Red Kite again

Virtually landed in the garden this time and I had the SX10 handy.

Red Kite Milvus migrans

Canon Powershot SX10

Wheatear, Great Byards Sale

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe

Canon Powershot SX10

Red Kite

One of two low over the house this morning.

Red Kite Milvus migrans

Canon Powershot SX10

Leucistic Jackdaw

Co-incidentally found this bird in Elton today. Mike photographed a similar bird recently.

Jackdaw Corvus monedula

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Ring Ouzel, Castor Mill

Another Don Gardener special and he even located another Redstart (probably the one seen nearby yesterday) at the same place on the western side of the Castor Mill houses.

Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Comma

Among a good selection of butterflies in the garden this afternoon, including Holly Blue and Orange-tip.

Comma Polygonia c-album

Canon Powershot SX10

Another Redstart

Another day, another Redstart, this time at Ring Haw NR. Hard to imagine how scarce these are normally. They average about 3 a year in April but we've now had 5 of which I've seen 4 and found 3.

These have been difficult to get good photos of but here's a record shot again.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

More Redstart action

Found this male and a female at Castor Hanglands this morning. Another is still present at Castor Mill making three in the Castor area.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Oystercatchers, Bradley Fen

Canon Powershot A640

Redstart, Ferry Meadows

He's done it again. Don Gardener is like a magnet for Redstarts and found a corking male on the Coney/Oak Meadow boundary at Ferry Meadows today. Getting pushed around a lot by the large numbers of people and their dogs.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Tuscan treasures

A city break to Florence and Pisa was not without wildlife interest. Plus it rained heavily on Sunday afternoon and through the night causing the Arno to rise dramatically.

The first birds we saw on arrival were swifts but with the dull conditions id was a bit tricky. On call and flight they seemed to be more like Pallid to me. In the sun a couple of days later some were definitely Pallid Swifts but I still think there may have been Common Swifts present as well.

The Arno held Little Egrets, Gery Herons, Mallard, Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls, White Wagtail, Hooded Crows, Kingfishers, Starlings, Moorhen, increasing numbers of House Martins and Swallows and at least one Common Sandpiper.

In the town Serins were very common, especially around parks, Feral Pigeons, Italian Sparrows, Blackbirds and Blackcaps were the other common birds. A Peregrine flew in to perch just below us when we were on the top of the Campanile.

In and around the Boboli Gardens and Piazalle Michalangelo areas were Redstarts, Sandinian Warblers, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Jackdaw, Robin, Firecrest, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Short-toed Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Kestrel, Great Spotted Woodpecker and surprising numbers of Nuthatches. Pheasant and Green Woodpecker were heard from the surrounding countryside.

Butterflies included Swallowtail, Cleopatra, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and unidentified whites. Many Italian Wall Lizards were basking on the hedgerows in the Boboli Gardens, while smaller numbers of Common Wall Lizards tended to be on the ground or other bare surfaces. Two Egyptian Grasshoppers were also a treat.

Italian Wall Lizard Podarcis sicula




Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis





Egyptian Grasshopper Anacridium aegyptium


Italian Sparrow Passer (domesticus) italiae


Little Egret Egretta garzetta


Serin Serinus serinus


Canon Powershot SX10

Orange Underwing

Drove out to Easton Hornstocks at lunchtime where a flowering sallow was attracting a large number of bees flies and others, including many Orange Underwings and a Comma. They stayed very high in the tree.

Orange Underwing Archiearis parthenias

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

More Bank Vole Action

Bank Vole Myodes glareolus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

First moths

Ran the 15W actinic in the back garden and confirmed the continued presence of Lead-coloured Drab.

Agonopterix heracliana/ciliella, 2
Oak Beauty Biston strataria, 1
Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta, 2
Lead-coloured Drab Orthosia populeti, 1

Oak Beauty Biston strataria


Lead-coloured Drab Orthosia populeti



Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta


Canon Powershot A640

Bank Vole

For the past week or two this little rodent has been performing in the daytime in full view of our kitchen window, occasionally joined by a second. Not easy to photograph but here is an attempt.

Bank Vole Myodes glareolus

Canon Powershot SX10

Grey Heron

This bird feeds around Goldie Bridge near the reserve at Ferry Meadows and can be quite confiding.

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Canon Powershot A640

Crane

An outrageous bit of luck to glance up from my desk at work just as a Crane was flying past the window. There have been a single and a pair wandering around the area but I didn't expect to come across one while sitting at my desk.

This was a PBC area self-found tick - #210!

Mediterranean Gull

On Heron Meadow at Ferry Meadows today. Found earlier by Don Gardener. No scope with me so had to make do with the SX10 and the bird was a bit distant for that.

Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus

Canon Powershot SX10

Jungfrau Region, Switzerland

This was a week in Switzerland for nine of our family, six skiing, the rest, including me, sightseeing. Birding was limited to whatever was around the places we visited.

We travelled by train and the outward journey revealed small numbers of Common Buzzards, a few Ravens and some Roe Deer as we sped across France.

We stayed in the village of Wilderswil near Interlaken and on the Sunday morning became acquainted with the common birds; House Sparrows, Siskin (about the commonest bird around), Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Blackbird. The skiiers were up on the mountain early and we soon followed to meet them at First above Grindlewald. Alpine Choughs were common and tame here and came to eat chips from plates at the restaurant. A couple of Snow Finches and Ravens were the only other birds but up to 11 Chamois were on the slopes nearby.

On Monday a single Black Redstart was in Wilderswil. That day Karen and I took the train to Luzern, stopping briefly at the town of Meiringen which has been given a Sherlock Holmes theme thanks to the nearby Reichenbach Falls, which Conan Doyle chose as the location for the final encounter between Holmes and Moriaty. The town itself was buzzing with Alpine Choughs - easily the lowest altitude I've seen them at - and many appeared to be paired or displaying. A Grey Wagtail was on the river and Siskins and Blackbirds were common.

En Route the Brienzersee (and other lakes along the way) had several Great Crested Grebe, many Coot, a few Black-headed and Common Gulls and a Sparrowhawk. A few Chamois were on the hillside on the north side at surprisingly low altitude. A Roe Deer showed on the climb up to Brünig Hasliberg.

Other species seen en route were Carrion Crow, Magpie, Common Buzzard, Mute Swan, Wigeon, Shelduck, Tufted Duck and Cormorant. A Red Kite was near Sarnen. Luzern produced a Peregrine terrorizing the Feral Pigeons, 2 Goosander, Mallard and Black-headed Gulls.

Tuesday found us back in the high mountains for a trip up to the 007-themed revolving restaurant on top of The Schilthorn at 2971m. The restaurant featured in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and takes 55 minutes to do a complete turn. The scenery here was quite simply breathtaking and of course there were the inevitable Alpine Choughs for company as well as a Raven. We stopped in the village of Mürren on the way up where there were many Alpine Choughs, 4 Snow Finches and a singing Alpine Accentor.

Wednesday was another train trip for Karen and me, this time to the capital, Bern. Little Grebes and Goosander were on the river in Interlaken, there were 2 Red Kites near Spiez and the usual suspects on the lakes. In Bern a Short-toed Treecreeper was calling loudly as it made its way up trees around the Casino.

On the way from here to Lausanne we saw our only Starlings of the trip and our first Mistle Thrush. Lake Geneva held heoic numbers of Great Crested Grebes plus other waterbirds like Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Goosander. There were many Grey Herons in the valley north of Aigle on our return via the new 34.5km Lötschberg Base Tunnel (the longest land tunnel in the world).

Thursday, and we were back in the mountains for some hardcore tobogganing. The route was via Wengen (Alpine Choughs) and the cablecar to Männlichen, where a couple of Chamois showed. At the top were more Alpine Choughs and one or two Snow Finches. The toboggan run down to Grindlewald passed through coniferous forest where we saw 2 Nutcrackers, Willow Tit, Crested Tit, Crossbill and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

On Friday we decided to return to Mürren for some hiking. 6 Fieldfare were in Wilderwil that morning and a Dipper showed on the river just above Zweilütschinen on the way up and down. Again the village was packed with Alpine Choughs and had several Snow Finches and Alpine Accentors. The walk produced more Siskins, Mistle Thrushes, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and 2 Crossbills but the highlight was a party of c.6 pale alpestris Ring Ouzels feeding on Rowan.Higher up at Allmendhubel there were a couple of Ravens, Snow Finch and Chamois.

The train journey home was surprisingly productive with Goosander and Red Kite near Olten in Switzerland, then many Great White Egrets, plus a few White Storks and Grey Herons, a Little Egret and a Marsh Harrier along the Zorn valley between Strasbourg and Saverne in France. There were a few more Great White Egrets west of the Vosges Mountains but otherwise just a handful of Common Buzzards were seen for the rest of the trip.

Alpine Chamois Rupicapra rupicapria rupicapria



Alpine Accentor Prunella collaris


Siskin Carduelis spinus


Snow Finch Montifringilla nivalis



Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus








All pictures taken with Canon Powershot SX10

Lammergeier, Morocco

One of the highlights of last December's trip to Morocco was this sub-adult Lammergeier giving prolonged views just below the ski resort of Oukaimeden in the High Altas mountains near Marrakech. I've only just got around to processing the video.

Read the full report here.


Digiscoped with Canon A640 handheld to the 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77