Birds

More Waxwings trilling away at a car park in Carlisle, yesterday. I had taken my 10x25's in on my belt so we were able to see them well.  31 in trees near the river.

Some of these small bins for walking with are a useful addition to birding optics.
D.

They've been coming through these parts in small numbers since pretty early in the season, no large flocks reported yet. Hand them over!

Cattle Egret is back near where I failed to see it several times last winter though.

I had a red letter day in the garden during the hard weather - a whole blackbird, a black-billed one which may have been continental or just one of last year's young - not my tame one though, it and the robin flew off when I opened the back door, also a wren and a great tit all on the same day.

The main action's out over the back field, the rooks and jackdaws are collecting there to go to roost, swirling about the sky as the sun goes down like a slo-mo starling murmuration before sloping off over the hill into the woods. Hundreds maybe thousands of them.

Don't woodcocks turn up in some weird places during hard weather?

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/w/woodcock/

Normally I see them flying over the woods from dusk on, circling around going

"ort, ort-ort, chiswick"

VERY rarely you'll find one on the ground motionless on the woodland floor, looking like a pile of leaves and a stick. More often you won't see it until you nearly tread on it when it will shoot off like an obese drunken snipe.

18 years ago, a blogger called Bob Bushell, had a hemorrhagic stroke, cerebrovascular accident (CVA).

On his blog he writes "It has made me hard to understand, especially reading or writing, it doesn't make sense. I am trying. It also left me without a right arm and right leg and all the digits. Anyway, I am tremendously happy. ------ My equipment: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Macro, Canon Extender EF 1.4x III, Canon Extender EF 2x III"

He has a wonderful blog where he shows the many brilliant bird photographs he takes.

Do go over and have a look

http://birdsfod.blogspot.co.uk/

He also has a website here

http://bobswildlife.co.uk/

All the best Jan

Oh thanks, I think I saw him before but failed to bookmark it.

I forgot to add about Woodcock, I ate one once but decided they were overrated compared to the pheasants and partridges, and even grouse.

A very dead day again recently. Last winter Siskins were almost nonexistent. This year they are in their expected numbers in the usual places but everything else is missing. I walked up the lane and sat on my friends' seat looking out over the farmland. The last couple of years the local farmers grew extra wheat, now the rotations have caught up with them. At the top of the hill three different farms coincide, and you can see the land of several others. There are currently huge blocks of rape in all directions, but hardly a pigeon to be seen, though someone told me there are plenty around Framlingham just down the road.

I saw a lone Fieldfare sitting in a tree, eventually joined by a tiny flock of about twenty. A few Meadow Pipits, some Great Tits in the hedge and a robin singing mournfully in the garden. I've seen a few hundred Lapwings on the various estuaries, scrapes and watermeadows but so far none at all on the farmland, and a pathetically small number of Golden Plovers, none of them either yesterday.

My friends have a couple of nestboxes, one of which generally contains Tawny Owls and the other Little Owls, and every other farm has Barn Owls but naff all of any of them to be seen as dusk fell.

There were a few thousand gulls, mostly Black Headed and some Herrings and Lesser Black Backs, heading back towards the estuary to roost, and a few hundred Jackdaws soaring and circling before joining the Rooks to go to roost.

When I got home the Rooks and Jackdaws (and probably Carrion Crows too) were flocking on the ground just over the hedge. They vary as to which field they collect in before flying to the roost which is over the hill, across the valley and on top of the next hill, they've already used the next field over, then the back field further away, this was the closest yet and some of them were also in the finally leafless oak trees. Due probably to the dullness they didn't do many aerobatics before flying off but there must have been thousands of them, and their noise!

Red letter day today! There were two Blackbirds chasing each other around in the garden, one black-billed and one with the standard yellow job. Classic description by J A Baker "like a mad puritan with a banana in his mouth".

Then I saw my tame Blackbird who has been absent for a long time. He was quite unmistakeable from the jaunty way he perched on the fence. I opened the back door and he immediately flew up onto the roof then swept down to my feet. I threw him some mealworms which he gobbled up, then he had a minor panic attack when I also threw out some sultanas. He soon came back to hoover them up too (they're not so low carb in winter!) and the fuss brought out my tame Robin who has also been away, and who joined in on the mealworms.

After a while I saw a cute little Jenny Wren in a rose bush so I tossed out some more mealies and it rather diffidently descended through the shrubbery and started picking at them. Also a couple of very smart Great Tits, and a Kestrel over the field. That's more birds than I've seen in the garden for ages.

