Dec 22-27 2010 - Josephine lives!

Not too much birding on the UK trip this Christmas Recent and still standing snow meant lots of birds in Dad's garden and a chance to get reacquainted with the locals such as Jay, great-spotted woodpecker and the like.

Mid-afternoon a THUD on the patio window and a squeal from the girls found a female blackbird suffering the consequences of a collision with the glass. Fortunately just stunned, the bird, quickly festively named Josephine by Robyn, recovered after several minutes While she was recovering however a fox came down to investigate the bird food but fortunately stayed the other side of the pond. Walking through Chichester town centre on Christmas Morning and absent it usual background noise the noise from the crows and pigeons echoed round the empty streets. In "Chi-gate" a couple of large Euro-Herring Gulls prowled the car park looking for scraps and an occasional black-headed screamed overhead. A few Great Cormorant flew around the canal area where Santa and the reindeer were on their usual barge.

Smile please!

A few shots from the around on a damp, cold Sunday

Keep off the ice....

It's a wee bit chilly out there. I called in at the patch on my way to lunch. The pond is largely frozen apart from the receiving pond ( as I've apparently decided to call it) under the Green Heron trees, and the areas around the fountains (poor water quality have some advantages sometimes). Most birds were around one if the fountains with 72 ring-bills and a Herring gull. Also 15 of the 18 Hooded Mergansers were there.....time for lunch

i spy dinner...

Another couple of days keeping the eyes on the feeders for Project Feederwatch.



House Finch number have gone right down, now we are lucky to have two at a time. Chickadees are still numerous (if you can call 3 at a time numerous) and the House Sparrows come en masse a couple of times during the day.



Yesterdays highlights were multiple visits by a rather large (presumably female) Coopers Hawk and a smaller (male?) bird, both brightly colored adults. No doubt the gatherings of birds on the deck is providing an attraction to them.....

Winter arrives at the park

A cold and breezy day at Riverbend saw few visitors, human at least. The feeders were busy with lots of Titmice and others. The seed was low so many birds were attracted to the suet. However the woodpeckers rules the roost when they chose. There was (at least) a pair of Downy and a couple visits from a 'bellied' The river was high and flowing fast and I only managed 4 Common Mergansers and 8, very cute, Bufflehead. Towards the end of the day I found this eagle eating (apparently a bird) across the river

Another day at the seaside

An ultimately fruitless return to Chincoteague after news that the arctica Dunlin was seen last weekend but nevertheless an enjoyable day.

I explored further down the beach than I had done previously, it helped me find the first flock of smithsonius Dunlin of the day in the northern corner of the pool. It was a chilly NW wind but a spectacular beach-scape, feeling very remote with (for most of the time) no sight nor sign or anyone else. Alone that is, except for the company of Yellow-rumps! In many of the bushes (or what remains if them) there were groups of them. The bush below contained maybe 35-40 birds, some of which got a little agitated by a little light pishing.

On the sea, their was a little scoter movement and a few Gannet but the big difference from three weeks ago was the number of Loons. Several hundred flew south and, a bit later, many were seen on the sea, often just beyond the breaking waves. A nice, cleanly marked, dark Red-throated caught me again (as this plumage often does!), but it didnt look convincing enough to be anything else. A few Sanderlings and the odd Western? Willet paraded the beach and three adult Lesser Black-backed Gull  went north along the sand. The Willet feeding in the pool were deep-wading birds, a habit indicative of Western.

On the pool there were 14 Tundra Swans (and 54 from the wildlife loop later), a Cackling Goose joined a couple of the swans.

poor record shot of the Cackling Goose

Along the creek opposite the visitor center, a female Greater Scaup rested and eventually gave up a few decent photos

Female Greater Scaup, showing the white spreading to the inner primaries, and a good head shape

Later in the day an increasing passage of Bonapartes Gull was seen at first struggling to get good distant looks (a 'real' "SEA GULL"?) - I then found 40 odd on a mud bar in Tom's Cove, only for them to be found, on the rising tide, feeding alongside the roadside near the visitors centre....

1st W Bonapartes Gull, Tom's Cove, Chincotaegue, 12/4/10, digiphoned & cropped

The tide running away to a midday low tide didn't help keep the waders in one place as the uber-hide tides of last month must have. I check all the Dunlin that I could find but to no avail...

<Sure there was more to be written here....> !




On the wildlife loop, impressive numbers of wildfowl were constantly being shuffled by one  of the adult eagle. But that did give the oppportunity to hear the Long-billed Dowitcher flock (54!) calling for confirmation of their ID. At one point it looked like it was going to take a Teal but the duck escaped shortly before impact.
There was a huge flock of Tree Swallows over the water, I guestimated 750 although there was probably more than that.

An adult eagle about to shuffle several thousand Duck

Play by FoxSaver®

Of odd gulls and waxwings...and a dance

Cold morning but with the cloud cover breaking around dawn, it warm a little by the end of my walk at 8:40

Nothing on the lake to start with and the first bird was an adult Ring-billed Gull that has large white blotches in the grey back and wings. I've seen a similar plummage partially albino bird here before, maybe it's a returning visitor. Along with the relatively light gull passage this morning, two groups of four American Herring (or should that be Smithsonian) Gulls flew over.
An excellent candidate for Black-capped Chickadee showed well at Pooh Bridge, a big, constrasty, bull-necked bird, with large white cheek patch,white bordered secondaries and some white on the coverts. I'd have like to have seen a Carolina nearby for comparison but had to wait thirty minutes before doing so (of course they are visiting the feeders at home every minute!)
Just above the slope to the riverbed, 14 Waxwings were feeding in a berry bush and taking refuge in the tree above.
Finally back near the Rusty Bridge maintenance shed, 2 Mockingbirds played out a comical dance as they faced off with each other hopping this way and that in a choreographic dance

Trying to get a good look at Chickadee's at the feeders but BOY they move fast! There are undoubtedly many Carolina around.
A very smart adult Cooper's visited the garden behind, sitting on the fence and deck for a few minutes.