BLOG AND SITE MOVE

THE WEBSITE AND BLOG HAVE BEEN MOVED TO WWW.SOUTHEASTBIRDING.COM.

Dorset 23rd-24th March 2008

I went to Dorset for a night last weekend. I was hoping to go to Cheddar reservoir and get a Bonaparte's Gull, with a Red-necked Grebe and some Scaup, so there would be three lifers in one day. But it was not to be.It was too far away from where we were staying. But despite this major disappointment, I still managed to fit in some fantastic birding!
On the Sunday, we were nearing Dorset when a Raven flew over the car, chasing a Carrion Crow, it even tumbled for me! This was great, it is one of my favourite birds and an unexpected year tick.
We arrived at the hotel, where there were nesting Jackdaws and Rooks nearby, but fortunately for me, we were too early to check in and settle into our room so we ended up going to Pennington Marshes earlier than planned. The marsh was interesting with lots of Dark-bellied Brent Geese (2008 tick) and a female Goosander with a few male and female Red-breasted Mergansers swimming next to each other! Other birds of note included a very showy Greenshank with a red ring on its right leg that I really must report (2008 tick) and one or two Ringed Plover and a few Grey Plover.Black-tailed Godwits were plentiful. Otherwise, there was not much of note.
The next day we headed off to Arne RSPB, first we went round the smaller heath trail. Before we started, I had a look at the feeders, and I saw a Marsh Tit, quite unexpected and yet another year tick. I saw one singing later on, this is the first time I have heard this. The gorse itself did not provide much, but the view of the river from the trail did provide some great birds with 11 pure white Spoonbill, all either asleep or half asleep; every so often I would see one awaken and show me its strangely shaped bill for which they get their name. They were lovely, and as a bonus, another year tick. There were lots of Shelduck and one or two Greenshank there too. As I was scanning, I heard a scratchy song, immediately Dartford Warbler came to mind. Sure enough, after a good while of searching it popped up for a second. A brief but good view, a year tick and just brilliant. I had already seen 3 birds that I hardly ever see, and I realised that in spring Arne would be an even more fantastic place to be.
We finished the trail, with nothing else of note being seen and went to have lunch in a nearby pub. I persuaded mum and dad who had until then broken they're promise to return after lunch and do the rest of it, to do so.
We agreed only to walk up to the viewpoint and hide along the other trail. The farm was pretty disappointing, but I did see a Redwing and a Fieldfare right next to eachother on the way back. It turned out that I missed the viewpoint and the raised hide didn't show me anything interesting other than a few Red-breasted Mergansers in the harbour. I don't know what it is about this year and Red-breasted Mergansers, I didn't see any last year, or the year before or before and before and maybe even further back! I have seen about 30 this month alone.
On the way back the deer let us get extremely close and I saw the above mentioned Fieldfare and Redwing. Near the car park a Buzzard flew over.
When packing away, what did we see on the latest sightings board? Male Hen Harrier and Rough-legged Buzzard. 'oh....' I uttered to myself. Yes, a disapointment but I did see Marsh Tit, very close and singing, a Dartford Warbler, singing (I think i was the only person that day to see one), 11 Spoonbill, Red-breasted Mergansers, Redwing and Fieldfare sitting right by each other and much more. Although, to be honest, missing the Harrier and Rough leg is of course still really bugging me.

Staines Reservoirs and London Wetlands Centre 16/3/08

The Sunday just gone I went to Staines reservoirs and then the London Wetlands Centre, although later than planned.
I arrived at Staines around noon and left at around one twenty, on arrival I collected my stuff and keenly made my way up there. I was expecting pretty much guaranteed Scaup and Black-necked Grebes, but I was wrong. Once I got up there I made my way up towards another birder and asked if he'd got onto anything, he pointed out the Black-necked Grebes, they were so close! and what's more lots of them (there were 10 in total) were in breeding plumage, with two or three in winter plumage and one in transitional. I got spectacular views of these birds diving right in front of me. There were a few Sand Martins whizzing around over the water, excellent!
I soon made my way further down to see the Scaups, which I though may be hiding inside the right hand bay because of the wind. Were they should have been was so far off and the wind was bitterly cold and so strong that I eventually gave up.
We arrived at the London Wetlands Centre after a while and as I went round the reserve there were so few people that I was questioning whether I was meant to be there or not! I don't know what it was about that day that made them all stay inside the centre. Scanning from the first couple of hides revealed nothing but the usual stuff and a single Sand Martin. I saw two Redshank from the second hide and got great views of Ring-necked Parakeets on the feeders. The Water Vole showed well again at the feeding platform. I went to the wader scrape hide where here was nothing of note other than a Redshank and the peacock tower were, again, there was nothing of note. So I missed the Garganey again... and the Scaups...
It was a fairly enjoyable day anyway, the Black-necked Grebes being the highlight by far, I got stunning views of them.

London Wetlands Centre 9/3/08

I went with Phil (birdmad.co.uk) and his wife to the Wetlands Centre today, hoping for the Garganey, Water Rail, Water Pipit and Bittern.


Phil and I were having a little competition today to see who would see the most birds! I have really got him into this listing thing. We made our way to the Peacock Tower, going in the hides as we went. We spent a considerable amount of time in the first hide, where we mainly got the common species on the list. There were a few Great Black-backed Gulls (all 1st winters) around with the Herrings, Common and Black-headed Gulls. Both Little and Great-crested Grebes were seen. There were 2 Canada Geese and Phil saw a Shelduck. As I scanned the reeds to no avail for Bittern, I noticed an odd looking birds swimming along the reeds, it was a Water Rail (year bird)! Unfortunately it slipped away into the vegetation before Phil could get onto it. 2 Pintail (male and female) flew in. Several Stock Doves were feeding on one of the islands too.

Above: Probable Caspian Gull, please leave your thoughts about this bird in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

Note black bill spot, long wing projection, black eye, pushed in face and parallel sided bill.

Phil soon beckoned me to have a look at the Gulls with him, I pointed out a 'Caspian' looking 3rd winter Herring Gull to him. I didn't have much time to look at it and tried to snap away some some scoped photos. See above. This would be a potential year bird and my first self found Caspian (admittedly I have claimed one or two in the past, which I genuinley did think were Caspians but highly doubt now).
We went to the feeding station next where there were loads of Siskins flying around. I got some pleasing shots of them, they let us get so close. There were a few Reed Buntings around here too.
We went back to the cafe for some snacks before going onwards to the next hide and the Peacock Tower.
Ring-necked Parakeets were very obvious today, with many around the feeders. I managed to get a few photos of them. A Water Vole was seen on the vole feeder (with carrots/cheese on it) allowing a good photo opportunity (photos soon after i've sorted the problem that my RAW files always come out green after editing/converting.)
The next hide gave us great views of 2 Redshank! The first for the centre this year, I believe. This pair may breed here later on this year. We moved on to the Peacock tower...
We spent the rest of the time at the Peacock Tower, I had a look at all sides a few times, there were 2 Snipe (year bird). I spotted 30 Wigeon grazing and another pair of Pintail. I saw several Pochard on the lake at the South end (I think) of the reserve. I saw 3 Stonechat on the tops of reeds in front of what I think is the Headley hide.
Phil and I both finished with 43 species (despite missing Bittern, Water Pipit and the drake Garganey, which has left), though a few of the species on our lists were different (ie I got Jackdaw and Water Rail and he got Shelduck and something else) and he dropped me off home after good day's birding.

Top class birding comedy show

I have been off school all week, apart from Monday and in that time I have been on the computer all day from about 9 in the morning till 9 at night almost non stop, other than a couple of half hour breaks each day. So instead of using this stupid amount of time just playing Fly like a Bird 2 on gamevial.com, browsing birdguides.com and birdforum.net, rarebirdalert.co.uk putting records on Birdtrack and all the usual stuff I've had time to go on other sites, mainly birding sites but I've spent an unusual amount of time on YouTube, it is really a marvelous site, I found some interesting, frilling, funny and just plain odd clips but none have impressed me more than the 'Birding with Brekke' series (pronounced 'Brekky' I believe). Instead of you having to search around YouTube for this they have created their own site for their videos (www.birdingwithbrekke.com).
I think these videos are marvelous, maybe its just me but I find them really funny! They are really worth a look. I think there are a couple of short extra clips available by searching YouTube 'Birding with Brekke' .
Anyway, they are worth a look, the presenters are highly skilled, they manage to make birding very funny, which is very hard. They seem to do it so easily too.
Let me know what you think.

Hen Harrier movie

Here is a video I took of the Hen Harrier featured in the last post.

Sheppey 2/3/08

I went to Sheppey today, this was the second time I have tried to fit three Sheppey sites into a day, and the second time that it didn't quite work!
We left just after 10am (later than planned, yet better than normal) and arrived at Capel Fleet at around 11:40am, after constant scanning into the distance, starting to go a bit mad with how unlucky I am with this site (been 3 times, best I've seen is a very breif ringtail Hen Harrier). I went ver to another birder, hoping he'd be able to get me onto something good, but he was having no more luck than me... there were some Bewick's Swans amongst about 40 Mute Swans, which I was pleased with. We moved on to the raptor viewpoint, saw nothing but a male Kestrel and left. As we drove past I saw a frustratingly Corn Bunting like bird on a wire, surely it was one, but we couldn't stop! I wish we could have stopped because Corn Buntings always prove to be a pain to get onto the year list. I will have to pay Sheppey a visit in late 2008 when the winter migrants come back, to get the species I missed today (basically everything!). We almost ran over a Stoat on the way back!
We arrived at Swale/Shellness NNR, I was very hopeful with little doubt that I would miss the Hooded Crow or Barnacle Geese. I went over the ridge and started walking towards the beech... oh dear... no Geese on the marsh. I arrived at the beech, there were loads of waders running around, but I just knew that the Crow wasn't there... I could just feel it in the atmosphere. Relentless scanning revealed some year ticks, mostly waders, which I haven't had much of this yearr. My 2008 ticks seen at this site were: Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and Knot.
I scanned the site for anything like Divers, Red-breasted Mergansers or anything that would be a lifer to make up for the Crow, I was right, 8 Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea, 2 of which were gorious males. A lifer!
When we got back in the car we discovered that mum had left her sun glasses on the beach, time was getting on and I was getting stressed up, I had already spent too much time on the beach not accepting that I had missed the Geese and Crow (over an hour, and by this time it was getting on 4:00pm). Dad badgered me into going back to get them with mum, which turned out good because I added the latter two species at the end of the last paragraph onto my year list.
We finally left and as we approached Elmley Marshes, I saw an unusual Bird of Prey hunting over the field next to us. I got my binoculars on it and shouted "HEN HARRIER!!!". It was a gorious ring tail showing fantastically and I got some pleasing video footage of it as we stopped the car up a drive. This was a very nice surpise after missing the two Birds that I thought were almost garunteed today. I watched it for nearly 5 minutes before we had changed postition, ending up in the middle of the road and there was no choice but to go. We stopped by the round about further on and looked cross the field but failed to locate the Bird.
We arrived at the begginning to the long entrance track at Elmley and soon saw a Red-legged Partridge right out in the open! A year tick, great video opportunity and one of the few times I've seen one for a while before it ran away into cover! There were loads of Little Egrets along the track, a few Kestrels (one was on a post next toa cattle grid, letting us get very close), loads of Coot and Wigeon and some other stuff. There was a very close Skylark right by the car which I photographed. There were Lapwing, Redshank and Ringed Plover flying about and a few Pheasants and Grey Herons. I couldn't go past the car park because we had to be back soon to take someone out for a meal, so, frustrated as I was at being so close to getting Short-eared Owl, Peregrine and more I had to make do with what I could see around and from the car park. People told me about the Short eared Owls and Peregrines they'd seen just 10 minutes down the track! Inside one of the owl nest boxes on the trees behind the toilets, there was a Little Owl type thing... it could have been patterns in the wood, but others seemed to think it was a Little Owl. In the 20 minutes or so that I was there, I didn't notice it move, so I am going to have to not accept it. It was too dark to see what it was really. I went back to the car reluctantly, and as we left, we saw a lot of the same things along the track that we did on the way in, as well as a male and a female Gadwall flying up.

My first 2008 Peregine!!! 21/2/08

Above: Peregrine Falcon, poor quality phone-scoped record shot, handheld and with scope leant against my knee.

Exactly one hour ago as I write this, I saw a Peregrine Falcon near where I live (because its February I feel that it could be a potential nesting site and don't want to give too much away). The bird gave good views for ten minutes from 3:00pm to 3:10pm before it flew off. I got some poor quality phone-scoped photos and a video (see photo above). As far as I know it is the first for where it was seen and I'm very pleased to have seen it.
David
Note: The programme I use for birdnut.me.uk is not opening so I will have to re-install it when I have the time. For now though, I cannot update it.

Warnham 10th February 2008

Focussing on getting my year list off to a good start and getting the easier birds early on (so I don't waste time later on getting easier birds when I could be concentrating on new lifers and harder year ticks) so I went to Warnham on Sunday 10th, but it isn't totally off my list yet, because I only got one of my four targets... I am in some haste at the moment because I have to visit London Wetlands Centre and Warnham again for second goes on the missed target species within the next few weeks... before mid march anyway.
Anyway, I went to the first hide for a while before and parents and gran caught up, I got about 15 species before they arrived. The feeders at the first hide (Tern hide) were not busy at all but there were about 100 Black-headed Gulls on the lake. I noticed two adult summer Great-crested Grebes on the lake and a single Herring Gull.
The hide soon got busy and we left for the feeding station, on the way we heard some House Sparrows. On the boardwalk near the feeding station two male Reed Buntings were chasing each other round and round us. At the feeders there were large numbers of Tits and Chaffinches, a single Magpie and a Dunnock or two. I soon saw a strange looking Chaffinch, and surprise surprise it was a Brambling! A nice male too. Soon after this a couple of Treecreepers chased eachother in flight through the canopy and a Nuthatch was on the feeders. A gorious male Siskin appeared with come Goldfinches- I love Siskins and set my scope up to get a good view, at 40x zoom I saw all the feather detail, there were now two males! A male Greenfinch soon appeared and I heard a Green Woodpecker in the distance.
We left after about 45 minutes to the Heron Hide, where there was a busy male Pochard, some Teal but no Mandarin (a target, missed another target, Water Rail at the feeding station too, also didn't manage Lesser Redpoll. There was a single Gadwall in the undergrowth and suddenly a large amount of Herring Gulls, there was also a single 1st winter Great Black-backed Gull and at least two Grey Herons. We left after about half an hour.
On the way back I heard a Mistle Thrush singing about a mile away in the distance.

