Table of contents for March 2020 in Bird Watching

1 BLACK GROUSE Is there a more gloriously exotic British bird than the Black Grouse? The fancy-Dan males, with their startling white undertails and lyre-shaped tail feathers, are not even plain old black as their name would suggest, but a magnificent rich, shiny dark blue (only visible in decent sunlight, of course). And then there is the lekking, when males (especially at this time of year), gather to strut and sing and perhaps dance and do battle in order to impress the smaller, cryptically marked females. And the sound they make, a wonderful continuous bubbling interspersed by sneezy explosions, is one of the great British bird sounds. Leks (display grounds) are probably the easiest places to see Black Grouse and there are several in upland sites from Wales to the…

If you are in the uplands, particularly in the north of the country (and especially Scotland), and you pass a fast, rocky stream or small river, do you say “that looks like a great Dipper stream”? If you don’t, you should start! It is always worth finding a convenient (and safe) place to pull over and scan such streams. Keep your ears clear, too. You may be rewarded with a Dipper (the king of stream birds; left), plus Grey Wagtail and in spring and summer a Common Sandpiper and maybe a Goosander flying by. These are all birds associated with such upland rivers, though Dipper and Grey Wagtail are particularly expected in those fast rocky streams. Incidentally, both have rather piercing metallic calls, which cut through the sound of tumbling…

BIRD 1 This bird has the obvious structure of a so-called ‘gamebird’: small head, short hooked bill, plump, rounded body and short legs. Look closer at those legs and you will see they are feathered, which immediately puts the bird in the grouse sub-family. There are four UK species: Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, Black Grouse and Capercaillie. Males of all species are well marked and distinctive. This is a more cryptically patterned female. Female Ptarmigan have much more extensively white bellies than this bird. The grey, brown, black and white barring of this bird, and the ‘orange’ breast all point to this being a female Black Grouse (or Greyhen) or Capercaillie. But female Capercaillies are very large, with much larger bills than this bird, which is a female Black Grouse. Key…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS The Berwickshire Coastal Path and Northumberland Coast Path meet at the Border Gate. Both give excellent cliff views of Fulmars, waders below and seabirds near the shore, but the northern section is more varied and has sweeping views of the bays and coastline. STEVE NEWMAN WHERE TO WATCH 1 Just up from the railway bridge the path bends to give you excellent views of the cliff face with Fulmars etc. Look for terns, and Gannets fishing off here, plus Rock Dove, and Turnstone. 2 The path northwards is hemmed in by the gorse on the right and the railway line on the left. Both can be great in the migration periods. Walk up a track where the sign says ‘Badgers’ to…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS This part of Cannock Chase has some of the finest heathland habitat in the Midlands, which together with the rich mix of deciduous and coniferous woodland attracts a good list of wintering and breeding species. It is a vast area (26 square miles), although it is the UK’s smallest designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. PETE HACKETT WHERE TO WATCH 1 From the car park take the left hand track. Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Bullfinch, Song Thrush, Jay, Great Spotted Woodpecker are fairly easy. Damper hollows attract Grey Wagtail and Woodcock, while the pools are quiet apart from a few Mallard, Coot and Moorhen and Pheasant in nearby fields. 2 Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, and Crossbill are often found in the mixed…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Typically Chilterns in flavour, with old Beech hangars covering the chalk scarp slope, contrasting with mature oak and Ash on the plateau. Downland scrub provides another habitat for migrants and the elevation provides spectacular views. Great for Marsh Tit, Hawfinch and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Firecrest. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 Mature woodland attracts all the common resident species such as Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Tawny Owl, tits and finches, migrant Chiffchaff and Blackcap, plus Firecrest in conifers. Check the common for Stonechat, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Common Whitethroat and Willow Warbler. 2 Scan in this vicinity for a variety of migrants on the move along the downs, such as hirundines, Swift, Cuckoo and Turtle Dove. A good spot…

