More Spring ... and some of the results

Even though we're still seeing wet days, there's no doubt that Spring is now in full swing. Indeed, there are some signs of Summer (sshhh... don't say it too loudly). The reed beds have been full of loud scolding rattles as Sedge Warblers stake their claim for territory. While they are often heard, usually if they're seen at all it is as a fast-moving blur dashing through the reeds. Here's two snatched shots, note the prominent white eyebrow (supercilium, to use the technical term).

 

Other migrant visitors include these flycatchers. The first a Pied Flycatcher, seen at Penyschant, near Conwy, and well worth a visit for a quiet few hours. These were seen flying in pairs at high speed around and through trees, the female playing 'catch me if you can' with the male. The second is a Spotted Flycatcher, seen at Pagham Harbour, darting from it's branch to hover almost like a hummingbird as it plucked flies from the air, and then back to it's perch.



Other birds are resident all year round, but still make a pleasing sight. This a Goldfinch rummaging through the grass for seeds.

The grey Heron is also a resident, and a firm favourite of mine. This one trying his best to do a 'Darth Vader' impression early one morning.

Spring of course means one thing: lots of squeaking, squawking, quacking, and flapping of wings. This particularly indiscreet couple were flagrantly performing at Arundel WWT.

Obviously they weren't the only ones as all around the grounds there were signs of new life. Goslings, Coot and Moorhen chicks. One proud Mallard Mum even took her chicks for a tour of one of the hides

And if you think it's just the birds at it, here's some lambs too!

And as the month has moved on, we've started getting Summer visitors too, Swallow, Swifts and Martins joining the throng. This Swallow was also inspecting the inside of a bird hide, making for an easy photo, while the following Swift was much harder work, needing dozens of shots to get one passable view.

 A trip to the Great Orme was worth all the Bank-holiday traffic problems when it yielded Chough's, an uncommon member of the corvid family, related to rooks, crows etc.

 And sea-level has provided some new birds too, this a Common Tern, posing on a fence post at one of the pools at Arundel WWT.

 Arundel also provided this shy little Mandarin duck, tucked away in a wooded area. Is this an escapee from the 'captive' part of WWT, or a genuine wild bird? Don't know! Either way, it was a very pleasant sight.

Nearer to home, RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands also delights. This Wood Sandpiper dropped in for a morning visit, causing quite a stir - it should have already been up in it's Artic breeding grounds, another casualty of the late spring.

 Also at Burton Mere, this Willow Warbler delighted with some lovely views, including this one with flies caught in it's beak.

 Again at Burton Mere, we were treated to a visit by a stunning female Marsh Harrier. Unfortunately the Black-headed Gulls took exception to her presence, and mobbed her across the reserve.

And finally, I finish again with another common bird, but I couldn't resist the pose of this Chaffinch, this taken at Frodsham Marshes.

Spring has finally sprung

What a difference a few weeks make - a bit of warmth and things begin to change.

 

Those who have wintered here have begun to change into their summer clothes, and the migrants have begun to pour in... and pour out too..

 

Early in April this little chap was still present on Deeside, a Water Pipit showing off breeding plummage, a delicate pink underneath that the photo doesn't do justice to.

Talking to a local birder, there have been one or two of these scarce birds present in a specific small  area since at least the 1920's when they were first recognised. Obviously it's not the same bird each year - they would be almost 90!! And yet it seems that somehow the knowledge of this wintering ground has been passed on. How wonderful, and yet how fragile. I've not heard anything of this bird since, so presume he is on his way to his summer in the high mountains of Southern Europe.

 

I'd never really appreciated before how much birds change their plummage through the year. This Black-tailed Godwit has just begun to change, developing a browny-red around his head. These are a threatened species, yet in the Deeside/Wirral/South Lancs area they are one of our more common wading birds; a marker of how important the era is for wildlife, and how important it is to protect them.

Talking of markers, here is another one. While this particular bird looks a bit chilly, the Little Egret has been steadily moving into Britain from the Continent, probably as a result of Global warming. Twenty years ago they were occasional visitors; now there are some 70-80 breeding down at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands. Each morning they disperse around the area, returning at dusk.

