Trip to RSPB Arne

Sunday 29th December 2013 - what a fantastic day for birding with crystal clear, blue skies and wall-to-wall sunshine. Not even that cold either for the time of year! A trip to RSPB Arne, we felt, was way overdue and as usual it did not disappoint.

Thanks to meeting up with a friendly and helpful survey team from Birds of Poole Harbour, we were treated to great sightings of Avocet, Spoonbill, Grey Plover, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Red Breasted Merganser and more, through their awesome 50x Swarovski Spotting Scope. Must put one of those on my "must buy" list for 2014!

The scenery at Arne is, in my opinion, unparalleled in southern England with a fantastic and diverse wetland habitat, alongside breathtaking heathland which the RSPB work so hard to preserve. The reserve is about 3 miles from Wareham in Dorset at BH20 5BJ and well worth the trip.

Pictured (top left) is the view from Coombe Heath and a few pictures taken whilst we were with the Poole Harbour birding team, including some Oyster-catchers (middle left) in flight and a pair of Spoonbills (bottom left) who were feeding in the bay.

Spoonbills are rare in the UK with only small numbers visiting annually and Poole Harbour is one of the best places to see them in the UK.

The Sparrowhawk - A Ruthless Opportunist Killer!

After a year long absence a male Sparrowhawk turned up this morning, perched on our neighbour's roof eyeing up our bird feeder. It left empty handed, but it made us all aware of how cunning Sparrowhawks are in their search for an easy meal.

It looks like the same bird that visited in July 2012, as it has a ring on its right leg. Either these birds hunt within a very small area, or they have a very good memory as to where to find food! The Sparrowhawk is the ultimate opportunist killer of small birds. Whilst the female will take birds as large as wood pigeons, the smaller male would target smaller prey like blue tits.

Red Backed Shrike - Greenham Common

Incredible day! I got to see the Red Backed Shrike on Greenham Common this morning and this afternoon the sun came out which gave much better photographic opportunities after the disappointingly gloomy start to the day. The RB Shrike is a very rare bird which is on the RSPB Red List for endangerment, with (on average) less than 10 breeding pairs in the UK.

This particular Red Backed Shrike is a juvenile and probably a female. Apparently the adults head back to Africa first leaving the young to fatten up on bugs and beetles before they too leave for warmer climes in late September.

Quite a few birders were present this morning on Greenham Common and this stopped me from getting close enough for good pictures with my meagre 400mm lens. The other birders were all using spotting scopes and were clearly not keen on us photographers. The exception being a kind hearted couple from Bracknell who let me use their fantastic Leica spotting scope which offered amazing quality images.

Late this afternoon was much better for photography as the spotting scope brigade had all gone home and we had the opportunity to take some serious pictures! The Shrike was still showing really well in the same area as this morning - in the undergrowth to the north west of the Fire Plane. In reality you could carefully approach the bird quite easily without spooking it by hiding behind nearby bushes, so not sure what all the fuss was about this morning.

For those not familiar with Greenham Common, the Fire Plane is a very rusty metal aircraft frame used by the USAF to practice putting out aircraft fires. It is located on ground south west of the EPC Factory and Venture West buildings. It is only a 5 minute walk from the disused Nuclear Bunkers. The closest parking is at Venture West, Greenham Business Park - that is if you're not staying long as this parking area is really intended for employees working on the business park.

Chiffchaff on Migration?

I noticed a small bird hopping about and doing aerial acrobatics catching insects in our back garden this morning and it turned out to be a beautiful little Chiffchaff.

There are a few others in the hedgerows opposite today, so maybe they've had enough of the colder-than-average September weather and are heading south to their wintering grounds in the Mediterranean and western Africa.

We know some birds stay in the UK all winter as we've seen them particularly near rivers (Dinton Pastures by the River Loddon  being one place), where they feed off insects even when there is snow and ice on the ground.

