Sommaire pour January 2017 de Bird Watching

“A long-term study of Kestrel numbers in Kielder Forest in northern England linked declines in this area with increases in Goshawks” ONCE OUR MOST common bird of prey, Kestrels are still perhaps the most visible. Their hunting technique of hovering over open landscapes – black-tipped tail fanned out, head held perfectly still – makes them one of the easiest predatory birds to see and identify. In the 1970s, there were thought to be up to 100,000 pairs of Kestrels across Britain and Ireland, while, today, the UK population is estimated at about 46,000 pairs. Over this period, the steady increase in Buzzards, now thought to number up to 79,000 pairs, has pushed the smaller bird into second place. The 1970s figure was calculated at something of a boom time for…

REGULAR READERS WILL know that I’m not a native of Peterborough, but I moved here in order to work on Britain’s most popular monthly bird magazine. When I got here I found a ready-made community of birdwatchers, with their own bird club and their own recently established recording region: the Peterborough Bird Club (PBC) area. I also found some of the keenest, most dedicated patch-watchers I had ever encountered, including one or two who would bird before work, at lunch time and on the way home from work (as well as out of the office window when they could). The enthusiasm for birdwatching around my new home city was inspirational and infectious. I got the bug and embraced the PBC area as my new birding home and used its chunky…

“But this is not some isolated anomaly, There are, as I write in November, probably more than 100 Great Whites in the UK” I WAS JUST SETTLING down to tuck into some evening grub in the village of Fethard, Co. Wexford, down in the south-east corner of Ireland, when a late-comer came in. It was 1985, and I was there with a bunch of fellow geology undergraduates on a field course. The new arrival was my friend Dave Sexton and he came up to me with a query about an odd bird he had just seen on his pre-supper walk. (I was after all the registered birdwatcher of the group). His description, in a nutshell, was that it was like a small heron, but all white; and it was only…

CRANE SURVEY The latest survey of Cranes in the UK has revealed that a record breaking 48 pairs attempted to breed in 2016. The survey also recorded an estimated total of 160 Cranes, the highest number since the species returned to the UK in 1978 after being absent for over 400 years. And the news gets even better; 14 chicks were fledged in 2016, two more than the average over the last five years. EAGLES SOARING Golden Eagle numbers are soaring, according to the latest national survey from the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage. This year’s survey counted 508 pairs, a 15% increase on the previous survey in 2003. Significantly, the results mean that the Golden Eagle now meets the targets needed to identify it as species having “favourable conservation…

Having been flying in and out of south-west Spain several times a year for almost a decade, I would agree with your correspondent Robin Springett (Bird Watching November 2016) that Malaga airport is often overcrowded with long queues for various services (although it does serve a lot more regional airports in the UK than any of the alternatives). However, I am surprised by his comments regarding Jerez airport and his recommendation of Gibraltar. Aeropuerto de Jerez has a good range of hire car companies, four or five of which have booths allowing you to sort out your rental while you wait for your luggage (Sixt and Hertz are offsite but well served by a courtesy bus). Far from having poor access, the airport has excellent links to Spain’s motorway network.…

1 TAYNISH NNR Enjoy a variety of birds such as Bullfinch and Redstart, in this ancient woodland 2 GRETNA Barnacle Geese in abundance here. Also look for Goldeneye, Goosander and waders 3 DUDDON BRIDGE Cliffs on this lovely Lake District route are home to both Peregrine and Kestrel 4 MARTON MERE Winter wildfowl are plentiful but also see Water Rail, Cetti’s Warbler and many more 5 FORYD BAY This wonderful Welsh estuary offers wintering Brent Geese and Wigeon 6 TELFORD TOWN PARK Lakes here are home to Coot and Mallard, and search for woodpeckers and Jay in the woodland 7 LORD’S WOOD Cliffs home to Peregrine and Kestrel while woodland offers Tawny Owl, woodpeckers and many other species 8 SARRATT A varied habitat and pretty village provide a lovely new…

