Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2023 i Birdwatch

In mid-September 2023, birders were closely watching the predicted path of Hurricane Lee with anticipation. The forecast was suggesting what many would describe as the ideal track to deliver North American landbirds to Britain and Ireland – Lee was to sweep up the Eastern Seaboard of North America and make landfall in north-east Canada, before the remnants completed a rapid transition across the Atlantic. While Lee’s potential was clearly high, particularly given the unusually early date in the autumn for such a storm to develop, no one could have predicted the staggering fall it was about to deliver. In the seven days after ‘ex-Lee’ made landfall in Europe on 19 September, no fewer than 58 individuals of 15 landbird species were discovered across Britain and Ireland. These were truly amazing…

There was a buzz around London’s Mall Galleries on the afternoon of 1 November as attendees gathered to hear Harriet Mead, President of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA), introduce this year’s landmark 60th edition of The Natural Eye. This was a celebration of all wildlife, she said, and so it proved. While there was the usual abundance of superb bird and mammal art on show, it was wonderful to see a variety of creatures sometimes unfairly viewed as ‘lesser’ also represented – slugs, flies and weevils being just a few of these. It is important to remember that these smaller or seldom-seen creatures play hugely important roles in ecosystems across the world, and they should rightly be celebrated for that. The standard of work on show this year was…

LISTENING to and identifying bird vocalisations has always been a key element of field birding, but in the past decade or so, many birders have gone a step further and sought to record the birds they hear. This may involve carrying a standalone recording device, but there is an alternative option – recording using a smartphone. There are a number of advantages to this. If you already own a smartphone, you do not need to shell out extra money for a recorder. There are also weight and space savings. Even if you already own both, there are likely to be times when you have your smartphone with you but not your recorder, and you want to make an ad-hoc recording of a calling bird. Moreover, using a smartphone means the…

DECEMBER can be a long and dark month. The days are short, non-birding distractions are often to the fore, and the excitement of migration seems a long way off. However, a calm and sunny midwinter day is a great time to be out with the camera, with a wide range of potential targets. Many birds are attracted to feeding stations, which provide a chance to get close to otherwise awkward subjects. Often this means finches, buntings, tits and other woodland and farmland birds, but December is also the perfect month to photograph a less conventional feeding-station visitor: Red Kite. This species is now found in many areas of the UK. I still remember the thrill of seeing a Welsh bird for the first time in the mid-1990s, and never imagined they’d…

THE first Waxwings have already arrived in the UK with reports of birds in the Northern Isles and Hebrides, mainland Scotland and a few in northern England, as I type in late October. There have been some good counts, too – are we finally going to get another ‘Waxwing winter’? If we do, December is a good month to search for them. They are one of those birds that can turn up literally anywhere with a plentiful supply of apples or berries, including supermarket car parks, gardens or play areas! So, keep an eye on any trees bearing fruit in your local area – they could hold a Waxwing or two this winter. Other target species to look out for include Snow and Lapland Buntings, which can be found in…

A recent study has shown how Guillemots have made a dramatic change to the fish species they feed their chicks on, seemingly in response to climate change. Seabirds are key indicators of the state of the marine environment, and monitoring their diets reveals changes to the prey communities beneath the waves. A new study led by Michael Harris of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has shone light on the adaptive abilities of Guillemot, as well as shifts in the populations of prey species in the North Sea. Between 1982 and 2019, researchers meticulously recorded the fish provisioned to chicks by adult Guillemots on the Isle of May, Fife, throughout the whole breeding season. Analysis of the huge dataset has demonstrated that Lesser Sandeel was the primary prey species…

ON 18 October, an extended period of south-east winds commenced in Shetland. At times they were really strong but with almost no rain at all. A decent scatter of common migrants was found on Whalsay on 19th. The morning of 20th added little, with lesser numbers of common stuff at the north end of the island. A look to the south produced a Little Bunting in the afternoon, so I decided to try some of the tree plantations at Skibberhoull next. The usual suspects of Goldcrests and European Robins were found until I encountered a milky tea-coloured warbler with a javelin of a bill on the west edge of some spruce trees at a small plantation known locally as ‘Frankie’s’ at 3.30 pm. Western Olivaceous Warbler: Whalsay, Shetland, 20-21 October…

For just one price, you will have access to: ✚ The very latest breaking news and sightings (our service is updated for 16 hours a day during the summer and 15 hours during the winter months – more than any other provider); ✚ View sighting information on your phone, tablet or web browser making the service accessible wherever you may be; ✚ Receive text alerts*; ✚ Search the British and Irish Records Archive; ✚ Continue receiving Birdwatch magazine to keep abreast of all the latest news and expert reviews** Small print: *Bird News Ultimate memberships include 100 free text alerts free of charge. For Bird News Pro, this can be added at £10 per 100 texts. **Birdwatch is included with Bird News Ultimate memberships only. Start your 30-day free trial today…

A 2022 estimate suggested that some 5 million hectares of land in Britain is used for arable farmland. How much of it holds poor biodiversity is another matter, but within that considerable amount of space, there are plenty of sanctuaries for birds, including seed-eaters. Many of our much-loved granivorous species have declined massively in recent decades, with birds such as Common Linnet and even House Sparrow on the Red List of the nation’s most threatened birds. However, you can still find pockets of arable farmland that are thronging with such species in the winter months, as they flock together and congregate around areas with plentiful food sources. Among the species that use and rely upon arable farmland in the winter months are our two most common bunting species: Reed Bunting…

