another lifer

9/05/09

going to go stright to the warren in this post but a large hirudine flock over bewdley was noteworthy,the goldcrest(s) is still at earlswood.arrived at the warren at around 6:15 pm.on the bord walk we had a tern over which looked like an arctic(i now have enough evidence to claim an arctic)which was followed by a common tern shortly after for comparison.we decided to drop into the hen pool hide to get onto some warblers.cettis,reed and sedge were heard at first.the first warbler to show was a reed just a few metres from the hide and in the open(altough very brief,you could see the primarys had pale fringes with a naked eye(this pic was taken when one appered in front of the hide for a long time but didnt show well

in and around the hen pool we had 7 species of warbler including a showy sedge(which flew off as i got my camera onto it) while waiting for the reeds warblers to show we saw an oystercatcher fly over the sailing pool and a marsh/willow tit that flew by towards the feeder hide but was not relocated.there was a couple of bullfinches on the feeders and a reed bunting but little else.now at the tower hide.the reported ringed plover was showing very well on the islands to the left of the hide

hink this bird has a totaly different feeding action than little ringed which is run,stop,bow,peck,run ect but ringed plovers is like jog,stop,peck,peck,peck,peck,shuffle,peck,peck,peck,jog ect.this is why i think it is different and the video shows this(what am i doing with my life)i only couted 8 avocets today:(

2 redshank showed well

and the normals were around(a lesser whitethroat was feeding in the bush below the hide as was a common whitethroat).another birder came in the hide and we startedtalkng.he mentioned a pair of common terns at the moors(which were dismissed as being my birds as they were presant at the same time)at 8:02 a curlew flew in from the north.before it got 4 metres off the ground i had shouted whimbrel due to its obvious small size and all dark hand unlike curlew which has a slightly pale patch at the rear edge of the wing on the primarys(get hitting the books confused people)

warning this next section contains strong and confusing birding terminology,anybody that suffers with mental problams may want to look away now

the bird came into land on the peninsular in front of the hide where i checked through my scope clasic whimbrel(lifer 183).te head was the most significantly differant area of the bird.it showed a dark eye-stripe which was a lot more distinct that curlew.it showed a prominent median crown stripe on a dark crown(again unlike curlew)the bill was a lot shorter and straighter than curlew (which joined it at 8:45pm) and overall showed an almost black and white coulering with little buff colouring(but the videos give a more buff colour than was observed in the field,but even then you can tell it is a whimbrel)i was also struck by the small size of the bird(a little bigger than a b h gull,see my most recent lifer for pic.highlights were

1 little grebe

1 greylag goose(sailing pool no young seen)

2 shelduck

2 gadwall

22 tufties

1 oyc

8 avocets

8 l r p

1 ringed plover

1 green sand briefly

2 common sand

2 redshank

2 curlew

1 whimbrel

1 common tern

1 arctic tern

1 garden warbler

2 blackcap

1 lesser throat

1 common throat

3 sedge warbler

2 cettis warbler

6 reed warbler

1 willow warbler

1 chiffie

1 spot flycatcher(year tick)

1 marsh/willow tit

1 h sparrow( sp car park,quite unusual on the reserve)

2 bullfinch

2 reed bunts

ill finish the post with some films from the flashes(most of whimbrel)

and the first video of the whimbrel

more videos will be put on if asked but now i have a date with south park(older reader turn on commody central at 9pm)

next post from lickhill will leave you speachless,i promoese,and a bird i havent seen or heard in ages