higher ground

Another evening run round the area NW of Sawbo. I did my usual 5 stop strategy.

Minsmere it isn't. The plus side of this area is clear views across a large area. The down side is for the most part its a large area with nothing in it. Its a struggle to get into double figures for the number of species seen. Most are heard and not seen.

Today there were Carrion Crows and Wood Pigeons, some Stock Doves, a few Yellowhammers, a few Whitethroats chuzzing away in hedgerows, a Corn Bunting in a tree, a Yellow Wagtail over, a pied wagtail, a swallow, and a Lapwing.

local

In the midst of what seems to be a strong migration this year, managed to get out for a quick tour of the local high ground.

Yellow Wagtail 3, Wheatears 1f, otherwise Yellowhammers, 1 Lapwing, a distant singing Corn Bunting, and some Linnets. Mainly round Blounts Farm

Another pic down the scope.

couple of more attempts at video.





'll be surprised if anyone gets this one!

Surely its only a matter of time before someone eg Nikon produces a camera that screws straight onto the body of a scope and does this stuff properly.

New Camera - new disasters

I've bought a new camera. A Canon S90 powershot. So I'm back to where this blog started, stuffing a compact digital camera down the lens of the scope. So far its been excellent, with one exception...

I went down to SLRS to try and connect with a male Garganey that's been around. Any fears I had about connecting with it disappeared when three ducks standing on the river bank (Herts side!) in a wildfowl-collection-escape stylee turned out to be two Gadwall and the male Garganey. They flew off just as I was fiddling with my camera, but appeared later on the scrape allowing me to take a video with the new camera.



If you've looked at it, you'll have noticed something odd. It appears to be monochrome with the exception of green. That's because it is. The camera just would not get out of this weird and bizarre single-colour mode for videos.

Have you ever been about to take a photo or record a segment of video and found yourself thinking "this would be massively improved by taking it in monochrome except for just one colour"? Me neither. but some bright spark in Canon has not only put this on this camera, but made it the default option that is impossible to get rid of. Looks like I'm going to have to break the habit of a lifetime and read the manual.

Apart form the Garganey and Gadwalls, there were a few Teal, a Little Grebe, a couple of pairs of Bullfinches and a number of Blackcaps. There was what I'm 90% sure was a Garden Warbler, but it kept hidden in the middle of a bush, The clock was tcking, so it will have to wait.

Garden Blackcap

Since the new year we have had a male Blackcap in the garden. It is often around, and sits quietly singing to itself. It disappears as soon as I make a move towards it, so I resorted to taking a photo through the French door today.

Half-term list

February isn't anyone's favourite month in which to spend one's birding vouchers. But its half term and I'm in Weymouth. And we have a dog, so now I have to take it for a walk first thing, so its a new challenge and a new list- Birds I've Seen Whilst Walking The Dog!

Friday am I took Elvis (yes that is his name) round Radipole; a trip noteable for being the least number of interesting bird I've ever seen at Weymouth, not even a peep from a Cetti's Wabler. Then Friday mid-day we hit the beach, and a scan over the perfectly flat Weymouth Bay produced a few Great-Crested Grebes, a distant Great Northern Diver, and an even more distant pair of Mute Swans.

Saturday morning I took Elvis to the Nothe. Again, the sea was perfectly flat. This is a mixed blessing; you can see further, but the birds have often disappeared out to sea. About a mile away in the habour by Sandsfoot Castle was a small flock of Black-Necked Grebes. Of course, I couldn't positively eliminate confusion species such as Slav Grebe, Little Grebe, Razorbill, any duck, GBBG, but they were in a small flock, and Slav Grebes don't flock like that in my experience. Slightly nearer was a Black-Throated Diver, which turned to show off a nice white thigh patch - birding made easy! Other birds were some Shags out to sea, a couple of Chiffchaffs, a Turnstone, and a few Redwings.

Finally, took D#2,3,4 and Elvis to the play park and then a homeward trip round Radipole. The RSPB is about to spend pots of money "improving" Radipole. Cleaning of ditches and dykes prevents silt build up and makes for better habitat, and better hunting for Bitterns and Marsh Harriers. A Sand Martin Bank, a field cleared of scrub for waders such as Snipe, Lapwing, etc. I'd like more scrapes for passing waders, but they feel Lodmoor does that better. The plan makes sense I guess, and is already paying dividends with a few Bitterns this winter and breeding Marsh Harriers. And where else do you get the chance to walk out of your front door and see three male Bearded Tits just twenty yards away, sat out in the sun devouring seeds on the heads of Rushes, as we did on the way back?

Close up #2

... and then we went to the beach where the usual group of Carrion Crows was present.

Ready for your close up pt I

D#4 is still young enough to enjoy throwing bread at birds. First we went to the Boating Lake ...

Unlikely Birders No 1

Mrs D mentioned she'd seen something in an Obituary of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen. so I googled and found an old article from The Guardian

"McQueen is the son of an East End cab driver; as a teenager, he joined the Young Ornithologists' Club and whiled away the after-school hours birdwatching from the roof of his block of flats. He retains to this day the mentality of an outsider."

So there we have it. He was a birdwatcher, therefore he was an outsider.

Garden Birds

A couple of Long-tailed Tits drew my attention. The Male Blackcap appeared, and the usual House Sparrows. I got the camera and, of course, the birds disappeared as soon as I went into the garden. I snapped the Sparrows, and then a Coal Tit which appeared.

I always make the same mistake

Rainham RSPB has been having a purple patch. I turned up at 10 ish and whizzed round the reserve. It was a case of "should have been here yesterday" for the absent Bean Geese and Whooper Swan, and "should have been here two minutes ago" for the juv Glaucous Gull that had flown back from the Target Pools and was now invisible. I got distant Peregrine and some nice Pintail but it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for.

I left the reserve and started west on the river-side path, and immediately my luck changed. Some locals pointed out a distant Ruff. I got as far as the Mound at the West end and had distant but clear views of a stonking 1st winter Glaucous Gull, resplendent in luminous pale cinnamon plumage. It stretched, it waddled off to a pool to drink, it flew, pretending to be chased by a Herring Gull, it did all you'd hope for. The Glaucous Gull is the King of the gulls, and it was a real joy to see one again.

There was a distant Common Buzzard, then back to the centre and miraculously the two Bean Geese had been found in the centre of the reserve. The clear white feather edges were a give-away, and we had the cracking views as they fed, looked around, and fed again. I clocked a Black-Tailed Godwit and then left.

My mistake was, again, to go onto the actual reserve itself. Its great for close-ups of birds, but the undulating terrain means your field of view is limited. You don't see too many locals on the reserve; they all stand on the sea wall or the mound, where you get extended clear view over the Thames and the reserve and environs.