I completed the second survey for my second BBS square the other day. Very few birds on this visit – amazingly few actually. Even few Carrion Crows and few Wood Pigeons. And yet I added a new species to the site (this was my 14th year of surveys here) – a very topical Raven. Maybe…
Category: ME:
BBS and birds generally
I did my two Breeding Bird Survey Square surveys a little while back. Both were carried out on gloriously sunny mornings and both were very enjoyable. There is a smug feeling of being virtuous that one gets from being up early for a purpose, and especially if that purpose is volunteering for the public good,…
No Nightingales
It’s that time of year when I make the pilgrimage to Glapthorn Cow Pasture to listen to Nightingales. I write about this almost every year (2010, 2012, 2103, 2014, 2016) because that visit to a local wood has become a tradition. I’ve been there with my mum and my late father (over 20 years ago),…
My first House Martin
I like House Martins. Yesterday at Stanwick Lakes I was wearing a T-shirt (Hen Harrier Day 2014 if you really want to know), shirt, fleece and my Barbour but I wasn’t warm in the cold NE wind. However, there were 2 Common Sandpipers and my first LRP of the year so it felt as though…
Swallows don’t make a summer at Stanwick Lakes
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Yesterday produced my first Swallow of the year at Stanwick Lakes. Spring is ticking slowly along. This Swallow was a little bit later than my earliest records but well within the range, according to my records from Birdtrack. It still feels as though spring is a bit unsprung to me though. And it certainly felt…
Some firsts
I heard my first Sedge Warbler of the year at Stanwick Lakes yesterday – and it wasn’t my only ‘first’. The weather forecast was a bit rubbish but it wasn’t raining when I made some tea at 0630 and so the aim was to get to Stanwick Lakes before the rain started. I almost didn’t…
My first Willow Warbler – a bit late in coming
I heard my first Willow Warbler of the year at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes this morning. It seems to have been a long time coming since the first Chiffchaff was three weeks ago! I think of my first Willow Warbler as being usually a week to 10 days after the first singing Chiffchaff. …
Birding in the Cotswolds
As well as meeting lots of friends, drinking lots of red wine, eating lots of fantastic food and watching horses running around in circles, I did some birding this week. The drive from near Oxford to the racecourse produced the first transect when Red Kite numbers from the car equalled Buzzards – and the Red…
Speaking at the BTO
I spoke at the BTO HQ in Thetford on Thursday evening – and it was a fun evening. Indeed it was a fun day. There was an audience of 40+ people and we started at 1915 and they didn’t let me go until well after 2145! There were lots of questions, and some of them…
Looking forward to speaking at BTO on Thursday
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I’m talking at The Nunnery, Thetford on Thursday evening – Kick-off 19:00.