Doesn't Time Fly!

Monday 17th May, 1965. Outside St Anne's Church in St Anne's Square, Manchester at about 1 pm.

Flying Machines

As today was bright and sunny this morning, and forecast to remain pretty decent I decided to have a wander round Stodmarsh NNR. I started from the Grove Ferry end and immediately I was struck by two things, first how cold it was, not shorts and T-shirt weather yet, and secondly, how many Swifts there were around and although I didn't arrive until 10 am, how low they were still flying.

I've always thought that Swifts move higher to feed as it warms up and the majority of their insect prey is borne high into the air. It gave me a chance to try and photograph them, a task that I've always found extremely difficult, they move too fast for me!

When you watch them from, more or less, side on, it become obvious what fantastic flying machines they are. The streamlined body and sickle shaped wings are perfect for the fast aerial life style they have. A young Swift doesn't normally breed until it is two years old. Although some do turn up at colonies as non breeders, many stay on the wing until their second year and when they land at their chosen nest site it will be their first landing for 21 months or so!

As usual Reed Buntings were making their presence know by their attempts at a song. Often we hear programmes on the TV or radio about Britain's favourite bird song, it's always Nightingale followed by Blackbird etc. What about a poll for Britain's worst bird song? I reckon the Reed Bunting is an odds on favourite for this title.

This time of year one of the highlights of the Stour Valley and in particular Stodmarsh, is the large concentration of Hobbies that hang around for a few weeks after their arrival from Africa, before dispersing to their breeding territories. Stodmarsh is one of three such assembly sites in England. The others being at Shapwick Heath in Somerset, and Lakenheath in Suffolk.

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They are always worth watching and another fantastic flying machine capable of picking insects out of the air, transferring them from claw to bill as they elegantly hunt over the marsh and reed beds. Today there were around thirty or so feeding in the afternoon and the flock held a surprise for us. When I entered the marsh hide I was told by the two occupants that they'd just seen a male Red-footed Falcon at the far side of the marsh, resting on a pile of wood, but that it had just flown off. We informed the small group of birders who were photographing the Hobbies that were hunting over the reed bed looking towards Lampden Wall and I joined Steve Ray in a search through the Hobbies in view. After about a frustrating ten minutes (it's difficult to see them well looking in to the light), Steve alerted me to a bird flying right at the back of the reed bed. As it came in front of some tree the whole of the underside was visible and and from that distance it looked more or less uniformly slate grey, including the face and under-wings. It continued in the direction it was flying, through the trees and despite spending the next two and a half hours searching through the Hobbies I didn't see the bird again. We didn't get any photos of the bird, but we both had no doubt that it was an adult Red-foot.

While this excitement was going on a Cuckoo was playing a cruel game with me. It would perch up at a distance, and as soon as I got a bit interested in it, off it would go, further away and out of sight, only to return later and play the same trick again. I thing Steve Ashton must have got himself a tame bird to get the fantastic photos on his blog!

The Hobbies were not the only birds of prey around. I managed to miss two Red Kites but was content to watch several Marsh Harriers, sometimes over the reeds and sometimes flying very high.

For a big, butch bird of prey they have the most peculiar call when they are displaying in the air, sounding a bit like one of the Little Owl calls.

This male has a rather dark body, which may indicate that it is a young adult of around three years old, although some books describe it as a dark variant.

 At one time there were two, probably a pair, of Marsh Harriers high over the Stodmarsh end of the reserve, having a go at a Common Buzzard soaring over the area. A sight that one couldn't have dreamed of a few years ago.

From the Feast hide there were a few Tufted ducks and this gave the opportunity of another portrait of this handsome drake.

I though this pair, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed were rather handsome.

 

 Back in the garden the first babies of the year have appeared. I've always found young Starlings amusing. I like the determination they show to attract the adult to feed them. They are very persistent and must be hard to ignore.

 
 I'm not sure whether this family are from the roof or the "hole" nest in a tree in the front garden.

Ginger Who?

After being away for a month I thought that it was about time that I caught up with what was happening at the Restharrow Scrape. As I made my way across Worth marshes, on the Ancient Highway there was little to indicate that spring had arrived and that summer should be just round the corner.

I did stop to watch this Meadow Pipit collecting food, showing that it, at least, was getting on with the necessary for the breeding season.

When I got to the Scrape it was greeted by a major surprise, a brand new large extension to the hide. This should ensure that there will be enough accommodation when I find the rarity waiting for me! In the mean time I was content to watch the regular and expected occupants of the scrape. This Dabchick, resplendent in his summer garb swam serenely in front of the hide.