Chiffchaffs are one of my favourite birds and have a wonderful soft yellow colour and are great to watch darting about. They can be confused with other small warblers, but you can distinguish a Chiffchaff by the "chiff-chaff" song which gives the bird its name and by it's black legs. Please write a comment to correct me on that if I am wrong!

Marsh Tit visits garden feeder

This friendly Marsh Tit stopped by this lunchtime to briefly visit our sunflower feeder.

The Marsh Tit is an RSPB 'Red Listed' bird and are not particularly common. We saw one yesterday in Bowdown Woods off Bury's Bank Road, so there are definitely a few in the Greenham area and this year looks like it has been a good one for them, with quite a few local sightings over the summer period. We think this particular bird may live in West Wood adjacent to our house.

Redstart at Dinton Pastures

A great bird sighting yesterday at Dinton Pastures, near Woodley, Berkshire - Three Redstart were seen at the far side of the car park field.

This is a first for me and after a great deal of patience sitting around, we managed to get the birds fairly used to us and approached a little closer to get a few decent pictures.

Apparently according to FOLL bird expert Fraser Cottington Redstarts start their migration in late August and through September and are regularly seen in this area each year.

Interview on Radio Berkshire

I took a trip up to Lardon Chase, Berkshire on Wednesday to take some pictures of the blue butterflies which favour the wild flowers of the Chalk Downland. I was lucky enough to spot a very rare UK butterfly - the Clouded Yellow which visits the UK from southern Europe in very small numbers some years.

This year, butterfly numbers seem to have recovered after last year's awful summer, and it has been a similarly good year in Europe where the Clouded Yellow has been seen in good numbers. The Clouded Yellow sighting was very exciting!

Sophie Larkins on Radio Berkshire

I contacted Radio Berkshire and was interviewed live on their popular 'Smartphone Safari' feature on Saturday morning. You can listen to the full interview (8MB MP3) or a cut-down version of the interview (5MB MP3) from this page (Media Player required).

Kingfisher Sighting - Rye Meads RSPB Reserve

We had an amazing day at Rye Meads RSPB reserve in Hertfordshire yesterday. Bit of a trek from West Berkshire, but worth it.

The Kingfisher Hide at the reserve produced some memorable views of Kingfishers fishing, perching and returning to the nest hole to feed their young. It was all quite magical.

The bird pictured left is a male as it has a black beak. Kingfishers are uncommon birds with only about 5000 - 8000 breeding pairs in the UK, due largely to the shortage of suitable habitat and their fiercely territorial nature.

We were surprised that they are only a little larger than a house sparrow. The Kingfisher's incredible iridescent blue colour is due to the reflection and refraction of blue light from its feathers, rather than from pigments.

Kingfishers eat mainly small fish (typically sticklebacks and minnows) but they can also take small aquatic animals and insects to supplement their diet.

2 to 3 broods are raised each year, and the Kingfishers at Rye Meads are currently raising their second brood. Multiple broods are very important as Kingfishers frequently only live a year or two. They are very susceptible to sever weather and to make matters worse the survival rate of young Kingfishers is only 25%. The adults tend to chase the young birds out of the territory soon after fledging, often before they have learnt how to fish!

Green Woodpecker Searching for Ants

We spotted this Green Woodpecker a few days ago - outside our house in Greenham on some communal land.

It was seen very early in the morning before the noise disturbance from passing cars became too much, and it reappeared briefly in the afternoon.

An ant-infested lawn is all you need to keep Green Woodpeckers coming back time and time again!

Blue Tit Fledgling

It's been a long time coming this year given the delayed nesting season, but our Blue Tits have all successfully fledged and have been seen back in the garden today being fed by the attentive adults.

The chick appears bigger than the adults, who both look rather bedraggled following the heavy showers earlier.

Here we see one of the adults feeding the chick sunflower hearts, whilst the other waits patiently to answer the chick's insatiable need for sustenance.

