Pushing through the Undergrowth

Cross-billed blue tits, poxy great tits and a drooling green woodpecker

2011-04-26T21:29:00.002+01:00

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The morning's ringing started well, with a good catch including recently arrived blackcaps, chiffchaffs, garden, sedge and willow warblers. The good fortune didn't continue, as the breeze increased and that put paid to chances of a large catch. Cuckoos calling and swallows overhead added to the spring feel, but there was a few other oddities which grabbed our attention, things that perhaps wouldn't have been obvious without having the birds in the hand.

The first is this blue tit Cyanistes caeruleas, which has crossed mandibles. You'd think that this would make feeding difficult, but this individual was in perfectly normal condition.

This female great tit Parus major has avian pox, which is caused by a virus frequently transmitted by biting insects, or through direct contact. The lesion at the rear of the tit's head isn't near the bird's eyes or bill, so shouldn't impair its longevity.

Bird of the day was undoubtedly this one-year-old male green woodpecker Picus viridus, which showed a feature of its feeding behaviour rarely seen - the copious volume of thick saliva they produces to keep their barbed tongues sticky, which helps them mop up their ant prey. It's always fantastic to get something as special as one of these in the hand, even if your hands look like they've been mauled by the end of it all.

Odds and ends

2011-04-25T22:07:00.003+01:00

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A couple of brief local walks today. The first was to my local heath, a five minute walk from my front door, where I hoped to add a few roving records to the altas effort. A fine dawn chorus, with swallows chattering overhead. The highlight was a very unexpected red kite Milvus milvus being harassed by a carrion crow as it passed over - they really are doing well, and spreading from the Chilterns.

The only worthwhile macro shot was of this squash bug Coreus marginatus.

In the afternoon we headed to Ash Ranges for a walk in the sun; while the species list was short, as usual it had some real quality, including tree pipits, buzzard (still uncommon this far east) and singing woodlark Lullula arborea.

Dent de lion

2011-04-23T21:44:00.002+01:00

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I spent this morning completing a timed tetrad count for one of my local atlas squares, and in so doing discovered an interesting new patch of local beech woodland that I hadn't previously been aware of - after lving within a mile of it for almost 8 years. Three cuckoos provided the highlight and my first house martin of the year flew over later.

No time for any photographs, but I took a few in the garden in the evening sun - the dandelions Taraxacum officinale have already set their first seeds and provided a welcome diversion.

Lunchtime macro

2011-04-20T10:06:00.001+01:00

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I spent lunchtime yesterday taking some macro shots on campus - the warmth had brought a lot of insects out. The breeze was challenging and the light too direct, but it was good to get the first close-ups of the year under my belt.

Female hairy-footed flower bee Anthophora plumipes

Greenbottle Lucilia sp.

Seven-spot ladybird Coccinella septempunctata

This holly blue was supping moisture from a watered flower bed.

Holly blue butterfly Celastrina argiolus

These longhorn moths were swarming - there must have been hundreds bobbing up and down, but they were difficult to get a shot of - this will have to do...

Longhorn moth Adela reaumurella

Grey heron

2011-04-10T19:23:00.009+01:00

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A quick wander out to a site where close up views of grey heron Ardea cinerea are almost guaranteed - unfortunately the light was a bit too contrasty, but nevertheless, it was good to blow the cobwebs off the camera...

Lesser redpoll

2011-02-13T20:04:00.001Z

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Following on with the recent theme of few photographs and fewer words, another image from a recent ringing session - this time of a first-winter male lesser redpoll Carduelis cabaret. This, along with a Cetti's warbler, was the highlight of a quiet morning. I'm getting to that point where a day's trudging in the middle of nowhere is called for...

Siskin

2011-02-05T12:12:00.001Z

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Another quiet morning's ringing, with small numbers of great and blue tits, a couple of reed buntings, and this first winter male siskin.

Treecreeper

2011-01-29T13:03:00.001Z

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A very quiet morning's ringing last Tuesday, which almost started well with a sparrowhawk managing to avoid the net. Apart from a few blue and great tits, the highlight was two treecreepers Certhia familiaris which hit the net at the same time - probably a pair. I took the opportunity to get a few images of the adaptations that allow them to forage successfully in tree bark - long curved bill, strengthened tail feather shafts and long claws.

White tailed sea eagle 0, Lapland bunting 4

2011-01-20T21:01:00.000Z

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Last Sunday was predominantly spent in the freezing wind, staring at a field in Hampshire. The light was terrible, rain constantly threatened, and the juvenile white-tailed sea eagle that's been lurking at the wrong end of the UK wasn't seen all day. The odd raven and buzzard passed by, but no barn door sized eagles.

I took a quick lunch break to visit Milford-on-Sea, which was only a few miles away. The wind was driving large breakers onto the shore, and the brent geese Branta bernicla were sensibly keeping their heads down.

Lapland buntings Calcarius lapponicus are pretty scarce on the south coast, and a group of at least four were showing well at the edge of a stubble field, gleaning seeds.

Nearby the edge of Keyhaven Marshes had greenshank Tringa nebularia, black-headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus, rock pipit Anthus petrosus and turnstone Arenaria interpres foraging close enough for a few images in the gloom and wind.

Glossy ibis and water vole

2011-01-06T06:09:00.008Z

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Taking a risk with the weather, and not missing the opportunity of a rare quiet afternoon, the current triumvirate of scarce west Berkshire birds was the target for the day - dipper, great white egret and glossy ibis. All were within a few miles of each other, and started with the great white egret being seen flying over and landing in a tree as we drove down a country lane - very unexpected but welcome. Our first stop was for the overwintering dipper at the weir in Welford. The bird showed quickly, but views were poor in the rain, and I regretted not taking a scope as views were distant. Given the short afternoon light and the rain, we headed to Great Shalford for the great white egret, where there were a few little egrets, but no sign of the GWE. We made this a brief stop, but were happy that we'd at least caught sight of it.

The highlight of the day was the glossy ibis Plegadis falcinellus (click any image for larger) at Freeman's Marsh. The weather cleared, and on occasion there was even a little winter sunshine. The first view of the ibis was as it flew over disturbed by a dog walker, landing in a tree to preen. Little egret foraged in a stream while a kestrel waited on the overhead cables. After a while the ibis headed back to its preferred foraging place, where we were initially over cautious in approaching - the ibis was unconcerned about people passing by. It provided great views as it hunted among the cress beds, catching a miller's thumb as we watched, and illustrating just how appropriate its name is.

Glossy ibis

It wasn't only glossy ibis that caught our attention in this corner of the brook; a foraging water rail skulked among the bankside vegetation, while this water vole Arvicola amphibius fed, ignoring the audience. It's not every day that you have such success is such a short period of time - an afternoon full of highlights!

Kingfisher in the hand

2011-01-04T23:30:00.000Z

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A very chilly ringing session this morning, with some interesting species in the hand, including lesser redpoll and goldcrest. The highlight was this first winter male kingfisher Alcedo atthis (click any image for larger), which was completely unexpected, and very relaxed in the hand...

Kingfisher

Gulls and others at Dungeness

2011-01-03T22:00:00.000Z

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Today was the last day of my Christmas break, and it saw an early morning drive down to Kent and East Sussex, for a day at Dungeness and Pett Level. The day started exceptionally well, with a gentle sunrise over the Channel, and good numbers of red throated divers and many great crested grebes out to sea, as well as auks, gannets and many cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo passing by (click any image for larger). The patch was heaving with herring, lesser black backed, greater black back, black headed and common gulls, along with a little gull and a smattering of Meditteranean gulls Larus melanocephalus, as well as a couple of passing kittiwakes.

Cormorants at dawn

The patch at Dungeness power station

Mediterranean gull

The highlight of the early morning on the shore was this superb first winter glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus which allowed a close approach.

Glaucous gull

Next stop was the RSPB reserve, for good numbers of smew Mergellus albellus, a few goosander, black-necked grebe and bittern Botauris stellaris fly-bys.

Smew

Bittern in flight

This gull (on the right first image), on the left in the following, caused a stir, being picked out as a Caspian gull Larus cachinnans. From a distance it was very distinctive, with the posture, clean colouration and beady eye of a Caspian, and those in the know were unanimous in their identification. Not being much of a laurophile, I'm not so convinced, and I'm nervous about the eye colour, but apparently around 25% of Caspian's don't have dark eyes. The contrast with the herring gull Larus argentatus is interesting, and there were some dissenting voices.

Possible Caspian gull on right?

Possible Caspian gull (on left)?

The final stop was Pett Level, for three subspecies of brent goose Branta bernicula (pale bellied, dark bellied and the vagrant black brant all visible at once; there's an excellent video here), as well as barnacle, bean and Canada geese, and a wide range of waders including lapwing Vanellus vanellus, dunlin, turnstone, golden and grey plover, redshank and snipe. In the distance a rough-legged buzzard was watching the scene from a dead branch - not a bad end to a superb day's birding.

Barnacle and brent geese

Lapwing

Wildlife of Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo

2010-12-31T03:14:00.003Z

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I've been trying to catch up with some video editing from the summer, and getting this one done was high on my priority list. This is a film of some of the wildlife that can be seen at Tanjung Puting National Park, which is in Indonesian Borneo. The main draw to the very few people who manage to get there are the orangutans - the park has the greatest population of wild orangutans found anywhere on Earth. It is also home to Camp Leakey, where until over 12 years ago rehabilitated orangutans were released back into the wild. At Camp Leakey, these individuals and their 'bicultural' offspring still receive daily supplementary feeds. Orangutans have been studied at Camp Leakey for 40 years, and the existence of the park in no small part is a result of the work of the founder of Camp Leakey and the Orangutan Foundation, Birute Galdikas.

The peat swamp forest is also home to a range of other primates, birds, reptiles and amphibians, some of which are shown here. It's difficult to do Tanjung Puting justice - it really is one of the finest places to study wildlife in the World, and I feel privileged to spend time there each year.

Fog and drizzle in Dorset

2010-12-29T21:58:00.002Z

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The weather forecast was for fog everywhere, so in an irrational spirit of optimism I headed off to Weymouth, hoping that the fog would lift by the time I got there. No chance of that - as I wandered through Radipole, typical views were like this (black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus)...

Nevertheless, I lugged the camera around in the hope of getting something out of the day. Two bitterns flew over, providing good views, but the highlight was a pair of bearded tits (Panurus biarmicus), visible through the Phragmites feeding on reed mace.

Not much else to show, apart from this robin (Erithacus rubecula; I hadn't realised just how displeased with the world they look!) and the traditional shot of the resident hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus).

After Radipole, next stop was Lodmoor, where the fog was turning to heavy drizzle. It was difficult to pick out much that was more than a hundred yards away. There were good numbers of duck and lapwing, as well as a small flock of dunlin (Calidris alpina). In among the dunlin the long-staying long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) finally showed. I managed a few record shots in the rain, but the views were worth the discomfort.

As the drizzle intensified, and the visibility declined, the sensible thing to do would have been to call it a day, but instead I aimed for Portland Bill, for a view of the sea and perhaps a black redstart. No black redstart, but instead some superb views of a purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima; and a turnstone, Arenaria interpres) feeding on the rocks at the end of the Bill. Accompanied by the chest-vibrating sound of the Portland lighthouse fog-horn, the fog lifted a little and the sandpiper foraged among the crevices.

An excellent end to the day, which while the weather was foul, turned up some really special species - well worth the gamble.

Freezing in Barnes

2010-12-24T18:16:00.002Z

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A brief trip to the Wetland Centre - my first visit in over a year - where most of the water was frozen over. Very quiet, with good numbers of wigeon and teal, a couple of greater black-backed gulls, a small flock of redpoll and wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes; click any image for larger) ticking from the denser vegetation. The highlight was some very distant views of two bitterns (Botaurus stellaris), foraging at the edge of the Phragmites.

No decent photographs, and only 10 taken all day - a wren and a bittern record shots at best.

Waxwings at Whiteknights

2010-12-20T16:21:00.002Z

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My first brief foray into bird photography for months - prompted by a flock of up to 40 waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus; click any image for larger) which settled in a tree across from my office window at the University. They were attracted in by the berries of an exotic small tree (a Sorbus perhaps?) and stayed a day and a half. The light was atrocious, and some fill-in flash was a necessity. These are part of what will be remembered as one of the finest waxwing years - thousands must be in the country, driven by a lack of food and a good breeding season in Scandinavia and northern Russia. The first image is of an adult, with the rest being juveniles.

Several other species, including song thrush, robins and blackbirds (Turdus merula) competed for the berries...

Kestrel in the hand

2010-11-23T17:02:00.003Z

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A surprisingly good day's ringing was topped by this superb male kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) - my first in the hand - gorgeous!

