Finland Long Weekend

14th-17th March 2015 - Helsinki

 

Thanks to the good people of Bongariliitto (the Finnish twitching/birding society) I just made a brief visit to Helsinki. I was invited to their 30th anniversary meeting to give a presentation on the identification and taxonomy of Isabelline and Brown Shrikes; of course I also managed to fit in a few days birding. Thanks to Kari Haataja, who very generously gave up his time to show me around, I had a splendid three days. No owls sadly, and no Three-toed Woodpecker (though I did hear it) but five White-tailed Eagles, a couple of Black Woodpeckers and some fascinating gulls were real highlights.

 

Great Grey Shrike - seen every day, always good value.

Snow Bunting

Hooded Crow - ubiquitous

Searching for Three-toed Woodpecker - at least I heard it.

White-headed nominate caudatus Long-tailed Tit

Jackdaw - race soemmerringii sporting a white necklace.

The fine art of shed watching

Waiting for the White-tailed Eagles

Still waiting, Janne Aalto demonstrates the famous 'Finnstick'.

My first White-tailed Eagle - seriously un-tickable views.

That's more like it.

White-tailed Eagle - a young bird.

That's as close at it came.

The Bird Tower at Kirkkonummi Saltfjärden - how about one of these on the Exminster Marshes?

Whooper Swans heading north.

And I thought I had issues with dodgy Herring(?) Gulls - more on these later.

Thanks again to Kari and everyone at Bongariliitto; and as for the species I didn't see, that's just an excuse to go back some day.

Goldeneyes

2nd March 2015 - Topsham

Things must be getting desperate, I'm not only looking at ducks - I'm drawing them. The sorry state of birding at the Rec so far this year is that I get excited by a single Med Gull - or a pair of Goldeneyes.

Goldeneyes - 2/3/2015 Topsham

Goldeneyes - 2/3/2015 Topsham

Penduline Tits

25th February 2015 - Topsham

 

I haven't posted much in the way of sketches recently so here are some of the Penduline Tits which are still performing occasionally at nearby Dart's Farm, although these pieces date from early January. These sketches are all of one of the presumed first winter females. I'm still no nearer figuring out what's going on with these birds, there seems to be only three now but what happened to the two with very faint masks (or none at all according to some reports)? Did they disappear, are they lurking somewhere nearby undetected or did they morph into two masked birds in the space of a few days?

Penduline Tits - 10/1/2015 Topsham

Penduline Tits - 10/1/2015 Topsham

Glaucous Gull - Sker Point, Glamorgan

15th February 2015 - Sker point, Glamorgan

 

Another weekend away - this time visiting Father (in-law) Ted in South Wales - and another Glaucous Gull. This one was decidedly more approachable than the last, although it took an hour or so of careful clambering over some tricky rocks to get within range. A few respectable photos were the reward.

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

I've labelled this bird a juvenile rather than a first winter; sure, it's living through its first winter but in terms of plumage (and that's what matters) it's still a juvenile. As I'm sure you all know, it's a peculiarity of Glaucous Gull (and Iceland Gull) that many retain all (or nearly all) their juvenile feathers until the following spring. Some moult a few body feathers and scapulars but never as extensively as in more southerly breeding species such as Herring Gull. This individual certainly appears to have no second generation scapulars - it's harder to tell with body feathers but I can't see any - and that's why I've called it a juvenile.

This is a reasonably well-marked bird - many are a lot paler than this by February - and must have looked a sight when really fresh. Judged by its overall shape, size and bulk, I suspect this is a male. It carried its left leg constantly - a break or dislocation perhaps - so its prospects may not be the best.

In flight it looked even better. Beautifully marbled tail feathers, greater coverts and secondaries with almost white outer primaries - typically the palest part of the bird.

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

Glaucous Gull juv. - 15/2/2015 Sker Point, Glamorgan

A Tubenose Project Update

The local birding's been a bit hit-and-miss recently hence another long gap between posts. I'd hoped to have something to show from a weekend in West Cornwall - Kumlien's, Glaucous and Ring-billed Gulls - all quality birds but not even half-decent photos and certainly no sketches to show for it. I also hoped something, anything, might pop up at Topsham Rec but my highlights of the year so far have been three Med Gulls and a Red Kite.

I have been fairly busy though, with a couple more plates for the 'Tubenose Handbook' finished - before the inevitable corrections of course. Here's a couple of details/crops:

Streaked and Pink-footed Shearwaters (plus confusion spp.)

Wedge-tailed and Buller's Shearwaters (plus confusion spp.)

When published these two plates should face each other, something like this:

Plates 39 & 40 (with provisional labels)

There's still some way to go yet, though, I can already see a few things that need correcting/altering, not least the quality of the scan.

A Snow Bunting performs

19th January 2015 - Powderham

Here are a few shots of the very obliging Snow Bunting which has taken up residence on the cycle track near Powderham. Snow Buntings are often tame but this one seems to want to be photographed - to be honest I almost stepped on it, it was so close I had to move back to get it in focus.

