A 'First' Garden Sighting - Redwing (I think...)

I looked out of my window this afternoon just before sunset and noticed an unusual bird on the branches of the Acer negundo, which rarely attracts avian life. 

Wondering if it could be a Redwing, I grabbed my camera and was able to take three record shots through the double glazing before it flew off. I apologise for the quality, but I think the photos show a solitary Redwing (unless you can advise me of some other ID) - a 'first' in my home patch; and, in fact, my first migratory Redwing of the year. There is a clear superciliary stripe and just a hint of the characteristic russet colour around the wing area on the photo above. You can see a few stray berries in the background which had perhaps lured the bird into our garden in the first place.   

I note from the RSPB website that Redwing have been given Red conservation status. I had never seen these birds before we moved to Suffolk five years ago. 

The Bittern's Boom (RSPB Minsmere)

Yes, we heard the Bittern's unmistakable boom this weekend at RSPB Minsmere. We also watched this Bittern touch down in the reedbed. 

I rather like the reflection of its bill. I would love to know whether it came up with a fish. 

The Mute Swans seemed quite unperturbed by its presence. 

What an extraordinary neck ...

... and plumage ...

 ... well, this is the breeding season.

Such a fine bird, and one that we feel particularly lucky to see since the species became dangerously threatened during my teenage years. Its conservation status is still red. 

My Bittern poem has been included in a new book from Dunlin Press, The Migrant Waders. Do take a look on the Dunlin Press website here. The book has been edited by MW Bewick and Ella Johnston. It contains prose, poetry and Ella's exquisite illustrations.

2015 Scottish Odyssey (3) Birds

Goosander on Loch Lomond (2015) ... time for a ride

It is time I composed my bird list from my 2015 holiday diary!

The weather (with a couple of exceptions) was not ideal for bird photography on our holiday this year, so I have taken the liberty of re-posting the Eider and Bullfinch pictures I took in 2014.

Those of you who visit my monthly Tree Following posts will know that I love lists. So here goes ... and, incidentally, the location mentioned is the place where I saw a species on this holiday for the first time. It may not be the only place. Birds are posted in the order in which they were spotted. You can find pictures and information about them all on the RSPB site here.

1. Swallow (Loch Lomond)
2. Swift (Loch Lomond)
3. Goldfinch (Loch Lomond)
4. Greenfinch (Loch Lomond)
5. Oystercatcher (Loch Lomond)
6. Goosander (Loch Lomond)
7. House Sparrow (Loch Lomond)
8. Lesser Black-back Gull (Loch Lomond)
9. Skylark (Rannoch Moor)
10. Buzzard (Glengarry)
11. Grey Heron (Eilean Donan)
12. Rock Pipit (Eilean Donan)
13. Pied Wagtail (Broadford, Skye)
14. Blackbird (Broadford, Skye)
15. Hooded Crow (Broadford, Skye)
16. Starling (Broadford, Skye)
17. Robin (Broadford, Skye)
18. Bullfinch (Dunvegan)
19. Cuckoo (Dunvegan - no sighting but David heard it calling)
20. Arctic Tern (Loch Dunvegan)
21. Dunlin (Braes, Skye)
22. Eider Duck (Applecross)
23. Curlew (Applecross)
24. Mallard (Applecross)
25. Wheatear (Waternish, Skye) 
26. Gannet (Waternish, Skye)
27. Golden Eagle (Cuillin, Skye)
28. Lapwing (Staffin, Skye)
29. Stonechat (Quairaing, Skye) 
30. Chiffchaff (Kylerhea, Skye)
31. Ringed Plover (Sleat, Skye)
32. White-tailed Eagle, with salmon! (Skye) Red status conservation
33. Tystie/Black Guillemot (Elgol, Skye)
34. Corncrake (Skye - only the call this year, no sighting) Red status conservation
35. Reed Bunting (South Shian, near Oban)
36. Mute Swan (near Tayvallich)
37. Garganey (near Tayvallich)
38. Moorhen (Lochgilphead)
39. Barn Owl (Kilmartin)
40. Little Owl (Kilmartin)
41. Sand Martin (between Kilmartin and Loch Awe)
42. Razorbill (from Arran ferry)
43. Pheasant (Arran)
44. Treecreeper (Brodick Castle, Arran)
45. Kestrel (Arran)
46. Chaffinch (Dunadd)
47. Herring gull (Oban) Red status conservation

Plus an assortment of geese and gulls, which would probably bring the total up to around 50. I need to brush up on my ID skills for these. Oh, and we also saw a peacock on Skye!

