Table of contents for February 2017 in Bird Watching

IDENTIFYING BIRDS accurately takes a lifetime to master – the whole joy of birding is that there’s always something new to see – but if you can get to grips with a hard core of familiar or relatively common species, you’ll make the overall task that much easier. This issue, we look at easy-to-remember ways to ID confusion species (page 24), plus bird anatomy and feathers (page 30), and the important role that size plays in telling one bird from another (page 36). If the latter is something you’d like to get to grips with, we even have a half-price offer on a book that portrays birds at their true size (page 88). All this, of course, should help you get that bit nearer to your target in our #My200BirdYear…

THE SHORT DAYS of January are stretching slightly through the truncated month of February, giving more birding time. But this is a time of cold snaps and deep chills. Wrap up warm and head out to see some great winter birds. Here are five to warm the coldest birdwatcher. RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised – always a treat Very scarce or rare TELL US WHAT YOU’VE SEEN! twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag HEN HARRIER Despite massive persecution, the Hen Harrier remains our commonest harrier. It is not common, though, and is all but extinct as an English breeder. In winter, the Scottish birds spread to the lowlands and are bolstered by continental birds, which can be found in eastern and southern England. Males are pale grey with white rumps and black wing…

“Unlike other swans, our Mute Swans are very sedentary, and don’t generally move far between the winter and breeding seasons” MUTE SWANS ARE a familiar and mostly peaceful presence on nearly all of our lakes and waterways, even in busy towns, a habituation born of hundreds of years of semi-domestication. Under extensive and tightly-controlled systems of ownership dating back to at least the 15th Century, and likely long before, wild birds were rounded up, marked, had their wing tips cut off, and were controlled as a resource for the table. The right to the local swans was a privilege bestowed by the crown on nobles, wealthy landowners and the clergy, with severe penalties for poachers. One remnant of this practice is the traditional activity of ‘swan upping’, in which the…

“It was left to Ed and I to embrace the New Year challenge. I’m not really sure why we bothered...” IT IS ALWAYS ODD to be still going on about last year, when this is the February issue of Bird Watching. But that is the nature of magazine schedules, and it is only the first week of January as I write. And I’m sure you are all on tenterhooks wondering what happened to my attempt on the Peterborough year list record, and that old staple, the New Year Big Day. Well, even if you aren’t, I’m going to tell you. My 2016 Peterborough area bird list was on 183 species when I last reported (six shy of the all-time Peterborough record set in 2008). The Waxwing floodgates never really opened…

To apply for the scholarship, please email Corinne Cruickshank at thecameronbespolkatrust@gmail.com with the following information, and answers to the questions below (150-250 words per question): Name Email Address Home Address Date of birth Gender Age GSCE qualifications if applicable 1 Why are you interested in attending this event? 2 Tell us about your interest in birds (include how you became interested in birds). 3 How often do you go birding? What surveys and schemes do you volunteer in? How do you keep your bird records i.e. enter sightings in BirdTrack, sketch the birds you see, supply your findings to local county bird club where you live? 4 What role do you expect birds to play in your life in the future? 5 Rank from 1-5 the topics that most interest…

SO, YOU’VE SET out on our #My200BirdYear challenge, and made a great start by seeing the wintering wildfowl we highlighted in the January issue, plus all your regular garden and park birds. Your list is already looking impressive, but you’re also beginning to wonder just how you’ll reach the magic 200 without heading off into the back of beyond. By brushing up your ID skills, though, you can turn some of those regular ticks into two, three or four, as well as ensuring that more unfamiliar passage birds and visitors don’t go by unnoticed, and before you know it, your list will be well over the 100 mark and ready to be boosted further by the arrival of summer visitors. We’ve looked at some of the most common ‘confusion’ species,…

1 RUBHA A MHAIL A lovely lighthouse setting which attracts a wide variety of different birds 2 BOLTON ABBEY Enjoy a wide variety of woodland and riverside birds in this Yorkshire beauty spot 3 BRAINT ESTUARY See Greenshank, Redshank and, possibly, Spotted Redshank along with many other birds here 4 COMLEY QUARRY Plenty of raptors can be enjoyed here and the views from the hill are wonderful 5 QUESLETT PARK Watch wildfowl such as Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, and Pochard among others 6 LOWER HOUSE FARM Goldfinches are attracted to the area and there’s also an orchard to see Bullfinch and Redwing 7 WINDSOR GREAT PARK Steeped in history, this Berkshire royal setting offers myriad birds and habitats for you to enioy 8 LUDDENHAM MARSHES Look for Snow Bunting on…

