Saturday 30th November 2019

Always a risk going away in October, but luckily I didn’t miss anything too rare whilst I was in England. One thing that had happened on Guernsey though was the largest influx of Black Redstarts for many years. On Sunday 3rd November, I went for a wander round L’Eree corner whilst the family was visiting nearby friends, and found there were lots of Black Redstarts feeding in the lee of the wind by the slipway below Fort Saumarez. There were at least 11 birds all feeding together, easily the largest flock that I had ever seen, and there were probably more, since getting an accurate count was impossible given the terrain. One bird stuck out since it had a much paler, buffer breast than the others. I presumed it was a Common Redstart albeit an exceptionally late one - I can’t remember seeing a November Redstart before. It did seem a little odd though, being quite dusky and grey overall and behaving more like the Black Reds. I wouldn’t be hugely surprised, given the late date, if this bird was actually an eastern-raced Common Redstart or even an eastern-raced Black Redstart. However, identification of females of this form is pretty impossible in field conditions. There was also a Grey Wagtail and a Skylark along the bank.

Common Redstart - Fort Saumarez/L’Eree Shingle Bank, 3 Nov 19

Common Redstart - Fort Saumarez/L’Eree Shingle Bank, 3 Nov 19

Black Redstart - Fort Saumarez/L’Eree Shingle Bank, 3 Nov 19

Black Redstarts - Fort Saumarez/L’Eree Shingle Bank, 3 Nov 19

But it was soon back to work in a gloomy first week of November. Two Great Northern Divers appeared in Grandes Havres on 5th - which is a typical date for the first sighting on the patch - and I finally got Kingfisher for the patch year-list on 8th. Two Sandwich Terns fed close in at Pulias on 7th and the juvenile bird was constantly squawking which was comical and presumably indicates that the adult was its parent desperately trying to sever the apron strings.

Sandwich Tern - Pulias, 7 Nov 19

Sandwich Tern - Pulias, 7 Nov 19

Not too late for late vagrants, I popped up to Pleinmont on 10th for a quick scoot round the top of the headland. Again, I didn’t manage to find anything special, just 3 Reed Buntings, 3 Firecrests and 3 Chiffchaffs. The highlight was good views of the pair of Cirl Buntings, and I got decent pics of the female bird. At Mont Herault, a tired, lone Redwing was feeding in the only ploughed field (why couldn’t have been a Siberian Thrush!?). On the way home I finally saw the Common Scoter that had taken up residence at Grandes Rocques after looking many times.

Cirl Bunting - Pleinmont, 10 Nov 19

Redwing - Mont Herault, 10 Nov 19

The next week was more of the same - gloomy and dull - which doesn’t leave much light for me to search for birds after or before work. Although a Black Redstart in the school courtyard was a new bird for me there. A summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver flying close by off Rousse on 15th was definitely different than the two brown birds seen last week.

The weekend arrived and on 17th I gave Pleinmont another try but there had not been any noticeable difference in species from last weekend, apart from a couple of flyover Brambling. However, as I was driving off, I glanced out of my window to see two Snow Buntings alongside a puddle by the scramble track which looked new in. I reversed back into the car park but they flew onto the track itself. Slowly stalking them, I managed to get really close. They looked at me as though they’d never seen a human being before - and they probably hadn’t. Despite the very dull conditions, I managed to get quite a few decent photos.

Snow Buntings - Pleinmont, 17 Nov 19

Snow Bunting - Pleinmont, 17 Nov 19

Snow Bunting - Pleinmont, 17 Nov 19

Snow Bunting - Pleinmont, 17 Nov 19

Snow Bunting - Pleinmont, 17 Nov 19

Snow Bunting - Pleinmont, 17 Nov 19

The second half of the month saw migration grind to a halt but there were a few nice surprises. On 20th November a Spoonbill flew North-east over Pulias car park and disappeared far off over Pembroke. It was an immature bird with black wing-tips and it could have been the long-staying Claire Mare bird. However, that lazy sod hasn’t moved more than 500 yards in over a year and, as I write this, it is still in residence down the far west. So I would be more inclined to think that this one was actually a new bird passing through. Other birds seen included an adult Mediterranean Gull at Cobo on 20th, a Slavonian Grebe which had joined the Common Scoter at Grandes Rocques on 21st and I eventually got Grey Wagtail for the patch in 2019 at Pulias on 27th. The late autumn on the island had been very quiet for rarities, with very few good birds seen after early-September, but rough with the smooth as they say.