Awesome Pallid Harrier

Perseverance pays off. I'd seen the juvenile pallid harrier at Vale Santo on two previous occasions and they were both at best very poor views. The first time I'd been following through the scope what I thought at the time would prove to be a wild saker when the harrier flew up and was immediately, noted, forgotten and lost as I continued to follow the falcon. The second time was yesterday when I saw it distantly and identified it from it's size and shape but didn't get much detail. Neither of these views are good when we're talking about what is without question the best looking raptor  I've ever seen. Juvenile pallid's are just stunning birds and I really wanted to see it again. 

So following a couple of hours looking for migrants at Ponta da Atalaia at Sagres where the star of the show was a wryneck, I decided to head for Vale Santo and park in the usual spot which would give me a good view over the plains. 

The incredible saker was there again, sitting on it's favourite rocks about 200m away and not too far from a nervous looking little owl. Quite honestly it's gutting to know that this bird has jesses, it would be bird of the holiday and probably the year by a million miles if it was truly wild. What a bird, it preys on kestrels and picks battles with peregrines. It's just an awesome bird. Anyway, I watched it for a bit and then this other guy turned up who was really not a birder, just a photographer, to the extent that he'd never even heard of hen harrier let alone pallid. 

We were talking about the saker when suddenly I spotted a distant ringtail harrier approaching at a distance of about 800m. It was coming straight towards us and at that distance and profile it was impossible for me to get a good impression of jizz but as soon as it turned it was obviously the pallid. It was almost falcon like it was so slim. It kept coming straight towards us and eventually flew right over the perched saker and landed about 100m to the right of the falcon. It took a few minutes for the saker to recover from the shock of having this upstart juvenile harrier fly right over it's head, but when it did, it flew up an launched a full scale attack on the perched bird. The harrier flew up and thought about fighting back but decided that on this occasion flight was the better option. Wise bird. 

The saker now apparently content that the harrier had backed off and shown it the respect that it deserved returned to it's rocky perch and watched suspiciously as the harrier flew towards us and right over our heads.

I managed to fire off a few photos of the bird but all at my usual standard so I was delighted when my companion showed me his photos. His are the back of camera shots in this post. Maybe it's time for a new camera.......

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Awesome saker

So the saker that has been about for the past few days at Vale Santo is an escape. It has jesses. It was inevitable really, there's only ever been one wild record of Saker in Iberia, or so I'm told. It's an awesome bird though, today I was watching a ringtail hen harrier through the scope when the saker suddenly appeared and attacked the harrier, but then swerved away to pluck a kestrel out of the air which it carried off to some rocks, where it perched and ate the smaller falcon. Later a peregrine flew over and the larger saker launched a full scale attack. It was an amazing sight, but now it needs to go. There are endangered species in this area such as little bustard. It's bad enough if they get taken by a wild bird, but being taken by an escape would be really bad news.

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A day at Cabronosa

I'm told by local birders that raptor migration is painfully slow so far this year which is typical of my luck, I'm not asking for much, just a normal autumn migration will do. However, I have to take what I'm given and there was still plenty to see at Carbonosa today, with about eight honey buzzards, six booted eagles, Eleanora's falcon (photo above), peregrine, goshawk, sparrowhawk and kestrels, plus a nice selection of passerines including pied flycatchers, spotted flycatchers, western subalpine warblers, whinchats and woodchat shrike. Also of course the usual resident Thekla larks, spotless starlings and Iberian (azure-winged) magpies.

Eleanora's falcon.

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Dotterel again at Vale Santo

The dotterel were still at Vale Santo this morning, though I couldn't find them on a return visit this afternoon.

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Dotterel, saker and pallid harrier at Vale Santo

While I was at Cabranosa I got some advice from local birder Simon Wates on where too look for dotterel nearby and was delighted to find five birds. Then when I was heading back to my apartment I bumped into my informant again at the side of the road only to find that he was watching a putative saker which has been in the area for a few days. It looks really good to me, but falcons are as bad as ducks when it comes to escapees and hybridisation, so who knows? When the falcon finally flew it flushed a pallid harrier which was a very surreal moment to have the two flying together.

The dotterel all looked like adults to me. I don't think that I've ever actually seen adults at the time of year before, in the UK it's usually juveniles that I see in autumn.

