To say that this was the best year in my birding life is probably not quite true, but it will certainly be up there as one of the top years. The year saw me tick one of my most wanted 'British' birds and had some memorable moments. This blog will see me summarise my thousands of photo's in just 186 and for a change will feature not just the birding highlights but also some other forms of the natural world as well. I hope you enjoy this little review as much as I have enjoyed this year. In January I started off the year on 205 species on my British life list and setting my self the target of 180 species for the year along with the potential of at least 15 lifers/ British ticks and sure enough for a change I have surpassed both of these targets. January was however a rather poor month despite some good birds deciding to stick around. One such bird was the American Horned Lark at Staines reservoir which became my 3rd lifer of the year after ticking American Wigeon and Lesser Scaup the weekend before. Above: American Horned Lark (still haven't seen a Shore Lark which is the British equivalent) Later on in the month I was able to make a trip to Walthamstow Reservoirs to see another long stayer in the face of a Little Bunting. I have to admit that this bird took some grit and determination as it finally showed after 3 hours of standing in the freezing cold just weeks after watching 5 in the Canary Islands in the searing heat. This bird was one of 3 British Ticks that day. The others being superb Red-crested Pochard and Goldeneye. With the later actually being a lifer. Above: I don't know what it is, but there is something quite magical about a Little Bunting. Next up back on patch in the Totteridge Valley February was a great month with the re-emergence of the Autumns Hawfinch flock and they became regulars up until the middle of April. Above: Hawfinch That monstrous finch wasn't the only thing that lit up the valley after all right at the end of the month the 'Beast from the East' struck for a week long the valley turned a stunning white. This weather was however most notable for the shear amount of birds it displaced. Everyday for a week hundreds and thousands of Lapwing, and Fieldfare were seen flying South West in desperate search of food pretty much countrywide. This was really poor for the Lapwing due to the fact it was just at the point that they normally return to breed and therefor no doubt hundreds if not thousands would have perished in the harsh conditions. Elsewhere a large displacement of Woodcock was also noted bringing in a record count to the valley. Above: One of the many displaced Lapwing On into March and the Totteridge Valley delivered once again as a bird that I had described as being 'Pale with strong eye liner' on the 20th of February finally gave me good enough views on the 3rd time of asking on the 14th of March to confirm it as my first ever Garganey and the first in the valley since 1974 and for this summer visitor it might just be a record earliest date for this species in the London area, but I need to check this one. Above: Garganey What happened next was a repeat performance of April last year with my 3rd ever Red-legged Partridge in my almost 10 years of recording the species I see in my garden. Above: Red-legged partridge Back into the valley and it was now getting more attention than ever before with a reliable day flying Barn Owl, Woodcock, and the Garganey drawing attention of some of the country's top birders and during the second 'Beast from the East' the valleys earliest Wheatear turned up at Folly Farm and stayed long enough for me to connect with this fine male. A Snipe was also a much needed patch tick as was the pair of Raven which started to frequent the area. Above: Snipe Below: The chunky version (i.e a Woodcock) Above: Barn Owl I now bring you to the last day of term and as soon as I stepped out of the final assembly before the Easter Holidays I checked my phone to see a report of one of my most wanted British Birds. Just under an hour after coming out of school a bus, a tonne of running, and 2 tube's later I made it to Walthamstow Reservoirs and was soon put onto the little beauty which was the Male White-spotted Bluethroat. This was one of my birding highlights of the year as this colourful little Robin sized bird hopped around in front of the mass of London Birders that had gathered including many familiar faces. At one stage a fox got rather close for comfort, but in the end resulted to trying to grab a sandwich from someone's bag. The safety of this little gem was ensured, however it disappeared overnight. Above: White-Spotted Bluethroat Below: Red Fox After this the Hawfinch