And finally I had some Goldfinches on my teasel seedheads

http://www.wildbirdseeds.co.uk/lincs/images/stories/bird-images/goldfinch/goldfinch-on-teasels.jpg

They're usually around in spring and summer, and have bred. I watched them going around the lawn as a pair, carefully picking off the fluff from dandelion and catsear seedheads and carrying it up into the tree to line their nest.

They usually retire to the farmland in autumn, and flock up with Linnets, Chaffinches, Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and the like, then later can be found in the woods and on the heaths with Redpolls and Siskins.

Went round part of Minsmere yesterday hoping to see the animatronic Bittern, see some of the posts and photos here

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/minsmere/f/12440.aspx

I saw a couple flying, mainly in the distance, but the tame one never came out to perform. Nothing much else of interest, just the usual stuff, but I had some interesting chats with some interesting people. The Waxwings have gotten as far as Norwich, there are 50 - 60.

chris c wrote:And finally I had some Goldfinches on my teasel seedheads

http://www.wildbirdseeds.co.uk/lincs/images/stories/bird-images/goldfinch/goldfinch-on-teasels.jpg

They're usually around in spring and summer, and have bred. I watched them going around the lawn as a pair, carefully picking off the fluff from dandelion and catsear seedheads and carrying it up into the tree to line their nest.

They usually retire to the farmland in autumn, and flock up with Linnets, Chaffinches, Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and the like, then later can be found in the woods and on the heaths with Redpolls and Siskins.

Went round part of Minsmere yesterday hoping to see the animatronic Bittern, see some of the posts and photos here

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/minsmere/f/12440.aspx

I saw a couple flying, mainly in the distance, but the tame one never came out to perform. Nothing much else of interest, just the usual stuff, but I had some interesting chats with some interesting people. The Waxwings have gotten as far as Norwich, there are 50 - 60.

Wow that first link - that image is brilliant.

Also, some lovely photo's on the Minsmere link ... many thanks Chris.
It does look an amazing place to visit

All the best Jan

Tree Creeper in the garden for most of the day finding invertebrates on moss covered garden walls, trees and an old shed.
At one point it was a few feet from the patio window whilst we were sat eating, giving stupendous views. What an incredible imitation of tree bark their upper-parts plumage simulates.
regards
Derek

And incredibly shiny underneath! Yes cute little things and with an underrated song in spring.

Walked on the beach today catching some rays but nothing much of note, perhaps if I'd gone further I might have caught up with the Twites, Great White Egrets and Scoters. When I was down the other end the Snow Buntings were up here. Now I'm up here I bet they've gone down there . . .

Beautiful day yesterday, I went down to Orford and bought a big fat smelly bloater and some smoked cod's roe from the smokehouse. The cod's roe blows caviare into the weeds IMNSHO.

The light was stunning, the sky was cloudless and the water was still as a millpond. I walked along the seawall surrounded by the Usual Suspects - Redshanks, Curlews, gulls etc.

Someone told me there was a Short Eared Owl, not uncommon, but I failed to see it. There was a huge flock of Greylag Geese over on the Ness making a spectacular sound as they circled. May have been some rarer ones but they were too far off to spot anything out of the ordinary. Quite a big flock of Canada Geese on fields, and a smaller flock of Whitefronts, plus several smaller groups of Brent Geese and cormorants flying to and fro.

Probably about a hundred Golden Plovers also making wild cries. On the way down I finally spotted a mix of Lapwings and Goldies on some fields, probably dozens of each, I couldn't really stop and they were spread over several wheat fields. Further along were some Lapwings on their own in a taller wheatfield.

Made a change to be on the coast and not plagued by an Arctic breeze. I walked on until the sun started to go down and the temperature dropped spectacularly. Just up the road and the car was bleating that it was under 3 C. Nevertheless there was a Song Thrush singing in the village, first I've heard for a long time, and I remembered where we used to live there was a Blackbird that usually started singing before Christmas.

There looked to be some white ice on the road but I suspect it was actually salt as it didn't affect traction.

Some cod's roe disappeared down the hatch with a cup of coffee, and the bloater soon followed.

It's a bit early I know but I saw a collared dove building a nest in a large leylandi, every morning I've watched it flying in with twigs in it's beak that is until today when there was no sighting of the dove but I did see a woodpigeon appearing from the same spot 

Maybe of interest for Chris I also saw a pheasant just wandering down the road 

Not totally surprising I guess, Woodpigeons and I think Mallards have been known to breed in every month of the year so Collared Dove doing the same wouldn't be a great leap of imagination.