Is it a Blackcap? Q I now live in a first floor flat, and the occupant downstairs feeds the birds. I am wondering if this bird I photographed on their feeder a juvenile Blackcap or female Blackcap? Ieuan Williams A Yes, you are right in your identification, this is a female-type Blackcap, as recognised by its reddish-brown cap. Blackcaps have been increasing as wintering birds in the UK, and gardens and particularly fat-based feeders are often chosen as good sources of food for these winterers. Ringing recoveries have suggested that rather than being breeding birds hanging on through the winter, our wintering Blackcaps may be largely from central European populations (eg from Germany). In these modern times, it is relatively easy to see Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Dartford Warbler and Cetti’s Warbler…

Kowa’s Prominar scopes have long been favourites with British birdwatchers, offering very high-quality optics at a price significantly lower than the ‘Big Three’. But you see their binoculars in use in the field far less frequently, rather strangely. So, can the BDII range change all that? I tried the 10x32 model over a few weeks in January, in a wide range of conditions. It’s not a size I’m used to, combining high magnification with a relatively small objective lens and a compact overall size, but these could definitely win me over. Optically, they’re very impressive. The image is sharp and crisp, with good, very natural colour. That sharpness gets pretty close to the edges, with only a slight milky halo around the outside, so the 117m@1,000m field of view actually…

JANUARY ✔ Watch divers and seaducks on the sea Mid-winter can be one of the best times to head to the seaside to look for the wonderful birdlife which enjoys the UK’s rich coast. It may be cold, but the reward will be such delights as flocks of scoters (Common plus perhaps Velvet and rare species), Long-tailed Duck (above), plus the wonderful Red-breasted Merganser. Look for the scarcer grebes (Red-necked, Black-necked and Slavonian), and, depending on the chosen coast, there is a good chance of Red-throated, Great Northern and Black-throated Divers. Every winter, there is a chance for White-billed Diver and even the extremely rare Pacific Diver, if you choose the right sites. ✔ Do a New Year’s dash ✔ Look for wintering swans, geese and ducks ✔ Visit a…

In Hampshire the New Year got off to a rather damp and gloomy start, with decent photographic weather very limited. The BPOTY team has been making the most of these windows of good weather and venturing out to capture images on the rare occasions there has been a glimpse of sun. By the standards of a typical winter, temperatures have been mild and so we haven’t seen much evidence of cold-weather-related influxes of winter thrushes – Fieldfares and Redwings; those that we have encountered have been skittish and unsettled. In Hampshire, as elsewhere, our garden birds are also influenced by the weather and most of the team notice a fairly obvious and inverse correlation between the numbers and variety visiting feeders and temperature. So, as yet our various garden lists…

Raptors have a certain star quality about them – no matter how squeamish we sometimes are about their hunting habits (and they are, after all, only doing what they have to to survive), an encounter with one is always exciting and memorable. For me, as an eight-year-old, it was seeing hovering Kestrels that provided that spark of enthusiasm and made me into a birder for life, but in this issue Ian Parsons makes a good case for the Sparrowhawk as the most thrilling of all our common raptors. Similarly, rarities (and they don’t get rarer than the Slender-billed Curlew, p33) can kindle a love of birdwatching, but we all have our own moments of inspiration. Tell us about yours at birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk and enjoy a great month of birding. Sign up…

Whooper Swan Nearly all of our 11,000 or so wintering Whooper Swans will be departing to the far north this month, to Iceland, Fennoscandia and Russia (although about 20 pairs breed in Scotland). Their cousins, the smaller, scarcer Bewick’s Swans go first, followed by these large handsome honkers. Pink-footed Goose Pink-footed Geese breed mainly in the Arctic tundra of Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard, though they winter in the UK in their hundreds of thousands. If you are used to them filling the evening and morning sky with their ‘wink wink’ calls and great V-shaped skeins, start getting used to times without their presence. Goldeneye Another bird with a small UK breeding population: some 200 pairs in Scotland (a relatively recent colonist), there are more than 25,000 overwintering Goldeneye in the…