Evening walks have shown up many of the returning migrants; the local paddocks being a favourite for many small birds dropping in for a quick refill and a night's rest before continuing their journey. Here are Meadow Pipits and Wheatears. The Wheatears showing as small white blobs moving around the fields, scuttle and stop, scuttle and stop, while the 'mipit's have much better camoflage - there have been times when I thought the fields empty, and then as the eyes adjust, I've realised that there are dozens of these small birds moving through the ground.

 

The same fields have brought the occasional 'special' too. Around one of the pools that had formed in the paddocks was spotted this small wader, a Little Ringed Plover.

The hedges and trees have seen new occupants as well; if your ears are good you may hear the high-pitched whistle of Goldcrests. These tiny bundles of energy can be found deep in hedges and trees busily moving around. Trying to get a picture of one of these was deeply frustrating; they barely stopped still long enough to point the camera, and the autofocus would often pick on foreground twigs instead of the bird deep in the bush. I didn't think I'd got a picture, but when I loaded them to the PC, I found to my surprise this shot, catching one of the blighters just as it was lurching from one spot to another!

In one of the bushes near work (what else is lunch-time for?) was this delightful warbler singing away - a Whitethroat.

And drifting slightly from birds, the same lunchtime saw this Peacock butterfly rest on the path, literally before my feet.

It's a pleasure to see the Swallows and Martins back; I was amazed to see Swallow's drinking while still in flight, dipping their beaks into a puddle as they flew low across the fields. No, there's no picutre of that, not a chance! Instead just this shot of a Sparrow resting on the wires, a real sign of Summer evenings approaching.

As well as the usual suspects, these weeks have brought a few specials too. We treated ourselves to a day at Martinmere and were treated with views of a Spoonbill and of a Crossbill. Please excuse the poor shot of the Crossbill, but it was high in a tree, with just glimpses as it moved through the branches. Just visible are the distinctive overlapping tips of the beak, giving the bird it's name.



Last weekend we had the chance to drop in for a few hours at Arundel WWT, a chance to wander around some of the quieter corners, and let out some of the stress of the weekend. We heard the call of a lapwing, but this call sounded different. We soon spotted the bird, and then beside it we spotted some small bundles of feathers. And so for an entirely gratuitous 'cute' shot of a lapwing-chick.

And finally, to bring an overdue and consequently overlong blog entry to and end, a shot of a Wren, for no other reason than it brought a smile to our faces at the end of a long and hard day...

All the best intentions....

Here was the plan - to update the blog every week, keep it well up to date.

<Sigh>

Alas, just don't seem to get the time - mainly because we've been out so many evenings, looking for all the Spring migrants that have finally begun to arrive... So it's been your loss, and our gain!

Anyway, got home fairly early tonight, so out we went. Along a lane with grass fields on one side, and static caravans on the other, leading then to a path alongside some horse paddocks just back from the coast.

The walk brings the usual suspects; chaffinchs in the trees, robins in the hedgerow. Then comes a frustration. It's not unusual for us to be frustrated, I just record it so you're under no illusions; birdwatching means loads of frustrations! This one was a long, loud, and sustained bout of clicking from a half-dead peice of hedge, almost like a grasshopper, but far too loud for an insect, and lower in pitch. We'd heard the same two nights before just half a mile away. The most likely culprit is the aptly named Grasshopper Warbler.

We watch, we wait. The call stops, and doesn't restart. There's a hint of movement at the base of the hedge. A pair of dunnocks fly in and tease us, but nothing else appears. Time passes, and we eventually move on. Was it a Grasshopper Warbler? Probably. The sound is pretty distinctive, and possible alternatives are even rarer. One has been reported a few miles away. Yet we didn't see the bird itself; it remains elusive...

A few minutes later, a hundred yards or so further, and we are trested to the sight of Goldfinches and Willow Warblers flitting through the trees, quickly and unceasingly searching for food. Nice. Not unusual, but pleasing to see.

Another three or four hundred yards and we are beside the paddocks, and we hear a loud repeated 'huiit' call from the hedgerow ahead. We scan the leaves ahead, when suddenly there's a black shadow flitting down to the floor, and then from underneath the dark there is a flash of red; the underneath of this delightful little bird positively glows. A male Redstart in all his glory.

