Table of contents for May 2017 in Bird Watching

FOR A Midlander like me, it’s a thrill to see any seabirds at all, but huge breeding colonies on dramatic clifftops and stacks are something else again, and now’s the time to visit them. They are, above all, a multi-sensory experience, and starting on page 26, we take a close look at Britain’s best seabird cities. Go to one this summer, enjoy the sights, sounds and smells (!), and you’ll never forget it, quite apart from the many additions you’ll make to your #My200BirdYear list. As I write this, spring migration is beginning to hit full stride, but one summer visitor that often turns up a little later is the Hobby. On page 70, Ian Parsons explains how this once-rare raptor is thriving in the UK, and certainly any late…

MAY IS HERE. Arguably, the best month for birdwatching brings opportunities aplenty, with migrants still flooding in, while the last winterers are leaving and another range of species comes through on passage. Birds will be on the move everywhere, not just at coastal hotspots, but just about wherever you live in the UK. This is the time when working a local patch can really deliver the goods. Here are five rather special birds to kick off any May. RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised – always a treat Very scarce or rare BLACK TERN Many birds are looking particularly good now. This applies to the lovely Black Tern, a passage bird in the UK. They are ‘marsh terns’, at home feeding over freshwater (or seen on the coast). The flight…

“Nearly 100 hand-reared birds, were released between 2010 and 2015, and have successfully bred and raised their own chicks” THE MARSHES, REEDBEDS and wetlands of the Norfolk Broads form a special landscape with a real sense of wilderness. When I first moved to Norfolk, I was keen to discover its treasures and, on the advice of my new colleagues at the BTO, one of my earliest trips was to watch the harrier roost at Stubb Mill. I instantly loved the landscape and the bird life, but the best surprise was looking over a hedge to see a small group of Cranes in a field. It was amazing to see such large, graceful and exotic birds, cementing the impression of a rich wildlife haven. There are 15 species of crane across…

“One of the fascinating aspects of local year listing is how one year can be so radically different from the last” HOW IS YOUR birdwatching year going? Has the BW #My200BirdYear ‘campaign’ motivated you to get out and do some more birding? It has me, though I don’t need much encouragement to get out there, to start with. It has so far been very interesting to see how people’s year lists develop at different paces. Which, of course, is a big part of the idea. I got a tweet the other day from someone questioning my carbon footprint, what with me gallivanting around to tick all and sundry. They also questioned why everything has to be a competition. This came after I reported an Iceland Gull I’d seen. I pointed…

An explosion in Waxwing numbers visiting UK gardens has been noted in this year’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Close to half-a-million people joined in the world’s largest garden wildlife survey in January counting more than eight million birds during the 38th RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, witnessing some exciting and unusual visitors. The event held over the last weekend in January revealed an explosion in the number of recorded sightings of Waxwings. Results showed that Waxwings were seen in around 11 times more gardens in 2017 compared to the last couple of years, with sightings as far west as Wales and Northern Ireland. Along with Waxwings, there was also a large jump in the number of visits from other migrant birds escaping sub-zero temperatures on the continent, such as Redwing, Fieldfare…

It started with a tweet: an idea to address the alarming decline in the UK’s bird population. The result is #99Birds; a single unique hardback collection of 99 artworks from a diverse range of the nation’s bird enthusiasts. In a post-Brexit climate, UK conservation will be under huge pressure. Without the protection of several current EU legislations our wildlife, and its habitats, are under threat. Money raised from the book auction in May will be split between the BTO and its Curlew Appeal and the UK Little Owl Project. @YOLOBirder, a Twitter conservationist who has already raised thousands of pounds for UK wildlife projects, suggested to his thousands of followers an idea to raise funds. He would collate the first 99 pieces of bird art to arrive through his door…

”Photographers who take pictures of birds seem unaware of the harm they can do” THE PHOTO REVOLUTION took off when we no longer needed to buy film. When I was given my birthday ‘box brownie’ it took me about two months to use up the first film. Eleven year olds in the 1960s didn’t take many snaps; when developing the film cost nearly as much as the camera, I was never going to be prolific. Nowadays, the average 11-year-old takes more pictures in a week than I did in my first year of photography. When I started birding, only pros took photographs of birds, needing patience, a hide and a mortgage-financed long lens. Sometime during the last decade, birding seems to have become more a photoshoot, with every man and…

