Rhodes round up

Final pics from Rhodes: The commonest butterfly was the Painted Lady which was everywhere. Elsewhere there were whites, some Clouded Yellows that were orangey-yellow, and one or two that were pale creamy. I did manage to get an Eastern Festoon on camera.

Plants are not my strong point, but I did come across some orchids high up in the centre of the island in a pine forest, and everything fits Anatolian Orchid.

I looked for bird reports on the net before I left but couldn't find anything. On return I found some reports on Fatbirder. There's obviously quite a lot I missed, and a few sites I didn't get to. I suspect one reason for the comparative dearth of reports is that birders heading towards the eastern Med will find more birds at Lesbos, Cyprus, Crete or the Turkish mainland. There isn't much water on Rhodes, so that's about twenty species you're already struggling for. Nevertheless if you want a holiday with some variety there's lots to keep you busy on Rhodes.

Of note is that neither Hawfinch or Booted Eagle, both in my probables list, figure as common in the reports and summaries. Hmmm.

Finally a few more shots from Rhodes. The swallow was inside the entrance to the church in Lindos, and the others were just ones I though interesting.

Rhodes summary

I left the big lens and telescope at home deliberately – its not practical on a family holiday, and the binoculars would still let me get most of the stuff we came across. Except when we unpacked there was no sign of the binoculars.

Nevertheless some birds still made themselves known. Hooded Crows were everywhere, and whatever is reducing the UK population of House Sparrows clearly isn’t affecting the many House Sparrows of Rhodes. Common Swifts and Barn Swallows were everywhere, and the old town had Crag Martins too.

Elsewhere Sardinian Warblers were well distributed, a Stone Curlew flew by the road for a while, a couple of Hoopoes flew past, Jays (local variety) were plentiful in the woods. A few White Wagtails were round the main town, and a few Rosy-Ringed Parakeets screeching round town gave a touch of home.

At Lindos we had Blue Rock Thrushes singing from the main vantage points, Alpine Swifts buzzed us on the Acropolis, a Lesser Whitethroat chattered quietly to itself, and a Cuckoo flew across. At the Valley of The Butterflies, so called because of the large number of Tiger Moths that gather there (yes I know, but would you visit The Valley of the Moths?) we has smashing views of a Kingfisher. Then at Monte Smith (above Rhodes town) a Woodchat Shrike and a Whinchat shared some scrub.

But without the binoculars it was difficult. There were of course bursts of chattering from unfamiliar warblers hidden deep in bushes; a black silhouetted falcon slid silently past. A brownish phyllosc gave surprisingly robust calls. Then there were frustrating sightings; a medium sized raptor must have been a dark-phase Booted Eagle on the grounds that it wasn’t obviously anything else. A super-size goldfinch that flopped out of a bush by the Old Town must surely have been a Hawfinch. And a heron that flew over the old town looked decidedly purple in the evening light

Then there were the instant identifications where doubt crept in later. My first Swift was very pale – a lifer! But then no other swift was, so perhaps it was a trick of that strong Mediterranean light. A Swallow with a pinkish rump whizzed past – but then Barn Swallows had rumps that shone in the strong light.

Finally the night before departure we packed to go home, and hey Presto my binoculars in a bag of crisp packets (Of course!). The final day we went round the Moat of the old town again. At first things were no better – three Pipits were strongly marked on the breast, white lines on the coverts, no other features, and conveniently silent. But then at last a luminescent black and cream Black-eared Wheatear flitted along the ramparts of the walls, a Wood Warbler worked its way methodically through a small tree, and finally a tatty Creamcrown Marsh Harrier flew south over the harbour to give the list a veneer of respectability.

And the Winner Is!!

Not on this occasion. But with my standard of photography there will be plenty of other opportunities. Meanwhile, here's a close up of the offending bird.

Weymouth 14 April

Garganey can be awkward birds. Tucked away on a muddy puddle at the back of a reserve, or fast asleep on the wrong side of a clump of reeds, they can be frustratingly difficult.