I filmed quite a lot today with my video camera, which arrived after being repaired the week before and got some good footage of the Siskin which I will show you soon.

London Wetlands Centre 3th February 2008

Above: Phone-scoped Water Pipit photos

I got London Wetlands Centre off my little 'waiting list' for now, though I may need to go again soon to get Bittern that I missed today. At least I got one of my targets and something unexpected... Mum needed some new binoculars today so we went up to the in-focus shop. When we were deciding on what to get there was a Green Woodpecker from the in-focus balcony and a few Feral Pigeons and other usual stuff. I left mum and dad in the cafe and headed off for the main reserve, hoping for Bittern and Water Pipit. I spent the first half hour in the first hide before they caught up and we left five minutes afterwards for the WWF hide. The 1st hide produced Pochard, Cormorant, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Ruddy Duck, Little Grebe and a Egyptian Goose! I followed it as it swam with my scope and then took a video. I looked for it again five minutes later and there were two standing in the shallows preening! Excellent! This was a nice surprise and a year tick. Other than this there was not much of note at the first hide. On the way to the WWF hide a group pointed a flock of Siskins out to me, I only got a brief view of them flying as they departed, though. At the WWF hide there were a few Herring and Common Gulls amongst the Black-headed Gulls. There were Lapwing flying about too. A lady next to me said 'ooh, what's that little brown bird on that small island right in front of us' to her companion. At this moment I knew it was a Water Pipit and found it instantly, confirming the ID and telling the ladies what it was. Several people were pleased when I pointed it out. It was a lifer for me, and very close too! I got great, clear views through the scope and got a couple of phone-scoped videos and lots of photos (see right).After about 20 minutes of watching it we left for the Peacock Tower, up there I pointed the Water Pipit out to a few more people and asked if anyone had seen the Bittern, no-one had... There wasn't much else from the Peacock Tower other than good views of wildfowl including Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Pochard. After a while we went home after a successful day.

Above: Phone-scoped video of the Water Pipit

Birdnut is back!

I am pleased to tell you that my website has finally been fixed (the only way of getting it back was to create it from scratch again).
It is the same address as before (http://www.birdnut.me.uk/). It has a couple of new pages (Links and News) but the Resources page has been taken off.
Any comments on the new design are welcome.
regards,
David

Rye Harbour 27th Jan 08

There were several species reported around the Dungeness/Rye Harbour area that I thought I'd give it a go this weekend.
My targets were as follows:
Long-tailed Duck at Scotney GPs
Scaup at Rye Harbour LNR
Shorelark at Rye Harbour LNR
We left later than planned and only arrived at around 1:00pm despite constant badgering of my parents. We met Phil at Scotney and I knew he had seen the duck earlier in the morning from a phone call. After a quick scan I had it and got the scope on it, I got great views of it ( a female) but foolishly forgot to get a record phone-scoped video! Anyway, it was a great bird and well worth the detour (which ended up slowing the trip down by almost an hour (because of problems getting there, instead of it being a 15 minute trip. I was shocked when Phil said he saw about a hundred White-fronted and Bean Geese half an hour before I arrived, both potential lifers!
We soon moved on to Rye and Phil and I went ahead, eager to catch a glimpse of the Shorelark. We soon got Stonechat (08 bird for me) and when we reached the red roofed hut that the Shorelark was meant to be around, we soon found the flock of Skylarks it was meant to be hanging around with, but unfortunately it wasn't there and after a good 15 minutes we pressed on, concerned with the ever decreasing number of sunlight hours left.
There were Oystercatchers and Ringed Plovers flying round, both two more year birds in the bag. Other than this there was not much of note other than large numbers of Gulls on the sea.
We asked several people whether they had seen the Shorelark or Scaup and all of them said they hadn't seen the Shorelark and all but one said they hadn't seen the Scaup. One man, however said he had seen a drake and a female on the Long Pit and a Ferruginous Duck! At first I was delighted and hastily made my way over there with Phil, leaving mum and dad behind half way there. As we walked and saw Meadow Pipits and Stonechat, I thought about the Ferruginous Duck and was convinced something fishy was going on. This is not really the time of year for them and, if it was one, it was likely to be an escape.
On one of the pools on the way there was a Redshank (08 bird) and some Shelduck. When we got to the Long Pits we scanned the Pochards and Tufted Ducks but there was no sign of either any Scaup or a Ferruginous Duck (though there was a female Tufted Duck with a very white vent, which may have confused the man). There were some displaying Goldeneye (two males and two females). A birder came up and asked us for help with orientating himself, half way through what he was saying a Barn Owl flying past! Quite near us too, it flew away and out of sight, by then the man had left and it came back again then flew round the back of the open barns (its presumed home) and we followed it, we got some more good views as it hunted and later on I spotted it sitting on a concrete box, it sat there for five minutes as I filmed it with my camera phone held up to the scope then flew off and that was the last we saw of it. By then it was getting very dark and we headed back, a Song Thrush sang.

The video is higher quality after around 20 seconds.

Dungeness 13th January 2008

Ok, I persuaded dad to take me down to Dungeness today because there is not much anywhere else, don't feel like having another bad experience with that darn Hoopoe and there is always something of interest down at Dunge.I find Dungeness a highly productive but frustrating site- today it was windy, the sun was right in front of me and making the Gulls look different and I got a moan from my parents every time I requested another part of Dungeness!

Ok, lets get this over and done with, you may have read before that the following disasters have taken place involving my equipment, here is the story so far:
29th December 2007: Dad drops the D80 with the 500mm lens onto solid stone stairs as we were taking stuff to the car for our stay in Manchester.
30th December 2007 AM: The laptop crashes in the hotel, therefore disconnecting me from the birding world (other than good old Bird News Anywhere from Birdguides) and waisting £25 that we had paid for the week's internet in the hotel.
PM: I foolishly lean the tripod with my new video camera against the car, with the legs folding in,it topples over; samshing the camera.
13th January 2008: I climb up the sea wall at Dungeness with strong gales coming at my face (and tripod) from the sea. I see a Gannet and write it down in my notebook, turning away from my scope- you guessed it- the scope falls over! And no, its not just an unlucky fall, the eyepiece adjuster (glasses/non-glasses thing) come loose (AGAIN!!!!!!!!) But that is not all- the focus stops at near infinity, making it frustratingly just out of focus and sort like a double image when seawatching.So that is the updated story!

So, I scan the sea with my now capput scope, trying to make out the distant Auks, the broken scope making it even more difficult to ID as they zoom past. One passed close-by though, allowing a positive ID and a decent focus- Guillemot. After this loads more were seen. It was impossible to see whether they had dark armpits or not with them flapping so much and the poor optics.I moved on to the reserve, deciding to ditch the Long- pits idea because I simply had no idea where they were and whether it was alright to walk across the 'desert' off track.The trip to the reserve began with a surprise from the visitor centre - Shag, on an island (below)! This is my first good view and a quality 2008 tick. See the videos link on the left hand side near the top of the site to see a video of this bird.


Then I was directed to some Smew and Goosander over at another island- two more 2008 birds in the bag. (Smew video on videos blog, see links).
There were a few Goldeneye around too. Other wildfowl included Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Pintail Wigeon and Pochard.
On the way from the Makepeace hide to the Scott hide there was a male Smew just over the bank that a man pointed out.
From the Scott hide there were a few Ruddy Ducks and four Red Crested Pochards.
After this we left the reserve and as the light faded we went down Dengemarsh road, hoping for some Bewick's Swans, of course no luck. But I think I saw a Barn Owl, but I can't be sure so I haven't added it to my year list. It was a white bird flying quite rapidly, less floaty than a Gull and it suddenly stopped and landed on the ground. By this time all the Gulls were at the roost so I suppose it must have been. It didn't re-appear after it dropped down though so I couldn't confirm it- aarg.
A day of various emotions- after we send the scope off all I will have is a mighty midget scope and a pair of dirty, falling apart binoculars... oh well....



See Dungeness 13th January 2008 on youngbirdersvideos.blogspot.com or here (this direct link may not work) http://youngbirdersvideos.blogspot.com/2008/01/dungeness-13th-january-2008.html for videos from this trip

Videos

See youngbirdersvideos.blogspot.com for videos from my Manchester trip:
Here a summary of New Year's Day:
From the day it was written (back home since)
Hi all and happy new year (listing),How did you get on with your year lists, be sure to let us all know by posting yourself or putting a comment on this post with your highlights and totals.Staying in Swinton in Manchester at the moment I am in a hotel with a huge field and bushes outside, so the first thing I did in the morning was grill all the bushes for birds and scan every single Black-headed Gull for a Med- of course no luck!I got 17 species around the hotel and locally- we then went to Pennington Flash CP- hoping for some species like Goosander, Willow Tit and Bullfinch which would be hard to get down south.We went to the feeding station first and there were Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Dunnocks, Robins- one of my target species- Bullfinch, Tits (including great views of my target Willow Tit and a Coal Tit). I got videos of most species with my new camera (with got badly dented the other day when the tripod collapsed!!!!! :( :( ). There were good views of Great-spotted Woodpecker at the feeding station too. There was a juvenile Sparrowhawk low through the feeding station and dead quick- it zoomed right into the undergrowth.Someone said there was a Brambling on the right when we were at the feeding station but we failed to locate it- despite the very precise directions (sarcasm emphasised). But I located a male myself later on in a cage platform feeder with Greenfinches and Chaffinches. I got fantastic views and a video.In the various hides Wildfowl included Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Wigeon. Didn't manage Goosander today (they were unmissable yesterday and the day before... typical).We didn't go to the New hide where 'you are highly likely to see them in the right conditions'- as if! We have been going here for years in the right conditions and scanned for a good while each time and never seen them (though yesterday my scanning revealed a perched juvenile Sparrowhawk).There were Great-crested Grebes, all the common Gulls (Black-headed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Common Gull) and Cormorants etc on the lake. There were loads of Lapwings as usual from the hide with the wooden birder outside of it. On my stay this year I haven't seen one Snipe at Pennington though last year there were plenty.As the day grew older the Gull numbers increased with Black-headeds into the thousands and each of the other species struggling into the hundreds... but there was a Gull species there with just one present....In the hide with the wooden birder outside of it someone had got something and was acting all nervous trying to re-locate this Gull he had picked up in flight- he re-located it and showed me it through the scope- I knew it was an adult Iceland as soon as I saw it... what a start to the year- Brambling, Willow Tit and Iceland Gull- some quality birds! I got good views through my own scope, it was a good specimen- white head and primaries- pale grey mantle, slightly smaller than a Herring Gull. I got videos with the new video camera and phone-scoped videos. The video camera didn't cope well with the distance and it keeps making Gulls really white. I got some acceptable videos of it so I will post one onto the videos blog (youngbirdersvideos.blogspot.com) when I get home and have my mini-SD adaptor to import them onto the PC.

(A video of the Iceland Gull will be on the youngbirdersvideos.blogspot.com soon)

As of 5th January 08 I am on 57 species

Happy new year all!

Hi all and happy new year (listing),How did you get on with your year lists, be sure to let us all know by posting yourself or putting a comment on this post with your highlights and totals.Staying in Swinton in Manchester at the moment I am in a hotel with a huge field and bushes outside, so the first thing I did in the morning was grill all the bushes for birds and scan every single Black-headed Gull for a Med- of course no luck!I got 17 species around the hotel and locally- we then went to Pennington Flash CP- hoping for some species like Goosander, Willow Tit and Bullfinch which would be hard to get down south.We went to the feeding station first and there were Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Dunnocks, Robins- one of my target species- Bullfinch, Tits (including great views of my target Willow Tit and a Coal Tit). I got videos of most species with my new camera (with got badly dented the other day when the tripod collapsed!!!!! :( :( ). There were good views of Great-spotted Woodpecker at the feeding station too. There was a juvenile Sparrowhawk low through the feeding station and dead quick- it zoomed right into the undergrowth.Someone said there was a Brambling on the right when we were at the feeding station but we failed to locate it- despite the very precise directions (sarcasm emphasised). But I located a male myself later on in a cage platform feeder with Greenfinches and Chaffinches. I got fantastic views and a video.In the various hides Wildfowl included Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Wigeon. Didn't manage Goosander today (they were unmissable yesterday and the day before... typical).We didn't go to the New hide where 'you are highly likely to see them in the right conditions'- as if! We have been going here for years in the right conditions and scanned for a good while each time and never seen them (though yesterday my scanning revealed a perched juvenile Sparrowhawk).There were Great-crested Grebes, all the common Gulls (Black-headed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Common Gull) and Cormorants etc on the lake. There were loads of Lapwings as usual from the hide with the wooden birder outside of it. On my stay this year I haven't seen one Snipe at Pennington though last year there were plenty.As the day grew older the Gull numbers increased with Black-headeds into the thousands and each of the other species struggling into the hundreds... but there was a Gull species there with just one present....In the hide with the wooden birder outside of it someone had got something and was acting all nervous trying to re-locate this Gull he had picked up in flight- he re-located it and showed me it through the scope- I knew it was an adult Iceland as soon as I saw it... what a start to the year- Brambling, Willow Tit and Iceland Gull- some quality birds! I got good views through my own scope, it was a good specimen- white head and primaries- pale grey mantle, slightly smaller than a Herring Gull. I got videos with the new video camera and phone-scoped videos. The video camera didn't cope well with the distance and it keeps making Gulls really white. I got some acceptable videos of it so I will post one onto the videos blog (youngbirdersvideos.blogspot.com) when I get home and have my mini-SD adaptor to import them onto the PC.Please post to tell us how you got on.My 2008 year list stands at 43 species

Grey Heron Carshalton Ponds 26th December 07

Hi,

On the 27th I went to Carshalton Ponds to test the video camera out- I got 22 species which is pretty good for the site. Highlights were a brief Kingfisher, a couple of brief Goldcrests, great views of Grey Wagtail but best of all was a fantastic 1st Winter Grey Heron which showed down to about 5 feet! It even ate offerings of bread from passer bys. Lots of people stopped to see it and I was told about it several times by different people- I had to keep saying I knew and got some shots of it.

Of course I brought my D80 just in case too and got some pleasing shots. I took 200 photos but I am only posting a couple of my favourites (above- click for full sized images).