Photo (c) Gary Clewley

Great grey shrike at Ash Ranges - a year on

2010-11-14T11:04:00.000Z

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The great grey shrike which winters on Ash Ranges appeared again, giving great views through the scope - worth the freezing weather! Little else around, but with a species like that, there doesn't need to be...

Dunnock with avian pox

2010-10-01T20:30:00.012+01:00

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Video of a mist-netted dunnock (Prunella modularis) with avian pox. Filmed with my iPhone - hence quality not great. This disease is spread by mosquito bites and also through direct contact. I gather that dunnocks tend to be better able to cope with the disease than some other passerines, and as long as it can continue to feed, this individual should survive.

Images from Indonesia

2010-07-15T16:21:00.002+01:00

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As this year's trip was very much about getting some video for a change, I took relatively few photographs - I've put a few together here as a hotch potch of memories. Not a single monkey or ape among them...

Bird of the trip was definitely this white-bellied sea eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster, which flew over as we were heading across Kumai Bay, just moments after we'd seen a pair of Irrawaddy river dolphins. These eagles are among the largest raptors found in south-east Asia. Other birds of prey are commonly seen, such as this Wallace's hawk eagle Spizaetus nanus.

The most common frog is the green paddy frog Hylarana erythraea, and we usually see a range of anurans, such as this unidentified (so far) leaf litter frog.

Odonates are always a photographic favourite in Tanjung Puting - the most common species is Brachygonia occulata, a small but beautiful dragonfly (first and last of these images). Damselflies and dragonflies are diverse in Indonesia, and repay close attention.

And some random images - a tiny praying mantis on my book, a caterpillar sealing a folded leaf with silk, and a pitcher plant, Nepenthese reinwardtiana.

Injured orangutans

2010-07-13T16:59:00.002+01:00

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Orangutans have surprisingly challenging lives - it's especially difficult being a male. These two Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) were both seen at Pondok Ambung, and both had been seriously hurt. The first is a sub-adult wild male, who had clearly been attacked by another male. The suppurating wounds left by the bite marks are horrendous, but a natural part of the lives of many male orangutans. After passing over the camp and finding a fruiting tree, he stayed for some time feeding, allowing outstanding views by the whole group.

The second film is of Pan, the son of Princess, a rehabilitated female who has lived at Camp Leakey for many years. Pan is used to people, and I suspect that he tried to raid a klotok, and the angry boat owner attacked him with a machete. The vet was called the next day, and as the wound looked clean, I suspect that he will recover fully.

Camera trap bearded pig

2010-07-12T08:49:00.000+01:00

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Film of a Bornean bearded pig captured using a camera trap. There were many tracks near our camp at Pondok Ambung, and this confirmed what was making them.

Candirejo - Central Java

2010-07-04T18:00:00.002+01:00

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This year's tropical biology field course was the first where I'd decided to concentrate on video, rather than photography, as a means of recording what we'd seen. The next few entries are quick summaries of some of the highlights of the trip. Our first long stay is in a small village, Candirejo, which is located near the temple of Borobudur, a World heritage site for its historic interest.

The following video shows some of the invertebrate species seen in the village:

Captive breeding and conservation of storks

2010-06-30T16:34:00.013+01:00

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The academic I was hosted by at UPM is closely involved in the conservation of stork species in Malaysia. He works with the National Zoo in Malaysia, primarily working on the milky stork. We visited Zoo Negari for the day, where there is also a large number of wild storks, such as these painted storks (Mycteria leucocephala), and the rather less attractive lesser adjutant storks (Leptoptilos javanicus). The painted storks also breed in the trees surrounding the zoo.

The milky storks (Mycteria cinerea) are free flying in large aviaries. There are fewer than 10 remaining in Malaysia, and this programme aims to rebuild their numbers. Overall, there are thought to be fewer than 5500 remaining in the wild globally.

In addition to the birds, the salt water crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) were impressive.

Finally, quite a few wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were taking advantage of the free food...

Malaysia - hornbill and tapir conservation, porcupine farming

2010-06-29T11:03:00.026+01:00

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Continuing on with my visit to UPM in Malaysia, I was taken to see a captive breeding programme for tapirs. On the way we stopped to see an example of artificial nest sites being provided for oriental pied hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris), which are becoming increasingly uncommon. They typically nest in tree holes, but this research shows that earthenware pots can provide a replacement nest site, even if it is located on the ground. Further details are here.

We arrived at Sungai Dusun Nature Reserve, home to the captive breeding programme for Malayan tapirs. There was little chance to see wild tapirs (Tapirus indicus), but this group are one of the few to manage to add to the rapidly diminishing numbers of tapirs in Malaysia.

Also at the reserve was a 'porcupine farm'. Having eaten Malayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) I can understand why locals eat this herbivorous rodent - it's very tasty. This is an attempt to minimise the effect of bush meat hunting on declining wild populations. However, the husbandry of the animals was poor, and there are many criticisms of this approach to conservation.

Malaysian birds

2010-06-28T15:57:00.001+01:00

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I spent a week in Malaysia visiting undergraduate project students who were working on the effects of oil palm plantations on the abundance and diversity of frogs and toads. I was made to feel very welcome by all at Universiti Putra Malaysia, which is located in Selangor province, near Kuala Lumpur. I was shown many local habitats, including this bird reserve in the middle of a quickly developing area. The large pond was home to roosting purple, grey, night and Chinese pond herons, as well as several egret and stork species.

The next day we visited part of UPM's forestry department's field station, close to the main campus. This provided a new variety of species, the highlight of which was a superb male Raffle's malkoha (Rhinortha chlorophaea).

Wood mouse

2010-06-21T10:55:00.005+01:00

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A close up of a species which is usually much more timid! Wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) foraging on our patio.

Green woodpecker in the hand

2010-05-25T10:01:00.009+01:00

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My posting will become much more sporadic now that I have very little time free for getting out - the pressures of work commitments prevent that. This is a green woodpecker (Picus viridis) - the first I've ringed. Gorgeous in the hand, but I was left with the scars to show how robust their feet are...

Ringing Tuesdays - bald blue tits and pulli ringing

2010-05-18T20:17:00.005+01:00

A beautiful morning with mist rising from the Embrook as the sun rose, promising a better day for ringing than the recent chilly mornings. It seemed relatively quiet, but turned out to be a good haul, with almost 70 birds trapped. I processed 31 birds of 13 species, of which 22 were new, and extracted 23 - a good addition to my ringing totals. The usual mix of thrushes, warblers and tits made up the bulk of birds, including a large family party of long-tailed tits, the majority of which had just fledged.

This blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus; below - click for larger) was typical of the females we were catching - looking very tatty. The feathers are abraded and displaced as the bird enters and exits small nesting cavities, but indicate no significant damage. This female has lost many of the head's contour feathers, including the ear coverts, showing the bird's ear canal.

Entomological interest also improved, with many damselflies, alderflies and mayflies (Ephemera danica; left - click for larger) active, as well as large numbers of banded mosquitoes Culiseta annulata, which were less welcome.

Terns were present in good numbers, male and female cuckoos called, and a hobby hunted overhead as the heat rose. A grass snake hunted by the lake margins.

After lunch I got the chance to ring some blue and great tit pulli (28 from 3 broods and 8 from 1 brood respectively) on campus, and I hope I'll be able to build up numbers over the next week or so.

University Farms

2010-05-12T20:16:00.001+01:00

Completed a field-workers first aid training course on one of the University farms. During the lunch break I wandered off with my sandwiches to see what was about. Lovely afternoon, with swallows darting into the farm buildings, garden warblers and blackcaps singing in the hedgerows and a cuckoo calling. Lapwings were displaying over a tilled field, flashing black and white as they tumbled to the ground, calling continually. A buzzard was harassed by a pair of carrion crows, never letting up until it disappeared from sight.

Ringing Tuesdays - still cold

2010-05-11T20:16:00.003+01:00

A very chilly morning, with frost on the car. Numb fingers makes extractions difficult, and there was relatively little movement. No time for pictures again as the chill meant that rounds were non-stop. Small summer migrants birds such as willow warblers really didn't appreciate hanging in the cold air for long. In total I processed 20 birds, of which only 6 were new, and extracted 7. Nothing startling, with the highlight being a pair of bullfinch. Cuckoos called, the oystercatcher pair flicked about and a little egret few over, providing the other highlights.

More night-vision foxes

2010-05-09T17:31:00.001+01:00

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I made a couple of minor adjustments to the camera trap set up from last night, used peanuts as bait, and a much better performance from the fox resulted! The reflection of the IR beam in the dining room window is an annoyance, but the key thing is that it works.

Night vision filming - garden fox

2010-05-08T19:13:00.002+01:00

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I've just bought a Stealth Cam Prowler HD trail camera, which will film and photograph wildlife automatically when they trip the sensor. I'd been keen to try the infra-red night filming, so last night I strapped it to an apple tree in the garden, and left some surplus ham out as bait. It worked - attracting this fox, which made a few visits in the dark.

Ringing Tuesdays

2010-05-04T19:05:00.001+01:00

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Very quick post and no photographs. Another successful, but cold morning meant no time to stop, as it is imperative that the birds are not exposed to the cold for too long - they can get chilled very quickly. More warblers (reed, sedge, willow, garden, as well as blackcap and chiffchaff), wrens, long-tailed and blue tit, bullfinch, dunnock, and reed bunting. Common tern and cuckoo overhead, as well as my first swifts of the year. Not too shabby!

Ringing Tuesdays - migrants moving through?

2010-04-28T15:21:00.002+01:00

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Another excellent morning's ringing - a beautiful sunrise, blue skies and only a gentle breeze to disturb the mist nets. Warblers made up half of the catch, with 10 garden (including one first trapped 5 years ago) and 13 sedge warblers, along with varying numbers of chiffchaff, blackcap, whitethroat, willow and reed warblers providing the rest of the Sylviidae. The rest of the catch was made up of a mix of finches, dunnock, robin, blackbird, wrens and tits. In total there were 56 birds, of 14 species. Undoubtedly many of these are moving through and things will get much quieter as summer progresses.

The Loddon lilies (Leucojum aestivum; click any image for larger) have reached their peak - it's difficult to capture how impressive the spread is.

After ringing I had a quick look in Dinton Pastures for a local grasshopper warbler, but everything had quietened down as the heat rose, so there was no sign of it. On Lavell's Lake common terns chased by, a great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) preened, a mute swan (Cygnus olor) defended its territory and a hobby (Falco subbuteo) hunted overhead.

The heat stifled the bird song, with occasional bursts of chattering from the sedge and reed warblers, and not much more from the hedgerows - this female reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) was one of the few passerines to pose.

The day ended on a good note too - I heard that my rough-legged buzzard record from Richmond Park has been accepted - the 15th county record...

Summer atlassing - Fox Corner and surrounds

2010-04-27T22:10:00.000+01:00

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Beautiful morning's birding on Sunday, catching up with one of my altas tetrads. This tetrad centres on Fox Corner, which is a small village with a local nature reserve, and the rest is fields and hedgerows. The garden warblers were in, and willow warblers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps and whitethroats added to the rain-delayed warbler-centric dawn chorus.

There were also lots of butterflies, hoverflies (here Eristalis pertinax; click and for larger) and flowers dotted the meadow. Toad tadpoles writhed in the pond, and a roe deer kept to the shadows of the copse.

Ringing Tuesdays - Loddon Lilies

2010-04-21T10:44:00.005+01:00

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An excellent morning's ringing, with 40 birds of over a dozen species, with blackcap being the most common, followed by bullfinch! In addition we had whitethroat (Sylvia communis; click any image for larger), chiffchaff, willow and sedge warbler, making up a nice mix of summer migrants - the whitethroat was my first of the year. The excited twitterings of sand martins came from overhead, a sparrowhawk dashed through, a common tern flew by, and my first cuckoo of the year called in the distance.

The site was looking good, with swathes of flowering Loddon lilies (Leucojum aestivum) carpeting the carr-ish ground. These are a local speciality and I gather is red-data book listed, and is considered a marker of good habitat quality. Butterflies, including peacocks (Inachis io), orange tip, small white and comma (another first for the year), were in flight - the peacocks have emerged from hibernation and were egg laying on patches of nettles.

There was something very atmospheric about the morning, starting with the mist rising from the river, the mild musky odour of the blackthorn in full bloom, and the vivid blue of the sky, still vapour trail-less. Gorgeous!

No ring ouzels for me...

2010-04-20T20:31:00.001+01:00

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A quick stop at Aston Rowant before work on Sunday to hunt for ring ouzels which have been around for a little while - no luck and it was quiet on the bird front. Nice place, clear con-trail free sky, but unfortunately the site is split by the M40...

