03 Thursday May 2018
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature
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Thanks for dropping in to my little corner of the internet. I’m off on a birding trip for the next few days, hoping to see lots of beautiful birds to add to my #200BirdYear list, exploring parts of England I’ve not visited before and sharing good times with some fellow birding friends. My daily posts will continue – appropriately enough with a birding theme this week – so check below for the latest, and I’ll respond to any comments as soon as I get back.
06 Tuesday Feb 2018
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature, seaside, walks
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Curlew, Grey plover, Little ringed plover, Oystercatchers, Rock pipit, Sully, Turnstone, Wales Coastal Path
At 9:20am yesterday I was on the bus to Sully, looking forward to seeing what seabirds might be scavenging along the shore at the 10:16 high tide. A bonus was seeing my first pheasant of the year in a passing field.
Walking down the long narrow path to the beach, I was immediately rewarded with the sight of Black-headed gulls and Oystercatchers looking for worms in the neighbouring field, and a Rock pipit flew up from the shore to join them in their foraging.
The beach looked empty as I strolled along the ‘coastal path’ – really just a line of rocks and mud here – but a flurry of loud peeping made me turn my head and bring the camera up in time to catch this flock of Turnstones flying in.
Further east, scanning the water’s edge with my binoculars, I finally spotted an interesting little group of 3 Turnstones, a Little ringed plover and a Grey plover, the latter two year ticks for me, and I’d not seen a Grey plover so close before (I’m still talking a couple of hundred metres away but see-able with bins and long lens). I watched them for perhaps 10 minutes before two loud women and their dog scared the birds off.
Last, but mostly certainly not least, as these beautiful birds are endangered in Britain, 28 handsome Curlews were using their long curving beaks to probe the playing fields that abut the coastal path in search of worms. After 15 minutes’ watching I left them to their feast, with a silent ‘thanks for being the icing on the cake of my lovely morning at Sully’, and strolled on …
31 Tuesday Oct 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature, walks
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, Great Crested Grebe, Linnet, little grebe, Pied wagtail, Redshank, River Ely, Rock pipit, Turnstone, Wheatear
At least once a week I take a turn along the embankment where the River Ely flows out into Cardiff Bay as it makes a nice circular walk from my home on the cliff-top above in Penarth. (It’s good exercise too, as what goes down there must walk back up!) I always record what I see – usually birds – so thought I would share my sightings in an end-of-monthly post.
A variety of birds make their home in this stretch of water, which they share with a yachting marina and associated water traffic coming and going. There are almost always Turnstones in varying quantities (from one to nine), Mallards, Mute swans, one or two Great Crested Grebes (including their progeny this year), a proliferation of Coots, the occasional Cormorant fishing, usually a couple of Grey wagtails and a couple of Pieds. Gulls fly overhead and there are plenty of hirundines, in the season.
2 October: A Wheatear, an unusual visitor, almost certainly on a migration stopover, was dotting about on the embankment stones; a Pied wagtail was doing its morning stretches, and a Rock pipit was browsing for titbits.
16 October: This was the day before ex-hurricane Ophelia made her presence felt, the day of the jaundiced yellow sky and the rusty red sun, which you can see reflected in my photo of the four Little grebes that were sheltering from the incoming weather. A juvenile Grey wagtail was dotting along the embankment, calling incessantly for its parent; and a Great crested grebe was enjoying a very successful fishing session, coming up with fish in two successive dives.
22 October: The day after Storm Brian I walked the embankment to see if any unusual birds had been blown in. The usual suspects were present, except that, most unusually, there wasn’t a single Turnstone. A solitary Linnet flitted back and forth from pavement to stones, and three rather exhausted-looking Redshanks dozed warily along the water line. One of these was colour-ringed and might possibly be the bird I saw back in March but I couldn’t see its rings well enough to be sure.
21 Saturday Oct 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Brent geese, British birds, Chesil Beach, Dorset Wildlife Trust Centre, Little egret, Mediterranean gulls, Oystercatchers, Sandwich terns, The Fleet
After exploring RSPB Lodmoor, our birding road trip moved on to Chesil Beach, and what an amazing place it is!
