I headed out to the east coast today for a few hours. My first stop was at Repps-with-Bastwick where I found a herd of 17 Bewick's Swans feeding just west of the B1152. I also took a look around the Ludham/Catfield area for any more swans, but there was none to be found.
Then it was out to Waxham to have a look on the sea for the scoter flocks that have been around recently. The Velvet Scoter 'flock' as grown to 9 birds now (still all females). Yet again they generally keep to themselves and don't mix in with the 150 Common Scoter that were offshore today.
9 female Velvet Scoter, Waxham
I had a quick look for the Dartford Warbler, but it was quite windy today with lots of tourists make the most out of the sunny weather, so the bird was nowhere to be seen.
Having not ventured out into the field much since my return from Fuerteventura, it was nice to have an afternoon out at Waxham/Horsey. Horsey was rammed with tourists coming to see the seal. The beach was closed off so the seals and their pups were scattered along quite a long stretch of sand.
There wasn't much on the sea other than Red-throaed Divers so I headed off to Waxam where things got decidedly better. The best bird of the day was a male Dartford Warbler - a patch tick, along the footpath that leads from the road to the dues board-walk, half a mile south of Waxham village.
Dartford Warbler, Waxham
Dartford Warbler, Waxham
The bird was quite secretive, occasionally coming out on the tops of the brambles, but mainly sticking in the tangled bushes near the dunes.
There were quite a few Common Scoter on the sea - about 200 of which nearly all were females. It's quite unusual to see large flocks of Scoter off east Norfolk but these birds have been around all autumn/winter. Better still, there was a flock of 6 Velvet Scoter (again, all females) offshore. I've only seen a few Velvet Scoter off Waxham, usually fly-bys and certainly have never seen as many as 6 together. They Velvet Scoters kept themselves very separate from the Common Scoter and were quite close inshore.
A small flock of Common Cranes just inland from Waxham was a nice way to finish off the day.
As my flight was leaving at 2pm, I decided to get up well before dawn (05.20) and head off to the south of the island to see if I could get some photos of the displaying male Houbara Bustard that had shown so well near La Pared a few days earlier. I arrived at the site (near the windfarm) just as the first glows if light had started to highlight the horizon and plunked myself down by a nearby bush. As the sun started to rise and the desert sand started to get lighter I was aware of a Bittern-like booming coming from nearby. I looked up to the top of the slope (from where I'd been watching a few days previous) and saw this....
The Houbara was displaying at the top of the ridge, perfectly silhouetted against the rising sun behind it. I sat and watched/listened as it tucked back it's black feathers, (which it normally lie down the side of the neck) around the back of its neck and fluffed out its white breast feathers giving its booming display call. As the sun rose and the plain started to lighten up, the Houbara made its way down the slope and started to feed. Over the next hour or so it fed in my general vicinity, always slightly wary of me, but never looking startled or dashing away. It put on quite a nice show and I managed to get some nice photos and videos.
It was then off to Costa Calma to see what was in the woodland and to check on the OBPs from the other day. A had a few new birds for my trip - Redwing and Chaffinch and the OBPs were still there. They were feeding at the base of a palm tree where the sprinklers had created some small puddles with lots of ground cover. I flushed one as I approached the spot, which seemed to fly east down the wood, but the other 3 birds remained and stayed around the spot, flying off when walkers came past but then returning when the coast was clear. I nice way to end off the trip.
As it was my last full day today, I thought I'd potter around the island, catching up on a few birds that I'd not seen many of during the past few day, particularly some of the smaller desert species and also looking along the coast for some waders. My first stop was Las Salinas, where there was Spoonbill and Little Egret on the rocks, plus lots of Sandwich Terns off shore. I then head north to Puerto de Lajas, north of Puerto del Rosario. The rocks by the beach had quite a good selection of waders with Kentish Plover, Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Sanderling and Turnstone.