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Cabranosa migration watch point

Cabranosa migration watch point is a small wooded hill a few miles north of Cape St Vincent at the south west extremity of Europe. Raptors in particular can be seen here in decent numbers, mainly juveniles which have overshot Gibraltar and which are then are forced to reorientate when they reach the Atlantic Ocean. 

Today I arrived at about 14:30 which was a little late in day, yet even so I managed to see a few booted eagles, marsh harriers and a single honey buzzard. Hopefully things will pick up during the rest of the week.   

There were also a few passerines around today including ortolan, redstart, northern wheatears, garden warbler and western supalpine warbler.

Honey buzzard.

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Striped dolphins on an impressive palagic from Sagres

It's not very often that I get a new species of cetacean anywhere these days, so I was delighted when we unexpectedly came across a pod of about 40 striped dolphins on a Ocean Safari cruise out of Sagres with marilimitado today. We were over the continental shelf and the ocean floor was 1000m (1km!) beneath us when these fabulous animals appeared. What gorgeous dolphins they are!

Also today, bottlenose dolphins and a great selection of seabirds, including hundreds of Cory's shearwaters, a few each if great and sooty shearwater, Wilson's and European storm petrels and a great skua.

Striped dolphins

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Audouin's gull bonanza at Ria de Alvor

On my way from Ria Formosa to Sagres I called in at Ria de Alvor, an area that I've not really been to all that many times. I was staggered today to find around 1000 Audouin's gulls on the saltmarsh. In recent years the species has increased dramatically in southern Portugal and the World's largest breeding colony of 7000 pairs is at Ria Formosa.

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Ria Formosa

I touched down at Faro airport in Portugal at 09:20 and by 10:15 I was through passport control, retrieved my hold luggage, picked up the hire car and was birding at Ria Formosa. 

Plenty of great birds to whet my appetite for the trip ahead including white storks, spoonbills, flamingos, osprey, slender-billed gulls and a host of waders.

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Three late terns at Pennington Flash

I arrived at the flash today full of the hope and anticipation that perhaps only a birder can feel when he sees light winds and heavy drizzle in the forecast on a dull, late September morning. The weather didn't let me down and once again produced the goods. Not only were yesterdays black tern and the long-staying common tern both still present, but as I watched them from the sailing club I suddenly heard the unmistakable screech of a Sandwich tern and saw two fly past west at close range. After a  brief circle around the western end they headed off north west over the ruck.

I know it's not much of a photo and you will have to take my word for it that they are Sandwich terns, but at least it goes someway to conveying the murk and the difficult viewing conditions.

This is the latest date I have for Sandwich tern at the flash, six days later than the previous record set in 2023, while the black tern is now also a week later than my previous latest at the flash and the common tern is my second latest ever here.

Other birds today included a drake common scoter, three great white egrets and five little egrets.

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End of the season at Bickershaw

A lovely afternoon at Bickershaw produced just two species of dragonflies around New Water, maybe 15 migrant hawkers and 20 common darters. No doubt I could have added willow emerald and one or two other species had I gone to the northern section but it really feels like the season is coming to an end now. Not sure how many more visits I'll manage this year, but it's been a great year with 23 species recorded on site. 

I was delighted though to end the year with another four clouded yellows, bringing my total to at least 18 individuals in 2026, in a season that stretched from the first sighting on 15th July to today.

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Black tern, Pennington Flash

I thought that I was going to miss out on black tern this year, but right at the death this juvenile appeared yesterday and was still present this afternoon. It spent most of it's time out in the middle but did occasionally come into the bay off the car park.

It really was last minute, this bird is my latest ever at the flash by five days and my fourth latest ever in the UK.
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Grey Phalarope, Worthington Lakes

Twenty-nine years ago almost to the day, in another lifetime, I was working in Wigan when a grey phalarope was found at Worthington Lakes, Standish. I had a slightly extended lunch to twitch the bird on what was my first ever visit to the place. Today I was back for my second visit, and again it was a grey phalarope that brought me here. Amazing! Why this place should be a hot bed for phalaropes I cannot say. It doesn't look particularly suitable. Just one of the quirks of birding I guess.

