Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i Bird Watching

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR 2023? #My200BirdYear challenge Bird Watching #My 200 Bird Year birdwatching.co.uk/my2022 Bird Watching BIRDING QUESTION: We asked this month’s contributors, “What is your favourite 'Little Brown Job’?” As you read this, you may well be like me, totting up your year list, and making plans for getting your 2023 list off to a flying start. As 1 write this, though, I’m still looking for a 200th species to complete #My200BirdYear. A smart Ring-necked Duck like the one above was no. 199, and I think the chances are that no. 200 might be a duck, too - turn to page 30 to find out more about winter wildfowl. Whatever you see, we hope you’ll be inspired to put pen to paper and enter our new writing competition…

A national campaign for Swifts, supported by the RSPB and the conservation charity Rewriting Extinction, has been launched by author and conservationist Hannah Bourne-Taylor. She delivered a speech on 5 November at Speaker's Corner to launch The Feather Speech, followed by a non-disruptive procession to Downing Street, unclothed, painted from neck to toe in ink feathers. The campaign is a collaboration between world-renowned artists (body painter Guido Daniele, who has worked with The Jane Goodall Institute, and conservation photographer Tim Flach) and leading scientists. The Feather Speech aims to highlight a national issue — development causing biodiversity loss — and to promote a petition to address it. The petition asks the government to make ‘Swift bricks’ compulsory across new housing in Britain. These bricks, which contain built-in nest spaces, would…

The bus sweeps along the A403 at an alarming speed, then swings left onto a straight road which bisects a vast industrial estate. Warehouses the size of multiple aircraft hangars stretch into the distance on either side; a particularly monstrous one belongs to a well-known online retailer. The verges of the out-sized roads are lined with drainage ditches, these and the unrelenting flatness suggest that this industrial estate was built on water meadows. I realise I’m now the only passenger left. I ask the driver whether we’ll still be stopping at Severn Beach station, as we seem to be going away from the river. “Yup”, he says, airily. I’m reassured. Sort of. My other half and I are both from the West Country, and I first planned a trip to…

In the spring of 1819, the poets John Keats and Samuel Taylor Coleridge met by chance on Hampstead Heath. They walked for a couple of miles across its wild wooded uplands, talking about “a thousand things”, from dreams and metaphysics to poetry and Nightingales. Some say that Coleridge complained that there were so many Nightingales, their song kept him awake at night. Impossible to imagine now, as the songsters are long gone from the Heath, absent for more than half a century. Shortly after their chat, Keats sat under a plum tree in his garden and composed one of his most celebrated works and one of the most quoted poems in the English language: Ode to a Nightingale. One of the poem’s great themes is death and immortality. The fact…

ID TIP! If your bird is calling, it is a massive step towards helping you identify it BIRD 1 Sheltering in the midst of the fallen snow is what appears to be a classic LBJ: brown and streaky above and on the head and breast, with a whiter belly (or at least what we can see of said belly). There is one outstanding (or should that be upstanding) feature, though, a notable crest which seems to be partially erect (and not just some wind-blown crown feathers). The bill is sturdy, too; sturdier than would be expected from a pipit or warbler or similar insect specialist. The combination of the bill shape, the overall pattern and that crest should be enough to point you in the direction of Sky Lark, a…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 7 MIN TIME: 5 HOURS Breeding seabirds and more at this island destination Mull is famous for eagles and the breeding seabirds on its offshore islands Lunga and Staffa, but here we find a rocky outcrop with a small number of breeding seabirds and, in the right weather, huge numbers of seabirds and other passing species. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1.Come off the B8073 before you drop down to Calgary. These minor roads are ideal to walk if you enjoy a long stroll. Here there is a mixture of scrub and open field, so check for species like Curlew, Greylag Geese and pipits on one side of the road while Long-tailed Tit and Willow Warbler may be found on the other side of the road.…

Moorland birds in beautiful surroundings MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS DAVID WHITAKER/ALAMY* The North Pennines are part of an Area of Outstanding Beauty, and are well known for their moorland wildlife. Grouse moors and sheep farming provide the main income of the area, where mining was once big, even in Roman times. England’s longest walk — the Pennine Way — comes through the village. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH I Even getting this far up, past Alston gives you a sense of achievement, but this picturesque village high on the North Pennines is worth a walk. The village itself is full of Pied Wagtails, House Martins and Swallows in summer, not forgetting Collared Doves and Starlings. 2 A lane takes you up onto the fell and…

