Worth the wait

Sometimes you look for years for an opportunity and one day it just comes along almost as though it never really mattered.
Andrew (thank you buddy) had told me about a small colony of Black Guillemot he had seen nesting in a busy costal town on the west coast of Scotland a few years ago and I was keen to see if they were still there.
They were … in small numbers. Previously I had encountered Black Guillemot distantly from boats or sat on the sea offshore. These beautiful birds with their contrasting plumage were now within feet of me. Such a treat to be able to see and photograph them so close.
Several were courting … chasing and whistling at one another; completely oblivious to me. In the bright sunshine set against a seabed lit with so many colours they looked enchanting.

Always check

Some years ago I received a phone call from a local farmer asking me if I wanted to come along and see the colourful parrot he had flying around his farm yard. Having a lot of work on at the time I was not endeared to travelling the five miles to the farm just to see an escaped cage bird but politely said I would call the next time I was in the area. Seven days on I called and was treated to some stunning photos of a Bee eater… which had of course long since departed.

Since that occasion I have always followed up on phone calls reporting something odd. Yesterday I received such a call.

Helen Stibbons, a lady who lives down in the village, had seen an odd looking starling visiting her bird feeders during the past few days. She had the foresight to check the Collins guide concluding her visitor was a young Rose coloured Starling, but wanted the sighting verified as she wasn’t sure.

Rose coloured Starling is a rare visitor to Norfolk so I was more than a little sceptical but went as soon as I got the message. Talking to Helen she volunteered the bird was quite pale and had a yellow bill – in truth it sounded good.

It didn’t take long to track the starling down and sure enough it was a moulting juvenile Rose coloured Starling. A great find for Helen, a very good local patch tick and somewhat of a refreshing change from indecipherable, short staying Philosophus and Sylvia Warblers.

on the crest

The forests of the Alps are not so different to those of Scotland give or take a Pygmy Owl or two. Amid the darkness of the pines the familiar form of Crested Tits materialised. We see these little sprites on our tours to Scotland. Having sightings each year they are indeed familiar, but yet they still quicken my pulse; such a wonderful sight.

The little ‘Cresties’ are seemingly well designed … having a hat in such a cold climate has to be an advantage … doesn’t it?

2011

I am writing this post at Falcon Cottage before Christmas. When it is published I shall be on my way back from Austria. Sat on a plane on the last day of December will give me adequate time to review the year in detail; but if you were to ask me what was the best moment of 2011 there would be a lot to choose from.

Even though there were many that rank highly such as the  with Scottish Crossbills, Ptarmigan and Minke Whales in Scotland. Despite some memorable sightings on day tours such as the Rough legged Buzzard we saw eating a large rat and the tame Daurian Shrike we had at arms length; there can only be one encounter I find myself constantly reliving.

In March, at sea in the Indian Ocean, seeing the sea part as the largest animal on the planet surfaced. The sound of it expelling breath ten metres into the air. Nothing can compare.

Happy New Year.

 

Mystery Bird December

The long sharp bill of the Mystery bird for November indicated it was obviously a diver. There are five species of diver on the British list; White Billed, Great Northern, Black throated, Red throated and a recent addition the Pacific Diver.

White Billed has … surprisingly enough … a white bill lacking the dark ridge to the upper mandible that this diver shows.

Black throated and Pacific both show a bill that is more ‘dagger like’ without the substantial upturn of the lower mandible shown by this individual. The bird is therefore a Red throated or Great Northern. The black and white appearance of the head lacking in grey tones and having a very bumpy appearance all point to Great Northern. The barred pattern of the mantle just visible is indicative of a juvenile bird  and in fact this first winter Great Northern Diver was photographed at Whitlingham Country Park near Norwich in January 2010. Another photo of the same bird is reproduced below. The first correct answer was once again from Nicole and Andrew Bergum. Well done you two. Now we all have the hang of this we’ll be operating a different system from this months competition and we’ll be looking for the most correct consecutive answers during 2012 ending in December 2012. We may include things other than birds too! In the event of a tie there will be a draw for the winner. Entry to the competition may be made at any time throughout the year and for a bit of fun I’m offering a prize to the winner.

This December’s mystery photograph is also of a water bird and is shown below. Submit your answers to carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk

Caution

A long awaited South Easterly came from the  continent yesterday. Through the night it brought rain and today I expected it to bring birds. I had to wait until late this afternoon to get away from the laptop and telephone to start a search of local likely spots. The sun was almost setting and the wind had increased through the day dramatically. The Willow at the top of the garden was straining in the gusts. There were a few more birds around notably more Goldcrest than of late but no migrants of real note. However I did find a Chinese Water Deer in a sheltered spot on the lea side of the large wood over the road

She was feeding on freshly sprouted Winter Wheat and normally would have been able to hear danger approaching but the noise of the wind in the trees changed all that. She ate a little and constantly looked up. She was very cautious.