But not today! Just as I was approaching the middle section of the south side of Lodmoor at around 7:15, a spanking male swam out to greet me. It swam to the far bank and preened, flexed, and generally posed around. It was a bit far for the 100-400 but I got a few record shots.



Otherwise, a Lesser Whitethroat gave some good views from the east path but was too fast for the camera. There were good numbers of Swallows and Chiffchaffs; Blackcap, Willow Wablers, were in good numbers, and Cetti’s were everwhere and sat on the top of bushes scolding “What the hell? This is an outrageous interruption!” A Sparrowhawk slipped past and a pair of Oyks were in their usual spot near Beachdown Way.

Back in Weymouth the family finally got up, and we went for a walk from Overcombe to Sutton Poyntz, excellent lunch in the Springhead, then up the hill over the White Horse and back to Overcombe. Plenty of common birds, lots of Chaffinches and the obligatory Buzzards, but of more interest was the mass of Peacock Butterflies and Whites out today. There were also a few Clouded Yellow Butterflies on the slopes of the hill, and one of those Hawkbird-Hummingmoth things.

Finally by the White Horse there were some excellent field lytchetts. There are extensive Lytchetts (or lynchets) in this area, but these were particularly heavily marked. I think these are from the middle ages, or possibly earlier. Any information on the origin of these ancient Dorset field terraces welcome.

Rhodes 31 March - 7 April

It's difficult birdwatching on a family holiday at the best of times, but its absolutely impossible if you forget to pack your binoculars.

Mrs Dipper and myself first went to Rhodes in 1988 on a day trip from Kos. So we knew about the old crusader town and the ancient Greek ruins at Lindos and elsewhere. We came back nineteen years on with the family. On this visit we discovered the extensive 1930's Italian architecture both in Rhodes, Kalithea, and in the interior at Profitas Illias, and some spectacular scenery in the interfior (its not the Alps but it still impressed me). I've put some photos on Flickr (search for Dorset Dipper).

Despite the lack of optical hardware I still saw some birds, and there were a few flowers and butterflies. I'll put a post up later when I've sorted the photos and made an attempt to identify them. Meanwhile here's a few scenery ones.

Finally there's a bird on one of these photos. It's hard to see but is there. There's £100 to the wildlife charity of your choice to anyone who can identify the picture and the bird. Closing date next Saturday. It's difficult, but if you know your mediterranean birds and think hard I think its possible.

Blackcaps and stuff

Nothing for a while, weather, family stuff, and an exploding tripod, and nothing for a while more as we head off to a birdless Greek Island to paddle in freezing seas and enjoy the site of an island closing down for Easter.

Wintering Blackcaps. I’ve seen a male occasionally during the winter, and a female once. This is the third year in a row they’ve been around. I’ve had the impression that the male spends most of its time somewhere in our small road as I’ve frequently heard it chirping to itself from the bottom of a bush in a neighbouring garden. So presumably the one I saw last winter over by the cricket club was a different one.

It seems to me that many birdwatchers have a resident Blackcap in their garden. So just how many are there? Say that there is one for every 30 houses – 1 per 100 people, so that’s 500,000. And say only a quarter of total habitation is suitable so that’s 125,000. And they are quite widespread.

Now for the surveys. According to one in Worcester . the BTO 1978/1979 survey found a total of 1714 of which Worcester had 39. A more recent survey found in Worcester found 245 males and 115 females – almost a 10 fold increase, which if replicated in the national survey would give 17,000. I think I saw a BTO survey which gave the figure of 10,000.

So there’s a ten-fold difference between my crass estimate and the survey. I know mines a rough guess, but how many are there actually here in Sawbridgeworth, a town of c11,000 for instance? If there were 10 – quite likely , that would be 1 per 1000 – a population of 50,000 across the country.