Update

Hi all,
Since I haven't posted for a while I will give you a breif update on everything:
Went to Oare on Sunday 23rd Dec- Not much there- highlights were great views of male and female Marsh Harriers hunting quite close over the marsh
For christmas I got a handycam 40x optical zoom video camera and a 2x converter for it- hopefully I will get some videos on the blog
Other than that- not much

London Wetlands Centre 9th December 2007

I went up to the London Wetlands Centre on Sunday 9th. I got 43 species all together.There were many Lapwings, Wildlfowl (including Wigeon) loads of Cormorants, Gulls etc. We watched one Cormorant struggle as it tried to get an absolutely huge carp-like fish down its throat.Gulls were interesting with a Yellow-legged and a Caspian (I got a phone scoped video of the Caspian). The Caspian was my first confirmed and the Yellow-legged was my second with one at Dungeness the week before.The highlight was the Bittern that someone eventually located in the reeds (an area of reeds we weren't expecting it to be in) and I got good veiws through the scope and a phone-scoped video (hopefully my videos will improve after Christmas because I am getting a powerful 40x optical zoom digital video camera!)Enjoy (the Bittern shows better right at the end of the video):

Caspian Gull

Bittern (in the last 10 or so seconds the bird shows well)

Dungeness RSPB

Above: 1st winter Great Black-backed Gull
Above: Winter plumaged Great Crested Grebe
Above: Smew (male far left, the rest are females)

I headed over to Dungeness today, despite the terrible weather. I thought seawatching may produce some interesting stuff because of the wind, however after after driving to the RSPB reserve to go to the toilet and then driving back to the beach, the seawatching was poor with around 100 Common Scoters and a Gannet briefly. We stayed there hoping for quite some time until we went back over to the reserve in the hope of anything worth seeing we agreed we would skip the first hide and go to the next three. It was a good choice. I knew the first one would be reasonably quiet and had seen what was about generally from a similar viewpoint, the visitor centre, earlier on- not much!

The first hide hide we visited produced my first Yellow-legged Gull. I thought I saw this species before but recently knocked it off my life list because I convinced myself they were Herring Gulls (how inconvenient, they were sitting on the ground not showing their legs and sleeping, it was at Titchwell August 06 by the way). We also saw a few Snipe sleeping.

It was very convenient that it was right next to a couple of Herring Gulls and couple of Lesser Black-backs too, it had a very pleasant shade of grey actually, not as dark as a LBB Gull and yet much darker than a Herring Gull. I didn't think it was that obvious before. But of course, it was sitting on the water so we couldn't see the absolutely unquestionable feature; the yellow legs. But even so, it was a Yellow-legged. We also got good views of 2 female Marsh Harriers hunting

The next hide produced a drake Pintail, and some Wigeon and Shoveler along with a close Great-crested Grebe which was very photogenic.

The last hide, the Scott hide, produced two female Goosander with a male and guess what- 7 female Smew, and it gets better, a male and whats more they were so close, well for Smew that is. Views were great, Smews are one of my favourite birds, males are so beautiful. I saw a few distantly here in January this year but these views were exceptional.

On the way back to the car I saw the man who pointed out the Yellow-legged Gull again and asked me if I'd seen anything, I told him about the Smew etc and he said he saw a possible Caspian Gull fly past, at this point it was dusk but I was desperate so I went off into the hide with him and his mate, there were stupid amounts of Gulls roosting, mainly Great Black-backs we picked out a couple of odd looking Gulls but we couldn't confirm the IDs, whatever they were the bill was too thick for a Caspian. After a short while it was almost fully dark so I went back to the car and we went home. If it didn't get dark this early we would have detoured off to Scotney gravel pits for the drake Long-tailed Duck, a would be lifer. But of course no chance at that time.

Despite the weather and the scope breaking- again (!!!) it was a very good day.

Rainham Marshes RSPB 4th November 2007

I went to Rainham with a freind, my target birds were the Water Pipits , but of course they proved elusive and didn't show for us. We didn't have much birding time and birds of note included Little Egrets, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, other waterfowl and a singing Cetti's Warbler (not seen though). There were also seven Snipe, two of which were showing very well and a male Kestrel was hunting right outside of the hide. Whilst sitting in the hide an angry Wren was furiously alarm calling and so was a Robin. It showed very well and allowed me to take these pictures:

My new local patch

Lately I have been visiting Beddington Sewage Farm (just 3.2 miles away from me) in an attempt to get some good species like Water Pipit and maybe find something good for myself. It has gone very well and I have made about 6 visits in the last week or so and have recorded 59 species so far. I cannot describe all my visits now but I can tell you that the the highlights have been 2 Little Egret and an excellent variety of the more common birds. I have yet to find something more unusual however. The keyholders have been very freindly and let me in several times, one showed me round twice too. He tried to find a Jack Snipe for me but of course, with my luck it had gone out of site.

Here is a graph of birds seen at Beddington SF from 9th October- present (28th October 07)(click for full sized image) (in species like the Swans, Coots, Grebes, Wildfowl, Tree Sparrows etc these in some cases do and in most cases probably do involve the same individuals counted several times, eg most times I saw 2 juvenile Mute Swans and two Adults, but Birdtrack has added them up as separate individuals):

My first visit since April was the 9th October, this was after School when I was convinced I would see the 3 Juvenile Sabine's Gulls which had been reported, however the Gulls must have already returned to their roost site (West London reservoirs).
I will still be going to Nonsuch regularly.

Great Grey Shrike at last! Cliffe Pools

Sparrowhawk (female)

Sparrowhawk (female)

Great Grey Shrike

I have finally managed to get a Great Grey at Cliffe Pools on Sunday, it was a stunning bird, though distant. I got great views of it hunting and managed to get reasonable views of its plumage through the MM2 fieldscope (our good scope is off being fixed because I dropped it and a couple of days ago I dropped the MM2 as well, which neither me or dad took to very well). I spent most of the time there watching the Shrike but I did see another 33 species (boosted by a quick visit to one of the pools). There were 2 female Kestrels around the area. A very pleasant surprise came in the shape of a female Sparrowhawk, and my dream had finally come true- it was perched! I got great views through the scope and some rushed so blurry record shots of it.
I did see a strange looking bird which I identified and reported as 'a possible Red-backed Shrike seen distantly'. I posted photos on birdforum.net and the opinions of the members were almost exactly 50:50 for a Whitethroat/Lesser Whitethroat and a Red-backed Shrike. At first, seeing the responses I was convinced it was a Red-backed Shrike because in the field it did not look one tiny bit like a Sylvia species. But one person commented saying he saw a female Reed Bunting the following day which looked very similar and he said it definitely was the same leucistic female he had seen, so to this day I am convinced its correct identity is leucistic female Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus. It is a shame because I genuinely thought it was my first self found rarity, although strictly speaking, it is not a rarity (description not required by BBRC).
Many Great Black-backed Gulls passed overhead, totalling 30. Other birds around the common where the shrike was included about 30 Goldfinch, a few Meadow Pipit and Linnet, good views of Stonechat and a few more.
The pool we visited for ten minutes at the end of the trip produced: an Avocet, about 250 Lapwing, 41 Ringed Plover, a Ruff and 3 Snipe.
It was a great day with a lifer and a good variety of species.

WALES HOLIDAY 2007!!! Part 4

Buzzard, Welsh Wildlife Centre 28th August 2007
Gannet, Strumble Head 23rd August 2007
Juvenile Swallow outside our holiday cottage 20th August 2007
Juvenile Herring Gull, Mumbles 24th Augsust 2007

Here are the remaining photos that I haven't shown you yet, I got plenty other pictures but they were mainly of the same things, the rest of the time the birds were too far off and I was concentrating on identifying them.

Birdnut.me.uk was fixed but I tried to update it last night which took ages and web studio went crazy again, something has gone wrong. We will have to do with the blog for now.

Oare Sunday 7th October 2007

This weekend I headed off to Oare Marshes, Kent. I had high expectations but it turned out I would see far more than I thought.
It was an average journey I saw a few Rooks in the fields we passed and even got a brief glimpse of a Buzzard sitting upright just before the Kent border on the M25.
We tried to time our journey as best we could to get there at high tide. There was meant to be a Long-billed Dowitcher at Oare/Elmley on Sheppey, going between the two sites, even though we didn't see the Dowitcher which turned out to be not nearly so long staying as last year's fabulous bird which I saw on 3 occasions last year.
The first bird I noticed was a Little Egret on the West flood along with some Teal, Mute Swan and Moorhens. There was so much, lately I had been trying to make my notes more concise by noting numbers and behaviour etc but it was almost impossible; birds were feeding and flying around everywhere! Despite this I managed to count 29 Greylag Geese about 300 Lapwings (I am very bad at estimating), at least 2 juvenile Little Stints, about 9 Black-headed Gulls, at least 500 Golden Plover, 2 Little Grebe (in winter plumage; I have noticed I see far more Little Grebes in winter, whereas I see far less Great-crested Grebes in winter) not to mention roughly 700 Black-tailed Godwits, 29 Coot, about 30 Mallard, 34 Redshank, about 100 Starling all on the East Flood; and the list goes on and on. A surprise was a lone Avocet, I normally don't see these at all or see them in relatively big numbers, not alone so this was unusual. Another pleasant surprise was 5 Ringed Plovers on the East Flood. There were 3 summer-winter moulting Dunlin with them too. I noticed at least 2 Grey Heron amongst the reeds. A flock of small twittering finches flew low over, they had a distinct yellow wing bar, this and their call and overall plumage identified them as Goldfinches, roughly 30 of them.
It was amusing to watch an adult male pied Wagtail try to drive away a juvenile, he was continuously chasing it and calling, giving no mercy.
In the conrer of my eye I saw a small, long billed and generally weird shaped bird flying, well more like plummeting in. It was a Snipe. This was the first time I had really seen one in full, high flight like this. It was fast too, but landed out of sight in the reeds.
There were 4 Cormorant on the East flood and 5 more flying over. Waders not yet mentioned include2 Ruff on the East Flood, a lone Knot, 2 Bar-tailed Gowits amongst the Black-tailed Godwits, a probable Spotted Redshank and 2 Curlew Sandpiper. I would not have noticed these if I had just looked from the road, it just goes to show that you should look at different angles and it reveals muchmore than you thought there was. Whilst i was sitting in the East Hide watching this lot, I saw a pair of odd looking Ducks that I hadn't seen for a while with a slim neck and flat, slanting forehead. They were female Pintail, I was so surprised I checked my field guide just to make sure, which I normally wouldn't do because I know these birds quite well but it just seemed like an unlikely time and place for these ducks. I also noticed a late Swallow pass low through and heard some Bearded Tits which I later saw, but a bird that I heard and certainly wouldn't see was a Water Rail squeeling, a very eerie sound. I wanted to check the seawatching hide to have a look at the mudflats and maybe some seabirds but it was too calm for any migrant seabirds really. The mudflats however were very productive with about 60 Dunlin, 54 Shelduck, 7 Grey Plover including 1 or 2 with quite a bit of breeding plumage left, there were 5 Great Black-backed Gulls and a Common Gull. Other waders included 32 Curlew and an Oystercatcher as well as a few Redshank. I scanned with my scope to check the very distant mudflats for the possibility of Seals which I had seen there once before. I wasn't really expecting anything but sure enough there were 9 Grey Seals sitting on a muddy peninsula far far off with a boat near them, watching them. As we left the seawatching hide 28 Brent Geese flew up over the Swale, this was another surprise and great to see them. On the way back I saw House Sparrows on a feeder from the car and 3 Collared Dove which made the list 50! Also a few minutes later about 20 Feral Pigeons flew up over Faversham which made it 51. It was a fantastic day with many surprises although I didn't take any photos.

Warnham 30/9/07

Mute Swans (Cygnets and adult)


Wren

Wood Mouse
Blue Tit
Blue Tit
Greenfinch
Greenfinch

Almost a whole month since Wales and, well we've been birding somewhere more adventurous once which was Pulborough! It was the awards ceremony for the Nature Photographer of the year competition, where I had won 1st, 2nd and highly commended prizes, I am very proud of this achievement. Anyway Warnham was engraved so Warnham it was. It turned out that after the ceremony, the pictures I came out with after walking around the reserve for a couple of hours were very pleasing, so a great photographic day. It was great birdwatching wise too, with some great birds seen, and a thrilling encounter with one of my favourite birds- the Sparrowhawk.
As I waited for mum, dad and nan to finish their lunch in the new Cafe, I was decided to go and wait in the first hide. At first glance it was very quiet in the way of birds with 2 adult winter Black-headed Gulls, 2 adult Mute Swans with 4 Cygnets (which showed very well later, letting me get some good shots of them), 2 Great-crested Grebes, a Grey Heron and a few Mallards. At the feeders there were a few Great and Blue Tits, Greenfinches, a breif view of a flying Kingfisher, 3 Swallow and about 5 Jackdaws over and a Goldfinch which set the scene for an amazing Sparrowhawk attack! It was so quick I missed most of it but it was small and slate grey-blue above, so a male, and so fast! It was it like lightning and out just as quick. I heard this rapid, swift flapping next to me and looked up, the Goldfinch was gone, the Sparrowhawk flying away, swerving at birds as it went. My mum (back at this point) managed to see that the Goldfinch had escaped. i have seen some pretty dramatic Sparrowhawk attacks in my birdwatching time, both brief and absolutely stunning, lasting for minutes. A few times I have seen one chasing a Collared Dove, swerving so quick, following its every move, once I saw a male come out of a bush and grab a Great Tit just as it was flying out. But by far, the most amazing one I have ever seen is one chasing a singing Skylark in Bedfordshire (they sing to show the predator how strong and fit they are), the Skylark, making clever moves to get the Hawk off its tail. One tiny scrape of a Sparrowhawks talons during a high speed chase like this is enough to kill. I could only watch in awe as these two birds, both trying to outwit the other, performed what was probably the most thrilling birdwatching experience in my whole life, so far! The Lark was even clever enough to fly the Sparrowhawk into a wire, taking advantage of the Hawk's lock on target method of hunting. Sparrowhawks are pre-plan hunters, pre-planning their route, flying it several times to get to know it, all the twists and turns and good places to surprise their prey, absolutely great stuff. They lock onto their target like a heat seeking missile, keeping their eyes on it all the time, only keeping half watch of the obstacles around them, dealing with them whilst keeping their eye on their prey at all times. The Sparrowhawk almost grabbed the wire, it slowed down as it rose up the the wire then going back to the Lark's level again, this gave the Lark enough time to fly as fast as it could into a bush, still singing, out of the Sparrowhawk's reach.
Anyway, I shouldn't have started with Sparrowhawks, I could have written far more about these amazing predators that I admire so much, with their hunting skills and manouverability. Oh no, I'm starting again, better get back to Warnham...
So, where was I , yes after the Sparrowhawk left, understandably, all the birds were a bit nervous, and were relunctant to show themselves so we moved on the the next feeding station.
At the main feeding station we saw mch the same stuff, but there was a Magpie and a few Woodpigeons including a juvenile that had the begginnings of a neck patch, very faint. Greenfinches squabbled over the feeder and a few Chaffinches were hainging around. After a while watching the small birds and a lovely little Wood Mouse (which let me get a shot of it) we moved on to the last hide. Here we saw two male and a female Mandarin, the Kingfisher, or a different one flying again, Teal and we heard the eiry squeeling of a Water Rail, which caried on for a considerable amount of time. Other than that I saw a couple of Moorhens doing a territorial display to each other and heard a Nuthatch.
It was a thrilling day, especially with that Sparrowhawk, the Mandarins were nice too!

