The first Brents

This week's birding Monday started off with a garden watch HERE in a north east breeze and partly cloudy skies, where highlights included a Firecrest, the start of the Chaffinch migration with 11 over, a couple of Chiffs and Blackcap, 2 Egyptian Geese and a Robin flew into the conservatory which we caught and released with the boys.

After the school run I then dropped into Ferry where the juvenile Little Stint was still present, there were 13 Stonechats in the field and 122 Lapwing were on the islands. Also my autumn's first Rock Pipit was flying around calling. The pool has been flooded now and it looks like the predator fence has been completed. Will be interesting how this habitat develops. 

I then headed over to East Side HERE for the rising tide which highlights including 2 Spotted Redshank, 4 Knot, a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull, a late Reed Warbler in the Breach Pool reeds, 12 Chiffchaff in the Sallows, a Marsh Harrier and the usual selection of waders and wildfowl including a couple of Avocet. 

After lunch with Holly at East Wittering I then went over to East Head and had a walk round the Dunes waiting for the tide to fall and then did Snowhill Marsh with Alan. The Dunes were quite interesting with 2 Dartford Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Stonechat, 1 Wheatear, 9 Chiffchaff and a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits. There was also a Yellow Wagtail on Snowhill and a selection of wildfowl and waders which were present yesterday. HERE. Highlight of the afternoon was a flock of 12 Brent Geese which flew up the harbour, my first of the autumn. 

Easterlies are forecast for tomorrow and Yellow-brows are already influxing on the east coast and northern isles so hopefully plenty will arrive tomorrow and maybe one or two might filter down to us. 

There was a slight uptick in the moth trap with 20 species the highlight being a Dusky Lemon Sallow, a NFY. 'Migrants' included Clancy's Rustic, 2 Vestal, L-album Wainscot, 2 Small Mottled Willow, 1 Silver-Y, 2 Rush Veneer and Blair's Mocha. 

Dartford Warblers (above and below) with Stonechat (below). An influx of Stonechat today across the Peninsula, I logged 19 myself but will be more at Medmerry and elsewhere (in fact there were 35 at Medmerry and more on the North Wall and Long Pool  HERE so probably well over 60 birds locally today). These are also my first Dartford Warblers away from the breeding area. 

Lesser Whitethroat

Chiffchaff- good numbers around 

First-winter Yellow-legged Gull 

My first autumn Brents 

Robin and Isaac 

A nicely marked Vestal 

Dusky Lemon Sallow- a NFY, now on 548 

Boring weekend

The high pressure broke down this weekend giving way to an Atlantic airflow drawing up mild air from the south east. Despite the seemingly favourable conditions there hasn't been much in the way of vis-mig or moth migration. 

As usual due to weekend family commitments I've been mainly confined to the garden and lane. A couple of mornings of garden birding produced just a handful of Meadow Pipits and Swallows going over with highlights including 2 Firecrest, 6 Chiffchaff and 3 Blackcap yesterday and 3 Pintail going over this morning. 39 species on Saturday morning HERE.

A family picnic to West Wittering today meant I got a chance to have a quick look at Snowhill HERE the highlight being a Hobby, a Curlew Sandpiper and an increase in Golden Plover. 

There have only been 19 species of moth over the two days combined with Blair's Mocha, Four-spotted Footman, Dock Streak and a late Yellow-tail being the meagre highlights. 

Elsewhere on the Peninsula there also hasn' t been much to sing and dance about HERE with just a few Wheatears and a few more Stonechats on Saturday and a Little Stint and Woodlark today. 

I find autumn quiet spells the most boring and frustrating episodes in the birding cycle as expectations and resulting dissappointments are high. There is some mixed weather in the forecast so hopefully things get kick started again soon. 

The quiet weekend did give me a chance to catch up with a few things including sorting out the latest batch of moths for Mike and updating the last batch of identifications. Highlights from the dissection results in June and July included Acrocercops brongniardrella, Burdock Straw, Aethes rubigana, Striped Sorrel moth, Aroga velocella, a nice selection of Coleophora including coracipennella, alcyonipennella, peribenanderi, albicosata, salicorniae and saxicolella, confirmation on a run of Rosy Straws, Cochylis roseana, Cydia nigricana, Bedellia somnulentella and Aproaerema anthyllidella and larseniella. 

The latest batch going in are from late July to August which was a busy period of moth migration and dispersal so fingers crossed some interesting results in there. 

Sandwich Tern at East Head

Blair's Mocha- one of these at my previous haunts would have made it a great weekend. Shifting baselines work both ways, a weekend of garden Firecrests, Curlew Sandpiper and some good migrant moth species would have been a great weekend back in London and Oxfordshire! Nice to be on the right side of a shifting baseline for a change, even if it is a relative perspective one. 

Slow Indian Summer Days

The high pressure conditions continue as does the quiet spell for migration. There was very little going over the garden this morning and a check on the falling tide at White's Creek and East Side produced very little new apart from a few more ducks HERE. Red Kite, 2 Peregrine and a Marsh Harrier were the highlights and 4 Avocet and 11 Golden Plover were the first time I've seen these on this side of the harbour this autumn. There was only 5 Dunlin and I didn't see any Ringed Plovers so not much hope in finding something amongst the small waders. 