Mainstream media has painted a black and smoky picture of a burnt Australia. I was there in the Australian spring, thanks to the South Australian Tourism Commission, birding not too far from Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island (watch out for the travel piece in a future issue). It was hot – temperatures hit the high 30°sC – but I had no idea of what was coming. At more than 1,700 square miles and around 90 miles from west to east, Kangaroo Island is not small. It is a unique place and has been called ‘Australia’s Galápagos’. I saw ridiculously confiding Cape Barren Geese (an Australian endemic) in Flinders Chase National Park. I heard a Glossy Black Cockatoo (a subspecies endemic to Kangaroo Island with fewer than 500 individuals), saw my…

The Wren spotted it first. The little bird feeding unseen in the bushes suddenly started to tick harshly, the next second, a Blackbird burst into noisy panic and, just as I began to comprehend the bird noises around me, I saw it, too, ghosting past me, as I stood in the flower bed. A flash of blue-grey wings, with a long barred tail gliding quickly past me, before it vanished in the tangled web of Hawthorn branches on the edge of the garden. Gone in the time it would take me to say its name, a Sparrowhawk, a predator in my garden, an exhilarating glimpse of nature in action. Sparrowhawks really are brilliant birds, beautiful raptors, the apex predator of many a garden, and I had just had one fly…

Back at the end of the last century, as the Slender-billed Curlew started to slide towards oblivion, a possible sighting of one in the unlikely location of Druridge Bay, Northumberland, sparked a 15-year controversy that still divides birders. On Monday, 4 May, an unknown birdwatcher found what he first identified as a Whimbrel, and reported it to a number of local birdwatchers. The news services reported it as “a controversial curlew thought by some observers to be a Slender-billed”, and until 7 May large numbers of birdwatchers travelled to see it. It was photographed, and three video recordings of it were made, and debate about its identity started immediately on online forums. Some birders claimed that the shape of its bill, head and back were not right for Slender-billed Curlew,…

If you took part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of January (we did, with variable but, as always, interesting results), why not start recording the birds that use your garden on a regular basis? The BTO’s alternative/additional Garden BirdWatch scheme involves collecting information on birds and other wildlife on a weekly basis, and submitting it to the BTO, whose scientists use it to research population trends and much more. To become a citizen scientist and assist in this valuable work, go to: bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw There’s a £17 annual subscription, which covers the cost of the scheme and the members’ magazine, Bird Table. Garden bird of the month If you live in southern Britain, you may be lucky enough to have Chiffchaff in your garden throughout the winter…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 6 MIN TIME: 5 HOURS This is one of the best places to see a wide range of upland birds in the Lake District National Park, with well maintained paths. Skiddaw peak is 931m (3,054 ft) above sea level and is the highest peak in the range. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 Turn off the minor road from Mungrisedale and start scanning the minor road up the fells. Caldew River has Dippers and Grey Wagtail, plus Goosander and Common Sandpiper in the summer. 2 A large area of Juniper is found on the Calbeck side of the hill, with many thrushes using the cover for breeding and autumn berries to feed on. Listen for singing (and calling) breeding Ring Ouzel. A large fire here in…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS This former World War Two and Cold War airfield has largely been returned to arable farming, but its relatively elevated position means it makes a good spot from which to observe visible migration and to find passerine migrants on passage in spring and autumn, while winter sees raptors hunting it. MATT MERRITT WHERE TO WATCH 1 From the hard-standing where you park, scan all around for raptors, with Kestrel and Buzzard regular, and Red Kite increasingly so. In winter there’s the possibility of the likes of Peregrine and Merlin, while Short-eared Owls regularly winter around the airfield. 2 The main access into the site is along the concrete path from the hard-standing. Take plenty of time to check the small copse…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS Part of the South Downs National Park at the eastern end of the spectacular Seven Sisters chalk cliffs. With its combination of geography, rolling downland, sea cliffs and scrub-clad valleys it is the ideal location to attract incoming migrants and over-shooting rarities such as Serin, Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Black Kite; plus great seawatching potential. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 Check the gully known as Shooters Bottom for passage migrants such as chats, warblers and Firecrest. A good spot for Ring Ouzel. 2 Open downland and fields often produce grounded Wheatear, Sky Lark, Meadow Pipit, Yellow and Pied Wagtails, plus Tree Pipit, hirundines, Swift and Hobby overhead. Scan fence posts for a chance of Cuckoo and Whinchat along with passage raptors…

