Tetrad TR34Y

I have applied to the BTO to record birds on my 'patch' for the survey of winters and summers from 2007 to 2011. The tetrad arrowed above must be one of the smallest in the country, although the one just to the north of it is even tinier (basically Kingsdown beach).

My bit comprises the cliff face (but not, I think, the cliff top which is someone else's problem), the rifle range and the beach. One of the problems is that the southern part of the beach is underwater at high tide, so views of the cliffs might have to be from a canoe.
There were few recorded species today, as the continuing fencing work has probably driven some of the usuals like Pipits, Black Redstarts and Stonechats away. The list was 4 Carrion Crows, 8 Jackdaws, about 20 feral pigeons, one each of Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, and a slow stream of gulls southwards.
The main interest was provided by the Fulmars, and 18 occupied ledges and crevices were noted, with about another 20 birds wheeling around the cliffs. The occupied locations have been recorded, and over the months up to and through the breeding season I'll try to keep these updated. If anybody else is already doing this, however, please tell me.
A welcome sight at the base of the cliffs was the emerging flower stems of Coltsfoot - the leaves from which it gets its name will appear later in the year. The plants flower early here, sheltered from the wind and basking in sunlight reflected from the chalk cliffs.

Adding to the list

May I make it clear that I'm not the kind of birder who obsessively makes lists of sightings, nor am I in any way a twitcher. Having got that out of the way.....a trip down to Sussex gave a good opportunity for a boost to the New Year's list.

It's not often that Hume's Leaf Warbler is on the 'year list' before House Sparrow, but that's what happened today. As I was nearby I stopped at Beachy Head and yomped around the small wood that is known as Horseshoe Plantation, listening for any small-bird noises. After a while of being irritated by tits, robins and chaffinches, I heard a piecing call from the other side of the wood, so I made my way to it. Sure enough, a dull Goldcrest-looking bird was foraging at the base of some saplings, giving good enough views to confirm its identity - no crest, single wing bar, and that strong call. A while was spent in good company watching it flit around.

Looking back on historical records, it seems that there was another such bird in the same wood in November 1966, as well as two others nearby since then. Unsurprisingly, one was also recorded in St Margaret's, Kent, in November 1998.
So, a HLW listed at 48, followed by House Sparrow at 49, seen soon after.

Later, a visit to Dungeness RSPB reserve (my first ever tut,tut) added a variety of ducks including Smew, Goldeneye and Red-Crested Pochard, as well as a Shag and a Slavonian Grebe, while on the way home, a flock of about 40 Stock Doves was seen, and the herd of swans near Snave had increased to 121, including quite a few Bewicks.

Coal tit and other names

Still stuck inside, so the Coal Tit is keeping me company (and a couple of Greenfinches that have turned up today). The Coal Tit is helpful for photography, as he calls from a nearby tree for a minute of two, giving time to prepare the camera.
Another of my treasured books is All the Birds of the Air, by Francesca Greenoak, who has dug out local names for UK birds. For Coal Tit, she found Black Cap (Shropshire, Stirlingshire), Black Ox-Eye (Forfar), Coaly Hood (Scotland generally), Little Blackcap (Yorkshire) and Coalmouse (Ireland) - all reasonably similar.

For some birds, however, there is a wide variety of local names, some of which are a sad loss to our language - Long-Tailed Tits were also called Ragamuffins, Mumruffins, Long-Tailed chitterlings, Poke Bags or Bum Barrels, the last two apparently derived from the shape of their woven nests.


Postscript - two Coal Tits seen approaching the feeder together this morning - oh joy!

Stuck inside

Great, a lovely day - warm, clear and sunny - and I'm stuck inside with 'man-flu' as the female part of the family disparagingly call it. Fortunately there are chocolates and pud left over from Christmas, as comfort.

All I can do is listen for the bicycle-pump call of a Coal Tit, which seems to circuit the area and call from various perches, taking out time to take peanuts on his way.

Otherwise the feeders are the preserve of Blue Tits (no Greats today, or Greenfinches - maybe the weather's too good), although King Pigeons are around as usual. A local subspecies, as in just another....

There is also time to browse the books that arrived at Christmas, including the massive and fascinating BTO Migration Atlas. Every page is packed with facts, statistics and tentative conclusions, greatly adding to my poor knowledge of UK species.

Taking a few pages at random (by the way, this may infringe copyright, but I hope it would be seen more as an advertisement)....

....the map above shows recoveries of Bramblings that had been ringed in Britain - no real surprises there. But look at this:
...Turnstones that populate the Kentish beaches (and promenades and piers) in autumn, winter and spring may be just stopping over on a long migration from Canada or Greenland to the coasts of Spain or Africa. Apparently they are faithful to their sites, so those that do stay around our coast are likely to be the same ones that were here in previous years (viz Stumpy on Deal Pier).
Finally, Purple Sandpipers - a combination of ringing recoveries and bill length has indicated that birds wintering on the north-eastern coasts of the UK are from Scandinavia [short bills], while most of those that winter on northern and western coasts (and bizarrely on Thanet) have longer bills, and are from Iceland and beyond, to Canada.

'Strordinary - it's amazing what you can learn by putting your feet up.

A chilly New Year

On a cold and sleety day, a good antidote is the tropical flock of Rose Ringed Parakeets in Thanet.









Reports in 2007 indicated a continued extension of the areas covered by these birds, outwards from London and from Thanet, so this year they may join up across Kent.

The lack of trees around the Isle may have hampered their colonisation to the west and south, just as it has prevented treecreepers and nuthatches moving the other way.

The Rose Ringed Parakeet was the bird that reawakened my interest in birds, about three years ago when I saw a flock wheeling and calling around a game of football that I watching - more interesting than my son's muddy attempts.

Glorious end to the year

It's been a quiet end to December with dull skies and little wind, so it was particularly pleasing to end with two new birds for the year, including one 'lifer'. Both are attractive little things, so that makes it even better.

A Slavonian Grebe fetched up on the pools next to road along which I commute (although at the moment I am not at work, of course), and has been kind enough to wait a couple of days until I can get there. The pools are between a road and footpath and the Pegwell mud flats, and so views can be excellent.
It's a delicate bird, just larger than the Little Grebe that was also on the pool, and like its cousin spends a lot of its time underwater. Whether on or under the surface, it certainly moves quickly, quartering the pool in search of food.
Almost a year ago to the day a similar Slav arrived at Seaton Lake. Partly in recognition of this, we travelled inland to Seaton, and long before reaching the bank were delighted to see the bright white plumage of a male Smew. We were even more impressed when we saw that a female was by his side. These were my first ever Smew, and beautiful birds they are too.
Another couple of Smew were at the other end of the lake, which also held Teal, Widgeon, Shoveller, Mallard, Coot, Little and Great-Crested Grebes and a male Goldeneye.
There were a few gulls, of course, and one in particular held our gaze, as it had a Ring-bill. Photos were taken, and it is most likely to be a second-winter Common Gull with a 'dark subterminal band' rather than the rare Ring-billed Gull.

A skein of Cormorants

..and finally, a festive Robin. Here's to a happy 2008!

Rattus Norvegicus

While collecting compost from a garden in a nearby village we came across a large dying Brown Rat. Apparently poison had been put down and it had presumably taken some. It was the closest I've come to a rat since biology lessons at school. Yuk.

But where are our heroes when we need them?

Good grief.