Joe Stockwell
@joestockwell.bsky.social
Birds and Moths. Weymouth, Portland and Abbotsbury Swannery. Sometimes further afield.
I'm not entirely sure what happened to my English in this post. I'll try harder next time.
Joe Stockwell@joestockwell.bsky.social · 2d agoEclipse Drake Scaup present for 2nd day, slightly hesitant on its purity yesterday as a duck we'reseeing less and less and less of each year let alone in this plumage! @swannerysteve.bsky.social
Eclipse Drake Scaup present for 2nd day, slightly hesitant on its purity yesterday as a duck we'reseeing less and less and less of each year let alone in this plumage! @swannerysteve.bsky.social
Eclipse Drake Scaup present for 2nd day, slightly hesitant on its purity yesterday as a duck we'reseeing less and less and less of each year let alone in this plumage! @swannerysteve.bsky.social
Siberian Chiffchaff from the first net round at the Swannery this morning @swannerysteve.bsky.social
Quiet local day with the family, lots of Chiffs in the gardens, Coal Tit calling from the Rodwell Trail, first Siskin of the Autumn for me, good Swallow passage around noon. Shoulder of lamb resting nicely, Rosè cooling. Good Sunday!
Something of a really frustrating "one that got away" this morning. This Yellow Wagtail appeared to be tagging a flock of Skylark, giving quite an odd, buzzy type call, followed by more descending flava'ish calls. Immediate thought was thunbergi but sadly without better views it wasn't clinched.
Presumed Great Black-backed X Herring just now at the Swannery, any opinion greatly recieved, these things are beyond me!
3 Glossy Ibis over Weymouth Harbour while i'm having a pint!
Tidying up a net ride when I became aware of some crunching behind me, astonished to find a Lesser Emperor devouring a Migrant Hawker just a meter from my head!
Black-winged Kites from Manche, Normandy last week. The absolute highlight of my morning walks, I'd pinned a site that I thought I might see one, never in a million years did I think I'd see as many as 6 in one morning! They were an everyday feature seemingly everywhere I birded within a 20km radius
After ringing just two birds today I decided to pack up at 2pm, I was very pleased to then flush this Tebenna micalis - Beautiful Twitcher from under my feet! A new moth for me and the Swannery.
A short visit to Domaine de Beauguillot on our way it was quiet, although quickly enlivened by a beautiful 1cy Hen Harrier just a short stroll from the parking area one of two seen today. Homeward bound now to join in the seemingly non-existent autumn birding around Weymouth and Portland!
Pointe de Brévands again for an an hour with the family this morning, quieter but for a Tawny Pipit over which must be, like the UK a half decent bird in these parts now. A juv Little Gull flew past point blank for some great pics!
Morning mooch around Pointe de Brévands, has the feel of a proper migration hotspot if a little quiet today, several Bluethroat, Wryneck, Corn Bunting, flock of Terns, 2 Curlew Sand etc. Really nice!
Today has just had it all, glorious morning, Black-shouldered Kites all over the show, a vide grenier and some tremendous food and wine!
Just having a spot of lunch in Carentan on the Cherbourg peninsula, 2 White Stork over, a Short-toed Treecreeper next to our Chalet, juv Honey Buzzard last night. It's never bad being in France!
Some unknown larva found demolishing our nicotiana plants a few weeks ago were suspected to be Golden Twin-spot, I fed a few up before pupation and yesterday a pristine GTS emerged!
Nice to get the Autumn Caspian Gull tally started this afternoon with this absolute monster 1cy bird, the first of many hopefully! @swannerysteve.bsky.social
How times have changed, 7 Small Marbled in the Swannery traps last night and I barely blinked! Also Tufted Oak Knot-horn (tumidana), 3 Vestal, 2 Delicate and the regulars all present. Dark-Bordered Pearl (limbata) was new for the site the previous night.
Glossy Ibis east over the Swannery. May have landed but lost behind trees @swannerysteve.bsky.social
Sublime views of today's juv Black Tern at the Swannery, reappearing at 4:30 It showed superbly well around the tern rails, although just about annual lately they never show this well @swannerysteve.bsky.social
2 Small Marbled were the first for a while, along with 35 Rush Veneer, 25 Small Mottled Willow, 5 Turnip, 3 Silver-Y, 2 Dark Sword-grass and singles Diamond-back, vitrealis and Pearly Underwing. Very blowy for the most part so I wasn't too disappointed!
Poor returns trapping in Weymouth last night, although 5 Vitrealis were the first of the weekend, Campion something I see very infrequently, another Striped Hawk and the other routine migrants so all was not entirely lost
Change of scene with a long weekend ahead, trapping in my Weymouth garden last night produced two new "in-trap" moths for me, finally a Striped Hawkmoth and Crescent Dart, might put two on tonight! (Left the moth camera at work 🤦♂️)
Jersey Mocha the best from the Abbotsbury traps last night, first here for a few years. Numbers considerably down on previous nights.
Caspian Tern just flown over the Swannery grounds, quite purposefully north @swannerysteve.bsky.social
Gem the pick of last nights migrants at the Swannery, also Small Marbled, 72 Small Mottled Willow, 20 Rusty-dot Pearl, 4 Diamond-back + Rush Veneer, 3 Silver-y, Willow Ermines up to 92 but they do occasionally breed here. First Radford's showing up the last two nights
Many-lined the pick of the bunch at the Swannery last night - although chasing it half way across the site to pot it was not ideal! Also Small Marbled, 18 Small Mottled Willow, 5 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 each Diamond-back Rush Veneer and a Pearly Underwing + loads of yearticks in 110+ species.
