Nightjar

The male Nightjar has been present on the day-roost branch since before the 4th June.

We've had a lot of rain recently and as the season turns towards full summer, the lush vegetation has thickened and grown higher. It is now more impenetrable and the well-chosen roosting perch more concealed and even more difficult to find.

And a videoclip:

Thursday 4th June 2020 - A day-roosting Nightjar at Trinity Hill, Axminster, Devon

To see a Nightjar in daylight is unusual. Personally, I've never seen one at rest during the day. Let alone find a roosting bird myself. And so I've never had the privilege to marvel, in good light, at their intricate cryptic 'dead-branch' mottled plumage of browns, greys, black and buff-white. Until this recent encounter that is.

During a walk on Tuesday afternoon I flushed a Nightjar, catching no more than a glimpse of that unmistakable shape as it slipped silently away into the woodland. This morning, Thursday, I crept back to the general area for a really patient look around. Have to say that my expectation was not running that high. But, I got lucky!

"Approaching the area I cautiously inch forward taking a long time to study all the bushes through the binoculars as the sight lines change; looking through bracken and into bramble patches and bushes; carefully scanning every area of bare earth and heap of broken branches. A real challenge with "haystacks" and a "needle" coming to mind!
And then ... wow, suddenly between 2 pieces of foliage, there he is (because it was male bird), no more the 20m in front of me, eyes closed, still sleeping, resting on a horizontal branch. Incredible... I nearly drop my bins! (One of my best birding moments ever without question and capturing a picture in my minds-eye which I will long remember). Slowly, very slowly I raise my camera which thankfully I always set on silent. Pressing the release twice, taking a silent burst of 2 and then a burst of 3 shots. That is it. One last look through the bins to make sure I'm not dreaming and I retreat leaving him, undisturbed ... continuing his roost".

A magical encounter lasting less than a minute.

A fantastic male (European) Nightjar. What a moment - to get as close as I did for a shot like this one without disturbing the camouflaged beauty. A nice find and top fieldcraft if I do say so myself!!

Siberian Chiffchaff at Kilmington WTW - 28 Jan 2020 .... and a Caspian Gull on the Axe

A cold morning (6 degrees) but feeling much colder with a wicked wind chill. Between the rain and sleet showers there were abundant flying insects around and within the treatment centre. Some bushes were jumping with Chiffchaffs as they searched for food.

Nearly all were regular Chiffchaffs like this one:

I spent a good hour patiently working through the Chiffs and Goldcrests until I found this pale beauty which in the field, stood out from the crowd exhibiting enough of the classic Tristis features for me to be happy enough with my ID to run it by the members of the local Whatsapp group:

Siberian Chiffchaff - Tristis

The bird was actively feeding above me in small trees and much of the time against a bright sky. Note the classic black legs and bill, which show up much better here in the photos than I noticed in the field.

Shouldn't be greedy but it would have been nice to hear it call too but it remained silent while I was there.

An enjoyable and rewarding morning. Now what shall I do in the afternoon I thought. Answer a quick snack, a hot drink and then a bit of gulling.

I drove to Coronation Corner, parked up next to the River Axe and was just about to starting eating my lunch when Gavin tapped the window and said that he'd just found a Caspian Gull. (I hadn't been paying attention to the Whatsapp group so having missed several Axe Caspian Gulls before, this was very fortunate timing). Gav wondered how I'd arrived so quickly after he'd sent his post!! Lucky timing! The day was just about to get even better.

1w Caspian Gull

Most of my early birding was in an inland, land-locked county. Have to say that in common with quite few Birders I still do not find Gulls easy even though I've been trying hard to catch up. So my thanks to Gav for pointing me at my first confirmed Caspian Gull and for talking me through the key features. Just got to go and try to find my own Casp now ... with emphasis on the trying. Have to give it a go.  We'll see!!

By the way, he also picked out (and got me onto) a 2w Yellow legged Gull which dropped in briefly. What a pro !

Siberian Chiffchaff and Firecrest at Chideock WRC, Dorset - 5th Jan 2020

Siberian Chiffchaff: On 13th December I paid a visit to the Wastewater Treatment Centre at Charmouth run by Wessex Water. As I was wandering around the pretty much smell-free and birdless site (a fairly modern pumping station) I got chatting to a couple of their operatives who, when I described the filter beds at Colyford WWT suggested I might like to try my luck birding at the Chideock sewage works. They described it as having above ground level filter beds, with public access all around and screened by mature trees. Chideock is a small village about 5 miles to the east of Charmouth and I had no idea until that conversation that it had its own Water Recycling Centre. So getting directions, I thought I'd give it a go. I found the place easily enough which was set in some interesting habitat, surrounded with a mature screen of coniferous trees, brambles, hedgerows and Alder trees. My first visit gave 2 Firecrests, maybe 15 or so Chiffchaffs, several Long tailed Tits, 2 or 3 Goldcrests and also a "pale and interesting" Chiffy. Bingo! Staggering. An absolute birding treasure-trove hidden away, off the beaten track. And I don't recollect ever seeing a birding report from this location before. Posting the highlights on the local Whatsapp group I was delighted to hear later that day that Gavin @NotQuiteScilly had quickly followed up the post and had re-found the latter. Hats off to Gavin for the work he's put in, reading round the problematic subject of Fenno-scandian and Siberian Chiffchaffs which he's described in his various blogs over the last few weeks.

So, although "not a 'classic' tristis", we think the little gem that I photographed today has been around since at least 13th December 2019 (see also Gavin's blog 17th December Here which contains photos and a description of how the bird responded to a 'tristis' song recording).

This morning was the first chance I've had to re-visit the location this year and I was not to be disappointed. As well as loads of Chiffchaffs, Long-tailed tits and Goldcrests, I also saw a Firecrest flitting about in the brambles. Best of all though, the "pale and interesting" Chiffy was still around. Never easy to photograph, the Sibe Chiffchaff was actively feeding on the plentiful supply of flying insects near the main vehicle entrance. Although very active, it did occasionally perch up for a few moments on the chain link fence, long enough for me to get these record shots:

And under the same flat lighting conditions with the same camera settings here are some additional photos of  regular "collybita" Chiffchaffs for comparison.

I'll be visiting the site again!