A Pectoral Sandpiper and many more at Pulborough

We went down to see the Pectoral which was meant to be showing at Pulborough after we went to Nonsuch (read about my trip there on the Nonsuch blog).
As I waited for mum and dad to get ready I watched the feeding station for a while, this produced, great views of Nuthatch, Great, blue and Coal Tits as well and Chaffinches and a dunnock. We hardly saw anything bird wise on the way down apart from a beautiful Nuthatch hammering a nut, this was the first timer I have seen this behaviour and I was very pleased to watch this. But slightly earlier on, we did see a pretty grusome sight, a poor, mangey old Rabbit, with flies all over it, struggling to stay alive. This upset us and we soon moved on (after seeing everything and coming back, we found it lying dead, with blood spilling out of its head and a thick stick next to it, someone was brave enough to put it out of its misery). Once we got to Jupp's view, I asked if the Sandpiper was still there and guess what! With my luck, yes, it had just flown off! I was devastated and went to the next hide as advised, for a chance of seeing it. We got there, I asked if it was showing and those magic words ' Yes, very well, look through the scope here' replied. I looked through and sure enough, there was a short legged, heavily streaked on the chest, intricately patterned juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, this was such a relief!
Life list 194, well actually I have now deccided the Wood Sandpiper I saw a year ago was probably a Redshank, so 193, no loss, no gain, but still a great bird. Just seven to go until 200. Anyway, you could compare it very well to the Ruffs next to it. There was also at least 500 Greylag Geese and at least 300 Canada Geese, probably far more as I normally under-estimate.Ringed Plover were showing well in the same vicinity as the Pectoral. There were 3 Grey Heron about 100 Wigeon (again probably far more)At least 30 Teal (I reckon there mustreally have been around 200 more that I didn't see, or count well). 2 Gadwall, 1 eclipse mael and one female. 100+ Starling, 4 Cormorant, 50+ Jackdaw, 18 Black-tailed Godwits, at least 20 Shovelers (again, probably way more),3 Mute Swans, 1 Common Gull, 5 Black-headed Gulls (3 adult winters and two 2nd winters) and 11 Snipe all feeding out in the open. It was fantastic! Not to mention Linnets and many, many Pied Wagtails. On the way back I saw a Chiffchaff, which gave good views, 4 full white feral pigeons, Herring Gulls over head and 6+ Rook over too. Absolutely classic! It was a great day.

WALES HOLIDAY 2007!!! Part 3

Final part, part 3- Part 4 (more photos) soon
Kittiwakes and Sparrowhawks (26/8/07):
On the 26th it was 'mum and dad's' day to decide where we were going so no birding really but at Mumbles beach, on the pier there were many of Kittiwakes, my best views yet and I realised just how different these joyful Gulls are from the others, truly magical. On the way back I saw a Sparrowhawk over-head but otherwise nothing note worthy was seen.
Dipper Hunting again (27/8/07):
My Dad and I popped down to Cwm Clydach again to see if I could control myself this time and actually get a view of a Dipper. We went there saw Robin, Grey Wagtail etc. Then this time, :) it was my dad that shouted "DIPPER THERE!". And of course it flew away! But I cleverly positioned myself where I thought it was likely to turn up and sure enough I heard its hoarse chakking call and saw a Dipper land on a moist, moss covered rock, I got some photos but they were no use apart from to be record shots as my first real good view of a Dipper. I remember clearly how I saw it flutter right by me along the river and I made out its short little wings, clearly adapted for a unique, underwater lifestyle which I admire this bird for.

Brecon Beacons (27/8/07):
Mum and Dad chose to go to the Brecon Beacons, I thought I might see some birds there but I didn't really. The only notable bird was a Red Kite high over head.

Dippers at Cwm Clydach again (28/8/07)
Whilst waiting for mum to get ready again, we headed back down to see if we could get any better views and photos of the Dippers. It was magical, I think I spotted them again this time but I can't remember. Anyway, we saw a Juvenile and an Adult chasing each other playfully down the stream, until they went out of sight down the river. We crossed the road to get to the other side, we saw an adult dipping for a while as soon as we got there but it flew down river so we waited, lying on the bank for them to show themselves again with not much hope, however we heard the characteristic call and sure enough the adult landed on a rock, chakking away for a while before flying away again. A few minutes later we heard distant calls, getting closer, closer and then the juvenile (almost adult) landed on a rock nearby and in the light, we got great views for a minute or two until it flew off, we were both amazed (the dipper is the one bird my dad has got really excited about, he couldn't believe it!). I bagged a few shots as well, absolutely amazing.

Welsh Wildlife Centre (same day, 28/8/07)
With only a few days left to go, most of the target lifers seen, most of the nearby places gone to, we went to the Welsh Wildlife Centre. It was fantastic, no lifers though but still great birding. As we ate our lunch up in the Cafe, on the balcony we watched Coal Tits, Dunnocks, Great and Blue Tits too, feeding on the massive feeder that they put up. This was by far the best kept Wildlife Trust reserve I have ever been to, and the most enjoyable. As we watched from the second hide (creek hide if I remember correctly), the first good bird we picked out was a Curlew, the best views I have ever had, you could really admire its intricate plumage. Then we spotted a few Teal and then a female Kingfisher! Sitting on a dead branch in the middle of a tiny, muddy pool. It was an unlikely place for a Kingfisher, but there were fish in it because it dived and emerged with a little Stickleback/minow. This lead to us spotting a Snipe resting right below the Kingfisher, three good birds already. From the hide over looking the river we saw Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls (one of which was aberrant with a ring around its bill. We even spotted a few Whrimbrel, which was excellent. My mum told me a large bird of prey was coming from further away. It was a magnificent Buzzard, I got a few shots, the best I have ever got of one. It didn't really scare the birds though they were slightly more nervous than usual.I don't think they take any birds very often at all. On the last few hides, there wasn't much, but a male Sparrowhawk almost flew right into the hide! We went back to the car after a very enjoyable day, very happy.
Mumbles (29/8/07):
At Mumbles we saw the Kittiwakes again and the Ravens tumbling around the big, netted over cliff, you could really appreciate their size.
Cwm Clydach again (30/8/07):
Not a sign of the Dippers on our visit whilst waiting for mum to get ready, just a Robin. But we, well just me, my dad was falling asleep, I saw a Kingfisher fly upstream, flash of blue, it was flying slightly higher above the water than usual.
Cwm Clydach again... and a very crazy occurrence (31/8/07):
Another early morning visit to Cwm Clydach revealed absolutely nothing apart from a Grey Wagtail.
But, on on the back, up the entrance track to the cottage to collect Mum, we saw a Red Kite over the farm as well as many Great Tits and Meadow Pipits flitting around. And just as icing to the cake, we saw a Raven fly past to. The best the farm ever had to offer, all in five minutes.
Slightly later on, the farmer, Richard, who was also a birder took me around the farm, it was slightly scary, the reasons why you will read in a moment. Anyway, he was very friendly and took me all around the best bits of the farm, I saw Swallows (mobbing a Buzzard), Goldfinches, Mistle Thrushes and a Blue Tit. He left me for a moment whilst he rounded up some sheep, but he also made some Cows go into my field. Right behind me I heard several cows mooing, I turned around and there were about 20 cows, heading straight for me, and quick! I had absolutely no idea what to do, I didn't know if they were just being friendly or were going to trample over me! So I just walked on, keeping a close eye on them, they advanced... I was cornered and not they were closing in on me! There was a gate I was standing by and just before they got too close, I mean close enough for them to do something to me, I climbed over the gate in panic, knocking my camera. Literally, and I'm not exaggerating, one second after I climbed over, they were right at the fence, all mooing! If I didn't move I don't know what would have happened, with all of them crowding around the fence like that!Then the farmer came along, stroking them and weaving his way through them. I felt silly. But he did say before if your with me you'll be alright, so maybe it could have been dangerous? I think it was better safe than sorry anyway.
Later on we went to Mumbles, for a boat trip to see seals, the staff were very friendly at the Gower Explorer (http://www.gowerexplorer.co.uk/). We saw Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Cormorants and great views of Fulmar, I even got fairly good shots of them! Because of weather conditions, we couldn't go around Worm's head to see the seals so we turned around. But we saw something very special, a Grey (???) Seal in Oxwich Bay, which, apparently has never happened before! I got a few shots, distant and only of a head popping out of the water but they were pleased with it and asked me to email it to them which I still need to do. It was quite enjoyable.
The day of departure (1/9/07)
I was very sad to leave and dreading going back to school, returning to the stressful life of homework and the nasty kids at school and leaving this peaceful fortnight of birding heaven. But we had to leave. The previous night, Richard the farmer lent me some of his old bird books from the 70's. Which I enjoyed looking through. Before we went, we visiting Cwm Clydach for the last time, hoping the Dippers would be nice enough to show themselves, for the last time, (it would be many years before I see Dippers again as my dad is reluctant to drive up to Scotland and we may be going abroad for the first time next year but you never know) I got good views of two Robins in the car park and for about half an hour there was no sign of the Dippers, however, I heard one, looked down the river and saw one sitting on a rock, then it flew down river. Slightly later I saw another fly past me and down the river, my last Dipper. I went to the place I went a few day before, just across the road, and waited for 20 minutes, but there was no sign of them. We got it the car and drove off...to Mumbles. As we had lunch, I thought about the birding which we had done, I had mixed feelings over it, it was fantastic but a few of the days eg Cwm Clydach were not productive. In the end I reached the conclusion that, birding is like that and anyway, I did see some marvelous Welsh specialities as well as other good birds. Some of the best seawatching I have ever had, as well as thrilling searching for some of the UK's most outstanding birds, this overcame the very few days which were not that productive. I was very pleased. I watched the Kittiwakes on the pier, then we got in the car and drove off. On the way back we saw Buzzards, Kestrels and a few other birds. But other than that we didn't see much on the way back. Soon, we crossed the bridge from Wales to England and left one of the most enjoyable and most exiting birding holidays I have ever had.

At the end of the trip I got 7 lifers and 10 year birds (including lifers) My life list at the end of the holiday: 193 and year list: 160

Thanks for reading every one!

Part 2-Photos for part one

These are some of the best photos from the trips described in part 1, part 2 and photos soon. Above: Swallow, outside the holiday cottage 20/8/07

Above: Raven, Mumbles 24/8/07
Above: Chough, Strumble Head, 23/8/07
Above: Dipper 28th Aug 07 (a different visit from mentioned before)
Above: Gannet, Strumble Head 23/8/07

WALES HOLIDAY 2007!!! Part 1

(Part two is the rest of the story and part 3 is photos)
Between 18th August and 1st September I stayed in a nice little cottage near Mumbles, on a farm. I managed to pack in about 3 months worth of birding into a fortnight.

I got seven lifer as well as many other fantastic birds, I got photos of some lifers but most were trickier to photograph.


Day 2 (20th Aug 07)- The first birding day

We woke up around 7ish to go for a walk around the farm. I heard Jackdaws and there were plenty Magpies but not much else, just as I approached the cottage and the sheepdogs and their lovely puppy started barking at seeing me a huge Red Kite flew over the cottage very low a year bird for me and spectacular too. I didn't think I would get much birding otherwise, if any so I wasn't particularly excited. We did go shopping (BORING) and it was about 2pm that I looked thorough my where to watch birds in Britain book and found that there was a place along the Gower peninsula, near us, which would be a pleasant visit. I was hoping that there would be some lingering seabirds at Worms Head, there was hardly anything there, a few Gannets were flying along but apart from that there was just Swallows. I lost hope of any lifers that day. I was sitting down on the grass when I noticed a smaller, sleeker bird than a Cormorant, it must have been a SHAG lifer number 1 YAY! If it was a Cormorant I would have known and it did look smaller and slimmer, plus they were meant to be in the area. Life list 187. I thought, fair enough I have got what I thought would be the easiest lifer, but I'm not going to get anything else. At that moment I heard what sounded like a sneezing Jackdaw, guess what's coming yes a smallish dark, short, fingered winged corvid rode the wind and flapped around into the wing for a brief moment before disappearing around the corner. It was a CHOUGH , lifer number two! Life list 188.I thought I would see Ravens, and a few times I thought I had seen one but they were all just big Carrion Crows, they weren't Ravens but I swear they were much bigger than down here in Surrey.After walking back to the car we sat around watching the sea munching a hotdog whilst a House Martin danced around in the wind. We set off and as mum and dad argued in the car I watched as a huge RAVEN flew overhead, dad looked just in time to see the bird. Lifer number 3 life list 189 . From that moment onwards the spectacular Raven was one of my favourite birds. After this we got back to the cottage and ate dinner, or we may have had it out. I can't remember and no-one really cares because I finally got three fantastic birds, even if the views all lasted 5 seconds for each of them.

Day 4 (21st Aug 07)- Dipper Hunting

We found that there was a reserve (Cwm Clydach), just down the road from us, where you could see Dippers and some of my 'possible' lifers such as spot fly, pied fly, redstart etc. We walked up and down the river for about 3 hours not seeing a sausage until in the corner of my eye, I saw a smallish, dark figure, sitting on a rock with a pale, white breast!A Dipper! I couldn't control myself and I was soooo STUPID because I shouted at the top of my voice "THERE'S ONE!!! THERE'S ONE!!!" of course, it flew away! At least I saw one- life list 189

Day 5 (22/8/07)- National Wetlands Centre

My parents didn't want to go anywhere far today so I suggested the National Wetlands Centre, so off we went, after a fairly short journey, we came across some Swallows, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Greenfinch and Starling from the Cafe. From the first hide over the large wetland patch, kind of like a mere we found Little Egret fishing near a Grey Heron, Mute Swans and Greylag Geese over the other side juvenile Shelduck which are always a delight and a lone Whrimbrel, my second for 07 and despite it being distant it was one of the best views I've ever had of Whrimbrel. Goldfinches flitted around along with Linnets. A few hides along we were watching the wild ducks when a male (? (breif so couldn't really see if lower mandible was red or not)), well you probably know it now from what I just said but a Kingfisher flew out right in front of us and hovered, prefectly, before diving into the water and heading off again, a few moments later it flew past us again and that was the last we saw of him. The next hide produced Redshank and Greenshank (both in flight), then we headed off home.