Snow Bunting - 19/1/2015 Powderham

Snow Bunting - 19/1/2015 Powderham

When disturbed by passing walkers it just flew on to the wall or over to the rocks on the estuary side, always returning to feed in the shaded side of the path - maybe it was too hot in the sun?

Snow Bunting - 19/1/2015 Powderham

Snow Bunting - 19/1/2015 Powderham

So, a nice accommodating bird but, as ever, I can't resist digging a bit deeper to see if any more can be deduced - what age is it? Male or female? And, if possible, what subspecies? Apart from the obvious Svensson (1992) and, as it's a Bunting, Byers et al (1995), I also found Rae & Marquiss (1989) and Winters (2013) extremely useful.

The sex is the easiest to determine, the sharply pointed black centres to the scapulars indicate that it's a female (on a male they would be much more rounded). The underside of the primaries is also a safe character though often hard to see in the field, luckily it gave me a handy view as it preened. It showed a white underwing shading diffusely into darker grey primaries, this would be blacker and more sharply defined in a male.

Snow Bunting - 19/1/2015 Powderham

Its age is rather more difficult to decide. The shape of the tail feathers can be useful - pointed in 1cy, more rounded in adults - but this is hard to assess accurately, at times they looked pointed, at other times more rounded. The degree of wear on the tertials and greater coverts is also a guide - 1cy birds should look more worn than the more recently moulted adults. Again this is hard to judge but this next shot does show what look to be fairly worn inner GC's. However, the longest tertial doesn't look particularly worn so perhaps it's best left unaged.

Snow Bunting - 19/1/2015 Powderham

If ageing it is tricky maybe I shouldn't even think about subspecies but, fools rush and all that...

I can't help thinking that there's a degree of contrast between the pale and fairly cold fringes to the mantle feathers and the slightly warmer toned scapulars. Also the underparts are very white with only a hint of colour on the flanks. I would suggest, tentatively, that this points towards it being nominate nivalis since insulae (the commonest in winter in Britain) should look darker and warmer brown above and more saturated below. A diagnostic character is the amount of white on P2 (numbered descendantly); ≥ 60% = nivalis, ≤ 40% = insulae. I tried but I couldn't get it to fully spread a wing, or even fly much at all.

Nominate nivalis (coming from as near as Scandinavia) isn't all that rare in Britain (not sure about Devon) but it's believed to be less frequent than insularis (from Iceland and Scotland). Anyone got any opinions on this one?

References

 

Byers, C., Olsson, U., & Curson, J. 1995. Buntings and Sparrows. Robertsbridge.

 

Rae, R., & Marquiss, M., 1989. Ageing and sexing of Snow Buntings wintering on the Aberdeenshire coast, their biometrics and sex ratios. Ringing and Migration 10: 133-140.

Svensson, L. 1992. Identification Guide to European Passerines.
Fourth edition. Stockholm.

Winters, R., 2013. Snow Bunting: sexing, ageing and subspecies. Dutch Birding 35: 7-14.

Penduline Tits - third time around

10th January 2015 - Topsham

My third encounter with the Penduline Tits, this time at the Dart's Farm pools, proved rather more productive than the first two. This time the distance was about 20m so, despite the strong wind and generally poor light, I got more informative images (thanks to Keith B for the timely call).

There were three birds present, all with blackish masks, so two at least were additional to the usual BGM/Dart's Farm group; I wonder if they were the same party as the one I saw at The Rec on the 19th December. Two of the birds looked quite similar with narrow and somewhat patchy masks and showed little contrast between the warm brown mantle and the greyish nape and crown. The third individual had a more solidly black mask that was broader over the eyes and onto the forehead (where it merged into a thin band of dark chestnut). This bird's mantle was also noticeably darker than the other two, a more intense chestnut that often seemed to contrast strongly with the pale nape.

None of my photos showed enough detail to allow examination of the greater coverts - a moult limit/contrast in 1W, all coverts the same age in adults - so a definitive statement re ageing probably unwise. However, the two duller birds with narrower and less solidly black masks appear to be females, while the more contrasting bird with the broader, blacker mask looks more like a male.

Penduline Tit - 10/1/2015 Dart's Farm, Topsham. One of the duller, narrower masked birds - female?

Penduline Tit - 10/1/2015 Dart's Farm, Topsham. One of the duller, narrower masked birds - female?

Penduline Tit - 10/1/2015 Dart's Farm, Topsham. One of the duller, narrower masked birds - female?

Penduline Tit - 10/1/2015 Dart's Farm, Topsham. The more contrasty, broader masked bird - male?

Penduline Tit - 10/1/2015 Dart's Farm, Topsham. The more contrasty, broader masked bird - male?

Penduline Tit - 10/1/2015 Dart's Farm, Topsham. The more contrasty, broader masked bird - male?

Once again, the best available sources on ageing and sexing Penduline Tits are:


Blasco-Zumeta, Javier, and Heinze, Gerd-Michael. Identification Atlas of Aragón's Birds - Penduline Tit. PDF available here
[This work refers to Iberian populations - I'm not sure if the criteria are totally applicable to Northern European birds]
 
Svensson, Lars. Identification Guide to European Passerines, 4th edition 1992.