Sounds of silence and skylarks

2010-04-17T20:20:00.000+01:00

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Every now and again I just need to get away from the bustle and activity of life, to take a moment to absorb the calm. To hear the cadences of bird song and the wind in the trees and just breathe in the absence of the imposed sounds of civilization. There are sadly few places where this calm can be found in Surrey. An early morning walk near home is to be surrounded by dog-walkers, joggers, horse riders or mountain bikers, jets flying into Farnborough or Heathrow, and the ever-present rumble of lorries, cars and motorbikes. This all creates a dissonant soundscape. There's the surface element, with the incoherent noise of human activity, and there's the one that gets to your bones, the inescapable urban infra-soundscape fuelled by the processed remains of long dead plankton.

Ash Ranges is the one local place where for a few moments I can escape all of this. Protected by its use as a military training ground and its unpredictability of when the warning flags will be down, there are relatively few people who make it there. I spent some time there on Wednesday evening, where for the first hour I saw nobody, and later only a few soldiers running and a pair of dog walkers. Walking through the heathland turned up a pair of woodlarks and a tree pipit, but there was still no sign of Dartford warblers, which I hope still cling on.

I always head for Crown Prince Hill, which gives views over Cleygate and Pirbright Commons. Skylarks sang, and I could hear the glip, glip of a small party of crossbills moving through the Scots pines on Scraggley Hill. And for a moment, it felt as if there wasn't another person within a mile of me. Bliss...

Update
I wrote the above a couple of days ago, before the Icelandic volcano removed the vapour-trails from the sky. I'm at Henley Business School for a few days, working on my MBA. The Greenlands campus is beautiful, but I found it hard to stop staring at the sky, which for the first time I can recall I see without a single vapour trail. It does illustrate just how pervasive we are as a species - even when I've been in remote areas of Africa or Borneo there's always a vapour trail. Today it was just buzzards and red kites wending their way through a completely blue sky. Incredible.

Mallorcan birding odds and ends

2010-04-15T14:28:00.002+01:00

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Final instalment of the Mallorca reports!

As with most birding on family holidays you tend to fit things in where you can. Some species are common everywhere, and easy to pick up, such as Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii; click any image throughout for larger) and shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis). That the former is common is one of the oddities of gull population dynamics - their numbers have picked up considerably since the lows of the 1960s, where they reached depths of under 1000 pairs.

Away from the coast, a trip to the Roman ruins in Alcudia produced many common species, with serin (Serinus serinus) in full song, joined by Sardinian warblers (Sylvia melanocephala) from the tangled vegetation, while zitting cisticolas (Cisticola juncidis) made their monotonous song flights.

A brief stop at the Cuber reservoir on the way back from Soller, quickly produced black vulture (Aegypius monachus) flying overhead - enormous! On the way there we'd stopped nearby for a picnic and had distant views of a griffon vulture soaring over the mountains.

I did manage an evening at S'Albufereta, a small wetland located between Peurto Pollensa and Alcudia, which was excellent, with avocet, great white egret, marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus), three booted eagles (Aquila pennata), and woodchat shrike (Lanius senator), as well as some more common species such as greenfinch (Carduelis chloris; here drinking from a small puddle) and corn bunting (Miliaria calandra).

In total the list for the trip came to 87 species, with previously unmentioned highlights for me including very tame redstarts at Lluc Monastery, little bittern unexpectedly dashing past in S'Albufereta, and the calls of stone curlew and Scops owl as we packed our car to leave for home at 4am. Considering that this was primarily a family holiday, and that we were a couple of weeks early for many migrants (and especially the Eleonora's falcons), missing out on several warbler species, all the terns (except common, which is meant to be the rare one!) and even purple heron, it wasn't a bad list.

The final list was (in order of finding):

1. Swift
2. House sparrow
3. Yellow-legged gull
4. House martin
5. Wood pigeon
6. Collared dove
7. Blackbird
8. Osprey (first over on drive to Colonia Sant Jordi)
9. Woodchat shrike
10. Great crested grebe
11. Black-winged stilt
12. Audouin's gull
13. Sardinian warbler
14. Sand martin
15. Fan-tailed warbler
16. Serin
17. Blue tit
18. Mallard
19. Pheasant
20. Shag
21. Willow warbler
22. Blackcap
23. Kentish plover
24. Greenfinch
25. Goldfinch
26. Shelduck
27. Great tit
28. Little egret
29. Stonechat
30. Kestrel
31. Rock dove
32. Montague's harrier
33. Swallow
34. Reed bunting
35. Crossbill
36. Whitethroat
37. Hoopoe
38. Cirl bunting
39. Nightingale
40. Cory's shearwater
41. Balearic shearwater
42. Raven
43. Pied flycatcher
44. Pallid swift
45. Cattle egret
46. Griffon vulture
47. Black vulture
48. Booted eagle
49. Cetti's warbler
50. Marsh harrier
51. White wagtail
52. Yellow wagtail
53. Teal
54. Night heron
55. Coot
56. Moorhen
57. Stone curlew
58. Red-crested pochard
59. Little ringed plover
60. Shoveler
61. Grey heron
62. Water rail
63. Gadwall
64. Reed warbler
67. Pochard
68. Little bittern
69. Moustached warbler
70. Red-knobbed coot
71. Purple gallinule
72. Little grebe
73. Chiffchaff
74. Starling
75. Redshank
76. Peregrine
77. Redstart
78. Wren
79. Blue rock thrush
80. Corn bunting
81. Linnet
82. Marmora's warbler
83. Crag martin
84. Black headed gull
85. Avocet
86. Great white egret
87. Scops owl (heard only)

S'Albufera, Mallorca

2010-04-14T16:41:00.002+01:00

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S'Albufera is of course the most famous birding site in Mallorca, and one of the most important wetland reserves in Europe. I managed to visit twice over the holiday, once alone, and as I was so impressed, I had to return with family in tow, if only to share the scent of the wild garlic that lined many of the tracks through the marsh.

My first arrival was greeted by a locked gate, as I hadn't realised that the park didn't open until 9am. A park worker took pity on the poor birder standing forlornly with drooping scope, and let me in, so I had the park to myself for an hour, even if at the ire of another worker who didn't seem to believe my tale. The light was poor on each occasion - heavy cloud and a bit of a chill wind - but it didn't stop the birds. Sardinian (Sylvia melanocephala; click any image throughout for larger) and Cetti's warblers (Cettia cetti) were to be heard everywhere. Later on reed, sedge and a single moustached warbler added to the din. Little (Egretta garzetta) and cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) along with night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), were busy nest building alongside the main canal.

I wandered to the nearest hide to be greeted by the evocative calls of stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus), with five chasing around the edge of the water. It didn't take long for the highlight of my day - an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) hunted over the marsh for 30 minutes, passing directly overhead. What I would have given for a decent background! The osprey was colour ringed, but it's not a British bird, and was probably ringed in Menorca.

If the osprey was the most charismatic bird, the one species that triumphed for sheer impressiveness was the swifts (Apus apus), which dashed over the marshland in huge numbers, in this image hawking for insects around the distant osprey. They were joined by lower flying swallows and martins, which hunted over the open waters.

Moving back to the centre, I spent some time scanning the paddock where huge numbers of flava yellow wagtails (Motacilla flava) and a few white wagtails foraged for insects, and I also picked out a couple of hoopoes (Upupa epops) feeding on worms in the damp soil.

Hoopoes have always been one of those near-mythical species for me and seeing one is always special. Perhaps this has something to do with being taught the fable of how they gained their crest when in primary school, and they appeared to be untouchably exotic. Apparently, Solomon demanded a show of fealty from all the animals, but noticed the hoopoe was missing. He was outraged, but calmed when told that the hoopoe had discovered a rich new land, ruled by a woman, the Queen of Sheeba. The hoopoes guided Solomon across the desert to Sheeba, shading him from the fierce desert sun by flying overhead. Solomon offered the hoopoes any reward they desired, and they asked for a golden crown, like his, to reflect their importance. Solomon queried if this is what they really wanted, and they said they did, so their wish was granted. They were overjoyed, and strutted in pride in front of the other birds. The other birds were jealous, and attacked the hoopoes, and men hunted the hoopoes to steal their golden crowns. Eventually, the hoopoes begged Solomon to take back his gift, which he did, but in his place he gave them their feathered crest to remind them of the consequences of pride. I suspect that the moral of the story went over our heads at age 6, but it has completely influenced how I think about hoopoes since then!

S'Albufera is home to a range of reintroduced species, species which are of significant conservation concern in mainland Spain, and which were hunted to extinction on Mallorca. The most common species is the red crested pochard (Netta rufina), here preening. Purple gallinules (Porphyrio porphyrio; do I really have to call them purple swamphens - it's a bit undignified) strutted on the margins of open water, regularly fighting. The most difficult reintroduced bird to connect with (at least those without collars which are the offspring of the original introductions) was the red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata), which are a bit more secretive than their more common cousins.

There were good numbers of Kentish and little ringed plovers around, but apart from a solitary redshank, the stone curlews and the ubiquitous black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) there was surprisingly few waders about. The black-winged stilts were mating, and several were already brooding eggs.

There's little doubt that S'Albufera is what makes Mallorca special - the sheer numbers and diversity of birds is incredible. It was well worth making the trip for this place alone.

Ringing Tuesdays - blackcaps

2010-04-13T19:30:00.003+01:00

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An interlude from the Mallorca posts...

Ringing Tuesday again, and a quiet day, with three blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla male and female below; click either for larger) the highlight (along with varying numbers of wren, great tit, blackbird, song thrush, reed bunting and chiffchaff). Blackcaps seemed to be everywhere, with their tak call coming from most hedgerows.

The birding highlight of the day was a hobby passing over as we were setting up the nets, and later an unusual (well - it is unusual for Berkshire) oystercatcher flew over calling. I did my usual short stint at Lavell's Lake afterwards, for my first sedge and willow warbler of the year. The blackthorn was in full bloom, there were lots of beeflies, and also my first peacock, brimstone, small white and orange tip butterflies of the year - all within the space of three minutes. An excellent Spring morning.

Formentor and the Boquer Valley, Mallorca

2010-04-12T17:32:00.003+01:00

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After southern Mallorca, we spent a week in a (freezing cold!) villa outside Puerta Pollensa, an overly touristy beach-town in the north-east of the island. This is an excellent corner for birding, and with a little planning, both family and wildlife needs can be met. Our first trip was to the Formentor peninsula, which juts into the sea in north-eastern Mallorca.

The scenery along the Formentor penninsula is stunning, with the winding roads tightly following the contours of the steep mountainsides. Once you negotiate the cyclists, you end up at a lighthouse and some gorgeous sea views. This is not ideal for sea-watching as you're high up, but at least you haven't disappeared off from the family for another morning! There are plenty of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis; click either image for larger) around, providing some easy photo opportunities.

The main bird reason for coming out here are the shearwaters, with both Cory's (Calonectris diomedea; click either for larger) and Balearic (Puffinus mauretanicus) shearwaters giving good but distant views through the scope. From the elevated viewpoint, you can look down on the shearwaters as they pass the headland, and in these conditions provide an opportunity to work on shearwater identification. In this case though, the size and flight of the Cory's readily separates them from the Balearics, and even bill differences were clear at this distance.

A hawking pallid swift was an early and welcome surprise, providing excellent views, and a few crossbills fed in the pines, but it was relatively quiet otherwise - ideally we would have been visiting a couple of weeks later for some of the more impressive passage migrants.

Later in the week I went for walk through the Boquer Valley (click any image for larger), located at the beginning of the Formentor peninsula. The Boquer Valley provides a scenic walk to the sea through areas of garrigue vegetation. The weather was poor, with high winds keeping most birds down.

The route starts with a small olive grove and surrounding trees which, in addition to the ubiquitous Sardininian warblers, provided a flighty woodchat shrike and a tree pipit (Anthus trivialis; click either image for larger), while crag martins and a peregrine dashed about the rocks at the entrance to the valley, while a raven flew over at a more sedate pace.

Into the valley proper, the wind kept most species down. I had a fleeting (i.e. rubbish) glimpse of a Marmora's (or Balearic, depending on how much of a splitter you are) warbler, the only one of the trip, and a blue rock thrush on a dry stone wall. In spite of the wind, the serins never stopped singing, and a single pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca; click any image for larger) posed for a couple of distant shots.

As the wind increased, and the rain threatened, it was time to leave...

