September 2022 pt ii — Just A Bird

Siberian Stonechat - Pleinmont, 17 Sep 22

After months of complaining about the lack of twitchable rare birds turning up on the island, it was good to hear that a Siberian Stonechat had appeared at Pleinmont, albeit a species that I had already seen on the headland 13 years ago. I didn’t rush up there straight away and waited until later in the day when I was able to watch the bird by myself. It was difficult to get very close to the bird as it was feeding along the bramble-line between the two Societe fields, with no cover to hide behind. It was great to watch though, constantly sallying up to catch flies against the pale blue sky. When it did it flashed its main feature, the pale buff rump patch. Nowadays, the “Eastern” Stonechats seem to have been split further but the caucasian birds have white in the tail, and the far-eastern birds tend to be darker and oranger. This very pale bird with clear, sandy upperparts matches what would expect from a “maurus”.

Siberian Stonechat - Pleinmont, 17 Sep 22 - The firstthing I do with my photos striaght off the camera is to reduce the original size by 50% to maintain the detail and sharpness. With birds which are a little distant though, this makes them a little small in the frame. The two photos above show the differences. It is difficult to know which is best - size vs sharpness - I guess it depends on the situation but it’s something to think more about in future.

I had a little wander round in the sun and found a Whinchat and a Pied Flycatcher on the headland. Also, there was a Vestal moth hiding in the grass by the Sibe Stonechat field, and a wonderfully showy Clouded Yellow on the cliff path feeding voraciously on Autumn Squill. Despite the increase in many southern species, Clouded Yellows seem to have suffered a decline in sightings. We used to see them more regularly but this was my first good look at one for a few years.

The rest of September was pretty poor for migrants and uncommon species. On 18th September a Great Spotted Woodpecker overflew the garden. This is the first year that this has started to happen but I suppose that it will become regular with the species’ expansion. I would not be surprised if they started breeding in the huge trees in the gardens just to the north of where we live, visible from our front window. The best bird found was a Wryneck on 21st by the pond at the Peninsula Hotel. That area of mowed grass and reeds is pretty good for migrants which like that kind of habitat, and if I was able to visit more often than just once or twice a week then it may produce some better birds. Perhaps it is attractive to such birds because, since it is not public land, there are no dog-walkers there flushing all and sundry - the blight of west coast birders!

Grey Wagtail and Water Rail returned to Pulias on 22nd. Due to favourable seawatching winds - something of a rarity this year - I called in for a brief seawatch at Pulias on the way home from work on 28th hoping for a Balearic Shearwater or a Great Skua or similar. However, the only bird I picked out in the 20 minutes was a Sooty Shearwater, only my second record for the site - “patch-gold” as they say!

Just A Bird

Just A Bird

Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

Just A Bird

Just A Bird