SITE 3 CUMBRIA MILES ON FOOT: 7 TIME: 4 HOURS LIKE MUCH OF the Lake District, the landscape has been carved by coppicing of trees for charcoal and with the remains of Duddon Iron Works at the bottom of the valley, there you find one of the most impressive charcoal-fired blast furnaces in Britain. Other industries in the valley included slate quarrying, copper mining, peat extraction, cloth manufacture and related industries such as potash production. With so much water, birds like Dipper, Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper are a good bet in summer along the river. Pied Wagtails love the stone walls to nest in, along with the Wheatears and Wrens (below). The bracken-clad sides of the valley are the favourites for Whinchats and Reed Buntings in summer, when the…

SITE 6 SHROPSHIRE MILES ON FOOT: 4 TIME: 3 HOURS THIS SITE IS a good example of bringing wildlife and human activity in parallel after a period of desolation in times gone by when mining, quarrying and industry were prevalent. English Nature supported the local council when it designated the area as a Local Nature Reserve. It’s perfect for encouraging children to take an interest in nature and most paths are wheelchair-friendly. The lakes add interest with Coot and Mallard resident. Mute Swans nest at Withy Pool and Great Crested Grebe use the lakes. The woodland is favoured by Great Spotted Woodpecker, and Jay can be seen carrying off the acorns from the oak trees. There are, of course, lots of common birds, such as Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit and…

SITE 9 KENT MILES ON FOOT: 4 TIME: 3 HOURS THIS CIRCULAR WALK TAKES in a wide range of farmland habitats in what is mainly fertile land, reclaimed from the sea for growing crops such as wheat, oil-seed rape and potatoes. These open vistas support a small and mobile, but declining winter population, of Bewick’s Swans, sometimes with the odd Whooper in their midst. Flocks of feral Greylag Geese should be checked for genuine wild Whitefronts and the occasional party of tundra Bean Geese. Turf fields, sheep folds, thick hedgerows, copses and sewers (as drainage ditches are known here) provide vital feeding areas for a variety of winter thrushes, finches, sparrows and buntings, including Tree Sparrow and Corn Bunting, two species that are fast disappearing from our farmland landscape. The…

HOW MANY OF you can honestly point out the Spanish city of Pamplona on a map? A brief cartographical study would reveal that this city in the Navarre region is tucked away in the north-east of the country and is delightfully close to the Pyrenees, as well as to the French border. That means the potential for the discovery of wintering montane species in the area is pretty high. The climate is classed as oceanic, so it is not typical of what most of us consider for Spain. While the summers in Pamplona are warm, the winters can be pretty cold. The landscape outside the urban areas is green, reminiscent of Britain, as is the fairly frequent rain during the year. The city is famous, or perhaps more correctly, infamous,…

WHERE POPPIES BLOW John Lewis Stempel Orion, HB, £20, BW Bookshop £17.99 The relationship between nature and the men who were plunged into the living hell of the trenches of the Great War is a subject coming in for considerable interest as various World War I centenaries arrive. John Lewis Stempel does a wonderful job of encapsulating the whole experience servicemen were faced with. While nature, in the form of a Sky Lark singing high above no man’s land, could provide reason to endure the misery, it could also be much more down to earth, in the form of insect inhabitants of the trenches. He shows how important birdwatching was to officers in particular, and how this in turn fed back into post-war ornithology. It’s an enthralling, and often moving,…

Ian Parsons puts the spotlight on sawbills – a trio of diving ducks with specialised bills for catching slippery fish. Read more on page 20 Matt Brierley explains how Arne RSPB is a wonderful base from where to host the eagerly-anticipated Winterwatch this year. Page 26 Lee Marlow got a love of birdwatching from his father, and he’s keen to pass it down a generation to his own son. Page 48 Dominic Couzens has spent time watching Turnstones – an easily-identifiable wader that returns to the same spot year after year. Page 64 Dan Mold lived the dream of packing in his day job to travel and encounter all sorts of wonderful birds. See more on page 74 Urban Birder David Lindo reveals the sort of birds you can expect…