Black-winged stilts

2010-04-11T16:20:00.003+01:00

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Just back from a family holiday to Mallorca, combining some away-from-work time with a bit of birding on the side. We started in the south of the island, staying in a hotel in Colonia Sant Jordi. I hadn't planned on any real birding here, but the hotel fronted onto local salinas, with a population of 40 or so black winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus; click any for larger). With a little care, the stilts would approach to within 20 feet. These made superb subjects, with the reflections in the still water producing attractive images in the early morning light. Later on the direct sun made it impossible to maintain detail in both the blacks and whites.

Feeding

Flight

Preening

Courtship

Black-winged stilts are very attractive birds, with their long legs allowing them to foraging for surface invertebrates in deeper waters than many of their competitors. This widely distributed species occasionally turns up in the UK, and has even bred here.

The salinas are still active, with a local firm producing salt by evaporating sea water. The salinas were full of brine flies, which the stilts picked from the water. The salinas themselves were surrounded on two sides by typical modern Spanish hotels, and with some scrub and farmland edging onto beach on the others. In addition to the stilts, there were a few kentish plover and little egrets, lots of yellow-legged and Audouin's gulls and the usual range of Mediterranean warblers in the scrub. The incessant songs of zitting cisticola, serin and Sardinian warbler followed us everywhere, and osprey, Montague's harrier and a woodchat shrike providing minor early highlights of the trip. It was a bit early for many migrants, but the songs of willow warbler and blackcap were a sign of what's to come at home.

Apologies for all the stilt shots, but they are photogenic! Next, on to the north of Mallorca and a bit of proper birding...

Quiet morning, Chobham Common

2010-03-28T19:03:00.000+01:00

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Not all trips are eventful, and this morning was one of the quietest I've had in a while. I spent a couple of hours wandering through Chobham Common looking for adders with #1 daughter. No sign of any adders, or much else - there were few birds about, with the highlights being singing skylarks and chiffchaff, a solitary reed bunting and a buzzard passing overhead. I only took one shot - this is the foam produced by the water passing through the peaty soil, and I liked the pattern enough to convert it to monochrome.

Hairy-footed flower bee

2010-03-27T17:29:00.001Z

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Spring is in full force in the garden for the last week or two, with queen bumblebees hunting for nest sites, the first solitary bees are already foraging, and today, my first swallow of the year dashed overhead.

The hairy-footed flower bee (Anthophora plumipes; click any for larger) is an early flying solitary bee, which usually appears here in mid-March, and is last seen in early May. This is a male - the females are black. Three loudly buzzing males were patrolling along the patio edge, skirmishing when they came close together. They are rarely still, with flight behaviour that recalls an over-caffeinated hoverfly.

More ringing

2010-03-23T20:24:00.000Z

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Another early start, and a misty, cold Spring morning for an excellent ringing session. My first sand martins of the year flew overhead as we set up the nets, and by the end of the day we had a good haul, including bullfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, blue, great and long-tailed tit, song thrush and chiffchaff. The highlights were three very vocal great spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) which had hit one net together, and best of all - a fine treecreeper (Certhia familiaris; click either for larger).

We finished off at lunchtime and I dropped into Lavell's for a quick look before heading to work. Plenty of ducks around, including this gadwall (Anas strepera). A water rail (Rallus aquaticus; click either for larger) foraged under the feeders, providing a good ending to the morning's efforts.

Pagham Harbour, West Sussex

2010-03-22T20:57:00.003Z

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Not all days can be full of birding excitement - yesterday I had a quietish day in Pagham Harbour, and the light was terrible for photography. I started at dawn at Church Norton, which was full of bird song, including chiffchaffs and a distant skylark, and a buzzard flew overhead mobbed by carrion crows. There was a few redshank (Tringa totanus; click for larger) foraging on the bare mudflats, and further out a mix of black-tailed godwit, curlew, knot, dunlin, oystercatcher and grey plover pottered about. I first headed towards the shingle to look for wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe; click for larger), and quickly picked up a pair, but neither allowed close approach. The Severals held a few noisy Cetti's warblers, and as I wandered back a very chunky sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus; its size initially convinced me I had a male goshawk - apologies for the rubbish image) headed out to sea, circled a few times and was lazily mobbed by a greater black backed gull. It then decided that it was time to hunt, and headed straight back to shore, initially straight towards me and then off to the side, where it powered through the trees.

I moved on to the Sindlesham side, where a lone avocet (Recurvirostra avocetta; click for larger) preened at the edge of the lagoon, while a decent sized flock of wigeon grazed in the fields nearby. A walk along the saltmarsh produced little of interest. Returning to the visitors centre produced a mix of common passerines, including great tit (Parus major) and blackbird (Turdus merula; click either for larger).

I then headed home, stopping off at Budd's Farm to see what was about - the usual cast of waterfowl and gulls were present, along with an odd looking duck - I assume a pochard x ferruginous duck? I've had a serious hunt (well - I spent five minutes googling) for anything that looks similar, and have failed - the head colour and white under tail coverts suggest fudge duck, and the rest is very 'pochardy'. Anyone who knows better out there?!

EDIT: The new Collins has a nice spread of hybrids - a pochard x ferruginous duck hybrid it is.

Small numbers of brent geese (Branta bernicla; click for larger) dotted Langstone Harbour, along with red-breasted mergansers and a few wigeon. As I called it a day, a kestrel hunted overhead, and the second buzzard of the day was mobbed by several carrion crows - at least there was a sort of symmetry to it all...

Bufflehead and other Dorset birds

2010-03-17T21:58:00.010Z

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I finally got my day off, and headed off early to Dorset, lured by the promise of a vagrant drake bufflehead and a decent day's birding in the south-west, and perhaps my first summer migrants of the year. A long drive passed quickly, and I found a spot to park in Langton Herring, and walked up the hill to the view over the Fleet and Chesil Beach. The view was stunning, but the cloud cover wasn't promising - a smell of damp in the air was a premonition of things to come. It was an odd mix of seasons, with a large flock of fieldfare feeding in a field, while overhead skylarks sang. I took the public path to Rodden Hive, which had good numbers of duck, with wigeon calls heard in the distance before they were seen. Red-breasted merganser, goldeneye, teal, shelduck, shoveler and mallard were spread over the water, with a raft of coot in the distance. Over 20 little egret dotted the shoreline, small numbers of redshank and curlew chased around, and raven called overhead.

I was surprised to find that there was no one else there - with very few records this is a real rarity, but to be honest that made it all the better (I assume they were at a different vantage point?). After a few minutes searching I found the bufflehead (Bucephala albeola; click for larger - calling these heavily crops images record shots is being generous) in the distance with a pair of goldeneye; views through the scope were OK, but I'd have preferred a decent view. I took a few shots with the 500 and a 1.4X converter, but even that didn't have anything like enough reach - one for the extreme digiscopers I think. The light was poor, but I can't complain though - a mega, lots of other interesting species around, and silence...

I took a few images of singing dunnock (Prunella modularis; click for larger) using the 500/teleconverter combo, and considering that this is cropped and at ISO800, it's not too shabby.

My next stop was Portland Bill - but by the time I got there the cloud had descended, and the fog horn was being sounded by the lighthouse. No chance of any decent sea watching, but I was hoping for a wheatear. no luck there, but I did find a smart male black redstart, which was a bonus. There were good numbers of guillemots, and a few razorbills, gannets and fulmar, but I couldn't find the puffins that had been seen earlier. I spent a couple of hours wadering through the boulders and hoping the cloud would lift, but it was there to stay. I debated whether to look for the reported hoopoe, but the street doesn't exist according to my maps. Rather than wandering around aimlessly in Portland, I headed on.

Final stop - Radipole. After one wary and distant trans-Atlantic duck, I was welcomed by the tame-ish hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus; click for larger) - suffering the ignominy of the plastic label. Whether deserved or not, it's still a gorgeous bird, and always worth a few minutes.

I did the reserve loops, but there was little of note - the highlight was a kestrel. I returned to check out the gulls at the visitor centre, and took a few images of herring (Larus argentatus) and lesser black backed gulls (Larus fuscus; click either for larger).

There was plenty of Cetti's warblers, with their loud-hailer calls ringing from the reedbeds. My last half a minute was spent photographing a Cetti's that actually gave me a chance to get a few shots - now that doesn't happen very often.

So - my first full day out in ages, and pretty successful too - a lifer, some decent birds, over 70 species seen, and even a couple of decent photographs - I went home a happy birder!

Ringing in the changes

2010-03-16T22:50:00.000Z

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The end of a completely hectic few months is in sight - finally I'll get my weekends back, and there's even a chance my family may get me back too. I had planned to go to see the bufflehead this morning, but yesterday afternoon I got the chance to go ringing at a local site. I've been hoping to get back into ringing for some time - I had a healthy total of extracted, processed and ringed birds as a teenager, but studies and life got in the way. Now that my research interests are firmly pointing back to birds, it's obvious to me that a ringing permit could make all the difference in some of the projects I want to pursue. So, instead of the south coast, I was in damp scrubby lake margins for a 6:30 start for setting nets.

It was a quiet day, with only 13 birds caught - blackbirds, dunnock, blue, great and long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) and a reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus; click either for larger). On a purely selfish note, that worked well for me, as I was allowed to handle, process and ring many of the birds - I suspect on a busy morning I'd have been watching. I was very pleased to find that some of the fine motor skills associated with handling birds hadn't disappeared, but not so pleased to find that I couldn't remember anything about aging. Apart from inducing nostalgia, it was a good morning chatting about birds and birders in friendly company.

After the nets were removed, I headed to Lavell's for a quick check - Spring is definitely here, with lots of displaying teal (Anas crecca; click for larger), tufted duck and pochard. A hunting grey heron (Ardea cinerea; click for larger) and a redshank in the distance were the highlights. So, in some ways a very quiet day, but still very enjoyable.

Of surveys and students, mandarins and me

2010-03-12T08:04:00.002Z

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Students choose to study zoology and ecology for a wide variety of reasons, but over the years it's become clear to me that many enjoyed biology at A level, and not quite sure what to do next, decided that the most enjoyable element was animal ecology, diversity and conservation, which they want to carry on with through degree level. Others have a long-held but relatively passive interest in wildlife, often fostered through TV documentaries and info-tainment, or for those who are fascinated by evolution, the books of Steve Jones and Richard Dawkins. A small minority really know their wildlife - usually keen on birds, reptiles or insects - but these are surprisingly few. I can never decide whether this is something to be worried about or not. I knew I wanted to do zoology once I discovered that you could actually have a career studying animals, and I was a keen birder since before my teens. Looking around, I suspect that I'm the oddity here, rather than the students - one of the best birders I know discovered birding in his early 20s, so an early start isn't essential.

At the same time, if I have a dogma, it is that to be a good field scientist you have to be a good natural historian. Having a gut feel for how species respond to the world around them helps peg lots of theories down, and just as important, the patience and tenacity that comes from slogging through the rain or heat is a critically important part of being a fieldworker. So - how do you engage students with the study of field biodiversity? My approach is to work with something everyone is at least superficially aware of - birds. They are fantastic examples of biodiversity on our doorstep, and the basic field techniques can be gleaned just by getting out there and doing it.

In a first year ecology module, I introduce the diversity of common winter birds on campus, and we have weekly fieldwork sessions allowing people to experience a range of species on campus, from grebes and ducks to thrushes and finches. Within a few sessions you can have people confidently separating black-headed, common, herring and lesser black-backed gull - which I think is no mean feat. This culminates in a survey of the birds on campus, where every corner has a team counting what is present. What is amazing is just how in a few weeks, people can go from having a dismissive attitude of the 'uncoolness' of bird-watching and bird-watchers, to seeing just how fascinating and diverse they are - wildlife on their doorstep. And they do a great job too. There are always odd misidentifications (usually we end up with willow tit on the list, which has to be removed), and we overestimate the numbers of some species as they fly over campus, and hugely underestimate others, but on the whole the survey gives a real insight into what's around.

We're incredibly lucky in that the campus is large, green and has a superb array of habitats on our doorstep - walk out of the lab and there's conservation meadows, mature woodland, a large lake and a botanic garden. The campus itself covers 130 hectares, and used to be the country estate of the Marquis of Blandford, who 200 years ago laid out the estate and planted many of the trees we benefit from today.

This year we had almost 1900 birds of 50 species (a pretty typical amount for campus at this time of year), and missed some obvious species such as grey heron, which drop in to feed daily. The usual red kites, sparrowhawks and kestrels, as well as the woodpeckers, get most appreciation, while dunnocks are hugely under-recorded. The best bit - when you speak to students who did the survey the first year it ran, and are now still are interested in birds, and a few even become keen birders and ringers.

There is a key place for 'natural history' in such degree courses - it underpins everything to do with environmental biology - but in many places it's been squeezed out. The 'flavours of biology' approach to teaching with shared classes across the subjects from biochemistry to zoology in the first year, a lack of time or resources, and a lack of appreciation for just how important these skills are all play a part. I feel fortunate to work at a university where we've bucked that trend, and all the better for the students too. You'd never notice that this was a personal bugbear, would you?!