Day 6 (23rd Aug 07)-Seawatching at Strumble Head

This was the last day for lifers, we thought we were going to Skomer! But once we had driven, oh only about 60 miles (!!!!) to get there we found boats had been cancelled. We should have phoned up before we left. Anyway it paid off because we headed off to Strumble Head for a spot of seawatching, we were treated to fantastic views of a Kestrel hovering into the wind, which was so strong it didn't even have to beat its wings at all. We entered the old military building and scanned the sea, the first thing I picked up were Gannets, loads of them diving into the sea, and at one point I manage to get my scope on a nearby settled one, allowing great views. Then I managed to spot many of Manx Shearwaters riding the waves. Another lifer for me, they were really too distant to watch properly but I still managed to watch their lovely flying moves over the waves. After a bit more scanning I found 3 Auks on the sea, one of which was Razorbill, only my second ever and my first for 07, and amazing birds to see, the other two were an adult Guillemot and its chick, quite endearing. I find it amazing that these birds spend alot of their lives just at sea, surrounded by endless waves and blue, in a vast wilderness. It was around this time that a Chough landed right in front of the hide allowing great views, I didn't quite come to terms with what was going on because I was surrounded by great birds, I managed to grab my camera, shoot a few photos but it flew off and unfortunately they were all focused slightly off the bird, I kept them as record shots. Just as we were about to leave I spotted a Fulmar, flying just behind a Manx Shearwater, following the exact same flight path! Amazing. Most of the time I also saw Kittiwakes far out, first I had seen for a year or two. At the end of the day I saw some amazing birds, three lifers, great views of Chough and gannet and saw 2 year birds- Razorbill and Kittiwake.

Day 9- National Wetlands Centre again

Today we had ran out of places to go already! So we though we should have a look around the other bit of the National Wetlands Centre, it was a very hot day (again), which is so off putting when you are birding. The first bird we noted was a Robin singing in the car park and later Jackdaws flying over and feeding on the feeders. From the first hide (or greenhouse with those glass windows on such a hot day, and angled glass so you can't focus your scope) we managed to pick out blurry images of Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Lapwing, Redshank, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Black-tailed Godwit, Canada Goose and other birds you would expect to see at a small patch of wetland. Further along, at the Bittern screen (if anyone has found a Bittern from that then I envy them) I heard a Cetti's Warbler, which is a good find for me, there was no chance of me spotting it from the small view that I had from that viewing screen. I also heard a Chiffchaff from the same general area. Slightly further on I heard a Water Rail in the reeds, but again didn't manage to spot it and never would have. Other birds of note were great views of Little Egret, Pochard, and Jay, as well as Great Tit, Greenfinch and Blue Tit on the feeders.

Kestrels at Nonsuch

In August I got some good shots of very obliging Kestrels at Nonsuch Park here are a few of the best:

Hobby at my patch 9/9/07

I was trying to show my friend the Kestrels which have shown themselves so well, but to no avail. To make up for it we found this beautiful juvenile Hobby!

Elmley 29th July 07

I had been trying to persuade my dad to let me go to Elmley for ages, I wanted to try and see Yellow Wagtail before it was too late the day was a great success. Here is how it went.
As we started travelling along the entrance track, there were a few Swallow and Starlings flying around but not much else. I saw a Skylark slightly further up and a distant Kestrel but other than that the entrance track wasn't as fantastic as it normally is. Just as we got to the car park I noticed a female Yellow Wagtail! I had lost hope of this species as I had only seen it on the entrance track before. Then I noticed the female and 2 males having a bath in a puddle, fantastic! The car park hosted House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, a Moorhen and Swallow. When I was coming out of the loo I noticed a Swallow's nest in the corner and 2 Swallows sitting on the wall in front waiting patiently for access. I couldn't resist taking some photos (see galleries). We started our journey towards the hides without much of interest. But I did briefly see a Green Woodpecker fly into an Oak tree where Little Owls were said to be breeding. There was a Little Grebe calling and several Coots on the ponds and Meadow Pipits flitted round, letting us get pretty close. We also noticed a young Great-crested Grebe down a ditch; it dived for a very long time, the longest I have ever seen a Grebe dive for! At the first hide, the first thing I noticed was the Dunlin, about 30, feeding in front of the hide; I got some photos (see galleries). Also, there were some Avocets and their Juveniles, Black-tailed Godwits were on the other side feeding. I soon noticed Ringed Plover and a male Ruff moulting out of summer plumage. There was an Oystercatcher sleeping amongst the grass and a baby Redshank feeding, it still had down and looked unable to fly but its adult plumage was coming out well. The second hide held nothing but Shelducks and their juveniles, a male Ruddy Duck who was constantly displaying, perhaps he hadn't found a mate this year, Ruddy Ducks are rare now because of the cull to reduce hybridization with Europe's rare White-headed Duck. There were Linnets and plenty Yellow Wagtails near the hide and we got some video footage ( I will try to get some on the website) There was a single Lapwing. On the way back I noticed two Curlews flying in, a female Mallard and most special of all, two Little Owls sitting in an Oak tree behind the loos ( the same one I saw the Green Woodpecker fly into). I showed two families the Owls and they were delighted, especially the children. The Owls were wonderful;, it is always a magic experience seeing an Owl. It was a very special day!

Photos soon

Birdnut.me.uk viewing problems, please help

Many viewers have emailed me saying that the website has been difficult for them to view. For example text has been covering pictures. Although off the top of my head I cannot think of any way to solve this I would like to know how many people have been affected and the extent of the problem so please email me if you are experiencing viewing problems.
Thanks!
David

Rye Harbour 8/7/07

Lately I have been thinking that I need to get some of the summer migrants that I haven't caught up with this year, like Yellow Wagtails and Terns so I decided that I have to, at least go to Rye and Elmley to catch up. First, I went to Rye, and this is how it went.
We arrived at the car park after what seemed like a never ending journey. As soon as we got out of the car I noticed Starlings, House Sparrows, Herring and Black-headed Gulls. A little female Blackbird came within a foot of me, completely fearless. It has obviously got used to the fact that it can get fed by humans. I saw its mate fluttering round further away. Next a huge Herring Gull came up to us, almost as tame, uttering quietly as it approached us. My shot of it turned out to be the only decent photo of the whole day! As we started along the track I heard the tinkling call of a Goldfinch, suddenly I saw it fly really low just behind me. I got great views and it was the first time I got to see the plumage details of a Goldfinch while it was flying. Once again I heard a strange high, descending song and as I looked up I saw a Meadow Pipit performing its song flight, beautiful and my best view yet. At the same time I heard a skylark singing in the distance. From the first hide, I noticed many Gulls, mainly Herring, flying past and landing on a little field. I heard a harsh piping and then out of the blue 4 Oystercatchers were chasing each other- 2 rival pairs, one from each pair taking on the equivalent of the the other pair. Apart from this there was little activity from this hide apart from my first view of that Skylark and a Ringed Plover (year bird for me). As we moved on I noticed a Redshank sitting on some rocks (its nest?) and some Sandwich Terns flying right around us. Cormorants flew overhead. As we approached the Tern caravan I noticed 6 black Ducks flying in from the sea and settling, close inshore- Common Scoters- my best view yet despite the raising gas distorting my view. At this point I showed a family of birders the Scoters which they appreciated and I showed them the way to the Ternery Pool. They had a boy of about 10 and I was pleased that I had finally seen an avid birder younger than me! At the Ternery Pool I saw the sweet, young Black-headed Gulls and the nesting Common and Sandwich Terns. Later on I noticed a pair of Mediterranean Gulls and showed them to the birding family. I knew they were looking for Little Terns (so was I ) and eventually picked one out sitting on a rock, they were very pleased (as was I, a lovely bird and a year bird for me along with Sandwich Tern) On the way back I noticed 6 Linnets, a Whitethroat, 2 Dunnocks and heard a Reed Warbler singing in the distance. 29 species today and 3 year birds (Sandwich and Little Terns and Ringed Plover) It was a fantastic day.

Birdnut completion

I am pleased to announce that the main website (www.birdnut.me.uk) is finally complete. It has been on for a couple of weeks but non of the site links worked so it was a bit useless. I have not posted since June 3rd because I have been very busy with school stuff, my birthday, the website etc.

new birdnut.me.uk site design

Hi all,
I am pleased to anounce that birdnut.me.uk is being re-designed and is currently under construction. It will be ready in a few weeks and I will let you know when it is complete.

Squacco Heron, Erith Marshes 3/6/07

Unlike two weeks ago, (see Staines reservoirs post)and most of my other attempts 'twitches' this one went pretty well. Of course as you already know from the title of the post, I was looking or a Squacco Heron, this bird at Erith, Greater London is probably one of the best birds in the South East at the moment and today I was lucky enough to see it.

After searching the local area for where we were meant to go we found the boating lake that was mentioned in the report and with the help of a friendly gentleman we were heading in the right direction. As we walked across the field towards where we thought the bird was, but our journey was interrupted by a hungry horse trying to eat my dad's scopac! After we escaped the horse we passed some Stonechat flitting around in the bushes. We got to the viewpoint, which was a particularly annoying one because it had small holes in a big wooden screen and due to the amount of people, it was difficult to get a good view! But eventually we saw it hiding in the reeds and got a few rubbish shots. Soon it flew to the other side of the pool where it was totally unobscured, yet distant-and all the places were taken again! I managed to squeeze in and digiscope it though, yet I only managed a few shots because it flew once more! This time behind an island in the marsh. AAARRG! It was so frustrating to get a good, comfortable view of the bird. People were saying that if you sit on the fence you can see it sitting on a floating stick, I tried it and saw it very clearly, I set up my camera with the 2x converter and got some good shots, which I am pretty pleased with considering I was balancing on a fence, fairly far away from the bird. The photos are above (taken from the fence).

You can see the BBC video about it HERE

Birdnut.me.uk

Hi all, unfortunately birdnut.me.uk will not be updated for a while because I am working on a new annual birdnut.me.uk report, currently the 2006 report is about a third complete, once it is finished I will update birdnut.me.uk.

Staines Reservoirs 20/5/07

I heard of many raritees around this time in the South East, for example; Cattle Egret at Rainham (along with a Spoonbill) and a Savi's Warbler at Oare Marshes. I would have loved to have seen these but my parents weren't willing to go far this weekend so I had to go and see a Ferrunigous Duck at Staines, which is pretty good and would be a first for me so I accepted. Knowing my luck I didn't see it and it was a rubbish day because I mortally wounded my telescope as well.
But here is the list:
1 Woodpigeon
2 Starling
3 Pied Wagtail
4 Black-headed Gull; there were loads of these- at first I thought they were Terns on the raft but then I realised that the Gulls had taken it over
5 Coot
6 Gadwall
7 Mallard
8 Great-crested Grebe
9 Carrion Crow
10 House Sparrow
11 Tufted Duck
12 Ruddy Duck
15 Great Black-backed Gull (flyover)
Despite missing the duck, having millions of midges following me everywhere and breaking the scope the only good aspect of the day was the Common Terns flying over my head and the distant Little Egret which is odd for this site.
16 Little Egret
17 Common Tern

The Big Bird Race...2007

On Sunday, 13th May 2007 I returned for my fourth year to attempt to win this race again. Last year I was beaten by one species- the other boy was lucky enough to see a Peregrine Falcon fly over! Any way this year it was just my luck because it was raining heavily most of the day. I always spend the 10 minutes dad takes to get ready in the centre's car park, having a look around for any birds there may be there and I saw quite a lot including some birds that are rather hard to see at the centre.
Here is the car park list (later added to the main one):
1 Lapwing (flyover)
2 Starling
3 Swift
4 Herring Gull (flyover)
5 Blackbird
6 Jay (hard to get at the centre)
7 Mallard (flyover)
8 Canada Goose (flyover)
9 Robin (pretty hard to get at the centre)
10 Woodpigeon
11 House Martin
12 Sand Martin
Seen around visitor centre
15 Coot
16 Chaffinch (hard to get here)
We left, that day with 48 species and first prize in the family category, but the most frustrating thing about today is... there were not many people in our category because of the rain so not much competition... oh well maybe next year that boy will be back and I will be able to get the glory.

I can't really type the whole list out but I can tell you the highlights; there was a rather unexpected bird from the Wildside hide; a Grey Plover I couldn't believe it when I was casually scanning and there was a Grey Plover, apparently there was also two Turnstones briefly but they must have been round the other side. Another highlight was the Little-ringed Plovers, great birds and my firsts this year were last week at the same place.

LWWT 7th May 2007

I spent my bank holiday Monday at London Wetlands Centre, I went as practice for the bird race which takes place on Sunday the 13th and to try to see the Wood Sandpiper, of course, as usual I dipped on it but it was still a great day despite the original rain.

As we got out, we were worried that it was going to rain all day and I almost didn't take my camera, and I am glad I did now. On getting out of the car we saw crows and Ring-necked Parakeets. But I was delighted to get great views of House Martins and Swifts skimming the pond near the visitor centre, I love hirundines and Swifts, particularly Swifts they are so agile and skilled in the air. We dashed to the cafe to wait until the rain stopped, which my family weren't optimistic about, but I knew it would stop and I was right. As we set off, we noted Moorhens and Coots on the small pond and House Sparrows around the buildings. The Feral Pigeons were in the farm Duck section as usual and Greylag Geese flew over.

Gull species during the trip included Great Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Many Tufted Ducks were on the lakes along with Cormorants and Great-crested Grebes. Canada Geese grazed the grass and Lapwings were present. At the Wader Scrape hide we saw Redshank and Little-ringed Plover and Common Terns fishing over the water. There were a few Pochards and a pair were nesting on one of the small pools along the track earlier. Other birds included Grey Heron, Blackbird and Goldfinch.

Beddington SF 6/5/07

Today I decided to go to a site that is just a couple of miles away from me and is very excellent, but i have never been there before. In fact it has recently had a first for Britain, the Glaucous-winged Gull that had been seen at several sites across Britain. But of course there was absolutely no hope of seeing it, but there was a Glaucous Gull. I was a bit put of by the smell and graffiti and the beer cans speared on the fence posts but still decided to carry on, we thought we saw a cat in front of us, dashing past but it turned out to be a little Fox cub! As we went on I heard a Chiffchaff singing, eventually I located it and got some decent shots of it, normally I am hopeless at warbler photography. We found the viewpoint and had a quick scan of the lake, finding Cormorants, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Coots, Mallards and other waterfowl. Soon, I noticed some Tree Sparrows, I haven't seen this species since January at Martin Mere in Lancashire, so this was probably the bird of the day. There were about 5 to ten fighting over the feeder. I saw many finches flying around such as Goldfinches and Greenfinches. At the end of the day I managed 37 species, which is pretty good for me in just an hour of birding.