 

Superb Spoons

I suspect the Spoonbills have bred in Norfolk again this year. Keep your eyes open for juvenile birds.

Younger birds have black in the wingtips up until their fourth year so they are easy to distinguish from the adults. The more black the younger the bird. Young birds have little or no plumes with no yellow in the plumage which only develops in their fourth spring. The amount of yellow in the bill is very variable but first year birds have generally pinkish bills and lighter grey legs which become black by the fourth year.

Finally if you get close enough the iris of younger birds is brownish becoming intensely red by the time the bird reaches its third birthday.

That Pipit

Thank you to everyone who commented on the Mystery bird post last week. Let’s put it rest.

If you have been reading the blog you will know I’ve been posting a good number of photos from Sri Lanka of late. I’ve been sorting out the ones I took in March while I’ve been off my feet. It would be a reasonable assumption that the photo of the pipit was one I’d taken in Sri Lanka; and indeed it was.

A Google search will reveal there are four pipits that regularly occur in Sri Lanka. Three of them are known to occur in the UK; Blyth’s Pipit, Richards Pipit and Olive backed Pipit. The fourth, Paddyfield Pipit has never been known to occur in the UK.

The smallest pipit; Olive backed (formerly called Indian Tree Pipit) is easily eliminated as it has a supercillium that extends well back over the eye and is cut by the dark eye stripe so it leaves a ‘teardrop’ or pale spot behind and below the eye. Our pipit does not have this. The three larger pipits are more difficult to separate as they are quite similar.

Blyth’s and Richards Pipits both have pale lores (the area between the eye and the bill), but our bird has darker lores. Also if you blow up the picture you will see our bird has an exceptionally short hind claws; those of Blyths and Richards are longer. This bird is a Paddyfield Pipit. This is a very simplified ID but of course it helps if you heard it call!!

Many years ago I spent quite some time with an ex-rarity committee member on the Isles of Scilly and he shared his thoughts that some of the pipits we were finding in autumn just might turn out to be this species. Possible? Who knows?

Caught unawares

Sometimes when you least expect something, it happens. You can try for all your worth to find something and you can’t find it and then all of its own accord it turns up and slaps you in the face, as if to chastise you for not looking hard enough, as though it had been there all along and you had overlooked it … and so it was today.

I had been warned by more than one person that the new garden would be good for migrants but I didn’t expect something quite so good so soon.

It was one of those moments when you are physically and mentally challenged. When you buy a home there is always the remnants of the last occupiers to remove. My grandfather used to call it ‘mucking out’. So picture if you will a pair of struggling individuals engaged in battle with a rolled up carpet being conveyed to the back of the garden to be skipped. Couple the weight and the cumbersome shape with a wind that was forcing hedgerows over to forty five degrees and you have the scene. Within the mêlée a familiar sound took it’s time to register through my concentration. It was a party of long tailed tits. I peered above the axminster perched on my shoulder in the direction of the high pitched contact calls. Long tailed Tit is a new ‘new garden’ tick, I needed to see one! There they were; draped like Christmas baubles in the swaying sycamore. I was instantly struck by the luminescence of at least one of the long tailed tits. It had a head of pure white. It shone out like a beacon in the dull light. No camera, no bins only a very old carpet to hand. It was at this point the floor covering was thrown to the ground and I walked briskly towards the tree. There were two Continental Long tailed Tits in a flock of ten. No sooner they were there than they heading off south along the hedgerow and away…

“Come in the evening or come in the morning.

Come when you’re looked for, or come without warning”

THOMAS OSBOURNE DAVIS

The Damn Weather

After a busy few months I now have a few days respite due to the weather.

Our North Sea Pelagic for seabirds and cetaceans was scheduled for this weekend. The forecasted force 8 Northerlies for tomorrow over the Dogger Bank mean I had to make a number of phone calls yesterday evening to some disappointed individuals. I was speaking to some gutted people. I felt for them; but safety is paramount. The skipper’s decision was we didn’t sail, and that has to be respected. Further Pelagics are pending.

As I sit here on the sofa talking to the world via my laptop I can hear the sea through the open window; crashing on the beach half a mile away. She’s calling me. I shall be there on Sheringham front tomorrow morning waiting for the winds to bring their fare close to shore. Searching the skyline for a Cory’s or a Long tailed Skua. Longing for something rarer  … but it’s not the same as being feet from Dolphins and Shearwaters out at sea … is it?

“I pass with relief from the tossing sea of cause and theory to the firm ground of result and fact” – Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Now what the hell do I do with a dustbin full of rather smelly chum?