Birdwatcher’s Diary No.31

Published on: 16 Mar, 2013
Updated on: 16 Mar, 2013

By Malcolm Fincham

I took advantage of a brief warmer spell of weather during the first week of March by taking my wife, binoculars and camera on a short holiday to Cornwall – think I got it in the right order?

A typical Cornish cove showing the heathlands with the fields above.

The holiday included a few coastal walks in the hope to add some new pictures to both my collection and my reports, and a few scenic shots and views along the way.

Female stonechat.

Male stonechat.

I must say we were very fortunate with the weather as some of the pictures show. The birds seen on the heathland surrounding the coast were much the same as on our local Surrey heathland, with an abundance of stonechats, meadow pipits, linnets and a few yellowhammers, with many singing skylarks in the fields beyond.

Yellowhammer.

However, on the cliffs below many different sea birds could be seen. My personal favourite bird to watch was the fulmar. A gull-like bird but in fact a relative to the albatross. The fulmar is noticeable by its “stiff-wing” glide around the cliff face and also for defending its territory with great vigour – spitting a foul smelling oil at any predators that dare to venture too near.

Fulmars protecting their territory.

Also on display were a number of other species of gulls including lesser black-backed and herring gull, although these birds are more often seen inland in our cities these days. Sadly, as with many gulls, numbers have declined by 40% or more in many areas over the last 25 years and has therefore created growing concerns among birdwatchers and naturalists.

Adult herring gull.

juvenile herring gull.

Lower on the cliffs at sea level rock pipits could be seen. These are similar birds to the meadow pipit, but stockier and with darker legs.

Rock pipit.

Meadow pipit.

On one occasion even my wife got in on some accidental birdwatching. While taking a few scenic pictures, she happened to notice what she thought was an unusual bird sitting on a rock and so took a snap shot of it.

A peregrine sits on a rock looking out to sea.

I was off hiking along the coastal path at the time, but on my return she showed me the pictures she had taken (on her reasonably priced bridge camera I’d bought her for Christmas). I instantly recognised the bird as a peregrine falcon. What a great spot! And what a great investment it was to buy her such a good camera! Coincidently, it must have taken flight just before my return as I also captured a few shots of it as it flew by me.

Peregrine flies overhead.

At the risk of sounding like Radagast the brown wizard from Tolkien’s trilogy The Lord of the Rings – who also appears in the latest film The Hobbit  – who knew the speech of birds and beasts (my looks and dress code maybe more suited than my wisdom) I did mention at the end of my last report that a little bird had told me of more cold weather to come in March! And it certainly had by the time we arrived back in Surrey. Fortunately although we got the icy blast I expected, we didn’t get the snow predicted that hit Kent and Sussex on the evening of the March 11.

So on Tuesday the 12th, although the wind chill factor was still minus zero, I decided to visit Farlington marsh near Portsmouth. This is a nature reserve I hadn’t visited since last August, and I wrote about it in my report number 16. At the time I was waving goodbye to our summer migrants. Although some will be due to arrive back at any time now, I was far from expecting to see any coming back on such a cold morning with a strong easterly breeze blowing.

Brent geese feeling at home in the snow.

The brent geese were, however, looking very much at home feeding on the grass between patches of snow. These birds pair for life and fly in family groups (in late October/early November) all the way from sub-Artic regions of Siberia where they breed.

They over winter mainly on the south-eastern shores of the UK and will soon return, having done a round trip of over 5,000 miles.

Spoonbill at Farlington.

I was very pleased to see and capture some distant pictures of a spoonbill at the far end of one of the lagoons. They are still a rare sight, and the first known breeding Spoonbills in the UK for 300 years was in Norfolk in 2010.

Bad hair day for the Spoonbill.

Also on the lagoon were other various waders and also ducks including a number of pintail and dabchicks (little grebe) as well as a fly over of a flock of shelduck, which I was especially pleased to get a few nice shots of due to it being such a bright and sunny morning.

Drake pintail at Farlington.

Little grebe (dabchick).

Shelduck fly into a lagoon.

I was also very pleased to get quite a close-up picture of a teal. These small ducks tend to be very shy and will take flight readily at the sight of humans close by – probably due to an instinctive fear of being shot.

Drake teal at Farlington.

Locally not much has changed since my last report, with most of our winter visitors still present and no reports as yet of any summer arrivals in the Surrey area. The only notable signs of spring for me to date are those of black-headed gulls now coming back into plumage with their white winter heads now starting to morph back to their summer colour of chocolate brown.

Black-headed gulls.

Also a notable change since our return is the blackthorn which is now in flower. These trees come into flower before the leaves form, unlike a similar looking hawthorn, which will come into leaf first before its flowers, in the next month or so.

Blackthorn is now in flower.

Blackthorn blossom.

Share This Post