A host of breeding birds in the Forest of Dean MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS Greenfinch The Forest of Dean is one of the few remaining large tracts of ancient woodland in England. In summer it is a notable location for a small population of Pied Flycatchers, many of whom breed in nest boxes along with the more numerous Redstarts. Summering Nightjar, Wood Warbler and Whinchat are also present in small numbers. Three declining resident species also breed in High meadow Woods: Hawfinch, Willow Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, although all are difficult to encounter and best looked for in early spring. However, the forest is one of best places in the country for Goshawk, which are often seen soaring over the canopy. PAUL TRODD WHERE…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS Scan for seabirds and waders on passage through the Channel Birling Gap is situated on the western flank of the spectacular Seven Sisters, part of the South Downs National Park. It is the ideal location to attract incoming migrants and over-shooting rarities such as Serin, Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Black Kite. A spring seawatch from Birling Gap can be productive. Early on, passage wildfowl include large skeins of Brent Geese, followed by a steady stream of seabirds and waders. Given a southeasterly in late April/early May south coast gems such as Black-throated Diver, Roseate Tern and the iconic Pomarine Skua are likely. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1.Seawatch from the lower cliff in front of the beach huts in spring. Early migrants…

What's included This five-day break is held in partnership with Bird Watching and includes: • Five nights' dinner, bed and breakfast • En suite rooms equipped withhairdryer, tea and coffee-making facilities, TV and toiletries • Gala dinner • Programme of evening talks and quizzes by Bird Watching's Matt Merritt, Mike Weedon and Gordon Hamlett • Guided walks • No single supplement • Leaders: Matt Merritt, Mike Weedon and Gordon Hamlett •Please note: a car is essential on this break Cost Bird Watching subscribers Standard Room £579 dinner bed and breakfast, per person, Superior Room £674 DBB pp Bird Watching non-subscribers Standard Room £610 DBB pp, Superior Room £705 DBB pp Extra nights: BW subscribers £128pp per night DBB standard room, £148 superior; non-subscribers £135pp per night DBB standard room, £156pp per…

BIRD OF THE MONTH DIPPER The Dipper is the most-water loving and waterdependent of all our song birds (or perching birds, or passerines, if you prefer). It feeds almost exclusively on animals (invertebrates and small fish) found in or very close to water. And, uniquely among our song birds, it habitually completely submerges itself in search of said prey. Dippers fearlessly drop into raging torrents, and dive (or dip, if you would rather) beneath the surface using a combination of powerful clawed toes to grip the underlying substrate, and/or underwater flying, wrapped in a dry-suit of silvery air, to propel themselves. Lovers of fast flowing rocky streams and rivers (and some slower rivers, which are shallow enough and rocky enough), often but not exclusively in upland areas, Dippers are mainly…

Saltmarsh faithful Perhaps my favourite winter landscape - and not solely because I live in Norfolk, where it characterises the north coast - is saltmarsh. Its vastness, its negative space, its unrepentant sulkiness, perversely all enchant. Venturing into the gloop, you can investigate its constituent parts including plantlife. Foremost among the glaucous green is what we birdwatchers call ‘suaeda’ - formally, Annual Seablite or Suaeda maritima. FUNGI Wibble wobble As its name suggests, Jelly Ear Fungus is pleasingly gelatinous in texture and shaped somewhat like a floppy ear. Smooth above, and usually wrinkly below, it grows commonly on branches of deciduous trees and shrubs. Discovering a fine specimen such as this one always makes for a pleasing moment. MOTH Antifreeze moth It never fails to amaze that there are adult…

WIN Maven B1.2 10x42 Binoculars worth £1,050 Review: www.birdwatching.co.uk/gear/binoculars/ How you decide to interpret the theme is entirely up to you. You could write about that special memory of seeing a lifer, one of those wow’ moments with birding friends, or even seeing a very familiar bird through new eyes. The judges will be looking for the entries which convey a birding moment so vividly that, when reading it, they feel as if they are standing next to you. Our regular contributor, Amanda Tuke, developed the idea of Thumbnail Nature or ultra-short creative nature writing of 50 words or fewer as a way of empowering new writers in nature-writing workshops. “In Thumbnail Nature there are no rules about grammar, punctuation or using abbreviations and slang”, Amanda says, “but just make…

