25th FEBRUARY 2007.

NEW BOY ON THE BLOCK!

This will be one of my shorter blog entries as I have been very busy elsewhere and so am short of time! We had been away to Elmley Marshes (see link to ‘Other Sites’, left) last week with our friends Terry and Liz, but, we always look forward to coming to the Centre wherever we have been and today was no exception! We had a special reason to look forward to todays’ trip as Terry was taking up his post as a volunteer and would be on ‘meet and greet’ duties! We missed him when we first arrived but were soon to catch up with him!
We had arrived early at the centre as we sometimes like to sit on one of the benches by the Entrance Lake as the area can be quite busy with a good mix of birdlife. We were not disappointed; every bird seemed to out to have a busy time!
Once inside the Centre we moved to the Observatory were we soon had our gear out and notebooks in hand. There were quite a few birds to be seen and our pens were flying!

EARLY DAFFODILS

Photo: Reg Norman

We renewed our acquaintance with the Goldcrest at The Lodge area; he was in company with many Tits and Finches, all in good voice! There was a very large number and had the appearance of all being in their Sunday best.
The whole site seemed to be very quiet as far as people were concerned, I had not seen it this quiet for many a week! The Headley hide was almost deserted and has been since the Bittern had decided to move location!
Likewise at the ‘Wildside’ hide; there were very few people about; in fact we had the place to ourselves for most of the time! The weather was not too bad either; it was fairly bright although as the day went on it was to get a little chillier.
We made our way back, eventually, driven by hunger and the fact that they stop doing breakfast at 11 o’clock! It was then that we met Terry at the main courtyard. He has decided to devote one weekend a month to volunteering; I think that it will suit him down to the ground as he seems to get on with people very easily.

TERRYS' FIRST DAY!

Photo: Reg Norman

After ‘brekkers’ we made our way to the ‘Dulverton’ where there was a small crowd of people and even fewer birds to see. Terry had kindly told us that the Bittern had been seen from the WWF hide but we had no luck there either! There were many birds about at the feeder area and a good crowd had gathered to watch the antics of them.
A walk around the Sheltered Lagoon was pleasant and we were accompanied for most of the way by a boisterous mixed flock of Tits. Again it seemed as if they were all in their Sunday finery! Arriving at the Wader Scrape hide we were once again sorry to see that most residents were Gulls and that we would have better views of them from the peacock Tower. A lady came in and raised our hopes a little with: “Have you seen the Kingfisher?” We asked if one had been about. “We sometimes get them here” she said, “I just wondered?”

RAT AT THE FEEDER

Photo: Reg Norman

The Tower was quite packed with people, many first timers I would say, all very interested in everything that was going on. We didn’t stay here very long, maybe half an hour or so as we wanted to try for the Bittern again. We were to be glad that we decided to move.
At the WWF hide once again we were pleased to see one of our favourite regulars, Rupert. He is always pointing things out to us and giving us snippets of information about different birds. The sort of stuff that is highly interesting to beginners like the pair of us!
He pointed out the area where the Bittern had been seen last and, as if by magic, out popped the bird! We haven’t had views of this beautiful creature like this for so long I had almost forgotten how brilliant its’ plumage was. The bird paraded up and down for some time; visible quite well with the naked but almost spectacular with binoculars! To cap it all Rupert let us have a ‘shuftie’ through his ‘scope. Stunning! A young lady in the hide could not see the bird at all; not unusual as they are hard to see until you see it, if you know what I mean! Rupert jumped to her rescue and let her use his ‘scope, once seen of course it could not be missed. The bird moved around quite freely, showing of his plumage and parading up and down the reedbed. We stayed for quite some time, enthralled with the spectacle before us.

NEW LIFE EVERYWHERE!

Photo: Reg Norman

Moving back towards the Centre we bumped, once more, into Terry who informed us that there was a Scaup visible from the Headley hide. We thanked him for the ‘heads up’ and sped off to see it. This would be a first for the both of us!
The bird was there, swimming amongst a small flock of Tufted Ducks. We probably missed it the first time that we were in the hide; we really do find out how little we still know when this sort of thing happens! Once you have seen the Scaup you are hardly likely to miss it again! It is, of course, entirely different to the Tufted Duck in a similar way!
This certainly rounded off the visit quite nicely for us and ‘the pigs’ not needing any seed we made our way to ‘the office’ for a few ‘relaxers’ and to relive some of the things that we had seen during the day. Including (I forgot to mention) a good number of Mute Swans. They have not been about for some time and certainly not in such numbers when they were here. It was good to see them back.

