Local Patch Photography

I have to admit, I love snow, and it has been snowing very heavily this last week! So I took a trip down to my local patch, Richmond Park. It was an opportunity to get some year ticks (Pintail, Shoveler) and also get a photography session in as the birds explored this winter wonderland.

The first bird I saw was a beautiful Green Woodpecker, one of my favourite birds. It was digging around in the snow looking for seed, insects or what ever it could find.

I found 1 Pintail which showed very well. I caught it when it had just landed (which was very bad) and started waddling around on the ice...

Other wildfowl included these female Shelduck below which were taking advantage of the free and easy-to-get-to drink..

You can't get a much better Robin pose than this (its definitly going on next years Christmas cards!)

Ok, its not a bird but I couldn't resist sticking this shot on of a young Red Deer in the snow

As always, you can see more on my blog on my blog: billsbirding.blogspot.com

Happy Birding!

Billy

Snowy Owl Day

I just joined the young birders blog yesterday. My name is Tucker Lutter and I live in Iowa, USA. I have been birding for a number of years now and am fifteen. The other day my mom and I went out to look for a Snowy Owl that was being reported near the Owego Wetlands which is not far from where I live. I decided to check a wildlife area on the way down for birds since it was on the way and worth checking. When we got there my mom spotted a large white bird fly up to the top of a grain bin. I looked where she was talking about with my binoculars and saw an adult Snowy Owl perched on the bin. The Snowy Owl that we were going to look for was a juvenile so they were different birds, a great surprise! I called up a couple area birders and they rushed down to see it. On the way there I saw a Northern Shrike as well as a couple mammals such as Mink (weasel) and Red Fox.

After I spent some time photographing and watching the first owl it was time to find the second. We pulled up to the spot where the second owl was seen and found it fairly quickly perched on a post. I got a picture before it flew out into the middle of a field. Seeing two Snowy Owls in one day around here is not easy to do. Finding one can even prove to be a challenge. Most years only one (or even no) Snowy Owls are seen. So far this winter we've had three in the area.After I was done watching the Snowy Owl we (more like I, my mom isn't really a birder) decided to look for a flock of forty Common Redpolls at the wetland area nearby. I had already seen the flock a few days earlier but I wanted to see it again to see if there were any Hoary Redpolls in with them. We found the flock but they flew off after a minute of watching them. Redpolls have to be one of the hardest kinds of birds to observe if they are not sitting still on a feeder. They move around from place to place (they usually stayed in one location for a few minutes and then they moved to another one usually far away) and even when they are feeding the are constantly moving.

The regular birds to the wetland are are also interesting. It doesn't take Snowy Owls or Common Redpolls to make it an interesting day. There are many birds there most of the time such as Short-eared Owl (pictured), Rough-legged Hawk, Merlin, etc. It is a great place to visit almost anytime.

The second Snowy Owl has been around for over a week and has allowed many people to come and view it. The first one however has moved on. The redpolls are still around but are sometimes hard to find. One-hundred of them were seen this morning by several birders. It has been an amazing week for birds in the area.

Good birding!

Year List - not so good...

So, January is over. I have done plenty of birding, but not at particularly decent places. I have visited Denver Sluice and Whin Common only, but have still managed Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker, Goshawk, Woodcock and Waxwing, as well as some nice but not so scarce stuff like Marsh Tit - which I often find quite hard. My yearlist currently stands at 81, but no doubt it will shoot up soon. I am aiming for 140 by the end of February.

Sheppey, Dunge, Scotney, Jury's Gap!

Keeping this short and sweet.
From Capel Fleet the Rough-legged buzzard (127 for the year) showed briefly as did ringtail Hen harrier and 7 Marsh harrier. A couple of Corn buntings were about too, and c100 W F Goose fed in a field opposite the view point. Onto West Hythe for the night heron, which we duly dipped because the heron flew south minutes before we arrived and it wasn't located, "Ahhhhhh" Onto Dunge for iceland gull which we also dipped! No sign of it after endless searching and no news of it, but 13 R T Divers (128) and 2 B T Divers(129) flew west during our stay and there were c200 Kittiwakes (130) along the shore including several oiled birds. Hundreds of auks were at sea with just 2 Razorbill (131) seen and c500 Guillemot (132). Next onto Scotney GP's where there were 3 Scaup, including 2 drakes and I found a female Common Scoter in with the Wigeon.
From Jury's Gap there were 2 R T Divers, 6 Eider (133) Curlew, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Common Scoter, c20 G C Grebe and 2 Pintail flew west at sea.
A dipping day, but very much enjoyable. I think it's back to bough beech tomorrow, after 24 days away from it!