saga in the Totteridge Valley took another turn with the flock finally being pinned down by Tony and in the end a massive count of 46 individuals was made as they headed to roost. This is some record and honestly one that I don't think will be beaten for many years to come. Above: Hawfinch The local Kingfishers unusually performed well for me along the Dollis Brook and gave me my best ever view of what is my most favourite British Bird. Above: Kingfisher Next onto unusual visitors elsewhere with a flock of 24 Brent Geese heading down river at Rainham mid month is the largest I have seen away from their usual wintering ground and also a fine adult Med Gull is something that I couldn't pass by. Above: To think that this flock came through at my eye level and this was all I manged to get of them is actually quite shocking. Below: Adult Med Gull Other highlights from April where mainly from my garden and this included the first Brambling, a fine Male and also the Male Blackcap stayed later enough to be joined by four summer migrants and one such bird decided that the feeders were too busy and joined the Stock Doves on the ground instead. I have to admit that this is one of my most favourite photo's of the year. Above: Male Brambling Below: Stock Dove with one of the Male Blackcap Now onto my first non avian highlight of the year and this one is from Totteridge yet again and it comes in the form of a flower. This year in mid April we were treated to a bumper crop of Snake's-head Fritillary and in the odd occasion when it was sunny it was an absolutely stunning sight. Above: Snake's-head Fritillary Another rather odd Totteridge Valley highlight from later on in April is that for the last two years a large amount of the local Parakeets have been descending into the local fields to graze the grass. Sometimes there are as many as 40 birds doing this and honestly it is quite clever as what they are actually doing is gobbling up the sea heads of the grass and other 'weeds'. Above: Grazing Ring-necked Parakeets Now onto May when study leave saw me stay locally during the month due to the revision that A Levels require and thus all the next highlights are from the valley during various times of the month. Ducklings always have to be a highlight and some rather tame Mallard Ducklings became quite obliging the more they got used to my presence and one of them still waddles over every time I go and visit. I can proudly say that after two nests last year this year there was an amazing 11 nest with 22 birds present throughout the breeding season making it an impressive year for the closest Rook colony to central London. Spring migrants in Totteridge are usually few and far between however this year both Whinchat and Wheatear were numerous towards the far end of the month with the ploughed field at Folly Farm providing the best opportunity of encountering these rather late and tired migrants. Above: Mallard Ducklings Below: Rook, this is one of very few sites in London where you can see Rook all year round. Above: Male Whinchat Below: Male Wheatear Above: Female Wheatear The rest of May was as dry Hot and steamy as the rest of the month and as such it became a brilliant month for the local Raptors with Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Hobby, Peregrine, Common Buzzard, and Red Kite all seen. It also became a great month for Dragonflies including a first Broad-bodied Chaser for the area. Above: Broad-bodied Chaser Below: Common Buzzard Above: Red Kite Now onto June where the first day of the month provided another spectacular moment in the Totteridge Valley with the reappearance of several Firecrest in the valley suggesting that there may have been a few pairs that bred in the area. Above: Firecrest June then very quickly became an unforgettable month as my A levels finished and a wrath of free time became apparent. A trip to Thursley Common Saw my an awesome encounter with one of the local Darties and some more local trips ensured that I had a good array of Species including my first ever Black-necked Grebes and a few other bonus's along the way. Above: Dartford Warbler at Thursley Common Below: Syrphus sp... probably ribesii (Thank you Howard) Above: Summer Plumaged Black-necked Grebe Below: London Tick in the shape of a Barnacle Goose at Aldenham CP Right at the very end of June when the birding usually dies down a very unexpected message popped up on my twitter feed suggesting that two Long-tailed Ducks had turned up at Walthamstow Reservoirs and so 45 minutes later I to was there. I think I must have spent around 2 hours watching these ducks as they dived for food and then swam over to the side and then proceed to have