Most Recent Year Birds

1 Cuckoo
2 Garganey
3 Green Sandpiper
4 Greenshank
5 Hobby
6 Reed Warbler
7 Sedge Warbler
8 Cetti's warbler
9 Whitethroat
10 Bearded Tit
11 Common Swift
12 House Martin

Most Recent Lifers

1 Garganey
2 Cuckoo
3 Great Northern Diver
4 Artic Tern
5 Great Skua

Stodmarsh Sunday 29th April 2007

Green Woodpecker (above right female Marsh Harrier) From left to right, Female Pochard, Male Mallard, Male Pochard
Sedge Warbler
Whitethroat
Male Marsh Harrier
Reed Bunting

This was a pre-organised birdforum (www.birdforum.net) meeting. With birdforum members Robinm and wife, Robski, Perry Grin, michealmacey and daughter, Page and MickeyMouse. We had an excellent day. Robski had some trouble with his car and caught up after an AA man came and saved the day. One of the first birds was a male Cuckoo that we first heard calling and then located in a dead tree. This was another one of my bogey birds that I have been looking for for a long time without success until now. Further on we went up on the ramp and saw Garganey, a drake and another first for me. There was also a Little Egret, Ruffs, Redshanks and a Green Sandpiper. There were House and sand Martins, Swallows and Swifts feeding over the pond, skimming. we also saw Cetti's Warbler around there, a few Marsh Harrier Sedge and Reed Warblers as well as Bearded Tits flying low over the reeds. A bit further on the walk we saw some Whitethroat. As we got to the next hide there was a few pairs of Pochards, a Greylag Goose and 2 Mute Swans. and we got some very good views of Marsh Harrier. We moved on to the next hide where there was a Greenshank and loads of Swifts. As we moved on I spotted a Hobby fly past briefly and later on in the next hide we got distant but prolonged views of them hunting. Unfortunately my mum had been waiting in the car for a few hours and was a bit ill so we had to leave the others and head back. On the way back I saw more Whitethroat, a Green Woodpecker, Great-crested Grebe, Coal Tit Stock Dove and heard Blackcap and Goldfinch. I saw a lovely family of two newly fledged baby Mistle Thrushes and some House Sparrows. All together I saw 57 species, including many year birds and two new birds (Cuckoo and Garganey).

YES! First Swifts!

Excellent news today! Yesterday (the 27th April 07) I saw my first Swifts of the year flying East over my house and two or three Swallows. And today I saw at least 6 more drifting eastwards over my gran's garden screaming and chasing each other. I had been looking forward to this for 9 months and it was so exciting seeing them. Hopefully see more tommorrow when I am going to Stodmarsh with some birdforum members.

Dungeness RSPB, Kent, 22th April 07

Today I went because I heard there was quite a lot of activity here including Golden Oriole, Red-rumped Swallow, Great-northern Diver and Bee-eater. Of course I missed all but one of them. We arrived at the RSPB car park and saw some Common Terns flying over and some Whitethroat, two new year birds, it was lovely to see them again. Then we went over to the ARC pit (where I thought the Diver was) and there were a few Cormorants, Pochard and Ruddy Duck but no Diver, I was informed that it was on the lake on the other side of the road, so I went there and there it was, beautiful, just sitting there a 2nd Cal Spring bird and a first for me, it went to sleep soon afterwards but then started fishing, it was near some gulls and grebes and it was nice to get a size comparison. Next we moved on to the Patch to see some seabirds which produced two new birds for me, Artic Tern, which migrates from Antarctica to the Artic and back each year, and Great Skua, which flew right above our heads! Other birds included Common Scoter, Whrimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Turnstone, Brent Goose and Gannet. It was a very enjoyable seawatch. We then had a look at the trapping area to see if there was anything there but it only produced a Whitethroat. Next time I should get there much earlier. Over all it produced some great birds, 3 new life birds and many 2007 ticks and was very enjoyable. But of course I cannot go without mentioning the Little Owl that we saw on the way back, I spotted it from the car and we stopped but it had disappeared, we gave up and drove off, but then I saw it on the other side of the barn that I spotted it on, and got some good pictures, one of which is on the Latest page.

Carshalton Update

Hi all,
I am just updating on the Carshalton Ponds nesting birds situation, which you may not remember because I posted the story on birdnut.me.uk, well basically a family of Moorhens have been nesting on one of my local patches for a few years and year after year after year the nest has been damaged by something either fugs or rats. They only ever manage to get some of the young to survive if the strongest ones out of all their broods that they have to keep having every year because the nest keeps getting destroyed survive. The sad news this year is, there is no nest and only one adult, so what happened to the partner, did he/she get killed or have they both moved on and another bird came in? We do not know... but the good news is there is a pair of Little Grebes nesting on the ponds which is pretty rare for the Wandle; certainly Carshalton Ponds. I will keep you updated on this.
Birdnut

New Look!

Hello all,
As I am sure the regular birdnut and birdnut2 viewers have noticed, the birdnut2 site has now got a new snazzy look. And I may be planning a revamp of birdnut.me.uk in the next few months. Though for now birdnut.me.uk has some new pages! The photo index photos have been sorted onto different pages and been tidied up a bit. There are loads of new photos on www.birdnut.me.uk.
Thanks,
Birdnut

Most Recent 2007 Birds

Scaup, Snettisham RSPB

1 Grey Partridge (lifer)

2 Mediterranean Gull

3 Avocet

4 Curlew

5 Scaup

6 Swallow

7 Sand Martin

8 Chiffchaff

9 Black-necked Grebe (lifer)

10 Slavonian Grebe (lifer)

11 Blackcap

12 Chiffchaff

Most recent life birds

1 Grey Partridge-Snettisham RSPB, Norfolk, 7th April 2007
2 Black-necked Grebe-Staines Reservoir, Surrey 25th March 2007
3 Slavonian Grebe-Staines Reservoir, Surrey 25th March 2007

My Spring migrants so far...

Only a while to go till my favourite birds, Swifts come!
1 Chiffchaff
2 Swallow
3 Sand Martin
4 Garden Warbler
5 Blackcap

Snettisham 7th April 2007

Snettisham RSPB, Norfolk 7/4/07Today was abit weird. I wanted to see the Black-eared Kite and travelled 75 miles from the B&B to see it. It was too long a journey. When we got their we walked through the reserve seeing a few Avocets, Curlews etc but many were too distant to indentify without the scope and I badly wanted that Black-eared Kite (first for Britain) so I didn't stop to look at them. On the way I saw a Marsh Harrier hunting and the same female Scaup that was there last August, it is weird that she isn't migrating, she should be, maybee she just doesn't have the instinct in her, anyway that was a year tick and it was nice seeing her again, I got some good photos of her as well. I saw some Sand Martins flying over which was nice. We talked to someone and they said that the Kite was over in another place, so we had walked all this way for nothing really, but in the end it was worth it. We went off to see the Black-headed Gull breeding colony and saw some Mediterranean Gulls, fantastic birds and a 2007 tick. It was magical being in the middle of a Gull breeding colony. There was a flock of Avocets ad then came a flock of Brent Geese, with a separate flock of Barnacles a single Ross' Goose and a Pink-footed Goose. At first I thought it was a Snow Goose until I posted the photos on birdguides.com and they said it was a ross's but it turned out to be an escape unfortunately. I decided to have a quick go at seeing the kite, of course missed it, but in a nearby field to where it was meant to be there were loads of Grey Partridge, a first for me! It was a very enjoyable day after all.

Update

Here are some archive trip reports from Birdnut.me.uk:
Bedfordshire Farm B&B 6th to 9th April 2007
For a few days we stayed at a farm in Sandy, Bedfordshire which is really near the RSPB headquarters. We arrived around 3:30 pm on Friday the 6th.
DAY 1
I didn't really do much that day, just had one or two walks around the farm. I saw a few Skylarks, Rooks, Mistle Thrush, Woodpigeons, 3 Buzzards, distantly, a Pied Wagtail and other songbirds like a pair of Robins. One of the highlights was small flock of Swallows coming over, a real sign of Spring. Around the Farm house you could not get away from Chaffinches, they were everywhere! Another notable species was a female Yellowhammer which I do not get to see that often.
DAY 2
I got up at 06:00 AM and was dressed and ready in ten minutes for the first walk of the day. Dad took a while longer and it was frustrating listening to the bird activity dieing down and watching the sun getting higher while he was getting ready, but soon enough we were off. Apart from more Skylark activity, at first it looked like it wasn't going much better than yesterday afternoon's two walks. A Wren came really close and was singing its heart out right next to us! Other notable birds were a flying Grey Heron, Herring Gulls passing through, flyover Cormorants and Reed Buntings in a ditch. The most amazing sight though, was a Sparrowhawk chasing a Skylark, it was just like a scene out of The Life of Birds by David Attenborough where a Merlin was chasing a Skylark. The Sparrowhwak was determined and they made some pretty sharp manoeuvres, almost getting the lark, but Skylarks are excellent flyers and it was singing while it was being chased this is to display its fitness to the Sparrowhawk and put it off. Eventually, the Lark dashed into a bush where the hawk couldn't get it, and the Sparrowhawk had to give up and flew away. Wow! It was a scene I will never forget. Later on we saw Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Starlings, Blue Tits and a single Magpie. On another walk later on notable species were flyover Canada Geese, Mistle Thrush and a brief view of a Red-legged Partridge flying.
On the last day or so we saw much the usual, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Blue and Great Tits and other common birds mentioned previously, but it was nice having breakfast whilst watching a male and female Yellowhammers feeding out of the window! Thankyou so much Highfield Farm B&B 6 Stars friendly, comfortable, beautiful setting and great birds! Thanks!

Staines Reservoir 25th March 2007
For weeks I have wanted to go to Staines Reservoir and finally this Sunday I did. There was a Slavonian Grebe there and some Black-necked Grebes I had heard and these were two that were not yet on my list. So I headed off to see these rare, beautiful birds. When I got there, there was only one car in the car park so I thought i would have a hard time finding the birds but when I got up there, there were actually quite alot of people and I saw the Slavonian Grebe fishing just ten minutes after arrival, thanks to the help of a friendly birder. It was a truly spectacular bird and very stunning. I watched it for about ten minutes then I headed off to see the Black-necked Grebes. I saw another birder quite soon and I thought he might have got them, so I stopped off and talked to him and surely enough, he had. There were four that I saw that day but on Monday there was a report of nine of them and some Red-breasted Mergansers (which I would have loved to have seen as well, as I have not seen one for many years). When i saw them I realised just how distinctive Black-necked and Slavonians are from each other, I made annotated field sketches just to make sure I had it in my head. It was cold and there was not much else to see so I headed back and had a last look at the Slavonian and took some pictures, but due to the shear distance (could see it well in scope but the 50-500 lens couldn't do it) they are not that good at all and not worth publishing on the internet. I observed it catching a massive fish that it struggled to get down but finally won. My life list is now up to a still pretty pathetic 176 but hey, they were good birds and very much worth the journey.
Dungeness RSPB, Kent 11/3/07
Before this visit I had arranged to meet with my friend, Dave to meet at Dungeness and for once it was successful. I was very pleased because, due to the bright weather I could get my shutter speed up to 1250th of a second. When normally, I have to reduce it to 320th, at the fastest. At least that is one reason to look forward to the summer whereas the thought of baking heat and not being able to look up without squinting to see what's flying around makes me depressed. my first good shot came in minutes after getting out of the car when an Oystercatcher flew over and I managed a couple of shots, one of which (my prefered) is seen on the home page and photo pages). There were numerous species of Gulls at the site (presumably gathering to breed) including Great and Lesser Black-backed, Herring and Common. Coots, Tufted Ducks and Great-crested Grebes were also noted near the beginning as well as many cormorants which I managed fairly poor flight shots of. Corvids included Magpie, Carrion Crow and Rook. A couple of weeks ago (the Capel Fleet day) I saw an albino Jackdaw which unusual. Further on there was a male Goldeneye and a Chiffchaff (I am guessing it was this and not a Willow Warbler as I didn't hear the song). There was also Reed Bunting, Black-headed Gull, a Wren, Mute Swans and many ducks including Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Goldeneye and Smew. There were two drake Smew (my favourite duck) and two females. I didn't manage internet publishable images but if you search the web you will see why they are my favourite. Like the Goldeneye they are winter visitors and will leave for their Northern breeding grounds soon. These were a new year bird for me and the best bird of the day. I saw some beautiful birds in wonderful light today and got some pleasing photos (see photos page), I am very happy!
Capel Fleet 25 Feb 07
Today was very pleasing. After getting through over two hours of driving and a welcome Mc Donald's and some more driving we finally found the road that you could view the long-staying Rough-legged Buzzard from. The wind was bitter and there were a few birders there who I was hoping would spot the bird and show me where it was without much work but, they left in 5 minutes. I was confused at this as they said they had only just arrived, I got the idea they spotted it then zoomed off to see another bird, deliberately not letting me see it but then a again it was painful standing there and very frustrating. After a short period of scanning I spotted a bird, it was a crow! I soon spotted another, it was definitely a raptor, very buzzard like and it was frustratingly hard to tell it from a common or a Rough-legged due to the angle of the sun at the particular time of day. When it flew I could tell it was a Rough- legged. It sat there for ages and of course... when I took my eye off the scope for a moment then looked again... typically, it wasn't there! But luckily I found it flying when I panned a bit. It was the bird... YES!!! Another good tick for me and an amazing bird. On the pool there were Shelduck, Coots, Lapwings, Shovelers and fly-over Oystercatchers. In the distance I spotted Bewick's Swans another good bird. I then moved on to the raptor watchpoint where I soon spotted a ringtail (female) Hen Harrier, yet another pleasing tick! There were also plenty Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel as well as two male Pheasants sizing each other up but there was no fight in the end. Further up the road I spotted Red-legged Partridges, two Merlins and a flock of 30+ Corn Buntings (all 07 ticks for me). So I got my 07 list up to 92 and my life up to 178 today. I was very pleased.
Nonsuch 3/2/07
Today's sightings were very unexpected. Once again... my dad couldn't go birding so I phoned my gran up and asked her to take me to my patch. After getting out of the car and seeing not much but Ring-necked Parakeets and Crows, we wandered over to a little field where no dogs are allowed to see Green Woodpeckers. I didn't see Green Woodpeckers though; I saw the much rarer Lesser-spotted. And all within a few minutes of getting out of the car! I almost over looked it as a tit or finch due to its size, but looked through my binoculars at it after it started pecking wood. I was shocked at the site, which was a first for me. This was also very good for my patch, which normally doesn't produce much rare. The only other fairly rare bird I have seen there is a Little Owl. But this must have been the best sighting there yet. I later reported it to birdguides.com and sent a letter to my county bird recorder. There is an image on the Photo Page. After that I didn't see much apart from Jays, Magpies, Crows and common songbirds but for me that was one of my best finds yet and a day I will never forget.
Elmley Marshes 21/1/07
Today I went to Elmley, aiming to see a Short-eared Owl, like I did there 2 years back now. of course as usual, when I set myself an aim to see a hard species like this I all ways fail and did today too. But I did see 34 species today so I suppose I did fairly well but the star of the day was the Peregrine Falcon. These are one of my favourite birds and are so spectacular, seeing one hunting makes you speechless. I was lucky enough to see this spectacular event today but unfortunately didn't get any photos, they might have turned out alright but to be honest it was a bit too far away for good pics and I was glued to my binoculars whilst watching this spectacular hunter stooping at a flock of Wigeon, Teal and Pintail. I will try to get some photos next time I see this. Another surprise that I was greeted with was the whole scrape in front of me being covered by Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Turnstone, Little Stint (!) and a Bar-tailed Godwit. On the entrance track there were the usual lapwings, Redshanks, Coots etc and some Skylarks which I am always pleased to see. Also on the marsh were about 5 Bewicks Swans which are a good bird for me. On the way in there was a wonderful male Stonechat which gave great poses on a gate near the car allowing me to get great photos. Apart from that there was nothing else much of note apart from a male Kestrel posing excellently on a post on the way out which would have given a great photo opportunity if the light conditions weren't rapidly fading. It was a fantastic day overall despite the lack of Short-eared Owl which, as a species seems to be having a poor winter with hardly any of them arriving this year. But I was particularly pleased with Peregrine and Bewick's Swan, especially the Peregrine with such excellent views of such a powerful bird hunting, it was probably quite young and inexperienced as it failed to catch anything and was hunting fairly poorly.