To quote a brochure I picked up: ‘Chesil Beach is a natural wonder – a bank of 180 billion pebbles stretching for 18 miles along Dorset’s coast, linking Portland to the mainland. Trapped behind the beach is the Fleet, one of the largest saline lagoons in the country and a haven for bird and marine life’.
Here we staked ourselves out behind the Dorset Wildlife Trust Centre, trying, somewhat ineffectually, to shelter from the bracing winds. The wind chill was worth it though, as we had good views of a gaggle of Brent geese and a large flock of Mediterranean gulls.
Amongst the gulls were two Sandwich terns, and the beach was also hosting the ubiquitous Oystercatchers and more common gulls, a Bar-tailed godwit and a solitary Dunlin.
A Wheatear dotted about on the grass below the pebble bank and, when we briefly stopped here again on our way home on Sunday, a Little egret entertained with its fishing antics, paddling about very successfully in the waterways. Next time I need to climb that bank!
10 Tuesday Oct 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature, seaside, walks
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birding, birdwatching, British birds, coastal cliffs, dramatic coastline, Glamorgan Bird Club, Gower, Mewslade, Rhossili Beach, Worm's Head
It was a wild and windy but not wet day last week when I ventured for the first time to the incredible Gower peninsula, on a birding trip with my Glamorgan Bird Club friends.
We parked near Mewslade Beach, then walked a circuit from there along the cliff-top coastal path, across the medieval field system of The Vile, through the little village of Rhossili and then back to the car park. Most of the birds were best viewed through binoculars or ’scopes so I don’t have many images of them to share but the scenery was just stunning! High stone cliffs honed in places to a razor edge by millennia of wind and rain, secret little coves nestled between tall protective hills, the long stretch of golden-sand beach at Rhossili that was recently named the best beach in Britain and one of the world’s top ten – Gower really does deserve the adjective ‘awesome’!
Oh, and getting back to the birds – I saw a total of 34 species: Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine, Oystercatcher, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Pheasant, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Wren, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, and the two highlights for me, Common Scoter (a group of perhaps 20 floating together on the sea – seen through a ’scope) and several Gannets, flying low to the waves not far offshore, plus a bonus sighting of at least one Grey seal lolling about in the waves in one of the bays.
The group total was 46 species as I was too busy admiring the scenery to notice these: Shag, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chough, Rook, Bullfinch, Song Thrush, Common Gull, and Great Black-backed Gull. Thanks to John and Glamorgan Bird Club members for yet another fantastic day out!
25 Thursday May 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature, walks
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birding, birdwatching, Black-headed gull, Common tern, Gadwall, Lapwing, Marsh harrier, Oystercatchers, Ringed plover, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, sheep, Shelduck, Skylark, Sussex Wildlife Trust guided walk
I celebrated my birthday, with my friend Jill, with a quick morning romp around the bird hides at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, followed by an afternoon Sussex Wildlife Trust guided walk around the inland part of the reserve, including a peek inside the normally locked Camber Castle. And what a superb day it was!
I’ve already blogged about one of the highlights, the gorgeous Avocets and their chicks; another was hearing, and catching a fleeting glimpse of my very first Cuckoo. Here are a few more (not so crisp) photos of the wonderful (but mostly distant) wildlife we saw: Common terns, Skylark, Oystercatchers and Dunlin, Black-headed gull, Ringed plover, Gadwall and Shelduck, Lapwing and a Pied wagtail, Marsh harrier, and a number 72; plus, not pictured, Redshank, Coot, Cormorant, Tufted duck, Mallard, Little ringed plover, Grey heron, Kestrel and Whitethroat, as well as the more common birds. A birthday to remember!
22 Monday May 2017
Posted in coastal fauna, nature
Tags
British coastal fauna, chalk cliffs, Cuckmere Haven, Cuttlefish bone, limpet shell, Mermaid's purse, Seven Sisters Country Park, shingle beach, Whelk egg cases, whelk shells
To me, this is one of the most beautiful views in the world so what better place to sit and enjoy a picnic lunch after our wildlife walk around Seaford Head.