Blue Tits Gathering Food

The unseasonable weather has finally picked up and our Blue Tits now have young in the Greenham Birding nest box on the side of the house. This adult is very busy gathering caterpillars for the growing chicks. Feeding starts at dawn and extends to dusk, which must be exhausting work for such small birds!

Interestingly, the adults take in a mixture of food which includes various winged insects and caterpillars as well as small pieces of the fat balls and sunflower hearts from our selection of feeders.

Sophie made the nest box herself at RSPB Arne and  just a month after it was put up last year, it was occupied by Blue Tits who successfully raised young. This year the nesting season is much later due to the very cold spring (the coldest for 50 years). At least food appears to be readily available now that the trees are in full summer foliage. Fingers crossed that the chicks successfully fledge in a few weeks time!

Juvenile Greenfinch

Two juvenile Greenfinches turned up again on our feeder yesterday and they have grown a lot in the week or so from their last visit.

I managed to get a picture of one of them before a Magpie scared them both off!

Greenfinch Close Encounter

I wish bird photography was always this easy! This male Greenfinch decided it would hang around in a bush at the end of our garden for several minutes and wasn't fussed by me leaning out of the window with my camera and long lens!

I managed to get some amazing Greenfinch pictures. Here is one of the best!

Spring Update - Latest News

Spring is a busy time at the Greenham Birding feeders and unusually for May we're still getting a pair of Siskins regularly feeding on Nyjer and Sunflower Hearts. Presumably they think that it's still winter, which is understandable given the low temperatures this week!

Bullfinches Nesting?

We're not sure whether the Bullfinches are building a nest in the dense thorny bushes in our garden. Two males seem to virtually live here now and spend a great deal of time deep in the bushes. The female Bullfinch has been notably absent - presumably she's actively building a nest and/or raising young.

Juvenile Greenfinch

A pair of Greenfinches are also coming regularly and are being joined by a juvenile Greenfinch, who begs for food with limited success. Far from being doting parents, the adult Greenfinches just ignore the baby and continue to stuff their faces with food whilst the youngster looks on with disdain!

Blue Tits hit by the Cold

The Blue Tit has been building in our back garden nest box for what seems like an age, only to be put off by the never ending cold. It remains to be seen how successful this Spring's bird breeding season is, given the cold weather and lack of food. Blue Tits rely on caterpillars to raise their young and the trees are late to leaf this year and food is more scarce.

Feisty Stock Doves

During the last week, we have also enjoyed numerous early morning sightings of a pair of Stock Doves clearing up the leftovers dropped from the feeders. Our opinion of Stock Doves being shy has been changed this week as we saw one seeing off a much larger Wood Pigeon, which appeared scared by all the intimidation.

Experiments with the Canon 7D

We've also been experimenting with our Canon 7D camera and have started using AI Servo mode for birding with some success. This advanced focussing mode continually focusses on a moving subject. Very handy for birds perched on swaying tree branches and it also works well for very active smaller birds which don't stay still for a second!

The Greenfinch pictures (left) were taken when the feeders were moving in the wind and are still pretty sharp, so this more advanced focussing technique works well.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

During a recent early morning trip to West Wood, we were amazed at the number of drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers to mark the arrival of Spring, complimented by the beautiful carpet of native Bluebells, which are now in full bloom.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker which visits our feeders we are almost sure is a resident of West Wood and we only ever see the male bird, which are easy to identify as they have a bright red patch on the back of their head. The picture (left) does not clearly show the head marking unfortunately. 

Woodpeckers are notoriously shy and will leave promptly at the merest sound or sight of human presence!

Click the bird pictures (left) to enlarge them for easier viewing.

Wheatear on Bury Down, West Berkshire

It is always great to see one of our favourite birds - the Wheatear on its annual migration to the higher ground of northern and western areas of the UK, from its wintering territories in central Africa.

