Northern Gannets

Interest in Gannets has been heightened this week with a report of a possible Australasian Gannet off the English east coast. In Lothian we are fortunate to host an estimated 50,000 breeding pairs of Northern Gannets on Bass Rock - for most months of the year there are a lot of Gannets passing offshore. So many that when seawatching off this coast I'd say it is normal practice to set the brain to 'ignore-all-gannets' mode.

It is possible to land on the Bass to observe and photograph the birds at close quarters, and although the trips do not come cheap, I would recommend the experience. (For trips see the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick.) I was lucky enough to participate in one of these trips to Bass Rock in June 2007. The weather was cold, windy and overcast with heavy showers threatening. We were advised that landing may be impossible, and while that turned out not to be the case, the conditions for photography were far from ideal. No shots of gleaming birds against azure sky for me.

Here is my best shot from that day. It took about 50 minutes of a stealthy approach lying down in Gannet guano to get this image of two birds with North Berwick Law in the background. Even then I had to photoshop an awkward third bird's beak out of the right hand side of the picture. (Is that cheating? and should I have gone the whole hog and removed the three blurry flying birds as well?... )

The following flight shots of adults were taken on a pelagic trip off Newcastle in September 2010 organised by Martin Kitching.

Clearly I was having trouble getting the wings in shot...

Here are some younger Northern Gannets. The first is a first summer bird and the second a second summer bird.

It is interesting to see the difference in extent of white plumage between these two birds - just a few body feathers in the first year (above) and then head, body, lesser coverts of the upperwings and uppertail coverts in the second year (below). The latter can be particularly striking birds.

Finally, here are some slightly older birds that show predominantly adult type plumage but with dark secondaries and tail feathers. These birds appear to aged as 3rd year birds (using data from birds of known age) in Bryan Nelson's monograph although the illustrations show some other darker feathers in the body and coverts. However, a rare variant of 4th year birds is described in the Collins guide for birds with completely white body plumage and coverts.

It is birds in this plumage that can resemble Australasian Gannet or Cape Gannet. The first of these birds was photographed in June 2007 at the Bass Rock. I have tentatively aged this striking bird as a 4th year with its adult body feathers and coverts combined with many black secondaries using the Collins' criteria. Both wings had a classic piano-key look that allowed easy confirmation as a Northern Gannet. The second photo, taken as this bird came in to land on the rock, revealed that only the central pair of tail feathers were yet to moult.

The second bird, photographed on the pelagic off Newcastle in September 2010 looked considerably more interesting as it approached the boat. Only as it passed overhead and away could the extent of immature feathering on the upper and underwing coverts be seen. This would appear to be aged as a 4th year bird according to Collins, but a 3rd year according to Nelson's ringing data. Maybe both ages can show this plumage, however, notice that the underside is finely spotted with black, a feature that seems to be absent from the bird above and maybe consistent with an earlier age. The second picture shows a paler secondary on the right hand side, presumably this feather would show up as a nice white secondary in a shot of the upper wing.

So, other than the presence of the white secondary feather in the right wing, how would a 3rd/4th year Australasian Gannet or Cape Gannet differ from the bird above? Well, without direct experience of the species, I can only guess, but I would imagine that the smaller size of either potential vagrant may well be one of the first real clues to its identity. The Northern Gannet is larger and bulkier, being adapted to foraging in a colder climate.

In a view like the one above, a Cape Gannet would usually show an all dark tail but would certainly show a much longer black gular stripe extending from the base of the bill down the centre of the neck. The gular stripe of would be about twice the length of that shown in the bird above. The gular stripe is bare skin and its length allows the Cape Gannet to loose heat more efficiently in arid breeding colonies.

Separating this bird from an Australasian Gannet would maybe be more tricky, although I think that the gular stripe is narrower in that species compared to the bird above, although that would be a very difficult distinction to make in the field (and possibly is incorrect). On the other hand, the Australasian Gannet has a darker grey iris which may stand out in comparison with the strikingly pale iris of the Northern Gannet.

For more on the separation of Australasian and Cape Gannets see this thread on BirdForum, particularly for a nice head shot of both species together at a colony in South Africa.

Great Black-backed Gulls

A small selection of photos of Great Black-backed Gulls taken in September 2010 off Newcastle on a pelagic trip with Martin Kitching's Northern Experience. Impressive birds, always keeping close attendance on the lookout for discarded fish.

