It just got better

It's not that often that I get things right (just look at yesterday's GBBG image - which I'd originally labelled as a LBBG) - yet today, as I walked back to the car, I bumped into another birder who said it looked good for "some more Buzzards" . It turns out that there had been five over North Foreland at 14.00hrs on Saturday. With Steve Tomlinson (Margate Cemetery) reporting good numbers of Red Kites, in recent days, there is certainly a very westerly bias to the Spring migration of raptors over Thanet. Still, with the experience of previous years, any decent sunshine (without howling NE gales) is capable of producing a raptor, or two, on our side of Thanet.

Bev and I had breakfast and, with a lunch engagement at The Sir Stanley Grey with Dad, Sye & Yve, set about cleaning the bungalow; just in case they decided to come back for coffee. Job done, I spent the majority of the morning out in the back garden awaiting events. The first sighting was of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) which settled in the grass for a short while - long enough to get the extension tubes onto the camera and grab a few shots.

I was sat at the patio table when a movement in the tangled buddlieas alerted me to a small bird moving about within the dappled shadows. Lifting my binoculars I was delighted to find myself looking at a beautiful male Siskin, even more so when it flew across to the sunflower feeder - so close that it was within the minimum focus of my 170-500mm Sigma. Completely un-phased, it allowed me to move to a better position and get a series of 100+ images - what a fantastic stroke of luck and a nice demonstration of the quality of image that is possible using the EOS 400d.

Bev asked if I would clean out the fireplace, so I was mid process when the massed ranks of Newland's Farm gulls went nuts - something was going on! The fireplace was put on hold as I scanned the skies - suddenly there it was; a Red Kite spiralled over the field beyond our garden hedge before drifting off east over the bungalow. A few shots in the bag, the gulls were still agitated, so it was no surprise when a Common Buzzard appeared, following the same route, although much lower!

I stayed outside for the maximum time I could, a Ring Ouzel - silver winged and missile-like in flight, chack-chacked its' way along the hedgerow, while Chaffinches, Meadow Pipits, Greenfinches and two Mallards (!) provided further evidence of Spring-time movement.
What a day? Is it because the weather has been so poor that I'm clutching at straws - I still haven't seen a Wheatear!

An early one

I left Bev to continue her slumbers and, after scraping the ice off the windscreen, drove over to North Foreland. A beautiful dawn, was made so much more bearable by the fact that there was no wind, to speak of - even the heavy frost couldn't spoil my walk. I was out for a couple of hours, walking the cliff-top from North Foreland to Foreness Point and back.
Some things remain the same, birds continue to be at a premium. A fox was disturbed from the cliff-top scrub, at Joss Bay, providing a nice photo as it made a dash across the car park field on its' way home in a North Foreland garden.

A Woodcock was watched arriving in/off, causing quite a stir amongst the roosting gulls - something I hadn't expected. Corvids continue to move along the coast with several mixed flocks of Jackdaws and Crows moving deliberately NE out to sea; Rooks were also more noticeable, their calls alerting me to several loose flocks passing high overhead. As it's that time of year, there was a flock of 27 Magpies moving steadily N, over Kingsgate Castle but my biggest surprise was of a flock of 19 Great Tits flying over The Fayreness - I'd expected to see Chaffinches as I raised my binoculars!

 

A female Stonechat was on the fences at the top of Botany Bay - not allowing close approach, it was gone by the time I made my way back towards the car. A few Meadow Pipits were displaying by Foreness and I noted two Sparrowhawks moving N at some height but, if you discount the huge numbers of Woodpigeons, there was very little else of note. Another fox was flushed from the tide line, by an approaching dog-walker, and made quite a spectacle as it sought sanctuary in the chalk cliffs, more dog walkers barring its way. I didn't panic, but instead just trotted off to a secluded ditch where it manoeuvred around the problem and successfully completed its journey.

