Bogbumper And The Curse Of The Black Tern

This morning I was woken at 05:45 by a text from Mike 'Early Birder' Weedon which said:

"Blak [sic] tern @ maxey now 5.45am. M"

I neeeeeeeeeed Black Tern for my PBC area list. That was enough of a stimulus to get even me out of bed. I grabbed my scope, bins, camera etc. and set off.

I arrived at Maxey at 06:15 (it would have been sooner if I hadn't gone the wrong way - twice). There was no sign of Weed, and worse still, no bloody terns! I waited around for more than a hour, in the vain hope that they might come back, but there was no sign.

After that bitter disappointment, I went to Castor Hanglands (I'm a sucker for punishment), and had my best-ever views of Grasshopper Warbler. I heard one reeling as I got out of the car, and decided to have a wander up the track to look for it (it sounded close, but they can be quite misleading). Scanning around, I soon saw it sitting low in a tree. After watching for a while, I decided it was worth a digiscoping attempt.



Hardly worth it, but it's fun trying. It's not easy to understand how Groppers sing. They just seem to sit there, open their bills and somehow the mechanical sound spills out. The only sign of any effort is the vibrating tail.

Also at CH were a few Turtle Doves, a couple of Cuckoos, and a lot of young birds.

These Common Spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) made a nice display.



This flower is pretty, but I don't know what it is...




Update: Mum says it's Goatsbeard, Tragopogon orientalis, otherwise known as Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon.

What's in my CD player: Thriller - Lambchop

Peterborough's Hampton 'development'

To the south of Peterborough city centre, there used to be an important Great Crested Newt colony, and unique ridge-and-furrow habitat (created by the clay extraction for the local brick industry) which was important for insect and plants. Now, much of it is being 'developed' to accommodate Peterborough's share of the hundreds of thousands of new houses that Britain will be building (somewhere) over the coming decades.

Yes, Hampton is here. It really irks me that the land being developed is always referred to as "derelict brickworks" - as if there's nothing of any worth there. There seems to be a presumption that brownfield land cannot be of any worth to wildlife, which is incorrect. There was an excellent feature in the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough's recent newsletter which explained exactly why Hampton is a terrible example of insensitive development (I hope to quote some bits from it here in future - when I find my copy).

In the Peterborough Evening Telegraph on Wednesday, there was an article about the latest round of development at Hampton which has just been approved by the city council. That prompted me to look at Hampton's official website, which was quite illuminating.

Looking at 'The Masterplan', you can see just how committed the developers are to wildlife and the environment by the amount of land they have designated a nature reserve. A tiny fragment of land, compared to the vast swathes of housing, industry and 'open space' (what does that mean - manicured, landscapes Teletubbyland?) they have allocated space for. The website talks about how 9% of the area will be a nature reserve - is that like Crown Lakes Country Park at Farcet, where native vegetation had to make way for aesthetically-pleasing, alien planting? [Waxwings seem to like it, though]



Still, at least Hampton will be good if you like to see Canada Geese...

In the ET's piece yesterday, Roger Tallowin, director and general manager of O + H Hampton (the developers) "promised the relentless increase in housing – the firm is currently aiming to see 500 built each year – will not overshadow its environmental principles.

"He said: "We are maintaining the concept of having plenty of green areas. "It is very much a green project – both figuratively and literally.""

I remain to be convinced.


What's in my CD player: The Sleepy Jackson - The Sleepy Jackson

Starling on my patio

It's not exactly a great photo, but I like this pic of a bathing male Starling.

Hoopoe artwork

I've realised I can't really draw birds properly so I might as well go down the stylised route to mask my inadequacies. It's a sort of representation of last month's Hoopoe flying up the Nene valley.

This was inspired by Carry Akroyd, except she does it infinitely better than me, of course. I love her swans especially.

Ringing

Click here to read about ringing and for useful links.

An early start this morning for my first proper ringing session at Ferry Meadows this year. Chris, my trainer, had told me that when he visited the site last week, there had been water in places that reached above his knees! I have now ordered a pair of waders, but it's still a waterproof trousers, wellies and waxed jacket job, as usual.