a nap. Its not often you see these birds so close so it was a privilege and another superb highlight of the year. Above: Long-tailed Ducks Below: Great Crested Grebe (It was asking for a photo) June slowly turned into July and thus the birding slowed down as per usual to nothing more than a snails pace and thus most of my July Highlights feature the essence of fluttering Butterflies including the Imperial Majesty himself... Above: Small Tortoiseshell Below: Ringlet (A new species for me) Above: At almost the same size as a Monarch the Purple Emperor is a Butterfly which holds its territory for around two to three weeks around the beginning of July and can be found on the tallest trees overlooking valleys giving them the best chance of finding a female. The colony in Totteridge is a newly found one and it would appear as though it is quite well established. Above: Gatekeeper Below: a bumper year for the Marbled White, which rather interestingly is a member of the Brown family. A rather odd birding highlight of July was finding a Juvenile Little Ringed Plover on the board walk near the toilet block at Rainham Marshes confirming that breeding had occurred successfully at the marshes again this year. Now onto another trip to Walthamstow Reservoirs this time just to see what was about and do some general birding. However apart from near 1000 Tufted Duck the main highlights were the young Mute Swans as well as my first ever Banded Demoiselle. Above: Male Banded Demoiselle Below: Juvenile Mute Swans The warm weather continued and unfortunately we go from the cute to the serious. Although not quite as devastating as the Wanstead fires 5 separate Fires broke out in the Totteridge Valley during the course of the summer and the one that Elliot and I stumbled across one evening was by far the worse, especially as the fire brigade had to lug water 1 mile from where their truck was parked to quench the flames. The Warm weather did however keep the insane amount of Butterflies in the up and about with probably at the peak somewhere close to 1000 Purple Hairstreak butterflies about. Above: Purple Hairstreak Below: Common Blue Rainham Marshes produced yet again with a staggering 42 Yellow-legged Gulls seen towards the end of July along with large numbers of Holly Blue Butterflies and Jersey Tiger Moths. Above: Juv Yellow-legged Gull Below: Jersey Tiger Above: Holly Blue's Next up was a belated birthday treat to a reserve that I had always wanted to visit. RSPB Minsmere. I am going to let the photo's describe this one as it was just magical! Above: Med Gull Below: Barn Swallow Above: Six-Spot Burnet Below: Turtle Dove Above: Adder Below: Kittiwake and Sandwich Tern Above: Summer Plumaged Spotted Redshank Below: Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Med Gull, and Avocet your typical Minsmere Scene. Above: White Admiral Below: Sunrise Avocets = Magic Above: Small Copper Next up was my trip to America which was filled with 85 species of birds of which 30 I hadn't seen before which is quite something. As well as this Butterflies were everywhere with some absolute stunners. So below is a very brief run through from the trip. If I had to pick one moment that stood out it would have to have been when the Bald Eagle nearly took out both my Dad and I as it dived into the river beside us to catch a fish. What a moment and what a bird... Above: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Below: Cicada what an ugly beast Above: Turkey Vulture Below: Red Spotted Purple Above: Unfortunately it would appear that my original id of this bird was wrong and as such this bird actually was my first American Warbler. With this rather drab fall plumaged Chestnut-sided Warbler Below: Red-shouldered Hawk Above: Spicebush Swallowtail Below: Hummingbird Clear-wing Moth Above: Sanderling and Willet Below: Sanderling and Semipalmated Sandpiper Above: Least Tern Below: Osprey (This was also a major highlight of the trip seeing well over 100 birds in Cape Cod. They really were everywhere. I guess I am still in shock at just how common they are there.) Above: Juv House Finch Below: Red-winged Blackbird Now back to the UK where he heatwave hadn't really let up which is quite unusual. Rainham Marshes provided me with some first in the shape of Brown Argus which I then found in Totteridge and also Several Willow Emerald Damselflies a now rapidly increasing species in the UK. Above: Brown Argus Below: Willow Emerald The rest of August was relatively poor for pretty much everything with an odd Autumn migration starting to occur with a complete lack of anything moving. This is perhaps due to the still warm settled weather meaning there was just no need