On the island an Oystercatcher paraded on the top and a couple of Shovelers snoozed in the weak spring sunshine.

Right in front of the hide one of the great ornithological mysteries was there before my eyes. Why do Coot chicks have ginger downy feathers.

I am quite use to the adult coots being black and white, in fact before digital photography you wouldn't have needed colour film for an accurate representation of them! Why and for what purpose has evolution decreed that baby coots should be these little baby gingers. They would win a beautiful baby contest, but I suppose that they are quite cute in their own way.

I then notice that the previously calm Dabchick was dashing backwards and forwards in a frantic sort of dance. It took me a white to work out what it was doing. I think, although I'm not completely sure, that it was fly catching. I assume that there was a big hatching of some small insects and that was what it was after.

The Coots family seemed to be five youngsters and they hung around at the edge of the water while the adults collected food. And guess what, in between collecting in a conventional way they also seemed to have bouts of fly-catching.

I was quite surprised that the normally aggressive adult Coots took no notice of this Jackdaw wandering along the edge. I would have though that it might have been perceived as a threat to their chicks.

When the adult arrived with food the chicks quickly came to be fed, and it seemed tome that one of them was quite dominant. It may be that it had missed out for a while and thought that it should have the lot, but it certainly pushed its siblings out of the way.

As usual a Lapwing pair was staking its claim for some real estate, and at this time of year the hair style was in particularly good order.

There seemed be two pairs of  Tufted Ducks around the scrape, let's hope that they stay and breed, young Tufties are always a delightful sight.

As usual the Lapwing treated me to some elaborate aerial displays, one particularly good one featured a joust with a Jackdaw, no slouch in aerobatics its self.

While I was watching the Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls at the back of the scrape on smaller gull caught me eye. It was partly hidden at first, but then flew and landed closer to me.

As I thought it was a Mediterranean Gull, but still in largely first winter plumage except for the more extensive black around the head. Now we are into may I would expect it to be moulting out the dark coverts and become much more like an adult .

While it is good to see most of the residents on the scrape I have mixed feelings about the Canada Geese, If theve become numerous their clumsy marches across the area can be quite disturbing to other species that are less dominating.

On the other hand Shelducks are always good value. They can be aggressive but they are a species that has an interesting life style. They nest in burrows, quite unusual for a duck, and the most of the adult population disappear to remote areas in the late summer to moult, leaving a few "nannies" in charge of flocks of youngsters.

I'm not sure what this Dabchick was up to. It wasn't making it "braying" call, but swam with its bill open like this for a while. It may have been bringing up a pellet, but I'm not really sure.

On the way back a stopped to look at a couple of pairs of Grey Partridges. In many areas they are hard to see, but they are almost a certainty along the Ancient Highway. They are so much better looking than their Red-legged cousins, and much more secretive in their habits.

The last bird I stopped to admire was a stunning Wheatear. I had disappeared to the other side of the world before they'd appeared in March so this was my first for the year. Always good to see, it would be even better if more stopped to breed in Kent.

A bill for all Oceans

A walk along the cliff top was a little disappointing with very few birds about. A small passage of Swallows and House Martins reminded me that despite the weather we are now at the high point of spring and we should be seeing and hearing all our summer visitors and resident birds signalling their intent to breed.

One noisy pair did grab my attention with a raucous noise, a pair of Fulmars were sitting on a ledge just behind one of the bushes on the edge of the cliff. Trying to overcome my dislike of heights I managed to get a decent view of this pair billing and cooing.

The complex bill of the Fulmar designed for a life style devoid of fresh water and a diet of  fish, fish waste and crustaceans. They are a member of the Order of birds known as the Procellariiformes, that consists of Albatrosses, Petrels, Shearwaters and Storm Petrels. After a month cruising the Pacific Ocean, when we saw about 42 of these "tube noses" it was good to see Kent's only breeding representative of this fascinating group so close.

On the second day of the trip we had some very close views of several species from a small boat in the Hauriki Gulf, New Zealand, before the main cruise started. This Black or Parkinson's Petrel shows the similarity in structure of it's bill, with a sharp hook for dealing with it's prey and the tubes that exude salt. This order of birds has been highly successful and is found from Antarctica to the Arctic, but new many species are amongst the most vulnerable in  the world. The problems Albatrosses have with long line fishing have been well publicised, but less well known is the destruction of many nesting colonies by accidentally introduced mammals, such as rats, mice and cats to their breeding islands. Currently there are several projects in the Pacific to rid some of the most important breeding colonies of these intrduced pests.

