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Tag Archives: Curlew

53/365 Curlews

22 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Curlew, Curlew flying, Curlew in flight, Sully, Sully beach

190222 Curlew

Most of the Curlews that graze on Sully’s playing fields during the winter months seem now to have moved on, motivated by thoughts of breeding to head to the uplands perhaps. I only saw four on the fields this morning through the fog and they soon flew down to the shore. Others were lurking amongst the rocks and seaweeds, though you could only really find them out if they called or when they moved – they are incredibly well camouflaged, even without today’s fog shroud.

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Birding at Whiteford Point

14 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in animals, birds, nature, walks, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birtdwatching, Brent geese, British birds, Curlew, Dunlin, Glamorgan Bird Club, horses, Little egret, Llanrhidian Marsh, Oystercatchers, saltmarsh, Shelduck, Whiteford Point

Yesterday was our first Glamorgan Bird Club field trip for 2019, and what a magnificent day it was!

190114 (6) whiteford point

I hadn’t been to this part of the Gower peninsula before – our walk was through the National Trust property at Whiteford Point – and the scenery, like that all over the Gower, was stunning.

190114 (1) saltmarsh at whiteford point

190114 (2) whiteford point

With forestry, saltmarsh and coast line, the environment is very diverse, which means there’s a wonderful variety of flora and fauna to be seen, not just birds – though the bird life certainly didn’t disappoint. And there were many handsome ponies nibbling on the saltmarsh.

190114 (3) horses at whiteford point

As well as most of the smaller, more common birds – blackbirds, robins, singing Song thrushes, calling Bullfinches, a big mixed flock of Chaffinches, Linnets and Reed buntings – we also disturbed both Common snipe and Jack snipe that were lurking in the reed beds next to the path. The Jack snipe was a lifer for me, though views were brief as the birds shot up suddenly and unexpectedly, flew a short way, then disappeared back into the reeds.

190114 (4) brent geese and flying dunlin

Once we reached the beach, we saw a wide range of waders and sea birds. Here a flock of Dunlin flies past Brent geese grazing along the shoreline.

190114 (5) shelduck and dunlin

More skittish Dunlin flying along the shore, this time above the heads of feeding Shelducks.

190114 (7) oystercatchers and curlew

It was wonderful to see such good numbers of Curlew, here with even larger numbers of the ubiquitous Oystercatchers. We also enjoyed sightings of some less common birds – a Great northern diver quite close to the shore; a Slavonian grebe further off and diving frequently so not easy to keep track of; a Red-breasted merganser a distant speck through the ’scopes.

190114 (7) a raft of eider

My favourites were undoubtedly the Eider ducks. I fell in love with them when I first heard their call on our birding trip to Northumberland last year.

190114 (8) horses on the marsh

Eventually, we made the long trek back to the cars and moved on to nearby Llanrhidian Marsh, to await the dusk, hopeful of harriers and perhaps an owl or two. More ponies were running free on the marsh – they looked unloved and uncared for, their manes very long and tatty, but, as we waited, a man arrived and fed them some meal from a bucket. They were very handsome and quite inquisitive.

190114 (9) little egrets

The marsh seemed alive with Little egrets, and we had good sightings of several Great whites – another year first for me. Some of our group saw a Hen harrier, and a couple of Red kites came in gliding low, hunting for their supper, but no owls appeared and the harrier did not return.

Still, as the sun went down, we were treated to this stunning sunset, and we returned home tired but happy after a most excellent day’s birding in a superb setting.

190114 (10) sunset over llanrhidian marsh

Here’s my trip list: Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Buzzard, Eider, Redshank, Snipe, Cormorant, Dunlin, Dunnock, Curlew, Teal, Wigeon, Golden Plover, Stonechat, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great White Egret, Great Northern Diver, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Greenshank, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Lapwing, Pintail, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Kite, Red-breasted Merganser, Reed Bunting, Robin, Sanderling, Shelduck, Slavonian Grebe, Song Thrush, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.

My birding friend and I saw Greenshank at Penclawdd when we stopped for a quick scan on the way to Whiteford Point so my total for the day was 61 and, as other birders saw a few birds I didn’t, the club’s total was 70. Those extras were, most notably, that Hen harrier but also Common gull, Green sandpiper, Jay, Merlin, Redwing, Rook, Stock dove and Turnstone.

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Birding at Ogmore and Pant Norton

11 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature, walks, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Buttonweed, Cormorant, Curlew, Glamorgan Bird Club, Kestrel, Musk thistle, Ogmore, Pant Norton, Portobello House, Stonechat, The Pant, Wall butterfly, Wigeon

Though a cool wind was blowing in off the sea, yesterday was a gloriously sunny day for our Glamorgan Bird Club outing to Ogmore. The fine weather also meant we had a great turn out of 26 people, more than usual for our field trips.