Josh

King Eider twitch

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I'll try to do it more regularly in the future.

Yesterday (Sunday 18th Jan 09) I went down to East Sussex to see the King Eider that's been seen on and off for a week. A seawatch near Rye Harbour (I was in between the two main groups of birders about 5 miles apart from each other that were scrutinizing the coast for the bird) produced large numbers of Common Scoter, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and a possible female Common Eider. I made a quick diversion to the Long Pits at Rye Harbour NR to get Scaup, one of my biggest bogeys, off my life list and I succeeded, getting good views of 2 immature males and an adult male. There was also a female Smew present (great, now I've got all the regular sawbills on my year list!). Back to the coast, nothing much new. I got a call from my mate Kevin McManus that the news had come through on the pager that the King Eider had been seen at Jury's Gap. I rushed to the car and told dad to get me there as soon as possible! After not too long, we pulled up by a large group of birders. I rushed towards them and frantically tried to get onto the bird using Lee G R Evans' instructions but it took me at least 5 minutes to get onto the bird in someone else's scope and then another few minutes to get it in mine! Beautful! Male King Eider, what a bird, even if you could only see it for a second or two before it disappeared under a wave! I spotted a distant Red-throated Diver (another tart tick off my list!) flying west and a Guillemot heading the same way.

A quick roadside stop at the ARC pit at Dungeness revealed a pair of Goosanders, a male and 2 female Smew as well as about 20 Red-legged Partridges. A half hour seawatch before dinner at the Pilot Inn, and sunset got me good views of a fishing Guillemot, a female Common Scoter and a Kittiwake.

At the end of the day my year list was on 99. Its on 102 after Beddington SF today with Tree Sparrow, Green Sandpiper and Woodcock.

On the trail of a Bogey

It was absolutely freezing when we got out of the car this morning. I can't remember being so cold - it made a winter seawatch at Holme feel like Barbados! A Kingfisher greeted us, making use of a small patch of unfrozen water. A few Bullfinch were flitting about as we walked along a path towards our destination along with a multitude of thrushes, and a Barn Owl added character to the winter scene. A Muntjac and a group of about 20 Roe Deer seemed unaware of us, despite the constant explosions of woodpigeon that marked our movements.

Reaching our destination we scanned for our target - the infamous Long-eared Owl. However, it soon became apparent that we were not in luck. We decided to walk towards their favourite haunt, since there was no chance of disturbing them if they weren't there. Our attention was drawn to a shape slinking through a field to our left as 5 Snipe erupted from the grass. The Fox trotted towards us, as oblivious as the deer had been, and disappeared into a ditch. Reaching the Long-eared Owl bushes we scanned the open fields for any owls that may still be hunting. No luck, although we had another mammal surprise in the form of a herd of more than 100 Red Deer, including 2 magnificent stags! What a sight on a misty winter's morning. As if this wasn't enough a large raptor appeared over the top of the woods: a Goshawk!

We left happy, despite not having seen our target. A further 3 Foxes together were an unexpected bonus, evidently a family group. One final surprise came in the form of a Kingfisher which flew along a dyke, crossing our path not 2 metres in front of us. It seemed to be just as shocked as we were, making a violent swerve to avoid us!

Hopefully another visit tomorrow will bring more luck. My year list currently stands on 69, with Simeon's a few below (he was a bit miffed that I could claim Redwing, Fieldfare and Golcrest as yearers!).

James

Year Listing Comp 2009

Hello all, Josh here.

Simeon came up with the idea of a monthly update on your year lists, if your taking part in the competition ( see rules>>>>)
I think this would be a good idea so just email us your total and highlights at the end of each month and we can get an idea of who's thrashing who!!!
My year list in currently standing at 118.

