Birding Braunie

Today was more about the wide shots; the atmospheric vistas deserving a bit of Hans Zimmer music if I’m perfectly honest. Okay so most of the birds were too far away to really a) appreciate and b) get a decent pic of. We started out exploring the south of Skye – the Sleat Peninsula and Ord Loop. Around the Kilbeg area we made a brief stop in an area of scrub and woodland. We heard now of course the willow warbler and some of the group caught the song of a chiffchaff as we slowly drove along a track/road. Chris our guide then caught the reeling song of a grasshopper warbler so we all disembarked the vehicles (some quicker than others). Eventually, we all got to hear the reeling although Phil could not due to his hearing impairment. However, it was Phil who was the first to see this secretive warbler and helped other get onto it which wasn’t easy. We also had a distant white-tailed eagle and a cuckoo fly past as well as views of a tree pipit but it didn’t hang around. Once every...

...because you’re about to be bombarded. The RSPB reserve at Rainham Marshes has worked hard over the past couple of years to encourage Kingfishers to nest in artificial banks. This year things have worked really well. With electric fencing deterring predators, the birds have been able to nest safely and have now produced young. This means constant trips back and forth with food carried out by both parents. And being creatures of habit, they generally rest up (briefly) on the same perches. But photographing them isn’t as easy as it seems. The hide has a glass front and to keep the birds undisturbed, camouflaged netting has been draped over the glass to hide all the commotion we make when we see these little gems. Enough. In other news, a Grasshopper Warbler reeled away near the Serin Mound and even gave good if distant views early morning. Grasshopper Warbler Female Wheatear Speckled Wood

Dear God. Could you please refrain from making early spring mornings less dewy. My boots, socks and fetching cargo pants got rather wet at the weekend as I crawled through scrub grass at Thistly marsh in a quest to capture a Grasshopper Warbler. Picture the scene; I’m crawling through wet grass at 6am, trying to un-snare my telescope’s tripod legs from a resistant bramble tentacle whist attempting to not collapse on my backside which would rightly raise a few questions from passers-by later on. I could hear that tinnitus-like reeling or playing cards in the bike spoke sound of the Grasshopper Warbler a few metres away but couldn’t see anything – this is normal. I caught a glimpse of the joker as it moved from one small straggly bush to another. It was keeping low and unhelpful. This too is normal. Finally, it blinked first and sat up in a Hawthorn bush and sang it’s little heart out. I still had to manoeuvre myself and my kit to a view where I could get a shot. Normally a bird fli...

No, not the classic rock hit by the brilliant Steely Dan but that ‘where’s that noise coming from’ call of the Grasshopper Warbler. If you have read my previous post, you’ll know I didn’t have time to locate this Houdini of warblers due to time constraints. Today though, I devoted all my time or at least most of it to finding this little joker and getting a few snaps of it. The weather was just about okay. There was a mizzle but that disappeared and I only had a brisk easterly wind to deal with. Within minutes, a Cuckoo showed along with Blackcaps , Common Whitethroats and a supporting cast of Goldfinches , Chaffinches and Linnets . It wasn’t long before I picked up the reeling of a Grasshopper Warbler . They are very good at throwing their voice and as I went in one direction, it sounded like it was coming from another. Good game this. Needless to say, my extraordinary birding field skills along with the gut instinct of going either one of two ways I found it...

After rains of biblical proportions, it was nice to see a clear sky this morning coupled with a warmish air. This meant I could steal an hour at South Fambridge before beginning the working week. You sometimes get a good feeling about birds in terms of quality and quantity and this morning as I opened the car door I knew it would be good. The air was full of birdsong and small LBJs were hopping from tree to tree – difficult to know where to look as so much was happening. One hour is a long time if you’re stuck in a boring meeting or saddled with someone who just wants to tell you about their new ipad app (probably should point out that I possibly bore people in the same way about birding) But one hour with so much potential like this morning is like a nano second to me. Sunny South Fambridge About five minutes in and the quintessential sound of spring in the shape of a Cuckoo could be heard somewhere across the fields. A quick scan of the tops of the trees and bushes revealed...