MORE FLOODING AFTER THE RAIN

Photo; Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Mute Swan, Wren, Robin, Canada Goose, Tufted Duck, Wood Pigeon, Starling, Shelduck, Cormorant, Heron, Little Grebe, Lapwing, Shoveller, Feral Pigeon, Greenfinch, Pied Wagtail, Ruddy Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Ring Necked Parakeet, Pochard, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Green Woodpecker, Greylag Goose, Gadwall, Common Snipe, Wigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Teal, Magpie, Reed Bunting, Coal Tit, Water Rail, Stonechat, Stock Dove, Bittern, Scaup, Great Black Backed Gull.

11th FEBRUARY 2007.

A MOST OBLIGING SPARROWHAWK!

Today had the feel of something good about it; we were back into our usual pattern with no major group outings or events planned at the Centre. The weather was great and not too cold and we were looking forward to meeting up with our friends, Terry and Liz. As we waited for the ‘bus we noted that the local birds were all in good voice and all seemed to be very active. Things were looking up!
We arrived just after the Centre had opened and so did not meet up with our friends immediately, but made our way to the Observatory. There were quite a good number of birds to see and I started filling the notebook straight away. There seemed to be quite a few people about, probably a visiting birding club judging by their equipment and the knowledgeable discussions going on.

INSIDE 'THE LODGE'

Photo; Reg Norman

Moving to the Lodge area we were very pleased to see our friend the Goldcrest was openly singing his heart out whilst flitting from branch to branch. We pointed the bird out to a couple of people who were obviously oblivious to its’ presence, we found out then that it was heir first ‘birding’ trip and they were really pleased with the way other users were only too pleased to help.
At the ‘Headley’ hide we caught up with Terry and Liz. The Bittern was not showing itself but a Water Rail had been seen on several occasions. Terry had caught a fleeting glimpse of the bird and kindly pointed out its’ last position to us. We chatted about this and that to do with ‘birding’; as we did the Water rail swam across a small open area of water. I had a fabulous view but Terry, with his back to the action, missed it entirely even though several people tried to alert everybody else in the hide. One nice thing that we saw was a pair of Great Crested Grebes that were starting to go through their courtship ‘dance’.

EARLY BLOSSOM

Photo: Sue Blair

Our small group moved on to the ‘Wildside’ hide, spotting many small birds on the way. There were no outstanding birds to talk of to be seen from the hide; even the ‘regular’ Common Snipe could not be seen. We were glad however to see that ‘our’ Stonechats were moving around and seemed to be enjoying the nice weather. I mentioned to Terry that we had not seen any Mute Swans on our weekend trips here for some several weeks, he replied that he and Liz had seen some that very morning. I know that Leon had seen some on the 1st February but not having seen them for so long, when there were usually quite a few pairs to be seen here, I was beginning to worry a little. Perhaps the unusually deep water levels were having an effect on them?
Time was getting on and Leon and I decided to get some breakfast. Terry and Liz went back to the ‘Headley’ hide to see if they could see the Bittern. We walked back in the general direction of the Centre and parted company for a short while.
We were soon reunited at the restaurant; there had been no new sightings of the Bittern and our friends decided that they would have coffee and cake before moving off into the ‘Waterlife’ area. I hadn’t realised just how hungry I was and could easily have gone another breakfast, big as the portions are!

ACROSS THE MAIN LAKE

Photo: Leon Rusk

Having finished our meals we all moved to the ‘Dulverton’ hide where we were immediately shown the whereabouts of a common Snipe by one of the hides’ occupants. The bird had settled immediately outside and to the right of the hide. Even though it was so close it was perfectly hidden until you actually knew where it was; then you could see it with the naked eye!
The reedbed where Leon and I saw the young Sparrowhawk after it had tried for a Water Rail was pointed out to Terry and Liz and the tale of us forgetting, once again, to forget our cameras was related. Leon showed the picture of the wing to our grinning friends and we moved on once more.
We were in for a surprise when we reached the feeder station; there was quite a crowd gathered, all eagerly watching the small birds. It was then that Leon spotted the Sparrowhawk, perched only a few feet off the ground in cover! He explained that this was the same place that he had seen the bird a week or so earlier. Terry fixed his ‘scope on the bird and soon an ever growing crowd of people were gathering to see the bird. Terry, very kindly, tried to accommodate everybody and there were quite a few people who had excellent views of the young bird.

QUICK THINKING BY LEON!