Regards, Happy Birding and good luck if your taking part in the competition.

Josh

New year birding

Hey everyone,  Chris W reporting from the US of A. 

I ended 2008 with 461 species for the year and 526 species on my life list.  

This year, I started out the new year with some aggressive tactics.  

On Jan 1, I drove two hours up to Buena Vista Grasslands to find this Snowy Owl: 

On Jan 2nd, I drove around, adding a bunch of easy year birds. 

On the 3rd, I ran down to a cemetery in Madison where a flock of White-winged Crossbills had been reported.  It took about 15 mins to find them after I added a further 3 year birds before finding this male Crossbill: 

There were about 10-15 birds total.  This was a very welcome find as it was a new life bird for me!

A total of 11 new year birds on the 3rd brought me up to my current total of 38 species for the year.    As soon as the ice melts, that total should go up a bit more. 

As always, check my blog for regular updates: 

http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/

Happy Birding and Happy New Year! --Chris

Slavonian Sandwich

Hi, Ben here,

I just thought I would put up some photos of the Slavonian Grebe I saw at Sandwich Bay this evening. They're regular winter visitors at Dungeness, but Dungeness does have a reputation for better birds than views most of the time. It was great to see this winter grebe at such close quarters as it swam past the nearest island! Other birds seen included a Short-eared Owl and a Barn Owl, the latter being a lifer for me as well as the Slavonian Grebe, or 'Slav' as some were calling it. The full report is on my blog.

Rails, Snipes and Bitterns

I took a trip to the London Wetland Centre (or Stringsville as Josh and David would call it) just before the end of new year to try and get a lifer to end 2008.

I managed to get great distant views of a Jack Snipe...

Here is the Jack Snipes' big bro, the Common Snipe which was very abundant on the grazing marsh.

And a Bittern was a nice surprise (after 10 minutes trying to locate it!)....

I even found my own Water Rail (lifer). It gave amazing views just metres from me and eventually flew when a family came.

They have very long toes like their cousins, the Moorhen to help them spread their body weight over a wide area so they doesn't sink into mud etc. They are also great for clinging on to almost any surface.

Here is a young female Stonechat that was also present on the grazing marsh, foraging on the ground a lot of the time for worms...

What a great end to 2008!

Happy New Year to everyone at Young Birders

Billy D

New Years Day Birding!

A total of 91 species were recorded today. I started by listening for birds from my bedroom window, here I added Robin, Jay, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Blue tit, Pied wagtail, Magpie, Crow, Starling, Nuthatch, Great tit, Wood pigeon, Chaffinch, R N Parakeet, Collared dove, Meadow pipit, Dunnock, L T Tit and Grn Woodpecker.
Next stop was the meeting place, to get a lift, near Badgersmount, not a place you'd expect to add any species but here I got House sparrow, Song thrush, Herring gull, Feral pigeon, B H Gull, Greenfinch, Goldcrest, Buzzard, Goldfinch and Wren.
Onto Bough beech, 4 female Goosanders, Cormorant, G C grebe, Greylag, Sparrowhawk, G N Diver, Pheasant, Mallard, Tufted duck, Pochard, Common gull, Grey heron, Coot, Snipe, Teal, Ruddy duck, Moorhen, GSW, Bearded tit, Marsh tit.
On the journey to Folkstone, Lapwing, Mistle thrush, Kestrel, Rook.
Get 22 Waxwing at Park Farm Ind Estate, no-body else there! Great views!
Journey to Dunge, Mute swan, Grey partridge, Stock dove, Little owl ( Lydd), Corn bunting ( 64 on wires on Walland marsh, Yellowhammer, Fieldfare, Redwing.
Field north of Lydd, goose heaven, Brent goose ( 1), White-fronted goose ( c80), Hen harrier ( ringtail), Pink-footed goose ( 8), Tundra Bean Goose ( 1 ad), Canada goose+more Greylags and feral Barnacle goose flock.
Scotney GP's, Wigeon, Little egret, R L Partridge, Redshank, Shelduck, Shoveler, Gadwall.
Jury's Gap, E Sussex, Velvet Scoter ( 2, male and female past East), Common scoter ( c100), Shag ( 1), Gannet, Turnstone, G B B Gull, Barn owl by barn.
Field in Dengemarsh/Lydd Ranges area, Whooper swan ( 2 ads) with Bewick's swan ( c40),
RSPB Dungeness, Goldeneye, Pintail, Smew ( 1 drk, 3 females) Red-crested Pochard ( drake) Cetti's warbler, Bittern, Water rail, Slavonian grebe.
3 british ticks!- 204
2009 Year List- 91
A great start to the Year Listing Competition on here.
Do take part in it....IF YOU DARE!!!
JJS

