Tuesday November 19 - A false sense of security?

 If you've been birding for a number years, experience tells you when you should and shouldn't go birding.

Now that I'm retired I should be in prime position to take advantage of the signs. But somehow I'm not listening, or at least not reacting quickly enough.

What I'm talking about is the weather. Yesterday the plan was sound enough. The day dawned fairly sunny, and it was still reasonably mild, so it was not a bad day to slip into winter birding mode and go exploring pastures new.

My theory is that birds have stopped migrating and your local patch is likely to contain the same birds as it had the day before, and the day before that etcetera. 

So I tried a random area of farmland between Aston Cantlow and Newnham at the south-eastern edge of my Circle of interest. The upshot was a substantial flock of Linnets (my figure of 179 was the result of a mixture of estimation and counting odd birds), plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares, and a fly-over Yellowhammer.

Linnet

Where I went wrong was not taking my scope. Years ago checking through Linnet flocks in the hope of finding a lost Twite was worth doing, but in the last twenty years Twites have gone from very scarce to virtually non-existent locally. I need to rediscover my old optimism.

Speaking of which, this morning we woke up to snow falling and settling. The wind has shifted to the north and my birding sense should have been on red alert. To be fair, we had been tipped off that friends were dropping in. So maybe I just switched off.

Come the afternoon, our friends had gone and I slumbered, literally, maybe lulled into a false sense of security by the time of year. 

When I finally glanced at the Birdguides app it was too late. Kittiwakes were turning up on Midland reservoirs, a Great Northern Diver at Draycote, and thousands of Little Auks were streaming into the North Sea. I needed to be out there.

The hastily arranged plan was to dash to Earlswood. It sounds as though no-one was looking today, but by the time I arrived there was only half an hour's light left. Gulls were flying off to roost. I'd blown it.

Even so, two drake Goosanders were immediately obvious on Engine Pool, along with two drake Wigeon. I got to the causeway and scanned in fading light. It may well be that there really was nothing much there today, but I wish I'd been there in good time to check.

Never mind, at least there was just enough light to photograph the Goosanders (well one of them), and a remarkably approachable Grey Heron.

Sunday November 17 - Morton Bagot

It's starting to feel a lot like winter. Not so much the weather, more the birds. Nevertheless today proved you can still have an excellent day's birding locally.

It was a largely sunny morning and I was joined by Dave for a stroll around the patch. We had no real expectations of the day, and were quite pleased when we spotted an immature Peregrine  on one of the pylons.

We had reached the area favoured by the ringers and could see that they had erected lots of well-stocked feeders. There was no sign of any actual ringers though, and this was a pity because we flushed two Hawfinches from a hedge right next to one of the feeders. The birds then perched above the small pool and we realised what they were. They disappeared again, but not for long. We found them in a birch a few metres beyond. Close enough for some photos.

The male Hawfinch

The other Hawfinch (thought to be female)

It seems very likely that these were the two birds we saw in flight last weekend. After a few minutes they flew off and after a brief search we resumed our circuit.

An alarmed Blackbird led us to a roosting Tawny Owl, once again the same bird as the one several days ago.

The remainder of the morning brought a steady procession of the regulars, the best being three Yellowhammers flying over, a pair of Red Kites, and two Stonechats.

We eventually accumulated 52 species, which was definitely above par.

Earlier in the week I had paid a visit to Earlswood Lakes, concentrating particularly on Windmill Pool and the scrublands beyond. The latter area produced a calling Water Rail which was an Earlswood tick, and fifty Siskins.

A brief look at Engine Pool proved worthwhile when I noticed a colour-ringed Black-headed Gull among the 170 or so gulls present.

I've submitted the details to the BTO Euring project, and have not yet received news of where it was ringed. However Matt G thinks he may have seen the same gull and believes it was ringed abroad. It could be a while before I find out its origin.

PS: Many thanks to Mike Wakeman for his help with the ring. The bird was ringed in Poland. Further details will follow in due course.

