Wednesday 28 March 2012

Patch meanderings


Grey Partridge

Various meanderings locally over the last couple of weeks have produced little of note except a trickle of the first summer migrants. Chiffchaffs have been everywhere for a while now and i have had two singing Blackcap and Firecrests seem to be in every bit of vaguely suitable woodland in the Hants/Surrey/Sussex border area, however it took me until yesterday to find a male singing on my patch! I also picked up the first Sand Martins at Kingsley sand pits where they will no doubt be a continued feature through the summer since they are likely to breed here.


Another resent highlight was a daytime Tawny Owl which I located due the local Jays and Chaffinches kicking off over its presence, a shame it wasn’t a LEO!


Grey Partridge seem to be cropping up in various places around the patch, so it's good to know they are around in what seems to be good numbers.




Sunday 18 March 2012

Rose-coloured (and uncooperative) Starling, Hordle, 11th March



Nice bird to see but unfortunately, as you could guess from the video, it never showed very well for me.
For better pictures see basically anywhere else......

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Going gullistic - The Iceland Gulls....

The Immature Iceland Gulls in Hampshire, Jan-March 2012 

Iceland Gull, Broadmarsh, Hampshire - March 2012

Firstly I am basing a lot on little experience, and features which may not be concrete, bear in mind I do most of my birding in Hampshire and I Hants ticked Iceland Gull this year, so I have not seen many. I also admit to not fully understanding how and when these birds moult, but I now believe the Broadmarsh bird could well be a 1st winter bird and that the Camber dock bird is certainly a 2nd winter. Anyone following this may realise that they were both aged as such publically after there initial discovery and in both cases I challenged that opinion! What a numpty! Anyway over the course of my journey all round the houses and back I have learned a lot and I hope you have too.


The Camber Dock Iceland Gull
Photographed on the 30th January 2012



If you except that the Camber bird has a darker iris than is typical then everything else fits 2w. The books suggest that the iris colour is a good feature to use to age birds in their first two year but that it can be variable. In general we are lead to believe that the iris of a 1w should be dark and in a 2w it should be pale.




The above photo has been deliberately darkened to enhance and clearly show the presence of grey feathers in the mantle and scapulars of this bird. The argument falls apart If a 1w Iceland Gull can appear this advanced but surly it can’t. So coupled with this and a clearly bi-coloured iris, the pale greenish ivory (not pink) coloured base to the bill with a dark band and a pale tip, the white head, breast and primaries and otherwise very pale appearance it has to be a 2w.







The Broadmarsh Iceland Gull 
Photographed on the 5th , 12th and 14th March 2012


This bird superficially looks very similar to the Camber bird and could be thought to be in 2w plumage. Add to that its dark eye (a feature apparently unusual for a 2w) and it is unsurprising that I and others initially suspected it to be the same individual as the Camber Dock bird. On inspection of photographs it became clear that this was not the case.


In strong sunlight the iris of the Broadmarsh bird can look yellowish, but in general it appears dark as in this photo. 


The bill base is pink (not greenish ivory) with an all dark band and tip. The head and breast are white but particularly in flight the wings, tail and upper body have a brownish milky tea colouring. 



There is no sign of any new grey feathers in the mantle and scapulars. 




It is not a typical biscuit coloured juvenile but I believe this bird has a dark eye because it is a faded, worn juvenile (or 1st winter).

If you have got this far then you must be at least vaguely interested in these birds and their age.
What do you think?

Thanks must go to Alan Lewis, Andy Johnson and particularly to Jason Crook for helping me to get my head around these gulls…

Cheers

Woolmer tick - 12th March

Not just any Red Kite, a Woolmer Red Kite  



Not only that the first I have ever seen at Woolmer (my proper local patch) in at least ten years of regular birding there. Having now seen six Red Kites locally in a month, which is more than i had ever previously seen in total locally, it seem this is the year they become a regular site round these parts....!

Monday 5 March 2012

Iceland headache



On studying my photos from today of the Broadmarsh Iceland Gull it is clear that it is different to the Camber Dock bird, though at first glance similar. There is a difference in bill pattern, the Camber bird has a pale tip, and the eye looks nothing but dark in any of my photos of the Broadmarsh bird, where as the Camber bird’s eye though dark for a 3cy is pale/bicoloured. The Broadmarsh bird doesn’t have any grey/un-patterned mantle/scaps feathers, the Camber bird does. So the Broadmarsh bird is quite unlike the Camber 3cy in many ways but it is not a brown coffee coloured, dark billed juvenile/2cy. So is the Broadmarsh bird a faded, spring juv/2cy…?
Or should I just stop looking at Gulls?!?!
Comments welcome!