Jumping cholla cactus, Joshua Tree National Park

I parked the car at the cholla cactus garden right next to this sign. Better warn the kids I thought as I got out of the car. Too late, within seconds one of them had skipped through the fence, and was merrily picking up a piece of cactus that had 'jumped' off one of the main plants.

"Don't touch that!", I yell, and my shout causes her hand to twitch. This is when she starts yelling...

Calm down, I tell her wondering why she is making such a fuss. "Its only a few spines!" and the plant seems to be barely attached to the side of her hand. So I hop over the fence, and grab the cactus in order to remove it.

At this point I understand her pain. The spines are improbably sharp, they penetrate deeply and they are microscopically barbed. We are now locked together and in real pain. At this point I realise I have to grasp the nettle and grab the cactus even more firmly in order to pull each of the barbed spines out of her hand. This works, but leaves the plant very firmly attached to me.

Without warning I am assaulted by a stick-wielding offspring number two. A carefully aimed blow fails to dislodge the cactus, but instead drives more spines deeper into my flesh. "Stop it!" "Sorry, I was just trying to brush it off with this branch." Of course, without experiencing the piercing grip of the cholla cactus it is difficult to understand how un-brush-off-able the plant actually is, so I try to be grateful for the attempted help. But fail.

The stick does help in the end though. I jam the cactus between the stick and the fence and then, with tears in my eyes, rip my hand away from the spines. Each point gives up with a struggle, pulling the skin into a point before release. Many of the tips stayed within the skin to be pushed slowly to the surface over the next few weeks.

So, take care if you are visiting this fearsomely impressive plant, as I am not sure that even the Cactus Wren would fancy a close encounter with it.

Common Crossbill on Sanday

Mountain biking this morning at Glentress, in the Borders, and the spruce trees seemed to be full of Common Crossbills. We watched two birds at close range perching on one of the poetry-inscribed stones at the edge of the red trail. One looked a typical female type but the other was a lovely (young male?) with pale body feathers and a bright yellow rump. I was wishing that I had binoculars or camera with me - although they might not have been very helpful at other moments...

I grew up with Common Crossbills being regular birds in the trees around the house and, as a result, they are one of my favourite birds. While flocks were seen on a seemingly daily basis, and prolonged views of feeding birds could be had regularly, it was a rare event that really good close views could be obtained.

Strangely, after a childhood surrounded by conifers, my best ever view of a feeding Common Crossbill was on the virtually tree-less Isle of Sanday, Orkney, in the summer of 2009.

We had just arrived at a cottage that we had rented for the week at the Peedie Sea and to welcome us a Common Crossbill flew in to watch me unpack the car boot. It appeared to be a second year male, as it was pretty red but also showed quite a number of immature feathers, and it also showed a thin but distinct wing bar caused by narrow pale fringes on the greater coverts. After sitting on the fence for a while it was soon tucking into grass seed and it fed in the area on and off for the next few days. Hopefully it made landfall elsewhere later in a more suitable habitat...

Angel wings

I put the wrong yeast in the bread-machine the other day. Well, I'll take the loaf to Duddingston Loch after the school run as a treat for the ducks. "Don't kill one with that thing", I was advised. Fair enough since the loaf was like a brick.

The Canada Geese at the Loch seemed particularly appreciative and given that it has been a tough winter I didn't mind feeding these friendly brutes rather than saving morsels for other birds. A little too close for the lens perhaps, but I still get a kick from getting views of any birds like this.

Even feral geese...









One of the Canada Geese kept a little further away. It was suffering from angel wings - a distinctive developmental problem where one, or in this case, both wings are twisted and protrude from the bird sideways. I felt a little sorry for this one, but it did not seem to be particularly interested in my offerings. Nevertheless, look on the bright side, I thought, the condition provides a good view of the black tail, white uppertail coverts and black rump which are normally concealed from view...

It turns out that, while this developmental condition is not well understood, it is not necessarily thought to be genetic. Instead, it is hypothesised that it is a condition brought about by an inappropriate diet - a diet excessively rich in protein. Angel wings occurs in populations of wildfowl that are fed by humans and it is suggested that excess protein in the food provided by humans causes excessively fast wing feather growth in young birds. This increased feather bulk and mass causes the young developing wing-tip to twist at the carpo-metacarpal joint and the wing then develops in an inappropriate position.

