Fleet Fossils I

We spent some time rooting round the pebbles in Pirate’s cove (bottom of Camp Road) before we twigged that quite a few of them were fossil shells. The key bit was finding the indent on the side which is the hinge of the bivalve. Once spotted, all the other features fell into place. Even the markings of prehistoric worms on the shell seemed to be there. I think its Pleuroma uniformis which my book tells me is found in the exposed band of Osmington Oolite here. But I could well be wrong.

Here’s a picture, taken by D#1, cunningly avoiding showing the key hinge area.

Bad Weather on the way

Bad weather is on the way. I know this with certainty not because of the weather forecasts, satellite images, berries on trees or aching joints, but because this weekend is Mrs Dipper's birthday, and the three weeks following are always the worst in the year.

Hammered

Last weekend was our work annual onsite. Colleagues from various parts of the globe came over to London to spend Saturday discussing work issues, then go to a local bar and restaurant for the evening. By the time we set off to our hotel it was 1 a.m. and I was heavily under the influence. As we went back a bird started singing. In my befuddled state I was sure it was one of the legendary Black Redstarts of Canary Wharf and was setting off to stagger round a local building site when the back of my mind dredged up the verdict "Wren".

Phew.

Fossil Graveyard

Dorset, as many have observed, is one huge fossil graveyard. Last Xmas (2005) we went on an excellent organised fossil hunt from the centre at Ferrybridge. We were led off to the north side of the Fleet and rooted round in the mud for an hour. We found plenty of prehistoric bric-a-brac, but the find of the trip was an Ichthyosaurus vertebra. When challenged, the leader denied that it had been in her pocket all along and explained that she knew there was an Ichthyosaurus down there somewhere as bits appear regularly, so she was looking for just this.

Like birdwatching or any similar activity, there appear to be two keys to successful fossil hunting; firstly learn from someone who knows their stuff (achieved in the trip), and secondly get a good guide book. After the trip I got “British Mesozoic Fossils” (Nat. History Museum, ISBN 1-898298-73-4) which is excellent.

Anyway, we have been hunting along the Fleet on a couple of occasions since. In future posts I’ll show some of what we’ve found. Don’t go getting all excited now – no Ichthyosaurus skeletons coming up.

Rainham Marsh

Some business in Canary Wharf on Sunday meant I could pop in to Rainham Marsh RSPB for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I got to walk the full circuit round the RSPB bit but didn’t get further west to the Tip/Barges/Tilda Rice area. I managed some Pintail – a while since I’ve seen them – and c10 Golden Plover. Otherwise lots of Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall, Lapwing, Black-Tailed Godwit and various Gulls. It would have been nice if the Penduline Tit that popped up this morning had miraculously appeared in front of me at some point, but the God Of Birdwatching gives such treats as rewards for persistence and patience. Not possessing these qualities I had to make do with the above.

The reserve is still work in progress, and there are some remains of the former use as a firing range. It would be nice if they kept them around.

December Update

Regular readers (humour me) have noticed a lack of updates, so here goes.

A couple of Scaup were at the local airport lagoons, in mid December. I eventually succumbed to the lure of a local rarity so dashed off early one Saturday morning to see … nothing.

Then on the weekend before Xmas I returned to Hatfield Forest, this time with the senior Dipper children in tow. We saw Nuthatches, Redwings, Chaffinches, blah blah, and on the lake there were 5 Gadwall, a few Pochard, lots of BH Gulls and a Common Gull. Meanwhile apparently the Scaup have returned to the airport lagoons to taunt me.

