Table of contents for January 2019 in Bird Watching

Bird Watching |January 2019

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Jamie Wyver reveals all there is to know about magical Starling murmurations – plus, the best places to see one in the UK. Page 24 Paul Brook, father of two, offers advice on how to get your children, or grandchildren, interested in birding. Read more on page 38 Renowned bird author Dominic Couzens reveals why the complex Rook is more ‘heavy metal’ than ‘easy listening’ on page 42 Watching a vulture feeding frenzy in Spain is one moment Ruth Miller will never forget. Read her thrilling story on page 66 David Lindo finds there are lots of great birds to see in the largely ignored Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Page 84…

1 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

FIVE TO FIND IN JANUARY

1 STONECHAT For pretty titchy, insect-eating birds of open country, Stonechats are remarkably hardy (though can be susceptible to the severest winters). A little smaller than a Robin, the Stonechat is a lover of rough grassy fields, with bushes, tall ‘weeds’, or even damp areas with reedmace and so on; anywhere where they can perch up high and look down for hairy caterpillars and the like. They often winter in pairs, the males having more clearly defined colours and a blacker throat patch. 2 FIRECREST Goldcrest and Firecrest are just about tied for Britain’s smallest bird. But the Firecrest wins the award of the prettiest ‘crest’. The head is a riot of stripes, the back a greener green, the belly purer white and the shoulders have a bronzy, orange patch…

3 min

1 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

Welcome

Most mornings, the early part of my commute is enlivened by the sight of thousands of Starlings leaving their roost, so I’m planning to pay a dusk visit to enjoy their murmurations. On page 24, you can find out more about this astonishing natural spectacle, one that can be found remarkably close to home for most of us. I’m also embarking on another #My200BirdYear challenge (see page 20 for how you can take part), and one of the birds I plan to see in 2019 that I missed in 2018 was Golden Eagle. Now they’re great birds to see at any time, but they’re also the sort of species that really captures the imagination of youngsters, and on page 38, we’ve got plenty more ideas on how to get your…

1 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

RARITY PREDICTOR

HARLEQUIN DUCK Of the nearly 50 UK records of the spectacular Harlequin Duck, the vast majority were in Scotland, particularly Aberdeenshire, Highland and the Northern Isles; and at least six were in January. Don’t expect a mind-blowing drake, though, as most have been more toned-down first-winters and females. CEDAR WAXWING The smaller, North American waxwing is a very rare visitor to the UK, with only nine accepted records. The records were primarily in summer, but winter birds have occurred (like the famous long-staying, 1996 bird in Nottingham). Don’t forget to grill those Waxwing flocks! SLATY-BACKED GULL There has only been one accepted UK record of this gull from the Pacific, in London at Rainham and Pitsea Landfills in January and February 2011. Big, and pink-legged, like a mix between a…

1 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

Birds of coniferous plantations

Coal Tit Our smallest tit species is not much bigger than a Goldcrest. More often heard than seen, feeding among the dense needles high up in conifers, they have a variety of ‘pew’-like notes, not wholly unlike those of the Siskin. Coal Tits have black heads with a broad black ‘bib’, white cheeks and a white line on the back of the crown. The back and wings are grey-brown and the underparts buff. Crossbill Everyone wants to see this big, thick-set finch. Males are red and females greenish yellow (youngsters are streaked). All have the characteristic heavy, crossed-tipped bill. They feed unobtrusively on cones high in trees, but can become noisy in flocks in flight, when ‘chup chup’ calls gives them away. Chaffinch One of the UK’s commonest birds, the…

THE BIRDWATCHER’S YEARBOOK CALLUNA BOOKS £20 This is a difficult book to review. Not because there’s anything wrong with it – there really is very little to quibble with – but because each successive edition basically reproduces the winning formula from the year before. But, assuming you’ve not come across it before, it contains full checklists for British birds, dragonflies and butterflies, a birding diary with monthly bird note sections, a quick reference section, an updated guide to 370 British nature reserves, a birding events diary for 2019, tide table information, and directories of county and national birding groups, photographers, lecturers, artists and more. That makes it a hugely useful book on a practical level, well worth keeping in your birding rucksack or your car’s glove-box at all times. But…

