Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2023 i Bird Watching

Amanda Tuke: “The urban House Sparrow – there’s been significant population decline over the last 50 years. Greener, healthier, more biodiverse cities are a must!” David Lindo: “Having declined by 94%, the Willow Tit would well deserve my conservation efforts.” Ruth Miller: “It would have to be the Hen Harrier. Such an iconic bird of prey that is persecuted despite being protected by law.” Dominic Couzens: “Lesser Spotted Woodpecker – the problems in woodlands seem to be poorly understood, and it’s right to be closely investigated.”…

twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised - always a treat Very scarce or rare WOOD LARK The Wood Lark is a highly localised bird in the UK, with most breeding taking place in heathlands in the south and east of England. There are an estimated 2,300 nesting pairs in the country. Despite the name, these are not woodland birds in the sense that most of us think of woodland, preferring more open country, though with some trees. They are more arboreal than other larks (which in the UK at this time of year, means Sky Larks), readily perching in trees and bushes as well as on overhead wires, all of which can be launch pads for their song flight (which is a shorter affair than the Sky Lark’s…

Not at all doodery On heathlands in late spring, an untidy morass of slender, vibrantly red threads starts to appear, sprawling across the vegetation, then entwining itself around another plant. This is Common Dodder, a remarkable parasitic plant whose lack of chlorophyll renders it wholly dependent for nutrients on its ‘host’. PLANT All of a quiver As a summer breeze ferrets through a wildflower meadow, so Quaking-grass starts quivering – gently moving in tandem with the air currents. This plant’s delicate stems hardly seem strong enough to carry the heavy clusters of pendulous purple and green flower heads. Hence, I guess, the quaking. BEE Ol' Green Eyes If you live in south-east England and own a garden (or if you visit someone else’s), keep an eye out for Four-banded Flower…

Let Capercaillies lek! Birders, photographers and tour guides are being urged not to go looking for Capercaillie in the Cairngorms National Park. Numbers in the UK are critically low, with human disturbance one of the main reasons for a low rate of breeding success. A campaign called Lek It Be, involving both the RSPB and the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project, is spearheading the call, and police will be patrolling lek sites. A birder was arrested at one last year. Call to collect lark songs The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society (RVWS), the Wildlife Sound Recording Society and the British Library have joined forces to gather recordings of Sky Lark songs, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth – The Lark Ascending is perhaps his best-known piece of music. The…

The islands of the UK are (by definition) surrounded by the sea. Indeed, our coasts are among our finest, most (relatively) untouched habitats. And where there are good natural habitats there will be birds there to enjoy them. Many British birds actively prefer to nest at the coast, be they on sea-cliffs, beaches, among boulders, or in some other seaside area. And it is these birds which form the core of this month’s ID Challenge. Have a good look at the lovely birds featured on this page and see if you can put a name to each of them. And, when you are happy with your answers, please turn the page to find that you got them all right! And even if you did correctly identify each species, please have…

In association with MAX MILES ON FOOT: 1.5 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS Water, woodland, feeders and a variety of birds Ingbirchworth Reservoir is part of a trio of reservoirs including Scout Dike and Royd Moor located north of the market town of Penistone. This peaceful reservoir offers a short, circular walk with a couple of benches, a picnic area and a small, covered shelter placed to sit and view wildlife. The waters are home to a variety of waterfowl including Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Little Grebe, and Great Crested Grebe. Grey Heron and Oystercatcher have been seen in the shallows. Barn Owl, Buzzard and Kestrel hunt in fields while the woods and picnic area attract Bullfinch, Linnet Treecreeper, Nuthatch and other woodland bird species. CAROLE TIDBALL HERE TO WATCH 1 The…

In association with MAX MILES ON FOOT: 5 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS River valley, woodland, farmland and commons for varied birding Hunkered down in Dartmoor, the delightful market town of Chagford was once a stannery town, a hub for the administration of the local tin-mining industry. Today it offers a different kind of bustle, with a wealth of independents sitting in an historic setting, the whole surrounded by diverse countryside that offers good birding. The tranquil Teign Valley is linked to the heights of Nattadon Common by thickly hedged farmland, old green lanes and pockets of woodland, and the wider expanse of the moor is within easy reach for anyone staying in the area. SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE WHERE TO WATCH 1 To the west of the town the ancient Chagford Bridge spans…