A female Black Redstart was found, as I returned to North Foreland, providing me with one last photo opportunity before it was home for breakfast, the clock not yet reading 08.30hrs. With the sun shining brightly and the temperature starting to creep up, I wouldn't be surprised to spot a Buzzard or two around mid-morning.

It seemed rude not to!

I spent the morning birding- well; what I really mean is that I spent the mid-morning, not so much birding as in the search for a wheatear! How sad is that? Even sadder when you learn that I failed - my walk between North Foreland and Fayreness producing a single Rock Pipit; that's it. Not a Chiffchaff or Black Redstart to be seen, even the local Fulmars were conspicuous by their absence. The only sighting, of any note, was of an oiled Great Black-backed Gull that was flying around by Joss Bay. The blasting NE wind meant that I didn't remain long, 15+ Red-throated Divers and many 1,000's of Black-headed Gulls moving up channel with a constant stream of Carrion Crows - coasting.

A 3rd year Great Black-back with oil stained plumage - why?

It was a visit to quickly forget. I decided to cut my losses and head inland to the delights of Stodmarsh NNR and a long staying Penduline Tit that I have ignored for far too long. This was a very short visit (filthy "twitching") - I was away within the hour, my photo in the bag! Lesser Redpoll, Chiffchaff - singing, Water Rail, displaying adult male Marsh Harrier, Great Spotted Woodpecker and so much more - (massed ranks of camera wielding non-birders). I stayed long enough to secure my token photo before heading off towards pastures new.



A superb little bird which played along with the requirements of the assembled masses.
 

Simon and Yve brought Dad back from Hemel, this afternoon, and we all met up in the "Frog & Orange" for a couple of "light ales" and a chat - Bev arriving a few minutes later after she'd finished her "Grand-parenting" duties. A cracking day with more to come tomorrow, hopefully?


"If ever I stop shaking!"

My title is a quote from Richard Walker. Fred J Taylor had passed comment upon his physical state at having landed an (other) large fish - Dick's comment being approximate to " Cock; If I stop shaking, then it's time to give up!" Adrenaline and excitement - the underlying factors to why I bother going out. The chance encounter, be it with a fish, bird or insect/arachnid-type, is fundamental part of my journey through life.
So, sitting at my laptop, on this cold April night; I find myself looking back through files, on my external hard-drive, that record sightings and discoveries from my past. I am frustrated that my ability, with the English language, is unable to accurately describe the feelings that I have at that initial moment of discovery/encounter. That my body is subjected to adrenalin overload, sometimes resulting in bouts of uncontrollable shaking, especially after a prolonged battle with a large fish, is not up for question - just as Dick Walker had said to Fred J - if ever I get so complacent that new discovery becomes mundane - I will quit (life itself!)

Roddy Hayes and his crew - hanging on to a 800lbs+ Atlantic Blue Marlin (The recovery position!)
This was a very familiar sight during the Madeira trip - all fish being tagged and released.

Ever since I was old enough to remember, wildlife has played a massive part in my existence. It might have been on the T/V or something as simple as a mouse in the coal shed - I can't remove myself to a place where natural history has no role in my being me. In July 1993 I was fortunate enough to part of a group of "very good mates" who hit the "jackpot" - we fished for, and caught, Atlantic Blue Marlin off Madeira under the guidance of Roddy Hayes - skipper extraordinaire!  My first fish weighed in at 760lbs and took around 2hours 45minutes to get to the boat - when the deck-hands had got the "leader" in their grasp, I was a crumpled mess! Not some silly school kid - I was mentally exhausted; physically drained, that fish had taken me way beyond anywhere I'd previously been - a few tears are a small price to pay for such an encounter. What is really weird is the reaction of those guys on the boat - not one of them made any comment? These are the same crowd that frequented The Top Of The World in Warner's End - a proper pub, full of proper blokes! Each and every member of that group experienced, at least once, the adrenaline overdose produced by tangling with these monsters of the deep ocean - each encounter leaving a permanent mark on the captor; all dealing with it differently! It speaks volumes, of that particular trip, that whenever I go back to Hemel, if I bump into any of my fellow "marlin gang members" the conversation is as lively and vivid, as it was when we came home, in August 1993!

