MIDWEST BIRDING SYMPOSIUM

View fullsize

American Herring Gull against an Erie sunrise at Lakeside OH

DESCRIBED AS THE ‘WORLD’S FRIENDLIEST BIRDING EVENT’, the 2013 MidWest Birding Symposium held at Lakeside Ohio certainly lived up to its billing. Although I was mostly chained to the Birdquest and Wild Images booth and couldn’t take part in many of the numerous events I still got to meet a lot of enthusiastic attendees that also included friends from the US festival circuit as well as some of Ohio’s keenest birders. There was a real buzz around the quaint little former Methodist community of Lakeside as it was taken over by the birders for the event. Gail, a lady staying at the same place as me was so impressed by Alvaro Jaramillo’s talk about gull identification she was busily trying to track him down to book on one of his tours. Anyone who can stimulate such interest in the usually low-key topic of gull id deserves a medal the size of a bin lid! The hotel receptionist, a non-birder, was looking forward to Jen Brumfield’s Lake Eerie pelagics presentation. Even the warblers couldn’t keep away with an amazing circa 15 species seen in the trees around the vendor area at the South Auditorium following a perfectly-timed mini fall out of migrants along the Marblehead Peninsula. A big thank you to Bill Thompson III and his amazing team for making it all happen!

View fullsize

Blackpoll Warbler, Magee Marsh boardwalk (Mike Watson) 

 I spent my free time at one of my favourite birding hangouts just along the lakeshore to the west – the World famous Magee Marsh boardwalk, where I was very happy to wander slowly over the boards in search of warblers to point my camera lens at. Catbirds scolded from the shadows and from time to time small feeding flocks of migrant wood warblers would pass by, calling as they went.  This was in contrast to their spring behavior when they often seem to stick to a small, almost territorial area of the damp woodland, feeding up before they push on northwards. They were mostly Blackpoll Warblers, feasting on invertebrates amongst the leaves, or stuffing their faces with little dogwood berries but there was also the occasional flash of lime green of a Chestnut-sided or a black-and-white ‘mint humbug’ and I managed a quite respectable 17 species over the course of my stay. First prize went to an ultra smart Golden-winged Warbler that hung around long enough for a few other folks to get some looks at it and a Brown Creeper and one of the first Winter Wrens of the autumn were also of interest to me at least. Any time spent with these precious wood warblers is special for me when I think how far we are prepared to travel for a single one of them back on my own side of the pond! 

View fullsize

Black-and-white Warbler, Magee Marsh (Mike Watson) 

THE KILNSEA GREAT SNIPE

View fullsize

The Kilnsea Great Snipe (Mike Watson) 

THE 2013 KILNSEA GREAT SNIPE WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED alongside the likes of other ultra tame stars of the past like the Cuckmere Haven Little Crake, Westleton Nutcracker, Sunderland Baillon’s Crake and the Grainthorpe Steppe Grey Shrike, as one of the most confiding British rarities. Pete and I eventually decided to desert the Birdquest office for the rest of the day and dashed east to Spurn, where the snipe was in view immediately on arrival in Beacon Lane. Roosting in the open on the edge of a field, next to a small pile of hay it was quite unsteady trying to balance on one leg in the gusting wind. We followed it around for nearly five hours, watching it feed very actively in the damp turf of the caravan site, resting from time to time. Most likely it was a tired migrant trying to put on fat reserves for the next leg of its journey south. It was a beautifully marked bright juvenile, covered in intricate barring and at times it positively shone in the late afternoon sun. Incredibly unconcerned, it would also walk right up to people, including me, to around only 10cm away. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and it is so sad that I am now writing in the knowledge that it was found dead the following morning, with its tail missing and chest ripped open, suspected to have been the work of a predator... maybe a cat? This was such a tragic end for a truly wonderful bird. I saw another interesting statistic that Great Snipe is also now the current British Birds rarity species with the most previous records, however, many of these are historic, owing to their continued decline in Europe as well as the happy demise of snipe shooting in the UK. 

View fullsize

Unforgettable! The Kilnsea Great Snipe (Mike Watson) 

LEIGHTON MOSS SHOREBIRDS

View fullsize

Ruff from the new Eric Morecambe hide (Mike Watson) 

LEIGHTON MOSS'S ALLEN POOL WAS FULL OF SHOREBIRDS this afternoon. Joined by Mark Varley I had some great close views of juveniles of some of the c.20 Curlew Sandpipers, ruffs and Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits. Also here were four Little Stints, two Spotted Redshanks, a few lapwings, one oystercatcher and a lot of Common Redshanks. The influx of Curlew Sandpipers has been one of the events of the autumn so far and this number at Leighton is quite exceptional. Around 10 Little Egrets was barely noticed, as usual, how times have changed! This was the first time I have been in the new hides. They are the same style as the new Griesdale hide, like large greenhouses with loads of glass that doesn't conceal the occupants. I noticed this caused the shorebirds to flush a couple of times, when folks rushed to the windows or made sudden noisy movements. The window frames prevent easy viewing when standing up as well and the seats are too low so in a nutshell they were disappointing. I often wonder how much (or little) thought goes into the design of hides on bird reserves but the RSPB's move to become 'nature's home' also tells me that they are no longer interested in birders, which is a shame. 

View fullsize

The new Eric Morecambe hide would make a good greenhouse or a potting shed

THE WILD AND WINDY MOOR

Pendleside from the top of the landslide trail

THE HIGHLIGHT OF AN ENJOYABLE WALK UP PENDLE HILL with Alan McBride was a couple of smart Whinchats on the walls below the landslide. This area was quite full of activity by Pendle standards with four stonechats, three wheatears and a Willow Warbler, a very uncommon bird on the hill itself. We also managed a total of 46 Red Grouse, which was a high total for Pendle - they obviously had a good breeding season! Three golden plovers were seen singly on the summit, we flushed around 40 Meadow Pipits plus 8 skylarks and the usual kestrel drifted along Pendleside. There was a distinct autumn chill in the air this morning despite a moderate southerly wind and the summit was shrouded in low cloud. Pendle is bleak at times like this! The mist cleared later prompting the arrival of other walkers. It was time to pop in for a coffee at Huntleys! Thanks a lot Alan!