Bird-table Blackcap? Q On Wednesday 1 March, this bird appeared on one of the bird tables in our feeding area at Bowling Park Primary School, in Bradford. It stayed for quite a long time – feeding and then disappearing into a nearby shrub. It looked to me like a male Blackcap, but could it be, so early in the year? Apologies that the photo isn’t brilliant but it was taken at a distance and through a window. Thank you. Fran Andrews A You are absolutely right in your identification of your bird table feeder as a male Blackcap (the grey and grey-brown plumage and black cap make it pretty unmistakable). The Blackcap is one of the ‘tougher’ and more resilient of our warbler species, and its more generalist diet (not…

Last time, we took a first look at some of the basics of flight photography to get you started on what has to be the most challenging part of bird photography. Now, I will be taking a look at autofocus and get you out in the field to practise and hone your flight photography skills. Before we really take a deep dive into this subject, we should be mindful of what has been happening with camera development over the last two or three years. Mirrorless has really started to take control of the camera market, and (according to my research, at least) last year they accounted for more than 75% of the market. All the main camera manufacturers are concentrating their development in this area and there have been some…

I acquired the first version of this jacket some years ago. I wanted a lightweight jacket for warmer conditions and have worn it a lot. Its third incarnation is a recent addition to the Craghoppers range and is quite a bit different. Mk III is “the ultimate sun-protective travel jacket”. The fabric provides UPF40+ protection and there are two colour options – pebble or woodland green. Pebble is the paler of the two but is darker than I expected. There are odour control patches “in key areas” and NosiLife, Craghoppers’ anti-insect potion (permethrin), is built into the fabric and lasts as long as the jacket. The fabrics move moisture away from your body, “keeping you fresh in the most intense humidity”. Craghoppers claim 10 pockets. There are two lower and…

As much as we hope to convey the joy of birdwatching in these pages, and love doing so, we can’t ignore the parlous position that many UK breeding species are in. The Curlew (above) is one of the foremost among these, and it’s a bird close to my heart. A few used to breed close to where I live, but in recent years they seem to have gone, reflecting the trend across the UK. On page 26, we look at what can be done, and how targeted conservation of one species can change whole habitats and help others, too. Habitat change or creation doesn’t have to be on a huge scale, either, as our feature on page 32 shows. It looks at how creating a mosaic of small wetlands has…

For year listers, June can be a month of adding little, apart from extra special and exciting birds! Here are a few extreme rarities which have turned up in June before, so presumably they can again. That is our prediction, at least… GREEN WARBLER Since the first occurrence of this pretty Phylloscopus in autumn 1983 (on Scilly), there have been nine accepted UK records, all since 2014. It is a close relative of the Greenish Warbler but with stronger yellow tones around the head end (like a Greenish Warbler in Wood Warbler’s clothing). All bar a couple have been on Scottish islands or islands of the South West. An exception was one in autumn 2021 at Buckton, East Yorkshire. But June appears to be a peak month, with four of…

PATCH DIARY At the end of the first week of April, I dragged myself away from the local area and abandoned my 30-in-30 challenge (30 local year list birds in 30 days) before it had really got going. My dear wife Jo and I were off to the Highlands and the Grant Arms Hotel. It was time to abandon fenland birding for the glories of Scotland’s spring rewards on the latest of Bird Watching’s brilliant-value (in my opinion) reader holidays based at this legendary wildlife base. Sure, I was to put on hold witnessing the return of warblers and hirundines, chats and terns, at home. But we were exchanging it for potential eagles, divers, grebes, Ospreys, harriers, auks and seaducks, Crested Tits and Crossbills, Dippers, Red Squirrels, Red and Roe…

NEWS & OPINION As parliamentary constituency boundaries change, lots of politicians scrabble to get selected as party candidates. This means our doormats will be covered in pamphlets and our email inboxes stuffed with selection spam. I get numerous phone calls inviting me to hustings or begging for my electronic vote, so I ask about their environmental policies. The answers bother me because they’re homocentric. Parties want to be clad in green (except fringe party climate change deniers). Often, the clothes in question are the emperor’s that disappear if you look closely. But what of those that remain? Almost all start with what will do us most good. Mother Nature barely gets a mention… its all about how we are polluting our seas, ravaging our land and creating actual and virtual…