There were at around 6-8 pairs of Wheatears on Bury Down today and we got a few reasonable pictures, especially when a bold male decided to land on one of the fence posts adjacent to where we were standing!

The main reason for the visit to Bury Down was to see the Dotterel, but the Wheatears were a welcome bonus! Shame it was freezing cold up on the Ridgeway today with the same nagging north easterly wind which just won't go away this year. The car temperature gauge was only reading 8C!

Dotterel on Bury Down, West Berkshire

We were very pleased to spot the Dotterel today. It has been seen for a couple of days on Bury Down (SU4884) in West Berkshire, just off the Ridgeway path east of the main parking area at the top of the Downs on an adjoining farmer's field. It was never very close, so the picture (left) is significantly cropped.

Dotterels are summer visitors to Scotland, so this bird has probably stopped off on migration and is a rare and unusual bird sighting in Berkshire. The RSPB website shows the bird as a passage migrant in Norfolk, so this is quite a way off its regular territory. The Dotterel is a Blackbird sized bird which has an orange breast and black and white horizontal markings, together with a striking grey and black upper body and head. The UK population is only 500-700 birds, so Dotterels are a notable rarity.

Broad Billed Hummingbirds

The miserable UK March weather made us decide to head off to warmer climes for Easter and our chosen destination was Phoenix, Arizona in America's beautiful south west. When we left the UK on 1st April it was only 2C and trying to snow.That all changed when we got to Arizona - with some days topping 34C!

Little did we know when we booked the trip that Arizona, and particularly south east Arizona is a Mecca for birders and during the summer months (May - September) it has the largest number of Hummingbird species ever recorded in the United States, some 14 species in fact - including some rare species which are normally residents south of the Mexican border.

Hummingbirds recorded at Beatty's Guest Ranch at Miller Canyon, AZ include: Allen's, Anna's, Berylline, Black-chinned, Blue-throated,Broad-billed, Broad-tailed, Calliope, Costa's, Lucifer, Magnificent, Rufous, Plain-capped Starthroat, Violet-crowned, White-Eared.

Unfortunately the unseasonably cool winter in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area seemed to have hit Hummingbird numbers and some plants had also been killed by the severe frosts in early 2013.

As we were staying in Scottsdale, a trek to Miller Canyon was too far on this occasion, but we did discover an excellent nearby location for Hummingbird viewing - Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which was about 50 miles east of Phoenix on I-60 (a comfortable hour's drive). With a little patience we were rewarded with great views of Broad Billed Hummingbirds in their natural environment in the Boyce Thompson Hummingbird Garden.

Whitethroat Sightings

Greenham Common was alive with birds today as I enjoyed the pleasant spring sunshine with a lengthy early morning walk.

One sighting of particular interest during my two hour walk were several pairs of Whitethroats. One pair was first spotted in the central runway area and then a further sighting was made just to the west of the cordoned off area for ground nesting birds near EPC. This area adjoins woodland. Each sighting was in dense thickets of undergrowth with one in Gorse.

The Whitethroat is a summer visitor to the UK and has Amber Status, so it is nice to see this uncommon bird on Greenham Common (a first for me!).

These birds spend winter in sub-Saharan Africa, so they may still be on migration to other parts of the UK, stopping off at Greenham Common - or if we are lucky they may stay for the summer.

Whitethroats are about Robin size and the bird photographed was quite vocal, moving from bush to bush.

Blue Tit Nest Building

A bit of sunshine today and some of the birds are starting to gather nest materials. This Blue Tit is building a nest in the bird box Sophie made at RSPB Arne. She has been seen earnestly gathering moss and diligently carrying it into the box throughout the morning.

Baby Blue Tits are very special and we look forward to seeing them in May!

Bullfinch Singing

The male Bullfinch which frequents our garden is seen here showing off its fluty, varied song. We currently have up to five regular Bullfinches visiting to peck buds and use the feeding station.

This particular male has taken to singing from a perch in the bushes and has become a little less shy of late, allowing us to sneak open the window to take photographs and HD videos!

