Today

The wind is still blowing but not as strong 

so i set up the woosh net at the Point of Ayre

4 New Linnets ringed all showing good brood patches

 and a retrap Male from 15/08/2010

also one adult Oystercatcher and another Lbb Gull

 with colour ring placed on left leg

wind then got up and woosh net put away

 as i drove away 12 Linnets down feeding

I hate this wind and this May has been horrendous

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Colour ring added to LBB Gull

Oystercatcher

The wind is still blowing but not as strong 

so i set up the woosh net at the Point of Ayre

4 New Linnets ringed all showing good brood patches

 and a retrap Male from 15/08/2010

also one adult Oystercatcher and another Lbb Gull

 with colour ring placed on left leg

wind then got up and woosh net put away

 as i drove away 12 Linnets down feeding

I hate this wind and this May has been horrendous

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Colour ring added to LBB Gull

Oystercatcher

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Gale force winds

Gale force winds again today, looking out at the view from my garden i noticed the Gannets feeding

close in shore so took my camera down for a look 

Gale force winds again today, looking out at the view from my garden i noticed the Gannets feeding

close in shore so took my camera down for a look 

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Good job for Pulli

May has been awful so far the wind has been gale force most days  so no chance of getting a mist net up thank god for ringing Pulli. Another 7 Chough ringed last night with broods of 5 and 2.  

This Farmer had placed a nest box for Chough which they had used before.This year Muscovy Ducks had moved in so the Chough built on top of the box. The Muscovy soon moved out with the noisy Chough on top of them

Kev with farmers help  gets to grips with Chough Pulli

Also 2 Black-headed Gulls ringed

these birds look magnificent in full summer plumage

May has been awful so far the wind has been gale force most days  so no chance of getting a mist net up thank god for ringing Pulli. Another 7 Chough ringed last night with broods of 5 and 2.  

This Farmer had placed a nest box for Chough which they had used before.This year Muscovy Ducks had moved in so the Chough built on top of the box. The Muscovy soon moved out with the noisy Chough on top of them

Kev with farmers help  gets to grips with Chough Pulli

Also 2 Black-headed Gulls ringed

these birds look magnificent in full summer plumage

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Magee Marsh, OH. 22 - 23 May 2011

I've returned to Magee where the morning of the 22 May brought a really big push of migrants. 2 Black-billed Cuckoos were in the parking lot and large flocks of Blue Jays (moving east) and Cedar Waxwings (moving west) were going over. The north-east corner of the parking lot (now officially my 'patch' as I seem to be the only person that goes there) was good again, with a Mourning Warbler, female Purple Finch, Philadelphia Vireo and 3 Wilson's Warblers. There were lots of Empids in the wood today. Lots of Least Flycatchers, quite a few 'Trails' and the largest number of Yellow-bellieds that I'd seen in one day here.
After lunch I decided to explore and look for some good habitat next to the lake. Lakeway Drive runs parallel with Lake Erie and then finishes at the marina, so this seemed a good place to look - I wasn't disappointed. My only Orange-crowned Warbler of the trip was feeding in trees right next to the shore line, whilst in a small wood at the junction of Lakeway and Waterway Drive there was a female Hooded Warbler plus a pair of Black-billed Cuckoos. At the marina end of Lakeway was a Red-headed Woodpecker, Cape May Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbirds.
Along Park Colony rd (runs south from Lakeway) there were some waders of which Marbled Godwit and Pec Sand were the pick.
The day ended off nicely with a female Hooded Merganser at the Ottowa-Lucas Rd plus 2 Cattle Egrets on the south side of the road between the turnings for Ottowa and Magee.

The morning of 23 May was my final morning. The number of birds had fallen considerably on the previous days birding. An Eastern Towhee was a new bird for the trip, but the best location was the north-east section of the parking lot which had 2 male Mourning Warblers and a female Blackburnian.

Photos: Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler (2), Blackburnian Warbler, Swainsons's Thursh, Baltimore Oriole, Black-billed Cuckoo, Dunlin (2), Orange-crowned Warbler, Canada Warbler (2), Mourning Warbler (3), Yellow Warbler, Purple Finch (2), Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Finally, the Lucas-Ottowa Road had Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sand, 10 Semi-p Plovers, 5 Semi-p Sands and about 100 Dunlin.

