9:15 AM - 1:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments: Out with mum & Ben, but George changed his mind & we turned back to drop him off.
Weather: cold, cloudy, some mist.
57 species
Pink-footed Goose X
Brent Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
Eurasian Wigeon X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail X
Green-winged Teal X
Common Eider 3
Long-tailed Duck 5 on the sea. My first sight of these ducks in the UK in over 20 years. They were pointed out by a kindly fellow birder & easily picked up though the views weren't great due to a misty sea.
Common Goldeneye X
Common Pheasant X - heard.
Little Grebe X - seen 31/12/2010 with Kim, Ben & George.
Horned/Slavonian Grebe 1 on the sea. Picked out from the bench with fellow birders & again as I walked the beach with mum & Ben. A great bird to see, the second after my first at Dungeness.
Great Bittern 1 creeping about on the frozen Thornham fresh-marsh, it attracted quite a crowd, & we watched it for quite some time as it was Ben's first. He was fascinated with how it could be so compact one second & then elongated the next. When we returned back from the beach it was still there & we lingered for another look. A gentleman asked Ben to look through the scope as he'd never seen one either & Ben told him it was his first too - only an age difference between the two of approx. 50 years!
Grey Heron X
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier 1
Water Rail 1 also came onto the ice near the bittern. Seen on the way back.
Common Moorhen X
Northern Lapwing X
Grey Plover X
European Golden-Plover X
Eurasian Oystercatcher X
Common Redshank X
Eurasian Curlew X
Black-tailed Godwit X
Bar-tailed Godwit X
Ruddy Turnstone X
Sanderling X
Dunlin X - over.
Ruff X
Common Snipe X
Black-headed Gull X
Common Gull X - over.
Herring Gull X
Lesser Black-backed Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Common Wood-Pigeon X
Eurasian Jay X
Carrion Crow X
Skylark X
Coal Tit X - seen 31/12/2010 with Kim, Ben & George.
Great Tit X
Blue Tit X
Eurasian Wren X
Eurasian Blackbird X
European Starling X
Dunnock X - seen 31/12/2010 with Kim, Ben & George.
Pied Wagtail X
Meadow Pipit X - heard.
Reed Bunting X
Common Chaffinch X
European Greenfinch X
European Goldfinch X
Common Linnet X
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Friday 31 December 2010
Thursday 30 December 2010
Wolferton Triangle, Norfolk, UK, 30-Dec-2010
7:50 AM - 10:50 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: Out early with mum. Took a quick walk into the woods by the road for golden pheasant, unsuccessfully.
Weather: dull, cold, warm.
5 species
Eurasian Sparrowhawk 1
Eurasian Woodcock 1 scuttled across the road as we drove out.
Common Wood-Pigeon X
Goldcrest X
Eurasian Siskin X - heard.
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: Out early with mum. Took a quick walk into the woods by the road for golden pheasant, unsuccessfully.
Weather: dull, cold, warm.
5 species
Eurasian Sparrowhawk 1
Eurasian Woodcock 1 scuttled across the road as we drove out.
Common Wood-Pigeon X
Goldcrest X
Eurasian Siskin X - heard.
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Tuesday 28 December 2010
Snettisham RSPB Reserve, Norfolk, UK, 28-Dec-2010
7:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Comments: Early start hoping to see geese flocks moving inland from The Wash's mud.
Weather: cold, dank, grey, fitful light rain.
39 species
Pink-footed Goose 500 at least. Flocks taking off & moving inland after roosting on the mud in The Wash. When I reached the far northern end of the reserve many were still on the mud but as the light increased I was treated to large flocks taking off & flying directly overhead & I cursed my lack of a video-camera. Many of the flocks seemed to be going down to one field near to the pumping station so I crept up onto the sea wall & peeked over at a huge flock of at least 500 that were busy feeding (& fertilising). The noise they made was like the buzzing of bees as there were so many of them & the flock was large enough to hold a couple of guest stars...
Greylag Goose X
Canada Goose X
RUDDY SHELDUCK 1 in amongst the flock of pink-feet, holding its own in any squabble over food. The providence is of course debatable but within a wild flock of geese it seems not completely unlikely that it may have been wild. Life-tick.
Common Shelduck X
Gadwall X
Eurasian Wigeon X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Green-winged Teal X
Common Pochard X
Tufted Duck X
Red-legged Partridge X
Common Pheasant X
Little Grebe X
Great Cormorant X
Common Moorhen X
Eurasian Coot X
Northern Lapwing X
Grey Plover X
Eurasian Oystercatcher X
Common Redshank X
Eurasian Curlew X
Bar-tailed Godwit X
Red Knot X
Dunlin X
ROSS'S GOOSE 1 in the with the flock of pink-feet (& ruddy shelduck) in the field near to the pumping station. It wasn't too hard to pick out where its diminutive size & lack of a 'smile' allowed for a relatively straightforward id. I later called it in & directed other birders to it & it hung around for a few days. A nice life-tick.
