randombirder

Quiet on the Marshes but a fine pair of Northern Wheatear were present on the South Marsh by the railway line.  A male Whinchat on the east marsh was a nice surprise.  A Lesser Whitethroat rattled from a central area while a Cetti's Warbler was still present.  A flock of House Martin flew north.

This is set to be my annual pilgrimage and there is no finer place than the heart of Snowdonia.  The place of many childhood holidays and now the resting place of my dad who passed away last year.  The trip was to celebrate his birthday - to remember and pass by all those places we spent together as a family.  Family.  Never perfect but there is something here that has purged the imperfections, the valleys have been overruled by the mountains just like the darkness fails to comprehend the light. The trip was a celebration of life, of challenge, and of aching limbs.  Our challenge to climb the highest peaks of England,Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland started with Mount Snowdon. Awaking to clear blue skies, we were both excited about the prospect.  Three minutes into the climb - we were knackered but soon hit our stride.  Two and a half hours later, we hit the top.  The views were breathtaking and a social visit fro...

A busy day at home and a small window to head out on the bike on a warm humid afternoon.  Dashing around is not really an ideal but I wanted a quick peak round the Marshes and the Ressies. A lone female Northern Wheatear was present on the far pen of the rear paddocks,  There were numerous Common Whitethroat in display mode. Moving up towards the reservoirs, it was evident that there was a significant increase in hirundines particularly Sand Martin that must have numbered over a hundred.  My first Swift of the year wheeled over the Warwicks with around thirty seen.  A Red Kite was a surprise, drifting low and away as I was locking my bike up against the railings. A Cetti's Warbler called from somewhere between No.2 and No.3, and at least two Reed Warbler were in song. Heading round East Warwick, a pair of twitchy Northern Wheatear included a fine male.  I followed them along the path before they flew onto West Warwick. Another female Norther...

How crestfallen would William Amhurst (Governer General of India 1823-1828) be if he had any notion that a bunch of tardy birders would be peering into a random area of private woodland in search of an exotic/introduced/plastic/feral/whatamidoinghere bird named endearingly after his wife.  William Amhurst?  Who?  I do admit to having large gaps in my knowledge of history, but even those that are Historically learned may struggle to recall the life and times of the Governer. I believe the story goes something like this.  So the good Lady wife subservient to the Governer's position often took walks through the Burmese forest edges to escape the tedium of day-to-day political meetings and plans to establish the British Empire through military force.  During these tranquil moments, she began to notice the delights of the forest floor, the sounds, the trees, the birds - and a pheasant that particularly drew her attention.  With the help of the waiting staff at...

Consecutive Saturday visits to Rainham Marshes and why not?  I like it here.  Today I was a meeting a good friend of mine for a stroll round the reserve to hopefully connect with some fresh migrants, and to introduce some new species to an enthusiastic ecologist. There was a freshness in the air, a keen breeze blowing from the northeast subdued the temperatures but did nothing to temper the steady flow of spring migrants. A tally of 12 Common Tern including a group of eight battled stoically against the wind suggested that there may be some interest along the river which didn't really materialise during the course of the day. The week had seen a distinct change in numbers of wildfowl with only a pair of Wigeon seen, a few Shoveler , and a reduction in the number of Teal but still decent numbers present.  A few Lapwing were incubating with a pair already overseeing their first fledglings out on the reserve.  Such a relief that the wardens had eradicat...

Missed the Hoopoe that was supposedly still present when I arrived on site at 9am but was nowhere to be seen.  An amazing find by Jamie Partridge and one of those birding moments we all hope for. A male Northern Wheatear was present on the rear Paddocks at Walthamstow Marshes.

I found this little poem about the Ring Ouzel penned by a blogging poet called 'thecheeswolf' and it is rather delightful. Follow the link for some of his other works. RING OUZEL A lunar crescent, skyward horned. A tail which traces scree and ling. A plaintive tone, a mournful tune. A solitary black and bib. Alone in rocks above the scars, Where streams from bogs first scratch their beds With steady tick like lowland merle, A lost and wayward song of moors. The moon is pitched in afterglow And scattered with the trace of stars. The melancholy call of space A flick of night pitched wing and gone. And left as one with what was once, The sadness of a memory’s song. There are cons to early starts on the patch, but today was very much about the prose. A male Ring Ouzel found feeding on the grassy path adjacent to the river on the old Pitch and Putt at the Waterworks was a real treat. Maybe the same bird seen yesterday, it fed pur...