The moth trap was also quiet with little in the way of insect migration despite the southerly airflow. A deep southerly airflow is forecast for next week so hopefully a change in weather will kick start migration again. 

Hopefully something will happen round here as it looks like I'm local bound for a while as I've run out of money following a very quiet six months at work so the autumn birding war chest is empty after forking out for a half term week in Bulgaria with the family and then the big trip to Namibia in November.  

Pintail numbers were up to 28 and Wigeon up to 67 with 6 Shoveler and 177 Teal. Pintail and Wigeon (above and below). The male Pintails are moulting into winter plumage with some showing darker heads. Will be interesting to see how the winter population of Pintail build to the expected 200 or so wintering birds  HERE. 

Golden Plovers on East Side. The first Brent was in the harbour yesterday. 

Cypress Pug- a NFY

Vestal- they keep coming with 5 last night . Other 'migrants' recently have included a couple of Small Mottled Willow, single Portland Ribbon Wave and Blair's Mocha and the odd Delicate and Rusty-dot with a few Rush Veneers. 

Deep Brown Dart. Surprisingly it looks like this is a first for the garden with few records in this area HERE. They have been common at my previous haunts. Now on 720 for the garden and 547 for the year. 

A day at home

I had a load of paperwork to do today so decided to stay at the lodge and squeeze in a bit of garden birding. 42 species in and from the garden HERE with highlights including a female-type Marsh Harrier flying high to the east, the first Firecrest for the garden autumn and a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. The early morning vis-mig was pretty disappointing with very few hirundines and small numbers of Mipits.

The moth trap was also a bit dissappointing but it was a clear night with a bright moon. Highlights included Pink-barred Sallow (NFY) and also Sallow and Centre-barred Sallow and also a striking Scarce Bordered Straw.

I aslo got in a few bits of work around the garden including tidying up the pond, the path and car park area and a bit of pruning on the tomatoes. Also needed to put woodchip down in the duck pen as they are making a mess in there. As it's been unseasonaly warm and dry a bit of watering was also needed.

In the office we made good progress with Thee Bryans stuff and getting the paperwork out of the way. 

Garden Firecrest (above), Chiffchaff (below), Blackcap (below that) and Marsh Harrier (bottom bird pic)

Scarce Bordered Straw- a shock at first as in the early light I thought my number had finally come in with Eastern Bordered Straw but alas just a nicely marked Scarce 

Pink-barred Sallow . NFY , now on 545 for the garden year. 

Black Rustic- now appearing. Lunar Underwings also building (Ivy must been in flower now) so all very much mid-autumn

Western Conifer Seed Bug - a new for garden HERE

Slow going in clear conditions

Met up with Marc this morning to have a look round Church Norton and the Severals. The high pressure condiitons continue with a south easterly swinging round to a westerly. 81 species HERE with highlights including a Merlin, Hobby, 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Firecrest, 6 Goldcrest, Whinchat, 3 Stonechat, Spotted Flycather and some good vis-mig including 30 Skylark, 44 Meadow Pipit, a few Yellow and 'alba' Wagtails and counts of 1525 Barn Swallow and 670 House Martin. There were also quite a few warblers around including 17 Chiffchaff and 18 Blackcap. 

A nice selection of birds but still no scarce or rare migrant this autumn.  Apart from the Grey Phalarope recently there actually hasn't been a decent bird to twitch on the Peninsula since the April Woodchat Shrike. Hopefully a pay out is due soon and in the meantime just need to keep knocking.  

Bird of the day (or rather night) was a Tawny Owl calling outside the house at around 2am. My first for the year. Now on 183 locally. 

The moth trap was pretty quiet despite it not dropping to below 14 C. My MV is in for repair at the moment so I'm limping on with the twin actinic which is presumably part of the reason for the low rewards on that front too. Black Rustic was a new for year. 

Firecrest (above and below). A really autumn feel today with crests calling in the bushes, skylarks going overhead, chiffchaffs calling and the odd Song Thrush call. Mid-autumn is here. 

Spotted Fly on West Side

Difficult to capture the amazing spectacle of the hirundine passage and gathering this morning. These House Martins were swarming over the severals for a few minutes.

Long-legged Tabby- the first one in several weeks 

Clancy's Rustic- a few more of these recently. Overall moth migration is very low round here but as mentioned above down to one twic actinic trap at the moment. 

Last days of summer

The high pressure returned today and temperatures got up into the low 20s. I started the day off at East Side with 69 species of over 1700 individuals HERE, there were basically no bird highlights but a few increases in certain species including Turnstone (54 present), Shelduck (29) and a small increase in Pintail and Wigeon numbers. I also had a few Skylarks flying over- the first for the autumn. 

After a break at home doing some bits in the garden, office and kitchen (see below) I  decided to make the most of the weather so walked from Ferry to Church Norton. Additional species and migrants HERE. The highlight was a juv Marsh Harrier and a group of 5 Stonechat along the long pool. 