Looks like this bird was right not to take my bread after all.

Second (and first) winter herring gulls (oops!)

Well if that isn't a great headline I don't know what is...

Thought that since the blog had already strayed into a few areas of impossibly speculative identifications this week (e.g. Nordic Jackdaw and Mealy Redpoll only yesterday) then I may as well post these pictures of second winter Herring Gulls photographed at Nimmo's Pier, Galway, on 28 December. My aging and subspecific identification of these Herring Gulls is tentative, as there is a bewildering array of plumage types and patterns out there...

This first bird is possibly of the northern argentatus subspecies as it was a bulkier bird in direct comparison to other similarly aged birds (though maybe it is just a large male?) and it has heavily marked scapular feathers. Its wing coverts were unusually uniform in colour and a little more bleached compared to most others. How common is that?

Hmm... I am now beginning to wonder whether I have aged this bird correctly. I aged it as a second winter based on the heavily worn rounded tips to the primaries. However, looking at almost all other features of the plumage, it appears to be a first winter and now that I have considered it as a first winter - it seems perfect, and the primary tips on closer inspection are slightly pointed. So, scratch the comment above, this is not an unusual second winter with retained juvenile coverts, it is a first winter that appears to have more abraded primaries than normal. Ok... let's move on...

The next bird was only seen in flight but had a grey background colour, a finely barred rump and fairly uniform wings. I think that it has been suggested that birds with this plumage could be reasonably common among the Icelandic argenteus population, but that they are not restricted to that area. It is also possible that some argentatus may look like this. Any ideas?

I enjoyed photographing the next bird, which caught my eye as it had a slightly more advanced moult of its silvery mantle feathering and a whiter head. I think that it may be from a less northerly population to have progressed its moult - although of course there is much individual variation - but I'm going to guess its a local argenteus bird. It also showed a darker and more finely vermiculated greater covert bar than most of the other birds in the group and a strongly dark leading edge of the wing - both characters are shared with the bird above.

Enough for now... If you know more about large white-headed gulls than me, which is quite likely, then please do drop me a line and maybe I could add some more informative captions!

Lothian ticks: Nordic Jackdaw and Mealy Redpoll

Took my sandwiches for a walk at the Braid Hills at lunchtime, since it was a nice day. Turned out to be a good decision.

Not only did I add fly-over Grey Wagtail, Collared Dove and 8 Stock Doves to my Lothian year list (about time for these three species!) but I managed to self-find a couple of Lothian life ticks.

Okay, so Nordic Jackdaw is not considered a full species, and I have probably seen it in Lothian already (see here for Lothian possibles and two more definite birds in Galway) - but it has been one of my target subspecies over this winter. The partial collars of both of these presumed monedula can be seen quite clearly here, although they did looked better in real life than in these cropped photos!

Note the 'headlamp' effect when this bird is viewed from the front. This was reminiscent of the Straiton carpark bird in March 2010. Quite possibly today's bird will look even more striking by March as feather wear is likely to enhance the pale collar.

The other Lothian tick was a Mealy Redpoll (right and below) at long, long last. Probably the biggest 'hole' in my county list (still plenty to fill...) - somehow previously I have avoided clapping eyes on a flammea Redpoll in Lothian. In past years most of my Redpoll sightings have been unidentified fly-over birds, or the breeding species, Lesser Redpoll.

With the current invasion of Mealy Redpolls into Britain, on the other hand, I was fairly confident that I could find one within easy walking distance of the house, and sure enough, today I found a small group of Redpolls in trees at the edge of the Braid Hills Golf Course. The first two I looked at were clearly Lesser Redpolls, as they were very brown with strong buff tips to their wing coverts.

The third bird was bigger, paler, with a longer tail and a lovely long primary projection crossing over the tail.

It then moved to another tree and showed nice pale tramlines, bold white covert bars and a strikingly white rump. This is as mealy a Mealy Redpoll as it is possible to get. It is so far along the scale that the potential confusion species is not cabaret Lesser Redpoll but instead exilipes Coues' Arctic Redpoll (see elsewhere on this blog for more about Redpolls).
















