Sommaire pour December 2019 de Bird Watching

Ian Parsons recalls the morning he came to the rescue of a stricken juvenile Wren, which was stuck behind one of his kitchen units! Page 20 Ed Hutchings marks the Forestry Commission’s centenary by highlighting 10 great UK forests to head for on future birding trips. Page 26 Simone Stanbrook-Byrne reveals how rewilding the countryside provides many benefits for wildlife and birds. Page 33 Renowned bird author Dominic Couzens reveals how the Snow Bunting has adapted to survive in a harsh environment. Page 40 Bird guide Ruth Miller wants the much-maligned Herring Gull to be recognised for its beauty, rather than its fondness for chips. P44…

The glorious sunshine of (as I write this) yesterday gave way to a steady drizzle in the cool of the morning, leaving me in no doubt that autumn had begun. Having spent that sunny day supporting an all-access path initiative at Minsmere, we had decided to skip an indifferent breakfast to brave the dawn and the horribly clogged A12 and head home. Between us and the main road were a few miles of leafy lanes and we were hoping to add a few birds we have struggled for all year… maybe a roadside owl or one of the species Suffolk used to abound in. An overcrowded reserve, at the ‘wrong time of year’, had not inspired me in the way the same reserve had in the 1960s and 1970s. An…

While (we hope) all of you would be delighted to see a Wren in your garden at any time of year, a number of rather macabre traditions used to see them trapped and often killed on December 26 (St Stephen’s Day, or Wren Day in the past, but now Boxing Day, of course). ‘Wrenning’, or ‘Hunting The Wren’, is now pretty much restricted to western Ireland and the Isle of Man, but once also took place in most of southern Ireland and south-west Scotland, and parts of the south-east and east of England. People would go out in fancy dress, catch or kill a Wren, then nail it to a pole or put it in a cage wreathed with Holly and other winter greenery. It would then be paraded from…

A big surprise happened in 2014 when Rothiemurchus was sold by the Grant family, who had owned it for 500 years, to the Forestry Commission (now called Forestry and Land Scotland) for £7.4 million. This land now nearly doubles the ownership of FLS, with a National Nature Reserve covering a good percentage of this same land. Rothiemurchus extends to more than 5,700 acres, mainly of ancient Caledonian pine forest, with a backdrop of the Cairngorm Mountains to the east and south-east. The forest is famous for its Capercaillie, but as folk have to walk/bike to see them, few birders actually use this part of the forest. I was fortunate to find my own Caper displaying along with all the other classics here. The area was made famous by Desmond Nethersole-Thompson…

North West Leicestershire and adjoining South Derbyshire – the area where I grew up – were coalfields, with much of the later coal extraction being done by opencast mining. While that left large parts of them looking like moonscapes for many years, the side-benefit for birders has been that many sites have since been restored as country parks and similar. Hicks Lodge, close to the county border, is one of those, with walking trails making their way round a large lake, past grazing meadows, and between areas of woodland (all recently planted, as part of the wider National Forest). While there’s only one hide, offering good views of much of the lake and its margins, there’s also plenty to interest the birdwatcher in the rest of the site. Still, the…

A lovely, but strenuous walk in parts, with outstanding views on the southerly tip of the Malvern Hills. It’s the site of an Iron Age hill fort, where you can see the old earthworks in the shape of the hill near the summit on the Herefordshire border, known as Herefordshire Beacon, together with panoramic views over Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and onwards to the Welsh Marches. A nice mix of woodlands, scrub and short-cropped turf and a small reservoir, now disused, which may well be drained in the near future and reduced to just a small pool, add to form a nice eco-system, while the nearby heathland of Castlemorton Common adds more interest to the walk. The high aspect makes it ideal for migration-watching during spring and autumn as records of…

This high point along the South Downs Way, just east of Winchester, offers some lovely views across sprawling agricultural land dotted with woodlands and a large natural amphitheatre. The arable landscape gives a good chance of connecting with some of our much declined farmland species. With views as far as the Isle of Wight and the New Forest, this is an area which offers something throughout the seasons. A good area to see raptors is now possibly enhanced with the recent introduction of White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Wight, so this must now be a candidate area to see these magnificent birds dispersing in future. The impressive natural amphitheatre goes down in history as the site where General Eisenhower addressed American troops prior to the D-Day landings, and has…

