Beetles in red and black

11th April 2016 - Topsham

 

I've been photographing insects on and off for about 12 years. I get into it some years more than others but I think I've probably got pictures of most of the obvious species in my garden; always attracted to anything bright and shiny - as long as it's an insect. When something new turns up there's a good chance it's either a new arrival or something fairly rare. Yesterday I found a couple of red and black beetles on my back door.

There are 14 species of tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae) on the British list, most are green and rather similar (Cassida spp.). Pilemostoma fastuosa is unmistakeable in red and black. It's not the sort of thing to overlook and does appear to be genuinely uncommon: scarce (Notable A) with only one Devon record (none for South Devon VC 3) according to NBN Gateway. Well it should be unmistakeable in theory, but then I can always find a way to cock it up. It's actually Cassida murraea, the Fleabane Tortoise Beetle. Still a new one for me but nowhere near as rare; found mainly in the south west. What I should have noticed - and it's blindingly obvious now - is that P.fastuosa has black markings also on the pronotum and is a deeper darker red. At least I take some consolation in getting my correction in before anyone else spotted it.

Cassida murraea by back door - 11/4/2016 Topsham

Cassida murraea garden- 11/4/2016 Topsham

My first garden Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coccinelidae) turned up back in 2007 (first recorded in Britain in 2004) and it's now very common. This is my first of the year; I assume it's just emerged from overwintering and will now set off to feed up and breed.

Harmonia axyridis by back door - 11/4/2016 Topsham. Distinctive 'M' on pronotum and brown legs, antennae etc.

Harmonia axyridis garden - 11/4/2016 Topsham

What passes for excitement round here...

6th April 2016 - Topsham

Stare at gulls long enough and you start to see things: maybe you'll find a nice rarity (I wish), maybe you just see more and more problems.

Todays bird ticks a lot of boxes for a Yellow-legged Gull but I like a challenge so let's see if I can talk myself out of it.

Yellow-legged Gull - 6/4/2016 Topsham

Yellow-legged Gull - 6/4/2016 Topsham

Yellow-legged Gull - 6/4/2016 Topsham

Yellow-legged Gull - 6/4/2016 Topsham

First the positives: it's darker grey than adjacent argenteus and in the field looked a drabber, less bluish grey; the primary pattern looks fine with a black band on P5 and and lot of black on P9 and 10; the eye looks darker than on the Herring Gulls alongside and may have a darker red orbital; and of course the legs and feet are yellow.

And the negatives? Mainly its small size and its apparently short legs, rather like a Lesser Black-backed in fact.

So, a small, weedy michahellis or another hybrid? I can see no definite signs of mixed parentage in the plumage or bare part colours so I'll put this one down as a Yellow-legged. Other opinions are of course available, I'd love to hear them.

Herring x Lesser Black-backed?

6th March 2016 - Topsham

Almost a Yellow-legged but not quite the real deal, here's some photos of hybrid gull from yesterday's session at Topsham Rec. This bird has been around at least since last November. Is it just me or does anyone else see these and, probably very sensibly, ignore them?

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham.

 Fairly dark grey above and, while it never stood next to any other adult LWHG for comprison, it was clearly darker than argenteus and paler than graellsii; in fact I'd guess probably close to michahellis in shade or maybe a little darker. The main problem apparent here is the colour of the legs and feet, the tarsi appeared slightly yellowish or a sort of orange- or salmon-pink (it varied with angle and light levels) but at times the toes looked definitely pinkish. After checking photos of this bird taken last November the legs do look possibly a little more yellow now but a real 'mick' should be in full breeding condition in March with bright, deep yellow legs.

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham

Hybrid Gull - 6/3/2016 Topsham

Leg colour aside, I'd still have serious doubts given the wing pattern which shows several differences from a classic michahellis. Very large mirror on P10 and large mirror on P9 are possible in michahellis (more so in Eastern birds?) but not common; thin (almost broken) W-shaped band on P5, obvious white 'moons' separating the black and grey on P5 - P7, both atypical and suggestive of HG genes.

Scandinavian Herring Gull

25th February 2016 - Topsham

Here's a couple of likely larids from today's visit to Topsham Rec (I originally thought there were three but you'll be relieved to hear that after checking my photos I've whittled them down to two).

Gull A - 25/2/2016 Topsham

Gull A - 25/2/2016 Topsham

Gull A: distinctly darker grey above than argenteus Herring Gulls alongside, but not dark enough for graellsii LBB and the pink legs rule out michahellis of course. So what about argentatus HG? Well from some angles it just looked too dark and those legs looked a little odd, a hint of yellow to the pink, perhaps? Here's the spread wing, not helping at all.

