Colour Coding

After a few days when I didn't bother to put my moth traps out, partly because of the poor weather and partly because it has been so uninspiring of a few weeks, I ran all four traps last night. The catch was small, but did contain five migrants. three Silver Y's, a Dark Swordgrass and a Clancy's Rustic.

Clancy's Rustic is a moth that has featured on my blog a couple of times. There aren't may species of flora or fauna on the British list that bear the name of a living Kent naturalist, so it always worth featuring it.

After Sean caught the first of this continental immigrant in 2002 it took a while before I caught one here, but then in 2005 I caught four, with a mean date of Oct 7th. The following year I caught a whopping 19, mean date Oct 11th. 2006 has so far been the most prolific year for this species here. In 2007 I caught three, two on the early dates of July 11th and 13th and one on the more normal date of 30 September. 2008 had just one, on Sept 28th and last year there were two on consecutive days, 29th and 30th September. With the improvement in the weather and a day or so of South Easterly and Easterly winds forecast there must be a fair chance of some more migrant moths arriving, as well, hopefully, of a good selection of unusual birds.

It isn't only migrants that are of interest in October, there are a good selection of resident Autumn moths. One of them is the Red-green Carpet, a moth that could have been specifically designed for people, like me, who are red-green colour blind to some extent. Fortunately I can normally identify them by their patterns, but with some species it is not so easy and I have to "borrow" Pam's eye's for a colour appreciation!

Well Spotted

The deluge stopped around mid day, and the way it had been raining the sailing ship ( the Queen Galadriel) from yesterday could well have been going round taking the animals on board two by two. As far as I could see there had been no big arrival of migrants and even the passage of swallows and martins was quite feeble.

A few and, compared to recently, a very few Chiffchaffs still called out their signature "hweet" call and a male Blackcap flew along the hedge. The sight of a small bird darting up wards and landing back in the apple tree along the Droveway gave some hope. A flycatcher on Oct 6th could be something special.

Having met Malcolm McVail along the Droveway we waited patiently for the bird to reappear, and of course when it did it was a Spotted Flycatcher. It is already quite late in the autumn for a Spotted Flycatcher to still be around, sometimes in past years they have been seen well into October, but according to the last KBR in that year (2007) there were only three October records in Kent, the last being on Oct 3rd.

It doesn't seem that long ago that this active little bird was a prominent summer visitor. When I first worked in Euston Road in about 1988 there was still a pair nesting in St Pancras Church garden, and at least one in Kensington Gardens. Now they are quite scarce. In 2007 only 14 pairs were reported breeding in Kent. In the UK numbers have declined by about 70% in the last 20 years. In Europe the decline has been by 56% between 1980 and 2002. As with the decline of so many of our summer visitors the reasons are complex. The drought in Africa, the unremitting intensification of agriculture and even the decline in leafy suburban gardens, all play their part. So I made the most of watching this skillful hunter as it picked of the flies around the trees with it's customary expertise and sharp snap of the beak, and hoped that there would be more back next year.

A Queen Sailing by!

Today was pretty gloomy and then it got worse. Before the rain came there was a noticeable passage of Swallows and House Martins, and an increase in the number of Meadow Pipits on the move.

Looking out to sea I watched this rather attractive sailing vessel moving by. Although it was a fair way out I hoped that I'd be able to read the ships name and find out a bit about her.

The Queen Galadriel is one of the Cirdan Sailing Trust's ships. The trust has the objective "Provide disadvantaged young people with the opportunity for self-development from the experience of living and working on large sailing boats." They do this by providing Youth leaders the chance to work with groups in their care. I know nothing about the trust but full details can be found here.

The 32m ship ( including spars) can accommodate groups of up to 16 and is well appointed. She was built in Denmark in 1937 as a Baltic Trader and was originally named "Else" after the captains daughter (I'm sure there's a limerick there somewhere!).

In 1983, she was bought by The Cirdan Sailing Trust and went into service renamed 'Queen Galadriel' after a character in Tolkein's 'Lord of The Rings'. She had a complete refit and update in 2003 and now operates from the south coast during the summer. She also takes part in the Tall Ships race.

Bluethroat on Kingsdown Leas

The view out was gloomy, and with the alternative of staying in and watching the European Ryder Cup boys kicking American A*** I had to make myself leave the comfort of the house and venture into the misty morning.

I got to the monument and stared to walk down towards Hope Point. A quick text to Jack and I knew that I would be alone this morning. Things were quiet, with a few Meadow Pipits over and lots of Carrion Crows and Jackdaws out in the sodden field. A couple of Blackcaps tacked at Hope point and there were three more in the scrub by Hope Bay Studio's garden. I normally walk as far as the end of Little Green's garden and then return, but the day was improving and I decided to continued to the golf club and scan over the end of the undercliff to see if I could spot a Black Redstart on the rocks. No sign of the Black Redstart so I turned round and took the path nearest the cliff edge. When I got to the two small bushes above a small bird flicked into the back bush. I "tutted" at the bush and a Robin popped on to the top and then a second bird moved up the bush facing away from me. I didn't recognise what it was and "tutted" Blackcap style again.

This time it came out and landed on the scrub in front of the house the Bockhill birders have nicked-named "Out of Africa" because of it's colonial look, but actually called Ty Bryn. I was more than surprised when I put my bins on it and discovered it was a Bluethroat.

