March birding

After being out of the UK for most of February, winter birding was mostly over by the time March started. March is one of those odd months that can be different every year depending on the weather. This year it was almost a pre-spring with a few early spring migrants coming through but the dry conditions meant most of the early arrivals went straight through.

Beam Valley

It was a fairly quiet month here although I did manage to get my first Kingfisher and Pheasant this year. Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were plentiful by the end of March but no Willow Warbler so far.

Blackthorn blossom

Dagenham Chase

I made a conscious effort to visit here fairly regularly with 13 visits logged this month. I was hoping for some waders but apart from the odd Green Sandpiper, nothing else was seen. I did manage to catch up with Tawny Owl on its day roost thanks to Vince. The first summer visitors were Sand Martin and Blackcap on 22nd, followed by Willow Warbler on 28th. By the end of the month most of the overwintering ducks and gulls had migrated.

Greylag Goose

Kestrel

Shoveler

Wigeon

King George V Reservoir

I only made one trip this month, on the 14th, but it was a very productive one. The highlights were a drake Garganey, my first summer visitor of the year and not one I typically see first, and a drake Smew to make an unlikely duo. I also saw my first Barnacle Goose of the year along with both species of over-wintering divers, two Black-necked Grebes, Peregrine, Raven and finally caught up with one of the Black Redstarts. The sunny weather brought out the raptors and several Red Kites and Buzzards soared over the reservoir.

Barnacle Goose

Red Kite

Smew

Rainham Marshes

I only managed four visits in March as it's been very quiet here but it's now picking up. The standout bird was the Green-winged Teal that has taken up residence here since March 22nd. This American version of our Teal has a chequered history, being counted as a race of Teal, then a separate species and currently the two main world listing organisations cannot agree!

Green-winged Teal (note the vertical white stripe compared to the horizontal one on the regular Teal on the left).

The day I first saw the GW Teal (23rd) ended up being a really good day as there was a Spoonbill on the reserve and a Common Scoter in Aveley Bay. There weren't many different summer visitors seen in March but I did get an early Little Ringed Plover on 21st.

Little Ringed Plover

Scotland

I managed a short break towards the end of the month. I went up on the train to Edinburgh with John & Janet, staying in an apartment just off the Royal Mile for three days. On the first afternoon we had a short walk in Holyrood Park - it was a lot bigger than I expected and very hilly.

On our first full day we took the train to Musselburgh then walked along the river Esk down to the sea and then along the coast and back over by the lagoons. It was good to catch up with a lot of seaduck that I rarely seen down in the south now with Eider, Long-tailed Duck and Velvet Scoter all being close inshore. On one of the lagoons I managed to refind an elusive Jack Snipe.

Goldeneye

Velvet Scoter

Oystercatcher

The following day we took a cab to Gullane Point. We spent a fair bit of time looking for the White-winged Scoter that was wintering here. I was expecting it to be with Velvet Scoters but there was only a large flock of Common Scoter in view. Eventually, John picked it up flying in and we had reasonable views of it but it was still too far for a photo. We walked along the coast to Aberlady Bay, although it was very difficult trying to find the proper path  as we ended up in dead end coves or on the golf course a couple of times.

Bullfinch

Reed Bunting on the golf course

Toad

We did manage to find a single Purple Sandpiper and a Whimbrel which was either over-wintering or a very early migrant. Once we arrived at Aberlady we got the bus back to Edinburgh. On our last day we did another walk in Holyrood Park, going in the opposite direction this time. On the way back we ran into a flock of Bullfinches in a housing estate - it's good to know that they're still plentiful up here as they've disappeared from most sites in London now.

Bullfinch

New Zealand Part 10

New Zealand Trip Report Part 10 

Wednesday Feb 26^th

We left our our AirBNB at 7.15 and drove down to the harbour for the ferry back to South Island. Once on board we took our usual spot at the back of the boat for an hour’s seawatching. Unlike the crossing from South Island, there were far fewer people on this early crossing. It was a bit rougher as well as with a lot of spray coming down the port side.

Leaving Stewart Island

No sign of Zippy, George or Bungle

There was the usual White-capped Albatross milling just outside the harbour and Foveaux’s Shag but no sign of any penguins. On the strait there were more birds using the windier conditions with several Mottled Petrels and a few Common Diving Petrels. Once back to Bluff we loaded the van up and headed off with another fairly long driving day to go.

We made a short stop at Invercargill Estuary, where there were plenty of Royal Spoonbills and a selection of the by now usual ducks. 

