Quick walk around St Lawrence

Finally back from Colombia and recovered from the inevitable bug, so I decided to have a quick walk through St Lawrence - with any luck the core 'recording area' of a future Bird Observatory......

Highlights in the warm murk were seven song thrushes and twelve blackbirds along the fence line above Woody Bay, west of the coastguard cottages. Four meadow pipits emerged from the tussocky grass here too and fifteen goldfinches headed quickly east in a tight flock. Just inland, two chiffchaffs were a pleasant surprise in the SWA willow bed, with a treecreeper and four goldcrests there too. Later, two goldcrests were in birches on Love Lane, Steephill Cove, with ten blackbirds and a song thrush at the putting green in Ventnor Park at dusk.

Yellow-browes at Royal Hotel, Monks Bay and Old Station Road, with a firecrest at Royal Hotel and Grove Car Park.

Yellow-browed again calling at Ventnor Park, with two firecrests there, this morning, and another yellow-browed reported at Bonchurch Old Church on RBA.

In the evening, between five and seven black redstarts feeding on St Catherines Church, flycatching in the evening sun.

It's been another really warm day, hardly conducing to thrilling bird movements, although fifteen odd blackbirds and a couple of small (song?) thrushes chasing each other around Grove / St Catherines churchyard late afternoon suggests things have picked up a bit. There was a small party of c.15 goldfinches in the churchyard too.

Earlier, the Ventnor Park tit flock produced 3 chiffchaffs, and there were a couple of more elsewhere.

Alba wags trickle through, with around 20 during the day, up to 30 siskins, four or five skylarks, 20-odd chaffinches and, well, that's about as good as viz mig got......  

Visible migration picking up again

RBA reports that the Ventnor Park yellow-browed warbler was still present this morning and, in the  afternoon, I finally managed to connect with it, calling in street trees along the stream. I'll assume this was the same as I had here a couple of weeks back - however unlikely that is!

This morning in the garden was slightly more interesting, with increasing numbers of birds on the move, although chiffchaff numbers continue to fall:

Siskin: 20
Blackbird: 1
Meadow pipit: 3
Goldfinch: 41
Chaffinch: 3
Linnet: 7
Crossbill: 2
Alba wagtail: 7
Redpoll; 1
Thrush spp: 1
Chiffchaff: 1
Wood pigeon: 20

The walk down Zig Zag Rd produced....

Linnets: 2
Alba wags: 3
Chiffs: 5
Jay:2
Skylark: 1
Goldfinch: 20

Grove Car Park:

Goldfinch: 16
Siskin: 10
Chiffchaff:1
Alba wags: 5
Linnet: 3
Redpoll: 1
Blackbird: 2
Chaffinch: 2

Winter Gardens:
Goldfinch: 42
Siskin: 1
Mipits: 2
Alba wags:3
Stonechats: 2
Blackbirds: 1

Alma Rd:
Chiffchaff: 1

La Falaise to Myrtle Bay:

Oystercatcher: 2
Linnet: 2
Blackbird: 1
Blackcap: 1
Goldcrest: 1
Chiffchaff: 4
Goldfinch: 1

Ventnor Park:

Chiffchaff: 4
Blackbird: 5
Goldfinch: 27
Goldcrest: 2
Jay: 2
Grey wag: 1
Yellow-browed: 1 (1.40pm, calling by stream)

Castle Court:
Jay: 1
Chiffchaff: 5
Song thrush: 1
Blackbird: 1
Linnet: 20

Yellow-browed still in Ventnor Park....

Iain Outlaw got onto the yellow-browed in Ventnor Park, east of the bandstand this morning, along with two firecrests......In the afternoon, the yellow-browed was still present and calling in the small copse in the NW corner of Old Station Road.

In the garden first thing, the upswing in visible migration was immediately clear:

Linnet: 113
Meadow pipit: 11
Alba wagtail: 5
Starling: 1
Swallow: 10
Goldfinch: 30
Grey wagtail: 1
Blackbird: 2
Siskin: 6
Chaffinch: 5
Redpoll: 20
Crossbill: 2

Tristis chiff, and yellow-browed still

Southerlies and showers in the morning, very warm. The garden first thing produced:
Linnet: 51
Meadow pipit: 4
Chaffinch: 16
Goldfinch: 5

Grove Car Park was lively:
Tristis chiffchaff: 1
Chiffchaff: 20
Chaffinch: 7
Blackbird: 4
Meadow pipit: 1
Alba wagtail: 1

The yellow-browed warbler showed well and was calling on and off between 1.30 and 2.30pm at Old Station Road.

Bit more lively...and a yellow-browed....

Swirling weather system off to the west drawing south-westerlies and showers over the south-west as far east as the island. Still easterlies across northern England. Immediately obvious that more birds have arrived this morning, although it has started blustery, so not easy to pick things out.