Rainham Marshes 10th December 2006-12-16
I was really excited about going to Rainham Marshes it was said to be very good and well designed and a Black Redstart was there, a bird to add to my 2006 list and it would have been the last chance I had to get it on there. When we arrived I immediately recognized the visitor centre, with its strange design and colours it was unmistakable. I saw 20 species just by looking out of the window up there and they included Pied Wagtail, Wigeon, Little Egret and many others. When we started the walk I spotted a Kestrel sitting on a fence very near to us and I got some shots that I may add to the site later. I heard that there was a Hen Harrier, it would have been a first for me but I missed out on it. I saw Pintail though, which I haven't seen for a long time. There were many Grey Herons on the target pools, lots of them. When I reached the place I I thought the Black Redstart was I told my dad to stop and look for it and that I wanted to have a look where we were because we had a good view of Aveley Pools but he said, "Well we'll have a look when we get there won't we". I was really confused and I couldn't catch up with him because I was tired and was carrying lots of heavy stuff. He went to a hide that was blocked of a good view because of a hill that was in front of us. He let me go down to have a look at the pools but the Black Redstart was too far away then, oh well. At least I saw 2 Bearded Tits! Other highlights were Stonechat and lots of great views of common birds.
Warnham 12th November 2006
Today, we decided to go to Warnham to cheer us up after our budgie, Jersey, died the early morning of the day before- Saturday 11th November she was always ill and was only going to be two on the 29th, she was young and I think she had a stroke during the night. I stayed in the first hide on my own while mum and dad had a cup of tea in the cafe. They missed out on so much! Great and Blue Tits posing so well for photographs, and a very photogenic Nuthatch! I got some cracking shots! They arrived and it was time to move on to the feeding station, I got some good photos of Robin and Chaffinch and saw Dunnock and Song Thrush as well as a wide range of other garden birds, a Great-spotted Woodpecker also arrived and I got shots. We moved on and saw Black headed and Herring Gulls chasing each other and Mandarin and Teal fly past. We did walk round the forest but nothing came of it apart from a Wren. The Mute Swan family has broken up, there were two adults and two cygnets but one adult and one cygnet disappeared a few weeks ago when gypsies were camping on site. Now the remaining adult- the male acted aggressively to the cygnet, obviously wanting it to leave and become independent. The shot on photos page is of it sitting on the ground confused about being rejected. See photos page for photos from that day.
Oare Marshes 5/11/06
Today was a great day for birding and photography, first I looked at the East Flood for 30-60 minutes and one of the first things I saw was the Long-billed Dowitcher, the same bird that I saw a month ago, and this time the lighting was better and he was much nearer. I got some pleasing shots as I ma sure the other photographers did. See Photo Page/ Photo Index for a photo. Other birds on the East Flood included Moorhen, Greylag Goose (which I got some pleasing flight shots of on Photo Page), Lapwing, Carrion Crow, Black-headed Gull, Grey Heron which allowed me very close and I got some good close up portrait shots (Photo Page), Starling flitted about, Cormorants dried themselves in the sun Black and Bar tailed Gowits were preening at the back ducks such as Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal and Mallard fed and Coots squabbled. We then walked round the Swale, this is the first time I have walked the Swale and it was thrilling to see a Kestrel hover in front of a beautiful sunset with a flock of Starlings gathering to roost further away in the background. When you turned round and saw quite a different sight; Redshanks calling and flying around on a moonlit Swale, with the moon reflecting and creating a reflection in the mud it was truly beautiful, the sky was so varied that evening with the sunset and the moon. What a way to finish the day off, with a Cetti's Warbler singing and flying around?

Pulborough Brooks 24/10/06
Firstly, as we arrived and approached the visitor centre the call of Tits grabbed my attention. At the feeders during my approximately 20 minute watch I saw Coal, Great, Blue and Marsh Tit. This is the site that I rely on to see these unfortunately declining birds. I haven't seen one of these since April 05. Greenfinches and Chaffinches were also noted. I saw a few Jays flying around. This time of year is excellent for Jays as they are very active searching for acorns. They can hide up to 10,000 of these nuts for the winter and however amazing their memory and intelligence is, they forget some and these germinate into Oaks. Robins, Black-headed Gulls, Jackdaws, Starlings, Blackbirds, Lapwings were seen. I saw few Stonechats and one or two Meadow Pipits along the walk. I also saw Pheasants, Yellowhammers and Long-tailed Tits. A relief was a pair of Bullfinches calling overhead, which I haven't seen since January at Pennington Flash. I saw a total of 30 birds that half-term Tuesday and it was great to see some birds that I haven't seen for a long time.
Oare Marshes 8/10/06
Today my target was the Long-billed Dowitcher, a young individual that was born earlier this year. On its first migration it got blown off-course from North America to Kent (it was meant to end up in south North America). I spent most of the trip watching the East flood, which can get boring after a while because its like spending a whole birding trip watching one part of the marsh, but I saw Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Egret, Ruff, Avocet, lots of Golden Plover and a Sparrowhawk, which set the whole east flood up into the air and circled around for a while (see photo page). A kestrel also offered fantastic views through the scope hovering. Just as we about to leave, without the Dowitcher, a group spotted it on its favourite pool west of the road further up, like in the photographs on birdguides.com, we had to watch it into the sun, the advantage, however was the digiscoped images were easier to focus. It turned out being a fantastic day with over 30 bird species.
Dungeness RSPB, 24/9/06
Today was my first ever proper seawatching trip, and wow it was successful for a first go. I added Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, Common Scoter, Gannet and Razorbill to my life list. And it was a relief that I got some 2006 firsts also; Brent Goose (totally unexpected) and Black Tern (and possible Red-breasted Merganser). The sea was quite calm and so was the wind but we still got a good passage. My life list is now up to 174/5 (Pelican Problem) and my 2006 list is up by 7, unfortunately I lost count of my year list but will sort it out in December.

Warnham LNR, 17/9/06
Today was a relaxed, birding day not any particular aims or sites we just popped over to Warnham. We got good views of a Kingfisher (first for a long time!) and other birds. I was pleased with my Mute Swan and Great Tit shots.1Grey heron2Woodpigeon3Mallard- Some back into normal plumage from eclipse!4Cormorant5Great-crested Grebe (not seeing as many of these as I used to, suffering a decline???)6Great Tit7Blue Tit8Robin9Canada Goose10 Pochard-Drake11Chaffinch12Kingfisher-lovely views, got bad digiscoped pictures13Mute Swan- Pair with one cygnet born earlier this year14Mandarin-1 drake, good to see these beautiful birds again, its been a while.15Teal16Magpie17Tufted Duck18Carrion Crow19Herring Gull-really high20Swallow, flock high heading South, on a dangerous journey back to Africa after rearing their young here.21Great-spotted Woodpecker22Nuthatch23Dunnock

Peregrine Falcons at Tate Modern 10/9/06
Absolutely fantastic birds. There was a male and female. The male was easier to see and gave us fantastic views through the scopes provided; the volunteers were very friendly and told visitors all about these amazing birds. I have never seen these birds perched before, the only times I have seen them were at Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex and Elmley Marshes, Kent. Both of these occasions were brief and silhouetted. It was amazing how still they were staying! The most active I saw this pair was when the male stretched his wings! Once he turned around and let us see his lovely slate grey back.

London Wetlands Centre, London, UK 3/9/06.
1 Mallard2 Moorhen-one family had 6 youngsters3 Coot4 Shoveler5 Feral pigeon6 House Martin7 Sand Martin8 Mute Swan9 House Sparrow10 Grey heron11 Great-crested Grebe12 Starling13 Lapwing14 Black-headed Gull15 Ruddy Duck16 Cormorant17 Tufted Duck18 Woodpigeon19 Great Tit20 Greenfinch21Chaffinch22 Blue Tit23 Pochard24 Yellow Wagtail25 Snipe-Took a while to pick out in the scope but I got it in the end, great views when you could make it out.26 Whooper Swan27 Gadwall28 Canada Goose29 Sparrowhawk-flying over main lake30 Herring GullLovely views of Wasp Spider, very big and pretty. I am pleased with my photos and you can see one of them on Photos Page. Apparently very rare.

Bough Beech Reservoir, Kent, UK 6/8/06.
Great White Pelican and great waders!
1Great-white Pelican-Fantastic bird, certainly my first, probably an escapee but I am hoping that it is wild and if it is it may have flown all the way from Greece or Turkey by accident!2Mute swan3Common Tern4Cormorant5Great-crested Grebe6Pied Wagtail7Coot8Moorhen9Greylag Goose10Grey Heron11Lapwing13Canada Goose14Mallard15Shelduck16Pochard17Carrion crow18woodpigeon19Greenshank20Black-tailed Godwit-two youngsters21Green Sandpiper22Coomon Sandpiper-had Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper and Greenshank all in one veiw at the same time.23Swallow24House Martin25mandarin26House Sparrow27Blackbird28Robin29Feral pigeon-on wader scrape30wigeon31Collared Dove

Dungeness, kent, uk 30/7/06.
1Kestrel-one hunting2Swallow-some flitting around feeding on insects in mid-air3Yellowhammer4Pied Wagtail- Juveniles feeding in front of the hides5Coot6Herring Gull7Lapwing8Tufted Duck- the males were in eclipse plumage (where they moult their flight feathers and have to look like females to camoulflage themsleves to avoid predators)9Starling10Mute swan11Carrion Crow12Great-crested Grebe13Pochard14Cormorant15Woopigeon16Sand Martin17Linnet18Grey Wagtail19Grey Heron20Great-black backed gull21Moorhen22Oystercatcher23Greylag goose24Yellow wagtail25Mallard26Canada goose27Common Tern28Little Egret29MArsh harrier, lovely male hunting over denge marsh30Red-crested Pochard-one female31Black-tailed godwit-a few juveniles wading32Meadow pipit33gadwall34common sandpiper-one sleeping35black-headed gull36Ringed Plover-two feeding on denge marsh37sedge warbler-one alarm calling and hopping about

Rye Harbour, 9/7/06
1Mallard2ruddy Duck3Tufted Duck4Swift-My favourite! Skimmming over water5Sand martin6Black-headed Gull7Lapwing8Coot9Moorhen10Lesser Black-backed Gull11Starling12Reed Bunting13Woodpigeon14Cormorant15Great-crested Grebe16Pied Wagtail17Little Grebe-Family with 2 tiny little chicks!18 canada Goose- One family had 5 youngsters19Common Tern20Great Black-backed Gull21Feral Pigeon22Great-spotted Woodpecker23Great Tit24Greenfinch25Chaffinch26Blue Tit27Ring-necked parakeet28Jay29Dunnock30Mute Swan31Shoveler32Oystercatcher33Herring gull34Avocet-Pair with four chicks, fantastic veiws and I got pics that I will show you next week, not very good pics though. First time I have seen them here. Grey Herons were trying to get the chicks but the adults were very brave.35Reed Warbler-Briefly flitting between reeds, singing.36gadwall37GreenSandpiper, shouldn't be here, should be up in Russia or Scandinavia! They only winter here and it is the middle of June!38Carrion Crow39Magpie Only saw one today, a juvenile briefly flying in distance. Can tell it is juvenile because of short tail.
Warnham 4/6/06.
Cracking today! Great day with excellent,close veiws of Dragonflies and many bird species. A male Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly allowed me to get fantastic shots with interesting angles.1Common Tern-pair nesting for the second year2Mallard3Magpie4Coot5Grey heron6Blue Tit7Great Tit8Blackbird9Cormorant10Dunnock11Great-crested Grebe12Goldfinch13Sedge Warbler (heard) -Can never seen them!14CUCKOO-My first!!! One flew over - all identification points added up plus one was seen a few days ago.15Nuthatch16Greenfinch17Great-spotted Woopecker18Chaffinch19SonThrush(Heard)20Robin21Moorhen22Reed Bunting