Grey Teal

Royal Spoonbills

After the obligatory bakery stop we carried on until lunch, stopping at a little wetland reserve. We had a walk around after lunch hoping for Baillon’s Crake but there was no sight or sound of one.

Mid-afternoon we arrived at Katiki Historic Reserve, a coastal spot where Yellow-eyed Penguins breed. They nest in the bushes just up a hill from the shore so we waited, hoping for an adult to either come in with food or to head back out to sea. After 90 minutes we still hadn’t seen one then Brent found one standing on a slope, probably an adult looking after a young one that had just ventured out for a break. We quickly scoped it and rattled off a few photos before it decided to return to the bushes and we never saw any more.

Yellow-eyed Penguin

We drove to the town of Oamuru and made a quick stop at an old wooden pier that had hundreds of shags roosting on it, most of which were Ortago Shag. 

Ortago Shag

Spotted Shag

We then headed to our motel and after a quick turnaround, went off to dinner.

Thursday Feb 27^th

Our last full day in New Zealand. We checked out of our motel at 7.30 and drove to Fairlie where we visited another highly recommended pie shop. I went for their speciality – a salmon & bacon pie which was excellent. As the pies were hot they were eaten there and then rather than being saved for lunch.

We then headed to the alpine lakes around Lake Tekapo to look for one remaining endemic. There was no sign of it in the first bay we checked but there was an assortment of waterbirds including a Great Crested Grebe, just the second time we’d seen one.

Cabbage White

Paradise Shelduck

At another swampy area we looked for Baillon’s Crake yet again but this time with success as one fed just inside the vegetation, showing well as it walked into the gaps.

Banded Dotterel

Finally, we struck lucky and five Black Stilts were seen at another spot. They were a bit distant and spent a lot of the time dozing but the world’s rarest wader was in the bag. Later in the day we also saw them at two other spots, seeing a total of 12 birds.

Black Stilt

The scenery was spectacular with mountain ranges along two sides and towering hills along another with a large plain in the middle with streams running through it. We went to a couple of viewpoints, including going up to the observatory and also had good views of Mount Cook. All too soon it was time to leave and to yet another motel but this was to be our last night in the country.

Mount Cook

Friday Feb 28^th

The last day was not much more than a drive to Christchurch Airport although it did take all morning. Most of us had flights scheduled for early evening so we had a little wait before checking in. While some of the party headed back via Auckland, my flight went to Sydney and then on to Dubai arriving back in Gatwick at Saturday lunchtime.

Our eBird route through New Zealand

New Zealand Part 9

New Zealand Trip Report Part 9

Tuesday Feb 25^th

After breakfast we headed down to the quay for another pelagic. As we walked along the harbour to the boat a Broad-nosed Seven-gilled Shark was seen. 

We boarded the boat along with three other birders and left at 7.50. We cruised slowly along the rocky shore, seeing Foveaux’s Shag and a few Fiordland Crested Penguins before heading to the open sea.

Fiordland Crested Penguin

Sooty Shearwater was the most abundant bird of the day with maybe 8,000 seen. They were present all day, either flying past or in rafts numbering up to the hundreds. 

Sooty Shearwater

White-fronted and Black-fronted Terns were seen feeding by islets and White-capped Albatrosses cruised by. A few Common Diving Petrels were seen.

White-capped (rear) & Salvin's Albatross

White-capped (front) & Buller's Albatross

(Left to right) Salvin's, White-capped & Buller's Albatross

Southern Royal Albatross (centre)

Foveaux's Shag

We stopped the boat and created a chum slick and as the birds came in our skipper started feeding the attendant albatrosses. We had four species present around the boat: White-capped were the dominant species with some Buller’s, Salvin’s and the larger Southern Royal. We spent several hours in the area and pulled in a few other birds such as Fairy Prion, Cook’s Petrel, Hutton’s Shearwater and White-chinned Petrel. Only the occasional Northern Giant-Petrel came in, unlike our earlier pelagics.

Buller's Albatross (with mango-edged bill)

Cape Petrel

Salvin's Albatross

Southern Royal Albatross

White-capped Albatross & Cape Petrel

White-capped Albatross

At one point we were surrounded by over 150 White-capped Albatross and many followed us when we headed back. In the afternoon we had a Pomarine and two Long-tailed Skuas, a few White-faced Storm-Petrels and a Mottled Petrel before it was time to head back to port, arriving mid-afternoon. We had the rest of the afternoon to chill out and catch up on notes and photos.

View from our accommodation