Photo; Leon Rusk

Soon the bird flew off; perhaps the attention was too much for it. I was astounded that the small birds using the feeder continued to do so; perhaps they knew that it was not hungry or hunting? We proceeded to walk around the Sheltered Lagoon and thence to the ‘Wader Scrape’ hide. Although there were quite a few small birds to be seen on the walk itself we found the ‘Scrape’ hide o be a bit of a disappointment once again. The water level is still very high; we understand why but it is still a little frustrating. We have not seen the usual number of waders this year due to the water levels but the ducks have had it all their own way.
At the Peacock Tower there were quite a few people with their ‘scopes set up and others crowding the windows. There were good numbers of different water birds to be seen but it still amazes me that people from outside of the general London area spend so much time watching our latest pest species, the Ring Necked Parakeet. Perhaps we could persuade them to take a few hundred home each?
Leaving the Tower we made our way back to the Centre where we were to say our goodbyes. During the course of the morning, both Leon and I had been talking about going to Elmley Marshes next week and Terry suggested that he and Liz might like to go as well. This sounded like a brilliant idea and we said that we would keep in touch over the next week to finalise arrangements.

THE CROCUSES CONTINUE TO COME

Photo; Leon Rusk.

Leon and I made our way to the Rugby Club where we watched Fulham get beaten by Bolton (extremely bad luck and a blind referee) and Ireland get beaten by France in the rugby. Ireland should have won, they deserved to but they stopped playing 45 seconds from the end and France stole it!
Having worn ourselves out watching birds, football and rugby, we repaired to ‘the office’ to relax! We left, as you can imagine, quite late and were lucky to get a lift from a friend who stopped at the bus stop where we were waiting. He inquired as to what we had been doing. On being informed that we had been birding he asked what we had been looking for at this time of night. “Owls!” was the reply!

BIRDS SEEN: Coot Moorhen, Starling, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Carrion Crow, Great Crested Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Tufted Duck, Ruddy Duck, Lapwing, Cormorant, Canada Goose, Chaffinch. Goldfinch, Blackbird, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Magpie, Common Snipe, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveller, Heron, Black Headed Gull, Yellow Legged Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Pochard, Barnacle Goose, Reed Bunting, Coal Tit.

4th FEBRUARY 2007.

CLOSE UP TO A SPARROWHAWK.

Having been at Bushy Park for most of the morning we didn’t arrive at the Centre until about midday. What had started out as a very nice sunny day had become quite gloomy. The temperature seemed to have dropped a little although the fairly dense mist we had encountered at Bushy was left behind.
Although this was going to be one of our ‘flying visits’ we kept faith with our usual plan for covering as much of the site as would be possible. Our first stop would of course be the Observatory where we could ‘kit-up’ and have a quick look around the site.

OUR USUAL STARTING POINT

Photo: Reg Norman

Although there did not seem to be numbers we would have usually have expected to see at least there was the usual diversity of species. We soon had all of the different types logged and we moved on to the Lodge area hoping to see the Goldcrest. We were to be disappointed; although we could hear the bird in the depths of he cover we could not see it. Somebody asked what we were looking and listening for so intently. I said that we were hoping to see a Goldcrest as we knew this to be the favourite spot for doing so. She thought that maybe the birds were all in hiding after the ‘Open Days’ that had taken place on the previous two days. I supposed that it could be one reason but was not entirely convinced!
We moved on to the ‘Wildside’ hide covering as much ground on the way as was possible. Truly, there did seem to be fewer birds about than usual although we could hear quite a few in cover. At the hide we met a nice couple who were quite keen to share information bout the site and he birds they might see. Leon pointed out the usual Common Snipe in its’ place just outside the hide. We looked for the Stonechat ‘couple’ but they could not be found and I hoped that they had not been taken by one of the local Sparrowhawks. We left the couple who were much appreciative of the little help with which we could supply. I would think that we may be seeing more of them as they really seemed to be enjoying themselves!
Making our way back to the ‘Headley’ hide we popped inside to ask about the Bittern.
By all accounts it had not been seen for a couple of days according to some of the regulars. We had a quick look around and moved on.
There did not seem to be too many people about; perhaps they had all come on the two free days previously. I hope that the WWT get some more members from the people who had visited.

THE DAZED SPARROWHAWK

Photo; Leon Rusk

There was nothing special to see from the ‘Dulverton’ hide so we did not stay long. As we detoured around one of the side paths, as we normally do, I heard a Water Rail screeching not twenty feet away from me. The reeds were thrashing about as was some bird or other and I craned my neck to see what it was. Leon came over and I told him that I thought something had had a go at the Rail and that it could possibly still be in amongst the reeds. He was not so sure but as he voiced his opinion a young Sparrowhawk fluttered up from the reeds and settled in a tree not more than twenty to thirty feet away! It looked as if it were a little dazed or disorientated and sat perfectly still for about three or four minutes. We enjoyed watching it for a little while and suddenly remembered our cameras. How many times have we both been so intent on watching something that we have forgotten to take pictures! Leon was the first to react so I did not bother as he normally gets the best shots. The bird sat entirely motionless as Leon started to ready himself for the shot. It flew off the moment that he was ready! Leon raised his camera which was obviously the signal for the bird to leave. Although quick, the bird was quicker and all that Leon was able to catch was the birds’ wing as it flew over his head! It was a good picture of a wing though. Perhaps he could take pictures of other parts of the bird and sort of ‘stitch’ them together?