Jen tells me she first got into birdwatching at Uni where two of her good friends were birders. She was lucky to have a couple of excellent mentors, who along with their wealth of knowledge and experience were also inclusive and encouraging, which in turn inspired her to take up bird ringing. After spotting her dream job advertised at the BTO, she’s been a member of their training team for a year now, delivering online and face to face training sessions. The BTO’s online training offer was developed during the pandemic and continues to be very successful. I ask Jen what the objectives would be for an online session, like the Gull ID one which I did. “We’re trying to keep participants engaged throughout with lots of interaction”, she tells…

In association with MAX MILES ON FOOT: 5-6 MIN TIME: 2.5 HOURS A coastal dunes walk with mixed woodland, farm and grassland Sanderling We visited this area in February and got Oystercatcher, Stonechat, Eider, Buzzard, Curlew and Greylag Geese. The mixed woodland gave us a Green Woodpecker. The main part of the dunes is fenced off around the golf course so please keep to the paths at all times. The coastal stretch offers excellent seawatching, but if you intend walking on the beach do check the high tide times for your own safety. We got Sanderling, Wigeon and Carrion Crow. Seawatching from the viewpoint near the car park brought us Rednecked Grebe, Common Scoter and Long-tailed Duck. From 1 May to 31 July there is no access to the tidal island…

BEDFORDSHIRE In association with MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS A downland walk for migrants on the Chiltern Hills Overhead passage migrants are best observed here around dawn and comprise mainly the commoner larks, pipits, finches and thrushes, but there is always a chance of a Wood Lark, Hawfinch or Lapland Bunting. Birds of prey typically noted during October can include Osprey and Honey Buzzard, while scrub cover offers up the chance of a passing Ring Ouzel. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 The scrub around the car park can be good for Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat, along with Goldcrest and vocal mixed passerine flocks of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinch and Goldfinch. Scan the fields for Red-legged and Grey Partridges around the…

1 Spoonbills by Steve Elson Camera: Sony ILCE-7RM3 Lens: 600mm, Shutter Speed: 1/2,000 sec Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 200 2 Kestrels by Carley Culmstock Camera: Olympus OM1 Lens: 420mm, Shutter Speed: 1/3,200 sec Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 1,250 3 Chiffchaff by Paul McGlynn Camera: Canon EOS 90D Lens: 300mm, Shutter Speed: 1/800 sec Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 1,000 4 Short-eared Owls by Sheila Williams Camera: Canon EOS R7 Lens:400mm, Shutter Speed: 1/1,600 sec Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 160 WE LOVE… The nonchalant, crazy-haired Spoonbills!…

DOMINIC COUZENS ON THE… DOMINIC COUZENS WOOD LARK It’s fun when birds give away small secrets about their private lives in ways that you wouldn’t expect. Take the Wood Lark, that scarce bird of heathlands, open woods and plantations. Did you know that you can tell a male’s ‘marital status’ just by watching its behaviour during the singing season? Apparently, you can. Researchers have found that unpaired males, when undertaking their song-flights, tend to fly higher up than paired males. The bachelors will sometimes perform as high as 100m above ground, whereas paired males prefer not to go above 50m. Why this is the case is not obvious, but presumably by flying high you can cover more ground and get your message to more ears (Wood Larks often breed in aggregations.)…

In association with Q I keep seeing references to mirrorless cameras. What are they, and what is the advantage of using one (if any)? B Stephens, Macclesfield A In the world of cameras with interchangeable lenses, DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) and mirrorless are the two options. With a DSLR, you can see your subject in the optical viewfinder via a reflection from a mirror inside the camera body. When the photo is taken, the mirror swings out of the way and the light goes through to the image sensor. As the name suggests, mirrorless cameras capture images without using a mirror in the camera's body, and as such don’t have an optical viewfinder, but an electronic one. Although mirrorless is still very young in comparison to DSLR, the technology…

