The Ness Terns Good

After an intense week of exams, a day’s birding on 19th May was on the cards as a break from revision. I opted for a day’s birding by foot at Girdle Ness, what with the recent run of easterly winds. When I woke up that morning to see crystal clear blue skies my hopes of passerine migs immediately dwindled, but out of dedication I decided to work The Ness anyway.

Arriving at 11, I worked the whole headland from the North Bank to Nigg Bay. No passerine migrants were at the allotments, but a House Martin was hawking the golf course here. I proceeded down to  the sycamore, where a resident Sedge Warbler and a Whitethroat sang, and then along the North Bank. It was all seeming quiet, with a smart drake Goosander by the Skate’s Nose with Eiders being the best of it along this stretch. The Battery managed to oust my suspicions of there being any migs at the Ness whatsoever, only holding yet another resident Sedgie and an endearing family of Pied Wagtails.

It was clear that the Ness was quiet, yet without reluctance I continued my circuit down to Greyhope Bay, where there was finally some action. Firstly, a group of 25+ Purple Sandpipers were a pleasant surprise as numbers tend to dwindle post winter. It was pleasant to see many of them in summer plumage with their all dark bills. One bird sported several colour rings, the colour scheme of red and turquoise on the right leg and yellow on the left indicating that this bird had been ringed by the local Grampian ringing group. Unfortunately I couldn’t read any of the rings due to a harsh wind and distance. Alongside them was a summer plumaged Dunlin.

locally colour ringed Purple Sandpiper, Girdle Ness (19/5/12)

My concentration turned towards a fairly substantial group of terns widely spread out on a couple of clumps of rocks to the right of the Purple Sandpipers. Overall about 60 Common Terns were present, amongst them which were a maximum of 10 Arctic Terns, and about 30 Sandwich Terns. The Sandwich Terns were largely concentrated on the furthest left clump of rocks, where only a few Common Terns were sat. As I scanned through the Sandwich Terns for the first time I picked out an outstandingly pale tern that was largely concealed behind a Sandwich Tern but about the same size as a Common. Very interested, I waited patiently to get a full view of the bird. In the mean time I moved the scope from the bird in question to the few Commons that were present on this particular rock, and it became clear that the bird in question was much paler than all of them. After 5 minutes the Sandwich Tern moved aside, revealing that this mystery tern had a largely black bill with vivid red legs…

I was certain this was a Roseate Tern. The wind was blowing at a rate of knots and my eyes were watering so I was struggling to concentrate fully on the bird. Out of determination against the conditions I examined the bird, moving to the primaries and tail to see if the bird had the diagnostic outstandingly long tail streamers. On inspecting the streamers, I became concerned. They seemed quite short, not extending outstandingly far beyond the wing tip as expected from a bolt on Rosy; in fact only very slightly extending beyond the wingtip. An inspection of the primaries didn’t seem to show the obvious dark trailing edge to the outer primaries contrasting with the uniformly pale inner primaries, which I’d  have expected to have been obvious on this bird. I now wasn’t 100% sure, but nevertheless got a few digiscoped pics, the best of which are below. At one point all the terns took to the air, but I wasn’t able to catch on to this bird in flight. They landed again, and on the basis of its outstanding paleness I relocated the bird in question on a seperate set of rocks where all the terns had now congregated. It remained here for 10 minutes, before the whole flock took to the air and most flew out to sea.  Thus I hadn’t heard it call or seen the streamers in flight…

Roseate Tern, Girdle Ness (19/5/12). In its original stance,where it had previously been hidden behind a Sandwich Tern

in its second stance

Despite the potential set backs of the primaries and length of the streamers, I feel there is enough evidence to confirm this as a summer plumaged Roseate Tern. I have consulted a number of people about the bird, and the majority have been pro Roseate.  The following pro features were noted at the time and also from photos:

• Striking uniform paleness of upperparts. Initial eye opening feature, outstandingly paler than nearby Commons. Harsh lighting only slightly exaggerate the true outstanding paleness of the bird.  Mantle particularly pale.

• Underparts similarly an oustandingly pale white, as evident in pics where this part of the bird is not victim to harsh lighting.

• Bill appeared largely black in the field (more so than shots show) with some subtle deep red at the base.  Decurvature and length in comparison to Commons was striking.