And mandarins (Aix sponsa; click for larger) - simply because they're beautiful and being impressed by gaudy colours, they're by far my favourite duck. We (under-)recorded 14 today, along with 3 wood ducks, both of which breed in mature trees in the woodland. But the weather was kind, the students committed, and the outcome worth it - I hope they enjoyed it as much as me...

Red-crested pochard in Egham

2010-02-23T10:30:00.000Z

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A quick run to Egham for a local drake red-crested pochard before work was successful, if muddy. Red-crested pochard shouldn't be that hard to find, but like brambling, I'd managed to go through last year without coming across one.

I'd not been to Egham Hythe Pond before, and discovered on arrival that access from the side I arrived at was restricted. Nevertheless, with a bit of poking about I was able to find a good viewpoint over the lake, from where I could see small numbers of black-headed and common gull, shoveler, mallard, gadwall, pochard and tufted duck. Through the reeds I could make out the striking drake red-crested pochard (Netta rufina; click for larger). I moved around for a better view, but it immediately flew to the other side of the pond - clearly not tame as I was more than 50 yards away. I took a couple of record shots in the poor, drizzly light and then had a quick look around the surrounding fields. There is evidence of habitat restoration (in-filled gravel pits?) and the hay meadows nearby held large numbers of gulls and wood pigeons, while the ring-necked parakeets kept up a constant racket. Thirty minutes up - time to get to work...

Ring-billed versus common gull identification

2010-02-22T06:52:00.000Z

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Just as an aide memoire for anyone interested (and a reminder for me as much as anything) - here are the key distinguishing features of adult ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis; click for larger). The image below was made with a little Photoshop jiggery-pokery (common gull Larus canis shot at same time and similar distance added into the main image); both gulls processed exactly the same way, so colour differences reflect the individuals, not the photographer's preferences. This is the Gosport over-wintering ring-billed gull - affectionately known in some quarters as Waldo.

Most likely to be confused with: common gull, but compare mantle colour (paler - difficult to pick out without a direct comparison), yellowish rather than greenish legs, big black band on bill (not as useful as you'd think - lots of common gulls have bands), chunkier (including bill), white tertial crescent less obvious (surprisingly clear and useful). For a different perspective, have a look at the current header on the Poor Birding World blog - it made me laugh anyway!

What startles me is that the first British record was in 1973, and for a decade they were a real rarity (I remember seeing my first ones in Limerick in the mid-80s - an unprecedented pair!). Now there's regularly over 50 reported in a year, and there is a suspicion that some move in both directions across the Atlantic. Just goes to show how expectations affects reporting...

Langstone Harbour and Lavell's lake

2010-02-20T21:55:00.006Z

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A day of two birding halves with work in the middle - one which turned out well. I dashed down to Budd's Farm sewage works first thing in the morning, in part because the trip earlier in the week suggested that a visit when the tide was out might be worthwhile, and also because I fancied another go at the green-winged teal.

There were good numbers of teal, tufted duck and pochard on the pools, but no sign of the green-winged teal, so I moved on to scan the harbour. The Spinnaker Tower loomed in the distance, and bait pickers collected lugworms across the bay (click for larger). The light was contrasty and difficult, but there was lots about to keep me entertained.

The tide was out and there were small flocks of brent geese (Branta bernicla; click for larger) feeding among the seaweed.

Flocks of dunlin and knot, as well as scattered ringed plover, curlew, oystercatcher, redshank, greenshank and grey plover foraged across the mudflats, joined by a couple of little egrets (Egretta garzetta; click for larger).

Further out on the water, red-breasted mergansers, shelduck, goldeneye, wigeon and a single common scoter floated on the mirror-like water in the bay, while large numbers of black-headed (Larus ridibundus; click for larger), herring, lesser-black back and common gulls passed by. One last look at the geese, and it was back to Reading.

After work I headed to Lavell's Lake to see if the bittern would appear as it went to roost. I left the camera in the car as the light was going. Wearing a suit I was slightly out of place, but clearly there are standards to be maintained... There was no sign of the bittern, but the water rail was showing well under the feeders and there was a decent range of ducks. A sharp-eyed birder found some snipe at the rear of the wader scrape - one of which was bobbing away as if it was on springs. Obviously an unexpected jack snipe, and some half-decent views (considering the fading light and it being hidden by vegetation and teal) were had. An excellent end to the day.

UPDATE
Lots of people saw the jack snipe the next day, and there's even a photo.

Fish supper

2010-02-19T21:25:00.000Z

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I took a quick lunch time trip to Pingewood Gravel Pits, just south of Reading to see if I could connect with a reported black throated diver. No sign of the diver, but good numbers of gadwall, wigeon, tufted duck and pochard. This great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus; click for larger) caught a large perch close by and dispatched it without a second thought.

Black redstart and ring-billed gull, Hampshire

2010-02-16T22:12:00.003Z

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I managed to find a day to do a bit of birding, and predictably, the weather was atrocious - windy, cold and constant rain. Optimism (and necessity) dictated that I'd give it a go, and I decided to see if I could pick up a couple of my target species for the year by having a dash around the outskirts of Portsmouth.

Species number one was black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros; click for larger) - we don't find too many of those in Surrey or Berkshire, and one has been overwintering at a building site in Eastleigh, obviously mistaking it for a rocky shore. I arrived in the rain, and that didn't stop. After a little searching I located the redstart on a mound of soil, flicking between there and the detritus of building work. Views were distant, but good.

Following on the theme of non-pretty birding locations, the next stop was Walpole Park boating lake in Gosport, where a ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis; click for larger) has been resident for several months. This north American gull is a scarce visitor to the UK, and the weather made it difficult to pick out - I spent 30 minutes huddled from the rain checking through the common gulls before I found it. They're readily separated by their paler mantle,smaller white crescent on their tertials, pale eyes and fiercer look (and a big black ring on their bills, of course). The views were decent, but only lasted a few minutes before a dog walker put the birds up.

There was also a Mediterranean gull, and I took a few shots of this herring gull (Larus argentatus; click for larger) which allowed a closer view. Cold and wet, it was time to move on.

Next stop was Southsea Castle, where my second target species, a flock of purple sandpipers, usually winters on the rocky shoreline. It was clear straight away that they weren't there - the tide was in - so I moved on to Langstone Harbour and Hayling Island, stopping off at Budd's Farm sewage works (yet another nice birding location for the day) and Hayling Bay. Lots of ducks, and lots more rain at both locations, but nothing unusual, so soaked to the skin, it was time to head for home.

Water rail at Lavell's Lake

2010-02-10T20:13:00.001Z

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The regular bittern is back at Lavell's Lake, and prompted by a comment on the skulls post, I decided it was time to drop in on my way home from work. Bitterly cold, and surprisingly quiet, there were the usual waterfowl and gulls in decent numbers. A pair of water rails (Rallus aquaticus; click for larger) fed under the feeders, looking for the detritus dropped by the feeding tits and finches. The light was appalling, and only the fact that I don't like having photo-less posts keeps an image in - just about acceptable I suppose for a never stopping subject at 1/20th of a second. It's not looking particularly rail-thin either - fluffed up feathers to fend off the cold.

The light died, and through the scope the bittern showed well in the far reedbed, climbing the reeds to roost. There's always something special about seeing bittern - guaranteed to be a good end to a day, no matter how demanding it's been.

Tawny owl - secret of silent flight

2010-02-08T19:58:00.002Z

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Owls are silent hunters. Their prey capturing ability is based on hearing (some 10-times more responsive than ours) rather than sight for most species, and their feathers show some fantastic adaptations for their predatory behaviour. I've been covering the mechanics of flight in recent lectures, and I've been lucky enough to acquire a few wings, including one of a tawny owl, to illustrate a few points.

I'd been meaning to take shots of these to show owl feather structure, but Alan Tilmouth's recent post prompted me to get on and do it. The leading edge of the first few primaries of the tawny owl (Strix aluco; click any image for larger) have soft fringes (image below), deadening the sound of the contact between wing beat and air, and underneath the primary and secondary feathers, you can see that the inner vane (image to the left) has uneven, loose barbs, ensuring that the flight feathers slide over each other quietly.

The feathers also have a matt appearance, with an almost velvety texture (bottom image), in contrast to the gloss of most birds' tightly knitted barbs. This again helps deaden sound produced during flight, helping the owl to hear its prey unimpeded by noise, and perhaps also preventing their prey from hearing the owl's approach.

Even tawny owls, which are sit and wait predators, benefit from this, as their prey can move quickly. Silence helps the owl make those last moment adjustments before capturing its prey.

Great grey shrike at Ash Ranges

2010-02-04T19:43:00.001Z

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Sometimes we just do the stupidest things. I've been virus-ridden since Monday - I managed to get through Monday morning ornithology lecturing, and then headed home to bed. After 4 hours of 'projecting' my voice completely seized up, and all that came out was a squeaky croak, and it's only coming back now. Anyway, by yesterday things weren't looking any better. However... Ash Ranges was meant to be open with no firing,and that only happens fortnightly at best, and of course on Wednesdays I'd normally be in work. Even more relevant, a black redstart had been reported near Mychett Gate - just five minutes from home - and the great grey shrike was also still around. They were worth dragging myself out from under a sweaty duvet for, or so I thought.

In my addled wisdom, I decided to test the theory that (in spite of a raging temperature, no voice and a brain filled with cotton wool soaked in chloroform) some fresh air would do me good, and I'd be all set to go back to work the next day. It didn't and I wasn't. I arrived, walked for 10 minutes, saw the GGS (Lanius excubitor; rubbish image - the dot in the distance on the top of a dead tree; click for larger if you're desperate for another 5 wasted seconds in your life) in the distance and had no sign of the black redstart (or a Dartford warbler for that matter). Felt a lot worse. Realising that I'd made a serious error of judgement, I headed for home and to the safety of bed. But I do like shrikes...

More monochrome

2010-02-01T00:12:00.007Z

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Work is keeping me tied to the computer, so no time to get out and take some new shots. Instead, following on from my playing around with mammal skulls, where I converted images to monochrome, played around a bit with structure and contrast, and a bit of dodging and burning, and then blended the images so that a hint of the underlying colour comes through. I decided to look at some old shots to see if the technique would work with them. It's pretty clear to me that this is a technique for a particular type of image - both in terms of content and in terms of building an atmosphere. For me the first two work best - the impression evoked by the orang-utan is very different in colour for example. Oh well - enough play - back to work!

Bornean orangutan Pongo pygmaeus

False gharial Tomistoma schlegelii

Grass snake Natrix natrix

Herring gull Larus argentatus

Burrowing owl Athene cunicularia (captive)

Canada goose Branta canadensis

Mammal skulls from barn owl pellets

2010-01-26T07:50:00.004Z

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One of the really great things about my work is that I get to spend a little time teaching some incredibly interesting topics with a group of keen zoology and ecology students. I'm running a new ornithology module, which will (by the time I've finished writing it!) cover subjects including bird diversity, flight, migration, behaviour and conservation. In the practical classes this week we spent some time learning about the bird digestive system, and why raptors (among others) produce pellets.

I'm fortunate to be supervising two enthusiastic doctoral students, who managed to locate a huge supply of barn owl pellets from west Berkshire (thanks!). Dissecting these allows us to study what owls are actually preying upon. In total the class dissected 117 pellets from three locations, and keyed out the remains found in them. I have summarised the data in a pie chart, but this ignores the large volume of fruit (cherry?) stones and beetle elytra found at one location, where the proportion of mammal remains on first glance appears lower. Evidently (and as expected) field voles (225 individuals) make up the majority of prey items, with bank voles, common shrew and wood mouse the other commonly found species (around 25 of each). Other prey (small birds, pygmy shrew, harvest mouse) were found in very few pellets.

The other opportunity I took was to take some photographs of the skulls, and I had in mind something more than just a straight-forward macro approach. With the exception of the common shrew (Sorex araneus; click any image for larger) where the red-tipped teeth suit colour, I converted all to monochrome in a separate layer, and tried to go for a more fine-art look, using high structure and contrast. I then changed the opacity of the monochrome layer to around 50% (depending on what worked for me) to allow some of the base colour to come through and flattened the resulting image. I hope that it provides a different viewpoint of something inherently interesting...