VANGUARD VEO 3T 265HAP (ALUMINIUM)/ 265HCP (CARBON), £249.99/£319.99 This new, tall tripod has an Arca-compatible, two-way pan-head, with a locking knob for panning and another for tilt. Folded, it’s 44cm long. Its maximum height is 163cm or 124cm with the column down. The carbon version weighs 1640g, the aluminium 1860g, and you can load them with 6kg of scope, or camera and lens. There are five leg sections, a hook on the column to add weight for stability, a removable leg that can be a monopod, and spikes for the feet. vanguardworld.co.uk NATIONAL TRUST KIDS BUILD-YOUR-OWN JINTO FEEDING HOUSE KIT, £19.99 Children can build this themselves with a bit of supervision. The kit includes wooden bits, nails, screws, washers, a hook for hanging and, instructions. The holes are pre-drilled –…

Find the location closest to your destination and add or subtract the hours and minutes from the high tide time at London Bridge, below. SOUTH WEST Weston-Super-Mare (+5:05) Barnstaple (+4:30) Newquay (+3:32) Falmouth (+3:30) Plymouth (+4:05) Torquay (+4:40) Bournemouth (-5:09)* Portland (+4:57) St Peter Port (+4:53) Swanage (-5:19)* Portsmouth (-2:29) Southampton (-2:53) SOUTH EAST Ryde (-2:29) Brighton (-2:51) Eastbourne (-2:48) Dungeness (-3:05) Dover (-2:53) Margate (-1:52) Herne Bay (-1:24) Southend-on-sea (-1:22) Clacton-on-sea (-2:00) EAST ANGLIA Felixstowe Pier (-2:23) Aldeburgh (-2:53) Lowestoft (-4:23) Cromer (+4:56) Hunstanton (+4:44) WALES Colwyn Bay (-2:47) Holyhead (-3:28) Barmouth (-5:45) Aberystwyth (-6:11) Fishguard (+5:44) Swansea (+4:42) Milford Haven (+4:37) Cardiff (+5:15) NORTH WEST Whitehaven (-2:30) Douglas (-2:44) Morecambe (-2:33) Blackpool (-2:50) NORTH EAST Skegness (+4:29) Grimsby (+4:13) Bridlington (+2:58) Whitby (+2:20) Hartlepool (+1:59) Blyth (+1:46) Berwick (+0:54)…

NEWS WIRE ALL THE BIGGEST BIRD NEWS & EVENTS PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Our search to find the best outdoor photography of the year is underway for 2023 – and this year we’re making our competition bigger and better than ever. For the first time we’re combining our ever-popular Outdoor Photo of the Year and Mountain Photo of the Year awards into one all-encompassing competition, with winners and runners-up for three key categories. Now heading into its ninth year after being launched for the first time in 2014 by BW’s sister title Trail, the Best Nature Photo will be chosen, and the standard will have to be very high to match David Atkinson’s winning image from 2022 (above) – a gorgeous closeup of a Kingfisher doing what it does best. The prestigious title…

Bird Watching BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH We all sometimes need a little bit of extra encouragement to get out there and start birdwatching. And that’s what #My200BirdYear is all about — essentially, the only person you’re 'competing with’ is yourself. Join us on Birda! You can track your progress in #My200BirdYear by joining us on the Birda app, as featured in our recent Gear Guide. Download the app, sign up for the #My200BirdYear challenge, and log your sightings as you make them. While you’re at it, Birda’s monthly and geographicallybased challenges are a great way of motivating yourself towards the bigger target, too, and by interacting with other users you can develop your ID skills. Because it’s really very simple – we challenge you to see at least…

Birdle game • Paul “I quite liked it… this might appeal to both near-beginners and quite experienced”. • Charlie “Really love the idea. Think it’s simple and works nicely. I would definitely go on it daily if it was an app with a reminder”. • Debra “I'm going off it, the more I play it.. • Annabel “A good concept with this game. I personally would like it more than just 1 bird a day. I feel like what would make one think more is if the hint was about the species, such as location, or behaviour, rather than just giving letters out”. • Mark “Ok, but basic. Via a mobile phone the picture was too small, why is there no option to click the picture to zoom it? Seems…

