Dorset Dipper

Can we have our birds back please?

2012-02-07T21:32:00.018Z

The snow and continental freeze has brought all sorts of unusual birds to nearby areas, including a few Short-Eared Owls just east of the area . Sadly nothing here today. I took a trudge round the Stort valley south of Sawbo with camera to record what few birds there are. Can we have our missing birds back please?

The scrape is full (good!) but frozen (bad!). A couple of Snipe burst out of ditches. Lots of Wood Pigeons, Rooks and Jackdaws. But some noticeable absences; no Yellowhammers or Reed Buntings, the Kestrels have absconded, temporarily I hope. There were a couple of Meadow Pipits. The Fieldfares that have invaded the area were flying manically around. There were a few Song Thrushes around - I'm not sure if they are immigrants or just our normal birds being a bit more obvious.

On Sunday there was a flock of 70 Lapwing over the park. I thought I heard one today, but in the turned out to be just a bronchitic Fieldfare.

The river has half frozen. There were a couple of strange holes. Like giant spiders have crashed through the ice. Perhaps they will emerge in the spring to savage the area.

Still, its just about the end of this birding year, and the new one will start soon, so perhaps its appropriate that the patch is fairly barren at the moment.

End of the year? What? Well it is according to my calendar. I'll post on that soon.

Goodbye to the Wharf

2011-11-29T20:37:00.007Z

Somethings work, and somethings don't. The lack of posting over the last six months was not unrelated to business activity in which I was engaged. But then the recession got worse ... and a key player went into administration ... and now an extended birding opportunity approaches!

I sneaked a few photos of Canary Wharf in the dark. Can't do this in the light as security officials prevent it.

Med Gulls: three points in time.

2011-11-12T20:27:00.009Z

1975. In my early teens, living in West Yorkshire, and just learning about birds that weren’t in the Observer’s Book of Birds. Mediterranean Gulls were a bird I’d never heard of, and that few birders had seen. An “unprecedented” number had occurred on the coast round Scarborough during the year, at least eleven. Most birders were not familiar with the plumages, and a report several pages long appears in that year’s report. The occasional one is seen inland, Needless to say, I hadn’t seen one. One pair had bred in the UK in 1968 but none since.

12 November 1989. Radipole. From my notes, a bright day with not much there. The visit saved from total disaster by a Black-Tailed Godwit and a single Mediterranean Gull, which flew off when the Remembrance Day canon went off. I’d seen a few by this time, here and there, but I don’t think I’d seen more than one at a time. The 1987 Dorset report has a maximum of 25 birds during the year in the Weymouth area, so double figures are regular in the area.

23 October 2011. Radipole. A late afternoon walk around the reserve. A count of 28 birds by the reserve centre, then more flying through as I walked to the bandstand, more on the lake by the bandstand, and still more flying through as darkness fell.

The following evening I gained a vantage point overlooking the boating lake and north towards the white horse at Preston. The weather was windy and dull. The gulls wash themselves in the fresh water of the reserve, and then fly in a continuous stream over the Boating Lake or Grand Hotel, and into the bay. Odd single Med Gulls come through, then small flocks in with the other gulls. Adults with their bright white primaries, like ghostly spirits. First winters, all contrasty black and off-white. Finally I get my eye in on the second winters, generic gulls with pale grey backs and an extensive black primary wedge, and of course the eye smudge. It takes a while to gain the confidence to call the second winters as they hurtle over the distant rooftops. As darkness falls, my list has got to 109 birds during the evening, but I’m sure this was less than the previous day.

I talk to Luke at the reserve the next day, and comment how the Med Gulls like to sit on the fence posts, dominating the adjacent Black-Headed Gulls. Luke states that in the Dorset breeding colonies the Med Gulls dominate the neighbouring Black-Headed Gulls, and may end up driving them out.

Who knows where this will stop?. Birds are being seen all over now, breeding is taking place just about all over the south coast and East Anglian coast. How far will they spread? Will they completely take over wherever they breed. It’s an awesome sight to see flocks of these birds, particularly adults, but will we get bored with them? will there be a cost to the Black-Headed Gull population?

More on the "Walking From House" List

2011-10-16T20:33:00.006Z

A Tawny Owl woke me and the dogs up early on Monday morning. #84. Then Saturday I went searching for Barn Owls. I drew a blank, but on the way back by the scrape a Little Owl called. Well I think it was a Little Owl. A few intermittent high-pitched short screeches. I check the calls on the web and according to these recordings the birds never shut up. I'm surprised I haven't been falling over them. Anyway I can't think of anything else it could be. So #85 it is.

Rugby World Cup

2011-10-03T21:10:00.003Z

Only a fool would try and predict the outcome of the RWC. So here goes.

- New Zealand to beat Ireland in the final
- South Africa to beat England in the third place match

"Walking From House" List additions

2011-09-18T18:53:00.007Z

A few additions to the "Walking from the house list" to report ...

1. Mediterranean Gull and Herring Gull 80 & 81. I was out on 27 August with just my bins, and noticed lots of gulls on a field being ploughed just east of Lower-Sheering Road. A quick scan revealed a smaller gull which was pale white/brown without any of the distinctive head markings of a BH Gull. It flew, showing heavily black forewing and secondary panel, and a black terminal tail band. I ummed and ahhed about this for a couple of days afterwards, I think because when I saw 15 of these at Lodmoor a couple of weeks previous I'd had my scope and could check the bill, and eye-lids to confirm and couldn't do that on this occasion. But after I'd seen some of the photos of juveniles going into first winter on Birdguides it was stupid not to tick it as they were the spitting image. And belated Herring Gull too.

2. Hobby 82. 17 Sep. An overdue event this. Out with the dogs, and one shot over my head. Nice. That makes for 4 raptors on the list. Could I get another one? Well obviously yes. Red Kite is present in this area, and eventually one will be flying around when I'm out, but after that it's looking fairly impossible.

3. Marsh Harrier 83. 18 Sep. Well, so much for how hard the next raptor was going to be. Out with the dogs in the park again, with a patchy blue and white sky and a dark grey cloud getting closer and closer ... I noticed a few hirundines high up, and after scanning noticed that wherever I looked were swallows and martins. I guessed about a hundred moving in advance of the rain. And then a larger bird. Just as soon as I thought another gull it was obvious that it wasn't. It was flying hard SE, but then turned E and it was clearly a Marsh Harrier. All dark, longish tail, bulky but long wings, and if I looked really hard possibly a cream crown? Then, incredibly, it joined a second bird and they soared round for a while, taking their time, before they slowly drifted East and out of sight into Essex. Well, knock me down with a feather. I remember seeing three of the five UK birds at Minsmere in 1975, and now they are so common that pairs of them are flying over my house. The rain duly came down, but I couldn't have cared less.

So in just over 10 months of moving into the house I'm on 83. The scrape hasn't been playing ball having been dry through the autumn, so if that gets muddy at the right time there's another few species to pick up, and with no chats, starts, or owls on the list then 100 is possible. I'm slightly stunned, to be honest, at what I've seen over the year. I can't wait to see what turns up next.

Choices choices ...

2011-09-12T19:53:00.003Z

A rare window of opportunity for some birding opened up on Sunday afternoon. Where to go? A guaranteed Sabine’s Gull on KG VI? Or take my luck on an unpromising westerly wind at Canvey Island Point and some waders that have taken up temporary residence at West Canvey RSPB?

I decided to take a third option: to spend an hour swearing, shouting and hammering the steering wheel in frustration whilst being held captive on he A130. Bastards! Whoever they are! I thought the Human Rights Act had abolished this sort of thing. Anyway, eventually Canvey Island Point, conveniently round the corner out of the wind, just me, one other, and a sun-light Thames Estuary.

The other birder found an all-brown dot on the horizon. Over the next fifteen minute it moved painstakingly slowly in our direction until a pair of white wing flashes were visible and with the short-tailed silhouette it was fairly straightforward to diagnose a Great Skua. An embarrassing number of months … err years since I last saw one. Easier and faster was a Manx Shearwater that eased upstream. Otherwise a flock of c100 Black-Tailed Godwits wheeled in unison, a few summer-plumage Grey Plovers were on the mud, and a few Sandwich Terns flew west.

Finally West Canvey RSPB. New to me. Juv Little Stint tick! Spotted Redshank tick! And three Green Sandpipers and a Ruff. Bonus tick!

Birdguides reported a long-tailed skua the same morning, Other local web sites reported Gannets, and Arctic Skua too. But no-one had our Great Skua and Manxie. Which just makes you wonder how many other birds go through un-recorded by these web sites.

2011-06-27T21:11:00.000+01:00

I returned home to be find a grinning Mrs D holding out a full poop-scoop bag for me. I took it with some suspicion, but it was lightness itself, seemingly a bag of air, and on inspection contained the corpse of a bat. Not just any bat, but a Brown Long-Eared Bat.

Its ears are indeed very long. I got wondering why it has big ears, because if its just for sonar, then why doesn't every bat have huge ears?

Well I read here that its because this species specialising in mugging passing moths, so it has to be very quiet, and hence needs large ears to capture its very weak signal. So there you have it!

And Did Those Feet?

2011-06-04T22:10:00.012+01:00

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

Of all the ancient myths and legends that surround these islands, none is more mysterious and compelling than the notion that Jesus came to England, and founded a church in Glastonbury. William Blake believed it, and wrote Jerusalem on the basis of that myth. The modern version has Joseph of Arimathea as the visitor, founding a church in Glastonbury.

These stories are just unsubstantiated myths, but there us one intriguing relic in Glastonbury; the Glastonbury Thorn. This thorn is reputed to have grown from staff planted in the ground. Cutting of the thorn have been taken by many people and flourish in odd places round the tow. It flowers twice a year, and is allegedly a middle-eastern variety of thorn!

We went to Glastonbury to celebrate D#1's 16th birthday. We climbed the Tor, which has fantastic views, and lit a birthday cake with 16 candles. Or tried to light a candle, but the howling gale defeated us. We then spent the afternoon lazing in the grounds of the Abbey.

Not very good for birds

2011-06-04T20:28:00.006+01:00

When in Weymouth, my regular morning chore is to walk the dogs. I normally go up the west side of the Wey, and then cross into the Reserve and up the buddleia loop to the bandstand that the RSPB has kindly provided so the local youth have somewhere to gather, light fires, and drink cheap cider.

I have explained to Mrs D that this walk isn't very good for birds, I wouldn't do it if it was just for the birds, and so this doesn't use any of my few birding credits.

Mrs D decided to accompany Elvis, Priscilla and me today, I took just the binoculars, and promised I'd mention any decent birds. I managed not to draw here attention to the Red Kite that flopped across the reserve (an unmarked one, so not the wing-tagged bird that was seen earlier in the year), and the Sparrowhawk going over was easy to ignore, but I couldn't avoid the Cuckoo that sat 10 yards away in the low branches of a tree and cu-coo'ing. Quite the best views of this species I've ever had, and given the way the population is declining probably the best I'll ever have.

"So it is quite good for birds then!" said Mrs D. "Well I think we've just been lucky today" I replied, whilst the resident pair of Marsh Harriers executed a perfect food pass just behind her.

Dog days

2011-05-28T19:51:00.010+01:00

Birding is dog-walking at the moment. The usual circuit of fields, river, and park. And the usual birds; regular Grasshopper Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, and Lesser Whitethroat, and then the usual peckers, finches, and other common birds.

