Inhaltsverzeichnis für December 2016 in Bird Watching

HOWEVER MANY great birds you’ve seen in 2016, there are always many more out there (just look at what an incredible autumn this has been, in Rarity Round-Up, page 95), and our #My200BirdYear challenge will help you find them. Sign up below, and throughout 2017 we’ll provide the expert know-how to track down and enjoy all your must-see birds, from garden favourites like the Robin (and our feature on page 24 reveals there’s more to them than meets the eye) to unusual visitors from afar. In the meantime, you can do some groundwork with the help of our ID Challenge (page 65), which looks at winter woodlands, while on page 40, Dominic Couzens investigates the Wood Lark, one of those species that is all too easy to overlook, but…

WINTER BIRDING DOESN’T have to mean freezing to death and moaning about how short the daylight hours are. That is part of it, of course, but there are also some great birds to see and enjoy. Here are five to look for in December. How many can you get on your Christmas walk? RARITY RATINGS VELVET SCOTER The Velvet Scoter, is, like its more common cousin, fundamentally a seaduck in winter off the UK coast. They are much scarcer than Common Scoters, with only about 2,500 birds wintering. Scan at sea for black-coloured scoters with white wing patches and white around the eye on a male. Females are browner, but also have pale cheek patches and white in the wing. They are mainly east coast birds, being most numerous off…

“Those who do not move in gourmet circles may not know that the eggs of wild Black-headed Gulls can be legally eaten, though under controlled restrictions” COMMON AND WIDESPREAD, Black-headed Gulls are a familiar sight in towns and farmland as well as by the sea. Their raucous cackling calls earned them their Latin name ridibundus – ‘laughing’ – and in other European languages their common name translates as Laughing Gull. However, they are not called Laughing Gulls in English, as this is the name of a closely-related American species. A direct translation of the English name into Latin would be melanocephalus – ‘black head’ – but this is also already in use, for the bird known in English as Mediterranean Gull, but in German and French, confusingly, as ‘Black-headed Gull’!…

“If an area so far inland can turn up sevenYellow-browed Warblers... how many tens of thousands have been in the country?” WELL ANOTHER YEARLY marathon draws to a close. But, as I write, there is surely time to just add a few more surges and mini-sprints before I collapse over the finish line, wrapped in silver foil. By surges and sprints, I mean one or two new birds; by yearly marathon, I refer, of course, to my Peterborough area year list; and by silver foil, well, I don’t have an analogy in mind… It has been what can comfortably be called a ‘funny old year.’ No, I haven’t added any Peterborough area ticks, as such, but the quality in depth has been immense for many groups of birds in our…

SWAN RESEARCH SETBACK Human swan Sacha Dench (who featured in last month’s news pages) suffered a setback in her attempt to follow the Bewick’s Swan migration from Siberia to Slimbridge. The conservationist dislocated her kneecap during a landing on uneven ground, in October. After receiving treatment in St Petersburg, including the fitting of a knee brace, Sacha found herself unable to run, and therefore unable to take off. Undaunted, her paramotor was adapted to take a tricycle carriage, and she continued the journey, finally reaching Estonia where she joined more than 3,000 Bewick’s Swans as they take a rest on their epic journey. You can follow Sacha at flightoftheswans.org/ BETTER BIRDER ACCESS Rossendale stone quarried from the south Pennines in the Industrial Revolution has been returned to the Peak District…

“You would think you couldn’t miss the song of the Wood Lark. It is generally regarded as one of the finest bird songs in Britain, although not enough people ever hear it to make it a cultural icon” THIS ARTICLE BEGINS by a saltmarsh, which of course is a habitat in which Wood Larks don’t occur. The narrative begins on the south coast at West Wittering, West Sussex, on an October morning, grey with a persistent wind. It is a good ‘visible migration’ day when, looking up to the sky and listening, a birder can see small birds flying over, caught in the genuine act of migrating. On such days, the habitat on which you stand bears no relevance to the birds you are seeing, because they are only passing,…

We are wondering if you are producing a calendar for 2017? We have your Mallorca 2016 edition on our kitchen wall and have found it very useful, not least because it prompted us to return to the island after a gap of 11 years. How about that for successful advertising? All thanks to you and the tourist office for Mallorca. We had a great time and found a new area, too – La Victoria, just behind our resort near Alcudia. It appears to be missing from most of the information for birdwatching on the island. However, it provided two new ‘life’ birds for us: Slender-billed Gull and Wryneck. These we count as a bonus, as we also added a total of 19 new species to our Mallorca list, and a…

