Birding Braunie

Normally I take an early morning walk around the Lee Valley at Fisher’s Green on my own, before going on duty. Today was different. Today was special. The powers at LVP are always looking for new volunteers and are always asking how and why we (volunteers) do it in order to get an insight on how they can persuade others to join the team. well, the answer is simple; volunteers form close friendships with other volunteers and this means days like this. Instead of my normal insular walk, I was joined by my good and generous friends Brenda and Jo. We met at Fisher’s Green before most people are even awake and enjoyed a bracing 3 hour walk around the park pretty much to ourselves before taking up duties at the Bittern information Point. 50 shades of Grey Wagtail. We made our to the Grebe hide, a trail I often take and stopped at the vantage point that look across the Grand Weir. Now, I have only ever seen a Grey Wagtail once in this park...back in some forgotten year but we were luc...

Yin and Yang. Heaven and Hell. The phrase polar opposites seems to be quite apt for me after a day in the Bittern Watchpoint yesterday. Actually, polar vortex is closer to the truth. The day had started with my car warning me of ice – like I needed to be told! still, it’s a caring car so i mustn’t be rude about it. With freezing rain sliding off the windscreen, I drove over to the Lee Valley Park. By the time I got there, the rainy sleet was slowly petering out. I have been looking for the regular Yellowhammers now for a few weeks and the possibility that there might be signs of these bright buntings (not academically you understand) was too much to resist. Greylags in motion. There were clattering of Jackdaws up at the farm and mutations of Fieldfare and Redwing hanging about outside the open barn as if they were having a crafty fag. Their guilt is magnified by the way they scatter at even my distant presence. They are quite funny really. Filter-tipped Fieldfare The...

Love 1 st Jan. Love the idea of a year-long bird race. Love the fact these two things have come together at Rainham Marshes RSPB thanks to Mr H. Vaughan. My 2014 scramble for species fell flat as I couldn’t get ‘out out*’ only just managed an ‘out*’ so ended with 153 species which is well short of average. My team for the bird race is the Wildgoose Chasers. This name has stuck with me for years, ever since I used to team up with my dad and brother and do the Lee Valley Bird Race quite a few years ago now. This BIG YEAR Bird Race for Rainham Marshes is quite a clever way to increase visiting birders and get a better picture of what species hang out on the reserve. My Rainham ritual always starts with a walk along the river towards the Tilda Rice Factory that looms large above the Stone Barges. My first target bird along the initial stretch from the reserve visitor centre was a Rock Pipit . These are usually found amongst the jetsam deposited on the foreshore and I ...

It’s called the Bittern Watchpoint or more precisely, the Bittern Information Point. It’s not the Water Rail watchpoint or the Sparrowhawk info-point, even less the Cormorant watchpoint. Thing is, the Bittern is a bit special; not every nature reserve has them; in fact, most don’t. The Lee Valley has for years played host to wintering bittern and the park authority recognised the importance of encouraging and attracting as many of these scarce and appealing birds that it could. The reed beds have been carefully managed and now there are healthy swathes of reed any discerning bittern would be happy to hide in – and can they hide. Even though there have been roost counts of up to three bittern in the park (this is about half of what we had last year but that coincides with a mild winter across northern Europe) sighting had been few and far between for a few weeks at Fishers Green, home to the Bittern Watchpoint. Plenty of Smew, Goosander and Water Rail but only glimpses of Bittern. ...