Ouessant rarity madness (1 Viewer)

[opisska]

Time for another real time report. Today (Friday 14) we are supposed to drive from Prague to Paris, pick up a friend there and continue early morning tomorrow to catch the 14:30 boat from Le Conquet to Ouessant. Then we will spend a grant total of two nights there and head back.

This insane itinerary was created by a confluence of factors. My wife has a surgery on Oct 26 and the doctors require two pre-op examinations at various timeframes. I had to teach yesterday on top of that - so we can only leave today after the checkup - which is now ongoing and I really hope it's not gonna be too long, because it's a 10-hour drive to Paris. And then we must be back for another checkup next Friday - and our Friend must be back to Paris on Tuesday - so she's gonna take a TGV from Brest, while we at least will have a couple of days to backtrack more slowly.

Getting accomodation on Ouessant was complicated - the tourist center speaks English, but they are just gonna direct you to their web "search" for accomodations and that search ia just gonna give you a list of places with pnohe numbers. I tried a handful, NOONE picked the phone up - they probably don't want to be bothered by tourists I received an email response from a very interesting place next to the big lighthouse eventually, but too late, we already booked an expensive AirBnB for the two nights.

Thanks to the endless goodness of people on BirdForum, I was able to infiltrate two Telegram groups and have a pretty good overview of what birds we could get - yesterday there was a Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Harrier and Radde's Warbler; according to other sources plenty of Great Shearwaters are in the waters, so that would be 4 ticks already, not bad.

On that note, does anyone has any resources on Northern Harrier ID It's a pretty new split, I found some info even in the Two-arm Book, but the more the merrier.

So it could all be pretty fun, or a disaster, depending on whether we can actually catch yhe boat - it's 1600 kms from Prague! Also there is a strike in France and many gas stations don't have fuel, but it's 1000kms exactly from German border and my car does typically about 950 to the full tank ... I was trying to buy a spare canister, but it's apparently a problem for Diesel, as the car has some mechanism to prevent wrong fuel and you can't just pour it in without the properly sized pistol ....

But right now my wife writes me that the ECG will be ready in 5 minutes, so there is a chance that we will be on our way. Well, we must pick a 50kg vag of potatoes for the Paris friends first ....

 

[rosbifs]

Good luck

Definitely licking my lips from SW France about the goings on on these Islands - Sein and Ouessant. I think FatPaulScholes is an regular visitor so may have so hints and tips. The 'Pipit' area looked interesting with OB, RT, Richards and Pechora over the last few days...

Les observations récentes - www.faune-france.org

www.faune-france.org

HAs some pictures of the actual Harrier...

 

[opisska]

Rumours were true, there is very little furl around Paris. We should have gotten some earlier on the highway!! Now pumping at about 3 liters per minute at the only open station around ....

 

[Andy Adcock]

'Les observations recentes'....sounds like something Del Trotter would say when trying to speak French to a woman in a pub, English but with a French accent.....

 

[opisska]

So we arrived at Ouessant at 4 pm, after a pleasant but tubenose-free sailing, where the highlight were a few Guillemots. We immediately headed to the Red-eyed Vireo site, where we first got drenched by a quick rain and then failed to see the bird - reportedly it was last seen about an hour before our arrival. We then stopped at a site where Radde's was seen before and looked around the general area where the Northern Harrier was sometimes seen, but to no avail. The harrier moves all around the island and is really elusive for such a big bird.

So for the first day we have nothing to show! Seems to me we missed the best days as the reports have been much slower today. And tomorrow it's gonna be rainier - well this still beats sitting at home by a long stretch but I already feel like we need to come back for longer!

 

[Farnboro John]

So we arrived at Ouessant at 4 pm, after a pleasant but tubenose-free sailing, where the highlight were a few Guillemots. We immediately headed to the Red-eyed Vireo site, where we first got drenched by a quick rain and then failed to see the bird - reportedly it was last seen about an hour before our arrival. We then stopped at a site where Radde's was seen before and looked around the general area where the Northern Harrier was sometimes seen, but to no avail. The harrier moves all around the island and is really elusive for such a big bird.

So for the first day we have nothing to show! Seems to me we missed the best days as the reports have been much slower today. And tomorrow it's gonna be rainier - well this still beats sitting at home by a long stretch but I already feel like we need to come back for longer!

There's considerable wisdom in this remark. Both Scilly and Shetland repay treatment as campaigns over years, not quick hits, and Ouessant is unlikely to be different.

John

 

[opisska]

Now that's better!

 

[rosbifs]

strike one...

 

[DMW]

There have been unprecedented numbers of Great Shears off the SW coast of Jersey for the last couple of weeks, so I'd be tempted to keep looking out to sea - they've surely got to pass Ouessant.

 

[rosbifs]

There have been unprecedented numbers of Great Shears off the SW coast of Jersey for the last couple of weeks, so I'd be tempted to keep looking out to sea - they've surely got to pass Ouessant.

