randombirder

A quick note of four Common Swift flying low over Hackney Downs park on a beautiful warm summers evening.

An inspiring Hen Harrier day in the presence of some fine guest speakers involved in the fight for the protection of our precious countryside and of a truly majestic bird that should have it's place in the English moorlands. The three speaker spoke passionately about the campaign against wildlife crime, and in particular, the shameless persecution of protected birds of prey for, well in essence for financial gain.  The event was well attended, the message was clearly, confidently, and passionately articulated.  The rain held off (until after the event), and we dissipated into the fertile setting of the finest nature reserve in London, in the knowledge that the good fight is still being fought with fervour and intensity. Much respect goes out to the team at BAWC, to Chris, and those behind the scenes that stand up against the driven grouse shooting fraternity that fail to understand the delicate balance between recreation and sustainability.  This is not a one way stre...

Summer has been a sporadic event this year, and today did nothing to restore my faith in the sterotypically maligned view of the English climate.  It was cool and blustery. Autumn migration was starting to kick in evidenced by a smattering of waders in Aveley Bay.  A single Dunlin was present there with a Common Sandpiper , six Black-tailed Godwit , and two Oystercatcher .  A nice surprise was this 1st/2nd year Caspian Gull that was later seen sitting by the shoreline of the bay. This smart Jersey Tiger moth was seen near to the Serin Mound, and a single Grey Seal was loafing around on the river.

Another trip to Oare Marshes for the start of wader season.  Well, the marshes always has waders but you know what I mean.  It also has a regular returning Bonaparte's Gull that finds the Oare Marshes a pleasant place to spent a few weeks in the summer arriving from goodness knows where before finally heading off to goodness knows where.  Wouldn't it be nice to know though.  'Napoleon' was starting to transition into winter plumage, but only just. On site today were six Ruff , the first Golden Plover with seven, and eight vocal Whimbrel seen departing to the west. Around 500+ Black-tailed Godwit and 100+ Avocet were regular fixtures on East Flood as were my first two Common Snipe of the autumn.  A smart adult and three Curlew Sandpiper were there as well as a winter plumage Spotted Redshank , two of my favourite waders. I then headed over to Cliffe Pools.  By this time, the sky had filled in and the clouds looked very menacing.  I ...

Today was Wildlife Explorers day, so not much opportunity to get my eye in for a bit of birding as I had to rush off afterwards.  However, while on site with the kids, a radio message came through with the call that a couple of Great Egret had settled on Target Pools as seen from the Butts hide.  This was all very frustrating as this would go down as a London first. En route to the MDZ, a Little Ringed Plover was present on Purfleet Scrape and a Hobby shot low over.   Bearded Tit were heard calling from the reeds along the river. As luck would have it, on my way back to the visitor centre, one of the Great Egret lifted off and flew over toward Aveley Flashes where it appeared to settle and obviously pleased to have now completed the Egret trio for London.

A rare trip out birding where opportunities of late have been few and far between.  Oare Marshes is always worth a visit at anytime of the year, so with Graham, we headed down to this superb north Kent site to connect with early returning waders. Bird of the day went to the Ruff , particularly 2-3 male birds still clinging onto their breeding plumage and looking rather splendid in the summer sun.  The poor photo obviously don't do these birds justice. Also on site, were two Spotted Redshank , one of my favourite waders particularly in summer plumage which these were.  They were associating with the Blackwits so difficult to pin down on camera. Marsh Harrier were seen soaring on the opposite side of the Swale. Standard fare were impressive numbers of Avocet and of course the Black-tailed Godwit numbering over 500 congregated within the 'midfield' of the East Flood. A single Greenshank was also nice to see as were adult Mediterranean Gull on the Swale. ...

A quick detour on the journey back from Mull to try and connect with the Iberian Chiffchaff that had been present for a couple of days just outside of Kelsall in Cheshire. On a balmy summers day, the bird was silent on arrival but soon perked up and began to sing although it was initially out of sight.  Singing regularly, the bird then came into view, flitting about within the trees.  It was difficult to get a decent shot of it.  However, it's distinctive song was captured on my mobile phone.