Kentish Plover, Puerto de Lajas
I made my way north to Barranco de Tinojay where there was a big mixed flock of Lesser Short-toed Larks and Trumpeter Finches. I then looped up across the north coast of the island to Correlejo, stopping at a few places and then headed to Cotill, which was pretty quiet.
Then it was off to Las Molinos reservoir to see if there was much on the water. The Ring-necked Duck was still present, in with the Coot flock, 40 Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew over and waders were represented by Black-winged Stilt, Greenshank, Common and Spotted Redshank, Common and Green Sand and Little Ringed Plover. The goat farm at the start of the access road to the dam was really good. There was a pair of Black-belled Sandgrouse in the paddock, along with lots of Lesser Short-toed Larks and Trumpeter Finches. The goat farm on the way to the inlet side of the reservoir had 7 Laughing Doves with the Feral Pigeons and Collared Doves.
I finished the day off with a short seawatch off Fustes, but the reason it was short was because there was literally no seabirds at all!
What a fun packed day! I headed out to the south of the island today, starting off just after dawn at the 'windfarm' plain west of the road between Costa Calma and La Pared. Turning off the road, I kept left at all junctions until a came across a large hill next to to the road, where I decided to view the habitat from. This, as it turned out was a good decision as from the hill I had great views of a displaying male Houbara Bustard. It was displaying when I got there and then spent the next half hour walking around in the desert in front of me.
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Houbara Bustard, La Pared
Some HD video of the bustards (click the settings wheel and select 1080p HD)
Other birds in the area were a few pairs of Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Lesser Short-toed Lark and Spectacled Warbler. I then headed down to Costa Calma to work the 'woodland' either side of the FV-2. The best birds here were of course Fuerteventura's first ever Olive-backed Pipits, described in this blog entry. Other birds in the woodland included a number of Song Thrushes which had a Fieldfare and a Blackbird tagging along with them, Siskin, Linnet, Goldfinches, Spanish Sparrow, Blackcap and Robin.
Spanish Sparrow, male
Spanish Sparrow, female
After that I headed down to Punto del Matorral near Morro Jable. I looked around the scrub near the lighthouse but there wasn't much around other than a couple of Cattle Egrets.
Cattle Egret
Cattle Egret
My last stop of the day was Vega de Rio Palmas. Although the reservoir was dry, the walk down the barranco to the reservoir was very good. The lovely African Blue Tit was quite common along here, as well as Sardinian Warbler and Chiffchaff and a single Grey Wagtail. Southern Grey Shrike was also quite common in the area and seemingly much more approachable then other areas I've visited.
Today I managed to find Fuerteventura's first Olive-backed Pipits - 4 birds together in the Costa Calma woodland. There are 2 previous Canary Island records: The first found by Tony Clarke on Tenerife and the other from Lanzarote.
All 4 birds kept together, usually creeping around in the pine trees, but occasionally dropping down to feed on the ground. They constantly pump their tails and although the did give their characteristic rasping "Spueeee"call, they usually gave a thin short "siip" call, usually given when flying short distances between branches.
I never managed to photograph more than 2 birds together at one time, but there were definitely (at least) 4 birds present.
If you're interested in seeing the birds here are the directions:
The birds are in the wooded area, on the north side of the FV2 between the two roundabouts (one at the east end is the exit for Hotel Fuerteventura Playa and the one at the west end has a petrol station just before it). Starting at the east end of the wood, where there are a couple of restaurants, walk east for about 100 metres. A path cuts across the width of the wood, which leads to the second major pedestrian crossing between the two roundabouts (the first crossing being straight after the roundabout). Take the path until you get near the FV2 and then go west into the wood. This is where the birds were. Scan the ground ahead of you to see if any of the birds are feeding on the deck (they usually did when there wasn't anyone around). If they weren't on the ground they were creeping around the lower branches of the pine canopy. They were quite vocal some of the time.
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
Olive-backed Pipits, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura
And finally, a crap photo of a Fieldfare which was around the cafes in the east end of the wood. I understand it's quite rare too.