Fortunately, the water level had dropped by this morning, leaving lots of deep, sloppy mud to contend with. At this stage in the season, the vegetation on the site (lots of willow carr, reeds, rosebay willowherb, nettles etc., plus my favourite, water mint) isn't too high, but it grows at a terrific rate and before long there'll be stingers taller than I am!

Chris was onsite before me and had the mist-nets up in record time. Altogether, 40 birds were caught in the nets during the morning (22 of which had already been ringed previously) - not a brilliant total, but considering the weather conditions (breeze and bright sunshine make the nets more visible to birds), not too bad.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker was certainly biggest and noisiest catch of the day (photo above). Other species trapped included Sedge and Reed Warblers, Blackcap, Garden and Willow Warblers, Long-tailed and Blue Tits, Blackbird, Robin and Bullfinch. Two Reed Buntings were also noteworthy since they don't appear in the nets very often.

As a trainee, I'm on a steep learning curve. It takes many hours of practice, patience and perseverance to learn to ring birds. It's not easy and I'm still learning the skills and particular dexterity needed. Hopefully I'll get there eventually!

While it's a fascinating privilege to see birds up close, what I find most interesting of all is the phenomenon of migration. It's humbling to know that the tiny Sedge Warbler you've just released has been flying back to the same site from sub-Saharan Africa for the past four or five years (read a bit about Sedge Warblers here). It might only weigh 12g!

How does it find its way, which route did it take, where did it go, what did it see on the way...

A Nightingale singing from near the site was slightly unusual for Ferry Meadows.

What's in my CD player: Grand Slang - City Slang 1990-2000 (various artists, including Lambchop (of course), Tortoise, Wheat[us], Yo La Tengo and Calexico. Brilliant!)

Long-eared Owls

I forgot to write about my evening out on Monday. It was infinitely more enjoyable (from my point of view), than last Thursday (too much pizza + cheesecake + small but not very potent quantity of alcohol = intense nausea).

Anyway... Got to site. Sat down. Waited until the correct time. Watched hunting Long-eared Owl in the golden evening light as it glided past - unperturbed by human presence - only metres away: orange eyes, ear tufts, distinctive wing markings, moth-like, deep, soft wingbeats - the works! Owlets squeaking away from the nest site nearby.

Magic.

What's in my CD player: Rings Around The World - Super Furry Animals

Frass and slow-worms

Went to Bedford Purlieus for a morning stroll. I was really hoping for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but since I didn't know where they were meant to be and it's a pretty big site (208 hectares, whatever that means), I just decided to wander about in the hope of bumping into something.

The pic at the top is of three juvenile Long-tailed Tits which were being fed by their parents. There was no shortage of food - caterpillar poo (or frass, as I believe it is known) was literally raining down from the canopy!


This beastie is a longhorn species called Rhagium mordax (click here).

It's a fantastic wood, full of singing birds (I heard Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush) and a wide range of flora. I was fortunate enough to meet Bob and Emily, who were on the lookout for slow-worms, and they let me tag along for a while. Looking under pieces of corrugated plastic, we found two - one small and one large (picture below). Never seen one before so it was quite exciting.

More information about slow-worms (and snakes) here.



What's in my CD player: The Beginning Stages Of... - The Polyphonic Spree

Temminck’s Stint

Went to Welland Bank Pits yesterday evening in search of the Temminck's Stint. Fortunately, just as we were arriving, Will Bowell had relocated it and we were able to view it from next to the pet refuge (to the accompaniment of various animal and bird noises).

I saw them on Lesbos last year but hadn't in the UK - until now.

Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!

What's in my CD player: Automatic For The People - R.E.M.

Temminck's Stint at WBP but I can't go and see it!

Yes, of course, with the application of Sod's Law, it was a Temminck's Stint at WBP. Well done to Will Bowell for finding it. It's just about the only night I couldn't go out after work and see it. I hope it hangs around... I neeeeeeeeeeed it for a PBC (and British!) tick.