OBSERVATIONS Say ‘owl’ and night-time usually comes to mind. The hoot of a Tawny Owl is much beloved by film producers to indicate that night has fallen, and it is a call I can sometimes hear from home at night while lying in bed. But if you’re lucky, some owls can also be seen during the day, particularly in spring when there are hungry chicks demanding food around the clock. There are few things quite so thrilling as seeing an owl in broad daylight, when you have the chance to fully appreciate all the details of their lovely plumage. Once such example was a handsome Long-eared Owl in Norfolk in February this year. Leo, as it was inevitably called, was reported as showing at a daytime roost in the village…

SUFFOLK In association with MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS A classic reedbed site with year-round interest The Hens Reedbed is a Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve created in 1999. It is a mixture of reedbeds, fens, dykes and pools, created to provide new breeding habitat for wetland birds, and especially Bittern. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 The first part of the reserve is viewed from a raised platform looking over a reedbed and open water with trees all around. Marsh Harriers use the area to feed and breed while the channels are used by Grey Heron, Little and Great White Egrets for fishing. Bitterns do use the area, but are less likely to be seen out in the open. Listen out for Water Rails and winter…

GET IN TOUCH birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA HOOPOE DREAMS Great magazine, keep up the good work! I thought you might be interested in this photo of a Hoopoe, which overwintered in and around our garden last year. We're used to seeing them in the summer down here in the south of France, but this fine-looking specimen decided that it couldn't be bothered with all that migration nonsense. In March, I even saw it courting a partner, which involved them flying up and down in tandem over our back garden, gently ‘hooping’ to each other. Gotta love a Hoopoe! Keith Allen BIN DAY I would be very interested to know and I am sure that many other readers would, too, regarding the following:…

UK conservation status: Green This secretive and diminutive lark breeds in the south and east of Britain and is resident all year round. It’s an early nester, and creates a shallow scrape on the ground in grassy tussocks or heather where it shapes grass, roots, moss and other vegetation into its nest. The Wood Lark favours open, heathland habitats and woodland clearings. Wood Lark forage for their food on the ground, so it thrives in areas where bare ground areas are maintained and vegetation remains short. Climate change offers both a threat and an opportunity for Wood Lark – an opportunity in that winters may be milder increasing winter survival and subsequent breeding success. But warm, hot summers increase the risk of wildfires which can devastate local populations. Another threat…

This elegant ‘Sea Swallow’ has very much become an expected summer fixture of many an urban watercourse up and down the land. Common Terns, like Little Ringed Plovers, are opportunists, originally taking advantage of the many possibilities for nesting along the shorelines of reservoirs and the accidental gravelly islands created in our gravel pits. They have also been encouraged to breed on artificial tern rafts in urban reservoirs to great success. I remember the introduction of such rafts at my then local patch, Brent Reservoir. They were quickly colonised by many breeding pairs and soon became an avian speciality of that corner of north-west London. In other areas they have also taken to breeding on flat rooftops. I have especially seen this in industrial estates in Riga, Latvia. Yes, Common…

ONE MIDSUMMER'S DAY MARK COCKER, JONATHAN CAPE, HB, £20 Imagine writing a book of 300 pages about just one day! Well, on the face of it, it looks like Mark Cocker has tried to do just that, but this book actually covers millions of years, while telling the amazing story of his favourite birds – swifts. For example, the changing nature of buildings has changed the nest sites of many species of swifts, with not just cracks, cavities and roofspaces being used, but in the past, thatch, too. These insect-eaters have their own insects feeding on them in the form of parasites, with one quotation suggesting that the ‘size equivalent’ of these flat flies on a swift is a man being fed on by shore crabs. If like me you…

SOME SPECTACULAR SIGHTINGS OF SCOTTISH SPECIALITIES ARE THE STUFF THAT MEMORIES ARE MADE OF, AS WAS A TRIP BY SLEEPER TRAIN! No doubt, like many other BBDE writers, I was torn between a number of very special birding days, including a day at the Ponders End Sewage Farm, when a friend collapsed to the floor holding his chest when a bullet fired from the caretaker’s rifle whizzed past us, but not before Peter (thinking on his feet – or rather his back) decided to ‘play dead’. A memorable day indeed for us all, but not necessarily for birding reasons! However, in the end, I plumped for a day up in Scotland with four of my pals back in 1974. We were in our mid-twenties then and had decided to go…