Field vole Microtus agrestis

Harvest mouse Micromys minutus

Brown rat Rattus norvegicus

Wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus

Common shrew Sorex araneus

Fieldfares in the snow

2010-01-13T17:23:00.001Z

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I spent half an hour at lunch time in the hide, trying to get some more fieldfare (Turdus pilaris; click any image for larger) shots in the snow. Very happy with the images - at full resolution every feather is pin sharp. I also took a few of a dunnock (Prunella modularis; about to take off) and a lone chaffinch (Fringella coelebs) winnowing the detritus under the feeders. The fieldfare was defending the garden from any other thrushes that dared enter.

Redwings

2010-01-10T11:19:00.003Z

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We have a couple of Pyracantha bushes growing up the side of the house, and these are covered in berries. Usually the bushes provide a roosting site for local house sparrows, but with the exception of the odd blackbird, few species eat the berries. This isn't because they're inedible, but rather because of disturbance by passing pedestrians and cars. This hasn't put off the visiting redwings (Turdus iliacus; click for larger) this winter, who can't be so choosy in these Arctic conditions. They have already stripped a third of the berries, and are working their way towards the berries surrounding the living room window. The light was absolutely terrible, but before starting work I grabbed a couple of record shots - I still can't believe how many winter thrushes have visited the garden!

AFTERNOON UPDATE
Just a single shot of a fieldfare (Turdus pilaris; click for larger) feeding on apples in the garden.

Bird photography in the snow

2010-01-09T20:16:00.002Z

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Robin Erithacus rubecula

It's been a while since I've done some serious bird photography, rather than just taking shots it as a by-product of my birding. The weather today persuaded me to put up a hide in the garden, and I placed some perches near the feeders. The big advantage of this set-up is that things come close. The downside? It's freezing! (And anything large ends up as a head-shot.)

While there was a decent number of tits, I was surprised at the lack of finches - I saw one chaffinch and nothing else, in spite of liberal amounts of seed available - I suspect that there has been a big movement south for many of our usual residents.

It was also interesting to compare these results from the straight 500mm with those I get with the Sigma 150-500mm zoom. While the zoom is convenient for wandering about (unsurprisingly given that the 500 costs about five times as much) the sharpness just doesn't compare.

Anyway - here are the ones I think are worth keeping - click any for larger.

Blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus

Great tit Parus major

Coal tit Periparus ater

Dunnock Prunella modularis

Woodpigeon Columba palumbus

Jay Garrulus glandarius

Great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major

Blackbird Turdus merula

Garden fieldfare (and others...)

2010-01-07T13:53:00.001Z

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Working hard, but as usual distracted by what's outside the window. The snow's over a foot deep in the garden, and even fieldfares (Turdus pilaris; click for larger) are venturing in, something they usually never do. The feeders are attracting in a range of birds, including the usual house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and robin (Erithacus rubecula; click either for larger). I took a few shots through the (washed in preparation) study window, before returning (resentfully!) to work. Looks lovely out there, but I bet that the local Dartford warblers that survived last February's snow are in for a tough time...

Sheet's Heath in the snow

2010-01-06T17:45:00.003Z

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The forecast proved accurate, with approaching a foot of snow in by the end of the day. In spite of yesterday's assumptions of a day in, I took an off-school daughter on a lunch-time wander through Sheet's Heath as the snow continued to fall. There was little moving (although a lesser black-back flying over made #58 on my local patch list), with most birds seen near houses, rather than on the heath itself. I used the wide-angle for a few landscape shots - there was no chance of any decent bird images. As the sky was dark grey the snow on the trees didn't stand out, so I went for patterns, where a contrasty mono conversion gives a stark image, emphasising the cold atmosphere (click any for larger). I really like this effect, but I realise that it's not to everyone's taste!

And just to show that there was some colour around - #1 daughter all wrapped up...

Riverside Park, Surrey

2010-01-05T22:12:00.000Z

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This has been a cold winter, and the car's dash read -4C this morning. I headed out for a half day's local birding, as the forecast weather is likely to keep me at my desk for the next few days. Today's trip was to Riverside Park, a nature reserve outside Guildford. I'd only been here once before, seeing a green sandpiper (and the Early Birder).

The river Wey runs through the park - the navigation was opened in 1652, the first canalised river in England. The Wey connects Guildford with the Thames, and trade along the river was the foundation of the city's wealth. Today it's used by pleasure boats, and has great conservation value. The adjacent meadows flood (click image below for larger), and traditionally were a wintering haunt of water pipit.

Today there were decent numbers of redwings and fieldfare foraging in the frozen meadows, and black-headed and common gulls further out, but no sign of water pipit. The Wey had a few little and great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus; click for larger), several Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus; click for larger), over 50 Canada geese (Branta canadenis; click for larger) and a range of other waterfowl, including several teal.

The river is bounded by pollarded willows on one bank (click for larger), with alders on the other. The trees were full of foraging flocks of tits, siskins, lesser redpolls and other finches.

I passed over to Guildford sewage farm on the off-chance (very off-chance) of a black redstart. None of course, but there was a huge number of pied wagtails (Motacilla alba; click for larger) feeding on the settlement tanks. I then wandered along the river to overlook the now frozen wet meadows, where I found a distant little owl scanning the area from a dead tree. The owl, ice rime on all the vegetation, and the calls of snipe flying over made this place surprisingly atmospheric, in spite of the roar of the adjacent A3.

I then passed back to the main lake, which was almost completely frozen over. The usual suspects were on the lake, including this family of mute swans (Cygnus olor; click for larger), but no pochard or wigeon, or of the reported jack snipe. I imagine that if the lake is unfrozen then there would be substantially larger numbers of wildfowl.

This is only the second time I've been to Riverside, but considering how close it is to home I ought to be going more often - lots of decent habitat and the potential for some decent finds.

Wide-angle wildfowl at Richmond Park

2010-01-03T21:49:00.008Z

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One of the perils of mixing a family outing with photography is that a) even the most well-behaved five-year-old has limited patience and b) for some reason wandering around gravel pits and freezing heathland isn't considered attractive on a winter's day. So, if you want to get a few shots on a family day, you have to be quick, and you have to choose the right place. Today the location of compromise was Richmond Park - it has food, interesting things to look at, and Richmond itself is just around the corner.

I only had 20 minutes or so to take some shots, and as the light was pretty terrible. I decided to make the best of a poor situation and we spent a little time feeding the birds at Pen Ponds. A few shots were taken with the plan to convert them to black and white to emphasise the cold conditions. Only one was taken with a telephoto (black-headed gull Larus ridibundus; click for larger) - I liked the symmetry of the image, and also how fluffed up the gull's plumage was in the cold. The rest were taken with an ultra-wide angle to try to get something a little different. The Canada goose (Branta canadensis; click for larger) shot works well, I think. The position of the gulls in flight overhead helps balance the composition, and I've burned in the detail in the pebbles to enhance the mood.

The Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus; click for larger) allowed close approach, and here I've tried to contrast their rich colours with the dull surroundings, while using the perspective provided by the lens to provide an unusual viewpoint. A slow shutter speed allowed the flying gulls to blur, while maintaining the geese in focus. None of these latter shots quite worked out how I wanted them, but they've provided good pointers as to how to improve them next time.

Red-throated diver at Frensham Little Pond

2010-01-01T19:41:00.002Z

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New Year's Day birding part two - target species
After being virtuous and birding on my doorstep, and decided to make a start with the second part of my year's aims, to see some of the species I'd missed out on last year, mainly due to a lack of time and distance involved. This was an easy one though - a red-throated diver had been reported yesterday at Frensham Little Pond - just about the least likely place in Surrey (short of a village pond) where you'd expect one to turn up. Usually at this time of year they're at sea, or in a sheltered bay somewhere, rather than in the middle of west Surrey. The diver was reported as being oiled, which may explain its presence so far inland.

Frensham Little Pond is actually quite big, only little in comparison to Frensham Great Pond, and at this time of year is well known for wintering bitterns. Today however it looked as if half of Farnham had decided that a walk around the pond was called for - the place was packed with people. Normally this would have me heading in the opposite direction, but a diver would be worth the effort. Initially I wondered whether the noise and dogs had spooked it, but then I caught a sight of it, heading behind some Phragmites. First species to be crossed off my target list for the year. With a couple of other birders, we could see the diver hauled out on a grassy patch, preening, but our view was almost completely obscured. Of course - the diver had found the one place where it wouldn't be disturbed - right by the warden's cottage.

After a little while the warden showed up, and deciding that politeness was over-rated, I asked if we could have a view from his property. Good bloke that he was, he was happy to oblige the group of four that had gathered, and sticking my head around the hedge, I was about 20 feet from the red-throated diver (Gavia stellata; click for larger). I took a few shots, as did the others and then we headed back to our old spot to see if it would return to the water, but no luck. There is some evidence of oiling around the neck (probably from preening), but most was out of view - the only question now is whether this diver has a fighting chance?

UPDATE
I gather that the diver was killed by a fox the night these images were taken - a sad end...

Brookwood Cemetery

2010-01-01T18:37:00.001Z

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New Year's Day birding part one - local patch.
Starting with part one of my new year's resolution, I walked all of a few hundred yards to Brookwood Cemetery. Brookwood Cemetery is Britain's largest, and Europe's second largest cemetery, founded in mid-Victorian times to deal with the overflow from London's cemeteries, which were filling up with victims of cholera and other now-conquered diseases. It is now a Grade 1 listed site. When I first moved nearby the cemetery was overgrown in large parts, but it is now much tidier, but fortunately from a wildlife point of view, there are still nooks and crannies which provide a range of habitats. Most spectacular of all are the avenues of giant sequoia, and most poignant is the military cemetery, with tended lawns and careful plantings.

I wandered through the cemetery, picking up common passerines, a sparrowhawk overhead, and best of all, a little owl flicked away before I had a chance to get the camera up, but I still managed a decent view. I've always thought that the cemetery would be ideal for them, and it looks like I was right! I only took one decent image (and as an aside, you need a permit to photograph within the cemetery), of a robin (Erithacus rubecula; click for larger) sitting on a gravestone.

Wandering in cemeteries brings a real quiet - no dog walkers and few other people, allowing them to be havens of peace and biodiversity, and also a place for reflection.

Review of the year, and plan for the next

2009-12-31T00:01:00.002Z

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So - made it to the end of the year in one piece, with just odd elements of sanity left by the wayside. This is my one hundredth post in 2009, mainly covering birding trips throughout the UK, but also including leading my annual field-trip to Java and Borneo, which is always spectacular.

Highlights:
Over 200 species seen in the year, which considering the constraints on my time is pretty good going. Using the Birdguides definition (well I've got to base it on something...), I've seen a few megas (interesting how this bit of slang is used nowhere else these days) - white-throated sparrow (Old Winchester Hill), black-winged pratincole (Stodmarsh), brown shrike (Staines Moor) and the dodgy hooded merganser (Radipole) and a rarity (still, in spite of this year's invasion) with the pair of glossy ibis (Dungeness). On top of that some scarce species - spotted crake (London Wetland Centre), ring-necked duck (Frithend Sand Pit), stone curlew, red-backed shrike, cattle and great white egret (all at Dungeness), two great grey shrikes (Ash Ranges and Wishmoor Bottom), spoonbill (Lodmoor), white-winged black tern (Staines Reservoirs) and American wigeon (Lower Farm Gravel Pits).

Black-winged pratincole

Brown shrike

Hooded merganser

White-throated sparrow

Glossy ibis

Favourite moments?
Lots! Unexpectedly finding a singing firecrest at the Devil's Punchbowl, the stone curlew flying in off the sea at Dungeness, and the pair of glossy ibises landing in front of me after so much trying, watching barn owls hunting in daylight at several locations, merlin and hen harrier at local heaths, and the spectacular flight of enormous flocks of pink-footed geese over Snettisham at dusk, hawfinch at Bookham Common, a flock of twite at Holkham, and a year book-ended by great grey shrikes, both within 10 minutes of home.

Moments to forget?
No point in raking things over, but that tsunami of midges at Staines Reservoirs, lugging the camera to the white-winged black tern and discovering that I'd forgotten to load a memory card as it performed perfectly, not getting to the red deer rut and continuous dipping on penduline tits (something like five times, and before them waxwing and glossy ibis). Regrets - not going to Cornwall to see the snowy owl. It was a snowy owl! Well worth £80 of petrol and cramp from driving all day.

So - what will keep me going next year? Having a year list was a real motivator, making me go and see species and (more importantly places) I'd not visited before. But in 2010, rather than just start another year list, I've decided to have two targets. First - my new year's resolution is to get to know my local sites much better. I've defined my home range as anything within my local 10km square (see the map). This isn't centred, as large areas nearby are out of bounds either permanently (Pirbright Ranges), or for the majority of the year (Ash Ranges) as they are MoD land. At the same time, the local heaths may not be of that high standard, but I should still pick up some local specialities such as Dartford warbler, woodlark and tree pipit.

