Sabine's Gull

11 Sept - Excellent close views of one of my favourite birds, a Sabine's Gull (see entry for 8 Sept....), a juvenile of this highly pelagic species that has been at Belvide reservoir for several days, blown in by the recent severe gales. Striking plumage especially in flight, seen feeding in elegant tern-like manner, with black/white/brown upperparts obvious, with slightly forked, black-edged tail. Also very close views on the water, when scaling of the upperparts seen, and appearing marginally smaller than nearby Black-headed Gulls. My best ever view of this species and a great photo-opportunity. I'm quite pleased with the flight shots, taken on manual focus with a very mobile bird in windy conditions.

Straits of Gibraltar 9 - 10 Sept

A brief trip to Tarifa for the autumn raptor migration, courtesy of Air Miles (1). A fairly strong easterly wind and sunny weather. A steady stream of raptors moving, Booted (7-8) and Short-toed Eagles (9-11) being obvious, and some birds especially Honey Buzzards (12-14) were also moving much higher, only visible through binoculars. Two Black Storks (17) and an Osprey (15) moved through, also a stream of Swallows, with Red-rumped Swallow, Pallid (18-19) and Alpine Swift also being seen along with several flocks of Bee-Eaters. The resident Griffon Vultures were usually in evidence (16).
An evening drive around La Janda (20) produced at least 500 White Storks (21), as well as 6 Marsh Harriers and 3 juvenile Montagu's Harriers (22-23). 4 Glossy Ibis (24) and an immature Spoonbill were seen in flight.
A late evening and early morning visit to Tarifa beach (25) gave views of various waders, including Kentish Plover (28-29), Sanderling (30), Whimbrel, Redshank and Bar-tailed Godwit, as well as good views of at least 20 smart Audouin's Gulls (26-27). The adjacent rough fields held a Tawny Pipit and a flock of Yellow Wagtails. A few Cory's Shearwaters were moving offshore early morning in typical lazy looping flight. All in all, a fairly impressive tally of birds for a day and a half! All photos JM.

Honey Buzzard - 91
Booted Eagle - 139
Short-toed Eagle - 33
Black Kite - 5
Osprey - 1
Montagu's Harrier - 3
Marsh Harrier - 5
Sparrowhawk - 6
Lesser Kestrel - 9
Black Stork - 2
White Stork - 500
Glossy Ibis - 7
Spoonbill - 1
Bee-Eater - 78
Alpine Swift - 3
Pallid Swift - 25
Red-rumped Swallow - 3
Audouin's Gull - 20
Cory's Shearwater - 7
Kentish Plover - 31
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2
Whimbrel - 8
Sanderling - 30
Turtle Dove - 5
Tawny Pipit - 1

A great week for seabirds....if you're not at work !

8 Sept - Very unsettled weather this week, and the tail end of a further hurricane forecast this weekend - a really excellent week for seabirds, with big numbers of Sabine's Gulls and Great Shearwaters passing coastal watchpoints. The juvenile Sabine's Gull pictured has been at Belvide reservoir for a couple of days (1,2) and the Great Shearwater photo (3) was taken by Joe Pender off Scilly from one of his pelagics.

White-winged Black Tern at Farmoor

6 Sept - Some free time after work this afternoon, very blustery conditions, and a short detour to Farmoor and good scope views of the smart juvenile White-winged Black Tern - dark mantle, pale wings and white rump (photos, copyright Oxon Bird blog) compared with the accompanying juvenile Black Terns. Some impressive waves on Farmoor in the wind, and a large flock of hirundines struggling to feed over the water.

Chew Valley Lake

4 Sept - a quick look at Chew Valley Lake, unfortunately no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper, but 2 Greenshanks together with 11 Ringed Plover, a Dunlin and 4 Common Sandpipers. 3 Green Sandpipers were my 16th wader species of the weekend. The drake Ferruginous Duck was preening in front of the Stratford hide, and a male Ruddy Duck was present. 6 Little Egrets were seen around the lake.

Waders at Farlington

3 Sept - a brief visit to Farlington lagoon (1-2) at Langstone harbour, over the high tide, en route to a family visit. An excellent selection of waders - 2 smart juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and 2 Ruff, a Spotted Redshank, an impressive count of 29 Greenshank with 2-300 Redshank, and over 100 Black-tailed Godwits; and 150 Grey Plover, including many in summer plumage, which gave an amazing display as the flock wheeled in flight in the patchy sunshine (3-8, 10). A Whimbrel, 10+ Curlew, 100+ Oystercatcher 20+ Knot (9), and Dunlin, Ringed Plovers and a Common Sandpiper were also among the 15 wader species seen. I missed the 2 Ospreys that were in the area, but several Sandwich Terns were fishing in the harbour. Photos JM.