Scarce Bordered Straw - the garden 250w MV moth-trap - June 2006

I have been catching, and recording, the moths around my garden(s) since the summer of 1994. I am very fortunate that id assistance has always been close at hand - Andy Johnson (ex-SBBO), Tony Harman, Francis Solly and Phil Milton; so quite a formidable reference team. The thrill of the unknown is never better experienced than when emptying a MV moth trap - it isn't until that last egg tray has been examined that the job is done. I recall my first Tree Lichen Beauty, Scarce Bordered Straw, Pine Hawk-moth (a Franny tick!), Gem, Vestal, etc, etc.. fantastic memories! (and many more to come, hopefully?)

A fantastic surprise - this was the first bird I saw on opening the flap in the "old" hide at
Restharrow Scrape - was I excited? You bet!



Birding, within a UK context, is rather predictable (twitching apart) - there are very few encounters that are, so unexpected to be, able to cause the pulse rate to rise. Lifting the flaps on the Restharrow Scrape, at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, to find myself staring at a Stone Curlew was certainly an example of the exception to the rule! Autumn is always capable of producing the goods - living on Thanet means that I'm close to the best, geographical, sites on the east coast. I have to admit that it has produced some spectacular birding -  a Dartford Warbler is always a nice discovery!



Tree-lichen Beauty - an incredibly rare UK visitor before 1995 - a species which I now expect to record annually.
In 2009 there were 19 records from our garden trap - three being the best, one night, total.

My holidays are always much more "layed back" (horizontal - if that is possible?) where my chance of discovery is always increased, yet doesn't take president - the holiday being more important than the "list". My personal slant being that if I can't find it for myself, then it won't be missed? There is always another day, another opportunity. I recently posted about the enjoyment of my first Cretzschmar's Bunting; it was equally applicable to the Ruppell's Warbler and Kruper's Nuthatch that were also "lifers" on that Turkish holiday of May 2010. What did I miss? Loads of species possibly, but as no one else was out there birding - then placing the information into the public domain via the wonders of the Internet; I remain blissfully ignorant. I didn't see it, it doesn't matter! It makes no sense, to me, to dwell on stuff that you've missed when you should be enjoying that which you have seen.



My Alpine Swift in company with an immature Herring Gull - just how Thanet is that?

I think that the best example of a UK birding discovery is a tale of two swifts - on November 27th 2003, I found a Pallid Swift out on the Ash Levels, whilst Gadget and I were out there watching Short-eared Owls. Not a brilliant view, nor a particularly spectacular bird, yet a rare,and  very unexpected, discovery none the less. (My honesty in the written description, I'd never seen an autumn Pallid Swift previously, was to get the sighting rejected - IT WAS A PALLID SWIFT - end of!) I was shouting at Gadget to get his bins on it, he was having none of it - there were two Shorties having a tussle within 40m and a far more exciting spectacle. Gadget being new to birding, at that time, so rarity not having a hold over enjoyment. I rang the news out to SBBOT and a couple of guys who I knew would be birding the Stodmarsh/Grove Ferry area but, sadly it wasn't seen by anyone else. Move on to 29th March 2010 and an after-shift trip across to North Foreland. I found an Alpine Swift patrolling the golf course and my excitement was uncontainable. I had hoped for this moment, even dreamt about it - an Alpine Swift in Kent. It's not like they are particularly rare, or that I hadn't seen the species before, yet that sighting is one of the most precious memories. I know that I emitted a few profanities as I raised my bins - I punched the air as my suspicion was confirmed. Adrenaline and excitement - you can't beat it. Luckily this individual hung around for a couple of days and was enjoyed by many others - my lack of description not stopping it being accepted (strange that?)
We're back off to Scotland, at the beginning of May, for another bash at Loch Awe. I have set my sights on a single fish, a Scottish 20! If it comes to my rods I will have drawn a line through another of my wish list, and have no doubt that I will be a quivering wreck once the fish has been photographed!