My local(ish!) patch:

There are also a series of places I just don't know at all, which is pretty poor considering how local they are, but I've tended to go a little further for decent sites. Papercourt marshes and gravel pits should be my most regular local wetland, so I hope that I won't be completely lacking in passage waders and wintering ducks. There are decent patches of woodland and farmland too. As a target? No idea to be honest, but 80 species seems reasonable. This isn't something I'll hold myself to, but I do want to get to know my own area better. I also need to complete my tetrads for the breeding atlas, so this is my excuse to focus on what's on my doorstep, rather than further afield.

Second, and relying again on Birdguides, I've decided that I need to try to get all of the 'common' species I'd missed out on in 2009 (7 - dipper, turtle dove, brambling, red-crested pochard, guillemot, common scoter and willow tit), and then 23 others on the list of regular but less well distributed species that I've missed out in 2009. These include sea-birds such as all the auks, shearwaters, lots of sandpipers (purple, curlew, wood) and some of the less common gulls. The one thing they have in common? Location, location, location. All were missed out (with the exceptions of brambling and red-crested pochard, and maybe turtle dove) as they'll require more than a few miles driving to get to the right locations to find them. Looking for 30 species in addition to the over 200 seen in 2010 seems difficult (especially as I plan to do more local birding nearer home), but not impossible.

So there we are - some targets to keep me motivated. I've realised that this is a very bird orientated review, which to some extent reflects what I've been up to this year, and this has been a change in focus from the more general wildlife photography I've been pursuing over the past few years. Time to go exploring and see where I end up in 2010!

Happy New Year!

Easily distracted...

2009-12-27T11:59:00.005Z

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Stuck in front of the computer, trying to get some work done, but made the mistake of looking out the window and getting distracted by the house sparrows (Passer domesticus; click for larger). A moment of decent light and I take a couple of shots through the (fairly filthy!) study window, before settling back to the screen. We still have decent populations of house sparrows here - long may it last!

Weir Wood Reservoir, East Sussex

2009-12-26T20:11:00.006Z

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An early morning Boxing Day trip before everyone else got out of bed proved interesting (in the sense that I got to visit somewhere new) and wet (in the sense that it poured with rain all morning). Weir Wood is a large reservoir over the border in East Sussex and the west end is an excellent local nature reserve, with a hide. The hide was the saviour of the day - at least I managed to stay dry while scanning the water. There was little unusual around - a scattering of pochard and tufted duck, a few mandarins and mallard, and the odd gull or cormorant were on show. The rain prevented a decent exploration, but a well placed set of feeders brought things closer, with good numbers of blue (Cyanites caeruleus), marsh (Poecile palustris) and great (Parus major; click any image for larger) tits allowing a few shots in the rain. The light was appalling, so I was pleased to get anything, and marsh tits are pretty uncommon closer to home so it's always good to come across decent numbers of these.

Ash Ranges, Surrey

2009-12-22T17:09:00.011Z

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Another freezing cold day, but blue skies made for a good afternoon on Ash Ranges. I decided today to get a few more landscape images of the Ranges, as well as the hope of coming across the great grey shrike again. There was no sign of the shrike, but a few Dartford warblers, a very surprising little egret flying over with intent (not exactly a species I would have expected over Surrey heathland) and a small flock of crossbills (Loxia curvirostra; click for larger). The distinctive calls of crossbill allow them to be picked out at a distance. These individuals were not hanging around, alighting briefly allowing a record shot, unfortunately into the light.

The light however, was superb, with the first two images taken from the top of Crown Prince Hill, showing just how spectacular this location is. Not typical Surrey by any stretch of the imagination...

Wandering back down as the sun set, the remaining light was incredibly atmospheric. The crescent moon hung over this dead tree, and I liked the way the remaining light caught the snow in the foreground. In the background I could hear the roosting flock of tits again, now joined by some long-tailed tits. In total there must be something like 100 birds roosting together. By this time my hands had stopped working - handling a metal-bodied camera saps heat from your fingers instantly!

A day of two halves

2009-12-20T16:16:00.019Z

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Another cold day, and I headed to the Basingstoke canal and onwards up through Sheet's Heath. The canal was frozen over, with the one open patch home to a dozen mallards. The adjacent woodland was busy with coal, great (Parus major; click for larger) and blue tits, blackbirds, robins and wrens, as well as jays, great spotted woodpeckers, and a range of finches. The heath itself was still covered in patchy snow, and the minor highlight here was a small flock of redwings at the top of a birch tree. I have now given up hope for the Dartford warblers for this year - I'd hoped that there may have been some juvenile dispersal repopulating the heath after February's disaster, but I imagine that there is plenty of open patches available in premium areas.

After lunch I then took a long wander on Ash Ranges, mainly with the aim of getting a decent shot of a Dartford warbler where I'd seen one at dusk yesterday. No luck, but after 10 minutes or so I found a great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor; click for larger) - now that made up for the cold! I caught it from the corner of my eye flying low over the heather, and it perched on a dead tree trunk near the top of Bridge Hill. I got a few record shots, but the shrike wasn't hanging around - it headed off over Romping Downs. I was chuffed at getting the first finding (or at least the first reported sighting) this winter of what is probably the same bird present last year, and a better view this time around than I managed with that shrike - even if I did get superb views of the Wishmoor Bottom bird.

There was nothing startling during the rest of the afternoon, but there was interest provided by a decent flock of lesser redpoll, a couple of Dartford warblers, and also a huge flock of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus; click for larger), with at least 50 birds (and I wouldn't be surprised at over 70), plus up to 20 great and coal tits, which flew into a couple of trees. A small flock of golden plover, and later a couple of dozen lapwings, flew over, adding to the day's total. So - a quiet morning with lots of common species, and a freezing afternoon with fewer species, but including a great grey shrike - not bad hey?!

Ash Ranges, Surrey

2009-12-19T16:34:00.011Z

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Ash Ranges is usually shut to the public, but over the Christmas and New Year the army leaves and the public has freedom to roam. Today was the first open day for this year's holiday season. Last winter we had great grey shrike and hen harrier, and all this just a five minutes from home, so regular visits are mandatory! The freezing weather meant that the snow from a couple of days ago remained on the ground over wide areas and I spent a couple of hours wandering over the heathland, until the sun went down. In all that time, I saw a family about a mile away, and later passed two dog walkers - not bad for a Saturday afternoon in Surrey.

Heathland is one of those habitats where you don't necessarily see that much, but what you see can be interesting. Today was fairly quiet, with 30 or so species seen before the sun started to sink. I'd brought the wrong lens for landscapes, but I had little else to point the lens at, so these will have to do...

The highlights were a pair of crossbills flying over, and a couple of dartford warblers (Sylvia undata; click for larger), including this silhouetted individual seen after the sun had gone down.

London Wetland Centre, Barnes

2009-12-13T16:24:00.013Z

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Today was primarily a photography day, rather than a birding day, so no hunting for the bittern, water pipit or mealy redpoll, all seen at the Wetland Centre today. On the bird front, the highlights were a pair of pintail and a shelduck. Instead, I chose to spend the morning trying for some decent images of common species. The light wasn't too bad in parts, where the watery winter light gave way to sunnier patches.

This robin (Erithacus rubecula; click any image for larger) was preening near the sheltered lagoon and allowed a close approach.

In contrast, this wren (Troglodytes troglodytes; click for larger) popped out and allowed a single snap shot.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus; click any image for larger) can be difficult to deal with in bright light - the contrast between the whites (difficult not to blow) and near blacks (difficult to keep detail in) is a challenge.

Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula; click any image for larger) present the same problem.

Finally, this Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus; click for larger) was exercising its wings, and I liked the contrast between the detail of the head and the pattern of the flexed wings.

Lavell's Lake, Berkshire

2009-12-09T20:46:00.008Z

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A quick 30 minutes at Lavell's (which I've just discovered has a nice new website) to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. There was little unexpected around - there were good numbers of pochard, wigeon and teal, and a water rail scurried through the reeds.

The water levels are very high (images taken with mobile phone; click for larger) suggesting, just as last year, the usual Lavell's bitterns will stick to other areas of Dinton Pastures. A few passerines were visiting the feeders, and there was a small group of redwings in the hedgerows, and a wintering chiffchaff called near the brook.

Dungeness, Kent

2009-12-05T21:02:00.011Z

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Being stubborn (or slightly more pejoratively, pig-headed), on booking a day off I decided to head back to Dungeness for one more hunt for the glossy ibises. I arrived before sun up, parked by the ARC pit and headed over towards Boulderwall Farm to see if my luck was in. A flock of tree sparrows flew over as I scanned the field from the road, but no sign. I moved on up the road to where a slight rise afforded a good view over the water and pasture, and from the left, in flew the ibises, landing about a 100 yards away. The light was poor and so I'd left the camera in the car, but the view was superb. They preened for a couple of minutes before disappearing off again. No matter what the rest of the day held, it was worth it. I was especially keen given that these are among the last few of the great glossy ibis invasion of the autumn of 2009. I'd guess that at least 50 juvenile birds arrived, probably from Spain, in a number of small flocks which spread throughout the country. It's not clear why they dispersed north post-breeding, but they did, I had finally managed to see them.

Elated, I headed to the ARC hide to see what was about. The light was still poor (all shots were taken at ISO 800), but there was a good range of species present on the spits (click for larger), and a pair of Bewick's swans (Cygnus columbianus; click for larger) out on the open water. A yellow-legged gull was picked out in the distance by someone else in the hide, and there was a scattering of interesting waders (golden plover, black-tailed godwit) among the usual ducks.

There was no sign of the penduline tits (these are now my official bogey bird after five attempts to see them this year - both here and at Rainham), and I moved to the end of the willow trail in case they were feeding in the reedmace, but there was no sign of them. A wintering chiffchaff was the only species of note.

As I walked along the trail a hunting marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus; click for larger) got everything up.

I moved to the main reserve, stopping at Boulderwall Farm again, where the glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus; click for larger) were feeding a few hundred yards away. The views weren't as good as earlier, but at least I got a few record shots. Glossy ibis is also my 200th species of the year - so I'd hit my target with a species I'd really wanted to catch up with in the UK.

I moved around the main reserve, checking each of the pits. My next target was smew, for which Dungeness is perhaps the premier location in the UK, with up to 20 wintering. After a lot of hunting, I eventually found a distant redhead. On the way around I came close to a kestrel (Falco tinnunculus; click for larger), but most birds were keeping their heads down in the chill wind.

While I missed the bittern from the Denge hide, the great white egret (Ardea alba; click for larger) hunted in the distance, and a small group of black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) and a couple of ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis; click for larger) bobbed in the choppy water.

The rest of the day was relatively quiet. I headed to the power station on the off chance of a wintering black redstart, or a snow bunting, but all that was around was the usual gulls and cormorants. Stopping off back at the ARC didn't turn anything new, apart from a squealling water rail and a sparrowhawk zipping past my ear. I waited as the light (such as it was) faded in case the penduline tits showed, but no luck. The only other notable addition was a tawny owl flying across the motorway on the way home. In spite of the poor photography conditions it was an excellent day - the glossy ibises were well worth the effort!

Moatlands Gravel Pits, Berkshire

2009-11-25T20:00:00.000Z

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Sometimes I'm just ever so slightly ashamed of myself. Currently stupidly busy at work, and in spite of whining about just how much I have to do, one hint of a dry day and a meeting-free morning, and off I go in pursuit of a juvenile long-tailed duck which has been resident at a local gravel pit for the last fortnight.

In my defence - it only took an hour, I only took a short lunch-break, and I went with a PhD student and we spent the time discussing her thesis plan (I'd technically call this working - nice work, but still working). And to show that it was pretty awful and therefore not skiving at all, juvenile long-tailed ducks are actually not that charismatic, unlike their grown-up counterparts, and Moatlands is right next to the M4 and therefore not high on my list of 100 birding sites in Berkshire I must visit before I die. Perhaps the feeling of guilt is just a transference of shame for heading out on an undeniable local twitch - walk to duck, see sea duck, leave duck. If I'd gone in the evening I could at least have defended being there by suggesting that I wanted to scan the gull roost, but even that's about as transparent a justification as any. Gulls (with the obvious exception of the white winged ones) are just not that inspiring and so make rubbish excuses for birding inland waters.

I am a bad birder. And I didn't even bring my camera, so I am also a bad photographer. I must learn to live with the shame of it all. Now - that serin at Rainham sounds tempting...