Send all your birding questions to birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk and our experts will give you the answers Unremarkable bird? Q This unremarkable looking bird was photographed in Monterey, California, in September. Please help identify it. Iain Watson A Unremarkable it may look, but this dark-looking passerine is a member of a family which we don’t have (except in exceptionally rare circumstances) in the UK. It is an icterid, the same family which includes the New World blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds and meadowlarks and so on. Many are glossy blue-black in the males with duller, brown-black females. There aren’t a huge number of these species in Monterey, which helps narrow the identification down to a dark-eyed female Brewer’s Blackbird. This bird stood out Q Please could you identify this bird for me. It was…

Those wanting to experience the thrill of birding in Eastern Europe, while keeping the logistics of the trip as straightforward as possible, would do well to consider Lithuania. Much of this beautiful country remains rich in wildlife and is easily accessible: Vilnius, the capital, is just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from London, and driving a hire car in the city is considerably less stressful than elsewhere in Eastern Europe – a far cry from Bucharest or Warsaw, for example. It’s a compact country, just half the size of England, and easy to navigate. Main roads were good throughout, and even country lanes in Lithuania were fine – rough, but mostly lacking the cobbles and potholes typical of some Polish backroads. Thankfully, the much-feared Eastern European ‘imaginary third lane’ – which straddles…

MEDITERRANEAN GULL This attractive gull has seen a rapid expansion in its range over the last few decades. From its humble beginnings around the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean Basin, it now regularly turns up in Scotland and south-western Ireland. Indeed, it was formerly a real rarity in Britain and Ireland until the 1950s. Thereafter, they became more regular, eventually breeding, initially on the south coast. Occasionally, they interbreed with Black-headed Gulls, creating a confusing array of hybrid offspring. Mediterranean Gulls are fairly easy to separate from Black-headed Gulls when in adult plumage. The larger size, bulkier bill, leggier appearance and white wingtips are diagnostic. There is also the black hood during the breeding season that has led them to be confusingly called ‘Black-headed Gull’ in countries like Spain…

This month - Robin If times are hard, Robins will occasionally visit seed feeders designed for species such as finches and tits. If you want to capture a hovering bird there is a tried and tested way of achieving this goal. Having made sure the feeder is in a suitable place for the light, temporarily remove all perches in the vicinity of the feeder and tape over all but one of the feeding ports: birds will usually hover momentarily. For obvious reasons, this approach should be a brief one, given that you will have ‘trained’ your birds to become reliant on your source of food. Robins are vocal throughout the year and a subdued, slightly mournful song can even be heard in autumn. However, come late winter and spring and…

Dorr SA-1 Universal Smartphone Adapter A low cost solution for connecting smartphones to spotting scopes with eyepieces up to 51mm diameter £19.99 Kowa BD II XD Binoculars New range of high quality mid-range binoculars featuring Kowa’s legendary XD objective lenses for high resolution images. From £359 WANDRD PRVKE 21 and 31 Backpacks Made from high quality materials and ‘packed’ with useful design features for the travelling birder and photographer. From £169.95 WWW.BIRDERS-STORE.CO.UK…

NUTCRACKER The last accepted record of this white-spotted northern crow was in 1998 and the last ‘proper irruption’ bringing a decent number into the country was 50 years ago! Signs earlier this year from Fennoscandia looked promising for a movement in our direction, but, so far, this has proved fruitless. So far… HAWK OWL There have only been four accepted records of Hawk Owl in the UK and three of them were in the 19th Century! The only one in living memory was at Frakkafield, Mainland, Shetland in 1983. Still, no time like the present! NAUMANN’S THRUSH The two records of this Asian thrush (closely related to Dusky Thrush) were surprisingly close to each other, at Woodford Green, London in 1990 and South Woodford seven years later.…

Why is this shy, long-tailed, dark-plumaged resident Sylvia called the Dartford Warbler? Back in the times when what is hit is history (and missed is mystery), birds were often first described from shot specimens. Two of these little beauties were shot at Bexley Heath, Kent (ie near Dartford) by Thomas Pennant in 1773, who was the first to describe the species (although it wasn’t given its scientific name until 1783, by a Dutch naturalist, Peter Boddaert one of nearly 200 birds he named). These days, you would be very lucky to see one anywhere near Dartford (with closest birds probably being on the west Surrey or east Suffolk heaths).…

December is a month of celebration! I am not, of course, talking about elections, but good old Chrimbo. It is a time for family and friends; and the season of New Year’s Honours, when the Queen dishes out gongs to a few celebrities and a load of people you’ve never heard of, who have made a pile of money ‘in industry’, or whatever. But there are very few medals for the thankless heroes out there trying to protect and nurture our precious wildlife. In Back Chat each month in BW, we always ask our interviewees to name their inspirations and mentors. It is a question which always gets me scratching my own (bald) head. In the strictest sense, I didn’t really have a single birdwatching ‘mentor’ as a kid, though…

Care for Curlew Conservationist and author Mary Colwell has received the 2019 WWT Marsh Award for Wetland Conservation for her work in raising awareness of the plight of the Curlew. Earlier this year, Mary instigated a summit of key politicians and stakeholders which led ministers to call the Curlew the “panda of UK conservation”, while in 2018, she persuaded the public to care about the Curlew’s plight by establishing 21 April as World Curlew Day. All of this was on the back of a 500-mile walk in 2016 to raise awareness of the issues facing Curlews. Farewell NSBC The North Sea Bird Club (NSBC) is to be wound up. It first received records in 1979 and was based at the University of Aberdeen. The aim has been to obtain, collate…

Butterfly Conservation has already recorded a number of species, including Clouded Yellow and Silver-washed Fritillary, and numbers are expected to rise as a greater diversity of flowering plants begins to establish in the grassland. Mammals on site include Red and Roe Deer, Foxes, Badgers and Dormice. Devon Wildlife Trust also identified the site as a good location for bats and reptiles such as Slowworms.…

Help birds and other wildlife this Christmas by putting Woodland Trust gifts under the tree. Our woodland-themed range of products is the perfect way to treat the ones you love and support the work of the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity. The Woodland Trust’s work planting trees and protecting native woodland is vitally important for birds all year round, but when winter’s icy fingers tighten their grip the food and shelter our native trees and shrubs provide can be lifesaving. A store of acorns for Jays; insects hiding deep in the bark of a beech tree for Nuthatches and woodpeckers, and Holly berries and dried up blackberries for Song Thrushes, Blackbirds and Blue Tits. Here’s our pick of the best gifts for bird lovers. The Little Birds range Practical, pretty…

The full route is 22 miles through the remote and less-visited countryside of East Cumbria and West Northumberland and the North Pennines AONB, along the South Tyne from its source south of Garrigill, through Alston and on to Haltwhistle near Hadrian’s Wall. Much of the route uses well-surfaced paths along the route of the old South Tynedale Railway, as does this section of 4.5 miles. This section starts at Haltwistle on the South Tyne, with a weir where Salmon and Sea Trout jump to continue their journey to the upper river. This is one of the few rivers which allows fish to be actually taken to eat, as the population of fish is the highest in Britain! In 2018 there was a first-winter Bee-eater in the local cemetery during the…

Lying to the south-west of Birmingham, this country park, which covers 450 acres, has a nice varied habitat comprising horse paddocks, meadows and wooded areas, together with a brook for added interest. The area has proved attractive to breeding birds such as Tree Pipit and Stonechat, although now these are reduced to just occasional passage migrants. Warblers are well represented from spring onwards, together with a handful of passage Wheatears and the occasional Redstart visiting the horse paddocks. Summer is busy with families visiting the park, thus quieter for birds, but autumn brings Meadow Pipits and the first arrival of Redwing and Fieldfare, which can occur in good numbers. Formerly the site held the occasional Short-eared Owl in winter, but today, just Tawny and Little Owls are present, with maybe…

Situated in the Tring Gap on the Chiltern Hills, Tring Reservoirs were created in the 19th Century to provide a regular water supply for the Grand Union Canal and, as such, are owned by British Waterways. This walk takes in Wilstone Reservoir, the largest of the four waters that comprise the Tring Reservoir group and is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The open water levels vary throughout the year, with concrete banks on the northern side and muddy margins if the level is low. A tree-lined spit protrudes into the reservoir from Drayton Bank, where Grey Herons and Cormorants nest. A hide overlooks the spit and is the best spot for wading birds, as well as affording views across a large reedbed and willow scrub. Mature woodlands,…

Those of us whose lives are so intrinsically entwined with wildlife will likely already appreciate the sound of birdsong, and, more than that, we will notice when it isn’t there. Sadly, some of the songs and calls we hear are disappearing, and that’s why the RSPB recently decided to release a track entitled Let Nature Sing. The music features about 25 British birds, including the Tawny Owl, Blackbird and Robin – the kind of birds that I often write about here in this column. This music is being played up and down the UK in thousands of buildings, from cathedrals to underground stations. It’s a stark reminder of what we stand to lose if bird populations continue to decline. Farm birds have been hit particularly hard, with Defra revealing that…

Across much of mainland Europe, the Robin is primarily a woodland bird with relatively retiring habits. But in contrast, British birds are more associated with gardens and suburban locations, and in many situations they are bold and fearless. They also take readily to being fed and this combination makes them ideal photographic subjects. Consequently, most British bird photographers will not have to travel far to find a cooperative Robin; in some cases they will be literally on their doorsteps.…

SOUTH WEST Highlights It was like the ‘good old days’, with the South West really hogging the extreme rarities during October. Scilly produced a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, plus the Blue Rock Thrush and even a Chestnut-eared Bunting. But a field at Sennen, Cornwall, hosted a Buff-bellied Pipit and potentially the UK’s first Paddyfield Pipit! CHANNEL ISLANDS JERSEY: Thousands of Starlings, Woodpigeons, Linnets, Chaffinches, Siskins, Robins and Fieldfares arrived, with tens of thousands of Redwings, hundreds of Sky Larks and some Wood Larks. Grosnez logged 22 Velvet Scoters, many more Common Scoters, divers, Kittiwakes, a Sabine’s Gull, hundreds of auks and Sandwich Terns, 50 Mediterranean Gulls, skuas, shearwaters, thousands of dark-bellied Brent Geese plus 30 pale-bellied birds. Grouville Bay and the Wetland Centre logged 100 Grey Plovers, the…

At 6.25pm on Friday, 6 September, Dove Step team mates Nick Moran and Jonny Rankin cycled into Kilnsea for the Spurn Migration Festival (Migfest), 12 hours and 160 miles after setting off from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) headquarters in Thetford. Migfest attendees and friends gave them a warm welcome, applauding the pair over the finish line at Westmere Farm. This was the start of Dove Step 3.1, the latest instalment of their campaign to save the Turtle Dove, and a ‘warm up’ for more endurance challenges over the following two days. Dove Step entails Jonny Rankin and friends undertaking arduous physical challenges to raise both awareness of and funds for Operation Turtle Dove. To date, the team have raised almost £19,000 and travelled more than 1,930 miles for…

High above the Exe Valley, where Buzzards ride the thermals over ancient woodland, and steep hillsides tumble to fast-flowing streams, a new and collaborative project is taking place. The Cove Down wildlife sanctuary is a tranquil area of small fields, broadleaved woodland and a conifer plantation, the total extending to almost 80 acres. It has, since 1986, been managed by the League Against Cruel Sports; the patchwork fields have been grazed by sheep, the hedgerows and woodlands home to a good diversity of species. But what was already a haven for wildlife is about to become more so. Now, working in collaboration with their landowning neighbours at Cove Down Farm, who have put around 20 acres of their farm into the project, almost 100 acres are in the process of…

A couple of years ago, I climbed Ben Nevis with my son, Samuel. As the many who have done the same will testify, it is quite a trudge, especially on the zigzag section. Our cause wasn’t helped by continually coming across a sadistic Yorkshireman, who kept on saying things such as “You’re not even half-way there yet.” He was still telling us there was a long way to go when we were, unknowingly, 10 minutes from the summit. But once aloft, of course, on the patchily snowy plateau of Britain’s highest mountain, the usual mixture of adrenaline and delight overcame us, as it did for all the assembled throng on a late May lunchtime, who cheered themselves and clapped and even danced. And then another voice echoed across the scree;…

Around half of the UK’s bird species migrate – many, such as the Swallow, head south in search of insects during the winter, while others arrive from their breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Russia because their usual food is covered in snow. Here’s a few to look out for. Redwing Part of the thrush family with a rusty red colour on the underside of their wings and distinctive white eyebrows. Look out for them where berries are growing. Fieldfare Chestnut coloured thrushes with a blue-grey head and rump. Fond of berries. Often seen in large flocks with Redwings. Waxwing Distinctive dove grey bird with a pink head, yellow tip on tail and wings and a large crests. You might spot them feasting on Rowan and Hawthorn berries.…

With a vast expanse of mud in the Wash giving feeding potential to hundreds of thousands of waders, ducks and geese, the incoming tide moves them en masse, allowing folk the chance to watch huge murmurations of waders at Snettisham RSPB. Species like Knot, Oystercatcher, Dunlin and godwits become something of a close encounter, from the sea wall or the hides, and in winter, early morning and evening can be a time to watch thousands of Pink-footed Geese move between their feeding grounds and their roost on the Wash. The hides were badly damaged in 2013 when a surge tide washed over the flood bank and ripped them apart, but fortunately through donations from several sources, money was found to replace them. The reserve can be a 12-month experience with…

A narrow escape indeed; 40 years ago there was a serious threat that Llyn Eiddwen would be developed as a water sports centre, something only averted by the timely and time-consuming efforts of the now Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Efforts towards providing protection was complicated as three ownerships were involved – the Crown Estate Commissioners, the University College of Wales, and the third, then unknown. Only after much detective work, a grand-daughter of Issac Jennings, who had purchased part of the lake and adjoining uplands in 1847, was located in Teignmouth, Devon, and she very kindly donated it to the Wildlife Trust in 1982. Such is the wildlife importance, the site was subsequently declared a National Nature Reserve. Some 26 acres in extent and some 1,000ft above…

Situated to the south of the Isle of Thanet on a floodplain of the River Stour, Ash Level comprises a combination of mostly arable and some grazing land, bisected by a complex series of drainage ditches and channels, some with marginal reedbeds and scrub. The River Stour has typical bankside riparian habitat where Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail are present. Unimproved grazing land typically supports wintering flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover. Among these floxks, look for other wader species such as Ruff, Redshank and Curlew. Flocks of wild swans and geese are sometimes noted, typically Bewick’s Swans and White-fronted Geese, while the occasional Hen Harrier hunts the field systems along with the more numerous Marsh Harrier. Winter thrushes and flocks of finches, Sky Larks and Meadow Pipits can attract Lapland…

Back in May, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) launched Gardenwatch on Springwatch, on BBC2, asking people for information on garden wildlife across the country. The responses show how people help wildlife in their gardens, and what more can still be done. The BTO’s report on it covers 31 wildlife-friendly garden features and practices, from feeding Badgers to leaving long grass to grow. But a number of recommended practices are not as widespread as they could be. Fallen leaves provide important food and cover for invertebrate life, shelter for Hedgehogs, and worms feed on fallen leaves, so more leaves means more food for birds such as Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, but according to the report, over half of us remove the leaves from our gardens. Ivy is flowering at the…

To the uninitiated, Weymouth is just another tourist seaside town along the south coast of England, replete with kiss-me-quick booths and great fish restaurants. In truth, it is an amazing urban birding hotspot with two great RSPB-run reserves, owned by a very forward-thinking city council. The town’s situation, jutting out into the English Channel, adjoining Portland Bill, along the world-famous Jurassic Coast in Dorset, also lends weight to its birding credentials. It is a veritable migrant trap. Of course, the most famous of the town’s birding spots are Radipole Lake and Lodmoor RSPB Reserves. The former has to be the nation’s number one spot for gulls with almost every larid species ever to flap into British waters having occurred there at some point. Radipole Lake even recorded a Ross’s Gull…

Scottish Highlands Grant Arms 29 March to 3 April, 2020 This five-day break includes: ● Five nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast; en suite rooms; gala dinner; talks and quizzes by Bird Watching’s Matt Merritt, Mike Weedon and Gordon Hamlett; guided walks; no single supplement; please note, a car is essential on this break. Cost: Bird Watching subscribers Standard Room £361 dinner bed and breakfast, per person, Superior Room 461 DBB, pp Non-subscribers, Standard Room £379 DBB pp, Superior Room £484 DBB pp Extra nights: BW subscribers £80pp per night DBB standard room, £99 superior; non-subscribers £83pp per night DBB standard room, £105pp per night DBB superior. Starling Spectaculars The Avalon Marshes are the heron capital of Britain, and in winter, play host to the famous Starling murmurations. Enjoy luxury accommodation,…

What first sparked your interest in birdwatching, and when? I have always had a fascination with the natural world. As a child, my parents would always take me out in to the surrounding countryside, gathering blackberries from local hedgerows, scrambling over Dartmoor’s granite, cockling on the Exe Estuary, I seemed to have spent my childhood out and about. Being in the natural world just seemed, well, natural and normal. There was no one specific moment. Who was your birdwatching inspiration or mentor? No one specific person, but a combination of many. Do you bird alone or with a friend? As a bird guide, I often bird with others, but I also bird alone, too. I’m always happy to bird, especially if there are vultures about. “AS A CHILD, MY PARENTS…