Stuck without a stint

Just finished an enormous mountain of work and have heard about a possible Temminck's Stint at Welland Bank Pits. But, even though I have a car, I cannot go for it because I'm going out! Gaaaaaaaaaahhh! Hopefully, it'll turn out not to be one, then I won't feel like I've lost out...

What's in my CD player: Is A Woman - Lambchop

Why does it never rain when you want it to?

Since it was a showery day, I decided to go to Orton Brick Pit to try for Arctic/Black Terns. Of course, there were none (not even any Common Terns). The best and most fascinating bird there by far was a Nightingale.

The strange thing about it was the noise it was making. At first, there seemed to be a Chaffinch calling (the Greenfinchy, wheezy kind of call) and something that sounded like a frog going 'frrrrrrrrrrp!', coming from the same area of vegetation. Then, the Nightingale revealed itself for a few seconds, and it was clearly producing both the sounds, almost simultaneously! Very odd indeed.



We waited in vain for a rain shower to bring down some migrants, but, of course, this failed to materialise. So the next stop was Ferry Meadows, where Mike Weedon had reported a first-summer Little Gull. That was still there, and there were plenty of Common Terns around, a passage of House Martins, Swallows and Swifts, and the usual evening Starling flights from north to south (birds which had been feeding on the Milton estate returning to their nest sites in Orton, or vice-versa?). But no Arctic or marsh terns. And no rain.

Ended up at Eldernell, where it also did not rain. Nice evening for it, though.

Waste of time at Woodwalton

Well, it looks like the unscheduled trip to Woodwalton could have cost me a PBC tick - Black Tern! Two were seen at Eldernell today. Yes, I still neeeeeeeeed Black Tern though I ticked White-winged Black at Welland Bank Pits last summer!

Oh well. You can't be everywhere at once and some things need to be checked out...

The spectacular creature below is a hunting (as opposed to web-spinning) spider called Pisaura mirabilis, which I watched confront another smaller, darker spider. Dark Spider approached, waving its forelegs and antennae things (sorry, I'm not an arachnologist). Big Spider tolerated it for a while, before threatening to grab it and sending it scuttling for safety. I'm getting to enjoy watching minibeasts close-up.



What's in my CD player: White Blood Cells - The White Stripes

The Drinker

I'm informed that the furry caterpillar I saw at Woodwalton this morning is that of The Drinker moth.



What's in my CD player: Is A Woman - Lambchop

Washes waders

Spent a large part of yesterday afternoon/early evening on the washes. Spring wader passage seems to be at its peak so far, which is good 'cause we didn't really have any at all last year! Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Sanderling, Little Ringed Plover and Greenshank have all been seen in the past week - not bad for an inland area.

We were just about to go home when Steve called "Temminck's Stint - flying along the bank, past the Shelduck, past the Mute Swans, over the drove - now!" He ID'd it on tail pattern - all white with a black central stripe. Pretty impressive.

Unfortunately, it's such a big area that it was nigh-on impossible to get onto a titchy wader flying hell-for-leather. I saw it as it flew over the drove, but didn't get anything on it at all - bugger!

Had a phone call this morning about "four or five Wood Warblers singing at Woodwalton Fen". In the PBC area, that's definitely worth checking out, since the species is only a rare migrant, and I neeeeeeeeeeeeeed it.

Sadly, by the time a small group of us had arrived, there was no sign of them. Actually, "four or five" in a small area does sound a little odd, since it's practically a vagrant to this area and they were "doing that trilling call" - I thought Wood Warbler's call was a bit like Bullfinch? Anyway, it's not the end of the world... There was the usual array of warblers, including Grasshopper and Garden Warblers. So not entirely wasted.



What's in my CD player: Gold - Ryan Adams

No Red-rump

Another trip to Ferry Meadows. Not a lot about, though I heard (and saw) my first Garden Warblers of the year, which is always nice. For me, their song compares favourably with Nightingale, and they're not featureless and boring...