A Dartford Warbler always brightens up a Thanet autumn morning - exciting stuff, but not adrenaline pumping encounters

Pegwell perambulation

With the Easter weekend being rather taken up with family stuff; my return to work (on earlies) was a bit of a bonus. With the benefit of that extra hour, it means that my afternoons are much more user friendly. I was home before 14.30hrs, in spite of a late running meeting, and with my birds fed and the fire lit, Bev was left in the warmth of our bungalow as I went in search of my first Wheatear of 2013. At 10.15hrs, as I was enjoying an egg & bacon roll during my main meal break, a female-type Marsh Harrier passed over Pyson's Road - headed N/NE - causing pandemonium amongst the gulls on Booker's roof.
The sun shone brightly, for the whole day, yet a stiff and bone chilling NE persists and spring migrants remain a scarce commodity. I only saw my first White Wagtails (2) and Black Redstart (a spanking adult male) yesterday when I took Emily over to Preston, a small village in East Kent, to see the horses.

The cliff-top paddocks failed to produce my desired Wheatear, instead I had to content myself with a nice gathering of thrushes. There were 6 Fieldfare, 11 Redwing, 5 Song Thrush, 7 Blackbird and, most surprisingly, 2 Mistle Thrush; so very nice!

I continued along the footpath and made my way to the Pegwell hover pad - ever hopeful. It wasn't a completely wasted effort. In the shelter of the undercliff, it was a different world; the sun actually had some heat and I noted 3 Small Tortoiseshell (butterflies) as I walked the shoreline. Good numbers of Turnstones were feeding on the rising tide - a thorough scan failing to locate any C-R birds. My only other sighting, of any note, was a winter plumage Grey Plover that was roosting at the edge of the spartina, allowing a record shot before my attention was no longer welcome!

It's now British Summer Time - things can only get better?

About average?

The results of the January 2013 RSPB "Big Garden Bird Count" have been revealed and an impressive piece of data collection it has been; 590,000 households providing records for the boffins, at The Lodge, to diagnose on their cyber data-base. A great PR exercise and a nice example of "people science" - those guys involved with the organisation and promotion of the count should be justifiably proud; it is the biggest of its' kind anywhere in the world! Several of the employees at Fujifilm SIS have told me about their kids getting involved within a school project, so it has implications way beyond simply counting birds - getting the next generation aware of our natural heritage being paramount to the continued support for the multitude of conservation charities that serve as a "reality check" to the never ending quest of business and politicians (local and national level) to seek the improvement/development of our countryside. I could easily get on my soap box and get completely side-tracked, by this, but will hang fire until another day.
I admit that our garden wasn't part of the count, but I still got involved with this project by helping out in a couple of gardens with my workmates kids. It is great to be able to share the simple enjoyment to be had, from looking at very familiar birds, with those who have yet to learn the basics.
From the Thanet perspective, I always thought our garden was quite good, it certainly appeared to be in comparison to the two that I got involved with; however, looking at the results I have to concede that we are very average? I have picked a few examples, of birds in the "Top 20", that might demonstrate that there is huge geographical variation to allow the RSPB to produce these figures - so remember they are for the UK and not Thanet!

No.1 - House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - Yes we do still have House Sparrows nesting in our bungalow (3 pairs) but they are not resident and very rarely visit the garden feeders. A January count would have been zero! A chat with Barry Hunt and Mickey Baldock (Reculver old school birders) will reveal a regular sequence of historical movements of House Sparrows away from Thanet for the winter; something that it borne out by my own sightings from Newland's Farm - we have decent numbers up until late-autumn then very few over wintering individuals?


I took this photo this morning, in our front garden, one of a group of birds which nest along
Vine Close. How much longer? They are a species which are conspicuous in
their abscence - I don't see them in Hertfordshire with any regularity.

