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Tag Archives: oenanthe oenanthe

A Brilliant Day for Birds

12 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by theresagreen in bird behaviour, birds of Wales, Birdwatching on North Wales coast, Nature of Wales, nature photography, North Wales, North Wales Wildlife Trust, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

alca torda, bird migration, Black-headed Gull, coastal birds, Cormorant, gavia stellata, larus ridibundus, Northern Wheatear, oenanthe oenanthe, phalacrocorax carb, razorbill, red-throated diver, saxicola torquata, stonechat

September 10th – Little Orme, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

Taking the old cliff path around to Angel Bay, I disturbed a beautiful fresh(ly) Painted Lady butterfly. It circuited round a bit before settling on a stony patch, pressing its wings tightly against small sun-warmed limestone rocks.

160910-lorc3-painted-lady

A small crowd of people gathered on the cliff edge above Angel Bay looked promising; maybe there was something exciting to see down there? But alas, no. They were simply chatting and the beach was empty. This convinced me that as I suspected, female seals don’t give birth to their pups here; if they did they would surely be here by now. There were seals here, but only two, both swimming lazily around in the water. On this cool, misty-damp morning I suspect it was warmer in the water than out. One was hanging in the water with just its face above the water, showing off a lovely set of whiskers.

160910-lorc8-grey-seals-nose

Another was simply cruising around peacefully.

160910-lorc10-grey-seal-on-its-back

There is a thriving breeding population of Cormorants here on the Little Orme, so there is never a shortage of these brilliant birds to see, especially around their nesting site on the cliffs further around the headland. At this time of year and through the winter months, their numbers are boosted greatly and the steeply sloping cliff face that forms one side of Angel Bay is punctuated with a multitude of black dots and dashes. This is now Cormorant Central; the volume and frequency of arrivals and departures of birds rivalling that of aeroplanes into and out of a busy airport.

160910-lorc7-cormorants-on-cliff-edge

I wonder how they work out their perching places? Do early arrivals get the prime spots and do they now have their own patch, or is it up for grabs if they leave to fish for lunch? Do they stick to family or colony groups?

160910-lorc7a-cormorants-on-cliff-edge

Whilst pondering on the whys and wherefores of Cormorant society, I was distracted by two little shapes down in the Bay – definitely birds but I was, of course, on the wrong side to see them properly. It’s not uncommon to get the occasional Guillemot or Razorbill here once the breeding season is over, so I didn’t really think further than that. Winter-plumaged Red-throated Divers didn’t enter my head at the time, but that is what they were. Birds we get around this coast during the autumn and winter, but most often much further out that you need powerful optical assistance to spot.

160910-lorc11-divers-in-angel-bay

I must get back into the habit of taking binoculars out with me instead of relying on my camera’s zoom; sometimes it’s not enough. In this instance a glimpse and a snapshot was all I got anyway; these birds are for once aptly named as they do dive – a lot, reappearing nowhere near where they went under. I walked around to the other side of the rocky hump on the Penrhyn Bay side of the headland as from there you get good uninterrupted views of a wide expanse of sea. Birds fly low past here, keeping close in to the cliff, so some good views of whatever is travelling by; mostly Herring gulls and a few Black-headed gulls today.

160910-lorc15a-black-headed-gull

Black-headed gull–Larus ridibundus

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There was a Cormorant swimming around on the sea’s surface, giving a good view of the strong hooked beak.

160910-lorc14a-cormorant-swimming

A small black and white bird bobbed into view and this really was a Razorbill Alca torda. It was a good way out to sea, but close enough that I could see, through the camera lens, that it was in the process of changing from summer to winter plumage. The plumage of the throat and sides of the neck change from black to white in the winter – the side of this one’s head is still a mix of the two.

160910-lorc17a-razor-bill

It was in no hurry to move away and intent on having a good grooming session.

160910-lorc19a-razor-bill

Members of the Auk family, to which both Razorbills and Puffins belong, look a little like penguins, although they are not closely related. The next few images show some of the similarities between them; species of both have black-and-white colours, an upright posture and share some of their habits.

160910-lorc20a-razor-bill

160910-lorc27a-razor-bill

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‘bye ‘bye little Razorbill, thank you for the photographs. Have a good winter.

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160910-lorc30a-razor-bill

160910-lorc31a-large-white-bfly-caterpillar

Now a perfect example of how my mind skips around. Although tuned into ‘bird mode’, I spotted a wild cabbage plant and thought ‘maybe there’ll be a Large White butterfly’s caterpillar on those leaves’. And there was, so a gap in my  last-but-one post can be filled in!

I was watching the Razorbill et al for a good half an hour, maybe more, then walked back around the cliff to have a last look around Angel Bay. The seals had gone, but the movement of a smallish bird on the cliff edge caught my eye. Rock Pipit came to mind, but no, it was a much lovelier Northern Wheatear. It was either waiting for the weather to improve or taking in some food before continuing on his long migration back to warmer climes; perhaps both.