Q The bird in the image above appeared at my garden feeding station on an afternoon in January. My initial thought was that it was a Tree Sparrow, a species that I have never seen and one that is very rare down in Devon, and to my knowledge with no confirmed records in the village of South Brent where I live. It does not have the Tree Sparrow’s black face patch and has an extensive bib which should negate it being a Tree Sparrow. I posted the image on various forums and checked my Collins guide, the bird does match the image and description given in Collins for an Italian Sparrow, one of which turned up in East Devon a few years ago and this bird appears almost identical to…

“Imagination is haunted by the swiftness of the creatures that live on the mountain – eagle and peregrine falcon, red deer and mountain hare. The reason for their swiftness is severely practical: food is so scarce up here that only those who can move swiftly over vast stretches of ground may hope to survive. The speed, the whorls and torrents of movement, are in plain fact the mountain’s own necessity. But their grace is not necessity.”Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain (1977) The Cairngorms National Park covers some 1,500 square miles and incorporates the Cairngorms massif, Britain’s largest mountain range and only sizeable plateau more than 2,500ft. It is the largest national park in Britain, more than twice the size of the Lake District, stretching from Aviemore in the north to…

After the success of last year’s tours, we are delighted to offer readers another chance to visit Somerset, now considered among the best places in Britain to see – and get great views of – some of the country’s most sought-after bird species. The Avalon Marshes are the heron capital of Britain, with up to seven species breeding there. And, in winter, they play host to one of the greatest of all British birding spectacles: the famous Starling murmurations. Great White, Little and Cattle Egrets float over the reedbeds, or fish in the watery ditches known as rhynes. Bitterns, too, are often glimpsed as they fly low over the reeds. In spring, you can watch Hobbies chasing dragonflies, Marsh Harriers performing their sky-dance and Cuckoos calling over the reeds, and…

The last Oboz I reviewed (the Hyalite Lows – see November’s issue) were a bit on the warm side. So, for a spring trip to South Australia and Kangaroo Island, where the temperature reached the high 30s°C, the Sawtooth II Low came my way, a hiking shoe that, apparently, would be good in the heat. The Sawtooth II Low is a fairly chunky shoe, but not over-heavy, and seems well-made. The uppers are a combination of leather and textile to balance breathability with protection, and weight with durability. The sole has “strategically placed rubber for increased traction and decreased weight” compared to more traditional designs. I found the Sawtooths comfy on day one and the grip they provided was good. They have a dual-density midsole for cushioning and stability on…

I know it is hard, but cast your mind back to November. A large straggly pipit which could have been just about anything was calling like a Paddyfield Pipit in a field in Cornwall. Good old DNA proved its identity as indeed a Paddyfield Pipit, and now all the BOURC have to do is determine whether it got into that field by fair means or foul, before they allow or block its admission to The British List. In that same Sennen field was a Buff-bellied Pipit, which unlike its dishevelled cousin, lingered on (though was not seen every day) into December and was even still present in the next and present decade! Meanwhile, the Hermit Thrush which was at Porth Hellick, St Mary’s, Scilly, since 18 November, stayed put until…

In the last couple of decades, the Buzzard has worked its way inexorably eastwards and southwards, to become the commonest bird of prey in the UK, and a familiar sight just about everywhere. Hot on its heels, the Buzzard-sized Raven has gone from an ultra-shy bird of hidden crags, in north-western uplands shunned by man, to a bird with a breeding foothold in the flat lands of East Anglia, and even down in Kent. The Raven seems to have overcome some of its perceived shyness and snuck into the ‘rocky gorges’ of cities, and also makes use of nearby TV masts and so on. But they have not entirely abandoned their sneaky ways. Ravens are still pretty shy birds, but they have expanded their range partly by hiding in plain…