THE AFON BRAINT completes its short journey as a narrow twisting estuary before reaching the Menai Strait, beyond which Caernarvon and its astounding castle are immediately apparent and, further, the Snowdonia peaks and Snowdon itself. Towards the head of the Braint Estuary and providing access to the eastern shore, are the Giant’s Stepping Stones (the Rhuddgaer Stepping Stones). Take care when walking on these. The estuary lies at the eastern side of Newborough Warren, the first coastal National Nature Reserve in Wales, when declared in 1955. The sand dunes, one of the largest dune systems in Great Britain, coastal marshes, sandy and rocky shores are home to a dazzling array of plants and animals. The estuary is just a few minutes’ walk from the car park, and usually has Greenshank…

THE WALK STARTS at the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust HQ, an old Jacobean timber-framed house dating back to 1614 that Herefordshire Nature Trust restored to its present condition, as far as possible as it was originally. The old garden was extended and landscaped with wildlife in mind. This has worked well with various common birds here and is particularly attractive to Goldfinches. There is also an orchard where Bullfinches can be seen, with Yellowhammers breeding in the hedges on the border, plus Redwing and Fieldfare. Carry on down to the grassland and pasture and the Lugg Rhea, and Reed Buntings are in the area. Snipe are recorded in the winter, as well as various gulls . Other birds include Lapwing, Curlew and Meadow Pipit, so this is an interesting walk where…

WHILE BRADING MARSHES RSPB seems to be the best known place for birding on the Isle of Wight – Little Egret, Marsh Harrier and Great Crested Grebe were all first-time breeders there in 2014, only the latter successfully – this lovely walk invariably results in solitude, or just an occasional meeting with a dog-walker, rather than lots of optics carriers. The walk can be done as a circuit encircling the only island RSPB reserve, which has no visitor access. The windmill can also be visited at times. The land drops interestingly below the windmill and there’s always something landing on the airfield to your left – and sometimes it will be birds! Having crossed the ‘tail-end’ of the long tapering marsh you join Laundry Lane, a well-walked pathway with excellent…

NOW IS THE time of year when, opening your curtains in the morning, you might be surprised to see a flock of Fieldfares in your garden. Yesterday evening there might have been nothing on the lawn but damp fallen leaves, but this morning the grass is dotted with these colourful, sharp-suited Scandinavians. They are an overnight arrival, quite unexpected, at a time of year when you don’t tend to witness sudden movements of birds, unless there has been severe frost or deep snowfall. These Fieldfares, though, just appear from nowhere. Tomorrow, or the day after, they might well disappear as abruptly as they came. Fieldfares can be difficult species to pin down. Think about your winter birding for a moment; in your experience, could you guarantee to see a Fieldfare…

Ian Parsons’ favourite garden species is the Siskin – and he explains how a winter visit from this colourful little bird can make his day. Page 40 Dominic Couzens says it’s a case of ‘now you see them, now you don’t’ with visiting Scandinavian Fieldfares at this time of year. Page 70 David Saunders gives us a fascinating lesson in history by revealing the interesting origins of the Ross’s Gull. Page 74 Urban Birder David Lindo ‘looks up’ in the sprawling Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires and is impressed by what he sees. Page 82 Kirk Parsons explains how a conservation programme in Africa will help all birds across the world. You can read about it on page 16…

AMERICAN PURPLE GALLINULE There have been only three of these North American relatives of our Moorhen ever recorded in the UK. One was moribund, the other two found already dead. So, it is not a bird which takes to crossing the Atlantic with gusto and in good health. The last was in 2011, in Devon at the end of January. HARLEQUIN DUCK The year 2015 was a bumper year for this cracking duck from the far north, with two long-staying individuals in northern Scotland. The Aberdeen individual appeared in January and the Brora, Sutherland, duck in mid-February. All recent records were from Scotland, but who knows where the next will turn up. PIED-BILLED GREBE With only 44 accepted records, the Pied-billed remains a very rare bird. But in recent years…