I've seen not a few squirrels out collecting nuts recently too.

Tell the pheasant I just ate his cousin!

I confess when looking at the geese I was thinking "they escaped Christmas!" can't remember when I last ate goose, I think one Christmas when my aunt was still alive. Roasted in duck fat.

Our niece served Roast Goose at Christmas ... apparently it was enjoyed by all including the super selection of about ten vegetables. Sounds very yummy

But back to geese I looked them up on Wikipedia





Well-known sayings about geese include:

"What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" means that what is appropriate treatment for one person is equally appropriate for someone else.

Saying that someone's "goose is cooked" means that they have suffered, or are about to suffer, a terrible setback or misfortune.

"Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs," derived from an old fable, is a saying referring to any greed-motivated, unprofitable action that destroys or otherwise renders a favorable situation useless.

"A wild goose chase" is a useless, futile waste of time and effort.

Read and see more here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose

All the best Jan

The doves did return on Thursday didn't hang about though, one went into the nesting site came back out and they both flew off shortly after the woodpigeon popped it's head out

Maybe the pigeon stole its nest, they manage to balance their eggs on about three twigs so an unfinished collared dove nest would suffice.

<goes to look up recipes for pigeon eggs>

There used to be a magnificent RSPB film about geese, featuring the music of Leos Janacek, but I can't find it on YouTube. There are a load of films of flying geese but mixed in with the classic movie of the same name and a song by Joan Armatrading which I'm about to listen to.

New year's Day was dull and gloomy so I didn't do my New Year's Walk. Monday was sunny and cloudless though cold, and I set off back to Minsmere and did the big circuit, about three miles including three different hides. The car park was full and the overflow car park nearly full so a lot of people had the same idea.

We were treated to a magnificent Red Kite soaring and circling overhead. I was hoping the Marsh Harriers would go up to see it off but they couldn't be bothered. I only saw one in flight briefly.

Can't remember a winter when I saw so many Shovelers or so few Wigeon. However there was a large flock of Siskins twittering and tinkling away in the trees, easy to hear, not so easy to see. Last year they were very thin on the ground until spring, this year they are doing much better in the usual places.

I caught plenty of rays. Had breakfast (a thickly buttered oatcake with smoked salmon) around ten, then ate my dinner about 6 - Bolognese-type sauce and purple sprouting broccoli washed down with a couple of glasses of Chilean Malbec, and retired to bed for a while.

Yesterday was so dire I was seriously considering taking a torch to go round the shops at lunchtime. Called in at the farm shop for Gloucester Old Spot sausages and three went straight down the hatch with brussels sprouts. I could barely see the Rook hordes by the time the sun went down.

Today I was about to go for a walk when the sun finally came out but it tipped down with rain. A bit more bird activity in the garden, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks, Blue and Great Tits, and the best bit, my friend dropped by with a brace of Partridges.

New Years Day was beautiful up here. We had lunch in the car by the Solway and had a male Hen Harrier fly past quite close to us.

We had a trip to Caerlaverock (home of the larks) just after Christmas, and had a great day and the family enjoyed some forbidden foods to yours truly in the cafe.
I relocated the American Wigeon that had not been seen for a few days and saw the Green-winged Teal.  We also saw the Whoopers being fed from two barrow loads of grain and some of the now massive numbers of Svalbard Barnacle Geese plus other wildfowl.  A nicely set up reserve by WWT.
Derek

Nice stuff!

I walked the estuary again yesterday, gloriously sunny but cold, some of the water was still frozen in the afternoon. Nothing of rarity, a Mediterranean Gull and probably more hidden among the huge flocks of Black headed Gulls, they're not that uncommon now.

Just HUGE quantities of everything, waders, ducks and gulls, and the soundscape could only have been bettered if some geese had flown in.



OK I cheated a bit, we don't get so many pink feet here, these are up in North Norfolk.

Had the first partridge, I couldn't be bothered to pluck it so I slit the skin all down the front, levered out the breasts and roasted them wrapped in bacon with the regulation Brussels sprouts and chestnuts.

Oh damn, how did that happen? A Christmas pudding at half price seems to have slipped itself into my shopping bag . . .

Chris said: "Oh damn, how did that happen? A Christmas pudding at half price seems to have slipped itself into my shopping bag . . ."

Yes, I'd also noticed that many supermarkets were selling these cheap, while making room for Easter Eggs

Great to read all these bird posts from everyone on this thread, I've been enjoying them - thanks  

All the best Jan

Yesterday I took a leisurely drive through thefarmland. The Lapwings and Golden Plover flocks had moved on but I finally saw a decent flock of a hundred or two (mostly) Fieldfares and Redwings.

