A Brit abroad

Norfolk birding

Today Neil and I headed further afield for a spot of excellent winter birding in Norfolk. Again, we were blessed with uncharacteristically warm and sunny weather. Our first destination was Burgh Castle, where we saw some distant Bean Geese, though we were unable to ascertain which race they were. We did see some classic Broadland birds including several (Eurasian) Avocets and a Marsh Harrier. En route to the north coast, we saw Marsh Tit at a Willow Tit hotspot, 4 smart (Bohemian) Waxwings in Norwich (car tick!) and Fulmar at Hunstanton.

Upon arrival at Titchwell RSPB Reserve, we quickly located one each of the three Redpoll species. The Arctic (or Hoary) Redpoll stole the show.

There's no mistaking which species this rump belongs to!

Here's the Arctic alongside a Lesser Redpoll, illustrating the difference in plumage tones.

This smart pink-chested Mealy (aka Common) Redpoll completed the trio.

Other good birds here included Red-breasted Merganser, Common Eider and Common Goldeneye on the sea, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose flock containing two Black Brants, and the usual waders. Sammy, the resident Black-winged Stilt was in his usual spot.

We finished the day at Holkham, where we quickly spotted another Black Brant.

We thought that the two birds to the left of the Brant were likely to be hybrid Dark-bellied Brent/Black Brant offspring - any thoughts?

The Brant was very aggressive to the other members of the goose flock, frequently hissing at and chasing off its European cousins.

Highlights of a stroll to the fresh marsh and the beach were 80+ Snow Buntings in a wheeling flock, and this Guillemot (or Common Murre) resting on the beach.

At sunset, tens of thousands of Pink-footed Geese convene to roost in the fields here - a wonderful, noisy spectacle.

SOGgy birding

Since arriving back in the UK on Christmas Eve, the sun hasn't stopped shining! On Christmas Day, Mum chivvied Dad and I out of the house and we decided to take a walk along Southend seafront - needless to say the bins, scope and camera came along too! I was amazed by the number of (Ruddy) Turnstones along Westcliff seafront - they were swarming all over the beach, the pavement and even the road. Dad finally got a glimpse of the regular wintering Ring-billed Gull, as well as this Mediterranean Gull.

There was a nice flock of wintering waders at Shoebury Coastguards, including this Lapwing - I'd forgotten how pretty they were.

Yesterday I met up with Neil, a guy I've been birding with since we were 11 years old! We visited several of our old birding haunts in the Southend Ornithological Group (SOG) recording area. First stop was Hockley Woods in search of Hawfinch (the UK equivalent of Evening Grosbeak) - we didn't find any, but I caught up with some old favourites including Jay, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers. Next was Shoebury Coastguards to see 4 Snow Buntings - a much-needed SOG tick for both of us. The birds showed wonderfully well as they preened on the roof of a beach hut.

Armed with bread we went in search of the Ring-billed Gull, seen here in the company of a gull many California birders would like to see!

Essex Boy meets American Gull!

We visited a traditional roost site for Long-eared Owls (I could tell you where but I'd have to kill you), and were rewarded with close, if obscured, views of one individual.

Finally, we drove back to Southend to see a camera-shy Purple Sandpiper in a high tide roost (to the right of the Black-headed Gull) - in 25 minutes of watching it didn't wake up!

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the pub with Vicky, another old schoolfriend. Here she is in front of Southend Pier (the world's longest pleasure pier, whatever that means).

We watched the sunset from Rossi's (makers of the finest soft-whip ice cream in the world) - maybe Southend isn't such a bad place to live after all!

Homeward bound

Since the sun finally decided to make an appearance, I spent my last morning birding around Davis. At the Pedrick Road bridge I pished up a House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and one each of Song, Lincoln's, Fox and Golden-crowned Sparrow. A flock of 20+ Lark Sparrows continues at the west end of the UCD Arboretum - the adult males are surely a contender for most beautiful US sparrow.

Another nice surprise here was a Black-throated Gray Warbler, presumably wintering. The bird showed extremely well until my camera appeared!

In Solano Park Garden this bright Golden-crowned Sparrow caught my eye.

The regular Red-shouldered Hawk finally sat still long enough for me to get this pleasing shot.

Last stop of the morning was North Pond. Herring Gull is a pretty unusual species here...

... as is Canvasback.

