There's been some excellent records from Conder Pool recently, and the status of this location just climbs towards the top. For me it's been a case of choosing the wrong trousers day to do a stock take, and the best I could muster was 19 Greenshank and 2 Snipe in the wader camp, with the Gadwall pair, 16 Wigeon, and uncounted Little Grebe noted....Ah well, can't win'em all!
Migrant Hawker. Pete Woodruff.
Whilst viewing the pool as the skies cleared and the sun shone, there was an obvious movement of at least 8 Migrant Hawker passed the screen. So I was enthused to go to Saltcote Pond to find another 4 Migrant Hawker and 4 Common Darter including a pair in tandem.
Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.
On the canal towpath, 2 Migrant Hawker and a male Common Darter.
Black Darter. Pete Woodruff.
As the sun continued to shine and the temperature had risen a little, I decided a return visit to Birk Bank was the best bet. I found a little action there, and notched up 14 Common Darter, and 2 Black Darter.
Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.
Both species of darter at Birk Bank bog today were all male except one female basking on the limestone. A Buzzard drifted over >west, and a Kestrel overhead was harassed by a Carrion Crow.
Stonechat Birk Bank 24 Sept. Pete Woodruff.
It doesn't matter that I got only a moderate shot of a distant male Stonechat, because it was accompanied by a female and juvenile as evidence of breeding, something that I had claimed previously happening here on 15 July.
The Chiffchaff Tale.
As I walked up the path from the bog, I heard a bird call which I wasn't too familiar with, it was calling from a Mountain Ash and I could see it flitting along the branches, but my luck soon turned good, as it flew to a nearby small tree giving me brief but good views, it was a Chiffchaff, but my encounters with the Chiffchaff have nearly always been singing.
I was frustrated beyond belief, that I had left my phone in the car, losing me the perfect opportunity to record the birds call which it was giving loud and clear for a few minutes. But one thing soon became very clear to me, it was a single straight note, with a pause between call like the one by P.c.tristis but unlike that of the Phylloscopus collybita
'Probable' Siberian Chiffchaff. Howard Stockdale.
I found two of the most recent Siberian Chiffchaff records in the LDBWS area, one regarded as 'possible', the other 'looking reasonable for', and since I saw and heard my Chiffchaff this week, I've done some research on it and studied the call I heard on some recordings.
However, the separation from other races is way outside my comfort zone, but I remain with the feeling that I may well have 'lost' the chance to claim my third scarcity/rarity in a row today....Small red-eyed Damselfly/Willow Emerald Damselfly/Siberian Chiffchaff....Just saying 😉
And Finally....
Hummingbird Hawk-moth. Martin Jump.
The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is still visiting his garden, this one seen on Thursday, whilst ours hasn't been seen for a few days now, but the end result of its visits was an amazing 24 sightings over 5 weeks.
Many thanks to Martin Jump for numerous images of the HBHW, and to Howard Stockdale for the Chiffchaff.
Edit.
Apparently the links don't work, I'm working on it.
That's a well put together and comprehensive report Pete, very interesting that there is still plenty about to be enjoyed.
ReplyDeletePity about your recordings. Too late now but could you have recorded the sound with your video camera if you had pointed it in the right direction.
Nice to see the Stonechat breeding.
Thanks for the read.
Ian
Thanks for this Ian, and yes I could have recorded it with my camera as I have done many times before, problem is my brain doesn't always do.
ReplyDeletePete.
Thank you for the wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased to see you calling the photos 'wonderful'.
DeleteThank you Sami....Pete.
Hi Pete, beautiful photos of the insects and birds. In Denmark I see sometimes a chiffchaff. Have a nice week. Greets Caroline .
ReplyDeleteThe Chiffchaff is one of my favourite warblers, and pleased you like the photos Caroline.
ReplyDeleteRegards....Pete.
Nice post Pete with some lovely photography. I would say though that your 'Common' Darter photo is a female Black Darter. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the 'Nice post Pete with some lovely photography', as for the correction, time I paid more due attention to detail Marc....Whoops!!
DeletePete.
I just found this post! Everything seems to be coming into my feed now, but not always in the correct sequence. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing you left your phone in the car, Pete. By not fiddling with your devices you immersed yourself fully in the experience and enabled your senses to operate at their peak. It may interest you, and perhaps even amuse you, but I never take my phone with me on an outing. I always leave it in the car. There are people who ask me what I would do if I had an accident , or got lost, or something equally dire, but when I consider my forays before the days of cell phones where never a mishap occurred, I am not too worried. I will tell you one thing, these apps are causing people to be very lazy. Instead of learning the song and calls they now just raise their phone and get an instant ID. It seems to me, they know what the birds is, but they have missed the joy of really getting to know it. Best wishes - David
ReplyDeleteBased on your contribution, we could have an interesting discussion here about AI, but I have no interest in that, and would guess neither have you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this David....Pete.