- moth of the trip and lifer. 2-3 of these. 

Aprophyla canescens- one of the most prominent species (above and below)

Episema glaucina- nice 

Probably Dicranura ulmi 231025 update- a better fit is Ash Shoulder-knot, Scotochrosta pulla. Thanks to Steve from the Bulgaria i-nat project. 

Agrochola nitida (above and below) one to keep an eye out for amongst the Lunar Underwings? 

Agrochola laevis- another one to keep an eye out for 

Brindled Green 231025 update- looks like this is probably an eastern species of Dryobotodes- D.carbonis

Feathered Brindle - pretty numerous. More species familiar from back home below.

Pearly Underwing 

Lunar Yellow Underwing 

The Cosmpolitan

Brown-spot Pinion

Beaded Chestnut 

Black-spot Chestnut

Vagrant Emperor 

Praying Mantis