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)…

“The work in Gola goes a long way towards protecting international species, including a UK-ringed Cuckoo found in the rainforest” BIRD PROTECTION Long-term conservation work in Africa will have a huge impact on protecting birds worldwide PROTECTING THE LIBERIAN rainforest hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park, but for Nicolas Tubbs, tropical forest conservation manager for the RSPB, perseverance and patience have finally paid off. Working in partnership with the Society for the Conservation of Nature Liberia, Nicolas and his RSPB team have overseen the transformation of the Gola National Forest reserve into a new, fully-fledged National Park. “We’ve been working on it for the best part of 26 years now,” says Nicolas, who has just returned to the UK from his latest trip to Africa. The process has…

“Bird races are another way to charm the birds out of the trees before you turn up” THIS WINTER, WAXWINGS were far enough south for me to see some on an outing that took just 45 minutes, including 30 minutes watching time! Half-a-dozen of these beauties were, surprisingly, not gorging on hips and haws, but catching flies. That was a new observation for me. Obviously these birds can only eat fruit when there’s some fruit to eat, so they eat insects when raising a family at their spring and summer homes. Moreover, I happened to be reviewing some really top-flight binoculars so enjoyed incredible views. With the birds close by and in full sharp focus I could practically count the number of feathers in their erect quiffs. It struck me…

Birds are covered in feathers. These modified scales have evolved to provide birds with the power of flight, warmth, contour and colour but also perform relatively unseen functions such as acting as ‘whiskers’ around the gape, or as ‘eyelashes’. When describing a bird as part of the identification process, it is useful to be aware of the main patterns of distribution of feathers on any given bird. Birds’ feathers appear in regions or tracts, which are more or less consistent across the different species. The areas labelled on ‘topographic’ maps of birds correspond to these tracts and are essentially transferable across the different groups; which is one reason why they are so useful. Detailed descriptions of birds are usually given from front to back, so let’s look at the different…

THIS WAS THE longest walk taken on a week’s trip to Islay. The main goal was the lighthouse, hoping it would be the vantage point to add rare birds to our week’s list. There were several highlights, starting with three Roe Deer calves in someone’s garden at first light. Stonechats were everywhere, and crossing the river we were gifted with Dipper, Long-tailed Tit and even a Jay, which is a good bird on the island. Twite were found in several locations and, in spring and summer, I’m sure you could add Willow Warbler, Whinchat, Sky Lark and Meadow Pipit, drawing the island’s many Hen Harriers and Merlin to the location. In the bay we watched a dog Otter for several minutes and on our return someone was photographing the same…

THIS WALK STARTS at Comley Quarry, a fascinating area on the edge of a line of hills with a remarkable history. Way back in the 1880s, the earliest known trilobite faunas were discovered. Comley Quarry is a nature reserve because it now has international status as the reference area against which rocks of the same age all over the world can be compared with what is here. It is indeed a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). So, this is the suggested start of the walk with plenty of bushes and trees around to encourage birds and a small stream nearby that flows from a spring on the hill. Then, talking of the hill, the walk goes up and around Caer Caradoc Hill where other birds such as Buzzard, Raven…

THERE CAN BE few birding walks set amid a location as steeped in history as Windsor Great Park. The world-famous medieval castle to the north is situated on an elevated bend of the River Thames and overlooks the former hunting forest to the south, much of which has been converted to parkland for deer. Completing the suite of habitats are mixed woodland and farmland, plus several bodies of water. A few wintering Hawfinches and Bramblings may be found feeding within Chaffinch flocks, Marsh Tits are still present and listen for a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Woodcocks are often flushed from forest rides and Firecrests haunt the conifer stands. Virginia Water is a noted spot for Mandarins, which nest in tree holes around the park, and also the occasional Wood Duck. Other…