I've returned to Magee where the morning of the 22 May brought a really big push of migrants. 2 Black-billed Cuckoos were in the parking lot and large flocks of Blue Jays (moving east) and Cedar Waxwings (moving west) were going over. The north-east corner of the parking lot (now officially my 'patch' as I seem to be the only person that goes there) was good again, with a Mourning Warbler, female Purple Finch, Philadelphia Vireo and 3 Wilson's Warblers. There were lots of Empids in the wood today. Lots of Least Flycatchers, quite a few 'Trails' and the largest number of Yellow-bellieds that I'd seen in one day here.
After lunch I decided to explore and look for some good habitat next to the lake. Lakeway Drive runs parallel with Lake Erie and then finishes at the marina, so this seemed a good place to look - I wasn't disappointed. My only Orange-crowned Warbler of the trip was feeding in trees right next to the shore line, whilst in a small wood at the junction of Lakeway and Waterway Drive there was a female Hooded Warbler plus a pair of Black-billed Cuckoos. At the marina end of Lakeway was a Red-headed Woodpecker, Cape May Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbirds.
Along Park Colony rd (runs south from Lakeway) there were some waders of which Marbled Godwit and Pec Sand were the pick.
The day ended off nicely with a female Hooded Merganser at the Ottowa-Lucas Rd plus 2 Cattle Egrets on the south side of the road between the turnings for Ottowa and Magee.

The morning of 23 May was my final morning. The number of birds had fallen considerably on the previous days birding. An Eastern Towhee was a new bird for the trip, but the best location was the north-east section of the parking lot which had 2 male Mourning Warblers and a female Blackburnian.

Photos: Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler (2), Blackburnian Warbler, Swainsons's Thursh, Baltimore Oriole, Black-billed Cuckoo, Dunlin (2), Orange-crowned Warbler, Canada Warbler (2), Mourning Warbler (3), Yellow Warbler, Purple Finch (2), Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Finally, the Lucas-Ottowa Road had Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sand, 10 Semi-p Plovers, 5 Semi-p Sands and about 100 Dunlin.

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OUR FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Just like birds themselves, time flies. Hard as it is to believe for some of us, this blog you've now got on screen first took off one year ago. We hope it has achieved its objective, as expressed in the first blog-presentation entry published on 9 May 2010: appeal to a wider public by giving the breaking news on Extremadura's birdlife. The final say is the readers'. But the number of hits over the last year seems to justify our endeavour and encourages us to continue. There are no figures on the first feet-finding months, but, Spanish version, from July 2010 the site has clocked up over 25,000 hits, with a peak of nearly 4000 in March 2011. True it is that the blog took some time to get going, not topping 1000 monthly hits until September 2010 and 3000 in January 2011. The English version has registered 6500 hits in the same period, with a much slower upward trend, not topping 1000 monthly hits until March 2011, peaking at 1100 in April. Between both versions, therefore, some months have clocked up over 5000 hits (lots or few, according to the yardstick used).

The second entry of "Bird of Extremadura", and the first with content after the presentation, was entitled "Winter Hotspots", dealing with the provisional species-richness map after the fieldwork of the SEO/BirdLife-brokered Atlas of Wintering Birds in Spain. The definitive map has just been published in SEO's Bird Monitoring Survey 2009-2010 (Escandell et al., 2011). The picture hasn't changed much, although in the later version actual figures for the number of species in each grid are given, with red hues for those with over 50 and blue hues for those with fewer. The importance of Extremadura, especially Cáceres and North Badajoz, still stands out, but another notable feature is the species richness of some of the rivers. It's easy to pick out the course of the rivers Duero, Ebro, Guadalquivir, Guadiana and Tagus, and even some of the bigger tributaries like Jarama, Alberche and Aragón.


Acknowledgements: This first anniversary would not have been possible without the collaboration of many people, especially Dave Langlois and Sergio Mayordomo. The first has translated nearly every entry into English while the second has painstakingly recorded all the sightings of interest in Extremadura to compile the month by month summaries. This blog would probably not exist but for the Goce birdwatching forum, a lively virtual meeting and debating ground for Extremadura's bird lovers, always teeming with ideas and information that this blog has drawn on constantly. I'd like to give my thanks to all the participants in this forum and also those from elsewhere who have chipped in from time to time. Many thanks to one and all. Javier Prieta.