• Primaries uniformly pale white, not showing outstanding dark primary wedge as on many of the Commons present.

• Black outer primary visible on the lower wing tip in the last three shots. Zooming on this area of the bird on the camera/computer reveals this to be the case and not dark colouring from the rocks behind.  This is particularly evident in the first of the last three shots, contrasting with far paler other primaries.

• Slightly smaller than Commons with strikingly bright red legs.

• Elegant and ‘neckless’ jizz clear. When combined with lengthy, decurved bill gave it a somewhat ‘top heavy’ appearance.

• Extremely dark cap with gap by eye creating semi-circular shape and ‘slit-eyed ‘ effect (Collin’s shows in illustration of spring birds)

Regarding the potentially concering feature of the streamer length, I believe that this feature does not cast great doubt on the ID of this bird as a Roseate. Variation in streamer length amongst Roseate Terns is well documented. I spoke to a local birder that deals with the tern colony at the Ythan Estuary, who told me that of 4 adult Roseate Terns in the colony last year two had the standard outstandingly long streamers extending well beyond the wingtip, whilst one had streamers extending just beyond the wingtip (like this bird) and one which had barely any streamers whatsoever.  With this in mind and also that this is almost certainly the same one seen at the Ythan the week before where all terns at Girdle Ness come from, streamer length arguably isn’t a huge concern in this respect and means that this was probably the Ythan bird.

Regarding the lack of contrast between the inner and outer primaries, the bird does show a dark outer primary feather which is pro Roseate. In addition, the same local birder suggested that the contrast between the inner and outer primaries becomes more obvious later on in the summer and that the primaries as a whole are more likely to be bleached and thus not show the same extent of obvious contrast during the spring. This gradual strengthening contrast between the inner and outer primaries in late summer could feasibly correspond with the more extensive red at the base of the bill that many Roseates have acquired by this time, and perhaps also in the development of tail streamers to their full length, even though this varies regardless.  This could well be why this bird didn’t show such an obvious contrast between the outer and inner primaries and could potentially explain the streamer length conundrum.

With most consulted having agreed this is a Roseate Tern and the vast majority of pro Roseate features that the bird showed, I am happy with it as such. Whilst I am confident, any opinions on this bird would still be appreciated; please leave a comment if you wish to share your opinion. 

***

Enthused, I moved on and had a look offshore from the Coo which was quite fruitful, with hundreds of Kittiwakes and Auks heading north and also a considerable passage of Gannets. This kept me entertained and was nicely rounded off by 2 Manx Shearwaters north. The walled garden revealed 11 Wheatears, whilst another was at an otherwise quiet South Bank. Nigg Bay held 3 Red-throated Divers but little else. Having completed my circuit, I made my way back, cutting through the golf course. As I went back along the North Bank I bumped into Mark Lewis, who I showed my photos of the tern to. I soon found myself doing a whole round of the Ness with him, keeping a look out for the tern at Greyhope Bay once again. It was pretty unfruitful at first but very enjoyable company. Things finally kicked off as we were both sat at Greyhope Bay as an Osprey was picked up offshore heading north, a riveting patch first for us both and a big highlight of the day. As we headed through the allotments a Goldcrest was seen, the only genuine migrant of the day.

I didn’t get home until 8pm, having been at The Ness for over 7 hours (!) . Retrospectively it was a great day’s birding at The Ness and my efforts had been rewarded, despite it being quiet on the wider scale of things.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Sporadic Spring Birding

Hi all, sorry for the lack of posting in recent times. I have just finished exams which occupied much of my time in the last month or so, but now I have plenty of time to update the blog. To break the tedium of revision, I have managed to get birding on a few occasions locally, but not really that far afield. The following post accounts part of my local birding in the last month, with another post on some even more recent local birding to follow.

***

21st April: This was effectively the last full day’s birding I had before the exam blew possibilities of this out the window. My dad’s cousin and his partner were up for the weekend, both avid birders (it does run in the family to an extent!), and we birded several sites, mainly the north coast. However things started at Girdle Ness to the south where we popped in early morning to see if any passerine migs had made landfall after a night of blustery rain and easterlies. Disappointingly nothing really seemed to be going, the best we could dig out being two Chiffchaffs around the allotments and 5 Wheatear in the walled garden. A stunning summer plumaged Long-tailed Duck in the harbour did liven the spirits somewhat, purely on the basis of its aesthetic appeal.

