With the lighter evenings I have been trying to get out onto the patch as much as possible with all the summer migrants arriving. The main target has been trying to bag a tawny owl. A surprising omission considering all the woodland on the patch.
Well I finally managed to add it on Wednesday in jammy circumstances... I had just got home and was standing outside the front door after another failed mission when I heard a noise I recognised....natterjack toads calling on the common. Pretty impressive considering they are 500m away! I jumped in the car and sure enough the pools were full of them and the calls were deafening!!! Certainly my patch highlight of the year so far.
While we were there I managed to hear 2 tawny owls too
As the weather yesterday morning was no good for ringing with heavy showers predicted, I decided to get out onto the patch early. Also as soon as I left the house I added two new species to the yearlist; both common and lesser whitethroats singing in the hedge by the school. An oystercatcher was calling from the roof on the school, a possible nest site to keep an eye open for...
Showers kept coming through and as I got to the bottom of the hill I thought I heard a call that I recognised. A stalk along the edge of the marsh and there was the prize feeding in the middle, all black body, white beak and frontal shield, COOT, MEGA!!!!! It is not very often, if at all, I get excited by coots but I was by this one... Slightly more expected, but still rare, was a fly-over grey heron.
I just about made it around the common before the weather took a bit change for the worse. I could hear the hail approaching as it was falling in the trees but I managed to run and take shelter under a trailer while it passed. Lots of migrants are now in with 9 blackcap, 8 chiffchaff, 4 willow warbler, 1 whitethroat and 2 lesser whitethroats, all singing males. After a dowsing in rain, I added a male wheatear to the daylist and headed home cold and damp. Spring my arse!!!
Yearlist now stands at 72 species, 75 points
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Saturday, 20 April 2013
Bear with me...
Hopefully I will be able to post a few photos from my recent ringing trip to Eliat in Israel but I still have them all the edit yet before posting.
Had a decent day at work today with the highlights being 7 common cranes that just about made it to the reserve before turning north and heading over the Wash to the Lincolnshire coast. Loads of migrants in now and I had a decent 1st reedbed CBC. Lots of sedge warblers are now in with 30 singing males compared to only 4 reed warblers. There was a surprisingly high numbers of willow warblers feeding in the reeds and I assume they are migrants moving through.
House martin over the garden took the patch yearlist to 67 species, 69 points
Had a decent day at work today with the highlights being 7 common cranes that just about made it to the reserve before turning north and heading over the Wash to the Lincolnshire coast. Loads of migrants in now and I had a decent 1st reedbed CBC. Lots of sedge warblers are now in with 30 singing males compared to only 4 reed warblers. There was a surprisingly high numbers of willow warblers feeding in the reeds and I assume they are migrants moving through.
House martin over the garden took the patch yearlist to 67 species, 69 points
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Spring at last
After such a long winter it great to be finally be able to get out birding before work so this morning I was out on the patch early to see what had arrived. I don't have time to get around the whole patch so I decided to concentrate on the common.
1st birds were not really ones you would expect in mid April, 20 fieldfare and a dozen redwing plus a singing mistle thrush. This part of the common is heavily grazed by rabbits and has the reputation for attracting ring ouzels. Skylarks were very evident with a least 6 singing males and then I stumbled on a smart male wheatear. Around the edge of the common there were at least 6 chiffchaffs but surprise bird in the morning was a flyover whimbrel.
A swallow over the village on the way home near the stables where they normally breed and a curlew flying over the garden this evening.
Looking forward the the spring kicking off
1st birds were not really ones you would expect in mid April, 20 fieldfare and a dozen redwing plus a singing mistle thrush. This part of the common is heavily grazed by rabbits and has the reputation for attracting ring ouzels. Skylarks were very evident with a least 6 singing males and then I stumbled on a smart male wheatear. Around the edge of the common there were at least 6 chiffchaffs but surprise bird in the morning was a flyover whimbrel.
A swallow over the village on the way home near the stables where they normally breed and a curlew flying over the garden this evening.
Looking forward the the spring kicking off
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Twitch and run
I had to go around to Frampton this afternoon so I decided to take a detour after and pop over to Frieston and have a look at the lesser scaup. Looking at my records, it was about time I saw another one. The last one I saw was at Studland in 2002!
