It's Raining Birds..

Our garden was drenched in chiffchaffs this morning, loads of them. Just hoping one of them turns into a greenish or barred warbler. No luck so far.

Migrants at St Mary's

Wheatear

Wheatear, Whinchat, Chiffchaff, Pied Flycatcher and Blackcap were seen at St Mary's today, as some migrants arrive at last.

Chiffchaff

Bay Watch 23/04 - Spring Episode

15th April along the waggonway

What a difference a week makes. On the 15th of April I took a local walk round the patch and other than Chiffchaff and a single Sand Martin there were no summer visitors.

Today was a different story. Passing Monkseaton metro station I had Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat. Along the waggonway there were more warblers, mainly Willow warblers and Chiffchaffs.

At St Mary's I had my first Sedge Warbler. Swallows and Sand Martins are now around in numbers and Sandwich Terns are crying out.



All in all I feel it is now time to say it - Spring has sprung. Roll on the summer.

Today along the waggonway (warbler boulevard)

Chiffchaff

Willow Warbler (too quick for me)

Sandwich Tern

Peacock Butterfly (not a Painted Lady as shown on some North Tyneside Council signs)

Starlings on the beach

Purple Sandpiper

Reed Bunting

Sand Martins checking out the cliffs on Whitley Beach

Dessicated Frog

Dessicated Lumpsucker

Don't ask. This type of thing happens when the sun comes out in Whitley.

Sorting the Chiffs from the Chaffs

When I was a lad, all you needed to do to ID a Chiffchaff was to look for dark legs and listen for either it's song, chiff-chaff or it's call hweet, hweet ........simple. But that has all changed.

Advances in taxonomy, thanks to birdbrains at the London Institute of Bird Science, now means that there are several different types of Chiffchaff. And what's more it takes more than a few good field notes to tell them apart. Now you'll need a Chiffchaff testing kit.

Portable Chiffchaff testing kit

The testing kit enables the birder to clearly ID; Common Chiffchaff, Siberian Chiffchaff and Iberian Chiffchaff.

Last Monday I came across two Chiffchaffs feeding in trees along the Brierdene in Whitley Bay. Luckily I had my testing kit with me.

First lets look at the evidence collected at the scene:

Video



Call


Sonagram

The upward inflection of the call is diagnostic of Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) but what I found interesting was the first note is immediately followed by a second at a slightly lower frequency. Checking the Xeno-Canto website showed this to be quite normal - take a look - http://www.xeno-canto.org/species.php?species_nr2=6598.00

Conclusion: Common Chiffchaff

Another ornithological mystery solved.

Now just for fun, can anyone suss out what this is?


References:
'Siberian Chiffchaff' Phylloscopus collybita tristis: discussion and photo gallery.
http://www.btinternet.com/~deanar/tristis/tristis.htm

Identification of vagrant Iberian Chiffchaffs – pointers, pitfalls and problem birds
J. Martin Collinson and Tim Melling
http://www.club300.de/...iberian_chiffchaff/2008_Ibe_Chiffchaff_British_Birds. pdf

Bay Watch 31/03 starring Phoenicurus ochruros

The patch walk today started along the Waggonway past Churchill playing fields and on to the Brierdene. Then over the fields to the cemetery and along the sea front home. The star finds were two Black Redstarts in Whitley Bay cemetery, a male and a female, gerrin! Other birds of note included a Chiffchaff and er, not much else.

The route was interesting thanks to the heavy rain yesterday.............

.......the footpath is under there somewhere.

Many of the Elders have this on them. Wonder what it might be?

Whitley Sea Front

I passed the fair being erected on the links and a painting on one of the rides caught my eye.........

You can't tell me that wouldn't hurt!

Also picked up a Blogger tick - Birding Sometimes

4 Sand Martins and a Chiffchaff

Got a report of a Common Crane today near Eshott so I fired up the Quattro and spent an hour scanning the fields where it was reported. Couldn't find it but saw 3 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels and got some recordings of Skylark and Lapwings, the latter displaying with some impressive aerobatics. 31 seconds into the following recording you can hear the powerful wing beats of a Lapwing as it displays.



Turns out I was looking in the wrong field for the Crane. Birding Sometimes has a very helpful map here. And Dusted Off Bins has managed some pics.

Next it was a flying visit to East Chevington. I had 4 Sand Martins flying northwards and a Chiffchaff in the trees north of the reserve by the pay and display car park.