Ebird October Big Weekend at the Old Vic

It was Ebird October Big Day this Saturday so I joined over 31,000 other world birders who collectively recorded 7,112 bird species across the Planet. I had my best day this year in the garden with a whooping 42 species HERE. Garden highlights were the garden's first ever Kingfisher and also the autumn's first Redwings (on the noc-mig and in the garden; noc mig HERE) and also Tawny and Barn Owl. The Garden bird list now on 94 and 77 for the year. 

The moth traps were fairly quiet, Green Brindled Crescent and Merveille du Jour were the highlights. 

Some pretty epic national and WP birding going on this weekend with the UK's first Least Bittern in Shetland, an adult male Baltimore Oriole on Lundy, a few other yanks and Ireland's first Alder Flycatcher. I've been back to work and with the family for a week which I think is probably long enough to justify getting back in the game soon. If all goes to plan hoping to be in Cornwall for the next decent spell of westerlies at the end of this week. Things are relatively quiet on Corvo as the weather systems seem to be moving further north this year, even Scillies is being largely missed by megas (except for a Swainson's Thrush), although that could be coverage related as Northern France is also doing well for yanks recently.   

Kingfisher- a garden tick. I was being lazy and not carrying my camera with me while doing my Ebirding and it perched up a few meters away posing for a perfect photo just to remind me the cost of being lazy. This is a photo of another Kingfisher from this blog. 

Skylarks (and Meadow Pipits) are daily over the garden now. Good to get the first Redwings and the noc-mig picked up a few thrushes and robins moving last night (and Tawny and Barn Owls).

Merveille du Jour (above and below). Always stunning to see. 

Green Brindled Crescent- this might be a new for year. Moth year list on 476. Only about 24 moths of 8 species last night with a light frost. It's looking like getting to 500 this year might be ambitious. Hopefully we get a few more mild night spells.  

Sallow

Day in Kent - Red-footed Falcon

Did a day in Kent yesterday. 80 species in total. Started off for the rising tide at Oare Marshes, then after lunch went to Shellness, then Elmley and then Tankerton in the evening met up with ex-Beddington birder Andy Taylor on a moth twitch. Oare Marshes full Ebird list HERE

Juvenile Red-footed Falcon at Elmley. As I was in the area was nice to pop into Elmley to twitch this Red-foot, a plumage tick and rather educational too as from a distance in certain lights I could well have passed it off as a hovering Kestrel and briefly at distance while in travelling flight also could have been passed off as a juvenile Hobby. Good to study it as it moved across different lights, backgrounds and distances.

Update 141022: A retrospective Purple Heron at Oare Marshes- I took some record shots of a distant heron which looked like a Purple but forgot to check the photos until I noticed that there had been a Purple Heron in the area which reminded me to re-look at my photos. Looks like one to me.

Female Marsh Harrier, Oare

The Bearded Tits at Oare were doing that thing where they fly high out of the reed beds in flocks calling and then come back down again. Presumably getting ready to migrate/ disperse. Also had this partially leuctistic bird too HERE

Juvenile Little Stints at Oare

Up to 8 Cattle Egrets on the approach road at Elmley 

Fisher's Estuarine Moth- had about six of them on their food plant Hogs Fennel. A moth lifer (and my first real moth twitch)

Back to the Old Vicarage

Been back at the Old Vic for nearly a week, unfortunately brought a stomach bug back from Papua with me and gifted it to the family who were not impressed. Been playing catch up with mucking out the chickens and cleaning out the other pets and harvesting food from the mini-farm and preserving foods for the winter. 

The garden bird and moth brigade has seen a change in the guard since I was last here with daily Meadow Pipits and Skylarks migrating over during the mornings, quite a few Chiffys about and the moth scene is all rather autumnal dominated by Lunar Underwings and Large Yellow Underwings- up to 120 moths of 20 or so species. Garden moth list for 2022 is now 476, would be great to get to 500 in a year. 

A couple of familiar garden birds after three weeks of tropical strangers- Green Woodpecker (above) and the garden Common Buzzard (below) still on guard from the Spruce 

Sallow

Merveille du Jour

Lunar Underwing 

Beaded Chestnut

Brown Spot Pinion 

Maybe a Neglected Rustic? 

Barred Sallows have now taken over from Centre-barred Sallows

Large Wainscot

Another Dark Sword Grass, also had a Rush Veneer recently

It's runner beans and Pumpkin time (above and below) 

More or less fully self sufficient from the garden at the moment - Bryan knocked up some sun dried tomatoes 

We've added 3 Long-tailed Lizards to Jacob's bedroom rainforest 

Back with the boy and we visited the Oxford Natural History Museum on Sunday. Extinction Rebellion were on the march so we walked with them for a bit

Thee Bryans and Szabolcs Kokays

Wonderful to have our music featured in a couple of video reels for my all time favourite wildlife artist Szabolcs Kokays. I Wish is a song I wrote and recorded with Thee Bryans about ten years ago, a song about sitting back and just observing.  Full song and Holly's video HERE. Just the Way I Feel is another reflective song about accepting feelings. It's great to see these songs set to such amazing art work of fantastic birds- Spoon-billed Sand and Great Bustard.

Thee Bryans go back a bit with 'Szabi' who did some artwork for our first song book 'Songs of Praise'. 

Szabi did the plates for the Birds of Paradise in the Birds of New Guinea guide that we used on our recent trip so all a nice bit of cosmic synchronicity going on. 

West Papua, Other Wildlife and People

 A few final photos from West Papua with some provisional identifications. 

Tree Frog sp

Asian Toad

Common House Gecko 

Indonesian Brown Rainbow-skink 

Snake-eyed Skink 

Kopstein's Emo Skink 

Asian Forest Skink sp 

A few Dragons (three above) 

Northern Cassowary - unfortunately we didn't get to see one in the wild despite having a reasonable chance but this bird at the Homestay at Nimbokrang was a rescue bird...so half a tick. What an incredible bird, surely the closest living thing to a Maniraptoran  and certainly top of my most wanted list- will just have to return to the region to see one

Seth's crew from the Arfaks

Our Wise Birding crew

Not quite five star accommodation some nights 

Jaffa (Chris Townend, Wise Birding owner) and I

West Papua Deliveroo 

Transport along the Malagafuk boardwalk 

The ladies at Nimbokrang