Birding Braunie

Okay so this was probably a waste of my time and yours if you watched it but it will serve as one of those timeline moments when people will say "He’s come a long way since that early Bittern debacle, hasn’t he?" Don’t hold your breath. I have a lot to learn here. Mainly, don’t let any over-enthusiastic birder trip over your tripod when the shout goes up. Also, make sure God moves the sun around so that you film something that can actually be seen. Finally, get a decent camera. What’s amazing though is that the 3 or so seconds of the Bittern was in fact all anyone got that day. I really need the Bittern to receive his equity card and put on a real performance. What this space. (Anything is better than watching this film.) Music: Chord Left by Agnes Obel.

Some people think I’m married to the Lee Valley Park and they’re probably right. What they don’t know is that I have a mistress called Connaught Water. It’s the quiet one; the one no one would think of. Clever really. I get my hit of Mandarin Ducks here as well as the occasional Goosander and Red-crested Pochard. The forest edges tempt me with Nuthatches, Treecreepers and Marsh Tits. Heaven. Sunday was cool, calm and crisp – real glove weather. I wanted an hour here as a female Smew had been seen for a couple of weeks on the lake and although a Smew was already on my 2014 list, I figured I could get a pic of this elusive sawbill. My first circuit of the lake produced a smart drake Pintail (unexpected) and the usual Tufted Ducks , Shoveler , Teal and about 17 Manadrin Ducks , most of which were hiding in the fringes of the islands that sit on the lake making life difficult for birdwatchers. I stopped to chat to a City of London Ranger who had the task of making safe the hundreds of...

Most birders love Jan 1st. It’s the day we all turn over that page and start our new list for the year. We all have resolutions to increase that list: better it from the previous year: plan those trips with more determination to succeed. I couldn’t chose my trip. It was decided the minute I volunteered to man the information point at the Lee Valley. I love it. I prefer it when the sun shines and unfortunately, the sun was nursing a huge hangover from the previous nights celebrations. In its place we had driving rain, blustery winds and a chill that went straight to the depths of your damp bones. A rather soggy goose field Through rain-splattered glasses I saw Redwings and Fieldfares sharing a ploughed field with about 20 Blackbirds and a pair of Song Thrushes. Jays and Magpies squabbled over winter food and huge Great Black-backed Gulls joined Lesser Black-backs and black-headed Gulls wheeling under the charcoal sky. Most of the park’s species of duck were in attendance. Wige...

After days of dark clouds and heavy rain, the weather finally abated and gave us blue skies and a chilly ground frost that warmed my heart. The bird I have been chasing for a few weeks now doesn’t really enjoy damp wet conditions and so with my new fur-lined trapper hat attached to my head, I headed out to the Wild Coast Project at Wallasea Island. I was a man on a mission but a man without wellies which would prove to be only a small oversight as it would turn out. Reed Bunting So I had light, I had a camera (of sorts) so all I needed was the action. I’m still not totally sure about my little Nikon in terms of its ability to do what it says. The Sports mode seems to blur things even more than the Auto mode and everything else seems to do nothing I need. I did get this smart Reed Bunting though so it can do it when it wants but I need good light. The mudflats held pretty much the cast I would expect for this feature. Dunlin, Common Redshank, Shelduck, Ringed Plovers, Lapwings, ...

It’s nice to birdwatch during the week when most pepole are working. Hides are empty and I can spread myself out. dash over to the other side of the hide whenever I want; open all the windows even talk to myself (this often happens even when there are people about). So I goes to the Rainham Marshes RSPB Reserve. The tide was high from the recent North Sea surge but not enough to affect any part of the reserve. I had hoped to see the pair of European White-fronted Geese that had dropped in the previous day but they proved to be elusive – something fairly common when I’m looking for particular birds. A walk along the Thames river path, something of a custom for me, produced the usual species. Wigeon and Teal on the river, a few Rock Pipits playing in the flotsam and indeed, the jetsam that litters the foreshore. The wind was brisk and the skies threatening but the walk along the river was still a release from the 9-5 slog many people were enduring. I headed up to 'Serin...

I thought it might be nice to Wallasea Island where the RSPB along with Crossrail have embarked on an impressive venture known as the Wild Coast project. The project is huge but they are slowly but surely sculpting an impressive wetland and salt marsh landscape using dumper truck after dumper truck of earth taken from the Crossrail tunnelling currently boring its way through the earth while at the same time, allowing the sea to flood into it, thus creating a natural biodiverse environment that will take until 2019 to complete. The birds don’t seem to mind all this work going on and are largely undisturbed by it anyway. On the seaward side, Shelduck were counted at around 120 birds. lapwing about 450 and dark-bellied Brent Geese 240. Dunlin 135, Black-tailed Godwit 35, Ringed Plovers 20+. On the land a flock of 20 Skylark were of note as well as a pair of Stonechat in the Wild Bird Cover. This area by the car park also had a pair of Marsh Harriers but no Hen Harriers. It’s goin...

I seem to have done quite a bit of birdwatching lately. It’s hard work you know. Not only do I have to* carry a ruck sack with a heavy duty Thermos, a not so light telescope which is inevitably attached to a tripod which, no matter which way I sling it over my back, sticks it’s lever arm into my back and a pair of bins to boot. Add to this a camera and assorted bits and pieces for digiscoping, a pen that works and a notebook with blank pages (rare), gloves, hat and iPhone. Everything is always in another pocket to the one I put it in and it can all get a bit frazzling. Then, when I get home, I go through all the bad pictures and try to salvage at least one to add to the blog I feel I must write now I have been doing them for 4 years...I have duty to my reader you know. * I don’t have to do any of this really. So sometimes, it’s easier for me to just go local. No fuss and no thinking. I know the valley well from Walthamstow to Ware and on a good day it can be as good as anywhere in ...