Spotted the Cattle Egret at last. It was back on the same farm as last year and was posing nicely among the bullocks in a field. Then it started pecking up insects and stuff and gradually disappeared over the hill. Last year it hid from me on several occasions but I did see several Little Egrets and a couple of Herons in the cow fields.

I went on to the other estuary. Spectacular numbers of common stuff - Dunlins all over the shallows trucking about like tiny clockwork toys making little whirring noises. Black Tailed Godwits wading right up to the armpits of their legs. Beautiful sounds from the Redshanks, Curlews and Lapwings, and Wigeons which have finally arrived in normal quantities. Loads of Shelduck, Teal and Avocets, and one Great Crested Grebe out in the middle of the channel though most of its time was spent underwater.

Avocet

Winnie Harlow

Do you think they are related?

When I got home there was the black-billed and yellow billed Blackbird having a major scuffle all over the garden. Elsewhere I've heard a couple of Song Thrushes and Great Tits starting to sing.

I went out via the supermarket and came back via the farm shop. They'd run out of Brussels sprouts so I also went to the veg shop, which had run out of purple sprouting broccoli. Polished off three of the Gloucester Old Spot sausages with some of the sprouts and a glass of Chilean Malbec. I also bought some GOAT steaks, been a long time since I last saw goat meat on sale. "Curry goat" is often actually made with lamb. Oh and another pheasant.

Today I thought I'd better catch some rays while the sun still shone, I had a brief walk through the watermeadows and sat on the seat by the pond catching both direct and reflected sunshine until I couldn't take the cold wind any longer. A couple of Goldfinches singing but no Siskins in the alders.

Now battening down the hatches against the oncoming weather.

Well, wondering what I may see,  I looked at both the Avocet and the Winnie Harlow !!!
I wonder did other readers check this out ?

The other item I checked out was GOAT steak - must admit I've not tried them - more about them can be found here http://oureverydaylife.com/cook-goat-steak-35185.html

A nice Grilled Goat Chop recipe

Cook to Cook: Just as with lamb, the smaller the goat chops, the younger the animal and the more delicate the flavor. Buy where goat is prized, direct from farmers at farmer's markets, at halal markets, or from Mexican and Latin American butchers.

Ingredients
6 large garlic cloves
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons good tasting extra virgin olive oil
Shredded zest of 2 large lemons
Juice of 1 large lemon (about 6 tablespoons)
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 to 9 1-inch thick small rib or loin goat chops (lamb could be used as well)

The above recipe with cooking instructions and more here
https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/grilled-goat-chops-with-garlic-oregano-and-lemon

Of course you could just use lamb chops !

Anyway back to birds ... ours have been quiet, I think they too may be preparing for bad weather.

All the best Jan

I think I might casserole mine considering the weather. Maybe with carrots and celery and a bay leaf along with the usual mushrooms and peppers - and bacon!

Friends had a goat farm in West Wales long long ago. They gave a friend and me a freshly slaughtered billy kid. Unfortunately it was on the hottest day of the years in 1976 and we were in his truck. We got back halfway to Bristol and the stench got so bad I had to chuck it out of the cab through the window.

When we lived in Ealing my ex used to buy goat, I think from a Halal butcher. I see goat milk and sometimes cheese quite often but seldom the meat outside of "ethnic" areas though of course it was far from uncommon in the past.

Watched the Rooks and Jackdaws performing outside my window as I cooked dinner. They swirl up in the wind and circle around then whiffle back down to the ground right on the edge of a stall. I saw someone do that with a glider once, he wanted to get it into the hangar in a hurry as there was a storm coming.

Faulkner in Moonfleet refers to Rooks as 'pitch falling' and it was reckoned to be a sign of bad weather approaching. Derek

Nice description! I've also seen Carrion Crows semi-hovering in the wind with one foot gripping the top of a bush or tree, then circling away and returning.

Walked briefly on the beach catching more rays but the wind was dire and I didn't go far. There were some people surfing, the breakers were quite spectacular. Nothing of much note on the bird front though, possibly a Caspian Gull but I'm not confident it wasn't just a young Herring Gull. Tonight the Rooks were flying low and presumably congregating on a different field while I burned the goat. I decided to grill it but it needs a lot less time than lamb. Oh well I had some purple sprouting broccoli and have carrots bay leaves and black peppercorns to casserole the other piece tomorrow. Or shall I have the pheasant next?

