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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: bird migration

May curlew

27 Thursday Apr 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, spring migration, Whimbrel

I seem to have a habit of biannual posts about the local Whimbrel migration – see Whimbrel passing, 3 May 2021 – so, today, rather than the migration, let’s talk about some of the names for the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), courtesy of the writing and research of Stefan Buczacki in his massive publication Fauna Britannica.

230427 whimbrel (1)

Some of the vernacular names reflect the time of year these birds pass through on migration: May curlew, May fowl, May whaap (Ireland) and May bird (East Anglia); others their resemblance to their cousin, the Curlew: Curlew Jack (Yorkshire), Curlew knave (Cumberland), Curlew knot (Lincolnshire), and Half curlew (Norfolk, Suffolk).

230427 whimbrel (2)

The name Whimbrel itself comes from the bird’s call, something of a whimper. Another version of this is, in fact, ‘Whimperel’, a name once used in Durham. Whatever you want to call it, this is a beautiful bird well worth spending time watching if you get the chance.

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First Blackcap

20 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, Blackcap, British birds, spring migration

I heard him before I saw him – in fact, it took a while to spot this little chap, who was mostly hidden amongst the greenery as he sang his little tune. Was he celebrating the fact that he’d finally arrived on land after his long migration flight? Or was he practising his melody in preparation for trying to woo a potential mate? Though some Blackcaps now over-winter here, they are mostly to be found feeding in people’s gardens, taking advantage of the goodies on offer from feeders. This little fellow was by the sea, with no houses or gardens nearby, which is why I’m fairly sure he was a newly arrived migrant. And he was my first Blackcap of the year. I look forward to seeing more.

230320 first blackcap

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The Fieldfares arrive

22 Saturday Oct 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Fieldfare, Redwing, winter thrushes

The strong easterlies of the last three days, 19th to 21st inclusive, have seen a huge influx of winter thrushes arriving in Britain. The BTO’s Birdtrack blog reports that the reason for such a large arrival is undoubtedly to do with the weather but is also linked ‘to the almost total failure of rowan berries across Scandinavia, where large flocks have already been recorded further west and south than is usual for the time of year’.

221022 fieldfare (1)

Although that blog only mentions the arrivals on England’s east coast, we’ve also seen huge numbers streaming through here in south Wales. Though these thrushes are mostly nocturnal migrants, they often continue their flights for the first few morning hours, before finding somewhere to feed and roost for the rest of the day. During my local walks, particularly in the coastal fields and at Cosmeston, I’ve seen flocks of 50-100 birds constantly passing overhead.

221022 fieldfare (3)

The birds have been a mix of Redwings and Fieldfares but, yesterday, the majority were Fieldfare. Though they were all quite flighty – and a hunting Sparrowhawk kept unsettling the flocks, it was simply amazing to see so many of these beautiful birds. I hope to share better photos of both Fieldfares and Redwings in the coming months.

221022 fieldfare (2)

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Red-backed shrike

18 Tuesday Oct 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, butcher bird, Lanius collurio, Red-backed shrike, red-listed birds

Shrikes are known as butcher birds, perhaps because of their powerful hooked beaks, more likely because of their tendency to create larders by impaling excess prey on spikes in trees and bushes. I have previously seen a distant Great grey shrike but last Sunday I had the opportunity to watch my very first Red-backed shrike at fairly close quarters, and what a stunning bird it is!

221018 red-backed shrike (a)

The Red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) was once a reasonably common bird in southern England but, like so many British birds that have suffered from habitat decline, it is now classified as red-listed. And, though it’s thought one or two pairs still breed in England each year, these birds are mostly seen on passage, migrating to their northern breeding grounds in May-June, then heading to their over-wintering grounds in southern Africa between August and October.

221018 red-backed shrike (b)

When I was reading up about these birds, I discovered a 2018 article on the Bird Guides website, reporting on the altitudes reached by migrating birds, which noted that, from Sweden (one of the countries where these birds breed), the Red-backed shrike ‘flies at up to 3,650 metres. Both individuals [the other bird was the Great reed warbler] flew the highest above ground across the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara, but the shrike also reached high flight altitudes closer to its winter grounds in southern Africa.’ It seems incredible to me that the small bird I saw sitting in a tree amongst the sand dunes at Kenfig National Nature Reserve would soon be flying up to 3 kilometres high in the sky over southern Africa!

