Mixed Bag

Been totally busy recently giving talks and leading walks for a range of different organisations ranging from Wildlife Trusts to the Womens Institute. The latter talk was of particular interest. I was invited by the Borough Belles based near London Bridge, to come in and speak to their members about the wonders of urban birding.

I imagined speaking to a group of cake making elderly ladies. Instead I was confronted with a roomful of cake making mostly under 35 year olds! I took the 40-odd women out onto the street (so to speak) and we went for a walk pointing out what I could in the evening light. When we got to the Tate Modern by the Thames we were treated to a Peregrine sailing around the main tower.

Back in the church hall I gave them a brief presentation that seemed to go down well. Indeed, in the following days at least four of the ladies have been in contact telling me of their ornithological finds! 

A male Cockney House Sparrow

Since my last posting I was also asked by the London RSPB Office to front the Cockney Sparrow Count. The object of the exercise will be to get ordinary Londoners to count their local sparrows. So if you live in the capital get counting! http://www.gigl.org.uk/Submitrecords/Oneoffrecords/RSPBCockneySparrow/tabid/203/Default.aspx

Common Greenshank (David Fettes)

Finally, the ultra rare Nordmann's Greenshank that I thought that I recognised from an image taken in Taiwan turned out to be a summer plumaged Common Greenshank. Some of my more learned colleagues were quick to point out its long legs and non-bicoloured thick bill - amongst other features.

Ah well, I'll find a real one another day....

Mystery son of a seedeater

All images by Paul Davis

Urban birder Paul Davis sent me this selection of images taken of a weird bird that he could not recognise coming to his feeder in his Mitcham garden in south London.

At first I thought it was some strange escaped weaver species but closer examination, especially of its upperparts, left me thinking that it could be a melanistic male House Sparrow. Melanism is the opposite of albinoism and is rare in House Sparrows. In all my decades of watching them I have never seen a melanistic one, although I have seen albinoism and partial albinos. The grey patch on the crown of the depicted bird is totally consistant with that of a normal male House Sparrow. Furthermore, a search on the net resulted in me finding footage of another similarly plumaged bird on the continent. Paste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NgENqvdGcY and see what you think.

So, is it a House Sparrow?

Let me know what you think.

Hidden photo

Nordmann's Greenshank (David Fettes)

Have you ever had a situation when you've gone through a set of photographs and stumble across a gem?

This evening I was going through a cd of several hundred photos taken by David Fettes, the photographer I took with me to Taiwan last month when I noticed this one. He had inadvertently taken a shot of a Nordmann's Greenshank. This wader is globally endangered with an estimated world population of no more than a thousand birds. Although they can be found wintering (or at least on migration) along the coastlines of southeast Asia, their breeding and wintering grounds are poorly known. They do winter on the coasts of Taiwan, so this bird was not wholly unexpected.

It was a nice surprise though!

It was nippy up north!

Atlantic Puffin (David Fettes)

It has taken me two days to sufficiently warm up after a stupendous week on The Shetlands. I never really appreciated just how far north these islands were - literally just 200 miles east of Norway. Nor did I fully comprehend just how big the main island was - some 100 miles long by 30 miles wide, or something like that. But what I didn't account for in any way was how cold it would be. Despite the sun shining on some of the days a merciless wind sometimes blew to duly freeze me. I had to resort to wearing two pairs of trousers, three t-shirts, a jumper, jean jacket and raincoat plus two pairs of hats and some gloves!!

During my week I visited Fetlar, Yell, Unst as well as circumnavigating the main island. I picked up all the usual suspects that you would expect to uncover on these magical isles including a single female Red-necked Phalarope, Puffins, Black & Common Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Great Black-backs, Common Gulls, Arctic Terns, one pair of Common Terns, Arctic Skuas, Bonxies, Greylags, Eiders, orgies of Shags, Great Northern & Red-throated Divers, Lapwings, Curlews, Whimbrels, Dunlins, Sanderlings, Ringed Plovers, Twites, Starlings, Hooded Crows and plenty of House Sparrows amongst other species.

Of course, The Shetlands are famed for the number of hot rarities that it attracts. Well, I managed to dip on a Yellow-billed Diver, Black-headed Bunting (which would have been my first in 25 years) and was turned the other way speaking on my mobile when an adult Long-tailed Skua flew past. But did manage to see a lingering Icterine Warbler and discover a Short-toed Lark along the road outside my hotel on Unst plus find and co-find two seperate female Golden Orioles above and around my wooded adopted local patch on Unst. Coupled with those discoveries I also enjoyed watching Shetland scarcities like Wood Pigeon, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Carrion Crow and a Dunnock.