The first look was very brief and it disappeared into the bush. The second time I saw it I managed two completely out of focus shots, the twigs in front being beautifully sharp.

It was about ten minutes before I saw it again, and this time it did show quite well for about 30 seconds, before returning deep into the bush, right by the cliff top. I knew that a couple of people were on their way and sat on the conveniently placed seat watching the bush. I saw the bird just once more but stayed watching in case it came out and moved along the top. That was the last I saw of it and as far as I know, Gerald, Martin and Steve, who arrived a little later had no luck either. Aging and sexing the bird, and even deciding on the race is not as straight forward as I thought it wuld be. I can see no evidence of buff tips on the coverts, as one would expect in a juvenile/1st winter bird. Adults moult before they leave their breeding areas, I think, and I can see no red above the blue, so it may be a white spot. The extent of the blue may indicate a male, but I'm not certain.

After popping home for something to eat and drink, and watching the last few minutes of the Ryder Cup I returned to the Leas with out any success. I had a look along the Undercliff incase it had found it's way down there. The arrow on the top of the cliff shows the area I last saw it in on top, so it wouldn't have bee that far for it to move.

The only chat down here was a Wheatear, not that I really thought that it would be here. I suspect that it was probably still close to where I found it, but whether it will stay overnight is another thing.

Out of interest a first year male White-spotted Bluethroat was ringed in Hampshire on 30/9/2010 see here. The buff tips to the greater coverts aren't that obvious until the wing is spread.

Osprey

Despite the earlier forecast the weather wasn't too bad today until well into the afternoon, by which time I was just about ready to give my tired feet a rest. There were quite a few birds around today, a complete summary is on the Bockhill page of KOS Web Site.

The star bird for me was an Osprey, that Nigel picked up flying way over the golf course, as we walked along the path beside the course.

At first it looked as if it was heading directly towards us be at one point it circled round and looked as if it would head off towards the sea before it reached us.

It turned back towards us and continued heading south. As it passed I managed to get a branch partly in the way and just about managed this image between the leaves. The kink in the wing looks rather strange!

Up until it actually reached the cliff top it, surprisingly, had caused no disturbance amongst the gulls or corvids in the area. As it approached the monument it circled round and then all the gull decided it was time to show their disapproval of the Osprey's presence.

Unfortunately it didn't hang around and after one rather convenient (for us) showy circular display it continued it's journey and appeared to head out to sea.

Osprey were probably quite numerous in Scotland up until the 17th century but habitat change, persecution and egg collecting caused them to become extinct in 1916. They may hay bred in England, as they are mentioned in Shakespeare's play and other literature from the 15th and 16th centuries. After their demise in Scotland they continued to be seen as rare passage migrants and a pair returned to breed at Loch Garten 1n 1954. Breeding success was poor until extensive wardening gave then more protection and now there are around 160 pairs breeding. In England the (re-) introduction scheme at Rutland Water, where young were translocated to a suitable breeding site before being released to migrate to Africa. They returned to the site, where artificial nests (a technique used in the USA and other countries) were provided to encourage them to stay, and they are now well established. Another pair now nests in the Lake District and with the numbers passing through Kent who knows when they may start at Bough Beech or Bewl Bridge.

A passage to Africa

When I got up and looked out at the dark skies this morning, well before sunrise, the wind, thrashing through the trees, foretold what we were going to be in for at the cliff top.

Having covered and stored my moth traps for later examination I arrived at the Monument at about 7.20am and straight away I was aware of a group of Swallows moving south, into the wind. A minute or so later Jack joined me and we found a sheltered spot to watch the movement along the cliff top. It wasn't one of those exciting mornings when the anticipation of a scarce bird is satisfied by the arrival of a Yellow-browed or Radde's Warbler, it was far more basic than that. The thrill of watching waves of migrating Swallows and House Martins, moving quickly into a head wind is that fundamental feeling that made me become a life long birder. I suspect it is the same emotion that stirred the curiosity in Gilbert White and other pioneer naturalists in days gone by. Seeing rare birds remains exciting for most birders, including me, but often it only requires the ability to read a pager, a map and drive a car. Witnessing the force of nature as it happens is a far more basic experience.

As we watched a Peregrine hung in the air, almost stationary, for several minutes, as if surveying it's Kingdom below. I didn't see it hunting, it was as if the skill of remaining in one place, with hardly a flap, while it faced into the wind, was enough for it.

Herring Gulls progressed slowly into the wind, again with hardly a flap, rather like a yachtsman sails his boat into a headwind. At one time one drifted past the Peregrine, only yards from it, but neither deviated an inch from their paths. We watched the visible migration for a hour, counting the birds that passed by our immediate vicinity. Looking inland it was clear that this hirundine passage was on a wide front and that we were probably just catching the tip of an iceberg. Nevertheless we had counted over five thousands Swallows and House Martins in the hour with Swallows comprising about 55%. At the same time Derek Faulkner was witnessing a movement of House Martins on Sheppey, but unlike us he also have a good number of Sand Martins, while we only saw one (doubtless we missed a few). There were also smaller numbers of Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches on the move. The weather didn't improve and on our walk round we found far fewer birds than yesterday, it seemed as it many of the Chiffchaffs and other migrant warblers had moved on. By late morning the rain set in and I retired to sort through my moth traps, an exercise that wasn't too taxing as the catch had be rather disappointing.