Hatfield Forest

A beautiful sunny winter morning in Hatfield Forest. Started at the SW corner and ended up at the centre. The forest was alive with the chatter of thrushes, and Redwings seemed to be in every bush. After a good trudge round I’d amassed some good numbers – 6+1 Bullfinches, 3 GSW, a Green ‘Pecker, a Jay, a few Stock Doves, a ♀ Kestrel, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, blue/great tits, lots of Jackdaws, three Nuthatches, Mistle Thrush, a Grey Wagtail and down on the lake 3 Pochard, 2 Teal, 1 GC Grebe a Common Gull and the usual BH Gulls, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Tufties, Canada Geese and a Kingfisher whizzed past. My dodgy call skills couldn’t nail down a Marsh Tit although a few winters ago there were three pairs here. Otherwise there was a small herd of Fallow Deer, and lots of Mistletoe with masses of berries. And all this by myself, as the Dipperettes found various reasons not to share in the beauty of the Forest in winter; a sudden enthusiasm for homework, “not feeling well”, feigning death, etc. Perhaps when it’s a bit warmer …

Rainham Marsh

Took the entire flock of Dippers to Rainham Marsh (part of the RSPB corp network of family entertainment venues) en route to a shopping trip at Canary Wharf. Once we’d found it (its signposted “Purfleet heritage Centre” of the A?? off the A13) it struck me as Elmley-lite. Nevertheless we were soon admiring the excellent variety on the board. Paninis, toasted sandwiches, baked potatoes, various puddings and a range of coffees; just the kind of sightings to make this a regular item on the Dippers’ Sunday itinerary.

We got as far as the hide on Alverley Marshes and saw lots of distant Wigeon, Blackwits, Gadwall, and Lapwings, and round the “Cordite area” had Stonechat, GSW, and Kingfisher. Proper birders had more, and their sightings are all here (http://www.elbf.co.uk/birdsightings.htm)

Meanwhile yesterday grabbed a break between the pre-Christmas round of school fetes, shopping other weekend rubbish and had a peaceful couple of hours late afternoon at Sawbo Marsh, largely undisturbed by birds (apart from 2 Mipits, GSW, a few Bullfinches). Local birder Mike – far more experienced and knowledgeable than myself turned up, and we watched a few Reed Bunts,1 Yellowhammers, Redwings, c500 Jackdaw, Grey Wagtail and Heron heading to their various roosts

Not Hatfield Forest

My plans for an autumnal walk round Hatfield Forest were scuppered last week by being outvoted by the Dipperettes who preferred the excellent but bird free Harlow Town Park (even the usual Grey Wagtail was absent), and this week by a downpour on Sunday morning.

Tried to leave a comment on the excellent Boulmer Birder but the new blogspot beta version seems to insist on my leaving my full e-mail address. Annoying ...

Potential First For Britain!

A quick dash to Sawbridgeworth Marsh before the start of the day’s hectic social whirl. Sunday morning is management morning so the reserve was filled with woodsmoke, the swish of scythes, and as always good conversation with the regular management group.

Birdwise the marsh was typically quiet: A Water Rail calling in the reeds, a Redwing in the bushes, A few Bullfinches in the usual bushes, Goldfinch, 3 Mistle Thrushes, Wren, Blue Tit, GSW calling, 1 Snipe flushed from the marsh. And then as I was leaving, a Common Buzzard over – my first for the reserve.

Well I say Common Buzzard. I thought about taking a photo, but what if I posted it and a passing expert saw differently? I could have my own thread on Birdforum, full of experts wondering how I had missed the distinctive puce eyelids and blunted third primary of Britain’s first Patagonian Bush-Buzzard! Tomorrow the marsh could be heaving with thousands of twitchers pushing and shoving, blocking the roads with hastily parked cars and trampling the reed-bed flat!

So I let it fly over undisturbed, and took a photo of some Bull-rushes instead.

Gull watching

There's something strangely therapeutic about Gull watching. Picking through our standard gulls for something a little bit strange or off-beat must hit the same nerve as crossword puzzles, and now that there are so many more varieties of gull to look out for its twice the fun.

I've noticed at Radipole that Med Gulls seem to be confined to a small area; the open water between the road bridge and about 100 m beyond the centre and the associated car park. I've scoured the gull-filled boating lake on many occasions, found an Iceland Gull, but never seen a Med Gull there.

I've also noticed that when I find a Med Gull there's often another one close to but not next to it. Is that just some artefact of watching, that having found one you tend to watch that one and notice surrounding birds more?

Here's a picture from Ferrybridge last Saturday in the murk.