160910-lorc34-northern-wheatear

Northern Wheatear – Oenanthe oenanthe

160910-lorc33a-northern-wheatear

I’m not certain whether this was a male or female as when males are in their winter plumage both sexes appear similar. I’m edging towards male as there seems to be a slate-grey patch remaining at the top of the wing. The bird’s common name of ‘Wheatear’ has nothing to do with its food preferences or its ears, but refers to its white rump (i.e white a**e)!

160910-lorc36a-northern-wheatear

More people arrived at the cliff edge and my bird flew away, down onto the big rocks on the beach.

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I began heading in the general direction of the ‘way out’, but hearing a Stonechat nearby diverted to see if I could find it. They’re one of my favourite birds and are often obliging in terms of appearing in the open. I wasn’t disappointed; as I passed by one perched up on top of a bramble, within whose tangled depths a pair have regularly nested.

160910-lorc37-stonechat

At first I thought this was an adult female , but as I got a closer look I could see it still has a speckled head, so it’s probably a juvenile of this year’s brood.

160910-lorc38a-stonechat

Robins were out singing all around the site today, but more wary now of being seen than when they sing in the spring. The one I finally got close enough to photograph was perched on a bracken frond keeping a beady eye out for movements on the ground below, ready to pounce.

160910-lorc40a-robin-on-bracken

160910-lorc41arobin-on-bracken

 

 

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Northern Wheatears stop-over

18 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by theresagreen in Birdwatching on North Wales coast, Nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bird migration, birds on rocks, Northern Wheatear, northern wheatear migration, northern wheatear non-breeding plumage, oenanthe oenanthe, penrhyn bay

Summer is definitely on the wane and signs of encroaching autumn are becoming increasingly apparent on an almost daily basis. The hoped-for Indian Summer has yet to arrive and the weather continues to be as unpredictable as ever. It keeps life interesting though and the new season has already brought forth some amazing sightings of birds that threaten to dominate the blog now if I’m not careful. I thought I might feature one particular species of bird every week or so, beginning with the Northern Wheatear as they are clearly on migration now and sightings will probably be sporadic and for a brief time only.

9th September

Walking along the promenade between Rhos-on-Sea and Penrhyn Bay I stopped to watch some Pied Wagtails that were chasing flies along a length of the wall and over the big boulders of the sea defense. I love their agility and grace and could watch them for ages, but today I was distracted from their antics by the presence of a less common visitor, a handsome Northern Wheatear.

9/9/11-A very strongly-coloured individual

The Northern Wheatear or Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus  Oenanthe in Europe and Asia.

9/9/11-Wheatears are larger than a European Robin at 14.5-16cm in length. Both sexes have a white rump with a black inverted 'T' pattern at the end of the tail.

The Northern Wheatear is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in Europe and Asia with footholds in northeastern Canada and Greenland as well as in northwestern Canada and Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and rabbitburrows. All birds winter in Africa.

9/9/11-Wheatears have the typical upright stance of Members of the thrush family

I am more used to seeing these birds in their summer breeding plumage; in Spain they breed in the mountains, and in Wales I have seen them in mainland Pembrokeshire and on Skomer Island,when males and females have been easy to separate. The distinctive plumage of the summer male has grey upperparts, buff throat and black wings and face mask. However, in autumn it resembles the female apart from the black wings. The female is pale brown above and buff below with darker brown wings.

I’m not altogether sure what sex the ones I saw belong to – the difference in the strength of colour on the breasts was quite marked, with some individuals being a very warm pink-orange and others a paler buff-pink.

9/9/11- The Wheatears feed on insects and larvae

The male has a whistling, crackly song. Its call is a typical chat chack noise.

Migration 

The birds I am seeing here will be on their return journey to Africa where they will spend the winter, stopping over to take advantage of any available food to fuel the next stage of their journey south.

9/9/11- Glimpsed from this angle, the Wheatear may be confused with a European Robin

The Northern Wheatear makes one of the longest journeys of any small bird, crossing ocean, ice, and desert. It migrates from Sub-Saharan Africa in Spring over a vast area of the northern hemisphere that includes northern and central Asia, Europe, Greenland, Alaska, and parts of Canada. In Autumn all return to Africa, where their ancestors have wintered.

Birds of the large, bright Greenland race, leucorhoa, makes one of the longest transoceanic crossings of any passerine. In spring most migrate along a route (commonly used by waders and waterfowl) from Africa via continental Europe, the British Isles, and Iceland to Greenland. However, autumn sightings from ships suggest that some birds cross the North Atlantic directly from Canada and Greenland to southwest Europe (a distance of up to 2500 km). Birds breeding in eastern Canada are thought to fly from Newfoundland to the Azores (a distance of 1600 km) before flying onwards to Africa. Other populations from western Canada and Alaska migrate by flying over much of Eurasia to Africa.

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‘But it is the common species that keep the living world ticking over and provide most of our experiences of wildlife, and I would argue that maintaining the abundance of these is as important a conservation priority as maintaining the existence of rarities’. Richard Mabey

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