Escandell, V.; Palomino, D.; Molina, B.; Leal, A.; Remacha, C.; Bermejo, A.; De la Puente, J. y del Moral, J. C. (Eds.) 2011. Programas de seguimiento de SEO/BirdLife en 2009-2010. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.

Just like birds themselves, time flies. Hard as it is to believe for some of us, this blog you've now got on screen first took off one year ago. We hope it has achieved its objective, as expressed in the first blog-presentation entry published on 9 May 2010: appeal to a wider public by giving the breaking news on Extremadura's birdlife. The final say is the readers'. But the number of hits over the last year seems to justify our endeavour and encourages us to continue. There are no figures on the first feet-finding months, but, Spanish version, from July 2010 the site has clocked up over 25,000 hits, with a peak of nearly 4000 in March 2011. True it is that the blog took some time to get going, not topping 1000 monthly hits until September 2010 and 3000 in January 2011. The English version has registered 6500 hits in the same period, with a much slower upward trend, not topping 1000 monthly hits until March 2011, peaking at 1100 in April. Between both versions, therefore, some months have clocked up over 5000 hits (lots or few, according to the yardstick used).

The second entry of "Bird of Extremadura", and the first with content after the presentation, was entitled "Winter Hotspots", dealing with the provisional species-richness map after the fieldwork of the SEO/BirdLife-brokered Atlas of Wintering Birds in Spain. The definitive map has just been published in SEO's Bird Monitoring Survey 2009-2010 (Escandell et al., 2011). The picture hasn't changed much, although in the later version actual figures for the number of species in each grid are given, with red hues for those with over 50 and blue hues for those with fewer. The importance of Extremadura, especially Cáceres and North Badajoz, still stands out, but another notable feature is the species richness of some of the rivers. It's easy to pick out the course of the rivers Duero, Ebro, Guadalquivir, Guadiana and Tagus, and even some of the bigger tributaries like Jarama, Alberche and Aragón.


Acknowledgements: This first anniversary would not have been possible without the collaboration of many people, especially Dave Langlois and Sergio Mayordomo. The first has translated nearly every entry into English while the second has painstakingly recorded all the sightings of interest in Extremadura to compile the month by month summaries. This blog would probably not exist but for the Goce birdwatching forum, a lively virtual meeting and debating ground for Extremadura's bird lovers, always teeming with ideas and information that this blog has drawn on constantly. I'd like to give my thanks to all the participants in this forum and also those from elsewhere who have chipped in from time to time. Many thanks to one and all. Javier Prieta.

Escandell, V.; Palomino, D.; Molina, B.; Leal, A.; Remacha, C.; Bermejo, A.; De la Puente, J. y del Moral, J. C. (Eds.) 2011. Programas de seguimiento de SEO/BirdLife en 2009-2010. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.

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Waterloo State Rec Area, Michigan. 20 - 21 May 2011

I spent 24 hours in Waterloo State Rec Area with the target species of Henslow's Sparrow and Acadian Flycatcher. I headed off to St Jacob Evangelical Lutheran Church on Riethmiller Road for Henslow's and after a bit of searching found at least 6 birds feeding in the long dry grassy field due west of the church (I saw 3 of these and heard at least another 3 singing). With a bit of patience you can get good views of the birds, usually feeding around the lower stems of the larger grass clumps. There was also a few Sandhill Crane and Eastern Bluebird in the area.

I then headed over to Mclure Road and birded the area between Bush and Loveland, where I also headed at first light the next day. I managed to see 3 Acadian Flycatchers before the light faded along with White-breasted Nuthatch, Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbird and Red-eyed Vireo.
The next morning I revisited the area hoping to see Cerulean Warbler, but although I could hear birds singing in the canopy I couldn't get onto any. Wild Turkey, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-eyed Vireo and 2 Hooded Warblers (a singing male and a female both within 500 yards of the Waterloo Area Headquarters. I then headed off to Cassidy Road (where I had a ringtail Northern Harrier) and birded the area between the junction with Roe Rd and half a mile east of there. Along the road I had another 3 Acadian Flycatchers, Indigo Bunting, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blackburnian Warbler and just when I had given up seeing Cerulean Warbler found a pair nest building just metres from my car. The female did all the building whilst the male spent most of the time singing. I've put some video of the female nest building at the bottom of this post.
Photos: Acadian Flycatcher (3), Pileated Woodpecker, Scarlet Tanager, Cerulean Warbler (2 photos plus 1 video).

