I readily admit to being spoilt with the quality of some of my migrant visitors over the last few days! At sunrise a few days ago I noticed a small bird foraging in a 'dunnock' type manner on the main deck. With the rapidly improving light I got my bins. on it and knew it was something quite special! I grabbed a couple of shots and then realised I was looking at a Black-throated accentor! It foraged for a short time then flew over the side of the ship and was gone! A short time later a gorgeous bluethroat landed on a packing crate, flicked its' wings and tail, then dropped over the side and was on it's way south- no photograph that time.
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| black-throated accentor |
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| black-throated accentor |
Yesterday I had a couple of yellow-browed warblers that were particularly showy and seemed to enjoy posing for the camera- if only it was this easy on my local patch! Interestingly one of these birds had a fairly noticeable median crown stripe- just shows that they all need careful checking- especially in strong sunlight and way up in a canopy!
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| yellow-browed warbler |
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| yellow-browed warbler |
There has been a good supporting cast of goldcrests too, with two birds providing some drama yesterday. During a sparrowhawk sortie the two birds panicked and flew into the wheelhouse- the officer on watch called me to assist. I managed to trap them individually in corners and gently took them back down to the deck to be released. I continued with my watch and 30 minutes later the two goldcrests flew towards me. One landed on my arm and the other on my coat pocket- amazingly they looked at me for 5 seconds or so, as if they were saying 'thanks'- they then flew off and continued feeding amongst the packing crates. They remained very approachable for the rest of the day and I could hear their contact calls for a number of hours as I walked the decks.
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| goldcrest- showing off! |
Later a real stunner showed up and again flew into the sanctuary of the bridge- a Pallas's warbler! I have seen a few of these on vessel's during autumnal migrations including a bird off Norway about 5 years ago. Until a couple of weeks ago I had not seen one in Britain, but did get a fleeting glimpse of a self-found bird at St. Abbs during my recent twitch there. Anyway, this bird was very flighty and impossible to catch, so to avoid stressing it out I left it in peace. 30 minutes later it was near exhausted and slowly overheating on a window ledge. It too was then gently taken to the aft deck to join the goldcrests. Funnily enough after a brief period of recuperation in a shaded spot it flew to a blue tarpaulin and just seemed to glare at me as I took it's portrait! Such a lovely species and definitely one of my all time favourite birds! Just wish I could find them on a 'local patch'
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| Pallas's warbler- simply gorgeous! |
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| pallas's warbler- apparently not too impressed with my rescue attempt! |
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Hi Andy. You didn't make it very clear in the post....where was this??
ReplyDeleteI presume not British waters
Zac
Hi Zac- the small dialogue box to the right of the posts and below the skua header gives my latest location- currently the Black sea about 150nm east of Varna. Thanks for reading, cheers, Andy
ReplyDeleteHi Andy, this means you have been out of the territorial waters of Bulgaria in this time.
DeleteMy name is Dimiter Georgiev. Sorry for missing write it in the above comment.
DeleteSuperb photography,stunning birds.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
Hi John, once again many thanks for the compliment! I must admit to being rather spoilt- the birds are often at close quarters, tired, and with no foliage to hide in! - and with the camera/lens doing much of the work I just get the occasional nice shot.
DeleteIs Black-throated Accentor a first for Bulgaria? Assuming the waters the boat were in are classed as Bulgaria?
ReplyDeleteHi Gareth- having looked at the Bulgarian list I believe so as my vessel was in Bulgarian waters at the time. I had some difficulty submitting the record but have managed to do so after contacting Andy Musgrove at the BTO who kindly put me onto the AERC website. There may be 'single observer' issues but hopefully the photos. will help.
DeleteJust stumbled across this blog via a punkbirder post. Certainly one I'll be following from now on and will add a link from mine. Cracking photos of some great birds. Just a quick heads up though: for me at least, the dialogue box doesn't appear to show your location at the moment
ReplyDeleteHi Ilya, many thanks for the heads up- I'm not really an I.T. capable bloke so I am not really sure what to do about the dialogue box but will certainly have a look!! BTW- really liked your Shetland v Scillies blog post!
ReplyDeleteSeems to be working now anyway
ReplyDeleteHi Andy, I came to your blog via a link on Birdguides. A great blog and stunning pictures. My wife is just making a ceramic RBF after a visit to Scilly last week, so as well as the Accentor she's very taken with the RBF pictures, great stuff!
ReplyDeleteTony
Like Tony Morris I came here via Birdguides. Really enjoyed looking at previous photos and am particularly envious as I am a Marinelife surveyor and would love to get such good pics on my trips. Will follow your blog with interest.
ReplyDeleteDick