Birding Braunie

It’s mid July and the strangest of phenomenons has befallen us all, a mini heatwave in the UK. People have gone from moaning about the overlong and severe winter to moaning about the heat and an inability to sleep at night. I moan too. I moan about the lack of birds about at this time. Sure if you’re in the right place, crowds of waders or seabirds can produce incredible scenes but on my local level, things are pretty quiet. It used to fascinate me when I saw birders turning to the world of butterflies, moths and dragonflies to get their kicks. I didn’t really get it. I tried a few times to get excited by spotting and naming butterflies and moths but the thrill was always short lived. But I’ve changed. The reason for this is fairly simple and quite obvious (to me). Photography. Just seeing and noting down these creatures wouldn’t be enough for me. I get a kick out of shooting a butterfly as they are so delicate and beautiful and people go Wow! when I show them. But more importantly...

Decisions, decisions. There are some amazing places on this planet to go birding. The Amazon, The Galapagos Archipelago, The Camargue, Cley etc..... and of course, the A13. To be fair, the RSPB reserves along this strip of tarmac from Canvey to Rainham are rather good. West Canvey Marshes The day was getting very hot and my mum would have had a fit as I forgot to wear a hat or carry any fluids. This was the first time I had been to the West Canvey Marsh reserve but found it small and simple. A couple of open hides and well signposted directions made the whole experience pretty good. Headless Mediterranean Gull Birdlife was a bit thin on the ground with only the odd Skylark or Whitethroat calling . There was however a Mediterranean Gull in with the Black-headed Gulls, exactly as the information board said there would be. Actually, there was more happening in the world of lepidopterology. Now I don’t know much about butterflies and moths except they’re a lot easier to sn...

There aren’t many small birds that get audible gasps from people when they see one. Apart from perhaps a kingfisher, it is usually the big ones that take that honour. A Bittern or a Crane, an Osprey or a Golden Eagle maybe, that kind of thing usually does it. There is one however that when seen gets people very excited. The Dartford Warbler. Not only is it a pretty and characterful little bird, it is also a very vulnerable bird and has suffered in the past from harsh weather – only a couple of pairs breeding in the 1960s to to severe winters. Fortunately it is now having a small renaissance and can be found in a number of heathland breeding areas across the south and east of England. I picked Dunwich Heath to look for them but the weather was poor. It was overcast and there was a strong on shore wind to deal with. Dartford Warblers prefer to keep low at the best of times and the wind factor just made seeing any quite difficult. Coastguards Cottages, Dunwich Heath I have on...

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...

What chance have I got? I mean, I would quite like to hit the 200 species mark this year and my chances are looking rather Dodo like. I know there’s no prize for reaching this total or I’m not doing a patch race etc... but I like to have a target because it motivates me to get out early or go a bit further to see more. This is the problem though, I haven’t gone that bit further. I do get up early but I have realised I haven’t been that far from home this year with Thetford in Norfolk being the only trip I have made outside Essex/London. Having said that, the species are ticking over slowly. Obviously I would like to bag at least 20 new species a month to realistically reach that score and the arrival of spring has helped boost my total. Just by snatching a couple of hours here and there, before work, after work, en route to somewhere and by just looking up sometimes has got me the majority of the common spring migrants. At Wanstead Flats a Wheatear and a Whinchat. Common Whitethroat,...

So there I was with a couple of hours to kill on a day off work and with all my chores ticked off, I quite fancied ticking off a few migrants missing from my year list. To get the most from the time, it had to be somewhere close and Wanstead Flats seemed the best option. The only problems are, a) I don’t have much luck there although it is well birded and always has some tempting birds. And b) it’s a weird place due to some weird folk wandering around and generally seem to be shifty-looking men hanging around with other shifty-looking men or loud dog owners on mobiles who feel the need to follow me and scare the birds out of every tree. Still, the birds are good Most of the action appeared to be near the main car park with Meadow Pipits , Skylarks and a couple of Wheatears basking in the warm sunshine and liking the worn out tree trunks that litter the place – in a nice way. Female Wheatear Another bird flew in close to the Wheatear I was vainly trying to photograph and I ass...

The weather warmed up a little at the weekend and as my Saturday didn’t require me to hit my thumb with a hammer, I sneaked off to Rainham while the lady of the house had her back turned. There had been a few sightings of the wonderful Black Redstart and a couple of migrants in the shape of Northern Wheatears. I had highish hopes........ Didn’t bother with the RSPB reserve as the walk along the Thames river path was probably the best route to take to see migrants. Or so I thought. I walked west towards the stone barges and saw, well, nothing. One small bird flew ahead of me and disappeared – think it was a Linnet but couldn’t be sure. On the Thames a pair of Shelduck honked and small parties of Wigeon and Teal were seen. Further along the path there are a number of jetty/pier type things that have seen better days and are now defunct. A pair of Oystercatchers liked them although I think they had had a falling out. Oystercatchers, not talking The stone barges are the remains...