06 Wednesday Nov 2019
The Equisetums are such wonderfully sculptural plants, living fossils that are so old they once thrived beneath the trees in the Paleozoic era, more than 250 million years ago. The name comes from the Latin equus, meaning horse, and seta, meaning bristle, which is probably why these plants are also known as horsetails.
05 Tuesday Nov 2019
I know I blogged about Starlings just last week but I simply can’t resist giving them more air time. This is partly because the Starlings I encountered in London’s St James’s Park last week allowed close views and I managed to get some reasonable photos of their stunning plumage.
But it’s also because when I was on a Glamorgan Bird Club field trip to Rhossili last Sunday, we were treated to some small murmurations and one of these gatherings looks to my eye just like a seal – did I mention I have a vivid imagination?!
04 Monday Nov 2019
Tags
Bahama pintail, birding, birding in London, birds in St James's Park London, birdwatching, Black swan, Canada goose, Coot, Egyptian Goose, Greylag goose, Moorhen, Ring-necked parakeet, Shelduck, St James's Park London, Tufted duck
I’ve just returned from three days with two friends in London. We were doing touristy things as our Australian friend hadn’t been to London before but I did manage some birding during our walk through St James’s Park. Though abundant and obviously breeding locally, most of these cannot really be classed as wild birds but they’re lovely just the same.
The birds we saw included Mute swan and Black swan, Black-headed gull, Moorhen, Egyptian and Greylag and Canada goose, Feral pigeon, Shelduck and some species of white duck that I don’t recognise, Grey heron, Ring-necked parakeet, Bahama pintail, Tufted duck and more. Unfortunately, the resident Pelicans were hiding on their island so we saw them not.
03 Sunday Nov 2019
A week ago today, during a short break in East Sussex, I enjoyed a superb long walk with two good friends at Cuckmere Haven, and there was a wonderful birding bonus, a Grey phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius).
I knew the bird had been seen in the vicinity but Cuckmere is a huge area and was then much submerged after recent heavy rains so I didn’t expect to spot one small bird amongst the many enjoying all the water. My luck was in though, as this lovely creature was swimming about on a pool of water quite close to the main path down to the beach.
This was only my second ever sighting of a Grey phalarope, as these are birds that breed in the Arctic, spend most of their lives far out at sea, and only usually turn up around the British coast after bad weather.
02 Saturday Nov 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, flock of Starlings, gathering of Starlings, starling, Starlings on church steeple
At this time of year, Starlings start to congregate, at first in small gatherings and then forming the large murmurations that astound all who see them. In the late afternoons / early evenings I am treated to a modest number that rendezvous on the roof of the church opposite my house and vie, noisily, for the prime position of sitting atop the cock on the steeple.
01 Friday Nov 2019
‘Autumn wins you best by this, its mute
Appeal to sympathy for its decay.’
~ Robert Browning, Paracelsus, scene 1
31 Thursday Oct 2019
During each of my three visits to Portland there has been a plethora of pipits, especially Rock pipits, like this one, using the stone walls of the lighthouse compound as its rocky shore, parachuting down on to the grass within to strut and probe, then popping back up to survey the scene … and the nearby photographer.
30 Wednesday Oct 2019
It’s that time of year when the Grey squirrels prepare for the colder months both by stashing away as many non-perishable titbits of food as they can and by eating fit to burst, fattening themselves up to help cope with the cold months of winter. If only we could all use that excuse!
29 Tuesday Oct 2019
Tags
I’m not sure what creature had eaten all the holes in this leaf as I couldn’t find the culprit but it certainly must’ve been hungry. I rather like the pretty little artwork it had created.
28 Monday Oct 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, colour-ringed bird, colour-ringed gull, Great black-backed gull, movements of Great black-backed gulls, Portland Bird Observatory
We saw a lot of Great black-backed gulls during our long weekend birding at Portland Bird Observatory at the end of September, both tackling the strong westerly winds out over the huge seas and also taking a breather from those winds, snoozing in a field just along from the Obs. And, while the rest of our group was seawatching near the obelisk, I walked west along the coastal path and found one Great black-backed gull standing alone on rocks at the water’s edge.
This particular gull was ringed so I reported the sighting. It turns out the bird was not far from where it was first ringed in June 2015, on the breakwaters of Portland Harbour, as part of the Portland Gulls project. Joint project leader Terry Coombs kindly emailed me the history of P:49B and commented that ‘From the sightings we have it seems to favour Portland in the winter and cruising the Channel during the warmer months’. Apart from many sightings in the Portland area, it has also been spotted at RSPB Dungeness, on 16 March 2015 and 9 March 2019, and on the Axe estuary, on 19 August 2015.
My sincere thanks to Terry for providing the history of this gull. You can read more about his Portland Gulls project on their blog, and please do report the ringed birds (of all species) that you see – tracking bird movements is a huge part of their protection and conservation.
earthstar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.