Hang on! Cetti's Warbler? Didn't this used to be a rare bird? And now its an unremarkable sighting, almost expected from wherever there is a scrubby wet spot. Its not inconceivable that there are three breeding pairs in a three-mile stretch along the river, and there could be more.

How is this going to end? They appear to have survived a very cold winter without any problems. Do they just keep on expanding throughout the UK until they are as common as Collared Dove?

Here's a blur that is just recognisable as a House Martin.

Job Done

2011-05-28T19:34:00.003+01:00

D#4 finally threw away his stabilisers, got on his bike and rode away.

They can all ride bikes

They can all swim

job done.

This year's crop

2011-05-19T11:33:00.008+01:00

Took the zoom lens on the daily dog walk, and by a careful process of stalking (ie being deafened by the loud persistant calling) came across some young long-tailed tits. Elsewhere it was just the usual, the usual being a Cetti's Warbler singing from the overgrown field - warbler number 9 on the list for the field this year, and Lesser Whitethroat singing in Pishiobury Park.

No sign today of yesterday's calling Cuckoo.

About time too

2011-05-07T18:46:00.018+01:00

There are many mysteries in life. Top of the list recently has been why has a boggy field with a proven ability to attract migrant waders had no waders to speak of throughout April and May. Well that got answered today by virtue of having a Green Sandpiper - probably the commonest wader here historically - and a Redshank, which I believe is a first for the site (Lower Sheering Scrape).

I wasn't the only one pondering big questions. Here's two local inhabitants presumably pondering the big question of what on earth are they doing in Sawbridgeworth.

a few other local residents posed for the camera.

I went back an hour or so later with the scope. The Redshank had pushed off, but two Yellow Wagtails made a spectacular but brief appearance.

PS - have updated the list of birds seen walking from the house. Currently on 78 with most Summer visitors now in. Hobby and Spot Fly should take it to 80 fairly easily, then its hard work

King's Meads' waders

2011-05-05T15:56:00.007+01:00

King's Meads is a small reserve between Ware and Hertford. Recently its enjoyed a happy coincidence of a gorgeous stretch of mud and wader passage. A quick visit today had 2 Wood Sandpipers, 2 Greenshank, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Snipe, 1 Redshank and a few Lapwings.

The reserve is small, so views were excellent. As is often the case, its the supporting cast that outshine the star attractions. The Redshank looked terrific in its pristine spring plumage, and the Ringed Plover were displaying and distracting. The Wood Sandpipers were looking fairly dumpy and well fed. Here's another Dipper special.

Also present were c20 Swifts, and a selection of warblers, ducks, and hirundines.

Local Rarity

2011-05-02T18:09:00.003+01:00

The local grapevine worked exceptionally well today when a pair of Ring Ouzels were located at Stansted Airport Lagoons by Mike this morning. I popped in early pm and was put onto the pair by Graeme - thanks to both.

The pair were grubbing round at the base of some willows on the bans of one of the lagoons. It was impossible to see them from the same bank without taking a risk of spooking them, so I connected with them from the other bank. The photo is poor even by my standards, but it was taken at around 100 metres.

Also present a Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, and a Swift.

BarWit Spectacular!

2011-05-01T21:09:00.013+01:00

A weekend hit-and-run to Weymouth with D#1. Via the New Forest, which would not bother this blog if not for the fact that I nearly trod on an Adder. Small, just a foot long, but brilliantly black-and white, and quite nippy motoring across the grass. Thanks D#1 for aleerting me to that one ...

Portland on Mayday morning - just an hour's sea watching. I stuck myself on the end of a line and notched up a Pomarine Skua and 2 Arctic Skuas, with a cast of a few small flocks of Bar-Tailed Godwits, a couple of Whimbrel, some Commic Terns, and some close in Gannets plunging into the sea which I always find spectacular.

I find all my experience of sea-birds away from the sea is completely useless when faced with distant migrating birds going past a headland. The skuas leave me struggling, and whilst I can appreciate after the event that the Pom was steadier and more direct, and others did get the full cutlery on this one, I find the most reliable id feature is call. Specifically the excited call of "Pom!" that goes up when a Pom appears, and the slightly deflated "Arctic" that goes up when an Arctic appears.

On to Ferrybridge, where a roadside stop had about 100 Bar-Tailed godwits, many in deep russet finery, and a Whimbrel. Further out on the water line were 3 Little Terns.

Finally Lodmoor, and some spectacular close-ups of waders. The full list was:
Bar-Tailed Godwit - 27
Black-Tailed Godwit - 1
Whimbrel 2
Common Sandpiper 2
Dunlin 1
Grey Plover 2
Oystercatcher 2

and an adult male Whinchat - surely a candidate for the world's best bird - hopping around on a dry area.

The Barwit movement of the last two days is well documented elsewhere. deep rich russet birds are surely one of our most spectacular birds and it was great to get close views of some today.

I held my Powershot up to the scope and clicked away more in hope than in expectation. Here goes ...

Out with camera in search of crime.

2011-04-25T20:29:00.016+01:00

What’s crime been like in your area recently? Round south Sawbridgeworth its been rife. Murder, theft, gangs mugging individuals. Twice I've heard general consternation and found a Sparrowhawk sat on a bird, and twice my appearance has caused the hawk to flee empty handed.

I went out this evening with a camera to try and catch some of the miscreants. Some proper action of proper birds, not just some lazy pathetic photo of a Wood Pigeon sat in a tree. Even I have to be better than that.

Two days ago at the flooded field I arrived in time to see the four Lapwings flying round in an agitated way, mobbing a Carrion Crow. The Crow flew off with an egg in its mouth. I assume it belonged to a Lapwing. Also flying round were a couple of these, who have been hanging around and who I believe were in some way involved in this crime.

The Lapwings have been wandering round the fringes of the pond, looking spectacular with their bright red legs and multi-chromatic wings, but at the same time somehow forlorn.

And if its good enough for Lapwing to graze round here, and also a Common Snipe recently, then why not something else like a Wood Sandpiper, or a Spotted Redshank? Its not asking much is it?

At least one bird has managed to get some young off.

I continued up toward the wood, hoping for one of the local warblers; a Lesser Whitethroat, one of the local Grasshopper Warblers, or even just a Sedge Warbler or Linnet from the overgrown field. Instead I get a pair of Bullfinch. I haven’t sent these for a while, and there perched in an adjacent bush is the pair. Possibly a unique chance to get the two of them together, and here they are!

Then the regular Grey Heron doing its daily flight over the Park. Surely I can’t screw up this one!

Finally, one photo opportunity I can’t miss!

Field Experiment

2011-04-19T19:42:00.009+01:00

The countryside of Britain is covered in fields. Pastures, grazed by cattle or sheep, with a low uniform sward of grass, or arable fields with dense monocultures of alien crops. As we all know, pasture doesn’t generally support much bird life. A few thrushes, some pigeons and crows, and if we are lucky an occasionally Lapwing, or wagtail.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a field was just left to revert to some kind of original state? What birdlife or other wildlife it would support? Well courtesy of the field neighbouring the road at the bottom of the house, I can give an answer.

The meadow borders a stream on its north edge, and then rises towards a wood. There’s a small rough wood on the eastern edge, and another field on the southern edge. There are unkempt hedgerows all around. The ground is not particularly wet for the most part but there are rushes along the stream.

I have no idea when it stopped being farmed, but a couple of years ago it had some waist high thorn bushes and a pair of Linnets. This year the field is thick with brambles and thorn bushes, and a number of trees are dotted round the field. Many plants are now over head height, and the eastern half is just about impenetrable. The pictures show this clearly.

So far this spring the birdlife has been spectacular. There are numerous Linnets, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, and Chaffinches and a Reed Bunting has been seen and heard occasionally. There have been records of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, and recently even a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. With all this birdlife a Sparrowhawk is regular chasing birds along the edges. And I’m no expert on butterflies but currently there are numerous Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, and Speckled Wood butterflies.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the field is the birdsong. When the birds are all singing it’s a real racket. If this field is indicative of what ancient Britain was like then ancient Britain was a noisy place.

Skua Hour

2011-04-13T20:16:00.007+01:00

Portland Bill this morning. I was convinced it would be epic - southerly wind, rain on its way. And it was - epically barren. Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Linnet on the land. Gannet, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Razorbill, Guillemot, and Shag on the water. I retreated to the obs, and commented on the lack of birds.

"It's not Skua hour." The theory, as relayed to me by one of the regulars, is that the Skuas spend the night in the western approaches, and leave at dawn. this brings them past the bill between 8:45 and 9:45 am. Needless to say, the theory was met with mirth and derision from other regulars, who no doubt had heard it all before.

We stood around and watched. And watched. And chatted some more.

"Skua!" And there it was. A dark phase Arctic Skua steaming through close in. "And what's the time?" 9:15. Smack in the middle of Skua hour. QED.

Pishiobury Park Monday morning

2011-04-04T12:30:00.013+01:00

Took the dogs for their daily constitutional round Pishiobury Park. The park has had a lot of work on it recently - am I a cynic to suspect budgets being spent up just prior to the financial year end?

The Park is wide open green space dotted with mature trees. There is a hedgerow through the middle, and some overgrown wooded areas round the fringes. Birds are much as you'd expect - ie not very many. But there are open views so occasional birds do fly over, including a couple of Wigeon during the December freeze up and a Ring-Necked Parakeet earlier this year.

The Horse Chestnut trees are coming into leaf. These trees nationally seem to be under a rage attacks from a variety of sources, There are a number of excellent specimens, so fingers crossed they survive the current onslaught of "all Horse Chestnuts must die" disease.

Today there was a distant Common Buzzard, singing ChiffChaffs and Blackcaps, and the usual Great Tit and Blue Tit. Some day soon I'll do a proper survey and count to provide a baseline population.

Mrs D and I spent a few moments sat on another new installation - a seat specially designed for those members of the local population who are over seven foot tall. We clambered up and sat there swinging our legs. Money well spent.

local round up

2011-04-02T20:45:00.005Z

The pond at Lower Sheering is fuller than its ever been. Today it was host to a pair of Shoveler, a pair of Gadwall, and a few Teal. Recently its held a male Pintail, had a female Wigeon for a day, and a pair of Shelduck were reported from there too.

The Park held four Common Buzzards again, and plentiful singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. There were several Brimstone butterflies on the wing ("Cabbage Yellows" according to Mrs D), and a Comma and a Peacock butterfly.

There are still small flocks of Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, and Fieldfare around, but the Siskins that were here in number early in the winter have all departed.

The High ground held 35 Golden Plover this evening, looking spectacular in summer plumage as they wheeled over the field. Previously this flock was up to 250 birds, and a male Wheatear was here last weekend too

... and I've moved.

2011-03-30T18:18:00.003Z

not far. About half a mile to the southern edge of the village. Within 90 seconds (and yes I have measured it) I can be in an overgrown field watching Linnets and Reed Buntings, and listening to Goldfinches and Greenfinches. And the cars on the motorway. And the train. And the jet aircraft going into Stansted. But nowhere's perfect.

It means I have a new local patch- Pishiobury Park, and the flooded field at Lower Sheering is a short walk away. So its a chance for some new lists. There;s a few obvious ones:
- Birds seen in the garden.
- Birds seen from the garden.
- Birds seen walking from the house.
- Birds seen in Pishiobury Park.

