Birding Braunie

Filmed the Bittern through my fieldscope to see if it worked.  Sort of worked.

Routine. Routine is one of those words that feels a little bad or slightly derogatory. It can describe someone’s life as boring or it can describe things as predicable and by association, unexciting. Well I have a routine when I volunteer at the Lee Valley Park. It begins with an hour or so walk around a part of the park to see what’s about. Normally I do the same old boring route as I also do a BTO winter thrush survey and have an allotted square kilometre to cover and count the numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing Song Thrush etc in that area. Well today would be different and I don’t know why. The day began with a beautiful blue sky. The past few weeks had been grey and snow white but there was a real sense of things become mild and nature preparing for spring. Instead of wearing what I normally wear, I donned my box-fresh Lee Valley Fleece and volunteer badge. Not exactly exciting I know but it made me feel more a part of the Park and what they do. Silly but there you go. Approach

Now, Long-tailed ducks are normally to be seen off the Northern and Eastern coasts in winter. From Scotland down to Norfolk/Suffolk is their usual range and most of the time, can be seen bobbing merrily on the sea or flying low across it. rarely are they seen on what can be at best described as a small lake but at Gunners Park near Southend, this is what we have. Gunners Park Lake Gunners Park is a pretty good birding spot. Plenty of scrubland and trees, metres from the sea brings in the right conditions great migrants in the spring and autumn. In winter the shoreline is awash with waders. Today, Sanderling, Oystercatcher, Common Redshank, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Lapwing and a few Bar-tailed Godwits fed along the outgoing tide. In the scrub, bag loads of Song Thrushes, Dunnocks and blackbirds heralded in the new day. The air was slightly damp with an irritating mizzle. The light was very poor so any images are rather grainy I’m afraid. On the lake, Mallards topped the nu

One of the best bits about volunteering at the Bittern Information Point in the Lee Valley apart from the obvious, is the people I get to meet. You get all sorts but they fit into quite defined segments. 1. The lone birder (usually with a beard and usually male) We don’t need to give these chaps much info. They know what they’re doing and apart from asking the key question, 'Is the Bittern about?' not much interaction takes place. They prefer silence and a hot flask of coffee. 2. The regular friend of the valley. These people are singular or come in pairs. A mixture of men and women of all ages with binoculars and often, semi-pro cameras. They know the valley better than me but that’s not saying much. They love a chat and some even bring chocolate bars that they share out. They can spend nearly all day in the hide or pop out for a few hours and then come back to report their sightings. Love them. 3. Families They are great because the kids love to use our binoculars an

With ten whole days off over the Christmas and New Year period, I was expecting to have a halcyon period of birdwatching. But as the norm in our household, I was doing those odd jobs that needed doing, going on shopping trips (groan) and of course, looking up at the dark, rain-filled clouds that appear whenever I get the time to go out birding. All my dreams and schemes to get my yearly total to 160 lay in tatters; 155 would have to suffice. So on New Year’s day, I had the chance to get out of the house. The weather was forecast to be beautiful sunshine with a cool breeze but thankfully no rain. I decided to go to Old Hall Marshes which was a random choice for me as I have only ever been there twice in my life. But the thing with birding on 1st Jan is that you can start a new year list – if you do one that is and every species is a good one. Old Hall Marshes RSPB reserve From the car park, I took a clockwise direction and basically walked the whole circumference of the reserve.