And, of course, I couldn’t resist a little fossick to see what the sea had washed in. Jill found the first Mermaid’s purse, one of the leathery brown-black egg cases of rays and sharks, then I found two more. The cream-coloured egg cases of Whelks were scattered all around, and Jill also discovered a sizeable chunk of Cuttlefish bone. Empty seashells lay everywhere amongst the shingle and flint, with limpets and whelks the most numerous. But then my eyes were drawn back to just soaking in the views of the incredible chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters.
21 Sunday May 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature, plants, wildflowers
Tags
Brown-tail moth caterpillars, Fulmar, Green-winged orchid, Rock pipit, Rook, Seaford Head Nature Reserve, Seaford Head wildlife walk, Stonechat, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Thrift
One of the highlights of my recent short break in Sussex was a guided wildlife walk around Seaford Head, organised by the Sussex Wildlife Trust and led by knowledgeable and amusing local naturalist Michael Blencowe.
The day was very windy and scattered showers kept us clad in rain jackets until lunchtime but that didn’t spoil the walk. The scenery on this coast is magnificent and it’s one of my favourite places in the whole of Britain so, even if we’d not seen any wildlife, I would’ve been happy. As it was, we saw more than I expected, and our guide was a mine of funny stories and fascinating facts.
Our flora and fauna sightings included many different plants in flower, like Green alkanet, Hound’s-tongue and Thrift; plus several Stonechats and Linnets, and Rock pipits and Rooks aplenty. We had Fulmars soaring up from the cliffs to the left of us and Skylarks serenading us high in the sky to the right. A grass snake was discovered snoozing under a sheet of corrugated iron, the webs of Brown-tail moth caterpillars adorned the bramble bushes, and Green-winged orchids provided striking bursts of colour in the rough alongside the local golf course. If you ever get the chance, I’d highly recommend this walk.
20 Saturday May 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature
Tags
Anser albifrons, birding, birdwatching, Greylag goose, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, White-fronted goose
That title sounds like something from a James Bond movie, sorry, but the sentiment is true enough. I’m referring to the White-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) I saw hanging out with a flock of Greylags during my recent visit to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in Sussex (on the left in the photo below).
The ‘white front’ in its name refers to the white patch on the front of its head around the beak and, as you can see, it’s quite a bit smaller than the Greylags, though its diet is similar: grass, clover, grain, wheat and potatoes.
These birds don’t breed in Britain but geese from two separate races frequently over-winter here; the birds with orange beaks breed in Greenland, and those with pink beaks, like the one I saw, breed in Siberia. The Greenland birds tend to over-winter in western Scotland and in Ireland, while the Greenland birds prefer southern England. They’re usually only seen from October through to March but the ranger said this one appeared with this flock of Greylags and has stayed on at the reserve with them. Maybe it doesn’t like the cold!
More Greylags flying in
16 Tuesday May 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature
Tags
Avocet, Avocet chicks, Avocet in flight, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Recurvirostra avosetta, RSPB logo, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
Awesome is a much overused word but I feel my use of it here is justified – I truly was in awe of these most beautiful birds, seen at the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in East Sussex last Saturday.
The Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) is one of Britain’s conservation success stories, hence its use as a logo by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. After years of being killed for food and taxidermy and having its eggs robbed by collectors, the Avocet disappeared from its British breeding sites around 1842, and it wasn’t until 1947 that just four pairs were rediscovered breeding in Suffolk. Incredibly, this was, in part, due to the Second World War: damage from an exploding bomb had inadvertently recreated their ideal habitat of shallow ponds and muddy islands near the seaside at Havergate and, at Minsmere, where the coastal marshes had been flooded to prevent enemy troops invading, shallow ponds also formed when the marshes began to dry up.
Further breeding sites have now been created and protected (at Rye Harbour, with electric fences to deter predators like foxes and badgers) in suitable areas around Britain’s coastline, and the number of breeding pairs is estimated to be around 500. Long may their success continue!