I acquired another list I hadn't expected. Birds seen in my old garden which I never saw in the twelve years I lived there. Currently it has one species on it; Waxwing, preditably enough. 17 seen back in January.

You say goodbye, I say hello

2011-03-28T16:29:00.004Z

Some free time! My contract with a Canadian Financial Institution has finished. A great group of people to work with, and some absorbing work. But not a lot of time left for birding, as you probably noticed.

But now I have a break, and it couldn't have happened at a more appropriate time. I finished last Friday, and immediately the clocks go forward, the sun shines, and the Chiff-Chaffs are everywhere singing-in the spring migration!

So for a few weeks at least, some postings of migration in East Herts, and occasionally Dorset ...

Terns

2010-09-24T19:44:00.003Z

lunchtime today, strolling by the Thames, when a small flurry of avian snowflakes appeared whirling over the river. A flock of Terns, tumbling and swooping around and under London Bridge. I counted 18 in total, a mix of adults and juveniles. I'd guess Arctic Terns, mainly because that's what I'd like them to have been.

Incoming

2010-09-05T11:57:00.013Z

To Hanningfield Res today to get a few September goodies.

Late arrival due to infuriating Sunday Driving, so I dashed round to the Oak Hide. I was soon admiring 3 Black Terns, an imm Little Gull, a Greenshank, a juv Knot,and a couple of Common Sandpipers.

The point hide has similar but there was a Herring Gull sat down ...

... that morphed into an adult Yellow-Legged Gull when it stood up.

I was about to leave, when I gave the far shore another scan for the Buzzards and Hobby that had been reported earlier. They were absent, but there was this ...

... that on close inspection turned out to be this.

I spent the next half-hour watching this Osprey diving into the water in frustrated attempts to catch a fish.

I was just one annoying Sunday Driver away from missing it too, as I was overdue on my leaving time. I guess sometimes you just don't realise when someone's doing you a favour

Back to Weymouth

2010-08-30T21:46:00.005Z

Bank holiday with the family and Dog.

Saturday I went to Ferrybridge in search of another mis-identified Little Stint.
Knot - 1 juv
Sandwich Tern 3
Barwit 2

lots of Ringed Plover, Dunlin, and Turnstone

Sunday D#2 had avoided going out all day so I persuaded him to go to Lodmoor:

Common Buzzard 1 put up:
Avocet 8 - first at Lodmoor for me.
Blackwit 4
Common Sandpiper 3
Yellow Wagtail 5 went South
lots of other common stuff.

Then Monday morning at the Nothe 2 Willow Warblers and a Wheatear. Sparrowhawk over the marina.

Radipole had a few Common Terns- spent time studying the juvs.

I dipped on Med Gulls - I think there's a few around, but mobile.

Alexander's Bands

2010-08-09T21:09:00.004Z

On the way back from Weymouth D2 managed a photo of a rainbow. You can just make out the second rainbow with reversed colours and the slightly darker band between the two rainbows known as Alexander's bands.

honest

Dodgy ID's

2010-08-05T19:59:00.004+01:00

Most of my birding I do by myself, so I’m constantly confronted by the limits of my own ID skills, particularly in Autumn when there’s a mix of plumages. I can’t seem to summon up the certainty of many other birders.

At the Common Tern colony at Lodmoor for instance, where there’s been Arctic Terns and a Roseate Tern recently, I was struggling. I’d only seen Roseate once before and had it pointed out to me in flight; would I be able to identify one sat in front of me without help?

The first visit drew a blank, just a mix of juvenile and adult plumages. On the second visit I found a juvenile with an all-black bill and an absence of the ginger shawl the juvenile Commons have, but otherwise apparently identical to the surrounding Commons. Was this the Arctic? Or perhaps the Roseate losing its summer plumage? I toured the reserve seeing little of interest and ended up at the bandstand looking over the tern colony again. All the terns went up and suddenly there, gleaming almost white, was the Roseate Tern. It settled on its own and was obviously different; easy to pick out with the naked eye; a black bill with a few splashes of red at the base, pale back and wings, bright red legs, and as I zoomed up was there even a splash of pink on the breast?

It seemed bored. All around were Common Terns engaged in a whirl of social interactions; squabbling juveniles, loafing adults, males offering fish to females, females refusing them because the female next door had been offered a bigger one. The Rosy seemed uncomfortable to be in such company, and eventually flew off. The wing-beats were faster than the Common Terns, so I should have no problems picking up a Rosy amongst Commons as they fly past the bill next spring.

The ID difficulties continued when I returned to work today. The Thames has a number of Black-headed Gulls on my patch by HMS Belfast, and they constantly deceive at this time of year. I’m forever spotting Little Gulls and Med Guls, but they always end up being bleached or moulting BHG’s. But today a Little Gull just wouldn’t turn into a BHG. The flying was consistently faster, and when it turned it seemed to flash some dark underwings. A clear-cut case one would think, but without binoculars it’s just so hard to be completely satisfied.

It seems I’m not the only one to have difficulty with ID’s. A Little Stint turned up at Lodmoor whilst we were in Weymouth. I decided not to go and drag the family round Lodmoor again, hence missing the opportunity to fail to spot that it was in fact this.

SWF

2010-07-25T18:43:00.005+01:00

Dashed up to Hatfield Forest to see the Silver-Washed Fritillaries that are on the wing here in Lodge Coppice. There were a few records a couple of years ago that have mushroomed into people seeing ten plus butterflies.

I got a decent photo of a tatty male out of it, and if you were to look at my shot and some other folks visits then you might think the bushes of Lodge Coppice are festooned with SWF's sitting out in the sun waiting to be photographed. But they aren't. They were easy to see, but are strong fliers and seemed loath to settle. And I had the wrong lens - just a usual one, and my 100-300 mght have done the job better. Other butterflies - Peacock, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, a blue, Meadow Brown, Large White, were out and some settled, but not so as I could get any decent shots.

After-work birding

2010-07-10T14:42:00.005+01:00

As its midsummer and the days are long, I figure I should get out after work and see some birds. So despite the heatwave (mid 30s plus humidity) I get the subway to Davisville, walk a block south, and uncharacteristically for me find an entrance to Mount Pleasant Cemetery immediately. The cemetery is a beautiful, peaceful place. It’s like a large arboretum, with manicured lawns, tarmac walkways and some very lavish memorials. Its well used by joggers, cyclists, and dog-walkers, but being Canada they have the world’s politest dogs that trot by without fuss.

Its obvious from the outset that this will be hard work. The lawns are no good for birds, so they will be up in the trees. Being in North America the subconscious filter that in the UK means I don’t bother following up most bird calls doesn’t work, so I have to follow everything, and as soon as I see something I have my nose in Sibley instead of on the bird. Nevertheless, there are Black Squirrels, Grey Squirrels, and Chipmunks running over the lawns, and a handsome Robin allows close approach. This is very exciting until I realise that just about every bird that sits out on a tree-top, flies between trees, or bounds across the lawn is a Robin. By contrast a pair of Blue Jay’s come over to have a look at this curious visitor.

Following my birder’s instinct I head for an area with overgrown banks, and a ravine with a stream. However, I see nothing but a pair of Mourning Doves, a Red Admiral butterfly, some streaky finchey things in a tree and above Chimney Swifts whizzing round the sky and Ring-Billed Gulls drifting down to the lake front. I give up and head towards the centre of the cemetery and things pick up. Eventually I realise that the over-size chicken sat in a tree is in fact a Red-Tailed Hawk. Then on to the Eaton Mausoleum and at last I find a tree chock full with birds. There’s nine Robins, and a reddish bird that is a House Finch. There are two birds chasing each other through the tree, and I get a clear sight of it and it’s a slate blue back with an all white underside – White Breasted Nuthatch. A familiar type of call and a party of Black-Capped Chickadees move through. Back to the tree and picking through the various birds there’s a stunning Male Baltimore Oriole. The Nuthatch is back, but its got a deep rufous breast and a stonking eye-stripe – Red Breasted Nuthatch. I try to get a better view, lose it, and then find it again, but now its got a black back with fine white barring; Downy Woodpecker.

Its getting late, and as I don’t fancy spending the night alone in a park with a few thousand dead people I leave and get the subway back to Union Station, walk across Front Street and go and sit at the Sushi Bar in Benihana in the Royal York hotel. I have a couple of Asahi beers some Sashimi and Sushi, and write this.

Reggie the Hedgie

2010-07-01T21:40:00.003+01:00

Elvis, normally a quiet well behaved dog, has recently taken to standing in various corners of the garden barking his head off. It took a while for the penny to drop - we have a hedgehog! Its only a small one - less than six inches long, and is normally to be seen curled up 6 inches from the snout of a barking dog, but once Elvis is removed he uncurls and waddles off.

The children were very excited to see a real live hedghog in their garden. The only other ones they had seen were on a road, and I think they had thought a hedghog was a flat dinner-plate shaped creature.

The excitment didn't last. They decided, strangely, that the hedgehog needed a name, whereupon the standard arguments started. D#2 decided it should be called Arthur. D#3 said no it was called Spike. D#1 said no I've already called it Reggie the Hedgie. D#2 said no that was stupid and it has to be Arthur. Meanwhile the hedghog had quietly waddled off into the undergrowth ..

some folks have all the luck

2010-06-29T20:58:00.002+01:00

Graham Catley at the excellent Pewit blog is discussing his finding a Bonaparte's Gull and a Ring-Billed Gull on his local patch. He says finding rarities is "80% luck and 20% persistence". So I guess I'm just not very lucky.

But on further reading he says "have checked the gulls three times today", and then having noticed an odd bird writes "in the next three and a half hours it was asleep for 90% of the time".

Three and a half hours!!! Well, firstly I would have had just the one look through and found nothing, and then even if I'm with him at the start of his third look, its a good three hours after I've gone that he finally nails the bird.

So, as I suspected, its 50% skill, 50% persistence, and 0% luck.

I liked this

2010-06-01T22:11:00.000+01:00

this sums up the joy of birding as well as anything I've come across.

Local Minsmere

2010-05-16T11:42:00.007+01:00

Yesterday I commented that the local high ground "wasn't Minsmere". this morning I took elvis down the Stort Valley just south of Sawbridgeworth to the scrape. And it is quite like a mini-Minsmere.

There's a strip of land roughly one-field wide along the Stort Valley between Harlow and Stortford that is almost permanently wet. There are areas of reedbed, marsyh fields, a lagoon, and lots of rough fields and unkempt hedgerows. There is one reserve and at least two SSSI's. The land is not farmed with any seriousness, and is a guide to what the countryside may have been like a hundred years ago. you can see in the photo above a flooded rough field, and then beyond a field of Rape.

Today I stood on the bank looking into an open area of boggy willow scrub. A Grasshopper Warbler was singing out in the open in a Willow Tree. Behind me I could hear the low clicking of our resident male Garganey. It remains glued to a pair of Gadwall. the relationship seems quite a fractious one; the Garganey gets picked on by all the other ducks, and even in flight they seem to bicker and squabble, but its still here after a month so I guess that's how life is for a Garganey.