We made the long journey to Portsoy in very northwestern edge of Aberdeenshire for the long-staying summer plumaged White-billed Diver, although had arrived by just after 11 due to our extra early start. On setting up at the raised area of ground at the western end of the harbour, we became acquainted with a nasty and unexpected offshore wind; not good signs for being able to pick this bird out. Indeed, this wind proved to have a detrimental effect on seeing the White-billed Diver, so despite an hour and a half meticulous scanning it was not picked up. There was a good deal of entertainment otherwise, with an elegant dark phase Arctic Skua heading east and at least 50 Long-tailed Ducks were spread out on the sea, many showing off their summer plumages and a few Red-throated Divers. However, the highlight here was a superb summer plumaged Black-throated Diver heading east about half way through the visit, black throat, silvery grey head and chequered black and white mantle all outstanding despite it being distant; not a bird you often see in the region.

After a nice lunch in Porstoy, we meandered eastwards to Strathbeg, where we hoped to catch up with the Strathbeg’s celebrity Tringa. This was relatively easy as we were treated to comparatively close views of the GREATER YELLOWLEGS to the great distance it normally shows at from the Visitor Centre, although it was still a bit far away for photography. Later we managed rather good views from Tower Pool Hide, where we were also treated to absolutely fantastic views of ‘Patch’ the Short-eared Owl. The latter was sat on the nearest post to the hide for about 10 minutes straight. Had my compact digital camera not ran out of battery, I would have managed some pretty decent pics. A couple of easy yearticks here included my first House Martins and Common Terns of the year, and more notably a ‘pure’ Hooded Crow, another year tick; most Hoodies up here are manky hybrids so its always good to catch up with the occasional pure one. Aside from an array of the commoner wader and duck species, it was all pretty quiet at Strathbeg. From here, we headed back for a hearty dinner in Aberdeen.

28th + 29th April: During this couple of days I managed to nick in a little of birding whilst out doing other things. We popped in briefly to Girdle Ness on the way to the local tip to have a look for a Wryneck that had been seen during the previous two days. It was no surprise that we dipped here as the skies were blue and the bird inevitably had moved on. 2 Willow Warblers were the only migs round the South Bank, whilst 3 Wheatears were in the walled garden. The highlight of our brief visit was 11 Red-throated Divers in Nigg Bay (6 sumplum), the most I’ve ever seen in the bay. Meanwhile 45 Sandwich Terns were on the rocks. The next day we popped in to Loch of Skene on the way back from dropping a friend off out that way. There was no sign of the two Ring-necked Ducks seen there the day before. However my first Osprey of the year put on a dramatic show as it came within close quarters, and a Swift amongst a mixed group of hawking hirundines was my first of the year.

11th May: After my first exam I popped into a few local sites as a reward. ‘The Ness’ was once again the first stop, but as largely expected it was quiet. 2 Whitethroats were noted at the South Bank whilst a Whimbrel on the rocks at Nigg Bay was my first of the year. 8 Wheatears were recorded, 6 in the walled garden and two on the golf course by the battery. One of the birds on the golf course was a beautiful leucorhoa – the Northwestern subspecies of Northern Wheatear – a noticeably larger bird sporting a stronger supercilium than the nominate oenanthe beside it and a much buffier and extensively orange breast, this intense breast colouring extending down well beyond the flanks. A number of good northwestern Wheatears have been at the Ness this spring but this was by far the most obvious individual I’ve seen.

Northern Wheatear (ssp. leucorhoa) , note the intensity of the buffy orange breast

Rigifa Pool held nothing apart from the usual breeding Lapwings, so we headed up to the Ythan. A stop off at Inches Point revealed my first Little Terns of the year with at least 10 seen distantly amongst the tern flock. Also distantly were 3 Whimbrels amongst a group of Curlews, as well as a group of 20 Ringed Plovers and 25 Dunlins. We moved up to the Snub where two pairs of Gadwall was a noteworthy record for the estuary, and of similar interest were a pair of Pintails. A large group of Larus was viewed distantly but there appeared to be nothing apart from the commoner 5 species amongst these. Meikle Loch provided the highlight of the day as we were treated to the spectacle of up to 400 hirundines hawking the loch. These included 200+ Swallows, 120+ Sand Martins and around 70 House Martins. This is the largest mixed hirundine flock I’ve seen anywhere, and probably the largest amount of House Martins I’ve ever seen together; fantastic stuff. Finally we popped in to Blackdog on the way back, which was chock-a-block with Red-throated Divers – numbering 40+ – and included about 200 Common Scoters.