181011 Ogmore birding (1)

We started off near Portobello House, scanning the dunes of Merthyr Mawr and checking the River Ogmore, where the ubiquitous Cormorants were adorning this big dead tree in the water.

181011 Ogmore birding (2)

A Kestrel hovered over the dunes, and we witnessed a spectacular chase by a Sparrowhawk after a Meadow pipit – only very blurry photos of that, unfortunately. (The mipit escaped.)

181011 Ogmore birding (3)
181011 Ogmore birding (4)

Two Wigeon flew in to join the Canada geese, Mallards and gulls up river.

181011 Ogmore birding (5)

After grazing along the muddy banks down river for a time, this Curlew flew upstream to find another place to feed.

181011 Ogmore birding (6)
181011 Ogmore birding (7)

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, our birding trips are not just about birds. Many birders are also interested in flora and other fauna so, yesterday, Dave was able to point out to us the invasive Buttonweed (Cotula coronopifolia) (he was the first to spot this plant in Wales!) and a Musk thistle (Carduus nutans). And another of our keen-eyed birders spotted this Wall butterfly, only the second time I’ve seen one of these beauties.

181011 Ogmore birding (8)181011 Ogmore birding (9)

After a wander up and down the riverbank we headed across the road and up a track into a series of small valleys, an area known locally as The Pant. As well as many other small birds, there were several Stonechats popping up and down in the shrubs and bracken.

181011 Ogmore birding (10)

And then, what for me was the highlight of the day, really close views of a Kestrel hunting for its lunch. This handsome young male caught three creatures – probably voles or other small mammals – in the space of 10 minutes or so. It was incredible to watch how this bird’s amazing eyesight enabled it to hone in so accurately on its prey and, though I can’t help but have some sympathy for its victims, to see what an efficient hunter the Kestrel truly is.

181011 Ogmore birding (11)181011 Ogmore birding (12)

My total number of species for the day was 41: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Little Grebe, Little Egret, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Eurasian Curlew, Greenshank, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Skylark, Long-tailed Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Wren, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, European Stonechat, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Bullfinch and Willow Warbler.
I must have wandered off when these birds were seen: Greenfinch, Stock Dove, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook, Raven, Goldcrest and Dunnock.

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Birding at Goldcliff and Uskmouth

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, Birding at Goldcliff, birdwatching, British birds, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Goldcliff lagoons, Hobby, Little egret, Pied wagtail, Yellow wagtail

On my way to Goldcliff, I told Tim and Alan, our leader for the day, that I wanted to see a Curlew sandpiper, a Little stint, a Hobby and a Marsh harrier, as they would all be year ticks for me to add to my 2018 birding list. Amazingly, I saw three of those four – only the Marsh harrier failed to appear – and I still managed to add four new birds to my list as we also had a fly-over of four Pintails.

180918 birding goldcliff (1)

Our small but enthusiastic group of eight started the day at Goldcliff, where the lagoon water levels are still very low after summer’s drought conditions – in fact, the fresh water pool is just a sea of cracked mud, awaiting some decent rainfall to refill it. It was a couple of hours before high tide and the birding started very slowly as small flocks of waders began to fly in from feeding out in the channel.

180918 birding goldcliff (2)

A Curlew probed the mud for small molluscs, and one of several Little egrets flitted from place to place.

180918 birding goldcliff (3)

Then the cattle started heading our way, shepherding along with them a veritable herd of Yellow and Pied wagtails.

180918 birding goldcliff (4)

How entertaining these little birds are as they flit lightly up and down, snapping up the insects stirred up by the cows’ feet.

180918 birding goldcliff (5)

The wagtails seem incredibly brave as they strut between the cattle’s relatively enormous legs and dice with death within an inch of a cow’s be-whiskered face, yet the cattle ignore them, probably happy to have their very own and very active insect catchers.

180918 birding goldcliff (6)

The high tide was crashing against the sea wall when we eventually made our way to the furthest hide and we sheltered there, checking out Wheatears, water birds and waders, while a couple of heavy rain showers blew through. By that time, more and more flocks were landing in the pool in front of the first hide so back we stomped to turn the ’scopes and bins on those birds.

180918 birding goldcliff (7)

Almost as soon as we returned, a friendly local birder put us on to some of the more special birds, and they were my year ticks, the Curlew sandpipers, the Little stint and that stunning bird of the prey, the Hobby.