Dungeness, Kent

2009-11-20T17:20:00.008Z

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A rare day off resulted in a very early dash to the Kent coast. Sunrise over the shingle was a spectacular blaze of colour, but that didn't last long. Soon the forecast rain was bucketing down, and combined with the near-gale force winds meant that while I lugged the camera around, it didn't see the outside of the camera bag. I started at the ARC pit, where a pair of penduline tits had been reported yesterday. Most birds were keeping their heads down, with water rail and a hunting marsh harrier the highlights. Apart from that, there were good numbers of pintail, gadwall, teal, shelduck and wigeon, as well as Cetti's warbler, sparrowhawk and the usual gulls. A couple of hours split between the hide and the end of the willow trail (where they had been reported), failed to find them.

I moved on to the power station and climbed up the shingle bank, walking into the rain whipped about by near gale force winds. The breakers rolling onto the shingle shoreline disturbed gulls and little else. Watching out to sea was only possible from the lee of the sea-watching hide. No sign of any sea ducks, and apart from black-headed gulls little was on show. I didn't last long, and headed back to the ARC pit in the vain hope of seeing the penduline tits.

An hour's wait in the driving rain while staring at a large patch of reedmace proved wet and fruitless, so I decided to head to the Boulderwall Farm pit, to see if the glossy ibis were in view. The wind still threatened to blow the tripod and scope over - this shows how fierce the wind was, and it didn't take long before it was impossible to see through any optics. A ranger driving through put up the grazing wildfowl, gulls, crows and lapwings, and apparently the ibises, but yet again I failed to connect - very frustrating. This was the third time that I've tried to see the glossy ibises at Dungeness, and even though they've been around, luck hasn't been with me.

So, a bit of a failure on the birding front, getting cold and drenched into the bargain. Still - better out there than stuck inside!

Ash Ranges, Surrey

2009-11-08T19:31:00.002Z

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A couple of dank, chill hours on Ash Ranges meant that the camera stayed at home - rubbish light and open heathland are no place for lugging 10kg of kit pointlessly around. I was hoping to take advantage of a lull in the army's training schedule to see if any of the heath's winter visitors were in place.

No sign of the great grey shrike (a recently reported one may just have been on passage - feels a bit early for the winter resident to me) and no decent raptors either, but there were a few Dartford warblers 'dzeeet'ing from the heather. These are my first since the late winter snow, which killed off my local population. A passing birder suggested that their breeding bird survey on the Ranges has seen the population fall to 10% (from 200 pairs) of its previous level, and it seems to me as if the Dartfords in peripheral locations were wiped out. Apart from that there was a large flock of greenfinch (over 70 birds), plenty of meadow pipits, and a pair of crossbills flicking about in the pines were the birds of note.

First time out in three weeks - I needed to stretch my legs and find a little solitude - and there's little in Surrey that compares with the views from Crown Prince Hill over the rolling heathland.

Dungeness, Kent

2009-10-18T20:13:00.010+01:00

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Arriving at Dungeness at dawn proved quiet - there was little moving of interest at the patch, and a wander towards the observatory produced nothing of note, apart from a late flock of swallows feeding over the power station. Stopping off at the ARC pit produced a range of common wildfowl (including pintail) and a solitary ruddy duck, lapwing, golden plover and a little stint. A chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita; click for larger) foraged in a nearby sycamore.

Stopping at the main entrance to Dungeness RSPB reserve produced a small flock of tree sparrows, which nest in the adjacent farm, and a covy of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa; click for larger).

Wandering through the reserve produced little of note; the heat built up quickly, reflected back from the shingle, and by mid-day felt very un-Autumnal. There was little evidence of movement through, apart from recently arrived ducks, and the stonechats (Saxicola torquata; click for larger) were the most visible small passerines.

Overhead, marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus), kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) and a mobbed sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus; click any for larger) hunted in the heat haze.

I headed back to the car, resigned to a long drive back, when I got word that a cattle egret and a pair of glossy ibis had been seen from Denge marsh. I headed back, to hear that they had disappeared, but I then found a superb bittern (Botaurus stellaris; click for larger) far in the distance, climbing the reeds in classic bittern pose. Through the scope this looked great - just doesn't quite work through a 500mm lens!

That was the start of a round of ardeids, with grey herons and little egret (Egretta garzetta; click for larger) already seen in small numbers.

The great white egret (Ardea alba; click for larger - here hidden from the view of Denge hide) was playing hide-and-seek in the reeds to many people's chagrin.

And then after a long wait, the cattle egret (Bulbulcus ibis; click for larger) flew in to forage among the sheep in the late afternoon sun.

A long wait for the glossy ibis failed to produce yet another wanderer from the Mediterranean, but as a real unexpected bonus, a stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus; click for larger) flew in from the sea. These are fantastic - much more impressive than these primped egrets - real birds! The stone curlew bathed in a small pool, and provided a final highlight to a day that started poorly, but ended on a high.

Lavell's Lake, Berkshire

2009-10-16T20:50:00.000+01:00

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A 10 minute visit on the way home produced evidence of more movement - increased numbers of duck, including pochard, redwings passing over in number, and a surprising Cetti's warbler in the reedbeds.

Lavell's Lake, Berkshire

2009-10-14T20:00:00.007+01:00

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After yesterday's excitement, back to more prosaic local patch watching. Dropped into Lavell's Lake on the way home from work. Autumn is definitely here, with the first redwings of the winter feeding on hedgerow berries. Duck numbers (mainly wigeon and gadwall, but also teal, tufted duck and shoveler) continue to build. Apart from snipe and a sparrowhawk, there was little unusual around. Most attention was given to the little grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis; click for larger), with half a dozen in front of the hide. I suspect that they were a recent brood, as a couple were testing their wings and chasing over the water. The great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus; click for larger) were still feeding their well-grown offspring.

Brown Shrike at Staines Moor

2009-10-13T18:58:00.006+01:00

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A reported red-backed shrike was transformed in interest by its later re-identification as a brown shrike (Lanius cristatus). This is only the fifth or sixth UK record of this Asian species, which at this moment should be somewhere mid-migration from Siberia to south-eastern China, and instead finds itself just inside the M25 and next door to Heathrow. The news came in too late to dash down yesterday, so a 6am departure ensured that I was at the last reported spot well before dawn.

It was a cold morning, with ice scraped off the windscreen a hint (that I failed to take) that warm clothing would be wise. A thick low-lying mist didn't burn off until the sun was well up, and the side of the River Colne already had at least 50 people who probably should have been in work waiting for the shrike, with many bemoaning the clear skies and suggesting that it wouldn't be seen. But seen it was, and the shrike showed well for the couple of hours I spent there. Never close (all images are fairly substantial crops, with a 1.4X converter), but in good light and a scope the views were excellent as it foraged after insects.

Compared to the juvenile red-backed shrike seen at Dungeness last month, this had a stronger mask, lacked the scalloping on the mantle, and to me at least appeared longer-tailed, giving a different silhouette. Very pleased to have seen this one - and this makes three UK shrikes (great grey earlier in the year) for me this year. Then after getting into work the messages come through - both red-backed and great grey shrikes also seen in other parts of the moor - surely that cannot be beaten?!

Skylarks, kingfishers and kestrels added to the trip, and as I reached the car, a stoat dashed across the lane, stopped, looked at me and ran on - a great way to end the morning, and I still managed to be in work by 11!

Bullswater Common, Surrey

2009-10-11T18:10:00.007+01:00

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It was a fairly dismal afternoon - drizzle and poor light - but in spite of this, optimism got hold and I took a quick dash out to Bullswater Common, a local heath which has seen better days. Local conservation efforts include the use of grazing highland cattle (click for larger), but some more serious work is needed to combat the birch trees.

My reason for choosing Bullswater was the hope of finding a fly agaric in good condition, and they're fairly common here. I managed to find a few, but none were worth photographing, and the drizzle made any photography difficult. I did get a couple of mushroom images, but nothing like I was hoping for (click either for larger; the first I think is a Boletus sp. and I'm not sure about the second - an Inocybe sp.? I still need to learn my fungi!).

There was little else around; few insects or birds were moving. I found this jawbone and in desperation at the lack of worthwhile subjects took a couple of images to convert to black and white later(click for larger).

More grebes at Staines Reservoirs

2009-10-04T19:52:00.004+01:00

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I have to admit that I really don't like Staines Reservoirs; they're open, featureless, noisy, there's the constant suspicion that the sat nav will have been nicked by the time you get back to the car, and worst of all, anything interesting is bound to be miles away. And that's the frustration - interesting things frequently turn up, and as I can reach it within 25 minutes or so (give or take roadworks and the state of the M25) it provides that concentrated burst of worthy species when life conspires to prevent a decent day out, as has been my problem recently.

I spent all of 30 minutes there today - attracted out by the promise of a juvenile red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena; click for larger). As usual, the bird was miles away, so the image was taken with the 500, a 1.4X converter, and has been heavily cropped, so to call it a record shot is being generous. Worth the trip though - not such a common sight, and through the scope decent views were had.

All was forgiven, as this black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis; click either for larger) swam alongside the causeway. This is the closest view I've had of a black-necked grebe - albeit in terrible light.

As with elsewhere, duck numbers are building up, and the terns have departed. My powers of foresight predict some freezing days over the winter on the causeway...

Little grebes at Lavell's Lake

2009-09-23T19:51:00.002+01:00

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A brief wander to the hide at Lavell's on my way home from work produced little of interest. The numbers of duck (primarily wigeon, teal and gadwall) have increased greatly, and there was at least 14 little grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis; click either for larger) present. The light was poor, but several were close enough to the hide to make a few shots worthwhile...

Spotted crake at LWC

2009-09-20T17:47:00.002+01:00

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A spotted crake has been lurking at the Wetland Centre for over a week, and workloads had prevented me from making the trip out to Barnes to try to catch up with it. I finally managed to pin down a couple of hours to head out, and headed straight to the Dulverton Hide, where it had been reported from this morning. No sign of it when I arrived, and then another birder latched onto it for a couple of seconds - cue frantic questions about location - and then it was gone, with no-one else seeing it. From its direction of travel, it was now no longer viewable, so after waiting for a few minutes I changed tack, and went looking for a reported yellow-browed warber. That also proved fruitless, so I went back to Dulverton, resigned to a double dip. After 20 minutes at the far side of the lake, a water rail showed well, and then the spotted crake splashed into view! Both rails were in the same scope view for a moment, and in total the crake was on show for less than 30 seconds, but it was an excellent (if distant) view. The sense of relief was palpable in the hide - some people had been waiting hours.

Below was my only image of the day - a female mallard feeding on pond weed.

Moor Green Lakes, Berkshire

2009-09-19T20:14:00.005+01:00

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A quick trip to Moor Green found little of interest - the highlight was this snipe. And the wigeon are back - it's officially almost winter!

Toads and hoverflies

2009-09-13T20:09:00.007+01:00

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I managed to find a spare 20 minutes and decided to continue on the theme of using the 180mm macro. I have to admit that I really like the idea of this lens (better working distance, better at throwing the background out-of-focus), but the reality of being constrained to a tripod when chasing invertebrates in the field means that you miss a lot of shots, which is why the micro-Nikkor 105VR is my go-to lens for general close up work. in the Autumn, things change - a lot of the subjects are immobile (fungi, patterns in nature) or slower moving, so getting those shots isn't so difficult. I also like the rigour of using a tripod - it forces you to think about what you're doing in terms of composition and approach.

Anyway, my aim today was to take some images of our garden toads (Bufo bufo; click ant image for larger) - a few of this year's brood have taken up residence and can usually be found under a wheely-bin. This individual posed nicely and was safely returned to its refuge afterwards.

The flowering ivy is beginning to attract in nectar-seeking insects - there's not much else around now. The following images are of the hoverflies Episyrphus balteatus and Platycheirus albimanus (click any for larger). Not a bad haul for 20 minutes in the garden...

Sheet's Heath, Surrey

2009-09-12T19:57:00.005+01:00

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A quick walk though the local heath produced little of interest - a couple of green woodpeckers and some swallows passing overhead were the highlights. I've decided to give the 180 macro a dusting off for some more considered close-up images, but there was not much to tempt me to open the tripod. The following are the only subjects I bothered with - a late solitary bee, light through dying bracken fronds and the patterns in a dead branch converted to black and white with the contrast exaggerated (click any for larger).

Moor Green Lakes, Berkshire

2009-09-08T20:16:00.008+01:00

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A beautiful early autumn evening, so I dropped into Moor Green for a quick look around on the way home from work. I was greeted by a hovering kestrel and a buzzard overhead, as well as plenty of migrants moving through.

Colebrook Lake had the usual assortment of waterfowl, as well as a grey heron (Ardea cinerea; click for larger) hunting in the shallows.

A pair of green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus; click for larger) came close enough for a decent shot before they moved on, and of course there was a few lapwing (Vanellus vanellus; click for larger)around for the obligatory shot - I keep promising myself to not take any more...