Tawny Owls are famously vocal. Indeed, in addition to being easily our most common owl species, they are surely the most often heard. They breed early and territories are proclaimed through the winter. Males have the unmistakable quavering hoot ‘hoooooo [pause] hoo-ho hooo’ and will also produce a trilling hoot which sounds like the owl equivalent of the ‘drumming ‘ of Snipe. Both genders also make the ‘kewick’ and contrary to ‘received wisdom’, it is possible to hear a single bird going ‘kewick kewooo’! The fluffy young, which are hatched in the spring, have a sort of squelching hiss of a begging call (quite different from the ‘squeaky gate’ beg of Long-eared Owl youngsters).…

CHERRY GOOD One of our prettiest native trees, Wild Cherry blossom starts to appear late month. The snow-white, cup-shaped flowers hang in clusters of two to six. The species’ scientific name, avium, honours the role of birds in seed dispersal. MAMMAL Mountain Hare Last August, evidence was published that Mountain Hare populations have declined by up to 90% at some Scottish sites managed for driven grouse shooting – prompting RSPB Scotland to demand an immediate halt to culling. To see them, head for unmanaged heather moorlands above 300m altitude; Glenshee is my favourite spot. MAMMAL Ferreting about Perhaps no British carnivore – even Otter – has resurged as remarkably as Polecat. Until the mid-19th Century, it was common and widespread across Britain. Intense persecution soon extirpated it from all bar…

Twenty five years ago, on 2 February, 1995, I happened to get lucky and successfully photographed the critically-endangered Slender-billed Curlew, at its last known wintering ground of Merja Zerga in Morocco. With no further verifiable sightings from anywhere in the world since (Birdlife International, 2017), we may soon have to accept that this represents the first bird extinction in the Western Palearctic region since the Great Auk in 1884. What a depressing prospect. From 1984 to 1998, I was employed as the full-time staff photographer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). My principal assignment in Morocco was to photograph another rare bird, the Northern Bald Ibis, but also to document the important bird areas and wetland habitats of Souss-Massa, Sidi Bou Ghaba and Merja Zerga. The…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 6 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS North Uist is blessed with so many good birding sites, and this one has a great variety of habitats, including a freshwater loch, reedbeds, sand dunes, machair and the sea itself. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 Turning off the main A865 offers you the chance to explore an area not noted in any bird book. Scan the local fields for breeding waders and gulls. Look for passage White Wagtails in spring. Wheatears breed here. 2 Drop down to the loch side and listen out for Corn Crakes in the marsh areas. The reedbed will have singing Sedge Warblers and perhaps the reeling of a Grasshopper Warbler. Check open water for ducks and grebes. 3 A long lane takes you back…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS Gibraltar Point is a dynamic stretch of unspoilt coastline running southwards from the edge of Skegness to the mouth of the Wash. Covering 1,100 acres of pristine coastline, it is recognised as an area of international importance, with its own bird observatory and ringing station. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 Visitor centre (opened May 2016), includes a viewing platform over the marshland. Best at high tide as the extra height allows you to watch the wader movement on the outer Wash. Check for raptors hunting at this time and try ID-ing the gulls and terns as they move around with the changing water depths. 2 This site also has a national Bird Observatory. As at Spurn further north, the east…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 6 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS Turn east near the Coastguard lookout at Rhossili and suddenly you have the cliff path to yourself, or almost. From Tears Point, as the Chough flies, it is four miles to near Port Eynon, along the most dramatic cliff coast in Glamorgan. DAVID SAUNDERS WHERE TO WATCH 1 Marvel at Worm’s Head, shaped like a giant sea-serpent and accessible for the energetic for up to five hours as the tide recedes (check information boards or call at the coastguard lookout before crossing the rocky shore). Guillemots and Razorbills nest and Puffins are still occasionally reported. 2 Tears Point for seawatching, especially if prior to your visit strong south-west winds have been blowing. Gannets and Manx Shearwaters go on feeding missions from…

MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS The vast breathing space of Dartmoor offers a range of habitats in addition to open moorland. Muscular Haytor Rocks are an iconic sight and surrounding moorland is a likely place to hear Cuckoo in late spring, and much moreÉ SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE WHERE TO WATCH 1 From the Visitor Centre car park the ground rises towards massive Haytor Rocks. The expansive moorland around Haytor is studded with scrubby gorse; scan this for Stonechat. Curlew and Lapwing breed in the surrounding area and this is one of the few places that we regularly encounter Cuckoo. This is access land and old granite tramways cross the moor in the area below Haytor. Look for Wheatear on exposed granite. Listen for Raven. In winter there…

1 Black-headed Gull by Ruth Tyrrell Camera: Canon EOS RP Lens: 24-240mm Shutter Speed: 1/2,500s Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 320 2 Sparrowhawk by Kevin Bowers Camera: Nikon D500 Lens: 150-600mm Shutter Speed: 1/800s Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 2,000 3 Black Redstart by Lindsay Hodges Camera: Nikon Coolpix P1000 Lens: 126mm Shutter Speed: 1/250s Aperture: f/5.0 ISO: 100 4 Bearded Tit by Rob Porter Camera: Panasonic DC-G9 Lens: 100-400mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,000s Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 800…

Spring in Scotland means rich wildlife potential amid rugged beauty, and you can join us there for an exclusive trip from 29 March to 3 April. Bird Watching magazine editor Matthew Merritt and assistant editor Mike Weedon will be joined by Scottish birding aficionado and UKBS editor Gordon Hamlett, to lead a week of wildlife watching, based at the lovely Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown-on-Spey. The hotel boasts high quality en suite rooms and traditional Scottish fare prepared with local ingredients, and while it takes care of bed, breakfast and dinner, we’ll provide optional guided walks, expert tips, bird quizzes, films and evening talks. From our Highland location, we’ll be within easy reach of sites such as Glenmore Forest Park, for Crested Tits and Crossbills; the Cairngorms, for Ptarmigan and…

BIRDS OF PARADISE AND BOWERBIRDS PHIL GREGORY, HELM £54.99 This latest in the Helm Identification Guide series follows the well-worn pattern that you’re probably familiar with – 41 superb colour plates of every species (by Richard Allen), with relatively short species accounts opposite that highlight all the major ID features in a variety of plumages. It probably goes without saying that the plates are particularly impressive, because this is such a colourful and vivid family of birds. There are also much longer species accounts, well illustrated with maps and photographs, that cover every aspect of description and field ID, range, taxonomy, vocalisations, habitat, breeding and eating habits, moult, and conservation status. If you’re planning a trip to Papua New Guinea or the wider South East Asia region in search of…

SOUTH WEST Highlights The Scilly Hermit Thrush (at Porth Hellick, St Mary’s) remained in place (at times showing very well) until 7 December. The Buff-bellied Pipit lingered throughout at Sennen, Cornwall. An adult Pacific Diver was seen off Penzance, Cornwall, early in the month. AVON CLEVEDON-WESTON-SUPER-MARE: A Brent Goose was at Clevedon (13th). Two Common Scoters passed Sand Point (5th). Goosanders on the Blind Yeo peaked at 19. A Marsh Harrier was seen twice at Uphill. Four Avocets were at Clevedon-Yeo and one at Uphill. Clevedon-Yeo logged 33 Grey Plovers, 3,000 Dunlin, a Yellow-legged Gull (2nd), Short-eared Owls (2nd and 17th), a Merlin, Richard’s Pipit (2nd), Lapland Bunting (1st), Spotted Redshank (2nd) and Jack Snipe (18th). Kenn Moor had 62 Snipe and two Jack Snipe. Black Redstarts were at Portishead,…