I was really hoping for a Red-rumped Swallow (they seem to be everywhere else, so why not Peterborough?), but drew a blank, though there were loads of House Martins zipping about. Don Gardener and Matt Webb saw six Arctic Terns but I didn't.

What's in my CD player: Feast Of Wire - Calexico

No more Hoopoe but time for a Dotterel?

Went to Stibbington again at lunchtime to look for the Hoopoe. No joy. There was a fantastic field full of dandelions next to the sewage works, though... looked great for Linnet and Goldfinch.

I think it's time to start looking for Dotterel in peafields.

What's in my CD player: - Hail To The Thief - Radiohead

Back to earth at Ferry Meadows

After the morning's excitement, I went to Ferry Meadows again this afternoon. A bit stupid of me really, since it's so busy on sunny weekends.

Anyway, I enjoyed the walk and took some not-too-bad photos, and watched some interesting interaction between a Sedge Warbler and a Whitethroat. On the long walk round Gunwade Lake, there were plenty of fish-wielding Common Terns and some Pied Wagtails on the water's edge, plus one smart male Yellow Wagtail. But most definitely no White Wagtails.

"Good morning. Have you just woken up?"

I was rudely awoken from my sleep this morning by my mobile phone. I didn't recognise the number. My first dozy thoughts were a) is it Monday and should I be at work? and b) it'll be someone trying to flog me something. Fortunately, I answered, for it was Martin Coates telling me that there was a Hoopoe at Stibbington. That was enough to get even me out of bed on a Sunday morning, so I woke up a bit and went to see it.

By the time I'd found my way there, a few other birders were already on the scene, including its finder, Brian Stone (he found another one at Elton Furze last year but it vanished and wasn't seen again). The bird was last seen poking around on the edge of an unmade track.

Of course, Hoopoes are famous for feeding on lawns belonging to vicars, and Stibbington Hall, just around the corner, had what we considered a highly attractive lawn, ideal for a hungry visiting Hoopoe. It obviously disagreed, because it popped up again in its original position and we all had a good eyeful until it flopped away.

Most people left at this point, but a few of us decided we might as well wait, since we were there now, and our patience paid off. The Hoopoe returned and seemed happy to feed quite close to where we were. Though it was scared off twice by dog walkers and a Magpie, it always came back to the same spot, and the last I saw of it was when it trotted off round the corner and out of sight.

My first Hoopoe in the PBC area - what a fantastic bird! I got some OK photos of it, which you can see at the top of this post and also here.

What's in my CD player: Hail To The Thief - Radiohead

Ferry Meadows Country Park

Willow Warbler at Coney Meadow

Another post-work visit to Ferry Meadows CP. I headed for Coney Meadow again since the park was still fairly busy.

If last Friday was the day of the Willow Warbler, this week it was Reed Buntings which were singing all over the place. At least five males sang in stereo within a small area of hawthorn scrub. I tend to think of them as inhabitants of fen, rather than scrub, but I think they know what they're doing.

There were two male Whitethroats duelling among the brambles, too. I tried for ages to get photos of one of them, but gave up playing cat-and-mouse after a while... Nice to see them back, though.


Coney Meadow

What else was about...? About ten Common Terns were around Overton Lake, and it was interesting to see that two of them had BTO-type metal rings on their right legs.


Green Woodpecker at Coney Meadow

A Green Woodpecker was very vocal along a line of oaks nearby. I finally caught up with him when he flew to an isolated tree in the middle of the meadow, and I got a half-decent photo! Green Woody is one of my favourite species. Very charismatic.

I was hoping for a repeat of last week's Wheatear, which I now believe was of the 'Greenland' race leucorhoa. That's a mega-migrant for you. Anyway, there wasn't one, but I did finally see the Pink-footed Goose that hangs about with the feral Greylag flock. And I got a lovely pic of it, too...



The Cormorants were on the Overton Lake island, as usual.



What's in my CD player: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea - PJ Harvey

Grasshopper Warbler

Went out to Castor Hanglands at lunchtime to bag my first Grasshopper Warbler of the year. It was distant, but it'll do for now. It looked like it ought to be a good day for a fly-over raptor, but we didn't see any.