Common Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Eurasian Wren X
European Robin X
Eurasian Blackbird X
Dunnock X
Meadow Pipit X
Reed Bunting X
Common Chaffinch X
European Goldfinch X
Common Linnet X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Comments: Early start hoping to see geese flocks moving inland from The Wash's mud.
Weather: cold, dank, grey, fitful light rain.
39 species
Pink-footed Goose 500 at least. Flocks taking off & moving inland after roosting on the mud in The Wash. When I reached the far northern end of the reserve many were still on the mud but as the light increased I was treated to large flocks taking off & flying directly overhead & I cursed my lack of a video-camera. Many of the flocks seemed to be going down to one field near to the pumping station so I crept up onto the sea wall & peeked over at a huge flock of at least 500 that were busy feeding (& fertilising). The noise they made was like the buzzing of bees as there were so many of them & the flock was large enough to hold a couple of guest stars...
Greylag Goose X
Canada Goose X
RUDDY SHELDUCK 1 in amongst the flock of pink-feet, holding its own in any squabble over food. The providence is of course debatable but within a wild flock of geese it seems not completely unlikely that it may have been wild. Life-tick.
Common Shelduck X
Gadwall X
Eurasian Wigeon X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Green-winged Teal X
Common Pochard X
Tufted Duck X
Red-legged Partridge X
Common Pheasant X
Little Grebe X
Great Cormorant X
Common Moorhen X
Eurasian Coot X
Northern Lapwing X
Grey Plover X
Eurasian Oystercatcher X
Common Redshank X
Eurasian Curlew X
Bar-tailed Godwit X
Red Knot X
Dunlin X
ROSS'S GOOSE 1 in the with the flock of pink-feet (& ruddy shelduck) in the field near to the pumping station. It wasn't too hard to pick out where its diminutive size & lack of a 'smile' allowed for a relatively straightforward id. I later called it in & directed other birders to it & it hung around for a few days. A nice life-tick.
Common Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Eurasian Wren X
European Robin X
Eurasian Blackbird X
Dunnock X
Meadow Pipit X
Reed Bunting X
Common Chaffinch X
European Goldfinch X
Common Linnet X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Monday 27 December 2010
Sheringham Beach Front, Norfolk, UK, 27-Dec-2010
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: Drive up the coast with Kim & mum.
Weather: cold, dark, chill wind (NE).
6 species
Northern Lapwing X
Common Ringed Plover X
Ruddy Turnstone X
Black-headed Gull X
Mew Gull X
Herring Gull X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: Drive up the coast with Kim & mum.
Weather: cold, dark, chill wind (NE).
6 species
Northern Lapwing X
Common Ringed Plover X
Ruddy Turnstone X
Black-headed Gull X
Mew Gull X
Herring Gull X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Sunday 19 December 2010
Hampstead Cemetery & UCL Sports Ground, London, UK, 19-Dec-2010
1:50 PM - 3:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Weather: cold, cloudy, snow on the ground after previous days fall.
13 species
Black-headed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Eurasian Jay X
Common Magpie X
Great Tit X
Blue Tit X
European Robin X
Eurasian Blackbird X
Redwing X
Song Thrush 1 in large yew tree.
Mistle Thrush X
European Greenfinch X
European Goldfinch X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Weather: cold, cloudy, snow on the ground after previous days fall.
13 species
Black-headed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Eurasian Jay X
Common Magpie X
Great Tit X
Blue Tit X
European Robin X
Eurasian Blackbird X
Redwing X
Song Thrush 1 in large yew tree.
Mistle Thrush X
European Greenfinch X
European Goldfinch X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Bunn's Lane Waxwings - Ringing Details.
After sending in the details of the ringed waxwing that I encountered, via a link from a Birdguides article, I was very pleased to receive some detailed feedback from Raymond Duncan project coordinator. Below is the email he sent me:
Great to know that the sighting was appreciated & that it adds to knowledge of this charismatic species. He also asked to use my photo for future project updates, bulletins & talks!
Thanks very much indeed for taking the time and trouble to report this colour-ringed waxwing. Fantastic photograph always a welcome bonus. Well done. See ringing details below.
NW50411 05/11/10 Allenvale Cemetery, Aberdeen 3f WB/LC/EF/DR NW50411 18/12/10 Bunn's Lane, Mill Hill, North-West London. NW7 2EX 3f M Hunt 643km SSE
The ringers that day Lindsay, Walter, Derek and Euan will all be very pleased to hear about this bird. This is the first to be reported from the 17 they ringed that day. They caught a Swedish ringed juvenile that day also, only for it to kill itself against a window a week later!