Wednesday November 13 - Morton Bagot

I've always considered myself to be a birder who takes photographs and not a photographer who takes shots of birds. This may seem a subtle distinction, but it's quite fundamental. Looked at from my perspective it means is that I go birding and if the photos I post aren't very good, well that's just the way its going to be. I set my camera onto auto (birdwatching) and off I go.

Occasionally I'm tempted to try to up my game. I'll read another blog with detailed instructions on what to do, and try to follow them.

The Whooper Swan shots were taken following such advice, notwithstanding that it was pointed out that other settings would be needed for flight shots.

This morning I was keen to try again, this time at Morton Bagot. It happened to be a sunny day, so what could go wrong?

Well something did, because my resulting photos all seem over-exposed. Fortunately there was very little to see, so my dreadful shot of a late (for Morton Bagot) Chiffchaff didn't really matter. To be fair the bird was not giving me much chance. Thank goodness it wasn't a Yellow-browed Warbler.

But even when birds did sit in full view, I was a bit disappointed by the results. Reed Buntings are usually pretty co-operative, and I've no complaints about this one.

The original shot looks terrible in the back of the camera, but can be rescued to a point on the computer.

When I got to the flash field I tried photographing the Teal flock and they came out perfectly sharp but with gleaming over-exposed breasts. I then tried with the camera on auto and the breasts were less bright, but the birds were more out of focus. I guess I need to keep trying.

However, a Cormorant which showed very well indeed was taken with the camera on auto, and it looks fine to me.

One thing I much prefer with the auto setting is that there is no camera noise, bleeps and clicks, at all when you press the shutter.

Incidentally I wondered whether this Cormorant could be identified as the race sinensis rather than the "British" carbo. My feeling is that the key feature, the angle of the rear end of the gular patch, is intermediate between the two. This could mean that the bird is a hybrid between the two races, which given that most of the inland breeding Cormorants are thought to be the continental sinensis would not be too much of a surprise.

Tuesday November 12 - Whoopers and Hawfinches from the garden!

 This stay at home birding could catch on. This morning I noticed a flock of 60 Woodpigeons flying south, so decided to station myself on our front drive in case something else turned up. There were a few Redwings and Fieldfares, but not much really until two Hawfinches flew west quite low, and I thought there was a good chance they'd land in the trees along Coster's Lane. So I grabbed my camera and went off in pursuit.

Ten minutes later I was returning empty-handed, but just as I reached our Close I spotted a flock of swans heading south-east over Winyates Green. They were certainly wild Swans and I had my camera to hand. Perfect.

I'm going for Whooper Swans on account of their long necks and triangular head shape. Also there are still only two Bewick's Swans at Slimbridge.

One of the birds has a damaged right wing, probably as a result of someone taking a pot shot at it rather than moult. 

I've tried zooming in on the computer at home, but it didn't add much detail.

I'd like to check Morton Bagot, but we're expecting a district nurse today so I have to stay in. Lyn is making good progress.

Sunday November 10 - Morton Bagot

I arrived at Morton Bagot ten minutes later than intended, but this tardiness resulted in Dave and I being in the right place at the right time to see two Hawfinches fly past, apparently bound for Clouse Wood. They were literally the first birds we saw as we stood around chatting and generally catching up. 

It started out another grey day with hardly any wind and a hint of mizzle in the air. This probably explains why, despite a decent morning's birding, the camera barely got any use at all.

Highlights after the Hawfinches included at least two and possibly four Yellowhammers, an adult Common Gull flying south (the first here this year), a Brambling flying south (the first here this year), and at least 40 Skylarks heading over at height. The first two Yellowhammers were actually perched in a hedge, a reminder of the days when they were common here.

It was generally a day with lots of birds flying out of cover or heading over. These included probably 100 Redwings and Fieldfares as well as double-figure estimates of Song Thrushes and Blackbirds many of which are very likely to be from northern Europe, a good smattering of finches including double figure counts of Linnets, Goldfinches, Reed Buntings, and Redpolls, and we noted the continued presence of at least two Stonechats.