There are some reports yes

 

[opisska]

The winds have turned southerly, which means the best seawatching spots aren't great right now. We looked out from the southern coast for a bit, but there was nothing and then heavier rain came, which limited visibility.

 

[opisska]

So this was my first ever twitch of an american passerine. After seeing the crowds of people watching the birds in photos from the UK, i was expecting to arrive and be shown the bird bu someone. That couldn't be further from reality - we arrived yesterday to find a lot of people searching for the bird to no avail and this continued in the morning since first light.

The bird stays in a small area, maybe 100 meters across, but with ferns, blackberries and small trees - literally endless amount of cover. After 2 hours, the bird appeared - we noticed some birders getting really agitated so we looked where they are looking - they have gesticulated silence and seemed to not want us to approach, so we looked from more distance. My wife saw the bird for a brief moment and could ID it quite well, but I did not find it. Then it disappeared and the birders confirmed to is it was it. We stayed at the spot for some time, more and more people accumulated there, but the bird did not reappear. I started walking around more randomly to see if it has moved - ai was a bit surprised that I was the only one visiting a large area on the other side of the bushes on question. And then, out of the blue, the bird flew in front of me, sat on a bush for five seconds and disappeared. It was surprisingly obvious - I was not sure if I would have noticed a REV had I not know about it, but this was really obvious - the bird is larger than anything of this color that is supposed to be here, the grey head is obvious without optics.

I took a few pictures and walked out to alert others, got a flock of people to come, but the bird was gone. Our friend, who also missed the bird until that point, stayed with this flock and after maybe half an hour got on the bird with prolonged good views. It's surprisingly difficult to see, but surprisingly fun. Finding it myself was really rewarding - yes it was a twitch, but it was still really joyous after the hopeless beginning. I am really convinced I want to experience more of this

 

[rosbifs]

It's funny - my biggest twitch here, in terms of rarity value, was for the Sociable Plover - I was on my own... As was the overwintering Pallid - I went maybe 6 times and never saw another birder...

Then biggest twitch for numbers of birders was 3 - me plus two already on site who showed me the two birds - Pec Sand and WR Sand.

Which is hilarious, as you say, compared to UK or even Finland when I twitched a Bittern once...

 

[jurek]

There's considerable wisdom in this remark. Both Scilly and Shetland repay treatment as campaigns over years, not quick hits, and Ouessant is unlikely to be different.

Heligoland is the same.

Bird migration is highly uneven, and so-called migration hotspots seem most of the time rather mediocre, but for just a few days in the season there is a particular weather, and a fall of rarities.

It is impossible to predict the weather in advance for more than few days, so going to a migration hotspot you either: can go on a day notice, plan to sit 2-4 weeks, or are almost sure to feel you missed 'true' rarities.

I enjoy your report, Jos, and hope you get many more nice things this season!

 

[opisska]

On Sunday afternoon after the rain relented a bit, we returned to the south coast for a few hours of seawatching, which brought absolutely nothing despite strong onshore winds. One unidentified skua, two distant "darker" shearwaters, nothing with any good views.

In the morning, we rode to the southeastern corner where the Northern Harrier was possibly seen in the evening, but found only more and more Marsh Harriers. We have spent quite a bit of time riding around the island looking for this bird with no success - and right now, as we are sitting in Lampaul and waiting for the shuttle, a message came that it has been seen in an area which we just rode through - the harrier is simply a question of luck and time, neither of which we have in good supply.

No more yanks were found today, so the best bird was a Radde's Warbler in a valley just below our accomodation. The path to the site is fun, through a muddy valley, but also really beautiful with twisted mossy trees. On the spot there were about a dozen people and they relocated the bird quickly. Still it wasn't easy, the bird hid in a dense bushy area below trees and showed only briefly for a few seconds each tims. I got some photos, but I have to judge whether my photos are sufficient to tell it from Dusky - I know that it was IDed by others, but I have some standards! We also heard a very curious call that could have been it (and definitely not Dusky), but I am not sure if it wasn't an unrelated bird as other borders didn't seem too excited about it. At least we have recordings.

For the rest of the day we scoured random bushes and then visited the SW tip for waders, which were only modestly present. There was also a very weird Little Egret, but everyone seems to agree that it wasn't anything more.

Now we have to sail back to the shore as our friend needs to take a TGV tomorrow to Paris. We have to be in Prague on Friday at 11 AM at the absolutely latest and it's 1600 kms - so we have some time, but not extreme amounts. Not sure where to go, there aren't many rarities anywhere - there was a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper near Nantes which would be nice but not reported today. I hoped there would be something along the coast or even in the Netherlands (as that is not really significantly out of the way), but nothing turned up so far. Well, let's wait and see

 

[opisska]

Radde's photos - would you ID this from Dusky?