Of course exilipes can be a difficult form to identify, but in this case the mantle and flank streaking of this bird is too strong and the structure of the bird is better for Mealy Redpoll. Note that the picture on the left gives an inaccurate impression of a small bill - in life the bird had a normal sized and shaped bill for a Mealy Redpoll.


The bird then dived into the centre of a large thick hawthorn and gave a brief view of its nice white rump feathers raised (just visible in picture on left) - a pretty good feature for exilipes perhaps, but in fairness just as good for a male flammea. And then it was gone. Redpolls are like that...

So, a great walk with some great birds. What could top that. Well another few de-pigmented Carrion Crows. Here's one in flight carrying, accidentally (I presume), a dead oak leaf.

Greylag geese at Alnwickhill

During lunchtime I nipped to Alnwickhill Water Treatment Works, which is nearby and a loafing spot for gulls. There were few around today, probably as a result of the heavy machinery operating in the area. Edinburgh's new water supply pipe is being laid just next to the site, and when it is connected the treatment plant will be redundant. Not sure what the various gulls, Northern Lapwings and wildfowl will do then. Certainly, I don't think there will be many suitable alternatives for them in the immmediate neighbourhood. Of course, I think that one of the reasons for the new pipe is the unwanted combination of flocks of birds floating around on Edinburgh's drinking water.

Today's highlight was a small flock of Greylag Geese in a field next to the works. I haven't seen them here before, although I have seen small numbers of Canada Geese on the filter beds.

Of course Greylag Geese can be seen year round at Duddingston Loch at the base of Arthur's Seat, and that is probably where these birds are from. I do see the Duddingston birds over the house fairly frequently.

On the other hand, they just might be real wild birds born and bred in Iceland. I do see skeins of those (I presume) high overhead once in a while, though not as often as the Pink-footed Geese.

Today's Greylags certainly looked a bit smarter and behaved a bit wilder than this bird I photographed at Duddingston Loch earlier in the year. It was suffering from a deformity or damage to its bill which appeared to be giving it some trouble preening - a very unkempt look indeed.

Blue Monday

Today is the most depressing day of the year, or so the radio told me this morning. It is because it is the third Monday of the year apparently. Well, if that's true, wouldn't it be better to tell us all towards the end of the day, or even better have it as a good news story tomorrow - Headline: It's official!! All remaining days in year better than yesterday!

Birdwise they might have had a point as all I managed to glimpse in the garden today was a Woodpigeon and a Pheasant. Actually, the latter is a good bird in the garden but thinking about it that's pretty depressing if the avifauna of my garden is so poor that a category C1E species is a highlight...

So how to cheer up? If it is Blue Monday maybe some blue birds are the answer? After all, two species of blue birds were highlights for me in 2010.

The first, the Western Bluebird is the first of the Sialia bluebirds that I have managed to catch up with. This particular male was seen on our first full day in California in April. It is a jaw-dropping combination of vivid blue, orange, white and chestnut. Just one of those birds that is more mouthwatering in the field than in the field guide.

The female may be a little more subdued, but the male is so bright that it could only lift the spirits.

Oh, hang on, that habitat doesn't look very nice - a little off-putting with the barbed wire... And what is that little sign next to the picnic table. Oh, dear me, that's not very nice...

Well, ignore that blue bird, what about the other one. Fast forward to 16 October - I am on Fair Isle and happily photographing Mealy Redpolls in Tommy's garden at the Auld Haa when I get a shout - Red-flanked Bluetail on Ward Hill! Now I'm one of those non-twitching, low-listing birders who is quite happy to stare at a couple of Herring Gulls for a few hours, but the shout of RFB turned me into a raving twitcher ready to mow down any sheep that got in my way. After a red flag lift in the van up to the airport and then a near sprint up the side of Ward Hill to the area, all the birders on the island were assembled for that Fair Isle field craft technique - the mass flush! After some nerve-wracking minutes the bird gave up and sat for the next hour quivering (its tail) next to a rabbit hole. So absolutely amazing scope views of a RFB for a whole hour!

Here's my phonescoped pic. Oh, how come that picture is soooooo bad? Arghh, how depressing, it was there for a whole hour and that was the best I can do. Oh I can't believe I'm so bad at this. That must but the worst Red-flanked Bluetail picture on the whole web...