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Tag Archives: bird migration

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.

220907 whinchat (1)

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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Osprey!

31 Thursday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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

I had a mystery bird during yesterday’s walk. It flew high over the west paddock at Cosmeston Country Park, heading north, in slow circles, mobbed by corvids and gulls. It was carrying something that seemed to have a snake-like shape, long and thin and dangling from its claws. Looking through binoculars, my impression of the bird was that it had dark grey/brown wings, a very pale, possibly white body, and a small pale head.

I had an idea what it might be but had never seen that species before so took as many photos as I could with my point-and-shoot camera (the telephoto lens on my DSLR camera has died and I can’t afford to replace it at the moment – what a time not to have a good lens!). Fortunately, local expert birders and our county bird recorder were able to confirm, from my description and the photos, that I had seen my first Osprey, migrating north to its breeding site after over-wintering in Africa. Welcome home, you beauty!

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Migrating Reed warbler

11 Saturday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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Acrocephalus scirpaceus, autumn bird migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Reed warbler

As is often the case with this little brown bird, I heard it before I saw it, not the song but the short nasal ‘churring’ call these warblers make to keep in touch with each other deep within the reed beds.

210911 reed warbler (1)

Luckily for me, as this particularly Reed warbler foraged its way along the brook, I could follow its movement by the bending and shaking of reed stems, and when it occasionally ventured out to the edge of the reeds, I was able to grab some images.

210911 reed warbler (2)

Small though it is – around 13cm in length, the Reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) migrates from Britain to over-winter in sub-Saharan Africa, so this little bird has quite the journey ahead of it.

210911 reed warbler (3)

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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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