Otherwise there were Whitethroats in abundance, singing Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, and Sedge Warbler. 3 Jays, a Kestrel, a few Lapwings, a Bullfinch, and a host of other birds. overhead a few Swifts, a Swallow, and back in Sawbo a flock of about twenty House Martins

higher ground

2010-05-15T20:29:00.009+01:00

Another evening run round the area NW of Sawbo. I did my usual 5 stop strategy.

Minsmere it isn't. The plus side of this area is clear views across a large area. The down side is for the most part its a large area with nothing in it. Its a struggle to get into double figures for the number of species seen. Most are heard and not seen.

Today there were Carrion Crows and Wood Pigeons, some Stock Doves, a few Yellowhammers, a few Whitethroats chuzzing away in hedgerows, a Corn Bunting in a tree, a Yellow Wagtail over, a pied wagtail, a swallow, and a Lapwing.

local

2010-05-01T18:55:00.004Z

In the midst of what seems to be a strong migration this year, managed to get out for a quick tour of the local high ground.

Yellow Wagtail 3, Wheatears 1f, otherwise Yellowhammers, 1 Lapwing, a distant singing Corn Bunting, and some Linnets. Mainly round Blounts Farm

Another pic down the scope.

2010-04-14T20:33:00.003Z

couple of more attempts at video.

'll be surprised if anyone gets this one!

Surely its only a matter of time before someone eg Nikon produces a camera that screws straight onto the body of a scope and does this stuff properly.

New Camera - new disasters

2010-04-13T16:30:00.009Z

I've bought a new camera. A Canon S90 powershot. So I'm back to where this blog started, stuffing a compact digital camera down the lens of the scope. So far its been excellent, with one exception...

I went down to SLRS to try and connect with a male Garganey that's been around. Any fears I had about connecting with it disappeared when three ducks standing on the river bank (Herts side!) in a wildfowl-collection-escape stylee turned out to be two Gadwall and the male Garganey. They flew off just as I was fiddling with my camera, but appeared later on the scrape allowing me to take a video with the new camera.

If you've looked at it, you'll have noticed something odd. It appears to be monochrome with the exception of green. That's because it is. The camera just would not get out of this weird and bizarre single-colour mode for videos.

Have you ever been about to take a photo or record a segment of video and found yourself thinking "this would be massively improved by taking it in monochrome except for just one colour"? Me neither. but some bright spark in Canon has not only put this on this camera, but made it the default option that is impossible to get rid of. Looks like I'm going to have to break the habit of a lifetime and read the manual.

Apart form the Garganey and Gadwalls, there were a few Teal, a Little Grebe, a couple of pairs of Bullfinches and a number of Blackcaps. There was what I'm 90% sure was a Garden Warbler, but it kept hidden in the middle of a bush, The clock was tcking, so it will have to wait.

Garden Blackcap

2010-03-06T19:24:00.002Z

Since the new year we have had a male Blackcap in the garden. It is often around, and sits quietly singing to itself. It disappears as soon as I make a move towards it, so I resorted to taking a photo through the French door today.

Half-term list

2010-02-21T19:08:00.005Z

February isn't anyone's favourite month in which to spend one's birding vouchers. But its half term and I'm in Weymouth. And we have a dog, so now I have to take it for a walk first thing, so its a new challenge and a new list- Birds I've Seen Whilst Walking The Dog!

Friday am I took Elvis (yes that is his name) round Radipole; a trip noteable for being the least number of interesting bird I've ever seen at Weymouth, not even a peep from a Cetti's Wabler. Then Friday mid-day we hit the beach, and a scan over the perfectly flat Weymouth Bay produced a few Great-Crested Grebes, a distant Great Northern Diver, and an even more distant pair of Mute Swans.

Saturday morning I took Elvis to the Nothe. Again, the sea was perfectly flat. This is a mixed blessing; you can see further, but the birds have often disappeared out to sea. About a mile away in the habour by Sandsfoot Castle was a small flock of Black-Necked Grebes. Of course, I couldn't positively eliminate confusion species such as Slav Grebe, Little Grebe, Razorbill, any duck, GBBG, but they were in a small flock, and Slav Grebes don't flock like that in my experience. Slightly nearer was a Black-Throated Diver, which turned to show off a nice white thigh patch - birding made easy! Other birds were some Shags out to sea, a couple of Chiffchaffs, a Turnstone, and a few Redwings.

Finally, took D#2,3,4 and Elvis to the play park and then a homeward trip round Radipole. The RSPB is about to spend pots of money "improving" Radipole. Cleaning of ditches and dykes prevents silt build up and makes for better habitat, and better hunting for Bitterns and Marsh Harriers. A Sand Martin Bank, a field cleared of scrub for waders such as Snipe, Lapwing, etc. I'd like more scrapes for passing waders, but they feel Lodmoor does that better. The plan makes sense I guess, and is already paying dividends with a few Bitterns this winter and breeding Marsh Harriers. And where else do you get the chance to walk out of your front door and see three male Bearded Tits just twenty yards away, sat out in the sun devouring seeds on the heads of Rushes, as we did on the way back?

Close up #2

2010-02-21T15:18:00.005Z

... and then we went to the beach where the usual group of Carrion Crows was present.

Ready for your close up pt I

2010-02-20T20:29:00.007Z

D#4 is still young enough to enjoy throwing bread at birds. First we went to the Boating Lake ...

Unlikely Birders No 1

2010-02-14T19:47:00.002Z

Mrs D mentioned she'd seen something in an Obituary of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen. so I googled and found an old article from The Guardian

"McQueen is the son of an East End cab driver; as a teenager, he joined the Young Ornithologists' Club and whiled away the after-school hours birdwatching from the roof of his block of flats. He retains to this day the mentality of an outsider."

So there we have it. He was a birdwatcher, therefore he was an outsider.

Garden Birds

2010-02-06T13:14:00.006Z

A couple of Long-tailed Tits drew my attention. The Male Blackcap appeared, and the usual House Sparrows. I got the camera and, of course, the birds disappeared as soon as I went into the garden. I snapped the Sparrows, and then a Coal Tit which appeared.

I always make the same mistake

2010-01-24T19:59:00.006Z

Rainham RSPB has been having a purple patch. I turned up at 10 ish and whizzed round the reserve. It was a case of "should have been here yesterday" for the absent Bean Geese and Whooper Swan, and "should have been here two minutes ago" for the juv Glaucous Gull that had flown back from the Target Pools and was now invisible. I got distant Peregrine and some nice Pintail but it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for.

I left the reserve and started west on the river-side path, and immediately my luck changed. Some locals pointed out a distant Ruff. I got as far as the Mound at the West end and had distant but clear views of a stonking 1st winter Glaucous Gull, resplendent in luminous pale cinnamon plumage. It stretched, it waddled off to a pool to drink, it flew, pretending to be chased by a Herring Gull, it did all you'd hope for. The Glaucous Gull is the King of the gulls, and it was a real joy to see one again.

There was a distant Common Buzzard, then back to the centre and miraculously the two Bean Geese had been found in the centre of the reserve. The clear white feather edges were a give-away, and we had the cracking views as they fed, looked around, and fed again. I clocked a Black-Tailed Godwit and then left.

My mistake was, again, to go onto the actual reserve itself. Its great for close-ups of birds, but the undulating terrain means your field of view is limited. You don't see too many locals on the reserve; they all stand on the sea wall or the mound, where you get extended clear view over the Thames and the reserve and environs.

Ferrybridge

2009-10-18T08:07:00.011Z

I stopped off at Ferrybridge (on 17th). The tide was going out but still high, and with the sun behind me and a clear blue sky the birds were looking at their best.

About 500 Brent Geese, tens of Med Gulls, Ringed Plovers and Dunlin.

Weymouth/Portland 17

2009-10-17T18:37:00.008Z

With just the morning free I started at the Obs. The clear skies had a predictable consequence; no-one was sure where any birds were except for the Firecrest that has been doing a circuit of the obs garden for the last few days. I saw a few small green birds flitting through the trees, but the only ones I could identify were Willow Chiffs, and a Goldcrest. With just a couple of Swallows overhead and a pair of Common Buzzards I decided to cut my losses and headed off for Ferrybridge - more of that later - and Lodmoor.

Lodmoor had: pinging Bearded Tits, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Barwit, 11 Blackwits, 8 Dunlin, a few Snipe and Lapwings, a Wigeon, a couple of Wheatears, two pairs of Stonechat, a Reed Bunting and a Willow Chiff.

Portland 16 Oct

2009-10-17T16:13:00.006Z

Business in Weymouth was over by 3 leaving me some time to go Portland as the sun set. Just a quick dash round the hut area. A couple of flighty Black Redstarts the stars.

28,982

2009-10-13T18:38:00.001Z

thats the number of Redwings that had flown over the Pinnacles in Sandy by 11:25. Not 28,981, or 28,983. The mind boggles at the effort involved in getting the number down to the individual bird.

SLRS Sept 09

2009-09-20T19:19:00.009Z

Something happened to SLRS in the summer. It lost all its water, and has become grown over. I don't know whether this is temporary or some permanent change. But without the water, there's not much reason to come here.

Today just a couple of parties of long-tailed tits, 3 Willow Chiffs, a few Yellowhammers, 2 Jays, and c50 Carrion Crows, one of which had white wing feathers.

Hobbies at home

2009-09-09T19:05:00.006Z

Its 6:15 and I'm walking up the road to the house and there's this screeching that's probably falcons but is so incessant it may be a car alarm. So I stop and have a look around and over the house they come, 4 hobbies. I dash inside, get my camera plus lens, and take some photos. Modern photography is easy with only a couple of things that can go wrong, but under pressure I do indeed get them wrong, and before I can correct them the party is off east over the village. I phone Kevin who lives a quarter of a mile away, and by chance he is standing outside his door key in hand, and he looks up and yes there they are, hobbies, heading for the river.

Here's all I could salvage

Edit 10 Sept. Standing on Sawbridgeworth Station platform at 6:50 a.m. and there's a familiar screeching from behind me. The hobbies had roosted in the Poplars near the Station (which is right by the river).

Pishiobury Park

2009-08-29T18:53:00.006Z

D#1 and myself took Elvis for a walk in our local park. It was around noon, so birds seemed to be hiding. We had a few House Martins and Swallows and Golfinches, and then near the car park had Whitethroat, a Willow Chiff, a Green Woodpecker and a couple of Spotted Flycatchers (adult and juv).

Rye Meads

2009-08-29T17:41:00.005Z

I don't normally go to Rye Meads as it seems like going to the Zoo, peering through the hides at the exhibits, but the pull of Garganey and Ruff, both birds I've missed so far this year, was too much. So on the way back from the local Mecca that is the Harlow Retail park I popped into the Reserve.

I got Ruff, Green Sandpiper, and finally was put onto the Garganey by the chap next to me who seemed to recognise it when it was in the posture above.

Weymouth 22-24 August

2009-08-25T19:52:00.005Z

Went for an "activity weekend" with D#1 and D#2. Weymouth has been quiet for birds so no pressure to hit the hotspots.

Saturday we cycled down the Rodwell Trail to Ferrybridge. Its the old railway line so its mainly flat. It's nearly ideal for cycling, but the combination of groups wandering slowly along it and Chris Hoy Wanabees screaming past mean you have to be wary. Anyway, we had an adult Gannet in Portland Harbour, some Dunlins, Ringed Plover, and Turnstone at Ferrybridge, and on the return journey a Peregrine wheeled overhead.