The generally accepted version is that this is a German/Eastern European population that has developed a separate migration route. But how has this happened? One theory is that this is a genetic mutation that has become propagated by virtue of its success (as the climate warms, and gardens more hospitable), and a whole new population has arisen.

Theories are easy, but evidence is difficult. Fortunately the ever excellent P. Berthold has got some – the offspring of British-wintering Blackcaps naturally orient themselves WNW in autumn, whereas offspring of Southern German Blackcaps naturally orient SW.

So presumably Yellow-Browed Warblers, Pallas’s and Dusky Warbler’s are doing the same in their wintering populations in the UK.

Radipole - family visit

Saturday was glorious. We got down to Weymouth at mid-day, and after some beach/café/shop things finally got round Radipole at 4pmish. We didn’t get to the North Hide with its Marsh Harrier, but we did see a Chiffchaff, a Cetti’s Warbler, and a few if the usual suspects on the water. We saw what looked like a Roach. Well we saw most of it anyway.

I’m really enjoying the new camera and 100mm - 400mm IS lens. I’m still learning on the contrast and focussing stuff, but I’m amazed at how easy getting good-ish pictures is. Also, I find I’m looking for the picture, so I tend to be getting better views of birds than if I was just ticking them off the list and moving on. Here are a few samples.







By the time we finished the loop little legs had got tired and needed picking up, so I gave the camera to D#1 to look after, with the inevitable result below.

First Butterflies.

A Peacock disturbed from the garage, then a trip to Hatfield Forest with senior Dipperette and a fluorescent Brimstone, then home and another Brimstone.

Hatfield Forest was more of the same from yesterday. Jackdaws, Wood Pigeons, and not much else. On the lake numbers down considerably, but a pair of Shelduck looking glorious in the sunshine, and somewhere a few Chiffchaff notes broke the cackling of Jackdaws. Where have all the peckers gone?

And back home the Blackap was singing. More on wintering Blackcaps later

All the birds are dead or have flown.

One subject that seems to me to be significant but uncommented is the fluctuation of bird populations during the year. If we start off with a pair of birds in March, and they raise on average say 5 young during the year then come September there are 7 birds – 3.5x the starting population. By the time we get back to March we are back to 2. That seems to me to be one reason why November is often a good month and February is a dull one – there are less than half the number of birds around in February there were in November.

Well that’s my excuse for seeing nothing down the Marsh this morning. A good number of Wrens, 2 Jays, a Reed Bunting, A Goldfinch, a Greenfinch, some long-tailed tits, and a Water Rail calling. Apart from that and a few odds and sods just nothing.

Here’s my first bird picture with the new Canon 100mm-400mm IS lens.

It’s great. Just get the subject in the centre of the viewfinder, half press to get it in focus, then click and it’s in the memory banks. That’s my kind of photography.

Lunar Eclipse

It was too good an opportunity to miss, so I set up the Kowa TSN-821 32x wide angle, got the Samsung i-5 ready, realised I couldn't find the Contraption, so held it to the eyepiece and fired away.

When the moon was in full eclipse the exposure was 1s, so the results are a bit blurred. I was going to put them up here but then i saw Bogbumper's pictures here and realised there was no point as hers are just so much better. so here's a picture of a Portland Screw (I think) instead. Its the interior of the original shell.

Cranes!!

Not Grus grus, but the construction sort.

Some time ago I read/saw or otherwise absorbed that sky scrapers are hung from the top not supported at the bottom. The logic is that if the outer walls are structural then in the event of a tremor or strong wind the whole structure will shear and cause damage, whereas if it is suspended from a strong central column then it will bend and retain its structure.

I took the opportunity of looking at a couple of skyscraper pulli going up at the east end of Canary Wharf to see if I could spot this. The first is just the lift shaft going up. It looks an immense block of concrete, and already has the floor numbers on.


The second is more developed, and the floor construction seems to be sprouting out of the central lift shaft.

If anyone has more knowledge or has spotted mistakes then please let me know!