Our islands are home to some 68% of the global breeding population of Gannets, equating to 220,000 pairs. Here are some of the country’s key Gannet colonies. 1. BASS ROCK, FIRTH OF FORTH The Rock is the place after which the Gannet got its scientific name, Morus bassanus, and has recently become the largest Gannet colony in the world, with more than 75,000 pairs. 2. SAINT KILDA, OUTER HEBRIDES The St Kilda archipelago’s colonies hold more than 60,000 pairs of Gannets. 3. SULA SGEIR This uninhabited island 64km north of Lewis, has about 5,000 Gannet pairs. ‘Sula’ is from the Old Norse word for Gannet. 4. HERMANESS, UNST, SHETLAND Hermaness NNR includes a colony of 40,000 pairs of Gannet, mostly on the island of Muckle Flugga. 5. NOSS, SHETLAND Noss…

THE ISLAND OF Staffa lies about six miles west of the Isle of Mull and is only half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. It has an area of 82 acres and the highest point is 42m above sea level and the cliff top path that runs around its circumferance is about two miles in length. Now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, the main attraction for birdwatchers are Puffins, Kittiwakes, Shags and gulls that nest that on the island, and the surrounding waters provide good spotting for numerous other seabirds including Eiders, Fulmars and divers, Grey Seals, dolphins, and this coast’s speciality, the world’s second largest fish, the Basking Shark. Altogether, you’re looking at about 40 species of bird to be spotted…

A SHORT, BUT IMPETUOUS course, was how W M Condry, one of the finest British writers on natural history in the 20th Century, described the River Rheidol. Streams on the western slopes of Plynlimon, highest peak in the Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales, are its source, not far from where both the Severn and the Wye commence their journeys. Unlike these neighbours, the Rheidol makes but a short journey – just 19 miles – to reach the sea at Aberystwyth. From the Nant-y-Moch reservoir, which provides water for the hydro-electric station in the valley floor, the Rheidol rushes south, passing through a gorge to reach Devil’s Bridge with its spectacular waterfalls. Finally, the river, joined by the Mynach, turns west to wind its way on the final part of its journey.…

THE BACKDROP FOR this walk is the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, affording spectacular views across the Vale of Aylesbury to the north, and the town of Chinnor, complete with flocks of wheeling Red Kites. Chinnor Hill, with its Bronze Age burial mounds, is managed by the local Wildlife Trust, primarily for chalk downland plants and associated butterflies, with one of the favoured areas being the sheep-grazed slopes around the old chalk pit. Clearings with scattered scrub are also good spots for grounded passage migrants such as Ring Ouzel ( above ) or Redstart. Bledlow Great Wood is a typical Chiltern Beech hanger on the scarp slope, with a sparse understorey, scattered Junipers and Holly bushes and a terrific show of bluebells and ransoms. Elsewhere across the woodland,…

SOME PEOPLE CALL them ‘aerial plankton feeders’, the swallows, martins and swifts which spend very long periods of time in continuous flight catching flying insects and floating spiders in their wide gapes. They are the graceful swallows, martins and swifts which are always such a pleasure to watch on a spring or summer’s day. Sometimes, though, they are less of a pleasure to identify, presenting a modicum of challenge if seen in the wrong light, at the wrong height or disappearing quickly out of sight. Swifts are not really related to hirundines, but a bit of convergent evolution has given them similarly shaped bodies, tiny bills, long thin wings and forked tails as adaptations to their lifestyles. See if you can name these six birds, then turn the page for…

Wildlife photographer David Tipling took this wonderful photo of a Guillemot colony in Shetland. He said: “Each June for nearly 30 years, I have climbed to the top of Sumburgh Head on Shetland and peered down at this Guillemot colony on a stack below the cliffs. It has become a bit of a ritual and I am always drawn to photographing the patterns the colony creates against the whitewashed rock. I know of no other colony where you can enjoy such an aerial view of life on the edge.”…

Steve Newman finds out about the differences you can expect between birding trips to the Isle of May or the Farne Islands. Page 32 John Birch is gripped by a visit to a Gannet colony on Bass Rock in Scotland. Luckily for us, he took his camera along. Page 26 With a home on the North Norfolk coast, Roger Fickling is privy to some of the UK’s great wildlife spectacles. Find out more on page 42 Prepare to be dazzled by the agile Hobby, which is on its way back from wintering in Africa at this time of year, as Ian Parsons explains on page 70 The life of the Eider and how the species’ females all pull together (well, most do) is the subject of Dominic Couzens’ article on…