Monday am I nipped out to Lodmoor and had two Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Common Sandpipers, 3 Sandwich Terns and 2 Med Gulls; one an adult with a white Darvic ring on the left leg with the last three digits 076. Then later Monday we went Mackerel fishing in the bay. We had a Peregrine sat on railings on the harbour breakwater, another 4 Med Gulls round the harbour mouth, and about 20 Mackerel and a Pollock thrashing round in the bucket in the boat!

Perhaps the strangest wildlife experience was snorkling at low tide in the bay. There was not much to see, just a few snails scurrying round and some razor shell inhabitats above the sand, but it was just a serene moment slowly drifting back and forth with the waves in time with the scattered sea-weed.

Hebden Ghyll

2009-07-06T20:30:00.004+01:00

Family business took me back to North Leeds. I dragged D#1 and D#2 up Hebden Ghyll. I had hoped to get as far as the mine spoil heaps on the top, as occasionally there are Twite up there, but D#2 had other ideas. so we stopped by the lower mine workings.

No specialities, but 4 Oystercatchers, a few Lapwings, a Golden Plover, Grey Wagtail, and juvenile Wheatears and a juv Stonechat. Swifts, Meadow Pipits, and Willow Warblers were plentiful.

I guess its obvious, but up in the dales, in a narrow valley with no competing sounds, birds like Mipits, Dunnocks and Blackbirds have songs that ring out and echo round the surroundings.

Back home sat in my Mum's porch we had a pair of Red Kites over the garden. Regular, apparently.

Caption Competition

2009-06-26T21:09:00.004+01:00

took D#3 and D#4 to Linton Zoo today. Here's a picture of a charming family of South American Tapirs.

Entries welcome for what the young one on the right is saying.

Marsh Warbler

2009-06-21T19:08:00.005+01:00

There's been a Marsh Warbler at Amwell, showing really well. I went over late this afternoon with a firm 5:30 deadline. On arrival a small group was standing idly chatting, and sure enough it hadn't been seen or heard for over an hour.

We all know how this is going to end. But No!! With just 5 minutes to go, there's some wobbling in the thistle bushes, and there it is, out in the open, looking like Marsh Warblers do in the photos, and then its off in the bush with a burst of song weirdness. And I'm heading for home with a lifer.

Is it churlish to complain about that other places get exotic waders and terns, but the Lee Valley's speciality is dull brown Warblers?

Thames birds

2009-06-19T21:54:00.006+01:00

My current work is near the Thames, between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. For the most parts the only birds on the Thames are Feral Pigeons, Cormorants, Coots, LBB Gulls and Herring Gulls. Occasionally other birds appear, such as Grey Wagtail, and Mallards and Canada Goose flying up the river. Last week there was a distant falcon I am pretty sure was a Peregrine, and yesterday a pair of Terns, probably Common Terns, belted high up the river.

We get BHG's too. Normally passing by on their way somewhere. We haven't had any for a while until this week when a couple have been around. Post breeding presumably.

Double Dutch

2009-06-15T22:20:00.004+01:00

there's a pair of Baillon's Crake's nesting in the Netherlands. I came across a link to a site with some excellent pictures and this text.

"Al de hele week wordt een paartje Kleinst Waterhoen gezien in De Groene Jonker, Hogenveen, Zuid-Holland. Dit zeldzame ralletje dat zich normaal gesproken niet laat zien pakt het hier anders aan. Voor de ogen van vele vogelaars gaat het gewoon zijn gang. Echt een aanrader."

so I did the obvious and put it through BabelFish ...

"All the complete week a paartje smallest moorhen is seen in the green nobleman, Hogenveen, Zuid-Holland. This rare ralletje that spoken normally does not leave itself see it catches to this differently. For the eyes of a lot of bird arse ordinary its pace goes. Really a must."

so that's sorted ...

On the beach

2009-05-29T18:55:00.009Z

with D#1 on Weymouth beach on Monday night. Lots of Herring Gulls in various plumages.

finally D#4 shooing the tide back.

Inner Marina

2009-05-28T19:48:00.015Z

When the River Wey exits Radipole reserve it passes through the Boating Lake, then encounters a sluice system at Westham Bridge before exiting into the saline environment of the inner harbour. There's a footbridge just on the marina side of the bridge which provides a view of the sluice and the inner marina.

The footbridge has been adopted by a Common Tern. It sits on the handrail looking for tiny fish, and when it sees one dives down to catch it. It allows approaches of down to 5 feet - too close to focus.

The inner marina is also home to a shoal of about 100 mullet of some description.

The Common Terns have taken up residence on one of the boats - second on the right I think, judging from the white stains!

May whitsun bank holiday

2009-05-28T19:35:00.006Z

A few days in Weymouth. On the trip down on Sunday there was a Red Kite where the M3 and the A303 split. Then down in the centre of Weymouth a Hobby appeared over some flats.

An evening walk round Radipole had 3 Common Sandpipers, lots of Reed Warblers, a Bearded Tit whizzed past and as the sun set the Hooded Merganser swam past. There were 2 BHG's there as well; they are common enough in the fields round the Poole area, presumably on a day trip from the harbour colony, but they are scarce up this end of Dorset until mid July.

Elsewhere it was quiet; nothing at Rodden Hive on Monday apart from lots of Painted Ladies - but unless you've been living in a cave you know about them. Portland was a wash-out if you're a local, but if you come from a land-locked county like myself then lots of Gannets, Manx Shearwater, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Guillemots, Razorbills, whizzing past in gale winds was quite a sight.

Toronto

2009-05-23T20:31:00.005Z

Spent the week in Toronto. It was solid work for just about all of it, but a few birds did make an appearance. The ubiquitous Ring-Billed Gulls, Starlings, House Sparrows and Feral Pigeons, but there were Chimney Swifts with their piercing call, and early one morning in a tree between the Union Station and the Royal York Hotel a warbler was singing bried but persistent birds. I could only see the lemon yellow underside, with a gorget of black markings, and a dark blue-grey upperside. I think it was a Canada Warbler.

I went down to the harbour terminal after work to try and get to the islands, but the service seemed a bit sporadic, the wind was howling, and I had visions of getting stuck on the islands. I added Barn Swallow, Mallard, and Cormorant ( I assume a double-crested one).

The place I really wanted to visit was the Leslie Street Spit/Tommy Thompson Park. This central-Toronto area is a magnet for birds in spring, but unfortunately is only open at weekends so I'm unlikely to get there.

Blink and you'll mis(identify) it.

2009-05-12T21:29:00.007Z

"blink, The Power of Thinking without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell is a book of the moment. The base idea of the book is that many of our initial instincts are better than our considered thoughts. It's a compelling book, but early on he says this;

"The ornithologist Dave Sibley says that in Cap May he once spotted a bird in flight from two hundred yards away and knew instantly that it was a Ruff ... He had never seen a Ruff in flight before, nor was the moment long enough for him to make a careful identification, but he was able to capture what bird-watchers call the birds "giss" - its essence - and that was enough".

David Sibley is later quoted as saying "you know what it is at a glance".

Well ... yes and no. If you watch enough birds you can pick up that instinct. But in my experience the above is a recipe for mistakes. There are all sorts of circumstances when birds can depart from their normal behaviour; moulting affects the flight and general appearance, wind causes birds to fly differently, and I've found watching sea-birds in inland or quiet conditions completely useless for watching seabirds migrating. Birds on migration find themselves in strange places and behave in strange ways. And overseas, the light is different, birds behave differently, and they look completely different.

So yes, an instinct is useful, but most birders then get down to the serious business of watching properly and going logically and thoughtfully through the features until they are confident of the ID. This is the best way to do it, and its completely the opposite of what Malclom Gladwell says in his book.

Lee/Lea Valley 2 May

2009-05-02T20:40:00.006Z

Collared Flycatcher at Portland and a bank holiday! It's as good as ticked! Except D#1 has to do some revision for an upcoming GCSE exam, so we are staying in East Herts instead.

In the evening I manage to tear D#1 away from her revision - what subject is it exactly that requires extensive surfing of Stardoll.com? - and we go for a cycle ride in the Lee Valley Country Park. We get great views of 4 Hobbies over the reeds, lots of singing around the Electricity substation in which I'm pretty sure was a Nightingale, and of course opposite the Bittern Watch Point was a singing (but whilst I was there unseen) Savi's Warbler. Either that or there was a large crowd listening to a Baritone Gropper.

Missing Purple Heron (again)

2009-04-23T20:09:00.002Z

I missed a Purple Heron today. One spent the day sat in the South East Corner of the West Warwick Reservoir. I passed just a few yards from it, but there was a train carriage, a fence, and a large reservoir bank between me and it.

It's not the first time I've missed a Purple Heron. A few years ago (August 16 2006 to be precise) I was driving towards Portland Bill when I was held up by a car reversing out of Culverwell. Fortunately it pulled over to the side shortly afterwards and I carried on to the bill. It was only when I bumped into the driver later that I learnt they pulled over to look at a Purple Heron standing in a field - the first and so far only Portland record.

Easter birds Weymouth

2009-04-15T18:48:00.005Z

1. Radipole, pm, Friday 10 April. Bearded Tit – 2 m and f. Just quick views, but sightings this time of year tend to be unusual. 2 Marsh Harriers, both brown ones, but i think one may be an immature male. Sedge Warblers, and a Willow Warbler. Swallows and Sand Martins.

2. Lodmoor morning Sat 11th. The main sighting was 3 possibly 4 pairs of Oystercatchers. Also a Green Sandpiper, a Barwit, just 2 BHG, several Willow Chiffs, and Linnets.

3. Radipole Sat 11th pm. Back for the Marsh Harriers. A Sparrowhawk f over, and House Martins in number. Reed Warblers too.

4. Portland Sunday 12th am. Very dull and birdless early doors, apart from lots of Willow Chiffs. A return with the family later produced lots more willow Chiffs and at last a female Redstart.

5. Monday 13th. StoneyBarrow Common. I left the long lens at home to take some scenery, and inevitably a pair of Ravens spent the morning riding the breeze just over our heads.

Weymouth photos

2009-04-15T18:34:00.014Z

Photography was the theme of the Easter trip to Weymouth. I made this decision roughly half way down the M3 when I realised I’d forgotten my scope. And this time, I'd concentrate on some of those difficult shots of birds in bushes. Taking pictures of large water birds is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Canary Wharf birds

2009-04-14T20:09:00.008Z

As the more dedicated of you may recall, I used to work at Canary Wharf. Three years from 2004 - 2007. I saw very little there - after all, its a monument of glass, steel and concrete with some apologies for plants dotted round the estate. I assumed it was a dead loss from a birding point of view and never had cause to change my mind,

I was, according to this article (birdguides subscribers only), completely wrong. The author, one Ken Murray, twigged what I completely missed; that the main tower of Canary Wharf lit up at night could act like a lighthouse, and pull in migrants from and wide. The list is truly astonishing.

According to the article,between 2001 and 2006 the following were seen: 3 Blyth's Reed Warblers, Booted Warbler, Red-Backed Shrike, 2 Wrynecks, 3 Icterine Warblers, a Melodious Warbler, a Barred Warbler and supporting casts of Firecrest, grasshopper Warbler, Wood Warbler, Pied flycatcher etc etc. Then there's the ones that got away - glimpses and best guesses of Eastern Willow Warbler, Aquatic Warbler, Paddyfield Warbler, Great Snipe, Thrush Nightingale, Asian Song Thrush.

