Back to Birding! - 26th September 2010

Things have been very quiet for me at least on the birding front since I got back from Tunisia. It's not that there hasn't been plenty around as a few lifers have past me by in the last few weeks but I just haven't had the time to get out. All changed on Sunday when I had a few hours free and decided to to head out to Heysham docks and call in at Conder, Pilling and Bradley Lane on the way home. I wasn't looking for anything in particular I just wanted to see what was about and hopefully get a few photos.

ABOVE 1ST WINTER HERRING GULL (I THINK!) AT HEYSHAM

ABOVE AND BELOW A LONE PURPLE SANDPIPER ON THE SHORELINE AT HEYSHAM

ABOVE LINNET AT HEYSHAM

ABOVE LITTLE EGRET AT CONDOR POOL

ABOVE REDSHANK BELOW CURLEW BOTH ON CONDER CREEK

ABOVE AND BELOW KESTREL AT BRADSHAW LANE

Skanes, Tunisia - August/September 2010 - Part lll

I haven't had any time to get out since getting back so here ase a few more photo's from our trip to Tunisia. I'm not a 100% on the identification of all the birds so if any are incorrect please let me know.

ABOVE BEE-EATER BELOW PURPLE HERON

Over the week we saw small flocks of bee-eater fly over the area but thay never landed so we were unsure what they were until I managed to take several photos as they passed over. The Purple Heron also flew over on 3 occasions and what supprised me was the size of the flock being about 25 birds. I've seen Heronries in the UK but have never seen Grey Heron flying in large flocks.

LAUGHING DOVE

Laughing Doves were frequent visitors to the are but seemed quite shy as soon moved on if there was any movement however far away.

FEMALE SPANISH SPARROW

MALE SPANISH SPARROW

Other common visitors to the pool area were Spanish Sparrows, they are distinguishable from the House Sparrow by their speckled breasts and on the males pale cheeks and chestnut crown.

SPOTLESS STARLINGS

Spotless Starlings could be heard calling every morning and small flocks would gather in surrounding trees throughout the days.

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

I'm pretty sure these are Spotted Flycatcher, we saw several of these birds around the grounds. One bird would regularly perch on a tree less than 10 feet from our sun beds.

Just the Gulls to go now once I've had time to identify them and we hope to get down to see the Red-backed Shrike at Frodsham if its still around (knowing our luck it will have moved on).

Skanes, Tunisia - August/September 2010 - Part ll Butterflies

We saw very few butterflies on our trip and the ones we saw were seen flying through the hotel grounds in the mornings usually before 9am. Out of the 3 species I managed to photograph and therefore identify 2 of them are found in the UK.

ABOVE LARGE WHITE BELOW PAINTED LADY

I haven't seen to many Painted Ladies in the UK this year their migration to this country being nothing like the numbers we had in 2009. The Large White although looks a good specimen has a small section of its lower wing missing, possibly a run in with a bird?

The third butterfly I managed to photograph was a Long-tailed Blue, a species I had not seen before. It took a while to trawl through the internet for its identification and thanks go out to Mike for his help with this. The Long-tailed Blue is a very rare migrant to the UK which isn't a suprise considering its size though is probably more to do whith its inability to survive our winters.

LONG-TAILED BLUE

Skanes, Tunisia - August/September 2010 - Part 1 Great Grey Shrike

We didn't get much bird watching done whilst in Tunisia but what little we did do in and around the hotel brought us some interesting birds. We pretty much stayed in the grounds of the Ramada resort hotel and the local scrub nearby where Reece spotted a Great Grey Shrike on a power line post.

                           

GREAT GREY SHRIKE (LANIUS ALGERIENSIS)

After looking through my Collins bird guide I think its the sub species Lanius algeriensis, the markings look good and so does the area we where stopping. We observed the bird for five minutes before is flew into some scrub joining a second bird and before they both flew further away. After exploring a little further in the scrub and surrounding area I spotted what I presume is one of the same birds in a different area.

The following morning a I spotted another GG Shrike from our balcony after hearing some Spottless Starlings getting agitated and it soon moved off. We located a bird later in the day near to the hotel and again saw several more Shrikes perched on power lines further afield while on a trip out.

It was a pleasant suprise to view the Shrikes at close quarters after missing out on several in the UK over the last year or so. I hope to post some more sightings from our trip to Tunisia over the next few days once I've identified one or two I'm struggling with.