At the southernmost tip of the African continent, the smallest of the world’s floral kingdoms sprawls across the plains of South Africa’s Western Cape province. The Cape Floral Kingdom, also known as the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), is a tapestry of unique and endangered vegetation types and plants. The scenically beautiful area is renowned for its wide-open landscapes and rolling hills, from the rugged Cederberg Mountains to the coastal cliffs of the Cape Peninsula. Despite its comparatively miniscule size, this UNESCO World Heritage Site hosts a flora that is among the most species-rich on the planet, with an estimated 9,000 species of plants, approximately 70% of which are found nowhere else in the world. It is so densely populated with plant species that it rivals the continent-spanning tropical rainforests more…

AS anticipated, there were so many amazing photos added to the BirdGuides gallery throughout October and we only had limited space to print a couple of favourites. However, Alex Penn’s stunning image of the Fair Isle Redtailed Shrike successfully hunting a Goldcrest was one that couldn’t be ignored – this fabulous capture is a reminder of the harsh realities of migration for some species, and won BirdGuides Photo of the Week. Additionally, Ian Bollen’s photo of a White’s Thrush on Bressay, Shetland, is a brilliant portrait of this elusive Sibe – there can be few better photos of this species taken in Britain previously. Ian must’ve been struggling to stay calm and breathe when the bird hopped out in front of him!…

THE cold weather of winter can be a difficult time for many species. Millions of migratory birds fly south from the Northern Hemisphere to warmer wintering grounds to avoid the cold conditions. Resident birds may alter their behaviour in order to survive, roosting in towns or huddling together at night. On the coldest of days, they will fluff out their feathers to trap more insulating air, thus minimising heat loss. Even wet and cold days in summer can be a problem for some birds, especially if prolonged, and broods of Blue Tits may perish when chilled by continuous wet weather and little food from their parents, which struggle to find caterpillars. The chicks of Common Swifts have a way of combatting cold, wet summer weather – they can go into…

Sights on set WHEN I took up the offer of work as a supporting artist (‘extra’) on Emmerdale, I didn’t realise that a bonus would be the opportunity to see some magnificent birds at close hand. The outdoor set for the village is located in part of the Harewood Estate, West Yorkshire, which successfully reintroduced Red Kites to the area in 1999. Their presence hasn’t been an undiluted joy for the cast and crew, as the birds can sometimes interrupt filming, but it certainly was for me. Maggie Cobbett Political birding YOUR magazine has been so much better over the last few months, which I put down to some changes that you have made with personnel and contributors. Therefore, to see that Mark Avery was back was a shock (Birdwatch…

In the deserts of north-west India lives one of the world’s rarest and most impressive birds. Once widespread across western India and parts of Pakistan, Great Indian Bustard is now restricted almost entirely to the state of Rajasthan, where only around 150 individuals are thought to remain. This hefty species is among the heaviest of all flying birds, and it is this that has in part contributed to its downfall. Collisions with power lines are all too common, killing off precious adults of this long-lived and slow-to-reproduce species. Other threats include loss of its grassland habitats to agriculture and development, increased disturbance by both humans and India’s burgeoning feral dog population, as well as occasional poaching outside protected areas (hunting has all but exterminated the species in Pakistan). While action…

Another busy year in birding and conservation is reaching an end, which means one thing – it’s time for the Birders’ Choice Awards! This is your opportunity to reflect on 2023 and nominate your winners for a range of different categories, including conservation heroes, top birding sites, favourite rarity and more. Some spectacular vagrants were discovered across Britain and Ireland in 2023, including an extraordinary autumn fall of North American landbirds (see pages 28-32), while cutting-edge research was published that help to advance our knowledge of birds. But 2023 has also seen plenty of negative stories when it comes to the environment – the UK government has weakened water pollution rules for more housebuilding, allowed Neonicotinoids to be used on sugar beet crops and weakened Net Zero targets in the…

REVIEW Kowa TSN 88A Prominar Telescope OVER the last two years, Kowa has changed gear and entered a ‘remake and remodel’ phase, which has seen a highly upgraded 66-mm telescope (see Birdwatch 376: 60-61) and the introduction of a new 99-mm model. The TSN-88 Prominar follows the same lines as the TSN-99, adopting the same modernistic design and form, including all the built-in ergonomic and optical improvements. From a practical perspective, the new 88 has been engineered to be ‘tougher and lighter’ than its predecessors in the TSN-880 series, the aluminium barrel and magnesium prism housing of the latter now having been replaced with a 100% magnesium alloy body. In keeping with the new family appearance, there is a stylish ‘continuation contour’ from the tripod foot to the underside of the…

ISO is one of the three pillars of photography. Alongside shutter speed and aperture, it makes up part of the exposure triangle (see Birdwatch 370: 66-68). Technically, ISO is a camera setting that will brighten or darken a photo; the ability to increase ISO means you can photograph birds in poorer light to capture action without blur through enabling increased shutter speed or achieve a wider depth of field through a narrower aperture, while the brightness of the image remains constant. However, like everything in photography, raising the ISO is a trade-off. It has the consequence of increased image noise and reduced dynamic range. The latter means there is less detail in the brightest and darkest parts of the image. Excessive noise can make an image unusable as feather detail…

Basic Principles Eurasian Bullfinch breeds commonly across most of Britain, where it is largely sedentary. One of our most beautiful birds, it is notoriously shy and retiring, especially in the breeding season, typically giving away its presence only by quiet, rather plaintive calls. Outside the breeding season it can be a little more obliging, often appearing in pairs or small groups and feeding on the margins of flocks of other finches. In Britain Eurasian Bullfinch is represented by the endemic subspecies pileata, known as ‘British’ Bullfinch. The species has a large Palearctic range, however, extending to the Pacific and comprising multiple subspecies. The only one of these confirmed to occur in Britain is nominate pyrrhula, known as ‘Northern’ Bullfinch, which breeds from central Europe through Scandinavia and across the whole…