Three 'sparrows' Here are pictures of four ‘sparrows’: male and female House Sparrows, Tree Sparrow and a Hedgesparrow or Dunnock. The latter is, of course, not a real sparrow but belongs to a family of Robin-like birds called accentors (apparently, the only bird family unique to the Palearctic, if you are looking for trivia knowledge for your New Year bird quiz). Dunnocks used to be called Hedgesparrows because of their plumage which somewhat resembles that of a female House Sparrow. Note that male and female Tree Sparrows look the same (at least to a human eye). ID TIP! In general (but not always), House Sparrows are much bolder birds than shy Tree Sparrows Hedgesparrow, aka Dunnock •Thin, Robin-like, insect-eater’s bill • Blue-grey supercilium (‘eyebrow’), nape sides • Grey throat •…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Woodland, golf course and coastal sand dunes make for outstanding birding This walk circumnavigates Newbiggin golf course, which is always worth scanning across. We visited in November and as well as Oystercatchers and Curlew got three Snow Buntings on one of the greens. The coastal stretch offers superb sea watching, but do visit at high tide as the coastal strip around Beacon Point brings waders in very close. You can walk on the top of the dunes or on the beach and we got Sanderling, Dunlin, Turnstone and Bar-tailed Godwit. Seawatching at Church Point brought us Red-throated Diver and Velvet Scoter. The western path hugs the ash pools boundary and is full of scrub and gorse. We managed Stonechat and a…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 1 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS Water, farmland, and mature oaks mean a variety of birds Willow Tit Royd Moor Reservoir is part of a trio of reservoirs, including Scout Dike and Ingbirchworth, located north of the market town of Penistone. This peaceful reservoir offers a short, circular walk, with a couple of benches placed to sit and view wildlife. The waters are home to a variety of waterfowl, including Canada Geese, Tufted Duck and Cormorant. Grey Heron are often found wading in the shallows. The small lake at the north-western tip of the reservoir is busy with common waterfowl, like Mallard and Moorhen. Buzzard, Kestrel and Sky Lark are often seen above the fields, while the wooded area attracts Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Nuthatch and other regular…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS Situated in one of the most beautiful valleys in South Wales At 318 acres, Talybont, opened in 1938, is the largest reservoir in the county and is easily viewed from the road along the western shore or from trails through the eastern woodlands, the circular walk being about six miles. Another trail some 400 feet above the western shore passes through Talybont Forest. Boating is not allowed, which means birds are not disturbed, while a hide overlooks the wetlands at the southern end. DAVID SAUNDERS WHERE TO WATCH 1.The solitude on reaching the reservoir provides a welcome contrast to the bustle of the Usk Valley's main highways. There's an opportunity to view the river below the dam, haunt of Dippers and…

GET IN TOUCH birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatctiingMag Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA FAMILIARITY BREEDS… I’ve just read your article ‘Out of South Africa’ (BW Novemher 22) where you’ve highlighted how we often pass over some of our common species. As a birding guide for Yorkshire Coast Nature, we have the delight of showing visitors from a range of countries our fantastic birds that inhabit the many varied habitats of Yorkshire. Seeing some common birds through the eyes of a visitor helps you appreciate what gems we have on our doorstep. Great and Blue Tits are cases in point. Their fabulous plumages of greens, blues and yellows are stunning if seen with fresh eyes. Being so common and accommodating helps a visitor get to know and recognise them…

Q I was at Frampton in October and took some pictures of two ducks. Another birder told me they were Pintail. I assume they are immature birds as I cannot find any pictures of immature ones to compare. Can you confirm that for me? Thank you. David Donovan A In the photo shown here, the small duck in the distance is a female Teal, and the larger one is indeed a drake Pintail. The Collins Bird Guide is far and away the best bird book for European birds of our lifetimes. However, even this classic can’t cover every plumage of every bird. Your bird could be a youngster moulting into more adult-like plumage, but is probably a drake coming out of eclipse plumage into its more familiar, striking feathering. Eclipse plumage…

Having been obsessed with birds since the age of eight, going birding abroad has always been a dream of mine, but watching programmes such as Planet Earth has been as far as I’ve got to experiencing anything other than British birds (which are still brilliant, by the way!). So, when the opportunity arose to visit Colombia to experience its amazing wildlife, culture, and landscapes, I jumped at the chance. From reading and watching videos about its astonishing birdlife (number one in the world for number of species), I could tell this was going to be a birder s paradise, and boy, how it lived up to that expectation! Arrival DAY 1: We arrived in Bogota during the early hours of the morning. An impromptu bit of planning ended up with…

#MY200BIRDYEAR BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH birdwatching.co.uk/my200 SET A TARGET OF SEEING 200 BIRDS IN ONE YEAR! Recently, after a hiatus of some 30 years, I’ve returned to a hobby that I enjoyed in my youth. When I was a child, I was a keen birdwatcher. I lived in the countryside, where the family entertainment was often a long, rural walk that involved wildlife spotting, and we had bracing holidays with similar entertainment in various parts of the UK. I saved my pocket money to join the junior branch of the RSPB, the Young Ornithologists’ Club, with its red enamel badge sporting a gold Kestrel, and I pestered my parents into providing nest boxes, a bird bath, and a bird table, all homemade. Our hobbies budget was very limited,…