What bird is this Peregrine eating? Q Can you give us a clue about the prey being eaten here? We spotted the Peregrine high on an electricity pylon at Old Moor RSPB and it flew off carrying what we thought was a small wader. It landed on the next pylon and was soon busy plucking. All the feathers being dropped appeared white, but on closer views, the wing of the bird is entirely turquoise. One of the RSPB guys suggested it might be Shoveler, but the photo suggests the underwing is entirely turquoise, and anyway it doesn’t look big enough. We ended up thinking it must have been an exotic escapee. Alan Kydd A Like you, we think this bird looks wrong for Shoveler. It does indeed look likely that…

SITE 5 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE MILES ON FOOT: 2 TIME: 3 HOURS SHERWOOD FOREST IS famous as the hiding place of legendary outlaw Robin Hood. Today, this part of Nottinghamshire is home to something equally elusive – the Hawfinch – and Rufford is one of the best places for you to try and track one down. Once part of a 12th Century Cistercian abbey, and then a country house estate, Rufford’s country house and grounds were designated a country park in 1969, and today the park attracts about 450,000 visitors annually. The woodland, lake and gardens mean there’s a good mix of woodland and water birds, including Goosander, Great Crested Grebe Kingfisher, Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Siskin, Great Spotted Woodpecker and, if you’re very lucky, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. And while you’re walking…

A CHANGE OF TACK this month, with birds from a specific habitat (woodland) being the theme. The birds featured are all birds which readily occur in woodland (though that doesn’t necessarily show in the photographs). All are regular British birds, some very common, so shouldn’t present too many identification problems. It is, after all Christmas, this month, so who wants to work too hard, even if it is at identifying birds, which should always be a pleasure... Your task is to put a name to each of the six woodland birds. Then you can turn the page to check our ‘solutions’ against your answers. And, as usual, another turn of the page will reveal a few tips on general identification of woodland birds. Please let us know how you get…

OCTOBER 2016 WILL go down in history as one of the best months for rare vagrants ever, as an extended period of south-easterly winds saw a flood of extremely rare visitors pour in. Another two species (at least) will be added to the British List. One of these will surely be the biggest bird story of this year of new birds and extreme rarities: Siberian Accentor. After a few examples of this delightful little relative of the Dunnock had appeared in Finland and Sweden, many UK birders were predicting the arrival of the UK’s first. Our own Shetland UKBS correspondent Hugh Harrop and his friend and colleague Judd Hunt came up with the goods with a showy, beautiful individual at Scousburgh, Mainland, Shetland on 9th October. A few of the…

“ The little brown bird hopped and turned sideways on to me: it was a young Robin, fresh-feathered with streaked face and spotted thrush-chest, buff and chestnut wings handsomely marked with a yellowish wing-bar, and grey underparts” A TRIPLE-PRONGED FEEDER stands outside the studio window, next to a hedge providing cover for the birds as they wait their turn. Among the shrubs a Rosa andersonii briar, gnarled with age, arches over the patio, providing a convenient launchpad as they line up for seeds and suet balls. A trailing nasturtium, self-seeded, scrambles over the terrace walls and under the feeder. Acanthus, hellebores and a white clematis mingle in this secluded corner of the cottage garden. The studio doubles as a bird hide, affording illicit distraction when I’m meant to be working.…

Ganesh H Shankar, of India, was winner of the Bird Category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Here, he explains the shot he managed to beautifully capture... “These Indian Rose-ringed Parakeets had returned to their roosting and nesting hole high up in a tree in India’s Keoladeo National Park to find that a Bengal Monitor Lizard had taken up residence. The birds immediately set about trying to evict the squatter – they bit the lizard’s tail, hanging on for a couple of seconds at a time, until it retreated into the hole. “They would then harass it when it tried to come out to bask. It went on for two days but the action only lasted a couple of seconds at a time and was fast-moving. The branch…

Ian Parsons writes about our garden-visiting national treasure, the Robin. A bird, he says, that’s not all that it seems! Page 24 Matt Brierley spent time studying Peregrines in New York for the BBC’s Planet Earth II and is surprised at what he finds. Page 32 Author and bird guide Dominic Couzens says expect the unexpected with the intriguing Wood Lark. Find out more on page 40 Tom Mason looks at some of the more advanced techniques of bird photography, so you can get better images. Take a look on page 74 Urban Birder David Lindo visits Sheffield, a city famous for its steel production. But it’s also a great birdwatching destination. Page 84…

BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT Over the last decade, the rare Buff-bellied Pipit (43 accepted records) has been increasing as a vagrant to the UK, with 2012 being a particularly good year. However, this trend has come to a bit of a halt over the last couple of years. Though often thought of as an autumn vagrant, a few records have occurred in December and some birds have proved very hardy, lingering well into January. BALTIMORE ORIOLE There have been just 25 accepted records of this colourful North American icterid. Three of these birds have occurred during December, all outliers from the usual distribution of birds on Scottish islands or Scilly and the South West. They were in Warwickshire (1968), Essex (1991) and a popular bird in Oxfordshire (2003). It is time for…

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 Felixstowe Pier (-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…

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 Goldcrest by Terry Hancock Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III Lens: 150-600mm Shutter Speed: 1/500 Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 2,000 Purple Sandpiper by Don Davis Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Lens: 300mm Shutter Speed: 1/250 Aperture: f/8.0 ISO: 1,000 Little Bittern by 15-year-old Luke Hawkins Camera: Canon EOS 700D Lens: 400mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,600 Aperture: f/7.1 ISO: 400 Marsh Harrier takes Black-tailed Godwit by Don Davis Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Lens: 300mm Shutter Speed: 1/800 Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 2,000 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 Terry…

SMAULL RSPB An overlooked Islay reserve that boasts several of the island’s specialities RUFFORD CP Hunt for Hawfinches in Robin Hood country, plus other woodland species HOLYHEAD HARBOUR Find Black Redstart, as well as a diverse range of waterbirds SEVERN FARM POND Bullfinch is one of the more colourful residents of this urban nature oasis, and keep a sharp eye out for the likes of Long-tailed Tit and also Little Grebe CASTLE LOCH Search for a variety of winter wildfowl, plus divers and grebes, at this exciting inland Scottish site ALSTON RAILWAY Black Grouse is among the targets as you enjoy some superb moorland birding BARMSTON Migrant ‘falls’ are always a possibility at this brilliant seawatching viewpoint STANSTEAD INNINGS Explore one of the Lee Valley’s least-known sites – there’s a…

STARTING OUT AS bird photographers, many people take their camera along during their birding trips, taking images when opportunities arise. For the best shots, however, it’s all about visualising the images you want, and then going out to make them. Follow my series of tips on the following pages and learn how to take some great bird-related photographs. Setting up images In order to get you started in the process of designing images, you need to decide on a target species or set of species. Rather than going all out for that perfect Marsh Harrier image, work on something such as garden birds, as you will quickly learn techniques that can be applied to future projects. Working in a garden has some fantastic advantages – it’s easily accessible, you can…

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HAWKE DAY & NIGHT NATURE CAMERA RANGE, FROM £129.99 These cameras grab full colour stills and video, and audio, triggered by a wide-angle motion sensor. Infrared LEDs enable the capture of images at night. There are three cameras in the range, all weatherproof, with a two-year warranty. The 10Mp model has a text only display and 21 LEDs with a 12m range. For £40 more you get 12Mp, 34 LEDs – still with a 12m range, covert flash and a colour display. Spending £279.99 adds two more Mp and 14 LEDs, upping the range to 20m. hawkeoptics.com/ nature WILDLIFE WORLD ARCHWAY GROUND FEEDER, £19.99 Here’s a ground feeder that’s a bit different. Difference number one is the arched perspex cover – a roof over the mesh tray where the food sits…

SOUTH WEST Highlights In an incredible month for eastern rarities in the UK, the region chipped in with a Pine Bunting at Portland, Dorset, Isabelline Wheatear at Godrevy Point, Cornwall, and Caspian Stonechat and Blyth’s Pipit on St Mary’s, Scilly. From the opposite direction, a Sora was on Tresco, Scilly, and another was found dead at Exminster Marshes RSPB, Devon. AVON HIGHLIGHTS: A White-tailed Eagle at Blagdon (28th) was the first local record since 1927. A Pallas’s Warbler at Saltford (23rd) was the second county record. PORTISHEAD & CLEVEDON AREA: There was a Guillemot (2nd), Ring Ouzel (11th), two Bewick’s Swans (19th), two Spoonbills (19th), a Bearded Tit (19th) and a Jack Snipe (20th). SEVERNSIDE: The most intriguing record was a swift species (25th). There were two Cranes (7th), a…

