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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Upton Warren (21 Viewers)

as in fuscus fuscus:smoke: no not today, but did see a very black, small one 30 years ago . I thought it was fuscus fuscus...but there had never been any records of one , so it was rejected.

From The Birds of Upton Warren opus:

"An adult bird showing characteristics of the nominate race Larus fuscus fuscus (potentially a new species, the “Baltic Gull”) visited the Flashes on the 3rd and 8th September 1992."
 
finally caught the stonechat but missed the little stint, took a quiet hour sat on the north moors 17.45 to 18.45, on the water shovelers, teal ,mallards, coot. Calling water rail and 2 cettis ,grey wags and pied, good numbers came into roost, watched a young fox hunting only feet away most of the time I was there.
 
finally caught the stonechat but missed the little stint, took a quiet hour sat on the north moors 17.45 to 18.45, on the water shovelers, teal ,mallards, coot. Calling water rail and 2 cettis ,grey wags and pied, good numbers came into roost, watched a young fox hunting only feet away most of the time I was there.

Hi Tim
inside the fence??
 
VIS MIG - Tomorrow
as normal first light start, I will be at the Flashes. Dave J won't be around tomorrow, so if anyone is out and about early, could they cover the Moors and text me if anything. I will text you with stuff (if any) from the Flashes.:t:
 
Thanks for the info Brian - good to see its hanging around in the area; hopefully it will re-appear on Sunday afternoon after the work party to reward the participants.

Just realised that today is the 15th anniversary of the reserve's last Red-backed Shrike sighting. It was found during the first Flashes' work party of the 1999/2000 programme and stayed just the one day, from its discovery at 3:00 pm until dusk, giving just reward to those work party regulars who frequently give up their time to help develop the reserve – in total 40 to 50 birders managed to see the bird. John Belsey’s description of the bird published in The Birds of Upton Warren 1999 was as follows:-

Size: An inch or so bigger and heavier, with a proportionally larger, more rounded head than a nearby Reed Bunting and appearing “bull necked”.
Plumage: Its head was mid-brown with fine crescent markings, more predominately on the forehead (best seen when close to). From a distance a facial mask was apparent, formed by darker brown feathers on the lores and ear coverts. The nape, coverts, mantle and remiges were all fairly uniform mid-brown, liberally scattered with obvious small dark and pale crescents, being more extensive on the wing coverts. The tail was fairly long and frequently cocked, being mid-brown with a brighter base and rump that appeared to have a chestnut wash and darker crescents. The under-parts appeared to be a buffish off-white colour with brown crescents on the upper flanks, the rest appearing uniform and clean. An obvious long, broad white crescent separated the head from the shoulders.
Bare parts: The eyes were dark brown. The bill was dark brown at the tip with a pale yellowish base. At times it fed in a flycatcher fashion, hovering and darting to catch bees and other insects.
 
Des, was this the `very black` LBB ?
Taken at the Moors on Weds, whilst you were in the East Hide, very slatey head!
1. orig photo
2. cropped
 

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Des, was this the `very black` LBB ?
Taken at the Moors on Weds, whilst you were in the East Hide, very slatey head!
1. orig photo
2. cropped

I thought the birds we saw were darker than the one shown, but stance and light obviously have an effect. It was thought they were of the northern european race of L B B Gull.


Des.
 
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Moors species counts
GCG 5, Little grebe 18 min, greylag 15+, mute swan all 6 juvs flying, Wigeon 11, PINTAIL eclipse male .....will be around for a bit longer as all its flight feathers have moulted. Shoveler 50+, teal 24, pochard 2 fems, tufted 18, coot 220+, water rail 2 or 3 in front of west hide. Snipe 6, common sand, lapwing 120 A38 field, BHG 1000ish, LBBG 380, Herring gull 70+, Little Egret 4, grey heron 3, kingfisher 2, green woodpecker, stock dove 3, Raven, Grey wag 2, pied wag 12, Cettis warbler 4 singing, chiffchaff 3, starling 30, reed bunting 5

VIS MIG: - meadow pipit c10, yellowhammer 2

Just noticed these significant counts of large gulls - were these flyovers or on the water at the Moors Pool?
 
lots of activity on Moors and latterly on the Flashes.
Two ringed gulls amongst the 450+ large gulls

Herring Gull 1st winter - green plastic ring on right leg L+K
LBBG adult - black plastic ring right leg 5CF7

A very speedy response from Paul Veron in the Channel Islands.

The LBBG was ringed as a female second year bird at Chouet Landfill, Guernsey on the 20th May 2014; there are been no subsequent sightings.
 
lots of activity on Moors and latterly on the Flashes.
Two ringed gulls amongst the 450+ large gulls

Herring Gull 1st winter - green plastic ring on right leg L+K

LBBG adult - black plastic ring right leg 5CF7

Likewise a very quick reply from Peter Rock.

This Herring Gull was ringed as a female in the nest in Bristol on the 11th July 2014; there have been no other sightings in the intervening period.
 
Another first light start at the FLASHES, with rain starting just as I arrived and not stopping until 11am. Throughout the morning a few meadow pipits moved through and some landing in front of the hide. A lone swallow fed over the 1st Flash during heavy rain. But these were the only VIS MIGrants I saw.
All the overnight roosters were hunkered down, with a good number of BHG's.
Only 3 of us (Rob G Matt fuzeare) on site by the time I moved to the Moors, where Gaseous Clay and his MRs were the only people there.
Here things were almost as yesterday , with a slight increase in wigeon. But most passerines, apart from singing Cettis were none existent. The only other passerine of note was a high flying small thrush circling and reluctant to land, which could have been a redwing.
species counts
FLASHES: Little egret, Teal 120, shoveler 49, mallard 150, mute swan, greylag 3, canadas 250 roosted, green sand, snipe 7, curlew 20, lapwing 15, BHG 1600, Herring gull 4, LBBG 7,several 100's of large gulls moved south shortly after first light. coot 10, water rail 2 calling, sparrowhawk, cettis singing, chiffchaff 2, lots of passerines sheltering in bushes right of sewage works - blackbird 12, song thrush 3, starling 10, chaffinch 2, reed bunting 4, plus goldfinches, tits and robins. It is certainly worth scoping this area as passerines regularly gather there. Grey wag 2, pied wag 5,
VIS MIG -meadow pipit 30, swallow,

MOORS: GCG 5, Little grebe 8+, little egret 3, wigeon 13, shoveler c20, teal 30, greylag c15, common sand, snipe 10, lapwing 150, cettis 3 singing. grey wag 2,

A38 FIELD, behind concrete hide. As I was driving out of the reserve I noticed a large flock of birds get up from this field. It has just been rolled and whether as a result of the rain or not it held a good mixed flock including: lapwing 150, BHG 250, stock dove 10, starling 220, pied wags 45 - 50. Unfortunately I couldn't give it more than 5 minutes before I had to leave. So if you are on the reserve tomorrow check it out. B :)
 

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