6th March 2022
Another crazy day on the patch and it don’t get better than this thanks to the last three days of rain. A male Prothonotary Warbler on the Middle Pond.
Another cracking day! After almost three days of rain, the first day of hot sunshine and I was expecting a few new migrants to show themselves. I had two patch ticks including another lifer. The sun brought out a hidden gem that I never thought I would ever see on the patch, Prothonotary Warbler. Probably arrived in the last few days, brought down by the weather conditions, on it’s northly migration. The lifer was a Broad-billed Motmot! Also, there were up to three species of Empidonax flycatchers on site! New in, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and both the Willow and Acadian Flycatcher were still present in the same areas as before.
I only wished I got out earlier in the field this morning but I had so much on in booking my train ticket home from Shrewsbury to Penzance. I was looking for the cheapest deal and after only ten minutes of searching, I got one. £40 all the way to Penzance!!! Ideal!! Then booking the flight home after and I’m not goin to say how much that was. Feeling good about myself with the cheap find, I was on the patch just before 09.00. No use in scanning the skies for raptors today and headed straight to the West Pond but nothin of note except for yesterdays Acadian Flycatcher. To my pleasant surprise, yesterdays Striped Owl had returned to it’s roosting tree while on the opposite side of the path from the owl, probably 7-8 meters apart, was the Boat-billed Heron asleep. No sign of the male Painted Bunting or Ovenbird under the east tall mallows but the Willow Flycatcher reappeared after last being seen three days ago. Probably been sheltering elsewhere on the patch from the awful weather.
So pleased to see that the Striped Owl had returned to it’s roosting tree
It wasn’t that much of a surprise to see that the Willow Flycatcher was still present at the east tall mallows as it wasn’t goin anywhere with the weather conditions that arrived on the day the flycatcher turned up, three days ago.
I tried both the North and Middle Pond for the River Otter but no sign but there were the 2 Green Ibis and Heron together. There were also a mix of species moving through and with the numbers of Yellow, Tennessee and Chestnut-sided Warbler, were 2 Yellow Tyrannulet. Suddenly there was a light splash behind me and I turned around and expecting to see the otter, instead it was the Purple Gallinule. But it was a yellow warbler that caught my eye at the water edge on the far side. ‘No it can’t be, can it?’ I said out loud. I put my bins up and I couldn’t take in that there was a corking male Prothonotary Warbler on the patch!!! No way!! But there it was, as clear as day, feeding, moving quickly through until it flew off towards the centre of the site where I lost it. Surely that’s a a rarity so far inland? Well after seeing that cracker, I might as well go home. I made an effort to hit the Pacific coast so I could get my fix on Prothonotary Warbler and I return to find one on my doorstep!!
Taking my time taking photos of this Tennessee Warbler payed off in finding…
This beauty!! A male Prothonotary Warbler on the Middle Pond! I was hoping for a new warbler to turn up on the patch, but I could of never predicted that it was goin to be this species. Is it a mega so far in land??
And if wasn’t for this Purple Gallinuale, on it’s forth day, making a splash behind me, I would never have found the Prothonotary Warbler
Trying to get over at what had just observed, I headed towards the river, where there were the usual suspects. I noticed a movement of a both Southern and Northern Rough-winged Swallow moving straight through, N-NW. In ten minutes, some 80 birds and 2 Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift also passed through. The hirundines were thinning out when I left towards the Edge of the primary forest. Here it was very busy with more yank warblers, including single Black and White and Golden-winged Warbler, Bay Wren, male Rose-breasted Grosebeak, Northern Oriole and the pair of Fascinated Antshrike. I also had a very brief sighting of another Empidonax flycatcher. Shite! I’ve got to see it again and while searching for the flycatcher, l caught the back end of a large motmot spp flying low deeper into the dark forest. Oh Shite! Here we go again. Another one I’ve got to search for as I strongly suspected it to be a Rufous Motmot rather than the slightly smaller commoner Broard-billed Motmot. There were White-collared Manakin making the usual cracking the whip sound and the Orange-billed Sparrow was grovelling in the dense leaf litter. But I wasn’t interested in any of them and found myself standing still in the middle of the very small pocket of forest, scanning the branches with my naked eye. And there it was, Broad-billed Motmot and a lifer! It flew across the river out of sight. It was now gone 16.00 and it was threatening to rain and I returned to the flycatcher where I finally relocated it in the same area as where I first saw it. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Another species dropped in during the weather conditions no doubt, on it’s way north. Returning back to the digs, the family of Russet-napped Wood Rail showed well near to the West Pool. And a great ending to another whacky day!
2 Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift flew straight through N-NW with the 80+rough-winged Swallow
And after six days, the pair of Facaited Antshrike turned up at the edge of the primary forest
This Rufous Motmot at the edge of the primary forest, was not just a patch tick but also a lifer but all I could get were record shots as it was dark in the forest
This third Empidonax flycatcher of day was this Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
https://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/Appeal/homes-for-shearwaters
Manx shearwaters are a vital part of what makes Scilly special. By day they can be seen flying low over the sea. At night they come ashore to their nest burrows on remote islands.
Please help these wonderful birds – donate to our appeal so we can provide much-needed nest boxes!
Our Manx shearwater population on St Agnes, Gugh and Annet has been increasing since rats were eradicated in 2016. However, Dr Vickie Heaney, our seabird ecologist, is concerned about competition for nest sites. On her annual monitoring visits she’s even finding freshly-laid shearwater eggs which have been ejected from burrows after dominant shearwaters have moved in.
We have an international responsibility for the Manx shearwater – 80% of the world’s population breeds in the UK. Annet is a perfect island for them – but the ram (the island’s hard granitic subsoil) makes it very hard for them to dig their own nest holes.
We can step in and make a difference. Colonies on Lundy and the Pembrokeshire islands have really benefited from artificial nest boxes. We can do that on Annet to allow the colony to grow faster.
These boxes have inspection hatches. This will enable us to confirm burrow occupation, whilst opening up all kinds of monitoring possibilities so we can better understand these ocean wanderers. We would like to install at least 35 nest boxes, fitting four with cameras so we can stream nesting shearwaters online. But we need your help! Our incredible volunteers will be helping us with installation, but the immediate cost of infra-red cameras, materials, staff time and boating is over £14,000, whilst this work will be an integral part of our long-term seabird strategy, which extends from managing the habitat of their nesting grounds to influencing future marine developments.
We have over 60% of our target covered already, but we still need £107 per nest box, and £460 for each camera, to be able to make this a reality. Whether you’re able to cover the cost of a nest box or a camera, or chip in a smaller amount, all donations will help us make a big difference by providing homes for our shearwaters.
To donate please click on this website
https://whttps://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/Appeal/homes-for-shearwaters
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Irish lawmakers call for actions against Israel
“EU members have profited well from Israeli apartheid over the years. Since 2012, EU member states have sold arms to Israel to the tune of nearly €700 million per year.” Irish lawmakers on Wednesday called out the West’s “double standards” for imposing sanctions on Russia after invading Ukraine but not doing the same to Israel over its violations in Palestine.
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“EU members have profited well from Israeli apartheid over the years. Since 2012, EU member states have sold arms to Israel to the tune of nearly €700 million per year.” Irish lawmakers on Wednesday called out the West’s “double standards” for imposing sanctions on Russia after invading Ukraine but not doing the same to Israel over its violations in Palestine. #Palestine#Ireland#Israel#Ukraine#Russia Subscribe to our channel: http://ow.ly/AVlW30n1OWH Middle East Eye Website: https://middleeasteye.net Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/MiddleEastEye Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/MiddleEastEyeSHOW LESS
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