I know from my own lesser experience at the scrape that finding a spot, wondering if it will be good for birds and then finding that it is, is amongst the best experiences birding has to offer. Its what makes birding something different to going for a walk with a pair of binoculars. To do this on such a scale as done here is something most birders can only dream of. Full marks to the birders concerned for a wonderful story.

Shelduck at the scrape

2009-04-14T20:05:00.003Z

A pair of Shelduck have been on and of at the scrape. I caught up with them this evening from the train. They are my kind of bird - big, obvious, and sit out in the open.

By my reckoning that's eight species of duck on our puddle in total.

Random

2009-04-08T18:52:00.004Z

1. In Toronto again, and the Ring-Billed Gulls were around the Station. The call is quite distinctive; higher pitched and more of a yelp than a Herring Gull, like someone has trod on their feet.

2. Back at the Scrape; lots of Gadwalls, a pair of Teal, not much else.

3. Center-Parcing again in Thetford Forest. If I heard one Siskin I heard a hundred. We had a Mallard nesting by the chalet with 10 eggs. Very hard to see - we had to drop a bike on it to find it. When it went off, it covered the nest in down, making it completely invisible. Do Mallards have a down-covering gene? Or do they have a problem solving gene? Or do they have a learn from Mother gene?

4. Chiffchaff, obviously, but nothing else for me yet this spring ...

list-free day

2009-03-25T19:20:00.003Z

The always interesting North Downs And Beyond is suffering from post-forty angst. I've had a few of the similar emotions as ND, and still think of myself as a recovering tickaholic. Some days I can hear of a local rarity I can't get to see and not have the faintest twich. Some days.

One thing that seems to befall most birders at some point is birding for the list. For the day list, for the year list, or just to tick it off. There's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it can become an overwhelming imperative, where the tick is everything and the experience of actually seeing the bird is nothing.

So here's a suggestion - an antidote. For just one day, leave your notebook at home. Make no effort to count, or even to identify what you see. Instead, just look at the wildlife around, without any attempt to categorise or classify, but just to watch and enjoy.

Feeling paranoid?

2009-03-17T20:57:00.000Z

then you need one of these

Probable Ring-Billed Gull

2009-03-15T21:41:00.002Z

I was visiting one of my employer's offices last week, and on the walk into the building was 99% sure I saw a Ring-Billed Gull. It was too small for a Herring Gull, and not mean enough, yet too big for a Common Gull. And as it flew up in front of the Central Toronto Railway Station I thought it looked a shade more agile than I'd have associated with a Herring Gull.

Waiting

2009-03-08T17:10:00.006Z

February and March can produce some beautiful days; low sun throwing sharp shadows, clear air and bright blue skies. But if like me you only have a limited number of birding opportunities during the year, then its important not to be seduced by the weather and waste them on barren late-winter days. The local bird web sites are full of visit lists with small numbers and nothing of note. In just a few weeks the spring migrants will be here en-masse. So its time to sit tight, do those household chores, and wait.

I did sneak out to SLRS to see it fuller than I've ever seen. There were 8+ Shovelers and Gadwall in the teens, and a trip to the local supermarket was livened up by a flock of Fieldfares going over, but a cycle trip with D#1 round Hatfield Forest was practically bird-free.

Fair Weather Birding - Weymouth at Half Term

2009-02-18T09:01:00.010Z

So, a few days approaching at half term when you can get some birding done. Do you a) want the cold snap to continue so there’s a chance of some scarce birds being around due to the cold weather or b) want a clear dry warm spell so you can watch the usual stuff in comfort? Well for me it was unequivocally b, which makes me a fair-weather birder.

First up on Sunday morning was Portland Harbour, in warm still conditions birds were easy to pick out. From Castle Cove Yacht club were 3 Great Northern Divers, 3 Slavonian Grebes and 6 Black-Necked Grebes. The BNG’s were easy to pick out from the slavs because they were all in one close-knit flock whereas the Slav’s don’t seem to like each others company. From the National Sailing Academy there was another 3 Great Northerns and a Slav, and then from Portland Castle there was 2 Black-Throated Divers and another Great Northern (there may have been some double counting of these). A Shag and about 50 Red-Breasted Mergansers were year-ticks.

Then a family walk from Langton Herring down towards Herbury Gore, and round The Fleet to Rodden Hive and back to the village. A short muddy walk, but from the children’s moaning you’d have thought we were recreating The Battle of The Somme. Anyway, 15 Red-Legged Partridges and 10 Roe Deer on the way down to the fleet, then 15 Redshank with 3 Dunlin and a few Turnstone, and on the water over a hundred Wigeon, 7 Pintail, lots of other dabbling duck, and on Chesil Bank there was a Peregrine patrolling. A flock of about 50 Linnets and 30 Pied Wagtails were in one of the fields, and Robins were a constant accompanyment in the hedgerows by the Fleet.

On Monday morning a quick walk up to Radipole; a Creamcrown Marsh Harrier patrolling the reeds by North Hide, and a Water Rail washing itself at the egde of the reeds were highlights, but 30 Snipe were notable. We then went to Cogden beach, and on a flat sea had a Common Scoter and a distant Red-Throated Diver, identified by its frequent head-shaking in flight. I could just make out some Fulmars from the cliffs at West Bay .

The Tuesday morning and a couple of hours at Lodmoor. At the marsh by the seaward end of the path to Beachdown Way there was a Water Pipit - an embarrassingly long time since I last saw one - and a Green Sandpiper. A couple of Raven were beating up a Common Buzzard in the middle, and a Spoonbill was doing what Spoonbills do - sleeping. A site record for me was Coal Tit, and around the reserve was 215 Lapwing, another 32 Snipe, a Goldcrest and an adult Med Gull.

Finally we did our traditional walk round Portland bill, got Rock Pipit for the year and saw a Great-Northern Diver offshore, but there was no sign of the Purple Sandpipers today. Overall a good set of birds and all done in warm bright still weather - fantastic.

A few shots from the walk round the Fleet.

Barn Owls

2009-02-09T18:24:00.008Z

Some local dog walkers alerted Steve to a regular Barn Owl local to Sawbridgeworth, and we've managed to see it a couple of times. We decided on Sunday to see if it had survived the Snow, and were rewarded with not one but two Barn Owls hunting together.

We noticed one was paler than the other, and duly hit Google today. I came across this and this

The abstracts are all written in that weird form of English that scientists use when presenting their work. I recognise and understand the words, it all appears to be grammatically correct, but when I stand back and look at it I haven't a clue what it means.

It states that male Barn Owls are paler than females, so we may have been watching a pair (this makes sense as they hunted together without any rancour or aggression).

It also states that darker Barn Owls are healthier than pale ones, and that darker birds pass on their extra darkness to offspring of either sex.

The second reference contains this:

"In northern Europe, male and female T. a. guttata are reddish-brown and heavily spotted, and in southern Europe male and female T. a. alba are white, but only females display many spots. Here, I discuss the relative importance of direct selection, genetic correlation and the post-ice age invasion of Europe by T. alba, in generating sex-specific cline variation in plumage spottiness and non-sex-specific cline variation in plumage coloration".

and elsewhere there's reference to 25+ races of Barn Owl across the globe.

So, the Barn Owl contains features that make it a messenger of evolution, and in particular contains information of the spread of birds after the ice ages, but unpicking that information seems to be beyond science at the moment.

Sawbridgeworth Snow

2009-02-02T12:30:00.011Z

In our 10 years in the East Herts area, this is the worst snow we've had. Birds such as Barn Owl, Cetti's Warbler, as well as everday garden birds, must be struggling.

Here's a few pictures of Sawbo in the snow.

Three Men in a Marsh: Sheppey Revisited.

2009-01-28T19:30:00.010Z

This time last year Kevin, Steve and myself spent a day watching raptors on Sheppey. We enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again this year. On Tuesday 27, we revisited, hoping to break last year’s records of 65 species and 8 species of birds of prey, but given the dismal weather forecast and last year’s luck thought we’d do well to match it.

The SE part of the island of Sheppey is mile after mile of wet farmland. It attracts huge numbers of waders and wildfowl, and numbers of raptors to prey on them, making it possibly the best place in Britain to see raptors. We started and finished at the Capel Fleet View Point, a raised platform from which the whole of the central plain can be seen. In between we parked at Harty Church and walked down to the Swale National Nature Reserve – a piece of marsh just over the sea wall from the saltmarsh and estuary, and stopped for lunch at the excellent Ferry Inn. We also went to the Elmley RSPB reserve – a mistake as its closed on Tuesday, but we thought the road may turn up some Short-Eared Owls.

Well, what a glorious day it turned out to be. Bright sunshine, warm in the sun, and 70 species with 9 birds of prey. It started as soon as we got out of the car with an adult Mediterranean Gull next to the watchpoint, then scanning westward towards the prison we had a Rough-Legged Buzzard in flight, looking slightly bigger and bulkier than adjacent Common Buzzards, and then found one sat in a bush at a distance of around half a mile. With the scope on max we could clearly see a white streaked head, and as it balanced in a bush we saw the all white tail with a clear thick black terminal band. Steve had a Merlin amongst the Fieldfares – our only Merlin sight of the day, although we did have a lot of candidates on posts and on bushes that all turned out to be Kestrels – and as we left the site a Ringtail Hen Harrier flew across the road. At the Swale reserve we had the Hooded Crow amongst 70 odd Carrion Crows, Reed Buntings galore, and Curlews, Wigeon, and Brent Goose on the freshwater marsh, and out on the estuary 30 Avocet, a mass of Grey Plover, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, and a single Black-Tailed Godwit flew in.

At Harty Ferry a ringtail Hen-Harrier floated by – how often does that happen when you’re sat outside a pub having lunch? The trip to Elmley added Little Egret and Gadwall to the list, and a Green Woodpecker by the roadside at Eastchurch produced load cheers as we broke the previous year’s record. Finally back at the watch point it was raptor bedlam – they were everywhere. A Short Eared-Owl was patrolling along the nearby dyke, but we didn’t have time to look at that as two Peregrines were in the flat field by the watchpoint, and in the sloping field behind there was two Barn Owls and a Hen Harrier. There were silly numbers of Marsh Harriers – 6 sat in a field, 3 fighting over the marsh, etc. It was fantastic stuff – we were grinning from ear to ear as bird after bird performed in full scope view. In between we heard Cetti’s Warbler, and saw a flock of 20 Corn Buntings, and good numbers of Stonechats. A deafening Pheasant chorus as the light deteriorated signalled time to go.

70 species – a stiff target for next year. Clearly RLB will be no trouble, but does anyone know a site for Great Tit and Song Thrush?

Looking SW - is that an RLB in the bush?

E from the watch point.

Reed Bunting

Creamcrown Marsh Harrier

The watchpoint as the sun sets

A Tale of Three Roosts

2009-01-18T19:47:00.006Z

Roost One. I went to Sawbridgeworth Marsh on Saturday where Mike was already present. Its been quiet recently, and today was no different, but we had some good variety. A couple of Sparrowhawks, a Common Buzzard, more Fieldfares than of late - there seems to have been an influx - a good number of Stock Doves, and the usual Woodpeckers, Corvids, and Buntings.

Roost Two. D#4 had a bowling party in Bishops Stortford on Sunday, so whilst he was there myself and D#1, D#2 went round Hatfield Forest Lake. there were three Pochard, and small numbers of Gadwall, Shoveler, Mallard, Teal, and Tufted Duck. Finaly, we caught up with Graeme's Tawny Owl. Graeme found one last winter at the North end of the lake, and its taken to roosting there during the day again this winter. Its a while since I've seen one in daylight, and its rich reddish brown feathers stood out well.

Roost Three. This blog will be going back to its winter roost for a few weeks while the short daylight hours and family stuff squeeze out birding trips. Fingers crossed there may be the odd day-trip or visit to Weymouth, in which case I'll post.

Frozen Out

2009-01-11T12:34:00.007Z

Took my first walk of the year round SLRS and South Sawbridgeworth today. The scrape and much of the river were frozen solid, and the ground was frozen underfoot too. I got the impression the birds are suffering. there were no large flocks of any birds; I saw two flocks of Long-tailed tits but they mustered only 7 birds between them, and the flock of 50 mixed buntings and finches at Feakes Lock pre-Christmas has shrunk to a handful of birds. The only large total was a record number of Cormorants (10) which I assume is because they are having trouble finding open water elsewhere.

Ten - a record.

The full total, for posterity.

Cormorant 10 in a couple of trees in Pishiobury Park
Mute swan 2ad 1 juv by Sheering Lock
Mallard 5N, 2 on river
Kestrel 1
Moorhen 4
Lapwing 3SE over
BHG c30
Common Gull 1 juv
LBBG 1 ad
Stock Dove 1
Wood Pigeon c100 in total
Collared Dove 3
Green Wood 1h
GSW1h
Wren 2
Dunock 6
Robin 1
Blackbird 6
Fieldfare 7
Song thrush 4
Miste thrush 1
Goldcrest 3
LT Tit 7
Blue tit 8
Great tit 5
Magpie 8
Jackdaw 7
Crow 5
Starling 1
Chaffinch 6
Greenfinch 3
Goldfinch 4
Bullfinch 6
Yellowhammer 5

Herts Twitching

2009-01-10T14:37:00.006Z

A Great Grey Shrike has turned up in Cuffley. Its half an hour away, so with D#4's football being cancelled due to a frozen pitch I sneaked off to see it.

As this was the first Saturday it was available the twitch was well attended. The bird has taken up residence in some bushes and trees round the railway embankment, and didn't show particularly well when I was there. Nevertheless we got some reasonable views, and had the usual pleasant birding chat with the assembled locals.

It was too far away for a photo, unlike a Little Owl on my way back. One flew into a tree at High Wych as I was driving past, so I quickly pulled in to the school entrance opposite, grabbed the camera and clicked away. I crossed the road to get closer but it disappeared. The habitat is ideal for Little Owl, so I may be back to look again at a later date.

Local Waxwings

2009-01-07T10:45:00.007Z

At last some local waxwings, hiding amongst the packed housing estates of Bishop's Stortford. I got the e-mail with directions and immediately left. The 10 birds were being flighty and difficult, and eventually flew off just as Tony arrived. Fingers crossed they will be re-found later.

Edit:
*************************************************************************

Returned pm when they were happier to feed on the white Rowan berries - got a few more shots from the van, although on occasion the birds were too close!

Scaupish

2009-01-04T22:04:00.005Z

Went to Amwell first thing this morning. Freezing cold, and mainly ice-bound with just a few open spots all crammed with wildlife.

I thought I had a male Scaup, but something wasn’t quite right; mainly the bloke next to me saying that a hybrid had been seen in the area recently. It didn’t have that “Pochard in Tufted Clothing” appearance, and the head seemed to have an abruptness at the back of the crown. Further correspondence on the Herts Yahoo group suggested a Tufted/Pochard cross that had a Lesser Scaup appearance. That fitted, so not even a bit if Scaup in it. Just Scaupish.

I always feel slightly sick with envy walking round Amwell. Lots of really good habitat of all kinds. Over in the Stort Valley we don’t have anything like the range and variety of habitat, particularly the amount of open water. There was lots of quite good stuff. Numbers of dabbling duck, a Red-Crested Pochard, several Goldeneye, a Water Rail out in the open, a Stonechat, a Kingfisher, a party of Siskin, and even a Fox out on the ice. The site speciality - Smew - was missing.

But today Hatfield Forest Lake was the place to be for the diligent few (so not me); two Bewick’s Swans turned up. Photos are on the Stort Valley Wild site, and we await the results of the inquiry on the rings on the legs.

New Year 2009 - Rainham Marsh RSPB

2009-01-01T17:45:00.010Z

I ventured deeep into enemy territory today, drifting incognito amongst The Gentleman Birders of Essex.

Star birds were the two Penduline Tits. If only all birds were as confiding as these two. They moved around the north part of the reserve, but were happy to feed in the open in front of massed ranks of birders. A lifer for me, I was expecting something like a masked Bearded tit, but they were more Great Tit or finch like in general shape and demeanour to my eyes. Here's the best I could do with the hand-held lens plus converter.

Otherwise I underperformed against the list in the centre;no SEO, Peregrine or Water Pipit, and the Serin hadn't been seen when I left. Nevertheless, in the Reeds there were Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, calling Cetti's Warbler and Water Rail, and a Kingfisher. On Aveley Lagoon there was about 20 Pintail, a Golden Plover, a Snipe, and lots of Lapwing, Wigeon, Gadwall and Shoveler.

On the marsh were Reed Bunting, 4 pairs of Stonechat, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtail, and on the foreshore were 3 Black-Tailed Godwits, about 10 Redshank, some Dunlin, Teal, Shelduck, and some dabbling ducks from the reserve. Around the centre were Goldfinch in number and various other typical garden birds. so a good start to 2009.

There's lots of work still going on out on the reserve. Much of it to do with chldren and education, but no doubt some of it will produce more good birds.

Sawbridgeworth Marsh roost Dec 30th

2008-12-30T20:48:00.006Z

I called in at Sawbridgeworth Marsh at 3pm for the roost.

I’d been here earlier in December with Mike, and courtesy of his superior skills had an excellent set of birds including 2 Water Rail, 1 Woodcock, 1 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 23 Fieldfare, 6 Bullfinch, and 43 Reed Bunting.

Today I was on my todd. Without Mike's expertise I had to do a certain amount of guesswork with distant corvids and small silhouettes in the gloom that gave one brief call and then diver into cover. Nevertheless I clocked up the following.

Woodpigeon c250 rough count
Redwing 3 N
Greenfinch 5SW, 9 NE
Cormorant 2 (1 ad with a missing primary on right wing, 1 juv N)
Kestrel 1
Magpie 2N
Bullfinch 2 calling
Corvids - mainly Jackdaw I think 173S
Starling 5W
Snipe 3E high - probably disturbed from somewhere and trying to find a roost.
Green Woodpecker 2
Yellowhammer 5E
Mallard 4N
Reed Bunting 14 in
Meadow Pipit 12 in
Lapwing 35 NW
Water Rail 2 heard
Blackbird roost calling.
Fieldfare 6 in
Carrion Crow 5 in.

The Reed Buntings call once and then dive in from a height. They arrive over a period and drift in individually or in small numbers. In contrast the Meadow Pipits fly around for a while, as if unable to find the exact ideal spot, and then drop in. It seems strange that when faced with the same apparently identical problem of how to get into a roost these two birds should adopt such different strategies.

Weymouth in mid-winter

2008-12-29T22:28:00.013Z

A brief hiatus in the mid-winter rush. We were down at Weymouth for a couple of days, but with one thing and another I didn’t get to see any birds. Instead we went for a freezing walk on Britain’s best beach.

Apart from the usual shells and weed, the beach was littered with what I assume were sea squirts; semi-translucent rubber-like things about a couple of inches long that if you trod on them sent a jet of water out the end. The first time I’ve seen this on the beach, and presumably was a result of the stiff SE wind of recent days.

There were about 50 Carrion Crows searching for scraps along the beach too.

Winter Hibernation

2008-11-24T14:19:00.007Z

I'm sending the blog into hibernation for the winter, with possibly a brief flurry of activity around Christmas.

There's no point in blogging unless you're going to do it regularly, and I'm simply not doing enough to maintain a flow of worthwhile entries at the moment.

This weekend was a case in point. There's a Rough-Legged Buzzard just up the A10. There's Serins and more at Rainham. And with the cold weather coming, a trip to Amwell for the gull roost could have been profitable.

So, how did it go?

9:am. D#1 has a maths course in Hatfield. Long-tailed tits round the house! That's an hour round trip to drop her off ( a few Redwings from the car).
Then D#4 plays football at the local club from 10:30 - 11:30 (well, he runs round after other children playing football to be more accurate). I spend a pleasant hour freezing my **** off and chewing the fat with other dads. Mistle thrush and a few BHGs.
Back to Hatfield to pick up D#1. Back at 1:15om, a quick sandwich then off to the British Museum with D#3 and D#1. D#3 has been doing Egyptians and wants to see the Mummies. The British Museum is just about my favourite (indoor) place in the UK, and we have a great time looking at the statues, hieroglyphics, and mummies. "Look - that writing is different to the other writing" I say, pointing to some inscription at the top of a piece of stone. "That's because it's a Pharoah's name daddy" says D#3. Ah. I'll shut up then.
5pm. Back to Sawbo in the dark.

Sunday isn't any better. 10:15 - drop D#1 for a swimming lesson. Starlings round the building. Then take D#2 for his lesson. Have a swim myself! Then home by 12. Off to the supermarket as I haven't yet been this weekend (see above). Dinner, and then its 3 o'clock. I could do the roost at Sawbo Marsh, but there's some stuff to do round the house to do with Kids bedrooms, and then its dark.

Realistically, that's how its going to be for the forseeable future. After Easter I'll be able to get out at the start and end of the day, and with luck see a few things.

So, apart from a brief hello at Christmas, that's it until the days lengthen again.

Until then, keep warm, and may the God of Birding litter your path with rarities!

Atlas count

2008-11-17T21:30:00.002Z

Did a new square for the timed atlas count - and its the square with SLRS. Same old same old, but a Grey Wagtail was overdue for the patch this year.

The strangest thing was a couple of Bats. I thought they were Snipe at first, but once the binoculars were on the truth was out. They were bigger than Pipistrelles, and a golden brown, so I'm guessing Noctule.

This is the first time I've had proper views of a decent size bat through binoculars in daylight. And what a weird thing it is - like watching a hamster fly. It seems to be against nature for animals to be cruising around up in the sky.

SLRS Nov 8

2008-11-10T20:32:00.006Z

There’s been some good birds in the area in the last few days; Great White Egret, Woodlark, but those birds were seen by proper birders who put a lot of hours in, not someone who strolls occasionally round their local patch with their eyes closed.

The scrape was full, and had just two ducks; a female Gadwall and a female Teal. A snipe flew over, and some BH Gulls were around. The solitary Lapwing was joined by a flock of 30.

A flock of 20 Skylarks flew over, then a few Meadow Pipits in the rough grass. Over by Feakes Lock there was the same flock of Buntings and finches that had been there a few weeks previously. I’d guess 20 Yellowhammers, 2 Reed Buntings, 20 Chaffinch, a few Goldfinches, some Dunnocks going mental, a Song Thrush, a Goldcrest, and a continual presence of Redwings.

The Cormorant tree, with a Cormorant.

If you look carefully, you can see the smoke from breakfast being cooked.

Merlinless at Trim's Green

2008-11-03T18:24:00.010Z

One of the problems of having four children is that you can't spend you weekends sat on the Norfolk coast or heading off to Kent for the latest rarity. Time is strictly limited to an odd half hour here or there, and you have to do what you can in the time available.

A Merlin was seen on a few occasions during the week at Trim's Green. By the time I was free to go and look for it on Saturday ("need some flour from the supermarket"), it was a day too late. I sat around for half an hour in the apology for daylight that was Saturday lunchtime. The usual suspects came and went. 70 Goldies, a mixed flock of finches and buntings, and a few Skylarks over.

I assumed that the presence of finches etc flying happily round the new farm buildings meant the Merlin was long gone. Of course it may be some kind of Avian game of Dare, or the finches' version of the Pamplona Bull run - lets all go and sit in that tree and wait for the Merlin, and see if we can all get away in time.

Back on Sunday evening ("just taking the bottles to the recycling point"), with similar results. 35 Goldies in the Tharbies fiels sparkled in the low sun. When I turn up they all crouch in the ground, but after a few minutes they start running around, and splendid they were.

There's Goldies in here. Honestly.

Merlin Central - last week.

Stourhead

2008-10-29T18:59:00.009Z

Popped in to Stourhead on the way back. Not as productive for birds as others have found , but the combination of low sun and dark clouds made for some spectacular views between the hail storms.

After that we headed home. We were held for an hour whilst someone was helicoptered off the A303. then D#4 projectile vomitted all over the car, and finally as the temperature dropped below zero we had a blizzard on the M25, with the snow beginning to settle on the windscreen and articulated lorries hurtling down the middle lane. But apart from that it was fine.

Is Radipole worth a visit?

2008-10-29T16:50:00.002Z

When staying in Weymouth we are in close proximity to Radipole, but I rarely go there. I thought I'd take the camera for a walk round the reserve and see what turned up.

I started (Monday 8 am) on the SW side, and stopped opposite the RSPB centre. There was the usual healthy collection of commoner water birds - Great-Crested and Little Grebes (about 10 of the latter), Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Shelduck, and lots of gulls.

A kingfisher perched on a reed for a couple of ticks (not common for me here), a Cetti's Warbler sang from a nearby bush, and a male Stonechat showed some interest.

There weren't many BH Gulls present, but there were a large number of Mediterranean Gulls amongst them. I counted 13, a mix of adult, 1st and 2nd Winter, but this is a small fraction of the numbers here recently (this pic taken from the other side later).

I checked for one of the varieties of Herring Gull that have been seen here recently, but the best I could come up with was this. Any comments?

I went up to the Buddleia loop and looked NW across the mere to north hide. Here's the view, with a Common Buzzard in the middle.

There was a constant pinging from the opposite bank, and eventually 4 Bearded Reedlings flew up and off. Cetti's Warbler and Water Rail made their presence known with calls, and there were 30 Gadwall, more Shovellers, and 2 Pochards.

Back via the centre where there were 8 Snipe, and of course Hooded Merganser on the boating lake.

So not a bad list. But the problem with Radipole is that list doesn't change much during the winter. You could see Bittern if you were lucky or persistent, and maybe a Scaup will turn up amongst the Pochards, but it has lost quite a lot of the variety over the years. I'll fish out my records from winter visits over the years soon for a comparison.

Land of the Dead

2008-10-29T12:01:00.010Z

Back in Weymouth for half term, we headed north to Wiltshire, and the area where Mrs D grew up.

The landscape of Wiltshire is one defined largely by the long-dead. Apart from well known sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury, there are hundreds of ancient barrows, and every hill seems to have a hill-fort on top and strip-lychetts on the side.

We started in Devizes at the museum, which was having an exhibition of some of the gold artefacts found 200 years ago in Bush Barrow. Then braved the weather to visit a couple of the less famous sites. Firstly West Kennet Longbarrow, a set of three burial chambers that pre-dates Stonehenge by a couple of thousand years.

I have no idea whether the fine layers of sates between the Sarsens are original or added later.

The barrow is close to Silbury hill. The purpose of this huge manmade structure has so far eluded archaeologists. One theory is that the surrounding depression would have been flooded in Neolithic times so making the hill a large island.

Finally we headed up to Avebury. We approached from the south past the avenue.

My appreciation of this landscape has been helped by reading Time Team’s France Pryor excellent “Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans.“

What's in a name?

2008-10-23T17:33:00.005Z

An Amur Falcon originally identified as a Red-Footed Falcon is causing some frustration on certain bird forums. The essence of the posts is “because you useless idiots failed to identify an obvious Amur Falcon I’ve been denied an opportunity to add a bird to my UK list”. People are drawing attention to the underwing pattern in various photos and reduced to spluttering incredulity, but even from my limited experience, I know that modern cameras produce much better images than were available to the eye at the time; light and colour balancing and magnification allow us to see features at our leisure that were not evident as the bird was hurtling past.

I don’t keep a close eye on these things, but I think over the last two years most additions to the UK list have been identified after the original sighting from photos posted on the internet. Good birdwatchers are being outed as useless because they failed to correctly identify a bird they weren’t expecting and had never previously seen.

Now fortunately we have a data point that should cheer up all those birders who are less than perfect. Graham Catley owns up on his blog to overlooking a 2nd for Europe. He even took a photograph of it, but only registered whilst news came through of the sighting.

Now I’ve never met Graham, but whilst a birder in Yorkshire in the 1980’s I was aware of his reputation as an expert birder, and its clear from his blog that he hasn’t spent the intervening twenty years sat on his backside. So if an expert birder like Graham overlooks a new bird, then what chance have you or me (particularly me) got?

Most things are obvious in retrospect. Einstein’s theories of relativity make sense once they’ve been explained to you, but it took a genius to see it. The banking collapse was inevitable once it had happened, but few predicted it before hand. The evidence all points to the fact that when presented with an unexpected and unfamiliar bird, many experienced birders don’t identify it correctly at the time.

On this occasion, I think the name has subconsciously influenced people’s reactions. An Amur falcon sounds completely different to a Red-footed Falcon – how could you possibly confuse birds with such different names? If the bird was known by its old name – Eastern Red-footed Falcon – then I think people may have been more prepared to accept some id confusion.

Vis Mig

2008-10-19T08:59:00.010Z

I’ve been following Visible Migration records for a while (eg here and more locally here). The Vis Mig yahoo group were having a big day today, so I thought I’d have a go.

The watch was taking place from 7-10, so at 7:30 prompt I arrived at my chosen place, Harlow Town Park. My recollection of many visits to the park was a clear vista over the Stort valley. It’s funny how your memory plays tricks, because as soon as I got there I realised it was unsuitable. It’s a great park, but the view is primarily of tree tops. Also, a difficulty is knowing whether some birds are genuinely migrating or simply moving round the park.

Anyway: here’s the records.
7:30 to 7:45. Redwing 10 NW, Sisking calling (3?), Jay 1 around.
7:45 to 8:00 Chaffinch 3N, Woodpigeon 400 W, Meadow Pipit 1 calling, Goldfinch c5W, Cormorant 3E
8:00 to 8:20 (I was interrupted by a curious passer by at this point) Redwing 8W, Grey Wagtail 1E (one of the park birds I think), Chaffinch 2N, Greenfinch 5 S
8:20 Lapwing c200 over the valley, with c50 Starlings, 1 Sparrowhawk.

At this point I decided to cut my losses. There weren’t many birds, and my calls are a bit crap as well; for instance I thought I heard a Yellowhammer early on, but as that would be an unusual record for the park, I’d prefer to see it.

Most moving birds seemed to be over the Stort, too far in the distance to ID from the park. I think its worth continuing to find a reasonable spot from which to view migration, but Harlow Town Park isn’t it.

I went home via Trim’s Green. 3 Golden Plover, several Skylarks up and singing. And nothing else.

Garden

2008-10-12T19:51:00.008Z

It was a beautiful morning – surely there won’t be a better one this year – so I sat in the garden with my camera. The house is in the centre of the town, and the garden is small – think half a tennis court – and surrounded by hedgerows and trees.

There was the usual stuff – Starling, Magpie, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, a few Blackbirds, Robin, and Wood Pigeons over. This morning there was a Goldcrest, and a Meadow Pipit and Skylark over.

Suddenly there were birds around. Finches and Jackdaws flew over, and a tight-knit group of Starling went past. This is invariably a sign of a Sparrowhawk in the area, and one shot into the garden next door, sat in a tree for a couple of minutes, then shot out again.

As usual there was some traffic from Stansted, and courtesy of the internet we can see this one gets around a bit.

Rockit at SLRS

2008-10-11T19:19:00.003Z

Every now and then my lackadaisical approach to birding catches me out. I mean it’s not as though I don’t know what a Rock Pipit looks like, as I see them regularly at Portland Bill, but they're birds you just walk past. I’ve never really sat down and looked at one in detail.

So this morning I popped down to SLRS for the first time in a while, and there on the mud is a pipit. And my first thought was “that looks like a Rock Pipit”, and my second thought was “how do I clinch it?” And I realised I don’t know.

It was dark brown/grey on the back, heavily marked on the breast in splodges (as if the colours had run); an eye ring and no particular supercilium. The bill was dark and stout, and the legs had a pinkish tinge. In some lights it seemed to have a yellowish vent. But it didn’t really have anything definitive.

Never mind, I had my brand new mobile phone, specially selected for its impressive Zeiss lens and optical zoom facility. I’d just take a few pictures to confirm the id at my leisure.

Well, taking a picture seemed just impossible. By the time I’d found the exact location of the phone on the lens required to get a picture, the bird had moved, and I ended up with a collection of pictures of mud, close up. The kind of pictures that normally feature Buzz Aldrin in his Moon buggy, not pipits.

I was saved by the arrival of a couple of Meadow Pipits, which posed next to the target bird. Completely different. Phew. Rich Brown with fine black markings, bright pink legs, a thin beak you could just reach out and snap off. When I moved position and had to refind the Rockit it was obvious which one it was.

Otherwise the scrape, just a small puddle now, held 2 Lapwings, 10 Snipe, and 18 Moorhen. Slowly the local specialities appeared; a mixed flock of about 30 at Feakes Lock held Yellowhammers, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Bullfinches were occasional throughout; otherwise a couple of Sparrowhawks, a Green Woodpecker, a GSW, and 2 Jays. The whole area looked particularly fantastic today, the colours of the autumn leaves standing out against the clear blue sky.

local stuff

2008-10-04T18:09:00.007Z

The weather forecast had been cancelled and been replaced with a reading from the old testament. Gale force winds, torrential rain, floods. All scheduled for exactly the brief period of time this weekend when I'm free. I managed a few minutes at Trim's Green, mainly on the ploughed field that has been delivering this autumn, before the plague of frogs arrived.

The field held 330 Golden Plover (a local record for me), and roughly 100 Lapwing, 50 BHG, 200 Starling. A few Goldies still had the remains of black bellies, and some looked greyer than others, but the distance and the gale force wind made counting and finding any variety amongst them impossible.

There were 8 Red-Legged Partridges at Lysander Park, and earlier a Common Buzzard was seen in the distance struggling south over East Sawbo - a tick for the house list.