Wonderful Waxwings

Most of us Brits here probably know that this winter is a 'waxwing winter'. Obviously Bill Oddie predicted it one year too early! There were around 15 birds outside the Folkestone B&Q today, and as the sun was showing I was able to take some lovely photos, despite the howling winds, bitter cold and annoying fence! Seriously, the waxwings were great models, coming within less than a metre at times! I just hope they stay a little longer so more people can enjoy them. What with global warming, waxwing winters will be becoming less likely to occur.

Christmas Eve's Night Delight

Hi all, Ben here.

Seeing as the Night Heron at Hythe (same place as Green Heron earlier) was still hanging around, I decided to go and see it. After all, why not, if the bird is so near to home?

Well, the conditions were hardly perfect, but at least it didn't rain. I can't say I took any good shots today, but never mind. Donana should prove fruitful for a better Night Heron photo next year. I found the bird in the reeds near the bridge, along with a couple of Kingfishers, a young Black-headed Gull, a Little Egret and a Grey Heron. A weasel kept me entertained too while the heron did nothing. Unfortunately a family with young children and a dog scared it off, but never mind. I watched it, I photographed it and it brought back memories of Spain. That's really all that matters!

I tried later for the Waxwings at B&Q, Folkestone, but there was not a bird in sight. Never mind, there's always next month.

Cliffe, Capel Fleet and BB

A great day, nice to get away from the house and do some proper birding! GCN picked me up and we set off for Cliffe RSPB. The weather was stunning for the whole day, despite the biting cold, the sun was out!
We arrived and quickly got onto target bird numero uno, Spoonbill, a kent tick for me, and as spoonbills usually are, it was a very lazy one! Until about an hour or so later when it awoke and started feeding! WOW Next were 7 Goldeneye, target bird numero dos, another kent tick for me. They performed well, if alittle distant, but still some were drakes and doing their lovely displaying, heads back etc etc. Other birds of note here were 2 Greenshank, 1 Green sandpiper, 2 Redshank, c1000 Lapwing, 4 Little egret, 3+ Reed bunting, 10+ Pintail, c500 Teal, c300 Wigeon and an astonishing number of Little grebe with over 100 seen!!!
We decided to move on to Capel Fleet, Sheppey and have a look round there. 2 ringtail Hen harrier, 7 Marsh harrier, c1100 Golden plover ( showing incredibly as they were scared up into the air by something and flew low over, I could hear their wing beats!) Lapwings, c10 Linnet, 16 Reed bunting, Goldfinches, 2 Kestrel and 2 S E Owls ( which were fighting in mid-air for a while) but the best bird, or 20 of them were Corn buntings, surprisingly a lifer for me, I have just never managed to connect with these birds, they were quite stunning I must say!
We decided to get to bough beech to look for Goosanders and we weren't disappointed as there were a minimum of 13 birds including a few drakes; also c150 Jackdaw, c7000 B H Gulls and 10 Mandarin. The diver was seen by others, but not by us. A great day.........again!

I do hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and I look forward to competing in 2009's year listing competition!