THE SOUTH HAMS coastline is one of the many jewels in Devon’s crown. Varying with the seasons, the coast can take the full force of south-westerly storms but in fine weather makes for more tranquil birding. Just off-shore is the Great Mew Stone, which derives its name from the old English word for Herring Gull. It has a colourful history, having served as a prison in the 18th Century, then a family home and later a smuggler’s den. It went through several changes of ownership until, during WW2, the War Office took over. The MoD retained this tiny island as it was in the line of fire from their naval gunnery school, HMS Cambridge, on Wembury Point . This was decommissioned in 2001 and the Mew Stone was subsequently bought…

ON 28 APRIL 1934, while fishing between Whalsay and the Out Skerries in Shetland, Scotland, John Irvine caught an exhausted gull. Despite being quickly removed from his scoop net and cared for, it died several days later. Not recognising the bird, he informed the then Shetland ornithologist G T Kay, who quickly identified it as a Ross’s Gull, the first seen in Great Britain. Some, however, claim a much earlier record: of one killed in 1847 in Yorkshire. This is an event shrouded in mystery and inconsistency. It has no fewer than three possible dates, two or three possible collectors and, perhaps, three different localities, all near Tadcaster, some 50 miles from the coast. It is also just one of a number of rare birds of doubtful authenticity to have…

LIFE SIZE BIRDS Rob Read & Paul Sterry Orion, HB, £20, BW Bookshop £17.99 As you’ll have read on page 36, size can be a very underrated factor in bird identification, so it’s great to finally have a book that takes it as its guiding principle. Covering all of Britain and North West Europe’s birds, there’s at least one life-size photo for each species. Now obviously, with the likes of, say, Crane, that doesn’t mean the whole bird. It’s a large format book, but not that large! But it does do a great job, even with species such as those, in conveying some sense of scale, particularly in comparison with other species. With those that you actually can fit onto a page, it’s even better. You realise just how small…

SOUTH WEST Highlights A busy month for ‘megas’ in the region saw a Blyth’s Pipit at Blagdon Lake, Somerset, an Eastern Black Redstart at Mousehole, Cornwall, the return of the Penzance area (Cornwall) Pacific Diver and the continuing presence of the Cornish Hudsonian Whimbrel. AVON HIGHLIGHTS: A Blyth’s Pipit at Blagdon (from 14th) was a county first. PORTISHEAD AND CLEVEDON: An Eider (from 2nd) was unusual, as was a Shoveler on the estuary (3rd). A Lapland Bunting flushed (3rd) was a good record. There were four Common Scoters (2nd-3rd), a Dartford Warbler (3rd) and Black Redstarts (4th, 12th-13th, and two on 18th & 21st). SEVERNSIDE: There was a Brent Goose (1st), a flock of 60 Kittiwakes (23rd) and a Short-eared Owl (from 18th). THE RESERVOIRS: The flock of Great White…

MAMMAL STOAT Three British creatures are renowned for turning wholly white in winter: Ptarmigan, Mountain Hare and Stoat. Our warming climate, however, may have started to make a mockery of the latter’s ermine camouflage. The Stoat’s pituitary gland controls if and when to moult into white pelage, reacting to cues in temperature and day length. With less winter snow with which to blend, fewer stoats transform their appearance (and those that do tend to live farther north). Most stick with the same colour scheme year round. INVERTEBRATE EARTHWORM February is a great month to investigate the unseen. Rummage around in the soil or garden compost heap to literally uncover one of our most biologically important groups of animals. Earthworms are ecosystem engineers that create pores through which oxygen and water…

BLUE TIT NUMBERS LOW A lack of young birds, caused by a wet summer, may be to blame for the scarcity of Blue Tits in gardens this winter. Information from the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch project showed the lowest number of Blue Tits in August for eight years. The BTO wants help to monitor their breeding population. Visit bto.org/gbw SPECIES OFF CRITICAL LIST Conservationists are celebrating the improved fortunes of two Critically Endangered bird species and new plans to help a further two. Thanks to efforts from the RSPB and local partners the Saint Helena National Trust and the Government of Montserrat, two of the world’s rarest birds have been downlisted from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable on the latest update of the IUCN Red List. The Saint Helena Plover and Montserrat…