180918 birding goldcliff (8)

No sooner had I said I’d like to see the Hobby fly that up in to the air it went, flew a swift circuit of the pool and landed back near where it had started. Magical!

180918 birding goldcliff (9)

Eventually, we left Goldcliff’s lovely lagoons and headed along the road to the RSPB’s Newport Wetlands reserve at Uskmouth. After a welcome drink, we had a wander down to the lighthouse at the sea wall, adding a few more birds to our day’s tally as we went. One of our Tims (we had two Tims on this trip) was very lucky to see a Bearded tit in flight and our other Tim spotted a couple of Porpoises just off the coast, which was a delightful way to round off a most excellent day.

My total list for the day was 59 species: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Hobby, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Eurasian Curlew, Greenshank, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Swallow, House Martin, Long-tailed Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Starling, Robin, Northern Wheatear, House Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting, and Wren. And there were 3 species I didn’t spot (Stock Dove, Sand Martin, Skylark) so the trip list was a whopping 62 for the day.

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World Curlew Day

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Curlew, Numenius arquata, World Curlew Day

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to see the Curlew (Numenius arquata) quite frequently during the winter months as the birds graze along the seashore and in adjacent playing fields at a seaside town close to where I live in south Wales. But the Curlew is in trouble. Due to changes in the habitat management of its breeding grounds and possibly to an increase in predatory mammals like foxes, the Curlew population has seen worrying declines in recent decades and the bird is now an amber-listed species in Britain.

180421 curlew (1)

Today, 21 April, is World Curlew Day, a day not only to celebrate all the various species of Curlew but also to recognise that these birds are threatened all over the world, and to focus on the research, conservation programmes, and support initiatives needed to ensure their continued survival.

180421 curlew (2)

This particular date was chosen because of the Curlew’s special link with Wales. A post on the Wader Study Group website explains:

April 21 was chosen to be World Curlew Day because of a delightful, traditional Welsh tale that identifies the first curlew conservationist. St Beuno, was a 6th century abbot from Wales. Legend has it he was sailing off the coast when he dropped his prayer book in the sea. A curlew flew over and rescued it and took it to the shore to dry. The grateful St Beuno decreed that from then on, the bird be given special protection and that its nest must be difficult to find; which is indeed the case.

You can read more about the RSPB’s Curlew Recovery programme here, and about the international Curlew situation on the BTO website here. There is also a World Curlew Day Facebook page here and a Twitter page here.

180421 curlew (3)

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Birding in Barry

12 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Barry, Barry Docks, Barry Old Harbour, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Curlew, Great Crested Grebe, Med gull, Mediterranean gull, Oystercatcher, Redhsank, Shelduck

The south Wales town of Barry is not exactly what you’d call a prime birding destination but, due to its coastal location, it does turn up regular wader sightings and the occasional rarity. On this visit, I dipped on my target species, the Great northern diver that’s been overwintering in Barry Docks – I saw the bird last year but want to add it to this year’s list – but I still had an enjoyable day’s birding, with a few nice surprises.

180312 Med & black-headed gulls

First up at Barry Docks was the local Mediterranean gull. For those unfamiliar with this bird, you can see some of the differences between it and Black-headed gulls in this photo – in breeding season, the hood on the head of the Med gull covers its entire head and is a true black (not a chocolate brown hood on just the front half of the head), its beak and legs are different, and it has white wing tips.

180312 Great crested grebes

Four Great crested grebes were braving the choppy waves being whipped up by the strong sou’westerly wind.

180312 Shelducks

In Barry Old Harbour, two Shelducks were hoovering the mud for small shellfish and aquatic snails.

180312 Redshanks

At least eight Redshanks were prospecting amongst the salt marsh and along the silty rivulets.

180312 Oystercatchers

Sitting down, five Oystercatchers were so well camouflaged as to be almost invisible, until they got up and one set them all off singing out their characteristic call.

180312 Curlew (1)

The day’s pièce de résistance was the sight of two Curlews prospecting for a late lunch amongst reeds and under rocks. At first, I thought I had the two Black-tailed godwits reported earlier in the week but no, those bills were definitely curved. A nice sighting just the same!

180312 Curlew (2)

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A stroll at Sully

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, coastal fauna, nature, seaside, walks

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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.

180206 Sully stroll (1)

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.

180206 Sully stroll (2)
180206 Sully stroll (3)

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.

180206 Sully stroll (4)180206 Sully stroll (5)

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.

180206 Sully stroll (6)

180206 Sully stroll (7)
180206 Sully stroll (8)

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 …

180206 Sully stroll (9)180206 Sully stroll (10)

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About me

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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