Every birder in the UK and beyond must come and visit these islands at least once in their birding lives. It's like being a football fan and going to a big game at Wembley or going to Buck Palace and meeting the Queen. They are things that we just have to do.

My gratitute goes out to Shetland Wildlife for facilitating my visit and making me feel so welcome.

Shetland days

 My little Shetland Pony

Life can be a beach 

Views of Shetland

In transit....

A male Northern Wheatear (Russell F Spencer)

I'm sitting here in an airport lounge at Aberdeen Airport on my way to Shetland - a mythical destination that I have never been to before but have always lusted after since my monstrous Dixon's 10 x 50  wielding days. The sky is a glorious blue. Thank good that Aberdeen is also experiencing the recent  tropical weather that the rest of Britain has been basking in.

A couple of days ago I spent an interesting afternoon at Wormwood Scrubs, my patch. The sun was beating down and seeing as I was to have a radio interview on site later in the afternoon I decided to spend an hour sitting on an anthill in the grassland scanning for passing raptors. Well, despite my best efforts I managed one Sparrowhawk, a couple of Cormorants and a host of Herring & Lesser Black-back Gulls. Scanning the grassland I noticed that a topless man was reclining in the grass around 200 yards away. This would have been fine had it not been that he had chosen to sunbath in the protected area for ground nesting birds. Riled I got up and started to approach the guy. But instead of making a direct beeline across the grassland and potentially disturbing the very birds that I was about to berate him about, I decided to take the long way round to him by using the path.

I must have walked 10 yards when I noticed a handsome male Northern Wheatear strolling away from me on the same path. What an absolutely gorgeous bird it was. My statistical mind started to whirr. Was this the latest bird ever at The Scrubs? I suddenly realised that it was. The previous latest was recorded on the 20th May 2008. I marvelled at its finery as it flew on top of a nearby Blackthorn. Time ran away with me. I suddenly remembered the reason for my ramble and simultaniously also realised that it was time to meet the reporter. The topless man got away with being topless in the wrong place.

But I'll get him next time!

Avistar 2012

I've recently had a fabulous few days in Sao Paulo, Brazil. My mission was to be keynote speaker at the Avistar 2012 - an annual Brazilian birdfair organised by Brazilian ornithologist, Guto Carvalho. I met a host of fantastic conservationists including the wonderful Martha Argel and Betty Petersen who took me under her wing.

Seeing as winter was rapidly approaching the birding wasn't as great as it could have been. so for those who like lists I have compiled all the species that I saw or heard during my four day flying visit.

I shall return!

A view of Sao Paulo & below TUB with American Bird Association's Betty Petersen

TUB with Anelisa Magalhaes

TUB with Martha Argel

TUB with AVISTAR organisor Guto Carvalho

A view from an urban park

Urban birding in Sao Paulo

Checking for a Rufous-browed Peppershrike

Those pink things are actually Scarlet Ibises!

I need a proper camera!

Magnificent Frigatebird

Neotropic Cormorant

White-necked Heron

Great Egret

Little Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Cattle Egret

Striated Heron

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

White-faced Whistling Duck

White-cheeked Pintail

Scarlet Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Osprey

Roadside Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk

Southern Caracara

Yellow-headed Caracara

American Kestrel

Common Moorhen

Southern Lapwing

Semipamated Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

Kelp Gull

Royal Tern

‘Cayenne’ Tern

Black Skimmer

Feral Pigeon

Picazuro Pigeon

Ruddy Ground Dove

Blue-winged Parrotlet

Plain Parakeet

Squirrel Cuckoo

Smooth-billed Ani

Burrowing Owl

White-collared Swift

Sapphire-spangled Emerald

Ringed Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

White-spotted Woodpecker

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper

Rufous Hornero

Yellow-olive Flycatcher

Masked Water Tyrant

Short-crested Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Tropical Kingbird

White-rumped Swallow

Blue-and white Swallow

Southern House Wren

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

Rufous-bellied Thrush

Pale-breasted Thrush

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Saffron Finch

Brazilian Tanager

Sayaca Tanagar

Banaquit

Bicoloured Conebil

Golden-crowned Warbler

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

Epaulet Oriole

Shiny Cowbird