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 ?!?!

Cheshire weekend

Saturday. After a naughty breakfast, we start at Parkgate. As we stare out at the marshes up pops a white head, and then another...  Not the spoonbill we'd been hoping for, but equally  delightful - Great White Egrets - Parkgate regulars, but rather scarce away from the area.  Later we were treated to a very close fly-by from a Little Egret. It landed near-by, on display. As I lifted the camera, it stepped forward ... and disappeared !! How can a bright white bird disappear? The marshes are full of ditches, and once a bird has stepped down into one, it's as good as invisible...

A quick dash for an equally naughty lunch (poached eggs - mmmmm), and it was off to Marbury for a walk with the Friends of Northwich Woods...  An interesting walk, with all sorts of titbits for future reference. Finished at the hide near the reed-bed, and more views of the Bittern.

Honest - it is in there! The camouflage markings are so good, it is really hard to see until it moves. Thankfully, just as the light starts to go, it emerges from hiding to have a stretch and a scratch...

See - told you there was a bittern there!

And then a strange thing - a Grey Heron pops it's head up in another part of the reed-bed, and then lumberingly flaps across to the Bittern, and lands close by. It stayed there for a good five minutes before heading off again...

So what was all about? A birder present said that it wasn't the first time that a Heron had done that - it was almost as if it was trying to show the presence of the Bittern - but why? Answers on a postcode please!

Sunday - the other half had a preaching engagement, so time for a flying visit only...  Where to go? It had to be a flying visit to a sewage farm!! Plenty of noise from the hedgerows as the birds were waking up, but it was left to this greenfinch to test out the sunlight.

Meanwhile, in the works themselves, we saw this indistrious little pied wagtail, hard at working darting between the rotating booms.

Perhaps not the most romantic of locations, but one that hold promise for a future (longer) visit.

Perhaps common, but still very special

Went down to a riverside car park for a January high tide... And this character was in the area.  Couldn't believe she came so close, within 10 yards. She sat there for more than five minutes patiently waiting while photos were taken...

The feeders at one the local country parks always has a regular stream of visitors - amongst them cheeky chaffinches, resplendent bullfinches and a good number of very flighty dunnocks - the slightest movement or sound, and they dashed for cover

 Of course the seed feeders are for the smaller birds, finches and tits and the like. The larger birds hunt for the dropped seed on the floor - WRONG !! This trio of Collared Doves obviously hadn't read the rules...

It may seem a bit artificial watching birds at the feeders, but they are still wild birds, and it gives an opportunity to seem them a little closer in. And in the cold of winter (there had been heavy hail between pictures!) they do need a helping hand - have you been topping up your feeders today?

The following day we went slightly further afield, to the other side of Cheshire. I've been trying to get a shot of a Long-tailed Tit for the last few weeks, but they've always been to flighty - each time by the time the auto-focus gets its act together, there's been an empty branch!  Finally one sat still long enough to fire off a shot...

 And then, as the light faded, there appeared an apparition in the reed bed - a bittern!!  Sorry about the image quality, but this was extreme distance and the light was going fast...

 A stunning bird - and to be honest we'd never have seen it unless someone had talked us into it - 'see that tree, drop down to the hump, now go left a smidgen'...  And even then it was only when it moved that we saw it...

Many thanks to the local lad who showed us where it was, and spent a good time talking to us, giving local hints that we've stored away for future... Some birders can be very elitist and snooty - but most, like this chap, and the older gents we met at Frodsham, and the wardens at the local RSPB reserve, are down to earth and real friendly, even to beginners asking daft questions! Thanks folks, a pleasure to meet you...

Wonderful Wirral Winter Waders

Oops - time to catch up...  I've lived on Wirral for more than twenty years now, and it always has been a good place to live. A walk on the beach has been a long favourite activity in summer, but it's only recently that I've found out just what a special place it is for the birds, and that includes in the Winter.

Actually, it's especially during the winter that the Dee Estuary shows it's value, as it acts as home to many waders. As the tide rises the waders move up the beach, and large groups gather (*), sometime ten to twenty thousand. Every now and again something will spook them, a sparrowhawk overhead, or someone walks to close, and the entire flock will leap into the sky, and wheel around the sky, before settling further along the shore.

For a novice birder (well, for this one at least) it's a nightmare... What are they all? Clearly they're not all the same, but how do you work it out???

At the moment at least it feels like an uphill battle, yet by looking at the colour of the legs, the colour and shape of the beaks, the pattern of the markings, the relative sizes, slowly, very slowly, we're starting to make some sense of the mass of birds in front of us... From the mass emerge oystercatchers, redshanks, curlew, dunlin and sanderling...  The Knot flash white and black as they fly...

It's a challenge, and there's always more to learn... but that's the beauty of the world around.

So next time you have some time to spare at a High Tide, why not come and try the Wader Challenge !

p.s. I undertand that Waders are a doddle compared to Gulls...  


(* I gather that the numbers were much larger in the 1950's/60's - like garden and woodland birds, waders have had a hard time in the last half-century; it may seem that there are plenty of birds on the beach, but in reality they are incredibly vulnerable)

Last Day of 2012

I'm sure that not all birding is like this, but the last day of 2012 brought some comfortable surroundings.  On a windy and stormy day we decided to head down to New Brighton front just in time for High Tide. The tide was right up to sea-wall, and in the marine lake was a jetty. This jetty was obviously a welcome place of refuge, as there was quite a crowd.

Right by the marine lake is a cafe/bar, so we could sit in shelter, with a nice cup of coffee and a bowl of chips, with plenty of space on the table to spread out the field guide and notebook, and try and work out what we could see...

Loads of Dunlin...

Loads of Redshank...

Loads of argumentative Turnstones...

A sprinkling of Purple Sandpiper (we think!)...

And a solitary Greenshank....

A very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours :-)

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to my blog. I'm a newbie at both blogging and birding, so please bear with me!

While I've always stared at bird of prey, without really knowing what I've been staring at, and had a soft spot for sparrows and blackbirds as reminders of my childhood garden, my interest really started with a strange night-time hissing sound heard while staying at a holiday cottage near Coldstream.

Curious, I sat with my better half outside the cottage and watched out over the fields down to the river, and we were enthralled as we saw a ghostly white shape floating across the fields. That first encounter with a Barn Owl awakened an interest in wildlife, and in birds in particular.

Over the last year we've been gradually getting out more and more, and seeing and learning more and more. Most of what we've seen have been your normal common everyday birds, but for us they're new - or at least seen through new eyes.

With this new beginning has come much frustration at trying to work out what they are - especially when the most common view is of a little brown 'bum' disappearing in the undergrowth, and frequently we've had to resort to sidling up to other birdwatchers, and 'listening in' !

Thankfully most birders are friendly, and we've got a braver about asking - and we've also started experiencing the thrill of recognising birds for ourself, whether thats a flock of waxwings feasting on berries, or wigeon floating on a distant pond.

So here I am starting this blog - a chance to record my journey, and perhaps to encourage others on their own discovery of what is around us, if we but open our ears and eyes.