Only one Yellow Wagtail today following a very good run of them in the last few weeks. Still good numbers of hirundines around. 

Once again there were Clouded Yellows in small numbers more or less everywhere including in the garden. 

So basically a very quiet day but very nice weather.

An increase in Turnstone (above) and Shelduck (below) 

The small waders , Dunlins and Ringed Plover, were close today but there was nothing in them

A record count of Common Seal for me today with 16 animals on the banks at East Side

Little Egret with extensive yellow legs and some in lores too. Presumably immature transitional traits.

Stonechats- my first presumed autumn migrants in the harbour (following a local family party a few weeks ago)

With no Baird's, Buff Breasted or Pec Sand despite weeks of searching during an excellent season for american waders, consolation prize today was an omlete made from 100 per cent garden ingredients including Duck eggs, cherry, money makers and beef tomatoes, yellow and padron peppers, thyme, basil and parsley and garlic. There were no decent moths in the moth trap either. This post is basically a polite way of saying it was crap today, however, a crap day in nature is a good day in the matrix so all good. 

Local Round-up

Aside from a couple of days in the West Country last week I have mainly been stuck in the matrix doing paperwork and family stuff but I did manage to do a bit of moth trapping and bits in the garden and even scrambled yesterday for the Grey Phalarope on Ferry found by Jacob Bowley. I also managed to sneak in a quick look at Snowhill Marsh today HERE while on the family walk round East Head and this evening I popped out for an hour or so from Church Norton HERE. The highlights were 2 Ruff at Snowhill and a Curlew Sandpiper and a Spotted Flycatcher at Church Norton. A garden watch this morning before the gang got up produced a Hobby HERE. 

Matt was over on Wednesday and we did the first haycut in the back meadows and also sorted out the side and back gardens. There has been some periods of warm sun in the established westerly airflow and mid-week there were Common Blues, Small Copper, Small Whites, Cloud Yellows and also the first record of Brown Hairstreak for the garden. There have also been a couple of Common Darters and up to four Migrant Hawkers in the garden.

In the moth trap new for years have included Large Wainscot and Lunar Underwing but overall the traps have been quiet in the cooler and sometimes wet evenings. Friday night was the first time in months that I didn't catch a Small Mottled Willow. There was one last night with a Scarce Bordered Straw and the good run of Vestals continue with 4 last night. 

There have been Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs feeding in the wild carrot in the back garden which is amazing to see, (there was a fall of phylloscs locally mid-week) and also a few Blackcaps and yesterday morning six Golden Plovers flew over the garden. Hirundines, mainly House Martins and Barn Swallows, and Meadow Pipits have been steadily moving overhead for the last few days. Yesterday morning's garden migrants HERE. 

Been harvesting the garden crops recently too, we left the sweetcorn too long but its good for the ducks (which are now laying up to three eggs a day between them) and the tomatoes, peppers and raspberries just keep coming. Also harvested the sunflowers and have buckets of seeds. After clearing the sunflowers and sweetcorns we have now got space for onion sets and broad beans to go in. 

First-winter Grey Phalarope (above and below) on Ferry. Looking very storm blown. Now on 182 for the local year.

Distant Curlew Sand at Norton- not sure on the age- looked very dark on the upperparts. There are a lot of american waders in Britain and Ireland at the moment, with a really good year for Baird's Sandpiper including one in Oxfordshire where they must have had their best year ever with mega after mega in my old county. Hope we get a good wader round here, relying on 'trickle down'. 

Willow Warbler in the wild carrot 

Common Blue (above) and Common Darter (below) in the garden meadows. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the Brown Hairstreak which was posing well on the Liquidamber but had gone by the time I got back with the camera. 

It's official mid-autumn is here. Lunar Underwing. Garden year list now on 543. Large Yellow Underwings continue to dominate the trap now with over 100 most nights. 'Migrants' in last day or two have included single Blair's Mocha, Scarce Bordered Straw and Clancy's Rustic,  two L-album Wainscot, two Small Mottled Willows, up to 3 Delicates and a couple of Rusty-dots and a handful of Rush Veneers. Also there is still a Hummingbird Hawkmoth around the garden in the day- almost an unbroken run of those for months now. A bit of colour in the trap is being provided by the odd Frosted Orange, a Red Underwing yesterday and the odd Sallow. After making a big appearance Feathered Gothics seem to be over. Notable absentees this year include Radford's Flame Shoulder and Cliften Nonpariel.  

We only did a hay-cut on a section of the back garden becuase voles were running out and also butterflies and grasshoppers were still using the meadow. Hopefully everything has taking refuge into the remaining part that we will do a later hay cut on. We can now feed the rabbits home grown hay too which they seem to be enjoying. We want to increase the plant diverstiy of these meadows so we have to do a cut and remove the arisings to try and get the nutrient level down. The meadow has been incredible this year (looks messy this time of year)- see HERE for when it was in it's prime and we hope to improve it even further next year. 

Our garden harvest festival. This is just what we have been collecting in the last few days. It's been relentless for weeks and still got plenty to come. One benefit of the extremely hot summer.