Gull A - 25/2/2016 Topsham

Lots of white at the tips of P9 and P10 looks good for argentatus but I really don't like the amount of black on P8 and P9 or the way it bleeds onto the inner web. Looking decidedly iffy now I think. In fact this one reminds me of a bird I've seen here before, and thought most likely a hybrid Herring x LBB or some subsequent generation of.

And now to Gull B: similar in some ways to A but the primary pattern on this is fine for argentatus.

Scandinavian Herring Gull - 25/2/2016 Topsham

Scandinavian Herring Gull - 25/2/2016 Topsham

Also pink-legged and the back a similar shade of grey and clearly darker than adjacent argenteus. A slightly smaller individual maybe. The spread wing shows a quite different pattern to A.

Scandinavian Herring Gull - 25/2/2016 Topsham

I don't see a lot wrong with that for argentatus, Big white P10 tip and proper mirror on P9, the pattern of black on P6 - P9 looks good with fairly extensive grey tongues and P5 has just the tiniest of black spots on the outer web. This is surely the bird I saw for a few seconds yesterday at Exeter Quay?

Latvian Black-headed Gull

23rd February 2016 - Exeter Quay

As I keep saying (to anyone who'll listen), the great thing about gulls is that there's always some around. And even if what's on offer is just common stuff like Black-headed and Herring Gulls, there's still a chance of finding ringed birds. It does help if the ring is bright plastic with big numbers or letter but even small metal rings can sometimes be read if you can get close enough. Places like Exeter Quay, where gulls expect to be fed, is perfect.

Black-headed Gull - 23/2/2016 Exeter Quay

It took a few minutes of stalking from different angles to get the full code - LATVIA - RIGA - S 349. Details sent, awaiting reply.

Now if only it had been a small dark Lesser Black-backed...

Faint signs of life in the blog yet...

2nd February 2016 - Somewhere in the Midlands

It's symptomatic of the state of the birding around here right now that not only is this my first post of 2016 but that I had to travel a couple of hundred miles to find anything I felt like writing about.

Tuesday found myself and Martin Elliott in Tring talking with Hadoram Shirihai about our Tubenoses/Seabirds books projects. On Wednesday we spent several hours standing in a hedge by the A5 in Leicstershire; HGVs belting along behind us and a few hundred LWHGs on a pool in front of us. The occasional sleet shower wasn't too bad but the standing still was chilling - at least that's one excuse for the poor photos.

Highlights were at least two 1st winter Caspians but a couple of Yellow-legs and hundreds of argentatus Herring Gulls would have made it all worth while on their own.

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - typically bolshy with the other gulls, almost a classic ID feature.

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - a real beauty but the first bird was even smarter.

Herring Gull argentatus - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - classic primary pattern.

Herring Gull argentatus - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - with Lesser Black-backed intermedius.

Herring Gull argentatus - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - maybe my photo processing has made these darker than necessary but they really did look strikingly different to typical argenteus, some approaching graellsii in shade. Rarer than Caspian in Devon but is that just observer bias?

2015 - could do better

It's traditional at this time of year to write a review of the highlights of the past year but, as this blog mostly details my birding exploits at Topsham Recreation Ground, this year there won't be one. Frankly, it's been a poor year at Topsham Rec. Sure, Topsham and the surrounding area had a fair selection of quality birds in 2015 (Penduline Tits, Gull-billed Tern and American Golden Plover for example) but for some reason none of them showed up at the Rec (the Pendulines did drop by briefly but that was in December 2014). So while 2014's notables included Ross's Gull and Kumlien's Gull, this year's competition for 'Topsham Rec Bird of the Year' has been a toss up between Little Gull and Yellow-legged Gull. They both gave a lot of personal satisfaction but neither are even Devon rarities.

So I'll wind up 2015 with the customary, but still genuine, wish that you all have a splendid 2016.

Finally here's a few photos of a Grey Phalarope I bumped into earlier in the week in South Wales (didn't find it myself, just out for a walk when told by a passing birder). As usual, tame as anything and always nice to see up close. Not immediately obvious what age it is but the tertials look rather faded and worn so presumably retained juvenile feathers - adults should have replaced all these by now. There's a lot of dark feathering on the crown and around the eye, perhaps that also indicates a first winter bird.

Grey Phalarope - 28/12/2015, Sker Pool, Glamorgan

Grey Phalarope - 28/12/2015, Sker Pool, Glamorgan

Grey Phalarope - 28/12/2015, Sker Pool, Glamorgan