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Observations of red-throated divers from the Great Orme

The highlight of a walk around the Great Orme today was a couple of red-throated divers close inshore about 1km east of the lighthouse. One was clearly an adult in summer plumage, the other a juvenile with what I thought was a surprising amount of red on the throat.

It was a treat to see, and hear, the interactions of these birds, with the youngster (the bird on the right) constantly begging from the adult. 

I'm not sure that I've ever seen a juvenile red-throated diver adopt this begging posture before. Both birds dived while I watched, but I don't know how successful either were, I certainly didn't see the adult feed the youngster. Apparently it's quite unusual for juveniles to continue to be fed once they leave their breeding grounds, but not unprecedented.

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100 up for Hilbre

Way back in 1973 my Dad and I walked across the sands of Dee to Hilbre Island. He'd been there many times before and it was a place he really loved, but it was my first visit and it made a great impression. Since then I've had many great adventures here, and adventures they really are when you're walking for 45 minutes across the beach at sunrise into the teeth of a north westerly gale with black, threatening clouds rolling in, and waves crashing over the north end. These storms can bring seabirds from remote oceanic islands in the North Atlantic, the most iconic of all the Leach's petrel, but also gannets, skuas and shearwaters. Sometimes the wind is so strong that the birds can go right over your head and if you stay on for the high tide you're here for 5-6 hours at least, with no shelter. It truly can be an adventure! 

Today it was somewhat calmer and there were no seabirds, ironic really since just yesterday there was a Leach's petrel at Pennington Flash! Still it was nice, with many highlights, including a wheatear, brent geese, a juvenile merlin which flew low right over my head, a peregrine and two ravens, plus a nice selection of waders. A flyby greenshank was new for the island for me.

It was also great to bump into Steve Williams on the island who very kindly invited me back to obs for a brew. It's a really great place Hilbre, makes me wonder why I don't come more often.

According to my database this was my 100th visit to the island!

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Leach's petrel, Pennington Flash

I was in a meeting at Birchwood that was just drawing to a close at 11:45 when I glanced at my phone to see a message from Gordon Newman some 15 minutes earlier which immediately jolted me out of my slumbers. "Are you at the Flash now? Possible petrel only seen briefly but is constantly harassed by gulls". I fired off a quick reply to Gordon and informed a couple of other birders who I knew might be on site and then I exited the building stage left and headed for my car.  

I told myself that logically it could only be Leach's. There's been a few passing the North West coast over the past few days and the peak time for what few stormies we get in the North West is more like July or August, not September. Moreover Pennington Flash has form when it comes to Leach's petrel, and if I managed to see this bird it would be my third at the site. Storm petrel on the other hand would be completely unprecedented. 

Over the 20 minute or so journey from Birchwood to Green Lane I was bombarded with information from the Flash and the identification was confirmed as Leach's petrel. I headed for the place which would allow me to view as much of the water as possible and as quickly as possible, Green Lane.

After a couple of desperate scans across the water it was with much relief that I picked up the petrel flying west past the Ruck with it's entourage of gulls. It flew right down to the bottom end of the flash and was not seen again by me. That's how close it was. 

Thanks to Gordon Newman for the information which allowed me to get there in the nick of time.

Pennington Flash does relatively well for seabirds, over the years as well as the three Leach's petrels I've also seen Manx shearwater, Sabine's gull, shag and kittiwake, while birds that have been seen but not by me include great and arctic skua.

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Moulting common tern, Pennington Flash

There's been a heavily moulting common tern on the flash for a few days now, looking really tatty. Obviously I can see the full black cap which I assume makes it an adult, but I'm not sure about the very dark primaries and dark bar on the secondaries, which I would have thought point more towards 1st summer. I'm not really familiar with non-breeding common terns.

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Rock 'n' Roll Nightjar

Ladies and Gentlemen, for one night only, I give you the rockin' Nightjars!

<Insert your favourite song here>

With backing vocals from the Irate Chiffchaffs!

This wonderful nightjar was found roosting at Kenworthy woods near Chorlton Water Park yesterday. I was walking in the Lake District at the time so had no chance of getting to see it and I thought my opportunity was gone because surely it wouldn't be present on the same branch this morning. I mean it only has to move 5m into the wood and you'd never find it. Surprisingly however, it was still present and correct at 7.30am today, in exactly the same spot.