May is a great month for rare birds, giving us the freedom to predict just about anything turning up. But we will have a guess with these three. CREAM-COLOURED COURSER Most of the nearly 40 accepted records of Cream-coloured Courser in the UK have been in the autumn, mostly in October. However, the most recent individual was found on 20 May 2012 in a golf course on Bradnor Hill, Herefordshire. It was a classic case of anything can turn up at any time (particularly during migration periods). The chances of lightning striking twice and another courser turning up in May are slight to say the least, but don’t let that put you off going out to find one. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW There have been just five accepted appearances of this North…

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)…

Birdwatcher, botanist and Orkney UKBS correspondent Eric Meek passed away on February 16 after a short and unexpected illness. He had worked as RSPB Scotland’s Orkney Officer from 1981 until his retirement in 2012, and had been awarded the BTO Boddy and Sparrow Award for his paper on the breeding ecology and decline of the Merlin on Orkney, published in Bird Study. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne and brought up in Northumberland, he co-authored Northumberland’s avifauna, was a ringer and served on BTO committees, was chair of the Scottish Birds Rarities Committee and the BOU Records Committee, and also was a director of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust. But it is for his work on Orkney that he will be particularly remembered. He fought to get moorlands on Mainland…

BIRDFAIR, THE ANNUAL British celebration of birdwatching, raised an incredible £350,000 for international conservation in 2016. The money raised will support the protection of Tsitongambarika Forest in Madagascar and support Africa’s young conservation leaders. It brings the total raised by Birdfair over the past 28 years to more than £4.3million. The latest amount will be presented to BirdLife International. This vital support from the 2016 event will allow BirdLife Partner, Asity Madagascar and local communities to realise their long-term conservation plans for Tsitongambarika Forest. It is the only area in the south-east of the island that supports significant areas of lowland forest, and many species of plants and animals at Tsitongambarika are endemic not just to Madagascar, but also to south-east Madagascar. In 2017, Birdfair’s theme is Saving Paradise in…

WETLANDS SURVEY The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is calling on designers and managers of man-made wetlands to complete a survey to gather evidence for natural solutions to become the number one option for water management. It’s designed to capture the wider benefits of such schemes, such as increasing local wildlife and being a place for kids to play. The survey is available at wwt.org.uk/ wetlandsurvey and entries are added to an online map as they come in. VULTURE CHICKS The Hawk Conservancy Trust has announced the hatching of two further Oriental White-backed Vulture chicks at the conservation breeding centre at Changa Manga, near Lahore, Pakistan, following the first breeding success last April. It is hoped that a successful breeding programme will underpin future conservation efforts, which include reintroduction of vultures…

1 CULBIN SANDS Wildfowl, waders and seabirds and some spectacular scenery – plus Crested Tits! 2 STAFFA A boat trip out to this lonely island will bring some great seabird sightings 3 KILLINGTON LAKE Break your journey up the M6 with some birding at this motorway-side reservoir 4 WILLOW TREE FEN There’s a lot more to this site than a very confiding Bluethroat – wildfowl and waders can be expected on its pools, reedbeds and meadows 5 RHEIDOL VALLEY A classic mid-Wales wooded valley, with Red Kites overhead as well as a wealth of passerines to see and hear 6 CLUN CASTLE Find summer songsters such as Redstart and Wood Warbler along the Shropshire Way, and enjoy the ruins of the historic Norman castle 7 REDBROOK This walk beside the…

KILLINGTON LAKE IS actually a reservoir, formed when Killington Beck was dammed in 1819. Not only is it ideal for birds, but a service station was built here off the M6, only suitable if you are travelling south! The area was given its birding status by a dedicated watcher, Fred Gould, with records like Caspian Tern, Crane, Ring-necked Duck and Red-necked Grebe. Spring sees a large Black-headed Gull colony on the islands where recent nesting of Mediterranean Gulls (right) has occurred among this throng of birds. Another good reason to visit in spring and autumn is to watch the passage of Ospreys drawn here from their migration. Another bird found inland is the Arctic Tern. Both Sandwich and Black Terns have been found here, too. You never know when Common…

THE REMAINS OF the castle are on a hill overlooking the town on one side and the river and countryside on the other. It was built by the Norman Lord Robert de Say after the Norman invasion of England, on a bend in the River Clun. It is now a Grade 1 listed building managed by English Heritage and owned by the Duke of Norfolk, who also holds the title of Baron Clun! There are good views from the castle hill, which is a good place to check the sky, but the main area to see birds is the walk along the riverside and/or the Shropshire Way. Of course, you can walk as far as you wish for a really pleasant day. Clun is only a small town, and the…