The flash field and scrapes were slightly less productive, although the Green Sandpiper remains, and we counted 65 Teal, which was a decent count.

I really like early November, it's often really good for birds, but you know that in a couple more weeks the patch will be at its quietest as almost everything that made today exciting will have moved on.

Friday November 8 - A morning of surprises

 I had a definite plan for this morning. Part one was to be at St Mary's churchyard near Studley shortly after dawn in the hope that the Yews there will have attracted some Hawfinches, as they did in the last influx.

I was stuck with the same cloudy gloom that has characterised the last ten days, but at least there was very little breeze again. Sadly I was not able to find any Hawfinches, only Goldfinches, Chaffinches and a Greenfinch. But there was still a surprise or two in store.

Looking out towards the river valley I spotted a flock of ducks approaching, and it turned out that they were 23 Goosanders. The flock split, half returning downstream and the rest going upstream. A little later a single drake Goosander appeared from the north, and may well have been a new bird. Shortly after that I was under the cover of the trees when I heard the mournful call of a Golden Plover several times. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that this was a year-tick.

Back home to help Lyn rise to face the day I was staring out of the bedroom window when, irony of ironies, a Hawfinch flew passed. It wasn't a garden tick thanks to the last invasion year, but was welcome nonetheless.

Part two of the plan was to go to Morton Bagot to check out the area I had not had time to visit on Tuesday. At the flash field there were no real surprises, unless you count a single Wigeon which lurked behind the flock of 39 Teal. I also saw a few Snipe, Lapwings, and Greylag Geese.

Moving on to the scrape field I flushed a few more Snipe but didn't try hard enough to find any Jack Snipe. I also found a pair of Stonechats and flushed a Green Sandpiper.

But lady luck wasn't yet completely done with me. A flock of Woodpigeons emerged from the north side of Bannams Wood, and I know enough to make sure I raise my binoculars to look at them. Sure enough a Goshawk was in hot pursuit of one particular pigeon allowing an assessment of the size of the Gos to be made. It was clearly larger than the Woodpigeon, I would say about 15% bigger, which would make it a male Goshawk as females are larger still. I did attempt a photo, but it was too far away and the resulting image was of no use and will not be shown here.

Wednesday November 6 - Morton Bagot

 When the ringers tipped me off that they would be ringing at Morton Bagot this morning, I was keen to join them in the hope that the Hawfinch might reappear.

So I spent a couple of hours hanging around Tony, Leigh, and Ida as they patiently ringed whatever they could catch. Unfortunately the Hawfinch failed to put in an appearance, but on a gloomy misty morning there were plenty of thrushes in the hedgerows to keep us optimistic.

Only a small proportion of the Redwings and none of the Fieldfares (by the time I had to leave) had found their way into the nets, but I estimated there were 40 Redwings and 30 Fieldfares plus smaller numbers of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes keeping things lively.

Unfortunately there didn't seem to be much overhead passage going on, and all I could come up with was a Peregrine which flew to a more distant pylon while we were there.

Eventually I decided to take a stroll down the hedge before heading for home. This paid off when plinking Blackbirds led me to a sleepy Tawny Owl. Since the regular tree has been abandoned I've found it hard to see this species and this was only my second sighting here this year.

I only got as far as the scrapes (and didn't even check them) before my conscience got the better of me and I headed back home. There was at least a Stonechat visible on the hedge there.

The ringers' update is as follows:

Overnight Tony caught a Woodcock, two Redwings, and a Linnet.

Today's mist-netting produced:

Blue Tit 8 (6 retraps)

Great Tit 5 (2 retraps)

Wren 1

Redwing 2

Blackbird 1

Bullfinch 3

Lesser Redpoll 6

Goldfinch 2

Reed Bunting 1