So as long as it wasn't flushed by some <insert your favourite expletive(s) here>  trying to get too close for a photo, there was a good chance that it would still be there when we arrived early afternoon. Fortunately it hadn't been disturbed and we had some nice views of it. All photos and video in this post are phone-scoped.

This was only my second roosting nightjar, the last was a memorable bird on Hilbre Island in 2015. Great though that bird was, it didn't do much, it just sat there on a branch without moving and that was pretty much all that I expected today. It wasn't the case though, as this bird spent time preening and changing position on it's branch, and it preceded any movement by rocking from side to side, a behaviour that I've never seen before. Apparently this is all part of it's camouflage, it rocks to make itself look like it is a leaf blowing in the wind, the theory being that if it sat motionless and then suddenly preened, it would be more obvious than if it rocked slowly and then preened. I suppose there is some logic in that.

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Willow emerald, Pennington Flash

I wasn't expecting to see many dragonflies when I left the house this afternoon because it had been a dull, windy, rainy day with lots of threatening black clouds, but miraculously the sun came out while I was at Pennington Flash and I started seeing things flying and before you knew it I had a half decent list for the time of year. 

Six species in total with the highlight willow emerald which so far as I know is the first record for the flash. Not completely surprising since they are at nearby Bickershaw but still great to see. Other odonata seen today included three species of hawker, brown x1, migrant x15 and southern x3, plus common darter and a few common blue damselflies.

Southern hawker.

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Clouded yellow, Bickershaw

Still hoping for a few autumn dragonflies, especially red-veined darter, I visited Bickershaw again this afternoon. I've started taking in New Water a bit more in the hope that if I don't see much in the way of dragonflies, I might at least have a chance of an autumn wader. I mean it did once hold a white-tailed plover for a couple of days, so surely a green sandpiper or dunlin aren't beyond the realms of possibility? Sadly I've not seen a single wader on New Water all year except for the occasional lone lapwing.

However, it was still a worthwhile visit, with yet another clouded yellow, at least the 14th of the year. 

Six species of odonata today, with three hawkers, common x1, migrant x15 and southern x3.

I wondered at first if this might be a second generation clouded yellow bred at Bickershaw from the earlier influx in July, but on returning home I've seen a few reports of other clouded yellows today at Ainsdale and Marshside, so perhaps it's another wave coming in. In support of this possibility there was the lesser emperor I found a few days ago and a couple of rush veneer moths today at Bickershaw, plus reports of a few red-veined darters recently.

The photo above is a video grab of the butterfly which is still flying but coming into land on the flower. Clouded yellows never hold their wings like this when they are landed.

It may not be quite a beautiful as the clouded yellow but this is also a migrant, rush veneer moth, one of two seen today.

This reed warbler was nice and showy on Nevison's. This is quite a late record for me, I don't usually see them much past the end of August.

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Juvenile little gull, Pennington Flash

Highlight of the past few days for me, a juvenile little gull was at the Flash early morning yesterday, always distant and beyond the reach of my camera, so the photo is of a bird that was present in September last year.

Highlights from today included a flock of 15 goosander that dropped in for about five minutes mid-morning before flying off east, and a juvenile ringed plover at the sailing club. Also a single adult common tern still.

Judging by the pale lines on their faces, I would say that the goosander flock consisted of two females and 13 juveniles.

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Another lesser emperor at Bickershaw

A great year for dragonflies at Bickershaw still continues to produce the goods even into September. Today I found my third lesser emperor of the year at the site, on one of the small ponds between Fir Tree Flash and the stock pond. It was a really good view, a smart looking dragonfly, but unfortunately it refused to land and darted around hunting over the vegetation at the side of the pond and was completely beyond the limits of my camera. The photo was taken by clicking and hoping, I wasn't even looking through the view finder. I just pressed click! Anyway, you can see the brown thorax, the brown body and the blue saddle. The green eyes rule out vagrant emperor. So it's good enough for me!

Slightly more obliging, a migrant hawker perched in a tree. Actually it was a pretty good afternoon considering the torrential rain in the morning, with nine species of odonata seen including more willow emeralds.

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