What’s this bird I snapped in Dorset? QI am new to birdwatching and have a preference for photographing birds. I took a photograph of a distant bird which I can’t identify at Ferrybridge, Portland, Dorset, last summer. Brian Winch A It’s a Sky Lark, probably a young bird, judging by the white tips to the feathers on its back, and the hint of some fine white tips on its crown, too. Seen on the ground, they often take birders by surprise, because they’re bigger and chunkier than expected (we get used to seeing them flying at height, pouring out their song). This bird has its crest flattened, too, which might otherwise be a good ID pointer, although that crouched posture is typical of a bird that, once on the ground,…

BOLTON ABBEY ESTATE opened the footpath in the Strid Woods in 1810, thanks to 6th Duke of Devonshire and the Rev. William Carr inviting the public to walk the paths they created by the river. This access has been continuous to this day, but there is a large payment for the car park on the estate with free parking areas often blocked off with large rocks! This area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest with its wonderful woodland and riverside birds. My walk starts at a small car park in the hamlet of Stroriths. On a good day you should find raptors circling over the woods, especially Buzzards. At least two pairs of Red Kites used to nest here but are now gone. Honey Buzzard is one of those…

THIS SMALL NATURE reserve provides a good winter’s day birding on newly-resurfaced pathways and a pleasant variety of habitat to explore. Formerly the site of gravel workings, this under-watched location has provided a few surprises over the years. Despite its close proximity to the M6 motorway, winter offers a good supply of wildfowl, which congregate on the sheltered lake. In recent years, up to 180 Wigeon have been noted, being joined by smaller numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Goosander. Bordering the reserve, a landfill site during the 1980s provided some excellent county rarities such as Ring-billed, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls, while the now-scarce Twite were also recorded. During the days of quarrying, the area had an outstanding colony of Sand Martins, unfortunately lost during the building…

SANDWICHED BETWEEN SITTINGBOURNE and Faversham, Luddenham Marshes is one of last large remaining tracts of the once extensive North Kent marshes to have survived development and agricultural ‘improvement’. Wintering birds hereabouts are often tide dependent. At low tide, the mudflats attract considerable numbers of shorebirds and wildfowl, particularly Curlew and Dunlin and Brent Geese and Wigeon, while sea duck and grebes are frequently noted at high tide on the Swale. Raptors can be encountered just about anywhere, while the shingle beach can hold a small flock of Snow Buntings, but only rarely Shore Lark and Twite. The farmland can yield Corn Bunting and Tree Sparrow flocks and don t forget to check out any feral goose and swan flocks for something rarer in their midst. SITE GUIDE MAP REF: TQ…

GOOD OLD GULLS! They may not be every birdwatcher’s favourite bird, but, arguably, they provide more ID challenges than just about any other group. There are a few key factors for this state of affairs. Firstly, gulls come in a range of plumages according to their age, as well as time of year, which leads to a bewildering array of ‘birds’ to learn. Secondly, intraspecific variation is very pronounced, especially in larger gulls: with a wide range of size and structure even for one species. Thirdly, some species are so similar, that only in very recent times have they been ‘split’ from each other (and there may be more splits to come). With that in mind, here are six British gulls to get your teeth into. Name them, then turn…

BUSHNELL EQUINOX Z 4X50 £439 REVIEWED BY MATT MERRITT NIGHT VISION MIGHT not be a priority for many birders – after all, how many nocturnal species does the UK have – but for anyone into more general wildlife watching it’s going to be a must at some stage, and once you try it, you realise it has rather more birding use than you might think. These bi-oculars (one objective aperture provides a single optical path, while the other houses an infra-red illuminator) offer some intriguing possibilities to complement your traditional binoculars. The infra-red illuminator helps illuminate your target, and you can adjust the illumination brightness quickly and easily, while the digital sensor is immune to bright light damage and has an unlimited lifetime. You can also adjust the sensor brightness,…

Feathers patterned with a mass of fine wavy lines are described as ‘vermiculated’, from the Latin meaning ‘little worm’. That’s curiously appropriate in this case, because the bird that it comes from is the Woodcock, that mysterious, crepuscular woodland wader whose diet is made up entirely of worms. At a distance, of course, the lines help break up the bird’s outline and camouflage it astonishingly effectively against the tree trunks, leaf litter and earth of the forest floor. Finding such a feather might even be your best way of detecting the bird’s presence.…