Garden Butterflies

I've been back a week from my month in the Pacific and the time has flown by, with me mainly sitting at my desk, sorting out photos and records, and trying to get to grips with the various changes in current taxonomic thinking that complicates the task of knowing what ones seen! As I looked out of the window I realised that one of my favourite butterflies was restlessly flying round the garden. I also realised it was time that I got back into the habit of taking photographs HERE.

Orange Tip

(I also seem to have missed the complete reorganisation that "blogger" has made in its method for adding new posts so I'm seem to be struggling to get bits in the right place) The Orange tip is one of the first butterflies of spring and is one the wing from the end of April. The adults seek nectar and often use Bluebells and Brambles, as well as other early flowers such as Ragged Robin, Dandelion and Cuckoo-flower (Ladies Smock). The food plants of the caterpillar are mainly Cuckoo-flower and Garlic Mustard, although several other plants are used. Only the male butterfly has the orange tips. The female has black wing tips and can be mistaken for a small white. They are often hard to photograph as the are continuously on the move, seldom stopping at a flower for more than a couple of seconds.

Speckled Wood

; Another early flier is the Speckled Wood, now as likely to be found in a garden as in a wood as they have greatly expanded their  range of habitats. This one was sunning itself on a bramble at the bottom of the garden. The adults will feed on nectar from brambles and other flowers while the caterpillars primary food plants are  Cock's-foot, Common Couch , False Broome and Yorkshire-fog.

Back from the Dead

The rarest Albatross in the world was declared extinct in 1949, but happily some survived at sea and returned to breed in 1954. I photographed this bird three days ago, 12 nautical miles from the Japanese island of Torishima where millions had been slaughtered for their feathers until their protection in 1934. Despite this they stopped breeding on the island and in 1949 it was thought that the last had perished. However from 25 known birds that returned in 1954 there are over 1900 birds breeding on Torishima and a second small population has been discovered on some islands off the Korean coast. DNA studies may indicate that this is a similar close related species, which would mean that is becomes one of the rarest birds in the world. In the meantime work continues to conserve this beautiful Albatross on Torishima. After 32 hours travel my bed awaits but I will try and report more of the journey from New Zealand to Japan aboard the Spirit of Enderby in the next few days.

Real estate Fulmar style.

The hope that something unusual might have arrived at the Restharrow Scrape was only partly fulfilled by the sight of three Brent Geese at the far end of the lake.

Although they are a common sight passing along the coast and regular in Pegwell Bay they are less frequently seen on the scrape.

They remained at a distance and I had hoped the they might be closer if I returned later, but not long after I left the hide I saw them fly out to sea, as I was coming out of the Elms.

The reason I was wandering in the Elms wasn't to see this rather cute Goldcrest, but because Ian (Hodgson) and Steve (Ray) had just shown me the frame filling photos they had got of a group of Crossbills, while I was looking at the three Brents! Unfortunately, like the Brents they didn't hang around and in the end I gave up and went for a cuppa at the obs.

On the way back I stopped off for a look along the Kingsdown under-cliff. I always like seeing the Fulmars in residence. This one had chose a rather nice but quite low dwelling. I could hear some loud cackling coming from the interior.

From a different angle I discovered that there was a second bird present and they seemed to be fully engrossed in each other, a good sign if little Fulmars are to arrive later.

Much higher up the cliff, but in a tenement in the same fault line another Fulmar was at his door. I think this one had the better view but the lower one was more aesthetically pleasing.

Further along this one seemed a less spacious cave, but had the added amenity of an outside balcony.

Each year I enjoy watching the Fulmars wonderfully controlled flights around the cliff and of course each year I take a load more pictures.

Most of the time they look extremely elegant and very smart, as they effortlessly glide on the up draught in front of the cliff.

I spent some time trying to get some decent photographs, It's been a while since I've tried with these birds and next week hopefully I'll be doing the same with some other seabirds, so I need the practice.

I hope that I'll manage a few of their large relatives, Albatrosses, providing the seas not too rough.

The foot path at the Under-cliff has been blocked by a fall. Not as big as at Langdon, but still a sizable load of chalk blocking the way. I don't now exactly when it came down, or how many potential nesting sites for Fulmars or House Martins took a tumble. Presumable new one will be created as the new surface erodes.

It doesn't look a lot from a distance but close up the real extent can be seen. I don't know how quickly Kent is disappearing into the sea, but if the sea level rises as predicted in the next hundred years it could accelerate. On the other hand I rather think there will be far greater threats to mans continued existence than cliff erosion!