Your sighting is one of several very far south so early compared to previous invasions. We have also had 2 reported together in Southampton yesterday and 2 in Kent this past week.
Although this is partly down to a very large invasion coinciding with only a medium rowan crop (in Aberdeen any way) I think the snow has also indirectly played a significant part in these movements. Snow doesn’t really bother waxwings as their food is always accessible but the masses of thrushes and wood pigeons driven onto the berries has depleted the available favoured berry sources very rapidly up here in Aberdeen, forcing the waxwings to move on quicker than usual.
It is really great to get colour ring sightings like this which all add to the story, which is becoming a particularly interesting and different one to previous invasions. All thanks to observers like yourself for making the time and effort to record and report these things.
Thanks very much again.
Best wishes,
Raymond Duncan
(On behalf of Grampian Ringing Group)
Great to know that the sighting was appreciated & that it adds to knowledge of this charismatic species. He also asked to use my photo for future project updates, bulletins & talks!
Saturday 18 December 2010
Bunn's Lane, Mill Hill, London, 18/12/2010
10:45-11:15am. Weather: cold, snowing & increasing in heaviness.
I'd been checking the London Birds Wiki & was pleased to see the waxwings apparently getting closer & closer. After reports from the past couple of days of them in nearby Mill Hill it was too good an opportunity to pass up despite the warnings of dire consequences for people travelling in the snow due to the usual staggering un-preparedness of the whole country to tackle 3 inches of snow!
The snow began to fall as I set-off & was quite heavy by the time I picked up Sian from Colindale tube stop. Undeterred we ploughed on round the corner, & almost as soon as we reached the reported postcode, NW7 2EX, I spotted activity from high trees behind a row of houses there. I parked up in a side-street, scanned the trees & realised straightaway that there were approximately 30 Bohemian Waxwing at the top of the trees.
We got out of the car for a closer look & to take some photos & focussed on the high trees, however we soon saw a few take flight & realised they were headed for a small berry tree right behind us, & as we turned to face this tree noticed that it already had a few waxwings munching on the berries! For the next 20 minutes we watched from a few metres away as flocks of a dozen or so commuted between the tall birches behind the houses down to the road-side berry tree where they greedily scoffed the berries. They were very mobile & often seemed disturbed by the normal flow of the traffic passing by. At one point they were joined by an equally hungry Mistle Thrush.
Eventually the waxwings did what turned out to be one final commute before all heading off east, & though we waited for 5-10 minutes they didn't reappear. The snow continued falling heavily so we decided to head off before total chaos erupted on the roads.
When I got home & examined my photos I noticed one that was colour-ringed & reported it to the ring.ac website.
All-in-all a very satisfactory little trip out. These were Sian's first ever waxwings & my first in 23 years; my previous sighting was of a solitary bird in Galashiels, Scotland, 3rd January 1987!
I'd been checking the London Birds Wiki & was pleased to see the waxwings apparently getting closer & closer. After reports from the past couple of days of them in nearby Mill Hill it was too good an opportunity to pass up despite the warnings of dire consequences for people travelling in the snow due to the usual staggering un-preparedness of the whole country to tackle 3 inches of snow!
The snow began to fall as I set-off & was quite heavy by the time I picked up Sian from Colindale tube stop. Undeterred we ploughed on round the corner, & almost as soon as we reached the reported postcode, NW7 2EX, I spotted activity from high trees behind a row of houses there. I parked up in a side-street, scanned the trees & realised straightaway that there were approximately 30 Bohemian Waxwing at the top of the trees.
We got out of the car for a closer look & to take some photos & focussed on the high trees, however we soon saw a few take flight & realised they were headed for a small berry tree right behind us, & as we turned to face this tree noticed that it already had a few waxwings munching on the berries! For the next 20 minutes we watched from a few metres away as flocks of a dozen or so commuted between the tall birches behind the houses down to the road-side berry tree where they greedily scoffed the berries. They were very mobile & often seemed disturbed by the normal flow of the traffic passing by. At one point they were joined by an equally hungry Mistle Thrush.
Eventually the waxwings did what turned out to be one final commute before all heading off east, & though we waited for 5-10 minutes they didn't reappear. The snow continued falling heavily so we decided to head off before total chaos erupted on the roads.
When I got home & examined my photos I noticed one that was colour-ringed & reported it to the ring.ac website.
All-in-all a very satisfactory little trip out. These were Sian's first ever waxwings & my first in 23 years; my previous sighting was of a solitary bird in Galashiels, Scotland, 3rd January 1987!
Sunday 12 December 2010
Hampstead Cemetery and UCL Sports Grounds, London, 12/12/2010
12:40-13:50pm. Weather: cold, progressively gloomy but a touch of blue-sky, still.
Afternoon visit to the patch, quite wintry & with signs displayed around the cemetery notifying of "scrub management".
