Brilliant birthday birding

I know life begins at forty but what happens at fifty? Well I can tell you, nothing bad. Okay, it’s only been one day but what a day it was.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I like an early morning wander along the seawall at South Fambridge. So at 7.30am with the sun warming up the chilly early morning air, I took the usual route west. There wasn’t much about. A few skylarks were singing somewhere up in the heavens (not long for me now) and a couple of corn buntings played birds on a wire. Along the river, Brent geese were collecting and getting ready to leave these shores for the summer and the usual waders, oystercatchers, curlews and redshanks added the atmospherics with their echoing calls.

On the way back, a few reed buntings flitted about in the narrow reeds that margin the fine strips of water that run parallel to the path. Just before you get to the entrance to the bridleway, there are a few old buildings that have seen better days. There were robins, dunnocks, blackbirds, chaffinches and house sparrows but one other bird caught my eye. The flickering tail and restless nature of this small bird didn’t quite fit in with the other birds.

It was a black redstart. There has been one at Shoebury in recent weeks but I didn’t expect to see one here. I thought I’d better get moving as the journey to work from here is a gauntlet run past some of Essex’s most jobsworth lollipop people (Easily five along the route into Rochford)

Black Redstart
However, a minute further on and a short-eared owl decided to put in a show along the seawall before pouncing on some poor unsuspecting vole or similar in the long grass by the entrance. Now I’m going to be late. Still it was my birthday and I was sure no one would mind. Managed to get some distant shots of the owl but it spent most of its time munching away on the rodent.

Short-eared Owl
A brilliant start to being 50. Can’t wait for tomorrow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Digiscoping DIY Adaptor

Image
Thought I would take this opportunity to explain and illustrate the way I digiscope. I have never bothered to invest in a purpose-made adaptor because I’m never sure which one would be best and I suppose I’m a bit stingy. Instead, I have experimented with different joining mechanisms which have include fruit juice bottle tops, paint roller tubes and plumbing joints. Over the five or so years I have digiscoped, the results have been unpredictable. This has been caused by the light conditions, the mobility of the subject and invariably, the distances between my camera and the bird. probably worth noting here that I also tend to focus through the scope before attaching the camera. The most successful adaptor for me has been the paint roller tube. I discovered if I strip off the furry bit, I’m left with a perfect basis for an adaptor. Depending on the camera lens width and the telescope eyepiece diameter, I wrap insulation tape inside the tube. Measure the depth and width of the ca...
Read more

Scotland day 6: Look out. Look up and look where you’re going!

Image
Oh my days! Is it Friday already? This was our last full day with Heatherlea and it was destined to be a big one. Correction: The big one. Do these birding tour operators plan this? Do they always save the best for last? I don’t know. Some would say the Capercaillie caper would have done it and it did in many ways but this day would match it or in some eyes surpass it. You be the judge. Another full fat breakfast! My only thoughts during this now routine ceremony was whether I would still fit in the minibus. To be honest, I thought we would be doing a bit more walking on this trip but apart from the odd amble up a hill, we were never far from the transport. The birding day began with an excursion to Roseisle and initially around some of the farmland minor roads where we picked up a couple of corn buntings just sitting on fence wires. Looking out from a viewpointon the Moray Firth at Burghead Bay there were velvet and common scoters, eider and a few red-breasted merganser. Telescope out...
Read more

Scotland Day 1: A few 'grouses' about the weather

Image
We woke in the morning to discover the beautiful sunny evening that met our arrival had turning into a cold, grey dreich. We caught up with our guides and fellow adventurers early so that we could could visit a black grouse lek before breakfast. The visibility was poor and the air damp. When we arrived at the site, it was very difficult to see the birds. A few bobbing backsides – the white of the male tail feathers was about all I could see.  Black grouse, what Black Grouse? Lesser redpoll called as they went over and the inevitable willow warblers sang from various trees. Everyone got poor views to be fair but at that stage, we were all happy. A bit later at breakfast we discussed the weather, as you do and Dave and Chris, our guides for the tour laid out plans for local birding in Abernethy forest, primarily for crested tit and the magnificent capercaillie. The excitement was clearly audible. We arrived and parked up near Loch Mallachie and made our way down through the incredibl...
Read more