for species to hurry this year as food was still plentiful. As such Totteridge which usually has a great Autumnal track record fell short and it was the first year in at least 10 that no Redstart, Tree Pipit, or Whinchat were recorded. Very few Warblers moved through and very few Wheatear. Spotted Flycatchers moved through though and they showed exceptionally well this year. And when Tony told me that a large gull was flying through I was surprised for this to turn very quickly into an omg moment. With an Osprey flying at about tree height over the Owl field. Above: Spotted Flycatcher Below: Osprey Above: Small Copper The first week of September I decided to head up to Spurn to try my luck there, however it was equally as dismal here. However I still managed to clock up some top notch species including Pied Flycatchers and a Common Rosefinch which was one of those moments that you go to Spurn for, the thrill and excitement of finding something new. Above: one of the many Pied Flycatchers Below: One of very few Wheatear there should be over 50 at Spurn at this time of year, however the best day count was 4 this year. Above: Common Rosefinch, its not the prettiest bird in the world which is why it is often referred to as Grotfinch by many birders. Below: Greenshank After the Spurn trip I had one week left to bird the valley before heading to uni and sure enough Totteridge delivered yet again with a record breaking 50+ flock of Yellow Wagtails in and amongst the cows and this drawing in a Blue-headed Wagtail which is one of the many European Subspecies of Yellow Wagtail. Above: Juv Yellow Wagtail Below: Blue-headed Wagtail The heatwave continued along the south coast for much of the rest of September, October and just about into November. I have actually been able to work out that in the three months I have been at uni it has rained 13 times some of which were quite spectacular, however that shows just how dry it has been. Due to this dry weather I was able to encounter more Butterlies in the shape of Clouded Yellow and Wall Brown as well as stumbling upon a Sand Lizard as well. Above: Clouded Yellow Below: Wall Brown Above: Sand Lizard The birding highlights down along the south coast have been amazing from Spotted Flycatchers at Arne to rather showy Kingfisher and Wheatear at Hengistbury Head. A rather surprise discovery in the second week of uni was a local rarity in the form of a Turtle Dove which should have been long gone by then. Instead it was with a flock of Collared Dove at Hengistbury Head. An interesting Acro Warbler a couple of days later was unfortunately presumed to be nothing more than a late Reed Warbler. Above: Spotted Flycatcher Below: Wheatear Above: One of the many Kingfishers I have seen since arriving in Dorset. This moment was pure gold as it sat there for several minutes. Below: One of the many Obliging Stonechat. Above: Turtle Dove Below: Acro Warbler sp With visible migration very slow along the south coast I decided to make the most of a visit home to head to Totteridge at the end of November. This was rewarded with 2 days of colossal movement of birds. This included 1000's of Woodpigeons and 100's of Redwing, Fieldfare, Chaffinch and even a few rarities including Brambling, Redpoll and 2 Ring Ouzel which ended the almost 3 year drought for the valley. Above: Woodpigeon Below: Thrushes Above: one of three flocks of Cormorant which migrated over the valley smashing all previous day records. Back to uni now where at Halloween I finally saw the Ghost of the bird world in the shame of an adult Male Hen Harrier. It was an amazing sight to watch this Blue bird with Black wing tips glide effortlessly through the valley flushing Fieldfare left right and centre. What a bird and to think that it looked like a paper bag drifting through on the breeze at first, hopefully I will be able to head out and see this Hen Harrier again sometime soon. Above: The essence of the Male Hen Harrier After this the rest of the year slowed down pace and although it wasn't the worse illness I have ever had not being able to hear very much a feeling rather deflated meant that my birding time was very limited. I did however manage to see my first Eider, and have excellent views of Great Northern Diver, Goldeneye, Mandarin Ducks and also Brent Geese around Poole Park and Baiter Park. Above: Mandarin Duck Below: Female Eider Above: Goosander Below: Displaying Goldeneye Above: Red-breasted Mergansers Below: Summer Plumage Great Northern Diver Above: Brent Geese And so I finished the year on 192 species which was 12 more than my target and included 18 British Ticks and several lifers. With my British Life list now sitting at 223 species my target for 2019 is to try and reach 230 species and beat my year list total which is going to be quite hard I feel.