No.4 - Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - I can go three months without seeing a Starling around Newland's; such is their scarcity over the winter period. They do nest in the buildings around West Dumpton but, during the winter, they are virtually absent. There is a small winter roost at Pyson's Road, with another one in central Ramsgate, but if added together it wouldn't pass 1,500 birds and they certainly don't use the local gardens as feeding areas when they are in the vicinity!



I took this image yesterday, the first Starling to appear (whilst I've been watching) for quite
 some while. The fat-ball feeder has remained untouched for the entire winter!

No.6 - Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) - Bloody hell! Chaffinches are really top birds in our garden; 2013 has seen an influx on a scale without president - up to 30 birds at a time feeding under the garden feeding station. This is in March, however, and a January sighting is on a par with a Polar Bear swimming up the R. Stour!

No. 8 - Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - Yep!; they're on the garden list - January? Not a chance!
I can say that that I have been able to record Goldfinch in every year since we moved here in November 2000 - passage migrants in autumn, just like Siskin, Brambling and Crossbill.

No.13 -  Coal Tit (Parus ater) - I have as many garden records of Dartford Warbler, Purple Heron, Red-footed Falcon, Honey Buzzard and Goshawk; they are are on an equal footing of ONE each! Not bad for a species in the top twenty of the most common garden bird of January 2013

No. 18 - Common Gull (Larus canus) - A mis-nomer if ever there was one; common they ain't! I see this species regularly throughout the winter, although always overhead. As a garden visitor, they would represent royalty - my Herring Gulls (now there are six!) are very frequent visitors and I can't help but wonder if the same glitch in the system as produced Tree Sparrows; mis-id'd female House Sparrows (No.2!!!!) some years back couldn't be responsible for this particular result?

Male Rose-ringed Parakeet feeding on the sunflower feeder in the garden next door!

From my own observations I find it difficult to believe there is no place for Rose-ringed Parakeet, Sparrowhawk or Song Thrush? All three species featuring highly in my daily garden log - I've quoted it before, and I'm sure I'll use it again. "Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics"
I am in awe of the scale of this exercise but, for the life of me, cannot understand the worth - beyond the chance to allow another a new generation to get involved? The state of the nation - possibly?

A few bits from the garden recently, the first two Chiffchaffs of 2013 on Saturday, were typically brief, but I did take the chance to grab an image of a Comma (butterfly) this morning when one was discovered sunbathing (in a blasting cold easterly) on our drive.



Hertfordshire half-hour!

I took my dad up to Bourne End (Herts) to spend a little time with my brother Tim, and his family (Julie, Luke & Joshua) - there are plans to hold a memorial service for mum in the local church, so that many of her friends, acquaintances and former pupils, who were unable to get to Kent, can have their chance to say good-bye.

It took a little tweaking with Adobe photoshop 7.0 to get anything remotely close
to being usable from this sequence of images. Smart birds all the same!

 

Dad seems to be holding up remarkably well; sixty years of marriage must take a hell of a lot of adjustment when suddenly there is only one, of the couple, remaining! We made good time, on our journey from Ash, arriving just before 12.30hrs. - a coffee and a chocolate biscuit later, Luke, Josh and myself were on our way across the A41 for a quick wander around Little Hay Golf Course and look for a few raptors - so common are they in the Hertfordshire countryside. We didn't get as far as the A41 bridge, before a pair of Common Buzzards appeared overhead. The light levels were atrocious and so were my efforts at a photo!

 

Luke was more interested in finding golf balls (he's a county player) whilst Josh & I contented ourselves looking at the local bird life. We saw a few bits, including Kestrel, Redwing, Long-tailed Tit, Goldfinch and Woodpigeon before I spotted our target species, gliding high above a distant ridge. An adult Red Kite allowed me to grab a series of hopeless record images before it drifted off towards Boxmoor. We ended up in The Anchor, for a swift "light ale" before my time to return home arrived.
Not the greatest trip I've ever had but at least I know that dad is safe and I will be back, very shortly, to support the Hemel gang as they get a chance to pay their respects to my mum.