I was surprised to find that while the Herring Gull is still afforded Red Status, the Golden Eagle is listed as Amber. Have you found any unusual birds this summer?

Eider (male)

Eider (female)

Bullfinch (female)

Bullfinch (male)

Bird Count ~ 2013 and 2014

I was very impressed with fellow-blogger, Juliet Wilson's bird list total for 2013. Do take a look here.

I began logging ...

• the birds in my garden 
• the wildlife at RSPB Minsmere 
• the wildlife on our Scottish holiday

... but I failed to keep a total. So no prizes for guessing the nature of one of my New Year Resolutions! 

A beautiful Great Spotted Woodpecker graced our feeder for the first time on 23 December. I failed to get a picture then, but will post an old photo for those of you who may not know these birds. I have not seen it since, but we keep hoping it will come back for more coconut. And if it does, it will be added to the 2014 list!

My aim is to keep things simple in the hope that my goals remain relatively easy to achieve. I plan to keep an ongoing alphabetical list, which I will re-post every so often once it has been updated. I hope to log dates and locations ...

My bird list for 2014 looks like this:

1. Black-headed Gull (about 25, 3 January, Woodbridge)
2. Blue tit (two birds, 2 January, home patch) 
3. Great tit (2 birds, 4 January, home patch)
4. Herring Gull (1 bird, 3 January, Woodbridge) - red conservation status
5. Lapwing (9 birds, 4 January, Woodbridge) - red conservation status
6. Long-tailed tit (3 birds, 2 January, home patch)
7. Magpie (2 birds, 2 January, home patch) 
8. Mute Swan (2 birds, 3 January, Woodbridge) 
9. Robin (1 bird, 1 January, home patch) 
10. Turnstone (15 birds, 3 January, Woodbridge)
11. Wood Pigeon (11 birds, 4 January, home patch)

First Turnstones of 2013 ...

... in Woodbridge, near the Tide Mill

First Lapwing of 2013

First Mute Swan of 2013 ...

... more Turnstones.

And don't forget the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, which takes place on 25 and 26 January!

Beautiful Birds: Bittern at Minsmere

I love to watch birds per se, whether they are the Blue-tits and Robins in my garden or whether they are the showy Little Egrets or Avocets in the wetlands beyond, but I always feel a thrill when I add a new 'lifer' to my list. Last weekend it was the turn of the Bittern. 

I have mentioned the RSPB 'Conservation' board game on this blog before. We used to play it as a family back in the 1970s. The Bittern was one of the endangered species to feature, and I doubt back then that I thought I would ever have an opportunity of seeing one of these rare birds. 

Since moving back to East Anglia, we have had close encounters in the form of hearing the distinctive Bittern boom, but until last weekend, we had never seen the bird with the deep voice! 

The bird was doing a spot of fishing at Minsmere, where it is listed as a Star Species. The Bittern is described as a 'thickset heron' on the RSPB site, and, not surprisingly, it has red conservation status.

Did you know that (according to the Norfolk Wildlife Trust) Bitterns were called 'butterbumps' in Norfolk? 

Beautiful Birds (25): Thrush - Mistle or Song?

I wonder if other people have difficulty in distinguishing between the Song thrush and the Mistle thrush! I see that the Song Thrush is now on the RSPB Red Conservation list.

These thrushes were enjoying the worms at Aberglasney. 

Beautiful Birds (3): Herring Gull?

Juvenile Herring Gull
[I think]
on Skye

It occurred to me that we are all familiar with this fellow...
but are we?

I know a seagull when I see one
(and there are many in Swansea where I live).
I also know that there are many different gulls.

What I am just beginning to realise, however,
is that a juvenile passes through a number of phases
on its path to adulthood.

Do take a look at Jeff Poklen's amazing gallery
of the Herring Gull in its 1st to 3rd cycles.
You will also find photos of these birds
emerging as 'basic adults'.

I wonder if any reader can match my juvenile
with a particular photo in Jeff's gallery,
showing its stage of development.
Please let me know if you can!

I was amazed to find that the RSPB site
lists the Herring Gull in the RED Conservation Category.
You can read what this means here.

We sometimes take creatures for granted:
I suggest this may be particularly true in the case
of our friend, the noisy, scavenging Herring Gull.

• American Herring Gull at Chew near Bristol - with great photographs, and explanations of the 'mirror' etc. N.B. It seems from DNA sampling that this bird may not actually have been an American Herring Gull.
• GullDK - a blog about gulls in Denmark
• Mediterranean Gull Invasion: Part 1, Burry Port from Adam Tilt's blog, My Life Outside