Minutes pass, and the light begins to fade. Gradually the Redstart moves further and further away, and we have to begin our journey home.

So there we are; In one journey Frustration and Delight. In many ways we are fortunate - as relative beginners we are seeing many birds for the first-time, and so we are still being reewarded by the 'buzz' of finding something new. Only last week we saw three new birds in one afternoon. This week has brought another two. For more-experienced watchers the ratio of frustration to reward is much higher, yet still they are out there, in weathers, often at strange hours, always hoping for a glimpse of something out of the ordinary. Addictive stuff, this birding....  And that's why we've been too busy to write !!

What a strange month...

"It's him again...  I thought he'd forgotten about us..." Nah - I've just been out and about, making the most of the weekends. For me one of frustrating things about the time of year is the lack of daylight hours in which to go birding. With a full-time job during the week, and being busy on Sundays in another capacity, Saturday is our one 'day out', so I've been concentrating on getting out as much as I can, making the most of the hours (more on that later).

Firstly a 'Thank You' to all the local House Sparrows - these cheerful chaps are rapidly working their way through a sack of black sunflower seeds and a tub of fatballs. If I'm a bit late up, and haven't refilled the feeders the previous night, they line up outside the bedroom window cheeping away - 'Dad, Dad, come and feed us, Dad, now Dad'! Once you start putting a feeder out, they get used to it and will visit each day; but that means a commitment to keep providing the food, and boy, can they munch seed!!  However, whatever the expense of the seed, it is more than repaid by the joy of seeing these beautiful birds... What they lack in plummage, they make up for in character - right Avian Scousers they are! Nationally there has been a huge decline, and it's gratifying that our garden has seen the numbers go from 2 or 3 to around 18...



 One Saturday saw a dash under the Mersey and up to the WWT reserve at Martin Mere. There are loads of captive birds there for the breeding programmes, but the birds that attract are of course the wild ones. The carpark saw Redwings and a Treecreeper, and there are large numbers of Tree Sparrows, with their distinctive chestnut cap - but no decent photos, sorry! Around the main scrape were large number of Ruff - this is the winter plummage, but just look at the patterns in the feathers... In the breeding season the Males gain a distinctive ruff around the neck - I can wait to go back in a month or so and get some more photos...

Of course, life in the wild is not always cute and cuddly - at the far end of the reserve a hide overlooked some beighbouring pools, and beside one them a dead swan attracted the attention of a nearby buzzard. We could see the buzzard diggin deep into the carcass, and tugging out the entrails - not quiet munching, but energetic pulling and tearing. Not pleasant to see, but this is part of natural recycling; the already-dead being reclaimed and reused, cleared up by buzzards and other carrion.

Another Saturday saw a visit to Burton Mere Wetlands, and it's associated Inner Marsh Farm. This reserve is a lot quieter (people-wise) than Martin Mere, but just as rewarding to visit. There are no breeding programmes here, just lots of waders, wildfowl and woodland birds. Here a Black-tailed Godwit rummages in front of the IMF hide, it's beak like a sewing-machine needle exploring the mud, feeling for food. Breeding colours are just starting to come through, and the range of plummage is astounding - it's easy to think that you're looking at 3 or 4 different types of bird, yet they're all the same; the long straight bi-coloured beak, the dark legs and black tail feathers, and a brownish back, mottled rather than streaked.

Also in the IMF pond, the Avocets have started to arrive. I'm surprised given the current cold weather that they haven't turned right round and headed back to warmer climes, yet here they are with their distinctive black-on-white markings, and upturned bills.

On the othe other side of the scrapes, in BMW proper, the feeders are alive with Siskins and Tits - and then this little gem appears... There's often a Nuthatch ot two around, but it;s rare that they stay still long enough to get a decent photo - most of them are just a blur of wings! This one oblingly sat and posed, and made me smile...

