Army Ornithological SocietyBlog Category | UK Birding
SPTA West
A New Year Resolution from Wiltshire
Start of the New Year is a resolution to provide you with updates on SPTA West. This is the area with no public access which you will have spent many a day on enjoying the delights of a calceous grassland landscape. I lead walks across the area for the conservation group most months as well as organising various bird surveys. The road from Gore Cross through Imber to Warminster is open to the public though there is a lot of water on the road in Imber. The bush near Gore Cross which normally has Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer in was occupied by a Kestrel this morning so no small birds around. The drive across the Plain produced lots of corvids and not a lot else. However Balttlesbury Bowl near Warminster provided the highlights with a male Bullfinch, Lesser Redpoll and a flock of about 60 Goldfinch. Further around the road stopping at our new ringing site the Great Grey Shrike was found as well as three Green Woodpeckers in the same tree. The Shrike had been reported 2 days earlier in the area and there were possibly 2 in early December.
CommentsBarnes WWT
A record breaking turnout and a fine day to boot. The site total was about 46 and, despite a fly over by a female Marsh Harrier, the bird of the day for most was the Bittern which gave good views perched in the top of a tree!
Those that stayed on for an afternoon visit into Surrey were also treated to a Ring Ouzel.
CommentsFair Isle - Shetland Mainland
Fri 5 Oct 12
A 0545 reveille for the 2 team members scheduled to depart on an early flight from Shetland back to Inverness and thence to the Cairngorms in search of Ptarmigan. Reveille for the rest of the team followed 15 minutes later.
The team members scheduled to depart Shetland in the evening spent the day hunting Shetland South Mainland for rarities. A change in the weather, sunshine and reduced wind strength, made the whole process much more pleasant and much more successful. Three of the five species sought were tracked down: Isabelline Shrike, American Golden Plover and Eastern Stonechat (commonly referred to as Siberian Stonechat).
Early reports from the Cairngorm team suggest they tracked down a 16 strong flock of Ptarmigan during the day.
And so, effectively, the expedition ends with one team sailing off into the sunset (oh ok, into the dusk towards Krikwall and Aberdeen!) and the other driving south to England.
The expedition has been a great success with team members being lucky enough to encounter a selection of much sought after rarities.
CommentsFair Isle - Day 6 & Extraction
Thu 4 Oct 12
The team’s final day on Fair Isle although only partial, being scheduled to fly out mid-afternoon. Most team members, instead of heading out on any recces, opted to use the pre-breakfast period for a little bit of a lie in and to pack before having to vacate rooms.
Just before heading out for the final morning patrol, the FIBO Administrator relayed a request from the Shetland Inter-Island Air Service that the team be split over the two flights scheduled for the day with the first stick to depart on the morning flight. The request was based on weather conditions, ie strong westerly/south-westerly winds, and the load carrying capacity of the aircraft or, rather, lack of it. Various options were considered but, in the end, the two team members with the more pressing travel deadlines were dispatched on the morning flight, there being no guarantee that the afternoon flight would depart.
After the first stick departed the morning patrol commenced returning to FIBO in time for lunch and final preparation for the flight out. The patrol report reads, ‘Nothing Significant to Report’. The second stick left Fair Isle at 1540 and was on the ground in Lerwick by 1600.
The team was reunited at Toab, on Shetland South Mainland, where a search for an Isabelline Shrike was conducted until the light failed and all members were tired, cold, wet and grumpy, especially cold and wet! There followed the move back to Lerwick and taking over of accommodation at the Islesburgh House Hostel and, once changed and warmed up, headed out for a celebratory meal before dispersal. The team opted for a traditional Scottish venue, namely the Ghurkha Kitchen!
CommentsFair Isle - Day 5
Wed 3 Oct 12
A pre-breakfast recce of the Havens and Bu Ness was conducted but failed to reveal anything unusual, although most team members seemed keen to view the Snow Bunting flock at one stage or other.
The morning patrols were concentrated on the southern croft areas of the island and South Harbour. All was quiet until late morning when one of the civvy teams identified a probable Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler near the cemetery. A full FIBO ‘crash out’ ensued culminating in the bird being bagged and tagged by the FIBO staff, ie netted, weighed, measured and ringed. Consequently, the bird was formally confirmed as a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler and was shown to all before being returned to the ditch from which it was captured. Lunch was quite an excited affair!
The afternoon patrols returned to the south of the island. The forecast showers turned up as persistent heavy rain instead! Eventually, rain stopped play, and the teams tabbed back north to FIBO. Inevitably, once back, the rain ceased. Some additional sorties were made to search for a reported Corncrake but without success.
So, another day ends on a high with the capture of another three star rarity even though all team members are now a bit soggy round the edges!
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