The wind was very strong and very cold but the bird was easy enough to find sheltering alongside the seawall with the tufty flock. Sleeping when I got there, it woke up spent a bit of time feeding, had a preen and went back to sleep.
Didn't see any sign of the redhead smew but the weather didn't really encourage me to linger very long!
The usual excuses for the poor digiscope shots, wind was thee main enemy today!
The wind was very strong and very cold but the bird was easy enough to find sheltering alongside the seawall with the tufty flock. Sleeping when I got there, it woke up spent a bit of time feeding, had a preen and went back to sleep.
Didn't see any sign of the redhead smew but the weather didn't really encourage me to linger very long!
The usual excuses for the poor digiscope shots, wind was thee main enemy today!
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Cheeky Monkey
Although the trip was birds, birds, birds, we didn’t ignore any other wildlife we saw. Most of the butterflies, dragonflies and other insects were small and a nightmare to photograph (future blog post) and despite all the snake horror stories (people stepping over sating poisonous snakes), I only saw the back end of a massive rat snake.
The most obvious non-avian stuff were the mammals. Goa is not blessed with a large list but we did manage to get 3 species, not including the rat that ran through a restaurant one night!!
A mongoose sp (never did find out which one) was seen hunting around the edge of the pools at the Biera Mar hotel in Baga and another one was seen near the kingfisher site at Backwoods. Mammal tick #1
Mammal ticks #2 & #3 came from Backwoods and were primates.
The Hanuman Langur or Vandor were really smart beasts with their pale fur, contrasting black faces and massive long tails. They were however, a real nightmare to photograph as they spent much of their time high in the trees and were very mobile.
Slightly easier to see was the Bonnet Macaque. They would spend much of their time hanging around the fruit stalls near Tamdi Surla temple trying to nick stuff from the tourists. It seemed to be a large family party that included a female with a tiny baby. They were right little characters and I can see some of myself in them…..
Can I have an apple for looking cute please?
No shame, playing with himself in public!!
Still can't reach my back though...
Who's that down there?
The most obvious non-avian stuff were the mammals. Goa is not blessed with a large list but we did manage to get 3 species, not including the rat that ran through a restaurant one night!!
A mongoose sp (never did find out which one) was seen hunting around the edge of the pools at the Biera Mar hotel in Baga and another one was seen near the kingfisher site at Backwoods. Mammal tick #1
Mammal ticks #2 & #3 came from Backwoods and were primates.
The Hanuman Langur or Vandor were really smart beasts with their pale fur, contrasting black faces and massive long tails. They were however, a real nightmare to photograph as they spent much of their time high in the trees and were very mobile.
Slightly easier to see was the Bonnet Macaque. They would spend much of their time hanging around the fruit stalls near Tamdi Surla temple trying to nick stuff from the tourists. It seemed to be a large family party that included a female with a tiny baby. They were right little characters and I can see some of myself in them…..
Can I have an apple for looking cute please?
No shame, playing with himself in public!!
Still can't reach my back though...
Who's that down there?
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Fisher Kings
With all the wetland habitats, it wasn’t really a surprise to learn that there were plenty of kingfisher species on the Goa bird list. We were lucky enough to see all 8 species available to us.
White breasted kingfisher
Probably the commonest species we saw but that may have just been down to the fact that it was large and very vocal! We saw birds in all habitats and could often be seen well away from water due their varied diet. They eat fish, small frogs but also insects in wooded areas. We even had one on the wires outside our hotel room
Common kingfisher
I am sure they are just as common as the white breasted but, probably due to being smaller, we didn’t record as many. They were only found near water and were surprisingly approachable especially around the hotel.
Pied kingfisher
Very few records. 2 over pools near the hotel, 2 over rice fields at Siolim and 2 fishing at Carambolim Lake were the only records
Stork billed kingfisher
A beast of a kingfisher being nearly as big as a jackdaw!! The bird looks pretty much in proportion until you get to its beak! Only seen singularly sitting in trees looking for food. As in white breasted, is was just as likely to be found in wooded areas near water.
Collared kingfisher
The rarest of the family and has a very restricted range within India, Goa being the best place to see them. The Zuari River trip is the only place to see them and the boat takes you deep into the mangroves looking for them. The boatmen know where the pairs are and good views can be had. We saw 2 pairs and a single female. We were also very lucky to see one sat on fishing poles near Old Goa which we were told is a rare record away from the main area.