This Ring-necked Duck seemed to be enjoying bath-time!

Tomorrow I return to England for the first time since moving to CA. Most of my time will be filled up visiting friends and relatives, but have packed the scope, bins and camera just in case...

Merry Christmas everyone, and looking forward to more birding adventures in 2005!

Christmas Bird Count

Since returning from Mexico I haven't got out birding much, partly due to work commitments, and partly due to the oppressive fog which has enveloped Davis for the last week. I did venture out to join Kevin Guse for the Putah Creek Christmas Bird Count. We left Davis at 4:45am for some pre-dawn owling, and heard some half-hearted calls from Great Horned and Western Screech Owls. More unusual for the count were flyover White-fronted Geese and Tundra Swans, followed later in the day by Snow Geese, presumably disoriented in the thick fog. A hearty breakfast at the Putah Creek Cafe was excellent fuel for the rest of the day's birding. The morning's highlights included several Red-breasted Sapsuckers, a lone female Phainopepla, a mixed flock of Lark and Chipping Sparrows, and up to ten(!) River Otters at Lake Solano.

In the afternoon, the fog lifted a little, the birds came out and so did my camera! Pine Siskins joined both American and Lesser Goldfinches to drink and bathe in the creek.

This Turkey Vulture was making use of the break in the fog to preen...

... while this Hermit Thrush was content to lurk in the grapevines.

Unexpected highlight of the day was several spawning Salmon in the creek, only the second year of spawning after an absence of many decades!

The unofficial species total for the whole Putah Creek count circle was 139, above average but well down on the last two years. In spite of the weather, we actually set a new record of 89 species for Kevin's area - if the weather's better next year, I think 100 is in our sights!

Viva Mexico! Part 4 - Tulum and Akumal

Tulum is a great place to visit, especially if you can get to the ruins before the hordes of tourists arrive. Birding the vegetation in and around the ruins can be excellent, although the impressive cliff-top setting and deserted white-sand beaches to the south are worth the trip by themselves.

The path to the ruins can be crawling with orioles, especially early in the morning. Here are a pair of Black-cowled Orioles.

I saw both Black-headed and Violaceous Trogon (pictured) here.

The Plain Chachalacas were also relatively approachable.

Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, and Northern Waterthrush were found skulking in the understory, as was a single Yellow-billed Cacique. Amongst the ruins themselves were many Tropical and at least one Couch's Kingbird, Palm and Yellow-throated Warblers, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Spot-breasted Wren, Rufous-browed Peppershrike and Bright-rumped Attila to name but a few. Overhead wheeled a mixed flock of Vaux's Swift, Cave and Ridgway's Rough-winged Swallows. The local Iguanas are rather friendly too!

As the day heated up, we decided to head for the beach. Here I am diligently scanning the skies for frigatebirds :-)

Back at the hotel I ran into probably the largest bug I have ever seen - some sort of Rhinoceros Beetle I presume.

Our last stop of the holiday was the resort town of Akumal, famous as a turtle hatchery in the summer, and also for its lagoon which holds a wide variety of tropical fish. The main attraction here is snorkelling, although Great Kiskadee, Spotted Sandpiper, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons were easily seen around the lagoon on our visit.

The gardens of the town itself held a similar variety of birds to Tulum: Black and Gray Catbirds, White-eyed and Yucatan Vireos and Clay-colored Robins were all around our hotel. Hooded Orioles were abundant (this photo digibinned by Andrew)

... as were Tropical/Couch's Kingbirds - anyone like to venture an ID on this silent bird?

This Ruby-throated Hummingbird was the only hummer I managed to identify other than the ubiquitous Cinnamon Hummingbirds.

We didn't venture much further from the hotel that day - think we were still suffering from the previous night's margaritas! In total we saw 126 species, of which 24 were lifers, and just as after my first visit to this amazing country, I found myself thinking about emigrating. A full trip report will follow shortly!

Farewell to the Yucatan:

Viva Mexico! Part 3 - Sian Ka'an

After an overnight stay in Tulum, we headed south to the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve to stay in a newly opened 'eco-hotel'. So newly open, in fact, that we were the only guests! The hotel sits on a peninsula bordered by the Caribbean to the east and a series of mangrove-lined brackish lagoons to the west.