I spent 24 hours in Waterloo State Rec Area with the target species of Henslow's Sparrow and Acadian Flycatcher. I headed off to St Jacob Evangelical Lutheran Church on Riethmiller Road for Henslow's and after a bit of searching found at least 6 birds feeding in the long dry grassy field due west of the church (I saw 3 of these and heard at least another 3 singing). With a bit of patience you can get good views of the birds, usually feeding around the lower stems of the larger grass clumps. There was also a few Sandhill Crane and Eastern Bluebird in the area.

I then headed over to Mclure Road and birded the area between Bush and Loveland, where I also headed at first light the next day. I managed to see 3 Acadian Flycatchers before the light faded along with White-breasted Nuthatch, Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbird and Red-eyed Vireo.
The next morning I revisited the area hoping to see Cerulean Warbler, but although I could hear birds singing in the canopy I couldn't get onto any. Wild Turkey, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-eyed Vireo and 2 Hooded Warblers (a singing male and a female both within 500 yards of the Waterloo Area Headquarters. I then headed off to Cassidy Road (where I had a ringtail Northern Harrier) and birded the area between the junction with Roe Rd and half a mile east of there. Along the road I had another 3 Acadian Flycatchers, Indigo Bunting, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blackburnian Warbler and just when I had given up seeing Cerulean Warbler found a pair nest building just metres from my car. The female did all the building whilst the male spent most of the time singing. I've put some video of the female nest building at the bottom of this post.
Photos: Acadian Flycatcher (3), Pileated Woodpecker, Scarlet Tanager, Cerulean Warbler (2 photos plus 1 video).

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Mio, Michigan, 19 - 20 May 2011

The purpose of this visit was to go on the Kirtland's Warbler trip in Mio State Forest. On the way up there I stopped in at Nayanquing Point Wildlife Area. The heavy rain made it tough to find stuff, but King Rail, 3 Least Bittern, American Bittern (heard only), 3 Black Terns, Caspian Tern, 15 Yellow-headed Blackbird, 6 Sandhill Crane, Marsh Wren, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Swamp Sparrow and Lincoln's Sparrow were all nice birds to see.

Ignoring warnings of the Apocalypse, I headed out with the rangers and was soon watching Kirtlands singing from the top of the Jack Pines. The birds were always quite distant, but at one point two males chased each other around in a territorial dispute and one landed in a Jack Pine quite close to me allowing me to get some photos off. We saw about 10 birds in all plus Clay-coloured Sparrow.

After the tour I headed out into the some other areas around Mio. Ruffed Grouse and Broad-winged Hawk were seen to the south of Mio and to the north-east a pair of displaying Upland Sandpipers were just east of the junction of West Kneeland and North Galbraith Rds.

The purpose of this visit was to go on the Kirtland's Warbler trip in Mio State Forest. On the way up there I stopped in at Nayanquing Point Wildlife Area. The heavy rain made it tough to find stuff, but King Rail, 3 Least Bittern, American Bittern (heard only), 3 Black Terns, Caspian Tern, 15 Yellow-headed Blackbird, 6 Sandhill Crane, Marsh Wren, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Swamp Sparrow and Lincoln's Sparrow were all nice birds to see.

Ignoring warnings of the Apocalypse, I headed out with the rangers and was soon watching Kirtlands singing from the top of the Jack Pines. The birds were always quite distant, but at one point two males chased each other around in a territorial dispute and one landed in a Jack Pine quite close to me allowing me to get some photos off. We saw about 10 birds in all plus Clay-coloured Sparrow.

After the tour I headed out into the some other areas around Mio. Ruffed Grouse and Broad-winged Hawk were seen to the south of Mio and to the north-east a pair of displaying Upland Sandpipers were just east of the junction of West Kneeland and North Galbraith Rds.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad