Sommaire pour January 2020 de Bird Watching

Stephanie Perks recalls how a seven-month motorhome tour of Iberia yielded an impressive tick-list of more 270 birds! Page 20 Ian Parsons heaps praise on the bird with a link to British spy James Bond. Will you add the great Goldeneye to your 2020 list ? Page 26 Renowned bird author Dominic Couzens asks whether the Moorhen is the UK’s “most interesting bird?” Find out why on page 33 Gordon Hamlett heads to family favourite Titchwell Marsh RSPB, in Norfolk, and reveals why it should be on your 2020 must-visit list, too! P38 Bird guide Ruth Miller gets up close to some wonderful species in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Read about her adventure on page 44…

1 WATER PIPIT The Water Pipit is an extraordinary bird. It breeds in high mountains, such as the Alps and Pyrenees, yet winters in low, wet areas (hence the name). It is a scarce winter visitor to the UK, and owing to its preferred habitat, most of the 200 or so individuals over here are found in the east of the country, around suitable flooded meadows, ‘scrape’ edges and so on. Once considered conspecific with the Rock Pipit, the Water Pipit is very similar in size and structure to that species, but quite different in appearance (as well as habitat choice), being altogether paler, with largely white underparts, which are only lightly streaked and whiter outer tail feathers. Like Rock Pipits, Water Pipits have a single strong ‘feest’ call. Unlike…

Which came first, the colour or the bird? In this case, the blue-green colour teal is named after the Teal’s iridescent green speculum (coloured panel in the secondary wing feathers), which in certain lights looks blue-green… The bird itself apparently derives its name from the Middle English tele, which is related to the West Frisian tjiling, Middle Dutch teling (taling in modern Dutch) and Middle Low German telink. In other words, it is an old name for a small duck in western Europe.…

Happy New Year, everyone. Yes, it has come round in the blink of an eye, once again. And so, another year list starts, and there is barely time to reflect on the glories of the year gone by. But, here goes, anyway. I hope 2019 was a good birding year for you. For me, it was a year packed with wholesome birdy goodness. As ever, this was just about all on my birdwatching doorstep in the Peterborough Bird Club recording area (PBC area). Though not quite reaching the dizzying heights of 2018 (when I set my record total of 195 bird species in a year in the PBC area), it came mighty close, with my second best ever figure of 190. And such was the wealth of the avian riches,…

Viewing tower Lee Valley Regional Park, on the Hertfordshire/Essex border, is to get a new five-metre viewing tower, to replace the 30-year-old Bittern Information Point at Fishers Green, near Waltham Abbey in Essex.Overlooking Seventy Acres Lake, it is one of the best places in the country to see Bittern. Set to open to the public in June 2020, the fully accessible hide and information point will include a two-tier viewing area at ground level with a separate wildlife information room. It will provide visitors with close-up access to wildlife. Red Kite death North Yorkshire Police and the RSPB are appealing for information on the death of a Red Kite, found poisoned in an area of the county with the worst record for the illegal killing of birds of prey in…

These winterers can be found right around the country in a variety of watery habitats, from sheltered coastal bays to inland lakes and reservoirs, large rivers and tidal estuaries. They begin to arrive in August and continue to do so throughout the autumn, heading back to their breeding grounds in February and the beginning of March. Short winter days are when the Goldeneye are at peak numbers in Britain and they certainly brighten up a day’s birding. The likelihood is that you will have somewhere near to you that plays hosts to these birds in the winter months, so make sure you take the opportunity to find some.…

Swindale valley forms part of Haweswater RSPB, land managed by the RSPB and owned by United Utilities. The valley shot to fame after the Swindale Beck had major restoration work done on it. Work started in March 2016, and was completed in September that year. The project resulted in 890 metres of new/restored sinuous channel being created, replacing a 750m length of straightened channel, so a gain of 140m in length. This helped migratory fish, and also surrounding hay fields, bogs and wetlands. The walk itself is a great way to enjoy the valley’s mixture of wildlife. It may not have a large area of water like next door’s Haweswater, but the old Golden Eagle found it a hunting ground, and the big crags at Gowther and Outlaw may still…

A proposal to use the then derelict Montgomery Canal as the route of the Welshpool bypass was fortunately overturned, and when work commenced in 1993 on an alternative across the Severn water-meadows a little to the east, vast amounts of gravel were required, gravel which fortunately could be excavated close-by, the resulting hole filling with water. An opportunity to create a wetland nature reserve was grasped by the Montgomery Wildlife Trust, aided by the Countryside Council for Wales, the Environment Agency and the European Regional Development Fund, and more recently enhanced under a Heritage Lottery Fund programme. The outstanding feature, which occupies well over half of the 20-acre site, is the lagoon with shallow margins, deeper pools and reedbeds, all fringed with woodlands and meadows, while two large hides provide…

This north Worcestershire hillside offers a good few hours birding, particularly at times of migration. The whole area is much under-watched – possibly the throng of dog walkers and the constant buzz of motorway traffic and closeness to a large south-west Birmingham population may be a factor, but the potential for a self-found bird among the 150 acres is high, and there are enough quieter nooks and crannies to explore. The steep slopes with small copses of Larch, oak and Beech and ancient hawthorn hedgerows together with a few small pools offer an easily worked patch. At the summit, which rises to 998ft, is a toposcope with a 360 ¡ information plaque, and the views are stunning across eight counties (on a clear day)! Small springs at the bottom of…

Considered Knepp? I’ve just read the article on Cove Down (Bird Watching December) and I’m really pleased to see that you have featured this project: I think it is absolutely the only real way forward for nature conservation in the UK especially, where we have been devastating the countryside with intensive farming since we started indiscriminately ploughing up the land in order to “Dig for Victory”in WWII. Add to that the deluge of artificial fertilizers and pesticides since the 1970s and we have the disaster zone we are left with today. I’m sure you know about the wilding project at Knepp Farm Estate (found online at knepp.co.uk) which has been developing the wilding principle since about 1999, and is now a model on the international stage for how to nurture…

This five-day break is held in partnership with Bird Watching and includes: ● Five nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast ● En suite rooms are equipped with hairdryer, 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 ● Films and entertainment ● 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 £361 dinner bed and breakfast, per person, Superior Room £461 DBB, pp ● Bird Watching 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…

Long known as being a favoured haunt for winter sun worshippers, Tunisia’s tourism industry has recently taken a battering due to terrorist activity. The country has since bounced back and it is now relatively safe, although the southern border with Libya is still a no-go zone. But this is fine, because this potential urban birding adventure is based in the capital Tunis, situated on the northern Mediterranean coast. Dating back to the 4th Century BC, Tunis is a bustling city filled with countless coffee bars, markets and traffic. Given its age, there is also a wealth of history including many Roman and Greek ruins: Carthage is high on many bucket lists. The typical birds that you will immediately encounter include vociferous Common Bubuls. The mechanical warble of these dark, long-tailed…

WINTER STARLING SPECTACULAR TOURS Choose from three dates, each with two days’ birding and two nights’ DBB – ● Wed 15 January to Fri 17 January ● Fri 24 January to Sun 26 January ● Thu 6 February to Sat 8 February Price £399.00 pp Single supplement £40.00 SPRING TOURS Choose from four dates, each with two-and-a-half days’ birding and three nights’ DBB – ● Mon 20 April to Thu 23 April ● Mon 4 May to Thu 7 May ● Tue 12 May to Fri 15 May ● Tue 9 June to Fri 12 June Price £565.00 pp Single supplement £60.00 DETAILS ● All accommodation has private facilities in luxury converted cottages or an adjacent B&B, and the holiday price includes dinner and drinks, self-service breakfast, pub lunch, all…

The Brent Goose is a non-breeding visitor to Britain, present on many large estuaries from early October to March. Two subspecies occur in good numbers: dark-bellied Brents occur mainly in southern Britain, while pale-bellied Brents winter mainly in Ireland and Lindisfarne. This small goose occurs in sizeable groups and these make good subjects for flock photographs. In locations where they are not unduly disturbed, Brent Geese can become remarkably tame, allowing excellent opportunities for portrait images, too.…

THE BIRDWATCHER’S YEARBOOK 2020 EDITED BY NEIL GARTSHORE, CALLUNA BOOKS £20 James Lowen detailed the long story of The Birdwatcher’s Yearbook in these pages recently, marking the title’s 40th anniversary, but how does the latest volume compare to what’s gone before? Well, don’t expect any radical changes, but that’s all to the good. Everything you’d expect is there – directories of birding organisations, lecturers, photographers and artists, a birding diary, a reference section, a fully updated guide to more than 380 nature reserves, and tide tables. There’s the usual excellent round-up of the books of the year, and a good selection of longer features. Two of them, on the wildlife value of roadside verges, and on the well-being benefits of birdwatching, touched on subjects close to my heart, and so…

BLACK-THROATED THRUSH More than 30 of the 80-something accepted UK records of Black-throated Thrush were in Shetland and 18 occurred during January (though half of records were in October). This is one of a handful of rare birds which have a habit of turning up in domestic gardens. AMERICAN BITTERN There have been very few American Bitterns in the UK this millennium, but most serious listers have it on their list, thanks to the long-staying male at Carlton Marshes, Suffolk, during 2018 (which even put on displays and did bouts of booming!). Still, what a find this would be, and a great way to start the year list in style. Check every bittern carefully! BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT This rare pipit from North America (also called American Pipit) has increased greatly in…

Part of the fun of the #My200BirdYear challenge is shaping the challenge to suit your own birdwatching. We had a very interesting time travelling around Spain and Portugal in Frankie, our motorhome. The rewards were fantastic, including seeing 270 different species of birds on our seven-and-a-half-month journey over a course of 9,900 miles. A wide range of terrains and habitats were visited, from dusty deserts to swampy fields; from icy mountain peaks to wind-blown sand dunes. We started out with two main challenges. We wanted to see birds we hadn’t seen before, and to get some reasonable photographs. Some of the birds we encountered were rare or scarce, and that made the experience even more exciting. The Wallcreeper was the biggest challenge. We received a hot tip from a kindly…

There are some other winterers that may pose confusion with a male Goldeneye, particularly at a distance. Both the male Smew and (much larger) drake Goosander have a black-and-white plumage and both dive after their food, but given longer views they are easily discernible from the Goldeneye. However, ours is not the only Goldeneye. The Barrow’s Goldeneye is a very closely related duck that breeds in North America, Greenland and Iceland. It is a real mega for Britain, with only three accepted records, so it is extremely unlikely that you will see one, but then that is the beauty of birding, you just never know what may turn up. It would certainly leave you feeling shaken and stirred if you found one.…

I’ll admit that before visiting, I’d have struggled to pinpoint Tbilisi, in Georgia, on the map. However, it’s well worth looking for as the gateway to some very exciting birdwatching where east meets west. Georgia is further east than you might think. Tbilisi is on the same longitude as Baghdad, and the country itself is central to the neck of land between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. As such, it acts as a funnel for birds migrating north in spring from Africa to their breeding grounds in Siberia and returning south to overwinter in Africa. It’s also one of the most eastern countries included in the Western Palearctic region, so for anyone keeping a ‘Western Pal’ list, it’s a useful country to visit to add some Asian specialities,…

This ancient woodland is cared for by both the Hackfall Trust and the Woodland Trust on a 99-year lease. It’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest and listed as Grade 1 on the historic parks and gardens’ register. There’s something about the wild splendour of Hackfall Woods that simply inspires creativity. Nineteenth century writers hailed it as one of the most beautiful woodlands in the country, while romantic landscape artist Turner painted in the woods. What it must have looked like before clear felling in 1933 is now left to the imagination, but it still has original features such as grottos and glades, rustic temples and waterfalls, as well as carpets of Bluebell in spring and an impressive number of woodland birds. Natural regeneration of Ash, Sycamore Alder and Wych…

The small village of Fotheringhay has a big history. As well as being the birthplace of evil hunchback/unfairly maligned hero (delete to suit personal taste) Richard III, and the burial place of his father Richard of York, its castle was where Mary Queen of Scots was held prisoner, tried and then executed. And, for those of you with a penchant for late 1960s/early 1970s folk-rock, the place was immortalised by Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny. These days the castle is no more than a mound, with a damp moat that harbours the odd Moorhen, but walking to it from the village’s main street can bring an unexpected reward. The green lane leading to it has hedges full of Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Long-tailed Tits, but if you’re lucky you might…

Stewartby Lake is a large, deep-water former clay pit now used for fishing and watersports, and as such is peppered with booms and buoys, ideal perches for gulls and other waterfowl. The lake has been incorporated into the adjacent Millennium Country Park, which is also within the ongoing Forest of the Marston Vale project. The margins of Stewartby Lake vary from old brick rubble to marshy shallows that can attract the odd wintering Green Sandpiper as well as Bittern and Bearded Tit in several well-established reedbeds. The open water can be good following a cold snap as the large lake rarely freezes over, thus attracting displaced local scarcities such as Smew, Goosander, Slavonian or Black-necked Grebe and maybe a rare sea duck. The gull roost used to be a given…

COMMON BULBUL This perky bird will be one of the first species that you will tick off on a visit to Tunis. They are everywhere. Ranging through north-eastern, northern, western and central Africa this bird is deemed by some authorities to belong to a superspecies of birds ranging into South Africa and Asia. Indeed, the bulbul family itself and the relationship between some of the family members seems to be poorly understood. In general, bulbuls and their cousins, greenbuls, are fairly resistant to human pressures, and seem to tolerate disturbed habitats. The Common Bulbul has recently been found breeding in Southern Spain at Tarifa. Will it be a matter of time before Britain receives its first record?…

STEPHEN MOSS Tour leader Stephen is one of Britain’s best-known naturalists, authors and wildlife TV producers. His TV credits include Springwatch and Birds Britannia, while his many books include The Robin: A Biography. Stephen moved to Somerset 12 years ago with his family, and loves showing people the bird and wildlife wonders of his adopted home. GRAEME & KAY MITCHELL ran a holiday company for 25 years. Having settled with their family in Somerset two decades ago, they founded Somerset Birdwatching Holidays in 2017. Graeme’s guiding skills and Kay’s wonderful cooking make them the perfect hosts for your stay.…

CLOTHING COUNTRY INNOVATION APERTURE JACKET FROM £275 WOODLARK TROUSERS £145 Reviewed by David Chandler The Aperture Jacket – there’s a clue in the name – is aimed primarily at outdoor photographers, but should work well for anyone who wants a tough jacket that will carry a lot of stuff and keep the wind and rain out. Not just pockets The Aperture is very well made and feels tough – I think this jacket will take some abuse. Its 12 pockets should be enough for anyone – I wouldn’t want to load up every pocket, but you have options. The four ‘patch’ pockets, two upper and two lower, are voluminous, easy to access, and have double-poppered flaps. Each has side elastication at the top, which takes some of the strain of…

OBOZ WOMEN’S BRIDGER 9’’ INSULATED B-DRY BOOT, £175 For a frozen day’s birding without frozen feet, try this boot from Oboz. The Bridger will keep your feet “dry and warm no matter the conditions”. The sole is made of “winterized rubber” for grip on cold, hard surfaces. The uppers are waterproof nubuck leather and wool. There’s a thermal insole. There’s 400g 3M™ Thinsulate™ insulation. And for a bit more protection, there are rubber toe caps and heel kicks. Available in winterberry red. obozfootwear.com THE NORTH FACE MEN’S THERMOBALL ECO CAMO JACKET, £170 The North Face’s award winning winter-warmer now comes in ‘green’ – the fabric is 100% recycled polyester and the down-alternative stuffing is spun from at least five plastic bottles diverted from landfill. So you can feel…

I think I may have thrown the birding baby out with the feline bathwater! Regular readers will know that I fight a running battle with the neighbourhood cats, whose owners let them roam night and day. I decided that the only way to stop them leaving a mass of bloody feathers beneath my feeders, or the mangled corpses of frogs by my pond is to cat-proof my domain. As you may not block your neighbours’ light by opaque fencing more than six feet high, my only choice is to add a further few feet of wire netting. The trouble was that over the two decades I’ve lived here, my shrubs have tried to escape over the fences while one neighbouring absentee landlord has allowed his garden to become an Ivy…

It’s a preposterous thing to say, perhaps, but there are grounds for believing that the Moorhen is the most interesting bird in Britain. This might seem to be a ridiculous proposition. After all, the Moorhen doesn’t do anything spectacular. It wanders over the grass, swims very badly, makes a lot of clucking sounds and flashes its white undertail coverts. Its most frightening rapturing manoeuvre is to turn over a floating leaf suddenly to see what is lurking on the underside. Its most animated displays are its fights, in which individuals clash breast-to-breast, kicking each other and, if they are floating, making a lot of splashing. It is more amusing than amazing, and if the clash was reported by football pundits, they might describe it as “handbags.” It looks too silly…

Contrary to many people’s expectations, drake ducks (if you forgive the clumsy expression) are among the most spectacular birds we have in the UK. It is not the wonderful colours and patterns, and the splashes of iridescence, it is the range of body shapes and bill shapes and sizes which makes this such an attractive group. But then they go and spend half the year looking dull and dreary, in what we call ‘eclipse’ plumage. This, of course, is the ‘drab’, female-like plumage drakes take on to be less obvious when their summer wing moult makes them potential predation victims. Come mid-winter, though, they are at their best again and in full mood for a spot of display, showing off their impressive looks and moves to potential mates. Simply name…

The island of Jura is an area of 142 square miles, and has only 196 inhabitants compared to the 1,300 that once lived here before the clearance took place. There are seven estates owning most of the island, with six of them being absent landowners. One road gives you a great way of scanning a large section of the island, which is such a contrast to neighbouring Islay. The main heights are the Paps of Jura, which are three peaks rising up to around 2,500ft. The island is mainly moorland, with Red Deer stalking the main management (as well as one distillery!). And with so many deer, eagles are a real gem on the island. We even found a tip with offal attracting eagles to feed. We were brought to…

This is a short but interesting walk, where time can be spent searching for a variety of birds. Nearby is an airfield, called Sleap, which was built during World War II to train bomber and glider crews, the latter to transport airborne soldiers to Arnhem in 1944. There is now an aero club there, so you may expect some aircraft noise now and then. But back to the birds – this is an open area with woodland patches and one or two small ponds, so you may see a Coot or Moorhen, with Mallard usually around. The most likely owl to see is the Barn Owl, but also keep a lookout for the undulating flight of the Little Owl and just a possibility of a Tawny Owl at the woodland…

The large Tame Valley Wetlands complex offer some of the best birdwatching in the West Midlands. Kingsbury Water Park was once the hub of Warwickshire birdwatching and hosted a spectacular array of scarce species. With gravel extraction slowly coming to an end in the area, further wetlands were created to the north on a larger scale, now known as Middleton Lakes. The emphasis of birdwatching has now shifted by and large away from the Kingsbury complex, but this site still produces a fine array of species attracted to the many bodies of open water, some of which are used for water sports. Winter brings a few Goldeneye to the pools and large numbers of common wildfowl including a chance of a Smew. Spring and autumn brings passage terns and Little…

This is a pleasant rural area lying to the west of Banbury, set among rolling arable farmland and working quarries and interspersed with small belts of woodland. This picturesque small village, with houses made from the local Horton stone, is quiet, with just a Grade II listed church and Victorian pub. The small Balscote Quarry reserve is for members of the Banbury Ornithological Society and was purchased in 1998 when the quarry became disused (see below for membership details) and is a delightful little spot of six hectares, set among some varied hedgerow and fields, and makes up for an area that holds not too many water bodies for waders. Although the small pools are prone to drying out there has been work to deepen them in recent years, aiding…

Scruffy Rook ID Q I have just seen a rather scruffy looking Rook with crossed mandibles. It made me wonder how long can birds survive with deformed bills. Can you help answer this, please? Harvey Singer A A small proportion of all birds have slight to considerable deformities in bill growth. This can be caused by mechanical damage or disease of various kinds, or even, rarely, by genetic deformities. One of the horny mandibles may over grow the other, or a slight lateral displacement can mean they overlap each other like your Rook. In answer to your question, Harvey, the effect this would have on a bird’s survival depends on the severity of the deformation and how this affects the bird’s ability to feed, drink, preen and bathe. If the…

This month – Brent Goose North Norfolk is an excellent place to see and photograph dark-bellied Brent Geese, with locations such as Titchwell RSPB reserve, Burnham Overy Staithe and Wells providing outstanding opportunities. Their feeding habits are linked to tides and time of day, and flocks take to the air on a regular basis, sometimes visiting freshwater pools to bathe. It is relatively easy to take images of birds from below but the prize is to get upperwing shots. Windy days are often best, and in locations where birds are obliged to make a fairly rapid descent. You will need to use a fast shutter speed to capture the movement – at least 1/4,000s if the birds are reasonably close to you. Two of the best places to see and…

You may well have seen Healthy Back Bags, which, according to the blurb, hug the natural curve of the spine, reduce strain on neck, back and shoulders and make heavy loads feel lighter. So, maybe a Healthy Back Bag would make a good birding bag… There are plenty of choices in the HBB range – I was sent a medium ‘Digi Print’ to review. It’s a good-looking bag, seemed well-made, and is just a bit quirky, which I like. ‘Digi Print’ weaves a pistachio colour and grey together to create a ‘contemporary camo’. It can be worn on a shoulder or across the body, has useful pockets on the outside – two with magnetic closures, one that zips up, and a slip pocket that can take a water bottle, for…

SOUTH WEST Highlights After the probable Paddyfield Pipit and Buff-bellied Pipit at Sennen, Cornwall, the indubitable highlight of the region during the month was the first-winter Hermit Thrush which appeared on St Mary’s (at Porth Hellick), Scilly, on 18th, and was still on the island into December. AVON CLEVEDON TO WESTON-SUPER-MARE: The best Shelduck count was 710 at Sand Bay (16th). Single Common Scoters were reported at Sand Point on three dates, and three at Clevedon-Yeo (27th). Goosanders on the Blind Yeo rose to nine by month-end. Single Red-breasted Mergansers turned up at Sand Point and Clevedon-Yeo. Five hundred Lapwings at Clevedon-Yeo is a good number these days; also there were up to 15 Grey Plovers, 300 Curlew, a Sanderling, a Jack Snipe and 460 Redshanks. Sand Bay logged eight…