Grove Car Park and the church yard had a tit flock with:

Goldcrest: 2
Chiffchaff: 20
Blackbird: 19
Goldfinch: 3
Grey wagtail: 1
Alba wagtail: 1

At around 1.50pm I went up to Old Station Road. I entered the loop path via the west gate. As I got to the top of the first stretch, by the chalets, where the path turns right, a yellow-browed started to call up ahead! I rushed up to the kissing gate, and got onto the bird calling continuously from the hawthorn in the fence line just beyond the NT sign. I watched as it called agitatedly for several minutes, then realised what it was on about - a kestrel sitting on its perch below the telegraph wires! The YBW continued to call loudly, giving the best views I've ever had - the pale smudge of a crown stripe was even obvious (no, not a Pallas's, nor eastern-crowned!).

Three ouzels at the base of Coombe Bottom.

Quiet

Apart from a report of yellow-browed in Ventnor Park again (on RBA), things are pretty quiet.

Elsewhere, St Caths produced a Pallas's warbler and yellow-browed.

Second yellow-browed of the autumn

Only my second visit to Old Station Road this autumn produced Ventnor's second yellow-browed warbler of the autumn. It was in with a LTT gang on the western side, moving south-west, calling. I didn't see it! There was possibly a second bird, which also called. And a male ring ouzel in Coombe Bottom.

Garden ouzels

7.30 up in the garden produced three ring ouzels briefly in the hawthorns before heading north. Full tallies on a quiet morning as follows:

Garden:

Ring ouzel: 3
Chiffchaff: 11
Meadow pipit:17
[Reed bunting? 1]
Swallow: 8
Siskin: 4
Alba wagtail: 9
Chaffinch: 4
Goldfinch: 6
Blackbird: 3
Linnet: 1

Walk into town then Salisbury Gardens:

Alba wagtail: 33
Siskin: 1
Goldfinch: 30
Linnet: 72
Chiffchaff: 8
Meadow pipit: 31
Chaffinch: 15
Swallow: 2
Grey wagtail: 1
Robin: 5

Feels rare!

With the persistent e-s-e breeze and thick cloud and spots of rain at dawn, today feels 'rare'! Up in the garden at 7am, four song thrushes around the hawthorns were a good indicator, but it was immediately obvious that visible migration was less pronounced than yesterday. The garden tally was as follows:

Alba wagtails: 1
Blackbird: 3
Song thrush: 5 (as above)
Chiffchaff: 1
Goldfinch: 8
Chaffinch: 2
Meadow pipit: 9

Grove car park or more specifically the tiny church yard here was a hive of activity, with:

Alba wagtail: 1
Chiffchaff: 15
Grey wagtail: 1
Robin: 8
Blackbird: 10 (all at each others' throats, mostly with black bills)
Black cap: 1

Twenty minutes stood at the Salisbury Gardens sun dial produced:

Alba wagtails: 21
Chiffchaffs: 5
Black bird: 2
Linnet: 33
Meadow pipit: 49

Ten minutes stood at the Rex view produced:

Goldfinch: 70
Alba wagtail: 1
Meadow pipit: 17
Chiffchaff: 3
Heron: 1
Sparrowhawk: 1
Grey wagtail: 1

Afternoon update.....

A walk around Ventnor this afternoon wasn't that eventful apart from 10 ring ouzels flushed from the abandoned field on Steephill Down. Blackcaps remain scarce; robin numbers are beginning to build up; jays remain thin on the ground; no hint of wood pigeon movements (so I'm not bothering counting them yet!); goldcrests - what are they?!

Totals as follows:

Alma Road:

Blackbird: 1
Swallow: 2
Robin: 4
Chiffchaff: 6

La Faliase to Myrtle Bay:

Robin: 7
Chiffchaff: 6
Blackbird: 1

Ventnor Park:

Robin: 10
Chiffchaff: 12
Jay: 10
Blackbird: 3
Grey wagtail: 1

Royal Hotel:

Jay: 1
Robin: 2
Grey wagtail: 1
Chiffchaff: 1

Steephill Down:

Ring ouzel: 10
Chiffchaff: 5
Goldfinch: 5
Blackbird: 4
Blackcap: 2
Chaffinch: 2
Hirundines: 10
Robin: 11
Meadow pipit: 47
Alba wagtail: 3

Visible migration picking up.....

Although the chiffchaffs have largely cleared out, with the persistent east-south-east air flow, cloud cover and chill, visible migration has finally picked up this morning.

Garden and Zig Zag Road:

Alba wagtails: 50
Meadow pipit: 3
Linnet: 8
Hirundines: 52
Phyloscs: 3
Goldfinches: 21
Song thrust / redwings: 5 (west over garden)
Blackbird: 1 (high north over garden)

Winter Gardens:

Hirundines: 256
Phyloscs: 8
Alba wags: 36
Goldfinch: 55
Meadow pipit: 41
Great-spotted woodpecker: 1
Robin: 2

Rex Cinema:

Hirundines: 85
Alba wagtails: 35
Meadow pipit: 7
Phyloscs: 3

Finally......

A smart yellow-browed warbler in Ventnor Park at 3.15! In an immobile tit flock (chiffchaff flock) by the band stand. In full sun which was rather nice. This tit flock has a rather restricted circuit so my guess is the YBW would be easy to re-find (was still present when I left). My second YBW in this bit of Ventnor Park since 2013, making this the joint most reliable part of Ventnor for YBW, alongside the Ventnor Industrial Estate area!