 

[Xenospiza]

Yes, as someone who's misidentified Radde's before: the ochre loral region contrasting with the paler rest of supercilium is the clincher.

 

[opisska]

Yesterday's sailing was nice - the sea was calm, there was no wind, yet, unlike on the way out, there were quite a few shearwaters - one Manx to kick things off and then several small groups of Balearic. Also many Shags, Common Guillemots and a likely Razorbill.

Now imagine this: it's mid-October, 7 AM and you find yourself in Brest with no clear idea what yo do now. There are no recent rarities anywhere within a day's drive, the wind is offshore and thus seawatching from headlands isn't good either. Where would you go?

I mean, the answer, however silly, is obvious. So we have tickets ... to Ouessant!

 

[Val35]

On Sunday afternoon after the rain relented a bit, we returned to the south coast for a few hours of seawatching, which brought absolutely nothing despite strong onshore winds. One unidentified skua, two distant "darker" shearwaters, nothing with any good views.

In the morning, we rode to the southeastern corner where the Northern Harrier was possibly seen in the evening, but found only more and more Marsh Harriers. We have spent quite a bit of time riding around the island looking for this bird with no success - and right now, as we are sitting in Lampaul and waiting for the shuttle, a message came that it has been seen in an area which we just rode through - the harrier is simply a question of luck and time, neither of which we have in good supply.

No more yanks were found today, so the best bird was a Radde's Warbler in a valley just below our accomodation. The path to the site is fun, through a muddy valley, but also really beautiful with twisted mossy trees. On the spot there were about a dozen people and they relocated the bird quickly. Still it wasn't easy, the bird hid in a dense bushy area below trees and showed only briefly for a few seconds each tims. I got some photos, but I have to judge whether my photos are sufficient to tell it from Dusky - I know that it was IDed by others, but I have some standards! We also heard a very curious call that could have been it (and definitely not Dusky), but I am not sure if it wasn't an unrelated bird as other borders didn't seem too excited about it. At least we have recordings.

For the rest of the day we scoured random bushes and then visited the SW tip for waders, which were only modestly present. There was also a very weird Little Egret, but everyone seems to agree that it wasn't anything more.

Now we have to sail back to the shore as our friend needs to take a TGV tomorrow to Paris. We have to be in Prague on Friday at 11 AM at the absolutely latest and it's 1600 kms - so we have some time, but not extreme amounts. Not sure where to go, there aren't many rarities anywhere - there was a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper near Nantes which would be nice but not reported today. I hoped there would be something along the coast or even in the Netherlands (as that is not really significantly out of the way), but nothing turned up so far. Well, let's wait and see

The south coast of the the island is usually quiet in terms of seawatching...The best spots for that are the north (Cadoran) and the west (in front of the Créac'h lighthouse).
The harrier was reported again this morning, hopefully you'll be lucky this time !

 

[opisska]

The Northern Harrier is an enigma. Yesterday
after we left, a slew of messages with its location started coming and from that it was obvious it's moving all around the place - but ut has been stationary for long enough that some people got to see it.

During our today's sailing, a message with a location came, in the NW corner, so we abandoned the original plan of renting a bike in the port and took the shuttle instead. We arrived on site about 1.5 hours after the message, with the Harrier gone, so we started just randomly riding around the island. In the NE corner we then briefly spotted a harrier ... then relocated it and it had a white rump! I was not really convinced by it though, but sent it to the Telegram group anyway, only to be told it's a juvenile Hen Harrier - interestingly, that's also a bird of interest on Ouessant, as some other people soon reported it on WhatsApp, where the "less worthy" rarities go.

Shortly afterwards, someone found the real deal back in the NW corner, so I hit the pedals - and my wife said she's gonna find me using location sharing. I was on site in 16 minutes - it was on a small peninsula jutting into the ocean with no birders around - after a few minutes, I found the bird a bit inland, took a bazillion pictures in about a minute and then it flew behind a rock.

I climbed the rock to find a group of happy birders on the track. My wife unfortunately took a slightly different road - ironically, she passed through this viewpoint, but too early - and then came back too late! We searched around and waited on the rocks until the last minute, but the bird did not appear neither was it found by anybody else, so she missed it, sadly.

Today was also a good example of how every day of fall is different. On the morning sailing, the water was teeming with Common Guillemots - yes there were some on the previous days, but this was something else. Then on the island, the air was full of birds, mostly Chaffinches in moderate flocks, passing through and through - that finally looked like big migration. On the boat back, we were first accompanied by a White Wagtail and then overtaken by a flock of Skylarks. Very typical pelagic birds

Overall I got 3 WP ticks and Ivana 2, which is not bad. I am still 1 bird down in the gWP ranking - maybe something will turn up somewhere along the way back to Prague? My biggest wish now is to find a rarity in one of the gardens on Mont St. Michelle - I guess no birders ever go to such a posh place, so I picked it up as the perfect surprise site for early morning!!!