After-work birding

As its midsummer and the days are long, I figure I should get out after work and see some birds. So despite the heatwave (mid 30s plus humidity) I get the subway to Davisville, walk a block south, and uncharacteristically for me find an entrance to Mount Pleasant Cemetery immediately. The cemetery is a beautiful, peaceful place. It’s like a large arboretum, with manicured lawns, tarmac walkways and some very lavish memorials. Its well used by joggers, cyclists, and dog-walkers, but being Canada they have the world’s politest dogs that trot by without fuss.

Its obvious from the outset that this will be hard work. The lawns are no good for birds, so they will be up in the trees. Being in North America the subconscious filter that in the UK means I don’t bother following up most bird calls doesn’t work, so I have to follow everything, and as soon as I see something I have my nose in Sibley instead of on the bird. Nevertheless, there are Black Squirrels, Grey Squirrels, and Chipmunks running over the lawns, and a handsome Robin allows close approach. This is very exciting until I realise that just about every bird that sits out on a tree-top, flies between trees, or bounds across the lawn is a Robin. By contrast a pair of Blue Jay’s come over to have a look at this curious visitor.

Following my birder’s instinct I head for an area with overgrown banks, and a ravine with a stream. However, I see nothing but a pair of Mourning Doves, a Red Admiral butterfly, some streaky finchey things in a tree and above Chimney Swifts whizzing round the sky and Ring-Billed Gulls drifting down to the lake front. I give up and head towards the centre of the cemetery and things pick up. Eventually I realise that the over-size chicken sat in a tree is in fact a Red-Tailed Hawk. Then on to the Eaton Mausoleum and at last I find a tree chock full with birds. There’s nine Robins, and a reddish bird that is a House Finch. There are two birds chasing each other through the tree, and I get a clear sight of it and it’s a slate blue back with an all white underside – White Breasted Nuthatch. A familiar type of call and a party of Black-Capped Chickadees move through. Back to the tree and picking through the various birds there’s a stunning Male Baltimore Oriole. The Nuthatch is back, but its got a deep rufous breast and a stonking eye-stripe – Red Breasted Nuthatch. I try to get a better view, lose it, and then find it again, but now its got a black back with fine white barring; Downy Woodpecker.

Its getting late, and as I don’t fancy spending the night alone in a park with a few thousand dead people I leave and get the subway back to Union Station, walk across Front Street and go and sit at the Sushi Bar in Benihana in the Royal York hotel. I have a couple of Asahi beers some Sashimi and Sushi, and write this.

Reggie the Hedgie

Elvis, normally a quiet well behaved dog, has recently taken to standing in various corners of the garden barking his head off. It took a while for the penny to drop - we have a hedgehog! Its only a small one - less than six inches long, and is normally to be seen curled up 6 inches from the snout of a barking dog, but once Elvis is removed he uncurls and waddles off.

The children were very excited to see a real live hedghog in their garden. The only other ones they had seen were on a road, and I think they had thought a hedghog was a flat dinner-plate shaped creature.

The excitment didn't last. They decided, strangely, that the hedgehog needed a name, whereupon the standard arguments started. D#2 decided it should be called Arthur. D#3 said no it was called Spike. D#1 said no I've already called it Reggie the Hedgie. D#2 said no that was stupid and it has to be Arthur. Meanwhile the hedghog had quietly waddled off into the undergrowth ..

some folks have all the luck

Graham Catley at the excellent Pewit blog is discussing his finding a Bonaparte's Gull and a Ring-Billed Gull on his local patch. He says finding rarities is "80% luck and 20% persistence". So I guess I'm just not very lucky.

But on further reading he says "have checked the gulls three times today", and then having noticed an odd bird writes "in the next three and a half hours it was asleep for 90% of the time".

Three and a half hours!!! Well, firstly I would have had just the one look through and found nothing, and then even if I'm with him at the start of his third look, its a good three hours after I've gone that he finally nails the bird.

So, as I suspected, its 50% skill, 50% persistence, and 0% luck.

I liked this

this sums up the joy of birding as well as anything I've come across.

Local Minsmere

Yesterday I commented that the local high ground "wasn't Minsmere". this morning I took elvis down the Stort Valley just south of Sawbridgeworth to the scrape. And it is quite like a mini-Minsmere.

There's a strip of land roughly one-field wide along the Stort Valley between Harlow and Stortford that is almost permanently wet. There are areas of reedbed, marsyh fields, a lagoon, and lots of rough fields and unkempt hedgerows. There is one reserve and at least two SSSI's. The land is not farmed with any seriousness, and is a guide to what the countryside may have been like a hundred years ago. you can see in the photo above a flooded rough field, and then beyond a field of Rape.

Today I stood on the bank looking into an open area of boggy willow scrub. A Grasshopper Warbler was singing out in the open in a Willow Tree. Behind me I could hear the low clicking of our resident male Garganey. It remains glued to a pair of Gadwall. the relationship seems quite a fractious one; the Garganey gets picked on by all the other ducks, and even in flight they seem to bicker and squabble, but its still here after a month so I guess that's how life is for a Garganey.

Otherwise there were Whitethroats in abundance, singing Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, and Sedge Warbler. 3 Jays, a Kestrel, a few Lapwings, a Bullfinch, and a host of other birds. overhead a few Swifts, a Swallow, and back in Sawbo a flock of about twenty House Martins

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?