2 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

LATE WONDERS

In October, arguably the biggest story was the discovery of a White-rumped Swift in East Yorkshire, which after its surely inevitable acceptance, will be a new bird for the British List. In November, swifts once more hogged the headlines. The biggest excitement was about another small, southern swift with a white rump, in north-east England: a Little Swift at Hartlepool Headland, Co Durham. Things swift-related were already pretty much on fire, by the middle of the second week of the month, with Pallid Swifts popping up at more than 30 sites in the UK, particularly along the east coast of England. There were even multiple records at some sites in Yorkshire and Suffolk. A Pallid Swift was at Hartlepool Headland (10th), being enjoyed as such, when the Little Swift appeared,…

4 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

WONDERFUL WAXWINGS

The gorgeous, Starling-sized Waxwing is a bird which appears in the country every winter, but in incredibly variable numbers. Some years, they can be pretty scarce, while in other winters, we may have thousands or even tens of thousands across the UK. In the breeding season (in Scandinavia, Finland and Russia), they eat a lot of insects, and are adept at catching them in flight. In winter, however, Waxwings are famous fruit eaters. So, in years of a poor berry crop in their northern range, especially after bumper breeding seasons, Waxwings start to travel en masse, in search of fruit. Such mass movements are known as ‘irruptions’ and happen periodically and somewhat cyclically. This winter is showing a certain amount of promise of such a joyous invasion. Waxwings are not…

1 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

BIG NEW YEAR’S DAY

An age old tradition, the Big New Year’s Day is many a birder’s way of kick-starting the year in style. The premise is simple: see or hear (ie identify) as many species of bird as you can (preferably in a small team) in 24 hours. Most choose a fixed area, such as a county or a local patch or somewhere in between; and wherever you choose to compile your day list the perennial challenge is to make the most of the very limited amount of daylight on offer at this time of year. Here are some simple tips to help maximise your 1 January day list. Good luck! ● DO YOUR HOMEWORK. A bit of December research will help enormously, come January. If you know where the long-stayers are hanging…

1 min

SOUTH WEST Highlights A probable Eastern Yellow Wagtail on St Mary’s, Scilly, was perhaps the third on the archipelago this autumn. A Franklin’s Gull hung around the car park of Radipole Lake RSPB, Dorset, and the usual Pacific Diver was around Mount’s Bay, Cornwall. AVON CLEVEDON-WESTON-SUPER-MARE: Four Brent Geese were near Clevedon (24th). Six Goosanders were on the Blind Yeo (28th). A sick or injured Eider was at Clevedon-Yeo (25th). Waders included a Jack Snipe, Greenshank and 21 Grey Plovers. There was a Black Redstart at Clevedon Pier (3rd & 25th). Shelducks reached 450 at Uphill. A Red-throated Diver flew over Sand Point (29th), as did a Richard’s Pipit (6th). Sand Bay had seven Avocets (22nd). Weston had a few Kittiwakes (29th-30th), and 2,650 Dunlin passing (29th). SEVERNSIDE: A Whitefront…

66 min

Bird Watching |January 2019

BACK CHAT

What first sparked your interest in birdwatching, and when? My grandad’s bird books (AA British Birds, Hamlyn’s Birds of Britain and Europe, AA Wildlife In Britain…). He was too frail to go out birdwatching with me when I was a kid, but without his bookshelf I wouldn’t be a birdwatcher today. Who was your birdwatching inspiration or mentor? See above. Also my mum, who – without being a birdwatcher herself – would heroically take her noisy, impatient younger son out to scare the local birdlife in various damp and unpromising West Yorkshire locations. Do you bird alone or with a friend? Alone, almost always. Your dream bird to see? Something I haven’t seen before, but that I can recognise, well-lit and fairly close-up, that appears unexpectedly, in an evocative location,…

3 min