THE WING!

Photo: Leon Rusk

We moved on to the feeder area where there did not seem to be too many birds bout. My own opinion is that they had all had enough to eat for the day and were sat somewhere out of the wind which as getting even more chilly.
Walking around the Sheltered Lagoon and popping in to the Wader Scrape hide produced nothing of great note so we stayed at neither for very long and moved on to the Peacock Tower. I was very pleased to see that the Tower had been fixed after the damage caused by the storms in the previous weeks. Although there was nothing of great note to be seen from the hide, it was jolly good to be able to use it again! I searched high and low for the Stonechats but was unable to find them.
We made our way back to the Centre y way of the WWF hide; we didn’t stay long at the hide and went quickly to the shop where Leon bought some food for his ‘pigs’. On the way back we saw a woman whose child had fallen in on of the small ponds. Somebody looked after that child while she went to look for another one!
We made our way to ‘the office’ where we enjoyed a few well earned ‘relaxers’ and talked at some length about all we had seen during yet another great day out.

BIRDS SEEN: Jackdaw, Magpie, Coot, Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, Cormorant, Starling, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Pochard, Lapwing, Heron, Ruddy Duck, Great Crested Grebe, feral Pigeon, Great Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Shoveller, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Stock Dove, Ring Necked Parakeet, Blackbird, Greylag Goose, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Coal Tit, Carrion Crow, Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Common Snipe, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Little Grebe, Wren, Sparrowhawk, Water Rail, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Song Thrush, Herring Gull, Jay.

1st FEBRUARY 2007.

LEONS’ FIRST REPORT.

I had a day off; Reg had to work, so off I went. It was only the second time that I had been birding on my own, no supervision, no medication and a promise that I would be back for teatime and not abscond again! Joke!!
Well, I got to the wetlands later than I wanted, 10:20, but it was a fair day, overcast mostly, but dry and calm. I took our usual route, Observatory upstairs and get sorted out, downstairs were the post-natal mothers trying to work off what they had added by doing pelvic thrusts which got them in the position in the first place! Anyway, I digress, birds, that’s it!
The Main Lake was fairly full with the usual suspects, but I was pleased to see Mute Swans as, for the last 4 – 6 weekends we had not seen any. I left the Observatory and headed towards the ‘Wildside’, stopping by the log cabin to see or hear the Goldcrest in the conifers there, but, no joy.

FIRST SWAN FOR WEEKS!

Photo: Leon Rusk

I then went to the ‘Headley’ hide to see if the Bittern had been seen. There were a couple of people with ‘scopes but the Bittern wasn’t showing at he time and, later, I was to learn said bird had moved along to near to his/her old stomping ground of last winter by the WWF hide.
From there I went on to the ‘Wildside’ hide where there was not one but two Snipes on the small peninsular just outside of the hide, on the left, as you look across the Grazing Marsh. After a while all the birds were up! Raptor! Nah, also up was a cherry-picker crew repairing the Peacock Tower roof.
I moved back towards the Centre, again stopping for Goldcrests. Nothing. Never mind.

GOLDCREST COUNTRY!

Photo: Sue Blair

On to the ‘Waterlife’, lovely and quiet, at the bird feeder station a group of people were watching intently (which they were kind enough to show me was) a Sparrowhawk in the low branches. So no small birds there then!
I took a slow stroll around the Sheltered Lagoon and into the Wader Scrape hide. Zilch, work in progress on the Peacock Tower so I decided to make my way towards the Centre and exit, Getting there I thought I would have one more look out on the Main Lake from the Observatory. I could count more ‘planes than birds! Not only the work on the Peacock Tower but also two WWT workers out on the small islands from a boat moored nearby. I give up! I bypass ‘the office’ and go to my sisters’.

WORK ON THE TOWER

Photo: Leon Rusk

BIRDS SEEN: Great Tit, Moorhen, Coot, Starling, Blackbird, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Shoveller, Feral Pigeon, Heron, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Teal, Wigeon, Wood Pigeon, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Greenfinch, Little Grebe, Ring Necked Parakeet, Common Snipe, Gadwall, Greylag Goose, Stock Dove, Magpie, Sparrowhawk, Goldfinch, Black Headed Gull, Coal Tit.