What's in my CD player: Deserter's Songs - Mercury Rev

It's A Wonderful Life

I meant to get up early this morning but I stayed in bed until 07:15. Lazy. I drove to Eldernell in the hope of seeing a Ring Ouzel. It was a lovely morning, but there were none there, and no Wheatears either. Oh well. You can't have everything.

Instead I concentrated my efforts on trying to digiscope singing birds. I hoped they'd be sitting fairly still, but it was the usual story of birds buggering off just when I was ready to take a picture. I was all set to get what I thought would be some fantastic pics of a singing male Blackcap, but every time I pressed the shutter, he was facing away from me! Finally, I got one half-decent image.

I don't mind. Fortunately, the Nene Washes is the kind of place where you can return, having seen nothing, and not feel too hard done by. Some of the best birds were by the car as I arrived: a Barn Owl floated by over the meadows, with Black-headed Gulls in close attendance (but keeping a safe distance). By the sluice gate on Morton's Leam, a pair of Pied Wagtails were a'courting. He was fervently bowing up and down, while she crouched down before seeing him off with a warning wave of the bill.

What's in my CD player: It's A Wonderful Life - Sparklehorse

Spotshank and Wheateater, and rediscovery of Sparklehorse

It's been an interesting day. It didn't start promisingly, since the Ring Ouzel wasn't seen again after the early morning. But we had a phone call from Will Bowell mid-morning to say that Josh Jones had found a nearly summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank at the bizarrely-named Grummit's Scrape.

Managed to get out at lunchtime (first piece of lunchtime twitching since passing driving test). When Dr Weedon and I turned up, there was not a lot to be seen, and certainly no Spotshank. We were despondent and on the verge of leaving the hide when we heard a 'chewit!' Soon enough, the dusky beauty popped out from the edge of the scrape and it showed fairly well until we left.

I took some hasty pics but they're abysmal. If you want to see them, click here and here. But Josh's are much better.

After work I went down to Ferry Meadows, since it was such a nice evening. Had a wander around the scrubby parts of Coney Meadow, where I attempted to digiscope singing Willow Warblers. I had a couple of near-misses: click here to see one. The WWs were fantastic. It seemed like there was one singing from the top of nearly every hawthorn bush. Of course, they all dived for cover as soon as I thought I could get a picture of them...

As I walked out of the scrub towards Lynch Lake, I glimpsed something on top of a post, which turned into a smart male Wheatear. He vanished initially, until I rediscovered him lurking by the narrow-gauge railway. I got a half-decent photo (after some sharpening). Unfortunately, digiscoping was curtailed because of some chav wantonly kicking a football between me and the bird, flushing it. Oh well...

I'd forgotten how much I love Sparklehorse. Highly recommended.

What's in my CD player: Distorted Ghost EP - Sparklehorse

Maxey GP

This afternoon I went out for a drive to Maxey GP. Not terribly exciting... two smashing male Yellow Wagtails, a Shelduck, about 50 Sand Martins, a Green Sandpiper, a singing Willow Warbler...

Much more interesting was the Cuckoo that flew in front of the car near Helpston. But extremely annoying was the Little Gulls at Ferry Meadows CP at 15:00! All gone by 17:00. There seems to have been a bit of a movement today.

Today's favourite news stories:
Young female chimps upstage males
Pizza cone takes a slice of food-on-the-move action

What's in my CD player: Mwng - Super Furry Animals

What is this blog about?

I feel obliged, should there be anyone else reading this, to explain what birding is.

It's probably better known as birdwatching, the act of watching birds. Yes, blokes, you can make jokes like "I like watching birds but not the ones with feathers! HA HA HA!" but we've heard them all before and they still aren't funny.

A good phrase to summarise what watching birds is about is used by the RSPB for one of their campaigns. It's: "Aren't Birds Brilliant!" Birding doesn't have to involve vast numbers of birds, or a rare or spectacularly-coloured species, or ones with beautiful songs, though it can be any of those. It could be something as simple as watching a Starling probing for leatherjackets in a lawn, or a Chiffchaff, newly-arrived from Africa, picking its way through a hawthorn bush. Or a House Sparrow building a nest under roof tiles. These are all fairly mundane things that you can see on the way to work every morning.