PACIFIC DIVER The Pacific equivalent of the closely-related Black-throated Diver was first recorded in the UK in January 2007. Since then there have been just seven records (including a bird in the Mount’s Bay, Penzance, area of Cornwall which has returned every year since 2007). That bird remains the most reliable chance to see one this month (if it returns for another winter). CEDAR WAXWING There have been fewer than five Cedar Waxwings in the UK, with the last mainland bird being a well-twitched individual back in 1996, with Waxwings, in Nottingham. Will this Waxwing winter bring another from North America? GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL There have only ever been two Glaucous-winged Gulls in the UK: one in Gloucestershire, Carmarthenshire and Surrey in winter 2006-2007 and one at Cleveland/ Durham in 2008.…

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 FelixstowePier (-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) SCOTLAND Leith (+0:58)…

You can’t be everywhere at once. In the PBC area, I have found that (historically) most of the ‘elite’ birds are found at four main sites. These are Ferry Meadows CP, the Nene Washes, Woodwalton Fen and Deeping Lakes LWT (and nearby sites). Ferry Meadows CP in Peterborough contains a mix of lakes and woodland plus scrub and grassland all wrapped in a meander of the River Nene, so part of a pre-existing ‘flyway’. I cycle through there on my route to and from work, which helps make this a key site; and a couple of very keen local watchers work the site daily. The Nene Washes is an extensive RSPB managed area of grassland by the channel of the River Nene (a few miles east of the city), which…

MORE THAN HALF a million people will be watching and counting their garden birds for the 2017 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (BGBW), taking place from 28-30 January. Since it began 38 years ago, it has provided valuable information about the wildlife using our gardens in winter. Sightings of well-known species such as Starlings and Song Thrushes experienced another drop during the Big Garden Birdwatch last year. This worrying decline continues a trend that has seen the number of both species visiting gardens decline by 81% and 89% respectively since the first BGBW in 1979. But it wasn’t all bad news. The tiny Long-tailed Tit flew into the Big Garden Birdwatch top 10 – for the first time in eight years – after the average number seen visiting gardens across the…

Get in touch with Bird Watching Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Robin by Brian Ward Camera: Nikon D7200 Lens: 150-600mm Shutter Speed: 1/640 Aperture: f/16 ISO: 800 Crested Tit by James Officer Camera: Nikon D800 Lens: 150-600mm Shutter Speed: 1/500 Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 2,000 Blue Tit by Aisha Al Khalifa Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Lens: 100-400mm Shutter Speed: 1/500 Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 800 Hen Harrier by Andrew Armstrong Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Lens: 500mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,250 Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 500 WIN! Send us your best birding photos to birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk every month to be in with a chance of winning a pair of Minox BF 8x42 binoculars. This month’s winner is Brian Ward. All images should be high resolution…

SITE 1 ARGYLL MILES ON FOOT: 3 TIME: 3 HOURS TAYNISH NATIONAL NATURE Reserve is located on a peninsula on the western side of Loch Sween in Knapdale, Mid Argyll. Native broadleaved woodland has survived here for more than 6,000 years. The reserve is a mixture of woodland, scrub, bog, foreshore, grassland and heath, which together support a rich diversity of wildlife, but cultivation was once also a big part of the area. Most of the cultivated fields have now been taken back by nature, creating the heath and scrub we see today. Migrant birds are the commonest species in summer, especially several warbler species. John Haliday of Scottish Natural Heritage has done the Common Bird Census from 1990 to 2015, showing species like Blackcap and Garden Warbler on the…

SITE 7 HEREFORDSHIRE MILES ON FOOT: 3 TIME: 3 HOURS THIS IS A lovely area in a loop of the River Wye but with cliff faces that Kestrels love! I’ve suggested a walk that includes the River Wye to add to the interest and also to increase the wide variety of birds to be seen. At one point, there is a footbridge to cross over the river then further along a small hand ferry pulled across the river by the ‘Captain’ using a rope and an overhead cable (there is a small charge) – great fun! Families of Mute Swan and Mallard live here permanently. The early part of the walk takes you past King Arthur’s Cave, which is worth a look if you have not seen it before. Then,…

SITE 10 DEVON MILES ON FOOT: 4 TIME: 3 HOURS THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF excitement on this walk that isn’t just about birds. The tidal road on the Avon Estuary, which enters the village from the south-west side, was once a mere cart track, serving farms, a mill and also a limekiln. It was called ‘Stakes Road’ due to the wooden stakes that mark its route; at low tide, horses could wade across and people used stepping stones. This was all rather precarious and eventually a properly-drained road was constructed, but there’s still an element of uncertainty as high tides render the way impassable. The birding from this tidal road is superb – and those not wishing to do the full route will still be rewarded by a walk…

Australia Kuranda Located close to the Australian Daintree rainforest, Kuranda offers beautiful landscapes, waterfalls and some absolutely brilliant bird life. Cambodia Battambang This small Cambodian town is an absolute gem. It has bustling markets and is a 20-minute drive from the Phnom Sampeau temple and also a surprising bat cave! Siem Reap If you’re heading into South East Asia, Siem Reap should be at the top of your bucket list. The temples are vast and hugely detailed, so pencil in a few days to explore them. Make sure you leave extra early to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat – it gets very busy! Thailand Chiang Mai Separated by a moat, the new buildings surround the quaint old city of Chiang Mai. The night markets are among the best…

FOUR ADDITIONAL SPECIES in November took the total recorded in Britain and Ireland in 2016 to a record-breaking 458. Among those four was the first-ever Masked Wagtail – showing well for all-comers in the small, picturesque village of Camrose, NNW of Haverfordwest, in far southwest Wales from at least 26th into December. This black-and-white wagtail from central Asia has only been recorded in the Western Palearctic on 12 occasions before, mostly in Kuwait (six) and Israel (three), and is seemingly wintering. Other undoubted highlights of November included Suffolk’s first-ever Cliff Swallow from 4th-6th, showing very well, often around the Minsmere RSPB visitor centre. Also, there was the UK’s 13th-ever Dusky Thrush affording excellent views in Beeley Village in the Derbyshire Dales, from 25th until at least 8th December. And now…

What first sparked your interest in birdwatching? A holiday in Kenya aged 14. I was visiting my uncle, who had shot birds and then started watching them instead (the right way round). I loved Kenya. Everything was either three inches long and bright blue or six feet tall and couldn’t fly. Who was your birdwatching inspiration or mentor? Was and is: the artist John Hurst, met on a Scillonian crossing. We were trying to ID tiny flying specks, and hazarded Guillemot. A voice behind said “they’re actually Puffins”. We’ve since spent many happy Norfolk days out with him and his wife Jacqui. Do you bird alone or with a friend? Always with my partner, the writer Laura Wade. She’s the eyes and I’m the ears. Team Birder. Your dream bird…

Renowned photographer David Tipling, who took this dramatic picture, explained: “For the past decade I have visited Dumfries and Galloway for a few days every December. A highlight during my annual pilgrimage there is a visit to the centre of Dumfries, not for a spot of Christmas shopping, but to stand on the banks of the River Nith. Here, on the turbulent water below the weir, Goosanders congregate to hunt Lampreys and other small fish. The wild water provides an attractive backdrop to illustrate this sawbill’s favoured habitat of fast, rushing rivers.”…

When there are no leaves on the trees you may suddenly notice birds’ nests where you did not expect them. Among the most ‘obvious’ are those of our corvid species. They are mostly quite rough structures made from sticks and a bit of mud and mainly found in treetops. Jackdaws build their loose twiggy nest in a hole or in a fork of a tree (or a chimney!) Rooks, on the other hand, nest colonially in rookeries, where there can be lots of bulky twig cups in the uppermost branches. Jays build nests in a fork of a tree higher than 2m above the ground. The stick and mud nest has an inner cup lined with hair etc. Magpies make quite a loose dome of twigs, which may be in…

1 Keep an eye on news services, such as local mailing groups, Twitter or bird news info services. 2 Keep half an eye on weather patterns. The timing of the appearances of migrant birds is a balance between time of year and the weather. 3 Keep in contact with other birders in your area. You can’t find everything on your own. Help each other, don’t ‘compete’. 4 Birds often come in ‘waves’ across the country. Keep an eye on trends of birds turning up around the UK and act accordingly. For example, if there are lots of Common Scoters dropping down, check your local lakes. If there are Honey Buzzards on the move, check the skies! 5 Keep a list to track your progress and make sure nothing goes missing.…

“When I finally connected with a Wallcreeper, tears rolled down my face” DO YOU HAVE a bogie bird? One that, despite not being rare you keep failing to connect with, especially after passing someone saying it’s ‘showing well’! How about what US bird writer Al Batt calls an ‘onion’ bird? That’s a bird you so badly want to see it makes you cry tears of joy and pent-up emotion. Mine was Wallcreeper, a bird I first saw on a cigarette card 60 years ago; immaculate slate grey plumage made glorious by vermillion wings. When I finally connected with this glory on a boulder as we crossed a northern Indian riverbed in a jeep, tears rolled down my face. The twitching community has loads of terms describing esoteric bird categories, their…

I’VE BEEN DOING it for years now; cajoling him, encouraging him, leaving bird books open at the pages of resplendent-looking Sparrowhawks, hopelessly trying to get my 13-year-old son Lucas interested in birds. I say years, but all this didn’t start with me and him. It started two generations before, with my grandad and my dad, then my dad with me. A love of birds has been passed down our male line like jowls and prematurely grey hair. My grandad had a scar on his right hand, from the base of his thumb across to his third finger. “You know how I got that?” he used to tell me. A Little Owl at Bradgate Park. He’d put his hand in a hole in an old oak tree in Leicestershire’s 340-hectare country…

SITE 5 CAERNARFONSHIRE MILES ON FOOT: 4 TIME: 3 HOURS SEPARATED FROM CAERNARFON Bay by the Morfa Dinlle peninsula, the almost land-locked Foryd Bay presents a superb mosaic of intertidal habitats. There are mud flats and saltmarsh, river channels and a shingle spit which narrows the entrance to this wonderfully sheltered estuary. Here the Menai Strait is at its narrowest, just 350 yards to Abermenai Point on the south-western shores of Anglesey. Guarding the entrance to the Bay is Fort Belan, built in 1775. Dwarf Eelgrass Zostera noltei, a sea grass growing on the inter-tidal zone, is a major food plant for Brent Geese, most of those wintering here being of the ‘pale-bellied’ race which breed in Arctic Canada, Greenland, Spitzbergen and also Franz Josef Land. Sharing much the same…

“If you can concentrate on one part of the bird for identification purposes, let it be the area of the head and face” CONCENTRATE ON FACE PATTERN Some of EuropeÕs woodpeckers are very distinctive (most notably the crow-sized Black Woodpecker). However, particularly among the pied Dendrocopos species, there are several essentially similar species. If you can concentrate on one part of the bird for identification purposes, let it be the area of the head and face. For instance, a main difference between the quite similar Syrian and Great Spotted Woodpecker (in all plumages), is the black line near the back of the neck, which joins the nape line with the moustachial stripe on Great Spotted, but is broken on Syrian Woodpecker. Similarly, the open, pale face and small bill of…

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