The hotel's lookout tower is a great place to scan for treetop birds - during our stay we noted Plain Chachalaca, Aztec Parakeet, a Parrot sp (White-fronted or Yucatan), Hooded and Yellow-backed Orioles, Black-headed Trogon and this Caribbean race Osprey (with a freshly-caught fish) from this spot.

While I only saw one or two Yucatan Woodpeckers, Golden-fronted Woodpecker was common. The local race here has a distinctive red patch at the base of the bill - very confusing when you're trying to identify them, as many field guides don't illustrate this!

On our first evening we joined a sunset birding tour, a boat trip to an isolated mangrove island where thousands of waterbirds come in to roost - quite a spectacle! We saw more Boat-billed and Tricolored Herons, hundreds of White Ibis, a single adult Roseate Spoonbill, Magnificent Frigatebird

and Reddish Egret among the commoner species.

Non-birding highlight was a very close Stingray where the lagoon meets the sea. The sunset prior to the brewing tropical storm was worth the trip in itself.

Next day we took a fun trip upriver where the boat captain dropped us at a small Mayan ruin and left us to float back downstream in the warm, clear water - very relaxing!

Not many birds save for some distant ducks which were probably Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, and my life Wilson's Plovers on the beach along with Spotted Sandpipers. The rest of the day was spent in the vicinity of the hotel, admiring the local butterflies (any help with the identification appreciated).

On our final morning I got up early to bird around the boat launch, encountering a nice flock of Royal Terns.

The highlight, however, was a fine view of a male Mangrove Warbler.

We rented bikes and cycled down the peninsula to the reserve HQ, which offers a panoramic view of the lagoons.

En route we saw a string of American warblers, the best of which was my lifer Prairie Warbler (an adult male). We hired a kayak to explore the lagoon system, a great way to bird as the lack of any engine noise allows close approach to many of the birds, such as this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

One of the mangrove islands was particularly fruitful, with an Osprey nest, Mangrove Warblers and Swallows, and a Great Kiskadee all showing well. The best bird, however, came shortly before we docked - a bird moving furtively through the mangroves proved to be a Ruddy-necked Wood-Rail!

After cooling off from kayaking, we continued cycling down the peninsula to the Boca Paila, where we were rewarded with astonishing close views of Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. These photos were taken without bins!

Caribbean sunrise:

Kayak birding:

Viva Mexico! Part 2 - Valladolid and Coba

Our hotel in Valladolid had a commanding view of the central plaza.

Birding around wasn't too bad either, with Yellow-throated and Tennessee Warblers, Social Flycatcher and the distinctive race of Hooded Oriole all seen around the hotel gardens. This Cinnamon Hummingbird was the first of many seen on the trip...

... while this was our only sighting of Grayish Saltator.

We left Valladolid for the jungle-enshrouded ruins of Coba. There's a nice view from the top of the tallest pyramid, but it's quite a climb!

Even though we arrived fairly late in the morning, the place was hopping with birds including my life Short-tailed Hawk, a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl being mobbed viciously by an American Redstart and Black-and-White Warbler, 2 Ivory-billed Woodcreepers, Masked Tityra, Brown Jay, Black-headed Saltator and 4 Tanager spp (Summer, Rose-throated, Red-crowned and Red-throated Ant-Tanagers). Eastern US passerines were also well-represented, with Least Flycatcher, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Hooded, Black-throated Green and Worm-eating Warblers all present.

It was difficult to photograph birds in the shaded canopy, but I managed this shot of an immature Yucatan Jay...

... and this one of a smart Black-headed Trogon (lifer!).

A walk around the lake produced a single Anhinga

and Neotropic Cormorant.

We flushed my life Ruddy Crake, but were unable to find any Least Grebes amongst the many Pied-billed. These dogs were either very brave or very stupid!

Once the dogs moved on, this croc turned his attention to me, at which point I beat a hasty retreat!

While waiting for the bus to Tulum, a roadside pool proved attractive to Melodious Blackbirds, Bronzed Cowbirds, and both Common and Ruddy Ground-Doves.

Viva Mexico! Part 1 - Ria Lagartos

After a string of record-breaking low temperatures in California, a week of sun, sea, sand and birding on the Yucatan Peninsula sounded like just the ticket! A hasty internet search for cheap flight deals and I was on my way, along with Andrew (taking refuge from the horrendous Canadian winter). Our plan was to do a circuit of the northeastern Yucatan by public transport and to travel light, so the scope was left at home. All of the following bird photos were digibinned (Nikon Coolpix 4300 with ancient battered Swarovski bins), much harder work than digiscoping because of camera shake, but at times producing surprisingly good results.