Josh

Beach birding

Hi all,

The south shore of Long Island, NY, has been productive recently. Last weekend I was able to my third Snowy Owl from a very safe distance on the beach. Unfortunately not everyone was so considerate... as they do every time one of these Arctic gems appear, the photogs (unseen for the rest of year) jump into action and do their best to harry the owls. Luckily there is plenty of barrier beach to go around, and the two or three birds hanging around Jones Beach last weekend did not show today. Also present last weekend were a pair of Short-beaked Common Dolphins that had accidentally swam into an inlet and mistook a boat basin for an oceanic exit. After nearly a week in the channel, the two were successfully scared back out into open waters by those terrifying things we call boats. Cetacean lifer!
Today some of the young birders of downstate New York gathered at the same beach for an unofficial walk. 6 members of the New York State Young Birders Club were able to make it. The Snowies had since departed, but several thousand scoters, a couple of eiders (including what turned out to be a distant King) and a Peregrine Falcon amused us. At our next beach location, Point Lookout, we eventually found our extroardinary target: Harlequin Duck. The east coast population of Harlequin is quite small, and the site we visited is probably the most reliable place to find them in the state. We all enjoyed close views of a male and female diving for crabs and the like. At our final destination for the day, the Massapequa Preserve, we quickly located the interesting shorebirds: Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher and Wilson's Snipe. At another pond we easily located a distant Eurasian Wigeon, which was only my second for NY state (1st for Nassau County). It's pretty embarassing since multiple birds often winter on the North Shore of the island!

And for the human drama of the day... one of the members and his father locked their keys inside their van. Eventually they pried the back vent-type window open a little and attempted to use a wire to unlock a door. That was too difficult, so they asked someone at the residence they had parked in front of for hedgeclippers. They snapped part of the mechanism that held the window to the van and the member slid through the window. A great day! And after all the excitement, I saluted the anatid highlights of the day by devouring a duck breast for dinner.

Brendan

Two Black Birds (logically three)

I was down at my local patch today watching the male Black Redstart that was there... what a stunner! The real surprise came later, when, barely having left the rifle range, a pair of Ravens flew over calling, mobbed by the local Jackdaws as they went. What a great patch bird!

BB, Foreness Point and Capel Fleet, Sheppey

A planned trip to collect more ticks and get myself nearer to 200 fro my British list. I arrived at bough beech this morning and looked for the GN diver but couldn't see it so assumed it was down the over end. Here there were 1 Kingfisher, 4 Snipe, 2 Redpoll, 15 Mandarin amongst the regulars of note. Met Graham and we decided to head straight to Foreness point for purple sand.
On the journey there was a Buzzard in the usual spot along the M20.
At Cliftonville near Margate, I picked up an adult winter Mediterranean gull on a field by the sea which was a nice start to the day. At Foreness there was a large gathering of waders.
c150 Oystercatcher, c50 Grey plover, c20 Sanderling, 3 Curlew, c100 Ringed plover, Turnstones, Redshanks and a very Un-showy Purple sandpiper, a lifer for me. Graham has seen up to 40 of them here so we were alittle disappointed at 1 of them! 10 Fulmars were a great site and the best views I've ever had of one. 1 Kestrel showed well down to 3 metres, and to end our stop here 2 lifers: 2 male Red-breated mergansers flew past and I got onto some very distant divers which turned out to be my 1st Red-throated divers, 3 in total.
On the way to sheppey we came across another Buzzard at by the motorway.
We headed for Capel fleet and drove along the Harty Sheppey Road where we had incredible views of 3 Short-eared owls and I soon got onto a Rough-legged buzzard, the last lifer of the day. It was hovering in front of the Elmley Prison and showed for a short while before disappearing. Further along the road we totaled 3 Hen harriers showing well and 5 Marsh harrier. A Great Day!
Josh

Snow Bunting, Short-eared Owl and more, Kent 23rd November 2008

I spent the day with Josh J Shaw. The two main sites that we visited were Leysdown on Sea (where all the below photos were taken) and Elmley Marshes RSPB (Short-eared Owl). Both were lifers for Josh and year ticks for me. A full report (with a video) is available on www.southeastbirding.com.

Great Northern Diver

Went to see the GN Diver at bough beech today. Fantastic views of it diving ( Well it would be, wouldn't it??!!!!) A lifer for me and it brings my Bough beech list to 122 species. Lovely stuff!

Grey Phalarope at Home Park

What a great day birding with David Campbell. First Beddington SF with a Jack Snipe and lots of Tree Sparrow (both lifers). Then Home Park (Hampton Court Park) with a Grey Phalarope literally 1 metre away from us!

Here are a some of shots from the day.....

A Tree Sparrow at Beddington

And of course, the Phalarope......!