Paul's Birding Diary

Saturday 1st - Saturday 8th October 2016 Hoopoe - Maspalomas A week in the hot sunshine of Gran Canaria at the start of October produced some good birds despite this island not getting much representation in the available range of published bird guides. This isn't surprising since it doesn't hold any populations of the endemic Canary pigeon species which can be found on Tenerife and La Gomera, and Blue Chaffich is much easier to find on Tenerife; next to impossible on Gran Canaria.  Based in Maspalomas at the southern tip of the island, my birding was incidental, or confined to the occasional short solo exploration on foot, in between simply being on holiday. A brackish lagoon, La Charca, stretches behind the beach at Maspalomas, cut off the sea by the beach, and with the dunes along one side. La Charca was always interesting to visit and turned up some good birds. The highlights included (no particular order): Canary Island Chiffchaff - common and vocal virtually ever...

Saturday 24th - Sunday 25th September 2016 I was back at WWT on Saturday planning to go on the morning safari. With that cancelled due to the wind, I decided to get another fill of the friendly neighbourhood Spotted Crake still performing along the South Finger Walkway on the small dragonfly pond.   I had tried at Frampton earlier for the Hen Harrier without joy, so I made a quick return visit on Sunday morning to Splatt Bridge. This visit was more productive with good views of the ring-tail Hen hunting over the 100 acre and foreshore, and even managed to get a distant record shot.

Thursday 22nd September 2016 A Spotted Crake has been showing well on the small dragonfly pond overlooked by the Van de Bovenkamp hide. It is best viewed from the hide itself rather than the path where space is limited.

Saturday 17th - Sunday 18th September 2016 I managed to identify an unusual bee in the garden at the weekend as a female Shiny-vented Sharp-tail Bee , Coelioxys inermis , after careful study and taking photographs at different angles. Using Falk and Lewington's 'Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland', and Rowson and Pavett's ' A Visual Guide for the Identification of British Coelioxys Bees ' I was able to get the ID to species level. Sharp-tail Bees are host parasites, the female using its sharp 'tail' to pierce the cells of Megachile Leaf-cutter Bees to lay its eggs in them. The shape of the female abdomen tip, viewed from underneath, was a clincher I also studied the facial setae characteristics And some recent spiders, first a Zebra Spider, Salticus scenicus , on the outside of the house: And then inside the house, this Noble False Widow Spider , Steadota nobilis , a native of the Canary Islands and Madeira, has set up ...

Sunday 11th September 2016 Juvenile Baird's Sandpiper, Upton Warren, Worcs. Sunday morning saw an impromptu trip to Upton Warren with Andy and Mark. Following early news that a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was still present from yesterday, the straightforward 45 minute trip up the M5 and an obliging bird meant that it wasn't long before we had successfully twitched this smart Yankee wader. Other interest included a Green Sandpiper , a Common Sandpiper and a Ruff . We were looking into the sun, but occasionally it did wander in front of a darker background Not complaining about the light though It was a gloriously sunny morning Baird's with Ruff Almost always in view - I do like a cooperative rarity Green Sandpiper Common Sandpiper