221018 red-backed shrike (c)

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The days of the Wheatears

16 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Wheatear

I’ve been trying to work out what the optimum conditions are for bird migration, and it seems to be a combination of a clear night followed by a sunny day, with just the right amount of wind – at least, that seems to be what Wheatears like as, both on Wednesday and today, they have been moving through in reasonable numbers, with some stopping off locally en route to their southern over-wintering grounds. These are a few I’ve been privileged to spot in recent days …

220916 wheatear

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Whinchats in a row

07 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Whinchat

Thanks to my fellow local birders who found first one (first sighting to Graham), then two (Mat spotted the second), and then a third (Ian got all three, and was trying very hard to turn a Reed bunting into a fourth), I managed to get all my Whinchats in a row during Sunday morning’s walk.

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These weren’t my first Whinchats of the autumn – they were the sixth, seventh and eighth, but this might well be the first time I’ve seen three together. And every single one is a little gem!

220907 whinchat (2)

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A good year for Spot flies

30 Tuesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Spotted flycatcher

It may just be because my bird-spotting skills are improving, or it could be because I’ve been going to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park more frequently than usual, or it might be because Spotted flycatchers have enjoyed better than usual breeding success this year, or it could be something else entirely. Whatever the reason, I’ve seen more Spotted flycatchers so far this autumn migration than in any previous year (17 individuals on 8 separate days, starting on 9 August) – and it’s not over yet. They are gorgeous little birds and their fly-catching skills are a joy to watch – I’ve been extremely grateful for the pleasure and the distraction from the constant doom-and-gloom of daily life that these feathered friends have brought me this month.

220830 spotted flycatcher

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Tree pipits

24 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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Anthus trivialis, autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Tree pipit

In last week’s post about the start of the autumn bird migration, I mentioned that I’d blog about the individual species if I managed to get some better photos. Well, there have been a few obliging Tree pipits passing through, so today they get star billing.

The only time we see Tree pipits (Anthus trivialis) here in coastal south Wales is on passage, in the Spring heading to their breeding grounds in the Welsh Valleys and points further north (I see and hear them singing at Aberbargoed NNR when I go looking for Marsh fritillaries in May and June), and then again in the Autumn as they fly south to their over-wintering sites in Africa.

Tree and Meadow pipits are very similar and can be difficult to tell apart. As a rule of thumb, at this time of year, the Tree pipits move through first, with Meadow pipits following a few weeks later (and some Meadow pipits linger through the winter months). If you can get a good look at them (or reasonable photos), you will see that the breast markings on Tree pipits are finer, more thinly streaked than the bolder flecks of the Meadow pipits, whose markings also extend further down the belly and the flanks.

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Post-breeding summer passage

18 Thursday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, Redstart, Spotted flycatcher, Tree pipit

Most birders label the movement of birds before and after summer, to and from their breeding locations, as spring and autumn migration, so I had to chuckle recently when someone on Twitter took exception to my post saying I’d seen my first Spotted flycatcher of the autumn. It seems that what I had actually seen was ‘a bird on post-breeding summer passage’ rather than on autumn migration. Whatever you prefer to label this movement, it has begun, and I’ve now seen a Redstart, several Spotted flycatchers, and a few Tree pipits heading south. As you can see from my images, the birds have all been distant so far but I’ll blog about the individual species if I manage to get better photos.

220818 autumn migration birds

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First Whitethroats

14 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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bird migration, British birds, Common whitethroat, spring migration, Sylvia communis, Whitethroat

I was watching a Moorhen feeding its five tiny chicks when I heard it, the unmistakeable scratchy song of a Whitethroat (Sylvia communis), my first for 2022. And then, forty minutes later, I was walking along a hillside when I heard it again – not the same bird, of course, but my second scratchy tune of the year. As I’m still without a reasonable camera, today’s photo shows a Whitethroat I encountered last year.

220414 whitethroat

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sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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