I mentioned making the most of the hours...  It was much to my other half's displeasure that I woke her up an hour before dawn, and we headed out into North Wales, very cold, and with snow starting to fall heavier and heavier.... And then all the early-morning grumpiness left as out of the snow we saw a small group of about half-a-dozen male Black Grouse in a rough circle, all with wings held out and curled, twirling around to flash their white tail feathers, and making little rushes towards each other - this wasn't the mason's but a 'Lek' - best description I can come up with is a group of teenage boys all squaring up to each other, showing off to the girls - no intent of harm, but a 'Look at me, I'm Top Dog' (Bird!). Well worth the trip, and a full English shortly afterwards was a further reward.

 

Finally,a plea for help.... two mystery geese. The first was at MartinMere - apparently a wild bird, but it could easily be an escaped domestic. The second was at Burton Mere Wetlands, but is not a resident - It has features of a GreyLag, with the beak, pink feet, and the neck/body markings - but then there's the white head markings, and it was in very close company of a Canada Goose - so I wonder whether it's a hybrid. Anyway, any suggestions would be most welcome...

 

 

Busy weekends

Well the last few weeks have been busy - a day off was spent in North Wales. We had hopes of grey wagtails and maybe even a kingfisher. However a walk up the valley at Coed Aber yielded very few birds, just a few blue and long-tailed tits, and a buzzard high overhead. Nonetheless the scenery was stunning, and gave a wonderful view of the waterfall - the pattern of the trees was somehow other-worldly. A grand walk.

Beautiful, but as we descended back to the car the rain began to set in - time to rapidly escape to the (relative) warmth of the cafe at the RSPB reserve at Conwy. After a very tasty (if slightly dear) plate of welsh rarebit and a large mug of tea, we explored the reserve, watching the Teal and Pochard. Hiding beside one pool we found this chap hunched up, waiting for lunch to come swimming by.

 As we enter one hide we're treated to a swim past by a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers; here's the male, a very delicate looking bird - the photo doesn't really do justice to the colours. The female is a duller colour, but just as delicate in shape. These are divers, and on a still day they can be tracked by the stream of bubbles.


Right by the entrance is a sparrow house with style - I'd love to have one of these in the garden, thought the neighbours may disagree!

 The following weekend brought a trip to Astbury Country Park, near Congleton, to try and find a visitor that had been reported for last couple of weeks - a Slavonian Grebe. As we walked around the mere, binoculars in hand, we kept being stopped by locals - "Are you here to see the Grebe? It's just round that corner"... It took us ages to get there because of the number of times we were stopped! Still, it was good to see so many non-birding locals taking an interest in what was happening in their neck of the woods - perhaps some of them will have had the seed sown...  Anyway, we eventually rounded the corner and met the Slav. Really quite a small and delicate bird, also a diver, but the colour was unmistakeably - again, the photo doesn't do justice to this silver-grey/white bird, with it's vivid red eye.

One of the benefits of modern technology is abundant reports of interesting bird - a big thank you to all those who post on BirdForum.net and and DeeEstuary.co.uk! This last weekend brought another trip for a relative rarity, this time to Flint Castle on a hunt for a flock of Twite. The day started well with a fly-by from a Raven, but then brought frustration; a noisy series of passes by a flock of small birds going up and down the salt marsh, wheeling around. Almost certainly the reported Twite, but they were too distant to be seen clearly, and were reluctant to settle for more than a moment or two.

Gradually the flock came closer, and more could tantalising be seen; the alternating flash of almost white underneath, and a brown on top, longish tails with a distinct 'v' at the end. A delight in aerobatics, but still too fast to see clearly. Attempts to get a photo were frustrating, to say the least.

 Then finally they settled on the top of some small trees, and there was a chance to grab some shots. Still from a distance, not wanting to set them off again. Only later, zooming the pictures, do we see a little pink patch on the base of the back. Yup, some very flitey Twite!

 Just as we are about to head off, we see a little bird land on a patch of sand (right behind a group of birders watching the twite) - finally we get a glimpse of a delightful bird that we've been hunting for the last few months; while not rare, the Grey Wagtail is not seen as often as it's more common relative, the Pied Wagtail. We perhaps should not have been surprised, wagtails often being seen on beaches, and on their urban equivalent - car parks! A real pleasure to see, bringing smiles all round.

Now, where's that Kingfisher ?!?!