I had already noticed removal of some vegetation on a previous visit, but I hope these signs aren't ominous for the thicker, more productive patches around the cemetery.
It would be a real shame if the place was completely stripped out & sanitised, not to mention disastrous for the bird-life.
Entrance:
Woodpigeon - entering the park, plucking at berries; the first of many.
Chaffinch - over.
Blackbird.
South-side:
Black-Headed Gull - a few drifted over.
Blue Tit, Crow, Magpie.
Goldcrest - one typically flitting amongst a pine tree.
Ring-Necked Parakeet - one over heading west.
Robin, Goldfinch - one over.
Herring Gull - a couple over.
Great Tit, Starling - one over.
Green Woodpecker - one, nice & bright up from the grass then out on a dead tree branch.
Wren - buzzed low into undergrowth.
Great-Spotted Woodpecker - flew up to the dead tree the green woodpecker was on causing a few calls of consternation from it, then the green flew off.
Jay, Coal Tit.
UCL Sports Grounds:
Common Gull - 3 feeding in the field, 1 flying about.
Black-Headed Gull - 4 feeding. Magpie - 8 feeding.
East-side.
House Sparrow - 3 males in bramble-patch.
Greenfinch - several around the cemetery.
Long-Tailed Tit - feeding party.
Mistle Thrush - one atop a tree next to Fortune Green, then as I looked at that I noticed one much closer in a tree, near the garden of remembrance with a redwing & a couple of greenfinch.
Redwing - one with the mistle thrush, then 10 sat in a tree nearby & several more in other trees as I left.
25 species.
Afternoon visit to the patch, quite wintry & with signs displayed around the cemetery notifying of "scrub management".
I had already noticed removal of some vegetation on a previous visit, but I hope these signs aren't ominous for the thicker, more productive patches around the cemetery.
It would be a real shame if the place was completely stripped out & sanitised, not to mention disastrous for the bird-life.
Entrance:
Woodpigeon - entering the park, plucking at berries; the first of many.
Chaffinch - over.
Blackbird.
South-side:
Black-Headed Gull - a few drifted over.
Blue Tit, Crow, Magpie.
Goldcrest - one typically flitting amongst a pine tree.
Ring-Necked Parakeet - one over heading west.
Robin, Goldfinch - one over.
Herring Gull - a couple over.
Great Tit, Starling - one over.
Green Woodpecker - one, nice & bright up from the grass then out on a dead tree branch.
Wren - buzzed low into undergrowth.
Great-Spotted Woodpecker - flew up to the dead tree the green woodpecker was on causing a few calls of consternation from it, then the green flew off.
Jay, Coal Tit.
UCL Sports Grounds:
Common Gull - 3 feeding in the field, 1 flying about.
Black-Headed Gull - 4 feeding. Magpie - 8 feeding.
East-side.
House Sparrow - 3 males in bramble-patch.
Greenfinch - several around the cemetery.
Long-Tailed Tit - feeding party.
Mistle Thrush - one atop a tree next to Fortune Green, then as I looked at that I noticed one much closer in a tree, near the garden of remembrance with a redwing & a couple of greenfinch.
Redwing - one with the mistle thrush, then 10 sat in a tree nearby & several more in other trees as I left.
25 species.
Thursday 2 December 2010
Updates
Avid & regular readers may have noticed the lack of new posts recently. My last post was from back in July & even then it did not include much detail of the outing. Since then organising & actually attending my wedding & subsequent honeymoon took over so that there has been no time to spend on the blog. Whenever I did manage a few hours I decided that I wanted to change its name & its layout to add more content. Unfortunately that wasn't as easy as I had hoped because of the fiddly & annoying way that Google manages its accounts. I had to spend a lot of time changing blog & site ownership, & moving photos & documents even before I was able to change the blog template. I have now completed most if not all of that & can now start to actually update the blog! As I do I will back-date the posts so they are posted in the month that I actually went out (I like the month count on the sidebar) rather than having all of the posts under December. After that it should be back to business as usual & I will also be adding more of the resources I use to the blog as well.
Update 2-Dec-2011: I finally finally got round to posting some updates & as you will see it's down to my discovery of eBird. I'm very late to the party but it's pretty good & allows me to email each checklist, which I then post here, as I build up my life list on their website. If it would only allow me to publish my list by clickable species & locations it would be the complete solution for me. It allows you to browse your own data in this way but it's not publicly accessible...yet: hopefully they'll add that soon. Enjoy.
Update 2-Dec-2011: I finally finally got round to posting some updates & as you will see it's down to my discovery of eBird. I'm very late to the party but it's pretty good & allows me to email each checklist, which I then post here, as I build up my life list on their website. If it would only allow me to publish my list by clickable species & locations it would be the complete solution for me. It allows you to browse your own data in this way but it's not publicly accessible...yet: hopefully they'll add that soon. Enjoy.
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