THE VILLAGE OF Wittersham is situated on the Isle of Oxney and surrounded by a combination of the River Rother and Shirley Moor, an ‘arm’ of the Romney Marsh. Before the marshes were drained it would have been an island at high tide accessible only by ferry, and although it is now linked by roads, something of the old island feel remains to this day. This is a walk of contrasting scenery, from the small fields and hedgerows around the village with its paddocks, orchards and old hop fields, typical of the High Weald, through arable farmland, woodland and, finally, beside the Rother watercourse complete with lush marginal herbaceous growth. The riverside section is best for warblers such as Reed ( above ), Sedge and Cetti’s, while Cuckoo and Turtle…

“As the sun begins to lower, these beetles take to the skies and if you are lucky you will get great views of Hobby plucking them out of the air with its talons and then transferring them to its mouth as it flies along. The sudden burst of acceleration as the falcon spots a beetle or a dragonfly is breathtaking” NOW IS THE time when many of our spring migrants arrive; it is a real bonanza of a month for birders, with lots of species returning to our shores. For me the star of these species is a small bird of prey, the Hobby. This little falcon (roughly the size of a Kestrel) has in recent years expanded its range in Britain and can now be found almost throughout the…

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SOUTH WEST Highlights The main rare bird news story for the region was the discovery of a ‘new’ Pacific Diver at Broadsands, Devon, on 16 February (and still showing intermittently into March) . Unlike the regularly wintering bird off the Penzance area (Cornwall), which is now at least ten years old (if it is indeed the same individual), the Devon bird was a juvenile. Favourites such as the Devon Desert Wheatear and Cornwall Hudsonian Whimbrel stayed throughout. AVON HIGHLIGHTS: Fifteen Waxwings remained in Bradley Stoke, with others in Bath and Bristol. Two Cattle Egrets were at Doynton throughout. PORTISHEAD AND CLEVEDON: There was a Brent Goose (4th), with two (12th) and a Great White Egret (12th). Goosanders on the Blind Yeo at Clevedon peaked at 34. Two Black Redstarts remained.…

Most birds, especially perching birds, have three forward pointing toes and one rear or hind toe. Some birds, notably woodpeckers and the Cuckoo, parrots (such as the Ring-necked Parakeet) and owls, have two toes pointing forward and two pointing back. This arrangement is called a zygodactyl foot. So, if you find footprints of a small bird in mud, in most cases (for small land birds), there will be the impression of the three front toes and one back. But sometimes you may see a zygodactyl print. And in most cases it will be a woodpecker. And in most cases of it being a woodpecker, it will be a Green Woodpecker, the largest and most terrestrial of our three resident species.…

SCOTTISH NATURAL HERITAGE (SNH) and the Heads Up for Harriers project are once more asking people to report sightings of the raptor. The project is led by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Scotland (PAW Scotland) and encourages people to report sightings, as well as trialling nest and roost cameras, and encouraging land managers to retain Hen Harrier-friendly habitat. Professor Des Thompson, chair of Heads Up for Harriers, said: “Last winter was the first time we asked for winter sightings of Hen Harriers from the public, and we’ve had an excellent response, with several potential new roosts identified. Numbers are low across much of mainland Scotland, so the more people looking out for these threatened birds, the better. This will help us build a complete picture of how they…

Home to some 250,000 seabirds, the Isle of May sits on the eastern end of the Firth of Forth, some six miles off the East Neuk of Fife. As such, it is one of the best locations to take a birding trip in the UK – there’s even a bird observatory, and you can book and stay on the island for a week to really explore it. Owned and run by Scottish Natural Heritage, the island is the subject of an excellent blog, run by David from the island, where you can follow what’s happening (see panel, right) The Isle of May is reached by two ways, either by boat from Anstruther from the north or by high speed rib inflatable from North Berwick from the south. You will need…

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 Red Kites by Brian J Boyes Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Lens: 100-400mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,000 Aperture: f/78.0 ISO: 2,500 Puffin by Phil James Camera: Canon EOS 40D Lens: 100-400mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,000 Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 400 Treecreeper by Peter Sharpe Camera: Nikon D5 Lens: 400mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,000 Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 2,000 Sparrowhawk by Mark Gray Camera: Canon EOS 80DLens: 300mm Shutter Speed: 1/200 Aperture: f/9.0 ISO: 3,200 STICKING UP FOR CHRIS PACKHAM Colin Matthews is right to find Peter Clarke's letter in Farmers Weekly "totally out of order" (Letters, March 2017). Chris Packham is routinely attacked for speaking his mind, or being ‘open and honest’, as Mr Clarke contradictively suggests he…