I find watching birds go about their daily business fascinating. There is so much about them that we don't fully understand. Actually, there are plenty of things that we have no idea about. How do birds navigate their way around the world? Why do some species agitate ants' nests and then wait for the ants to crawl all over them? How do birds tell each other apart? We may never know for sure.

On the other hand, spectacular birds, or ones that do odd things, are extremely interesting. One of my favourite sounds is the 'drumming' of the Snipe. It's a small wading bird with a long, sensitive, slightly flexible bill which it uses to feed in soft ground or mud. The Snipe 'drums' by flying high up in a display flight, then diving earthward and fanning out its outer tail feathers. They vibrate, making an audible humming noise.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that birds are fascinating beings. They are constantly doing things beyond our comprehension. They are all around us. They come in many different shapes, sizes and colours, and are adapted to just about any environment and extreme condition you can think of.

Compare penguins (ice and intense cold. Incubates its egg/chick on its specially adapted feet) and sandgrouse (desert and heat. The males carry water on their breast feathers to their young at the nest). Birds are immensely strong (eg. Arctic Terns spending 'our' winter in the southern hemisphere, then breeding in northern Britain; tiny warblers migrating year after year to and from Africa), and at the same time delicate and beautiful (look at the same warbler up close and you wouldn't think it capable of such a feat).

In short, birds enrich our lives and my life is improved immeasurably by them.

Here are my favourite BBC News stories of the day:
European men outstrip Americans
Nasa helps its feathered friends

What's in my CD player: Awcmon - Lambchop

Meadow Pipit, Nene Washes

I think this is my best photo to date. I was just giving up on trying to digiscope Meadow Pipits when this one perched on a fencepost for a few minutes.

There's always the 'do I or don't I try to digiscope it?' quandary - I seem to spend half my time carefully moving into position, only for the bird to fly off at the critical moment. Fortunately, it stayed put for several minutes and the meadow made a good background. They're very under-rated birds. I think it must have been watching flies above its head.

Ringing at Farcet Fen

Chris and I went down to Steve Dudley's garden with the aim of trapping and colour-ringing some House and Tree Sparrows. Steve had counted a maximum of nine Treeps in the garden at any one time, so it was a bit of a surprise to catch 13! Over the next few weeks, he counted another nine which had escaped the nets, making a total of at least 22 individuals.

The House and Tree Sparrows we caught were fitted with a standard BTO metal ring on the right leg, and a red plastic ring on the left, as part of a research project into sparrows in the Fens. Hopefully we'll be able to do a return visit in the autumn when there are plenty of juveniles in the garden.

Other birds caught included Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch (at least one of which was a big, long-winged bird of continental origin) and Dunnock. It was very interesting to see ringing in an entirely different habitat and very nice not to have to wear wellies/waterproof trousers/waxed jacket...

Ferry Meadows

Lesser Redpolls (Carduelis cabaret) can be hard to pin down in the Peterborough area, so I was happy to find a small flock feeding in the alders on the north bank of the River Nene, near Bluebell Bridge. They spent quite a lot of time feeding on fallen alder cones on the ground.

Glaucous Gull, Prior's Fen

Believe it or not, this Glaucous Gull was actually *cough* a lifer for me. I just haven't ever gone out of my way to look for gulls in the past, but we made a special flying visit to Prior's Fen.

I hate gulls, but I hate Prior's even more.

American Robin, Grimsby

Occasionally, it is nice to escape from the Peterborough Bird Club area and experience the illicit thrills of dirty twitching.

The American Robin at Grimsby, Lincolnshire, deserved a visit so I blagged a lift there with Steve Dudley and borrowed a digiscoping adaptor for the day. The picture above goes to prove that even I can take half-decent pictures of brightly-coloured birds at close range in sunny conditions.