Victims of attacks by birds of prey can sometimes betray what species attacked and killed them. For instance, a bird killed by a Sparrowhawk is often eaten at the site of the kill. The hawk will pluck the bird, scattering the feathers and then generally eat the breast first (where most of the ‘meat’ is). So you may find a scattering of feathers with perhaps some wing remains and a ‘hollow’ body. Peregrines and Merlins also kill before dismembering them. In general, Peregrines will eat larger birds (pigeons upwards), but often carry the victims to a higher perch before eating them. Buzzards generally eat mammals rather than birds, and often skin the (eg Rabbit) prey or turn them ‘inside out’. Bird kills can usually be distinguished from animals killed by…

DECEMBER CHECK BEACHES AFTER A STORM FOR LITTORAL LITTER SUCH AS THIS ‘SEA WASHBALL’, THE EGG-CASE OF A COMMON WHELK. MAMMAL OTTER No mammal more clearly straddles the boundary between land and water than the Otter. Normally reclusive, this mustelid (a member of the Weasel family) tends to be comparatively easily seen this month. Inland, rising river levels eject animals from holts, yet they encounter less dense riverine vegetation in which to hide. On the coast, limited daylight hours encourage Otters to feed when we can see them. INVERTEBRATE BUTTERFLIES We rightly associate butterflies with our warmer months. But a handful of Britain’s species, mostly brightly coloured members of the Nymphalidae family, can be seen in winter... if you know where to look. Adult Peacocks, Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells and…

“Denise has battled for years to get local tourist authorities to recognise birding tourism” IN THE 1970’S TV sitcom I Didn’t Know You Cared, Uncle Mort says that women are made for the fripperies of life, like DIY and carrying in the coal, whereas men do important stuff like sitting in their shed thinking. Women have long been socialised into caring, nurturing roles and, whether by nature or nurture, many feel the same way about the planet’s wild places. Like children, they must be protected with tigress-like ferocity. Since the last Birdfair, I’ve been trying to give support to two such women and have corresponded with another for nearly two decades. I’ve known Denise Goodfellow for longer than either of us care to remember. She has spent half her life…

I read the article on patch birding by Liz Drewitt in the autumn issue of Bird Watching magazine with great interest. I have been birdwatching my local patch in Buckinghamshire for nearly 10 years. It has a mixture of different habitats, from a small reedbed to open farmland, a small pond to woodland. Patch birding is a great way to commune and get close to nature. It is also a way of forgetting life’s troubles just for a while and enjoying the beauty of the natural world and, like the article, I keep a patch list of birds I see locally, which I put in a notebook with a few of my own drawings. I would recommend patch birding because each visit is different, you never know what is going…

I’m a retired 69-year-old, and have been a birder for 50-plus years, but only started UK year listing in 2011, as a challenge to myself. I’m not a ‘twitcher’, though will go for a rarity if it’s within an hour or so away or if I’m in the right place at the right time, as has happened during my regular planned trips to Norfolk. I haven’t been anywhere near Wales or Scotland this year, so there are many especially Scottish specialities missing from my list. The great thing about a non-competitive UK Year List is that it is up to oneself what to include. Do you count subspecies, escapes, birds of a dubious origin? Do you include birds just heard (how many times have you seen Quail?)? There are no…

SITE 1 ARGYLL MILES ON FOOT: 1.25 TIME: 3 HOURS RSPB SMAULL IS one of those reserves you don’t hear too much about, but there is a hard track to take you on a lovely walk across the grasslands towards the reserve. It is situated in the north-west corner of Islay, with Loch Gorm just across from the council car park, where you can enjoy the wonderful sandy beach found at Saligo Bay. The reserve has a similar collection of breeding birds to Loch Gruinart, but without the hides and large wet flashes. The fields do contain some water, so waders are numerous, with Curlew, Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatcher present. The sea is never too far away, encouraging Ringed Plovers, while management caters for Corn Crakes and Twite, with cropping…

“Perhaps more than any other habitat, calls and songs are vital in even knowing that birds are present; you hear far more birds in woods than you will ever see!” WOODLAND BIRD SOUNDS There is a time-worn cliché that says that every unusual sound you hear in woodland will be produced by a Great Tit. As rules of thumb go, this is not a bad one, but it would be even more accurate to say that it could either be a Great Tit or a Nuthatch. Both species produce a broad diversity of calls, and if you can master them, you are a long way to getting somewhere with woodland birding. Perhaps more than any other habitat, calls and songs are vital in even knowing that birds are present; you…