Window to Wildlife

 The morning was cloudy but dry and we eventually managed to tear ourselves away form the entertainment at the feeders to  drive to nearby Newbridge for a walk along the river valley, hoping for Dippers. Sadly we failed on that front, but it was a beautiful setting and we enjoyed some other sightings of interest. Sue was pleased to catch-up with her first Green Woodpecker of the year, heard calling, then Andy spotted its red head as it fed in the long grass at the back of a meadow. A Song Thrush regaled us with his rich and varied ensemble of notes and in a clearing of young trees we found both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. On the river we encountered several Grey Wagtail sallying forth from mossy rocks to feed on the many insects hovering over the fast-flowing water before returning to their preferred launch stone for a spot of tail bobbing before repeating the process. A pair of Buzzards circled high above the valley and a party of four Swifts swerved and dipped over our he...

 We left Weymouth around 9am and had a smooth journey to House of Marbles in Bovey Tracey where we had arranged to meet Andy for a slap-up brunch before commencing our birding week. Suitably refuelled, we then drove on to Yarner Wood, where unfortunately it had just started drizzling. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was immediately seen feeding on a dead tree and Andy quickly got the camera out for some good shots. There was a lot of water flowing through the area by the car park and the hides were closed, so sadly none of the usual species were evident in this area. Great Spotted Woodpecker We walked up onto the heathland, which was also rather quiet. Willow Warblers were heard singing,  and I spotted what appeared to be a Tree Pipit perched at the top of a conifer, but it quickly disappeared before anyone else got onto it. A Yellowhammer was also heard asking for some ‘bread but no cheese’ but we could not locate it and Andy managed to note just a single Linnet.  As we enter...

 Less luck with the rain today, but the birds made up for it at Lodmoor on a brief visit en route to Nick’s for an overnight stop on our way to Dartmoor. Two new annual ticks for all of us, first up was this Spoonbill, quite active and skimming the water with its characteristic and always fascinating sideways sweeping movement... Spoonbill Next up, a rather mobile Bonaparte’s Gull. Sue and I had decent views fairly quickly, but it had flown before Tim, busy snapping the Spoonbill, got onto it. We then hung around in the rain waiting for it to reappear and eventually move a little closer. Tim managed this record shot before we scurried back to the shelter of the car! Bonaparte’s gull

 With the lockdown restrictions eased to allow overnight stays with others, we were off! Despite the unpromising weather forecast, we managed a lovely day out with Sue and Keith visiting two new locations.  We started at Garston Wood, a peaceful RSPB reserve, full of birdsong and the fresh green growth of Spring, with a superb layer of woodland flowers, just past their best, but the aroma of wild garlic filled the air, mingled with a few patches of bluebell and a smattering of purple orchids.  There were plenty of woodland birds around, including an abundance of singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaff, but the highlight migrant species was Spotted Flycatcher, with 3 birds seen in two different patches of the woodland. Sue and I had great views of a Bullfinch too and a Nuthatch and Song Thrush also joined the ensemble. Many birds were looking a little bedraggled from the efforts of parenting, and many had beaks stuffed full of food or nesting materials. It was a relaxed and pleas...

 My new specialist talent appears to be spotting Hobbies sitting in trees in our local area! This bird was a welcome new tick on the survey patch we are monitoring each week, and stayed in the same place for over an hour while we were present. It allowed us to get pretty close and Tim was able to get these great shots, highlighting the ‘red trousers’ and beautiful facial markings. Hobby The Latin name for this fabulous bird is of course Falco subbuteo, and the root of the infamous football game, which was named after the bird by its creator Peter Adolph. They are beautiful birds which actually seem to be increasing in number. We are certainly seeing them more frequently in the last couple of years and they are always a thrill to spot.

 Summer migration continues into May, with a gradual change from the species arriving in April. We have continued with a variety of bird related activities over the last few weeks and added more new birds to our annual list as well as enjoying some lovely scenery and the full spectrum of Spring weather! We have recently been undertaking a weekly survey at a prospective new nature site in Shoreham. This is currently not open to the public, but we have permission to enter and record the birds present, in order to create a baseline against which to measure the impact of any future enhancements to the habitat. As this site  is close to the sea, it has been a great area for newly arrived migrants. As the weeks have progressed we have noted regular migrants such as Chiffchaff and Blackcap passing through, and on 1st May were delighted to find a Garden Warbler. This unobtrusive bird is often quite elusive, so we were very pleased to identify it so early in the season. It was still pr...

 I have been a bit lazy recently with very little birdwatching activity but while viewing the local birding group website I saw that a woodchat shrike had been seen at Rochford.  I have only ever seen one shrike before which was a juvenile red backed shrike in August 2015 and have had several unsuccessful attempts to see a great grey shrike in Norfolk while on holiday and another failure in a visit to Sussex where Jenny and Tim tried to show me the bird they had seen a few days earlier. However I have not noticed any woodchat shrikes reported locally before so I decided I should definitely try to see this one. Unfortunately the local website did not give precise directions as to where the bird could be found and as I do not have a subscription to Birdguides I phoned Jenny to ask her if she could look up the relevant information for me. She informed me that she had already provided directions in an e-mail she had sent the day before but which I had not yet read.  I then lo...

On Friday we led a select group of members from our local birdwatching group  around Pagham Harbour.   We  met at the Visitor Centre where we spent a few minutes observing the nearby feeders and bushes, collecting a few easy ticks of common passerines for the day list.  Taking a path towards the old tramway, we tuned our ears in to listen for warblers.  In the scrub a distinctive scratchy scratchy song alerted us to the presence of Whitethroats and the melodic song of a Blackcap also drew our attention. A noisy Chiffchaff chanted its name repeatedly, but we failed to locate it.  Common Whitethroat by Cyndy Downie In the pond area, a pair of Gadwall were swimming lazily and a Cetti’s warbler blasted out its song, but otherwise it was fairly quiet. We continued along the tramway towards Ferry Pool noting several migrating Whimbrel, with their striped heads and shorter bills distinguishing them from the similar Curlew, most of which have already departed for t...