Black capped kingfisher
White breasted kingfisher
Probably the commonest species we saw but that may have just been down to the fact that it was large and very vocal! We saw birds in all habitats and could often be seen well away from water due their varied diet. They eat fish, small frogs but also insects in wooded areas. We even had one on the wires outside our hotel room
Common kingfisher
I am sure they are just as common as the white breasted but, probably due to being smaller, we didn’t record as many. They were only found near water and were surprisingly approachable especially around the hotel.
Pied kingfisher
Very few records. 2 over pools near the hotel, 2 over rice fields at Siolim and 2 fishing at Carambolim Lake were the only records
Stork billed kingfisher
A beast of a kingfisher being nearly as big as a jackdaw!! The bird looks pretty much in proportion until you get to its beak! Only seen singularly sitting in trees looking for food. As in white breasted, is was just as likely to be found in wooded areas near water.
Collared kingfisher
The rarest of the family and has a very restricted range within India, Goa being the best place to see them. The Zuari River trip is the only place to see them and the boat takes you deep into the mangroves looking for them. The boatmen know where the pairs are and good views can be had. We saw 2 pairs and a single female. We were also very lucky to see one sat on fishing poles near Old Goa which we were told is a rare record away from the main area.
Black capped kingfisher
The best looking of the kingfishers. We only saw them on the Zuari River with a pair and 3 singles recorded. They were hard to photograph as they feed on small crabs on the edge of the mangroves
and can be hard to find.
For the last two species we need to head inland to the hills around Backwoods.
Blue eared kingfisher
Very much a forest bird and it took a bit of walking along rocky streams in search of them. They are pretty hard to locate so we were very lucky to get good views in an open area of stream. They are a little bigger that common, slightly darker but with a brighter blue back and rump.
Oriental dwarf kingfisher
The rarest and hardest to find. While watching and photographing the blue eared, our guide went off downstream in search. 10-15 mins later he returned having found the bird. An interesting walk over slippery rocks thankfully found the bird perched on the river bank. Despite the dull conditions, the orange beak and breast stood out like a beacon!! We were vry licky to get such good views but sadly it flew off before I could get any photos.
For the last two species we need to head inland to the hills around Backwoods.
Blue eared kingfisher
Very much a forest bird and it took a bit of walking along rocky streams in search of them. They are pretty hard to locate so we were very lucky to get good views in an open area of stream. They are a little bigger that common, slightly darker but with a brighter blue back and rump.
Oriental dwarf kingfisher
The rarest and hardest to find. While watching and photographing the blue eared, our guide went off downstream in search. 10-15 mins later he returned having found the bird. An interesting walk over slippery rocks thankfully found the bird perched on the river bank. Despite the dull conditions, the orange beak and breast stood out like a beacon!! We were vry licky to get such good views but sadly it flew off before I could get any photos.
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Amazing garden
Ever since we have been at our current house we have been improving it for wildlife by putting in new beds and borders with plenty of nectar rich plants, dug a pond and put up a load of feeders. Since I started garden ringing in 2010 I have increased the feeding and now have 12 feeders around the place.
The increase in feeding has paid off this winter with the number of birds around. With peak counts in recent weeks of 42 brambling, 35+ siskin, 10 goldfinch, 6 lesser redpoll along with 30-40 greenfinch and 20 blackbirds it has been spectacular. Ringing has been good with 14 brambling, 16 siskin and a couple of lesser redpoll ringed in the last month. Hopefully I will get some controls out of them...?
I received news about a greenfinch I controlled here just before Christmas. It turned out to be the 2nd bird I have caught that was originally ringed at Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire
Bramblings in the garden
The increase in feeding has paid off this winter with the number of birds around. With peak counts in recent weeks of 42 brambling, 35+ siskin, 10 goldfinch, 6 lesser redpoll along with 30-40 greenfinch and 20 blackbirds it has been spectacular. Ringing has been good with 14 brambling, 16 siskin and a couple of lesser redpoll ringed in the last month. Hopefully I will get some controls out of them...?
I received news about a greenfinch I controlled here just before Christmas. It turned out to be the 2nd bird I have caught that was originally ringed at Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire
Bramblings in the garden
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