***

Following this post will be an account of a recent day’s birding by foot at Girdle Ness which will deal with a rather interesting Sterna I had there. Tune in for that over the next few days.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Scopeless On The North Coast

On Sunday 6th May I was surprised but nonetheless delighted to get some birding in at Holkham and Cley on the coast with family. I had no concept of this visit until the night before when sudden plans saw Holkham Beach being suggested for a place to take my young cousin. I turned on birdguides and became increasingly enthusiastic to go as it showed both Purple Heron and a mobile juv Pallid Harrier as present there that day with the hope that one of them may be around when I went the next day.

As it was just a family day out, I didn’t have the scope on me (which I’d left back in Aberdeen anyway) and thus relied solely on my bins that day. We didn’t get to Holkham until just before midday, by which time there had been negative news of both the harrier and the heron. I didn’t let this stop me from enjoying myself though, checking the freshmarsh from both Washington and Joe Jordan Hide whilst I was there. The area was filled with the commoner warbler species,  including a reeling Grasshopper Warbler outside Washington. A good few people were standing right by the bush it was reeling from as I arrived but it typically wasn’t showing. I joined them and after a few minutes picked up the Grasshopper Warbler singing right in the middle of a clump of bushes with is back to us, very well hidden as always despite being so close to us.

I got others on to the bird and thanked a kind man who allowed me to have a look at the Gropper through his scope. This was the best views I’ve ever had of a Gropper, with intensely close views through the scope as the bird turned round and I watched it reeling face on. I was about to get a digiscoped shot when the bird flew into another clump of bushes further away, where it stopped reeling. This was a decent start to a very pleasant time at Holkham. The freshmarsh was teeming with hawking Swifts, numbering well over a couple of hundred. 4 Greenshank flew in from the east at Joe Jordan Hide which arrived a little while before 25+ Black-tailed Godwits, whilst a male Marsh Harrier was quartering the marsh at Washington Hide and amongst an assortment of the very common waders a nice Ruff moving in to summer plumage was feeding. A lot of the most distant stuff I couldn’t pick out with the bins alone, and with parental demands to return to the car I moved off, happy with how things of gone despite the disappearance of the Purple Heron and less surprisingly the Pallid Harrier.

an ‘inspiriational’ pic of the Gropper bush, its not surprising that it was initially well hidden!

Back at the car everyone was complaining about how they were in dire need of a nice lunch and a cuppa. Instantly I pitched in with the idea of the Cley café at the Visitor Centre there, and was soon being whisked along towards the site with reports of a Temminck’s Stint whetting the appetite. An hour later I was overlooking Pat’s Pool from Bishops Hide in search of said stint. News  filtered through to me that the bird in question had not been seen for a half an hour and that no-one knew whether it had flown off or was hiding behind a high rising bit of the more distant scrapes. It did not show for the entirety of my stay, even from a different perspective of Pat’s Pool from the furthest right of three other hides. This did not dent my enjoyment however, with great views of a 1st summer Little Gull as it hakwed the pool, as well as 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper, 2 White Wagtails and good views of a pair of Bearded Tits from Bishops Hide. A nice posse of 40+ Black-tailed Godwit flew in a few minutes before I had to go, concluding my birding on the north coast as parental demands again saw me retreating to the car.

It had been a very enjoyable day out despite not connecting with the rarer species on offer and the day being mostly a family day out. It was lovely to get good views of a Gropper and Cley provided a really nice assortment of species which kept me entertained. We took the Holt road back towards Norwich early evening, with 2 Barn Owls seen hunting on the way back wrapping things up nicely: one hunting over reeds at the southern end of Cley village and another over farmland at Edgefield a few miles south of Holt. A worthwhile trip even though it was not being a serious day’s birding.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph