H-owls of Delight!!

Sunday 21st Feb.  Living in the middle of England, it’s perhaps not surprising that I enjoy going to the coast and of course there are different species to be found in estuaries, offshore and on cliffs.  This Sunday I booked on a 2-hour boat trip round Christchurch (Dorset) harbour organised by the local RSPB. The Hengistbury Head ferry was chartered for the trip, and 17 of us happily waved goodbye to the distant high waves for the calmer waters of the harbour. Hengitsbury gets a large variety of species, both offshore and on the headland, and I have seen Dartford Warbler on the Head in prior years.

Nothing particularly startling in the 33 species seen, although the leader said that a Redwing was an unusual sighting, but it was in trees alongside the River Avon so not too much of a surprise. I spotted Turnstones near Mudeford Quay which was a good list addition.

Monday 22^nd Feb,  ...and another unusual location – a pair of Ring Necked Parakeets at Leatherhead cemetery! I have mentioned these parrot like birds before, but as a rarity to Midlanders they are good to see.

Thursday 25 Feb had an afternoon visit to Loscoe Dam, a small reserve near Heanor, in the hope of seeing Skylark and Green Woodpecker, but to no avail. Chatting to the Loscoe bird recorder he mentioned the Short Eared Owls that had been at Shipley Park since last December, so being only 10 minutes away I popped over on the way home. Success!!.... within 3 minutes of the centre, a hot drink in hand, and diminishing light I was thrilled to be watching a pair of these large birds quartering a rough field.

Friday 26 Feb, and I set off to try and end February on a high. Only 45 minutes from home, and I was at Rufford Park (again!) this time hoping to see Marsh Tit, and at a spot near the ice house where I had been successful in the  past. Armed with a good quantity of bird food, I tempted out plenty of Coal Tits and a few Nuthatches, but despite patiently waiting for an hour, I dipped again.

Never mind, 10 minutes away is a small piece of wet land at a village called Eakring, and last year I saw a Garganey there. Although the word was that he (it was a male!) commuted between Eakring and Rufford, on this occasion I duly found him, cohorting with a female Mallard. Very useful, because it enabled me to see and appreciate what a small duck a Garganey is.

Spent the rest of the day at Colwick Park near Nottingham, hoping to see Smew or Red Crested Pochard....dipped again!!

Just to end on a bit of a sad note.  Just over 10 years ago I started my Birdwatching for Beginners walk at Carsington, and on the first walk on 8^th January 2006, I had 14 people on the walk, and one was a lady Janet Ede. Since then she has been on my walk 33 times, and I was told this morning that she passed away just before Xmas. Many of my regulars will know her and at 79, what an enthusiastic birder she was. She loved birding, would help anyone using her guide book and was a regular at Carsington other than for my walks. She will be sadly missed.

Some Birding "craft" to boost your bird count

Sorry about the delay in posting the news from last week, but the traffic was awful on the M1. (??!)

Sunday 14^th Feb.  Not a major setback, but you should know that for a bird to count it has to be seen. Some people record an “H” for heard, but not me. So when I am in Putney, and hear a Ringnecked Parakeet fly over, and don’t see it, it don’t count. My time will come.

Not much on the birding front this week mainly due to a lot of rain, although I did pop over to Church Broughton, a small village west of Derby, to get excellent sightings of a Black Redstart actively feeding on a pile of steaming chicken “poo”. The extremes we birders go to..remember the rubbish tip in Aviemore for the Iceland gull.

So, some tips about how to improve your bird sighting results.

David Lindo, an urban ornithological journalist always advocates constantly looking up and watching the skies. How right he is as downward looking can easily miss Swifts, Kestrels, Buzzards, Martins and Gulls to name but a few.

On my beginners walks, I also advise people new to birding, to give a flock of birds a good scan. A flock of Canada Geese can easily include a Greylag, or a Pink Foot or even something special like a Red-fronted Goose. On my most recent such walk, I mentioned that Lapwings flying high may include Golden Plovers (when we saw a flock, it didn’t), and if flying fairly low, especially when panicking up from the ground, a flock could include Starlings...it did!!!

Strange the way some species stay well apart, and some mix. I recall the time the Sanctuary nature reserve in Derby had a very rare (for Derby) Dartford Warbler on 17^th June 2004 which (in the words of Rod Key of the DOS), co-habited with a Stonechat and each time the Dartford appeared so did the Chat.

But just watching what birds are doing can pay dividends. I remember seeing a Mallard in Markeaton Park, appearing to act like a blackbird homing in on a worm with one eye peering at the grass. In fact, that Mallard was more concerned about what the other eye could see, as it was watching a buzzard drifting round overhead. If I’d not watched the Mallard, I’d have missed the Buzzard!!

I have written articles about what I call the “wow” experiences, so let me recount one of the favourite stories I was told. I’ll call it No.1), because others will follow in due course!

A couple of guys out birding one day, were standing still in a wooded area just waiting for some bird life, when a Woodpigeon flew straight between them at chest height. As they looked at each other and about to say “did you see that” a sparrowhawk did exactly the same thing, just a second behind. See what I mean about “Wow”.. you would have to have been there to fully appreciate the moment.

My next blog will be after trying a new experience, a 2 hour birding trip round Christchurch harbour in Hants. Weather permitting of course!!!!!

From the Exe to the Axe

Sun Feb 7.  Nothing to report on my Carsington beginners walk, apart from very good close up views of the Great Northern Diver. Well voted Bird of the Day, and later on was even closer to the boardwalk by the Wildlife Centre.

Mon Feb 8 – Thurs Feb 11. Had 3 days at Exmouth in Devon, and although gales battered the West Country on Monday, from Tuesday we had 3 days (almost-) of excellent weather.

Monday,  The bad news.... Foreign lorries jammed the Gloucester lay-by opposite the Penduline Tits site, so we aborted a search. The good news.. the Imperial hotel gave us an upgraded room with a balcony overlooking Dawlish Warren, and although it was too cold to open the window, we had an incredible view particularly of the fast running spring tides.

Tuesday, At 1.30pm, after a short morning walk (ticking off a Rock Pipit near the marina), I joined the 3 hour Stuart Lines birdwatching cruise on the Exe to Topsham, my 5^th trip over the years. For just £12.50 this is an excellent trip, and the commentary by David Smallshire is very good and professional. I ticked off 35 birds on the trip, and added 7 to my 2016 list.  , and the cruise always leaves at low tide giving excellent views of the birds on the sand banks. Well recommended.

Of course most of the species were water birds, although David did spot a Peregrine on Exmouth church. A good early start was being very close to a Great Northern Diver, and Shags and Mergansers were very frequent. One of the top areas was near Powderham castle where the River Kenn joins the Exe. Greenshank and Spotted Redshank were spotted and near Starcross station, the Slavonian Grebe which has been living for 2/3 years all year round on the Exe, had a friend ??!!

A good number of Avocets added some charisma, and David added a lot of help in sorting Plovers (Ringed; Grey; Golden and Green).  A rarity and a highlight for him was a Mediterranean Gull, which tested the identification skills of newbie’s to birding, especially when it flew past!.. oh and one seal.

Wednesday, Knowing that we had very high spring tides, we got to Budleigh Salterton and the marshes at the mouth of the river Otter. Hi tide was c7.15am, so 10.00am was a bit too late to see the marshes flooding. So we kept heading East to Sidmouth, Beer and then to Seaton to look at the Axe marshes. I’d had reports that at Black Hole marsh, there was a Glossy Ibis, and a Green Winged Teal. Maybe there was, but they are big marshes and the 2 guys in the hide said “they could be anywhere”. Dipped again! Still 7 to add to the list and now on 124.

Thursday was non-birding, although it was interesting to see from the train that on the Teign estuary, whereas when I was at school, I saw Herons, now it’s all about Little Egrets.

I thought you might like to hear about the annual award presented by the Chairman of DOS to recognise a person who has made a significant contribution to Avian conservation. The well deserved 2016 award goes to Roger Carrington who for 10 years was the recorder for Carsington. Whenever I saw him whilst I was doing my bird walks, Roger would share his findings, but those “goodies” that he saw at 7.00am on the dam wall, would be for him to savour. In 10 years of my Bird Walks for Beginners, the highest  one morning count was when Roger led the walk. Says it all, doesn’t it!

Modesty forbids me mentioning that I received the Chairman’s award in 2013.

A Raptorous (?) Week

Saturday Jan 30, With Mary and our daughter Sarah, we were heading for another visit to Surrey, and as it was daylight, I, as driver, insisted we journeyed via Silverstone to the M40, so that I could tick off Red Kite en route. And was it well worthwhile!! Sarah had the clicker counter and between Oxford and the magic roundabout (M25) we all saw 18 Red Kites, which meant goodness knows how many were outside of our line of vision. Not my best count – that was Sunday 23^rd March 2012, heading South at c1.30pm.....61. (Did I mention that I keep records??)

Tuesday Feb 2, gave my 25th talk about the Carsington Osprey project to 18 ladies from a group at St Mathews Church, Darley Abbey. They were very enthusiastic about the project, and despite the projector giving a distinct green hue to the pictures, they still gave me a very helpful donation for our ongoing costs... one said it was worth it for my enthusiasm!

As usual I embellish my talk with some interesting bird facts, and I got on to the experiences of my grandson Leo, and the Peregrines on Derby cathedral.

In 2014 I took him to a vantage point behind Derby cathedral, to see the Peregrine nesting tray, which was installed on the cathedral by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in 2006. My telescope enabled Leo to get a very close view of a Peregrine, but he was even more thrilled when he looked at the Jury’s Inn sign on the nearby hotel. He now saw 3 Peregrines, and commented that 2 of them, the juveniles, were fluffier! He was very proud to tell his school mates that he had seen a “pair-of-greens”!

I told the ladies that if they are on an A6 bus going towards Belper, to check the hotel sign as they pass ...my success rate is about 60%. Why are the adults on that spot?  a) The adults can see the nest from there; b) it faces the sun: and c) the illuminated sign presumably gives there claws warmth, all the better for hunting.

Friday Feb 5 On impulse I decided to have a short visit to try and tick off the Brambling and Yellowhammer at Old Moor, and after the second attempt, I did indeed add them to my year list. As a bonus for my diligence, I arrived at Old Moor to find a Red Necked Grebe had arrived on Thursday and was on the Mere, clearly why there were so many cars in the car park. 117 to date – looking good.

Just to keep you up to date, I popped over to Wombwell Ings to see if the new hide being installed by the Garganey Trust was open yet. But unfortunately it appears that it will be another 10 – 14 days. Must make a note to go up early March because it is a good place to see Red Necked Partridge, and possibly Grey.

Right, time to pack for my visit to Exmouth next week, during which I hope to see Penduline Tits at Gloucester, a scan of Bowling Green marsh, a train journey along the Dawlish Wall via Exe marshes, an Avocet cruise on the Exe, and a run to Seaton to  look for a Golden Ibis at the Axe estuary. The weather prospects can be described as decidedly iffy!   

You know where I am if the SW gets stormy.

Captain Nemo.