We avoided the tourist hell-hole that is Cancun and headed for the much prettier town of Valladolid, an ideal base to reach the mangrove-lined Ria Lagartos, famous for the large numbers of wintering American Greater Flamingos. It's fairly easy to reach this site by public transport, changing buses in Tizimin. A short stop in the Parque Principal here produced some of the bread and butter birds of Yucatan towns (Yellow-throated Warbler, Ruddy Ground-Dove, White-winged Dove, Tropical Kingbird and Mockingbird, way too many Great-tailed Grackles). The bus from Tizimin to Rio Lagartos was pretty good for raptors, with several Crested Caracaras (lifer), Gray and Roadside Hawks seen amongst the zillions of Black and Turkey Vultures.

On the advice of our Lonely Planet travel guide, we headed to the Isla Contoy restaurant to ask about a birding boat tour. Our guide, Diego Nunez (email diego2909_at_yahoo.com), has a truly excellent knowledge of where to find the special birds of the area and fortunately his English was much better than my halting attempts at Spanish!

Our first stop was the Flamingo flock - these birds are much brighter than their European counterparts!

The Flamingos weren't the only pink birds of the day: we saw a handful of Roseate Spoonbills...

... and this striking aberrant-plumaged Laughing Gull - has anyone seen anything like this before?

Heading further into the mangroves we soon picked up White Ibis (seen here with a Little Blue Heron)...

... and a single Wood Stork amongst the hundreds of herons and egrets.

Common Black-Hawks outnumbered Ospreys here!

We were lucky enough to spot a single Crocodile.

Highlight of the day for me was getting fantastic views of roosting Boat-billed Herons - what a bird!

As an unexpected bonus, Diego took us upriver to see the only regular wintering Kelp Gull in Mexico, perhaps the rarest bird of the trip, if not the most exciting! On the way back to port, we had astonishingly close views of this smart Bare-throated Tiger-Heron.

Other highlights included my life Orange Orioles, Reddish Egrets and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, and Groove-billed Ani. The commoner birds included hundreds of Brown and White Pelicans, Tricolored Herons, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Black Skimmers. 11 species of heron on a 2 hour boat trip can't be bad! Back at the restaurant, we toasted our success with a cold beer and Yucatecan-style fish.

L-R: Andrew, Diego and I

Raptor-fest

On Saturday afternoon I joined Steve Hampton to look for longspurs in the north of the county. On this front we were highly unsuccessful - we didn't even manage to locate any sizeable Horned Lark flocks! However, this was compensated for by finding a mixed blackbird flock containing many Tricolored, and an impressive list of raptors. First off was this Rough-legged Hawk, returning to its traditional winter spot just off 505.

Next up was perhaps the rarest raptor of the day, a fine Harlan's Hawk. This race of Red-tail breeds in Alaska and should be wintering several hundred miles to the east. The bird was surprisingly flighty, flushing at about 400m (or whenever I put my scope up). This distant shot shows its distinctive white 'necklace'.

In the Dunnigan Hills, we had a rare look at a perched Golden Eagle. This shot is a little shaky, as the bird was digibinned from the car!

Finally, this rather small male Ferruginous Hawk was very obliging.

That's it for the next week or so - off to the Yucatan tomorrow! :-)

Local birding: Merlins, Grackles and Bitterns

The upside of the unusually cold weather we've been having is bright, calm, fog-free mornings ideal for winter birding. A bike ride along Putah Creek produced nothing more spectacular than a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. These large fish were congregating near the picnic area - anyone know which species?

The wintering Merlin in north Davis was joined briefly by a second bird yesterday. When perched, these birds are showing exceptionally well.

Since Caz still needed American Bittern as a life bird, we drove out to the Yolo Wildlife Area where up to ten birds have been showing extremely well close to the road. On the way in we didn't see a single bird! Surprise bird(s) of the day were a flock of 15 Great-tailed Grackles which briefly alighted on a telegraph pole at the entrance to the hunting area. This may be the largest flock yet recorded in Yolo County!

On the way out, we had stunning looks at 4 Bitterns west of the entrance road - well worth going to see!