Looking ahead to the new year I have quite a few exciting things lined up including my placement with the Urban Nightjar Project this summer. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I wish all those reading this all the best for 2019. Happy New Year and thank you for reading! *warning blogpost is really long and must not be read in one go.
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I have to admit that this was my first proper days birding since November as I have been quite under the weather and therefor I was excited to be able to head out and well lets just say I might have been a little too eager. The reason for this is that I actually made it to Purfleet station while it was still dark. This wasn't too much of a problem though as by the time I had trundled along to the river wall the sun was just starting to appear from over the Dartford Crossing. Bird wise the Thames was largely empty however a few Black-headed Gulls were moving down river against the tide along with some of the larger Gull species. A couple of Teal also put on a good show close in however the thing that really got my attention was the shear amount of Lapwing which were about with at least 300 birds sitting on the other side of the river. I continued along the river wall and headed up to Aveley Bay to see what was about on the incoming tide and to also see if there were any Short-eared Owls out and about. The bushes along the River wall were full of Thrushes with Redwing, Fieldfare and Blackbirds gorging on the berry crop. A good amount of Pipits were feeding along the lower path with Meadow Pipits, 4 Rock Pipit and 2 Water Pipit being a pretty decent count. A few Jackdaw and rather strangely the only Linnet of the day also flew past calling. When I arrived at Aveley Bay the most notable thing was the increase of Wigeon and Teal since the last time I had been. A Few Redshank and Shelduck were about and a flock of 22 Avocet was a decent surprise. Then all of a sudden the Lapwing on the other side of the Thames erupted and flew in my direction heading for the safety of the reserve only for a Female Marsh Harrier to appear behind them leisurely cruising across the Thames. Above: Teal Below: Avocet, Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck, Redshank, Black-headed Gull. Above: Drake Wigeon Below: Drake Teal Above: Avocet, Shelduck, Wigeon Below: Thrushes in the morning light (Redwing and Fieldfare) I have to admit that there is something truly captivating about watching a flock of Avocet feeding as they swish their head from side to side trying to get to their food shifting through the mud. After this I headed back to the reserve and upon arrive I was quite surprised to find an empty visitor centre. The next hour was spent looking over Howard's Gambia photos which honestly are well worth a look especially if your a fan of colourful birds. I must admit that in the future I would be tempted to make a trip out that way to see the Egyptian Plover, or one of the Glossy Starling species as well as Bee-eaters, Rollers, Sunbirds and more. In fact it was whilst looking through Howards holiday photos that an Egyptian Goose flew past the window heading out onto the Thames and marks a species that he didn't manage to catch up with in its native range. Now that I think about it I haven't got a clue why the Egyptian Goose has Egypt in its name with only a very small proportion of its native range in Egypt with majority found across Southern African countries and in parts of Central Africa. It is only found in the Southern Parts of Egypt in the rich Nile Valleys. So would a better name be the African Goose? As for the European population it is made up of Escaped captive birds that were released as early as the 18th Century. (A small bit of reading up around the Egyptian Goose suggest that it gets its name as it was believed to be a sacred bird by the Ancient Egyptians and thus it appears in a lot of their artwork... Interesting!) Back to Rainham now and I headed out onto the reserve and had a quick scan of Purfleet scrape. Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Canada Geese and Greylags were the most common species here along with at least 10 Pintail. A couple of Black-tailed Godwit were on one of the islands and Common Snipe already appeared to be quite numerous. A few Curlew were also feeding in the fields at the back of the pools as well. I then headed to the woodland where a Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling loudly from a large oak tree. Otherwise it was mainly quiet. A few Redwing were dotted around along with a roving Tit flock, but at the end of the day it was the festive robins that were the most obliging. Above: Long-tailed Tit Below: Robin I then headed up to the woodland bird feeders where the first Reed Bunting of the day was had along with Chaffinch, Great Tits and Blue Tits. A Cetti's Warbler sang from the reeds near the troll bridge however apart from that it was a relatively quiet walk round to the Ken Barret hide after that. From the Ken Barret Hide although there wasn't too much about there were a good array of species on show, with Coot, Mallard, Teal, Moorhen and a Pochard. Off to the right hand side of the hide were 7 Common Snipe. It actually interesting to note that there is actually quite a lot of difference between the face pattern of this species which isn't something that I have noticed before. Above: Coot Below: Common Snipe - note the difference in face pattern between the two. Above: Lapwing Just before I left the hide I noticed that there were 3 Marsh Harriers up distantly over Wennington and it was interesting to note that all 3 were males. Moving on I headed to Aveley Pools to see what was about and to be honest apart from the roosting Lapwing and the colossal amount of Greylags and Canada Geese there wasn't an awful lot. A good sized group of Coot and Shoveler were feeding off to the right hand side and some Tufted Duck and Pochard were diving for food in the middle of the pool. A few Common Gull were also dotted about, before a female Marsh Harrier flew in and perched at the back of the pools over looking the geese and a female Stonechat was also about. Above: Marsh Harrier overlooking the Coot, Canada Geese, and Greylag. Next I headed up to the Butt's Hide and had a look out onto Butt's Scrape. Here around 100 each of Wigeon and Teal were to be had alongside much smaller numbers of Tufties, Coot, and Pochard. A Pintail was also present. From the other side of the hide a winter spectacle was to be seen. Everywhere you looked the pools were carpeted by the familiar sight of Lapwing. There must have been over 1000 birds there and when they took to the air it was a truly wonderful sight with the twisting and turning acrobatic display before eventually being given the all clear and slowly floating down to take their place feeding, bathing or roosting on the pools once more. Also on this side was the usual mass gathering of Shoveler alongside smaller numbers of Shelduck and Pintail. Above: Wigeon Below: Lapwing Moving on I headed down to the Purfleet hide and when I got there I set about scanning to see if there was anything that I had missed from earlier on. Honestly the thing that struck me the most was the shear amount of Snipe sitting in front of the hide and eventually with little help from some of the others we had counted 72. Most of which were in two or three main clumps where if they weren't so camouflaged in the vegetation then I am sure there would have been many more seen. I decided that I would head up to the view point overlooking the hide to see if I could add to the tally and a little unsurprisingly there was another clump of Snipe hiding on the back of one of the islands leading to a tally of 80 in total from the hide and 89 or more in total for the day which is an absolutely crazy amount. Above and Below: How many Snipe can you see in the photos? After this I then headed into the centre and had a rather late lunch before then heading back out and heading to Wennington to see if there were any Short-eared Owls on show, however after spending about an hour looking and the light fading quickly unfortunately they weren't seen. There was however a large gathering of Lesser-black backed Gulls, Herring and a few Great-black Backed Gulls on Wennington which eventually all took flight and headed over towards Target Pools to roost. A pheasant was also the first of the day as It paraded around the nearest field to me.
I then decided to head towards Rainham Station following the road that runs between the tip and the salt lagoons and with the sound of Jackdaws, Crows, and Rooks overhead and a couple of Water Rail Screeching from the ditches I decided to head for home. An interesting day it has to be said with what could be called the winter lull, however with large amounts of winter visitors around it was a great day all round. Finally there is one thing left for me to do I hope everyone has a great Christmas and I wish everyone a happy new year as well. This wont be the last of my blogs for this year as I have a special one coming up soon... |
AuthorI have been a birder since I was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 18. ArchivesCategories |