CULBIN SANDS IS an RSPB reserve known for its winter sea ducks, but in April we went to look at passage along the Moray Firth. The reserve covers more than 3.5 square miles. The part nearest the car park is popular with dog walkers and people enjoying a quick walk along the beach. To get to the reserve’s quieter and more remote parts you need to walk at least a further 1.5 miles east along the beach. You have watch the tide tables as not to get cut off but you can always carry on your walk in the Culbin Forest, where a number of interesting birds are found. Winter counts of sea ducks can be very impressive with counts up to 10,000 Common Scoters, 600 Velvets and five drake…

THE RECENT ARRIVAL of a very confiding and long-staying first-winter Bluethroat has put this site well and truly on the map, if the Red-footed Falcon of 2015 hadn’t already done so, but this easy-to-walk reserve always has plenty of interest for the birdwatcher. Its 274 acres of shallow meres, reedbeds, seasonally flooded pastures and hay meadows were created from arable land, and along with the neighbouring River Glen and Counter Drain, attract a wide range of species. These include good wildfowl flocks in winter, especially Wigeon and Teal, plus possible Whooper Swans, as well as waders such as Lapwing, Golden Plover, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, and rarer species like Ruff, Greenshank and Green Sandpiper, and Fieldfare and Redwing flocks. Little Egrets are usually present here. In spring and summer, look…

THE RIVER WYE forms one of the most impressive river systems in Britain and makes for the backbone of this valley walk on the borderlands of England and Wales. This section of the valley to the south of Monmouth, varies widely from wooded and steep-sided, with fast flowing rapids, to sweeping meanders and ox-bow lakes among flood meadows. Water levels in the river can fluctuate enormously following heavy rains that cascade down from the Welsh hills. Inevitably, birds such as Dipper, Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail are the main prizes from the riverside paths, but keep a watchful eye out for a Little Ringed Plover on shingle banks where the river bends below Monmouth. On the open fields, feral geese and swans are common place, while an occasional flock of passing…

MANY REGARD THE South Hams as the jewel in Devon’s crown. The South West Coast Path here offers excellent birding and passes wildlife-rich Scobbiscombe Farm, an area known for Cirl Buntings. The farmland is managed for wildlife, with a stream that runs to the sea near Westcombe Beach and freshwater ponds that are home to dragonflies. Sky Larks (right) sing from above as walkers plod up the steep ascents. If the circular route is followed the inland stretch passes tracts of pleasing, broad-leaved woodland where we enjoyed the exuberance of a Song Thrush and encountered the mysterious ruins of Noddon Mill. This was consolidated by the National Trust in 2002 to prevent further deterioration. In 1841, the Bigbury Census shows that James Taylor was miller here with his wife, Joanna,…

“ There is a ‘Cuckoo’ in the nest. And what she does is similar to that of the famous brood parasite” IN 2014, A Midlands’ art gallery caused a rumpus by unveiling a life-sized bronze statue called A Real Birmingham Family outside the city library. Costing a small fortune of public money, it caused controversy by depicting nothing more than two single mothers with their young children, and not a man in sight. Bearing in mind that it was meant to depict ‘the most real’ family in the city, that seems something of an oversight, since there are plenty of fathers in Birmingham. I know, I’ve been there. There is, however, an entirely appropriate place to put this statue – indeed, multiple places. These are fortresses where families are truly…

PUNTA ARENAS (SANDY POINT), Chile, will not necessarily ring any bells of recognition unless you are a traveller, as this town, along with its twinned city Ushuaia in Argentina, is the main gateway to the great white continent further south. It has a very scenic positioning, being sited on the Brunswick Peninsula, just north of the Strait of Magellan. Its backdrop is some Andean Condor-frequented picturesque forested mountains. Welcome to the Patagonian region. Surrounding Punta Arenas is a birding wonderland, with many range-restricted species. The ski resort behind the town has Chilean Filcker as well as several species of tapaculo, canastero and rayadito – real South American specialities. You could cruise to nearby Magdalena and Marta Islands to visit the rambunctious South American Fur Seals. Magdalena Island is home to…

WILDLIFE ON YOUR DOORSTEP Mark Ward New Holland, SB, £14.99, BW Bookshop £12.99 (quote BW132) In keeping with the RSPB's new focus on conservation of birds in a wider context, Mark Ward (editor of Nature's Home and a BW contributor in days gone by) looks at all the wildlife you might expect to find close to home, and how you can find it. It's an approach that's to be applauded, and the seasonal structure to the book is sensible and logical. Even better, though, is the amount of personal experience that the author brings in – far from leaving the reader feeling that only an expert could possibly find everything he talks about, he creates a sense of excitement and possibility about even the most modest of 'patches' that's inspirational…