Oh I finally saw a good flock of 100 - 200 Goldies on fields not far from the estuary, not accompanied by the usual Lapwings.

Yesterday was bright and sunny although the car read 3 C when I went out and reached the giddy heights of 4 C on my journey. There was a Robin singing its little heart out in the car park downtown.

I went on to Minsmere and out to the hide overlooking the lake where I sat for some time catching rays from both the sun and the reflection. Visibility was none too good but I was reliably informed there were no rarities in the huge gull flock. Lots of Common Gulls which are generally not common around these parts. Several Marsh Harriers flying to and fro. I was told they had been "sky dancing" earlier, and eventually one male did a little display flight with his feet hanging



There were a couple of flocks of Siskins trilling and twittering away but very hard to see despite being bright green and yellow, and a few Bearded Tits pinging but being even less visible, as they usually are except during the breeding season. On the way back a Great White Egret feeding eagerly in a pool.

Back to 3 C on the way home and a hard frost later. The house looked as if it was on fire as the sun was setting through the back window. Four Blackbirds chasing each other around in the garden and up into the oak tree. The remains of the pheasant disappeared down the hatch as a stir-fry.

Today I didn't do much. I failed to cook the rest of the goat. I casseroled it with carrots, celery, peppers, chillies, garlic, mushrooms and bacon with some whole black peppers and bay leaves. This is my go-to casserole mix which with variants works well with lamb chops, rabbit, beef, pheasant, partridge or chicken - but the goat was an abject failure. I realised when I've eaten or cooked it before it was kid and quite tender, like lamb: this was a mature goat, more like mutton, and hence an hour was not long enough. I actually had to spit some of it out when my jaws got tired from all the chewing. Never mind, I have some goat-flavoured vegetable stew for tomorrow, I'll just add some more bacon, as you would. Next time I'll try the diced goat instead of the leg steaks.

As the sun set there was a huge blaze of gold and orange across the sky, and afterwards a magnificent illumination of carmine and purple under the clouds. The Rooks and Jackdaws flew over high up, they're now using different fields over the top of the hill to congregate. Then I heard the season's first Blackbird in song.

Also I saw some snowdrops showing the first vestiges of white the other day, so spring is on its way. Already the sun is setting noticeably further north than a month back and the daylength is increasing.

Today I set off down to Shingle Street, which is kind of Dungeness Lite.

Brief geography lesson - the River Alde starts its estuary way inland, at Snape, and continues past Iken, my favourite bit. It nearly makes it out to sea at Aldeburgh but instead turns south and runs right down the coast past Orford, finally reaching the sea at Shingle Street. The culprit is a huge shingle spit - Orford Ness. In the 46 years I've been coming here and the 12 years I've lived here it has changed around a bit, parts of the old concrete causeway have fallen into the sea and the channel has shifted around a bit.

The storms a few years back knocked the end off the spit and relocated it onto the land side, so I wanted to see what the most recent storm had done.

Disaster! Huge parts of the spit have been washed away leaving an archipelago of islands and an underwater shingle reef. More has been deposited on the land to the south (longshore drift).

It was another gloriously sunny day, and not so cold, as I walked up the causeway. A dozen or more Skylarks, some actually going up and singing. A flock of about the same number of Twite swirling around twittering, and about half as many Linnets, plus a few Meadow Pipits and Stonechats. I was half hoping for Snow Buntings but no joy. There was a flock of Cormorants sitting on one of the islands looking like a cross between penguins and dinosaurs. I remembered a friend of a friend who was an Australian sailor, and who was most disappointed with Europe and the UK when he sailed here

"No fucking penguins, mate!"

I sat on the shingle ridge for a while failing to spot rare gulls or scoters, then walked south into the sun. There's an artwork consisting of a long and not very straight line of white shells painstakingly collected and laid across the shingle from the Coastguard cottages to where the sea used to be, and that and the strandline shows how much shingle has piled up from when it was created.

Strolled back along the road where there was several other birdwatchers looking for Short Eared Owls which are actually far from uncommon here, mainly in winter, though less so than back in the eighties, which I also failed to spot.

I drove back the pretty way with the heater on, and had a brainwave so diverted via the farm shop and bought the last four Gloucester Old Spot sausages in captivity, two of which which I grilled along with yesterday's reheated veggies and the addition of some purple sprouting to make a suitably wintery meal, which I ate early as the sun set magnificently, accompanied by several Robins singing and eventually the Blackbird again.

Then I read this

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/minsmere/f/12440/t/193359.aspx

he saw all the stuff that wasn't there when I was. Ah well, them's the breaks!