In my opinion, ducks are extremely underrated birds. They’re the first birds that most of us ever encounter up close, albeit typically while we’re destroying their health by throwing whole slices of stale white bread at them, but still, it’s a meaningful connection. And they remain just as accessible for the rest of our lives. Find any patch of water, almost anywhere in the UK — any pond, loch, lake or river — and I'II bet you they’ll all have one thing in common: ducks. But familiarity can breed contempt, and I d say that has been the fate that has befallen the members of the duck family. We’ve seen too many of them and have preconceptions of miserable-looking Mallards on dirty park ponds to think that they have anything…

LBJs are of course ‘little brown jobs’, a catch-all term used for small, nondescript or ‘difficult’ birds. Everything from sparrows through pipits to larks, finches and buntings (and many things in between) gets lumped into this category. This is especially the case when birds are poorly seen, or just glimpsed as they dash from bush to bush or through the undergrowth, looking just like every other LBJ… But there is subtlety lurking beneath the superficially dull appearance, which can elevate these birds to connoisseurs choices! Here are six LBJs for you to put proper names to. When you are happy with your answers, turn the page to see our answers and the reasoning we used to identify the birds. And, as in every issue, turn again for a few more…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS Another great spot on the Solway Firth NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS LTD/ALAMY* Like so many locations along the north shore of the Solway, Carsethorn has a good mixture of habitats for waders, wildfowl and seabirds, ensuring there’s always something to find at all times of year. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 A small set of fish ponds are found on your left just after the turn off from Kirkbean. There are normally Grey Herons here with waders including Snipe. Tufted Duck and Teal are the normal but have been joined by Smew. Feral geese are often present. 2 Check the fields around the area for Pink-footed and Barnacle Geese. Notable rare geese here have included Todd's Canada Goose and Red-breasted Goose. When…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 1 HOUR A great green oasis in the midst of town This park in Stevenage may at first glance appear to be an unlikely birdwatching location; however, it is in fact a little gem. The park attracts rare passage migrants, breeding Tawny Owls, woodpeckers and terns to the three lakes and surrounding woodland/ grassland. Due to the nature of the site, early morning visits are highly recommended. ABIGAIL HAMILTON-THOMPSON WHERE TO WATCH 1.The northernmost lake is called the Environmental Lake, and is the best out of the three for birdwatching due to its quieter location and being less likely to be used for human activity. Look out here for Goldeneye, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Teal, and Little Ringed Plover in…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3.5 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Excellent estuary birding at an RSPB reserve Situated at the confluence of the Rivers Exe and Clyst, this well-managed reserve and its environs offer rich birding. A hide adds an element of comfort, in addition to various viewing points. The mudflats of this coastal marshland are a magnet for a wintering waders and wildfowl, with rarities often dropping in, including Long-billed Dowitcher, Snow Goose and Spotted Redshank amongst others. Garden habitat near the hide encourages species such as Brambling and Siskin. SIMONE STANBROOKSYRNE WHERE TO WATCH 1 Topsham sits by the River Exe and is imbued by an air of things nautical. Birdlife of the estuary is abundant: Kingfisher may be spotted at waterside steps near The Lighter Inn and the…

WE LOVE… The clash of the heron and egret! Awesome! waiting for me!…

Back in October, we settled down to watch the first episode of BBC Autumnwatch with an extra frisson of excitement. “I recognise that patch of water!” I cried excitedly as the programme started with the incredible footage of an encounter between a female Buzzard and a male Goshawk. Not happy neighbours, as a Goshawk will take on a Buzzard but, making herself as large as possible, the Buzzard seized the initiative and drove the Goshawk away. It was hard to believe that only a week before, we had been standing by that very stream and hearing about this intimidating resident raptor. For us, it started with probably the best garlic mushrooms in the world, at a café in Hunstanton we always visited whenever we were birdwatching in Norfolk. Here, over…

Some exceptionally rare birds added some late autumn spice to the season After an outstanding October for rare birds, things were bound to calm down slightly across the country. But, there were still stupid numbers of rarities out there to be found. Top of the bill, but also the most frustrating, was an American Purple Gallinule at Dunster Beach, Somerset. Somewhat similar in appearance to a juvenile Moorhen, but with extensive glossy green/purple iridescent plumage, there have only been three accepted UK records of this species, in 2011, 2008 and 1958, of which only the latter was seen alive, picked up exhausted on 7 November on St Mary’s, Scilly, and dying in care a couple of days later. The others were already dead when found. Not so the Dunster Beach…