Also one goldcrest and 30+ chiffchaffs (i.e. the 'tit' flock) and two blackcaps, a jay, and five skittish continental blackbirds.

At nearby Flowersbrook, 5 chiffchaffs, a grey wagtail, two robins and a chaffinch drinking and bathing at the cascade.

Blowy easterlies

Strong easterlies which are set for the rest of the week and, predictably, the east coast is full of rares, with an eastern-crowned warbler and black-browed albatross at Flannelborough, White's thrust on Holy Island, etc etc.

The garden this morning produced a chiffchaff.

The walk into town was even better, with c.100 swallows battling east, a couple of chiffchaffs, and, well, that was it.

Strengthening easterlies....

Well, more like south-easterlies here on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, but from a generally easterly airflow. Things were a bit blowy up in the garden first thing, with just three or four chiffchaffs and fewer than ten meadow pipits and 50-odd swallows overhead.

The walk down into town was equally uneventful, with very few Phyloscs and barely any meadow pipits nor Hirundines overhead. There's still no sign of the heavy linnet, goldfinch nor siskin movements getting going. That said, I did have three parties of linnets fly NE over Rew Down, summing to around 60, a couple of evenings ago, and yesterday evening there were around 500 swallows feeding up on Week Down and the gold course, with 20-odd chiffchaffs in the area and a couple of blackcaps.

Two wrynecks remain up on Ventnor Downs - not somewhere I'll be venturing much as I'm frantically trying to find something - anything - in Ventnor Park this autumn......

4pm update

A wander around Ventnor Park produced a firecrest in with two gold crests (bringing my 'crest totals to three golds and two fires for the Autumn....). The Ridge held around 25 chiffchaffs with another 15 at Flowersbrook, and a couple of jays and four chaffinches. REALLY quiet!

Lovely weather, but boring....

We have south-easterlies and clear skies, so the Undercliff is dead! Ventnor Park managed a meagre ten chiffchaffs, a lone blackcap, seven or so noisy jays, and the usual grey wagtail. The rest of the country is awash with yellow-browed warblers - even Poole had three earlier - not us though. Maybe having basically no birders in the Undercliff is part of the problem?

Easterlies and a firecrest in the garden

Having seen but a single goldcrest in Ventnor so far this Autumn, the sight of a smart firecrest nip through the garden via the crab apple this morning was a pleasant surprise. The skies are clear and overnight was nippy, but this morning, like yesterday, has rapidly warmed up. We're set for another warm day, with the temperature rising above 20 degrees C.

Also over the garden were c.20 meadow pipes and 5 Alba wagtails, and a male blackcap was hopping around in the willow, with 10 odd chiffchaffs in adjacent gardens and the willow. The walk down into town was noticeably quieter than yesterday - only 3 or 4 chiffchaffs.

Jay numbers are now beginning to pick up, with a couple over the garden and three or four at Grove Road Car Park first thing.

At dusk last night, there were five-odd chiffchaffs fly catching from the willow and adjacent trees and shrubs in the garden.

Garden tick which I can't tick!

Garden tick which I can't tick: medium-sized wader with three feral pigeons, redish underside, shortish bill, lanky - OK I don't do waders but I say ruff! 

Good upturn in meadow pipit numbers with c.35 in over the garden, plus 12 Alba wags, a siskin, and three chiffchaffs in the garden. Good gang of c.35 chiffchaffs in a long-tailed tit flock (actually a chiffchaff flock) on Zig Zag, and three blackcaps in with them. Meadow pipits continuing in off the sea and small numbers of swallows from Rex Cinema. Love visible migration!

Bit more viz mig

A MARSH HARRIER flying rapidly south and out to sea over my garden at 6.35am was a welcome garden tick. c.8 chiffchaffs were feeding in the garden willow and a yellow wag flew east overhead, along with 20-odd meadow pipits.

The first Zig Zag sycamore clump was alive with chiffchaffs, some 25.

September, again.....

Here we go again - it's latish September and I'm able to spend some time birding around Ventnor. I've been here a week or so (having returned from the US) and haven't seen much of note yet. Visible migration was good when I first got back but has been quiet over the last few days. There are loads of chiffchaffs around, including c. 8 in the garden willow this morning. My walk down into town this morning was uneventful.

I'm off now, at 1.48pm, to the Botanic Gardens via Ventnor Park - maybe I'll jam into a yellow-browed - there have been hundreds along the east coast these last couple of days. Or maybe a Swainson's thrush - two up north today........

430pm update

Well, I sat for an hour at the Botanics and aside from a steady flow of chiffchaffs visiting the pond, and twenty-off swallows heading east, there was nothing of note. 

Phy: 30
Swallow: 368
Blackbird: 2
Robin: 2
Blackcap: 1
White Throat: 2

Willow Warbler: 5
Phy: 46
Blackcap: 2
Wheatear: 2
Swallow: 15
Hirundine: 20
Redstart: 1