Portland – 26th September. Pictures include Herring Gull argenteus, Common Gull juvvie, Rock Pipit, Jackdaw

The North West Surrey RSPB Local Group September outdoor meeting was planned for Portland. Both Dave and I love this place so we decided to make a weekend of it leaving Surrey after tea on Friday evening and missing the worst of the Friday traffic arriving in Portland at about 9.00pm. Two weather systems – one to the west, the other to the east meant kept the weather at Portland sunny and very breezy. We got up for a dawn sea watch on Saturday. Quite a sea was running and we had a steady stream of Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Gulls, Cormorants and six Mediterranean Gulls. Rock Pipits, Wheatears and Pied Wagtails were all round the Bill but with the cold wind from the north the autumn migration was not quite as good as it could have been – we went back to our B&B for breakfast! The rest of the day was relaxed as we ambled our way around the Swannery at Abbotsbury getting great views of Goldcrest, then onto Lodmore where we saw Spoonbill, Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank and Water Rail. We went back to the Bill for an evening wander where the small bushes were heaving with Blackcaps, Chiff Chaffs and Greenfinches. Sitting having a cup of tea gave me an identification lesson on juvvie gulls! Being one of Dave’s favourite subjects! One youngster in particular gave rise to a lengthy investigation which was only resolved eventually at home. Original thoughts were that it was a juvvie Common Gull, but it was my question about its bill that made Dave look much more closely at this bird. Having studied the photograph it was decided that it was Herring Gull argenteus going into 3rd winter. Another character was a cheeky Jackdaw that came looking for crumbs from peoples tables! Sunday dawned..and apart from us both having a dreaded lurgie, we were looking forward to meeting the group. Again the sun was shining and eventually 16 of us set off. The sea watch was a little more eventful with a couple of Great Skuas passing. Walking up the cliff we had fantastic views of a Peregrine playing games with a couple of crows and further on several Kestrels were displaying their flight skills against the wind. Walking down back to the quarry a Little Owl was found. Sadly we both felt so unwell at this stage we decided to head for home, but a great weekend and 75 species for the trip.

Local Patch - 21st September. Pictures include Great spotted Woodpecker, Canada Geese, Swan Family

Local Patch – 21st September Busy work times and quiet autumn migration! The Patch has been very quiet except for the residents. I spent some time last week with the Kingfisher but in gloomy light, so no pictures. It has a regular route and a habit of sitting on the ground, either on a lawn or on a stone edge next to the canal. One morning I was even able to watch it catch fish! I have decided that Kingfishers are amazingly shy birds though and will only let you watch them on their terms. The Swan family is still complete with two adults and five young. One morning there were both adults and only three youngsters and no sign of the other two until rounding a corner on the canal I could hear this pitiful wailing! As I got nearer the sound I realized that it was the 2 other young swans who thought they had been abandoned! I tried “shushing” them along the canal in the direction of the rest of the family and was doing quite well until an early canoeist went by going in the opposite direction. They both decided that the canoe was worth following, so turned tail and went off in the wrong direction again. Any further “shushing” was to no avail and I gave up hoping that the rest of the family would find them when they came back. The following morning all was well and the family was complete but I have no idea how long the two were apart from the others. It just goes to show that Swans can’t count! Also had a great view of a Great spotted Woodpecker as it sat in the morning sun at the top of a garden pine. It had called as it landed which caught my attention and I managed to gt a reasonable picture as it sunbathed. We spent a day down at the British Wildlife Centre, and I hope to get these pictures processed soon. It’s a great day out for people to learn about our native breeds. See the link http://www.britishwildlifecentre.co.uk/ for more information.

Gibralter Point Weekend. Pictures include Spoonbill, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Sunrise and Migrant Hawker

Local Patch 7th September..”Removed” to Gibralter Point, Lincolnshire. Having had a long weekend away at The Wash Field Study Centre at Gibralter Point, the Blog is going to take a different turn this week. For those of you who don’t know this area very well Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve is an area of some 430 hectares comprising sandy and muddy seashores, sand-dunes, saltmarshes and freshwater habitats extending for a distance of about 3 miles along the Lincolnshire coast, from the southern end of Skegness to the entrance of the Wash. The Reserve is managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust under a lease from its owners the Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council. The primary function of the Reserve, which is recognised as an area of international scientific interest, is to conserve this unspoilt stretch of coastline and its important communities of plants and animals. Within the Reserve is the most extensive complex of sand-dunes and saltmarshes in Lincolnshire. The Nature Reserve is recognised both nationally and internationally as an area of outstanding wildlife and geomorphological importance. It has been designated an SSSI, NNR, RAMSAR (site of international wetland importance), SPA (EC Birds directive). (Accessed 7th September 10 from http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/reserves/gib/description_facilities.php) We enjoyed fantastic September weather that gave great sunrises and sunsets but sadly not much on the bird front. Waders included Black-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Green Sandpipers, Dunlin and Redshank while other birds included Lesser Whitethroat, Redstart, Spoonbill and a Sooty Shearwater was seen off the beach along with Arctic Skua. Hirundines passed through in numbers each day on their way south leaving us with thoughts of cooler weather to come. We left the Field Centre having been well looked after, The food was superb and the accommodation comfortable for an educational centre. We are looking forward to going back!