Oare Marshes 28/5/06.
Actually sunny for once! Great day with excellent, close views of birds and frogs.
1Redshank2 Mallard3 Lapwing- Flying around close, fantastic veiws!4 Pied Wagtail5 Greylag Goose- One party with cute Goslings!6 Coot7 Moorhen8 Swift9 Swallow10 Collared Dove11 Cormorant12 Grey Heron- Absolutely amazing bird, one caught 6 eels in 20 minutes! See Photos Page for pics!13 Little Egret- Many around-fantastic veiws.14 House Sparrow15 Black-headed Gull16 Herring Gull17 Little Grebe18 Oystercatcher19 Tufted Duck20 Shelduck21 Shoveler22 Ruddy Duck23 Gadwall24 Starling25 Reed Warbler26 Sedge Warbler27 Dunnock28 Woodpigeon29 Blackbird.
Date: 14/5/06 Location: London Wetlands Centre Weather: Cloudy, still.
1 Little Grebe2 Great-crested Grebe 3 Cormoarant4 Grey Heron5 Whooper Swan- The same idividual that likes it there and lives there permenently, it really should be in Iceland!6 Mute swan7 Greylag Goose8 Canada Goose9 Gadwall10 Mallard11 Pochard12 Shoveler13 Tufted Duck14 Kestrel- A lovely bird hovering over.15 Moorhen16 Coot17 Little Ringed Plover18 Lapwing19 Redshank20 Lesser Black-backed Gull21 Herring Gull22 Common Tern23 Feral Pigeon24 Woodpigeon25 Swift26 Ring-necked Parakeet27 Sand Martin28 House Martin29 Pied Wagtail30 Dunnock31 Robin 32 Blackbird33 Sedge Warbler34 Reed Warbler MY FIRST!! I finnally managed to see one amongst the reed!35 Blue Tit36 Great Tit37 Long-tailed Tit38 Jay- One in a tree in front of some houses39 Magpie40 Carrion Crow41 Starling42 House Sparrow43 Chaffinch44 Greenfinch45 Reed Bunting46 Great Black- back gull- This should be with the other gulls but missed it out and it would be very hard to re-number all the species past 22!
Date: 7/5/06 Location: Elmley Marshes RSPB Weather: Sunny, still.
Great day today, many great birds, nice weather, lovely views and photos. Top birds included: Whrimbrel, Spotted Redshank, Corn Bunting, Skylark, Yellow wagtail and Peregrine, most of which I got great veiws, even if breif as in the case of the peregrine where one flew low over the car, chasing a pigeon. Read on to find ot what a day this was!1 House Sparrow2 Lapwing 3 Coot4 Mute Swan5 Shelduck6 Redshank7 Little-ringed Plover8 Yellow Wagtail- My best ever views!9 Peregrine- one low over our car chasing a pigeon! My second.10 Feral Pigeon (The one being chased by the peregrine!)11 Skylark- first propper views, a pair feeding on the ground, later on saw one singing.12 Oystercatcher- many around13 Black-headed Gull14 Meadow Pipit- Alot, singing, song flighting and feeding.15 Corn Bunting- Good views of one singing on a post, MY FIRST!16 Woodpigeon17 Starling18 Swallow- many flying close19 Kestrel- saw two, one at the start of our trip and one at the end.20 Blackbird21 Magpie22 Mallard23 Reed Bunting- a few around24 Whrimbrel- my second! Literally hundreds in some fields.25 Pheasant26 Avocet- came very close to hide, there were many there acting territorily27 Gadwall- a few pairs28 Dunlin29 Ringed Plover30 Black-tailed Godwit31 Greylag Goose 32 Great-crested grebe33 Curlew- I think there were a couple along with the Whrimbrel34 Tufted Duck- A pair35 Shoveler- Only one or two36 Swift- a few over, just a couple of weeks ago, or less these birds would have been in Africa!37 Great Black-backed Gull38 Greenshank -2006 first! One feeding39 Cormorant- one drying its wings in the distance40 Spotted Redshank- distant in summer plumage41 Grey Heron- accidently flushes one while walking back to the car42 Little Egret- one flew by straight after I flushed the grey Heron43 Sedge Warbler- many singing, saw one briefly44 Moorhen45 Pochard- one sleeping on a pond just as you pull out of the entrance.Key Birds:Peregrine- My second and best veiws, one low over the car chasing a Feral PigeonWhrimbrel- Literally hundreds in a couple of fields- my best views, also my second Yellow Wagtail- my third, also my best views and photos, very close!Spotted Redshank- Haven't seen one since Minsmere, a distant summer plumaged individual.Corn Bunting- my first, got good views and some good pics. Sky Lark- my second and my best ever views, also first photo of one.

London Wetlands Centre 3rd September

Today wasn't that good in the way of birds. Swifts (my favourite birds) have left by now and the usual Sand and House Martins were wizzing around. There were lots of Grey Heron, Lapwing etc. I think redshank must be declining or something because I haven't seen many around recently, though I did see a few in Norfolk. There were Mallard, Gadwall, Ruddy Ducks etc, most of which were in eclipse plumage. The highlight was my first site Yellow Wagtail, they say you see them alot there but I have never seen one before. I think it is too late for this summer's target bird for me, the Garganey, Britain's only summer visiting duck and as it is the eclipse season it is very hard trying to seperate this species , which will soon be down in Africa, from Teal. I also saw a Sparrowhawk fly over the main lake just as my Dad was telling me that one was seen the previous day doing the same thing! I got a few shots of Moorhen, one mother had 6 chicks! They were in the small area with all the farm ducks at the time. It said on the board that the previous day there was a site count of aproximately 200 Teal, and I didn't see any. This is why I think this site is wierd, it is fake, in the middle of London and yes it is a great sanctary but almost every time I go there to see a rare bird I don't like the 2 times I attempted to see Bittern there but failed (well they are secretive), and the time I was going to see a Spotted Crake but guess what, the day before a Sparrowhawk ate it! And the time when I went to see see a Siberean Stonechat but of course it flew off . I have a disadvantage as a student at School because my only real available time for travelling and birding is Sunday, I would go on Saturday but my Dad is working then! Anyway, on the track back I saw a couple of Wasp Spiders that will hopefully be on www.birdnut.me.uk on Friday.

Norfolk holiday highlights 12th-26th August 2006

I had a FANTASTIC birding holiday in Norfolk, fabulous photos, including some good flight shots of Black-headed and Common Gulls, Close ups of House Sparrow, Blackbird, Starling etc. The highlight of the holiday and the whole of my birding life was my first good view of a Barn Owl, it was an exhilerating experience. It was flying from hedge to hedge, around and over our car and just after we were talking about Barn Owls, this magical experience occured on the 13th. It was just up the road from our cottage and we went back up there every night, we only saw it twice more, both around 10pm the second time it was sitting on a post for a couple of minutes alowing us to get a good opertunity to study its wonderful plumage lit up by the car headlights. A night or two after that we stopped the car and waited to see if it would flying by. Instead we heard a male and female Tawny Owl calling to each other! Then this bird flew and landed on top of a garage, it sat there for a minute or two then flew off and another one came and landed on a different part of this group of buildings, wow! Then another night I spotted the Barn Owl sitting on a wire above us we reversed to look at it but it flew off almost imediately. Other highlights included Scaup (Snettisham), Grey Plover, Little Stint, Temmincks Stint, 6 Spoonbill at Titchwell, Curlew Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Gull, good veiws of Common Buzzard, Ruddy Shelduck (Cley Marshes NWT), Bearded Tit, Whrimbrel, Wood Sandpiper, Lovely views of Marsh Harrier, nesting Swifts outside my window (my favourite bird!) and Common Seals at Blakeney Point Temples Seal trips. Photos of Scaup, Barn owl, Common Seal and Little Grebe are on www.birdnut.me.uk now and more are being added soon. Still having photo problems, sorry!

Nonsuch Park Kestrels

In early August I went to Nonsuch Park and saw some great birds including Ring-necked Parakeets which must love it there because you cannot go to that park without seeing them! I noticed a Kestrel perched on a bare, young tree a fair way off, too far to get a good picture. Then I noticed a female landing in a similar tree just a few feet away from me, WOW! I snapped away, I had a 2x converter on so I only got 1 or 2 good pics. Soon the male flew off then the female, I followed them over to where they had perched and they were sitting in the same smalI tree, male and female next to each other, YES! I went back there day after day with success and have named the female Jesse, the male Jack and the juvenile female Jill. I don't know why I named them all names beggining with j, but, it works! To view some of the best photos go to www.birdnut.me.uk then photo index then scroll down the "common birds" column until you find the Kestrels, I think they are near the bottom.

Great-white Pelican, Bough Beech Reservoir, 6th Agust 2006

This bird is yet another controversial one. It was pretty distant when we went and we only got rubbish out of focus photos, which I STILL can't upload which SUCKS, so, if you want to veiw the best one please go to www.birdnut.me.uk then click on photo index, scroll down until you see the section titled somthing like "raritees, escapees, possible escapees and hybrids" then you should see the photos. It was a lovely bird and was sitting down most of the time, in the shade, I wish I had some shade that day it was so hot! It was fishing after a while and was very careful with its preening. The wings looked like they had been clipped in the past but the bird could have gone through some rough weather if it did come all the way from Greece or Turkey.

Dungeness RSPB, Kent, 30th July

Today I had to choose from RSPB Peregrine Falcon raptor watchpoint at Tate Modern in London, Red-backed Shrike at Croxley Common Moor in Heretfordshire and Dungeness. I chose Dungeness, because I have been dying for propper birding for three weeks. It appealed to me more than standing around looking at one bird all the time and not much else around.Had a great time there and in total I saw 37 species, all fantastic. One bird really annoyed me the most though, Linnets, not being good at all at bird calls and songs, the small flocks of tweetering finches that never landed in view drove me crazy! Near the end I managed to confirm my thoughts and put the name, Linnet to them when one sat on a stone for two seconds. Along the entrance track we saw a Kestrel hunting and Swallows feeding on insects in mid-flight just by our car. At the car park, the birds that I later identified as Linnets flew about, along with a few unconfirmed but probable Yellowhammers (whenever I see one of these it is very exciting as me and this species generally are not compatable and I seem unable to ever find one without it being stuck infront of my face). Looking out through the visitor centre viewpoint I could see Lapwings, eclipse Tufted Duck, Coots, various Gulls, Great-crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Carrion Crow and a Woodpigeon and a Pied Wagtail. We first went to the recently re-built hide where we saw much the same thing but with a Grey Wagtail and a Yellow Wagtail as extra topping and some distant sleeping Pochard as well as distant Grey Heron. Later on we saw Marsh Harrier, Common Sandpiper, Meadow Pipit and Sedge Warbler.

Photo errors

I am just notifying you that there have been technical problems with photo uploads, I will fix it as soon as possible.

Elmley Marshes 7th May 2006

This was a very memorable day. The main part of the birding was, actually, the entrance track. There I got some smashing migrants and localized birds. The best fo the track was: an overhead Peregrine; lovely Lapwing and Redshanks calling and displaying, flying around us; close up views of Yellow Wagtail and Skylark( My first propper views) and a lovely Corn Bunting ( A first for me), oh nearly forgot a Little-ringed Plover on one of the small pools. It was a fantastic day and Swallows and Kestrels were flying about, a cool breeze swept through the car which we used as a portable hide, migrants galore and of course, the sun was out! Perfect fantasy birding come true! Any non-birders reading this should now realize that what I just described is part of the reason we enjoy birding, though the main bit is competitive listing and a load of other stuff which I am not going to go into. Soon we reached the car park where Pied Wagtails and Starlings where feeding, Swallows skimmed our heads (one nearly followed me into the toilet!) and House Sparrows were dust bathing and going mad at the feeders. Along the first few metres of the walk a Kestrel hovered above us. Mallard flew up from the small ponds a little further along and Tufted Duck dabbled as they left. Soon I started to notice a few fairly large brown wading birds flying around on the field, Whrimbrel, fantastic! There were also Curlew amongst them. First time I had seen Whrimbrel this year, they were stopping off here on their way up to Northern Scotland and its islands. Meadow Pipits performed their amazing song-flights and darted around for insects. Soon we reached the first hide, I had been in this one before and new what its windows looked out at, Avocets!!! A small breeding colony is established here. On the way up I noted Pheasants. In the hide, yes first thing I saw was Avocets, amazing birds. Dunlin were also active, as were Oystercatchers, Shoveler, Greylag Geese, Mallard, Tufted duck, the odd Cormorant and a few Ringed Plover. A couple of Great Black-backed Gulls were around and some Shelduck. Last April I observed a lovely Short-eared Owl from this Hide and Marsh Harrier at the same time! At the second hide I noted some of the first Swift of the year, (I saw my first for the year in mid-April) and my first Greenshank for a while, lovely birds. On the way Back a little Egret and a Grey Heron flew past me and my mum said she heard a Cuckoo on the way back (I didn't because she is impatient and leaves for the car as soon as possible!) As we left the reserve and it was getting dark I noted one or two male Pochard on a small pond, just to finish off.
Photos soon!

Arundel WWT Sunday 18/6/06

Today I went to Arundel WWT, and it was fantastic. Got up close and personal with some fantastic captive and wild birds. I even heard several Cetti's Warbler, a very rare bird indeed. The Hawaiian Geese allowed me to get some good shots and an amazing young Moorhen, allowed me to get a full frame head shot! But the highlight of the day was probably the Water Voles, just metres away from us out in the open, amazing! Here are some of the photos.

Spoonbill at Oare Marshes, Kent 11/6/06

Today I went to Oare Marshes to see a Spoonbill that had been seen there for a previous couple of days. I managed to see it and it was a fantastic bird, though it was sleeping most of the time! The bird had rings on both of its legs, unlike the Spoonbill that I saw there on June 26 last year, that had no rings and I recall it being larger, spent some time there to admire the bird and this is the best picture I got. The weather was lovely(ish) a tiny bit too sunny for me.

Pine Grosbeak, Gilston Park, Heretfordshire 16/7/06

A fantastic bird, there has been a lot of controversy about this bird as to whether it is an escape or not, because it is a slightly odd time of year for these kinds of rarities to turn up. Personally I think that anything can happen in the bird world and that this is a wild bird, no rings or anything! See photos page on www.birdnut.me.uk for photos. This bird has been recorded 11 times in Britain before and near me the last time it was recorded in the London area was at least 163 years ago! The bird was very obliging and was sitting in a pine tree in front of a house for at least half an hour. I was just finding this link for you with a picture of this particular bird feeding from someone's hand (not necessarily making it an escape as this species is tame and wild birds in their home country are very tame as well) and I found a comment saying that is is confirmed to be an escape,(copy and paste it into your browser)I am not really that bothered, was a fantastic bird, even though it was an escape. Also I have just found out that the bird was not a male as presumed, but a red coloured female. (females are usually green,goldy, yellowyish).

Sunday 23rd July 2006

Today had to go shopping for a new table instead of birding, arrrg! But suprisingly saw some good birds, best of which was an overhead Peregrine falcon, calling over a large collection of shopping centres. Later I went to Epsom Downs and saw Swallows, Black-headed Gulls and Carrion Crows as well as Goldfinch and Woodpigeon. Was a fairly good day considering I didn't go birding. Welcome to the site by the way, it is new and this is just a starter post.