Hungry Greenfinch and Siskin

In the course of just a few minutes this afternoon, a Siskin and a beautiful male Greenfinch made an appearance in our Greenham garden!

I didn't have time to sneak open the window with the Greenfinch, but he sat for a few seconds on our apple tree - enough for me to get a reasonable picture.

Light levels have dropped as we've once again lost the sun - so no pin sharp pictures today!

Kestrel Hunting

We frequently see this Kestrel perched in its favourite tree looking out for mice in the field adjoining our house. With the sun shining this morning (a rare event this winter!) I took the opportunity to take some pictures to try out the Canon 7D camera, fitted with the Canon 100-400mm lens.

As the tree was moving around in the strong north easterly wind, I experimented with "AI Focus" which  re-focuses the picture if the subject moves. It seems very effective! I am also using "ISO-AUTO" more as it adjusts the ISO automatically (depending on light levels) to achieve a 1/500 to 1/640s exposure at 400mm, giving far less camera shake.

Feeding the Kites

We were lucky enough to get invited to a friend's house high up on the Berkshire Downs to feed the red kites yesterday. As it was one of the few sunny days we've had this year there were amazing photo opportunities.

It was just a case of scattering some enticing chicken pieces on the lawn and waiting. The kites were surprisingly shy and would not approach if they saw us, so we had to resort to hiding away behind a low bush to wait for some action!

One by one we saw the birds dash in with their talons out stretched, rapidly departing clutching the food. In all there were around 7 red kites seen over an hour and a half's viewing; a pair of which were known to reside in the wood close to the property. Very memorable!

Our First Siskin!

We've never seen a Siskin before on our feeding station - until today that is; when this bird arrived and seemed in no hurry to leave. There are no coniferous trees around here so Siskins are somewhat of a rarity.

The Siskin has been seen several times this morning feeding from the Nyjer feeder and also on the seed tray eating a few sunflower hearts.

New Bird Gallery Added!

Got a few minutes to spare? Check out our fantastic new UK bird gallery with some of our best bird pictures!

We've posted a great selection of our best bird photographs, from common garden birds right through to impressive birds of prey, as well as some rarer species of UK bird - which often take time and patience to photograph.

We are very careful not to disturb birds when photographing them and never disturb a nest site.

RSPB Garden Bird Watch Results

We completed the RSPB garden bird watch this weekend, so thought we'd share with you our results. Seen in our Greenham, Berkshire garden over the course of an hour from 08:15 - 09:15 yesterday (26th January) were the following:

A Male Bullfinch was one of the birds recorded:

Species	Count
Bullfinch	2 (male + female)
Nuthatch	2 (breeding pair?)
Blue Tit	4
Great Tit	2
Robin	2
Coal Tit	1
Magpie	1
Woodpigeon	1
Collared Dove	2
Dunnock	1
Blackbird	1

Our other regular birds, the Marsh Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker did not show during the garden bird watch.

Pallas's Warbler in Berkshire

We re-visited Moor Green Lakes near Finchhampstead in Berkshire today and managed to get some better pictures of the Pallas's Warbler. This rare UK visitor can been seen along the banks of the River Blackwater just past the conveyor belt of the new workings. Be sure to take a sturdy pair of wellies (it's extremely muddy) and follow the birders to see it!

As is normal in January - light levels were challenging for photography, despite the welcome sunshine today, so many of these pictures are taken at ISO1600 speeds with our Canon 500D body and Canon 100-400mm EF IS telephoto lens at F6.3. We try not to use F5.6 on this lens as wide-open it produces noticeably soft images. F6.3 (or F7.1 if light permits) produce sharper images with the Canon 100-400mm push-pull zoom lens, but higher ISO settings are needed to compensate, so there are drawbacks.

Pallas's Warbler Pictures

Pallas's Warbler at Moor Green Lakes - Short HD Video