Reculver, Viking Coastal Trail, Jan 2012

The Viking Coastal Trail runs from Reculver Towers along the Thames Estuary, eastwards past Margate, rounding the headland and passing Broadstairs and Ramsgate before cutting back inland at Cliffsend. There are proposals to continue the path from its current end at St Nicholas-at-Wade and close the circle back at the twin towers of Reculver (Google Earth ref; 51 22 46N 01 11 58E).
Don't imagine that I covered the current 47 kms, I just thought a bit of the back story might be interesting in case you fancied an afternoon out in East Kent.

I had gone on the look for Snow Buntings. A post from here last year, offered a very poor view of the bird and I made a promise to come back and try again. So here I am.
I started towards the west dropping down onto the beach hoping to find some waders along the shore. A few Black-headed Gulls were seen with a small flock of Sanderlings and a single Grey Plover.

A dog-walker spoiled the view by running his dog along the water-line and spooking all the birds.
I passed the towers on my way back to the east and met a couple of birders, Ed and Val, who were also on the lookout for Snow Buntings. Together we walked along the dyke path, noting plenty of Common Redshank, Ruddy Turnstones and a few Goldfinch.
Up ahead a small restless bird on the low wall bordering the path proved to be a Black Redstart which we saw a couple of times, but which kept its distance. The wave and tide action has swept the shingle beach into tiers, affording a little privacy to a Eurasian Oystercatcher.

Ed was calling birds from out on the estuary, Red-throated Divers, Great Crested Grebes and some Brent Geese. There were some Common Shelduck and and a few gulls too. Ed and Val turned back after a while without having seen the buntings, but they did give me the heads up about a Bittern which had been showing well at Leybourne Lakes. I continued on and beyond Plum Island before heading back.

I spent a short while sea-watching from the shelter of the twin towers and saw what I thought might count as a Black-throated Diver. It was very distant and I could not make out the shape of the head or the bill angle, but the distinct white flash to the rear of the flank gave me serious cause for consideration. I am not at all experienced at sea-watching so I sought advice but was not encouraged in my ID which will remain in pencil. No other reports of a Black-throated have been filed for the area and there were plenty of Great Crested Grebes and Red-throated divers to confuse the mix.

Birds seen; 28

Red-throated Diver 6,  Great Crested Grebe 12, Great Cormorant 25, Brent Goose 25, Common Shelduck 3, Common Kestrel 2, Common Pheasant 3, Eurasian Oystercatcher 4, Grey Plover 3, Common Ringed Plover 16, Common Redshank 35, Common Sandpiper 1, Ruddy Turnstone 20, Sanderling 30, Common Gull 25, Herring Gull 3, Black-headed Gull 80, Common Woodpigeon 12, Eurasian Collared Dove 2, Meadow Pipit 2, Pied Wagtail 4, Common Blackbird 2, European Robin 1, Black Redstart 1, House Sparrow 20, European Goldfinch 8, Common Linnet 60.

Other posts from Reculver can be found at the links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/11/reculver-seawall-kent-uk.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/11/return-to-reculver.html

Visit the dedicated UK page for more posts from the UK

Where did all these Wagtails come from?

Last week, I found myself popping into London Heathrow’s Terminal 5. It was just around dusk and as I came to leave again, I noticed a few White Wagtails dropping down to roost in the trees just outside. When I stepped through the door it became obvious that it was more than just a few. The trees were already full of birds with still more coming in. Altogether, I would estimate that there were about 3,000. What drew them here and did they not know that the trees had been bird-proofed?

Bird-proofed? I hear you scoff. Yes indeed. The development of the new terminal had faced a lot of resistance from pressure groups and planners had decided that such a large expanse of glass would be vulnerable to dirty protests from the avian community. I wish I could tell you how the bird-proofing was accomplished because if there is a way to make trees less attractive to birds, then there should, conversely, be a way to make them more attractive. Actually, a quick look in Google suggested many ways to deter birds and the most likely solution was a liquid spray that leaves an unpleasant, sticky residue on the branches of the treated tree. The birds feel uncomfortable roosting in the goo and move on.

I suspect that the trees have grown since their treatment and the new, uppermost branches are free from unpleasant stickiness. I have only just noticed the flock here and am concerned that someone may be missing a flock from their town centre and will be fretting about their disappearance. Does anyone know how long they have been there? Has anyone misplaced a large flock of wagtails?

Update;
I have been in contact with the peole who know about these things and it has been confirmed that the trees are indeed bird-proof. Not as I surmised to repel the birds with icky stickyness, but rather the 'goblet shape' of the tree, with upward pointing branches makes constuction of nests difficult. So perching and roosting birds are to be expected, but nesting is thought to be unlikely.

Wagtails are known to gather in large numbers, especially during the colder months, but this is the largest roosting flock that I have ever seen. Perhaps a primal, collective memory drew them here as Terminal 5 was built on the site of the old Perry Oaks Water Treatment Plant. This spot had always been popular with wagtails but was filled in before the end of the last century in preparation for the symphony in glass and steel that is Terminal 5.

In the UK we host the Pied Wagtail form of White Wagtail and they often have to compete with other communal roosters such as Starlings or Pigeons for the best roosting spots. As the weather has suddenly turned cold, the bird’s choice of roosting spot could prove to be vital. Wagtails have shown a marked preference for sheltered spots such as railway stations and even an internal courtyard at the Princess Royal Hospital at Haywards Heath. The trees in front of Terminal 5 are sheltered in all directions and may offer protection from the wind and probably some warmth radiating from the building itself.

Cost-cutting to drive profit is still very popular among the airlines. Here’s hoping that one of the incentives to save money will be to hold back on bird-proofing until the weather starts to warm up again. In the mean-time keep a look out, between dusk and dawn, in the trees at the south-eastern part of the terminal. Drop down into the carpark, level 3 for the best view. 

Pied Wagtail, White Wagtail, Terminal 5, Heathrow airport, Large flock,

Discovery Park, Seattle, SEA, January 2012

An irruption of Snowy Owls has given me a focus for my North American trips this winter. At Boundary Bay, just South of Vancouver, observers are reporting them by the dozen! www.ebird.org contributors have recorded sightings of up to 30 at at time during the first week of 2012 and I was headed for Seattle, just 100 miles or so south, as the Bubo flies.

Sighting numbers around Seattle can't hold a light to those at Boundary Bay and are distant from the city without easy public transport access. Without enough time to book a twitching car, I chose Discovery Park as the best likelyhood. There are recent historical records of Snowy Owls here, but Ebird was not ebullient about my chances. As you might judge from the list below, it was a quiet day and I found myself taking an interest in the moss and lichen to while away the time between birds.

It was a drab, damp day when the light finally began to filter through into the misty morning. The bus had arrived about 20 minutes before sun up and dropped me at the North car park (Google Earth ref; 47 39 53N 122 24 39W ). I took a short stroll along the road opposite, marked Bernie Whitebear. A couple of other roads led to a dead-end in a small residential area.on the northern headland. I hoped to catch a few late refrains from a Barred Owl perhaps that is said to be resident in the park. The first sounds came from a Song Sparrow with what sounded like a Bald eagle in the distance. I was unsure about the eagle, do they start calling before it gets light?

The road brought me round to the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center where the first visual identification of a bird put American Robin at the top of my list. The light was just peeking through as the eagle flew over my head and out across Shilsole Bay to meet its mate on a buoy out on the water.The viewpoint here gives a great view out across the bay, or would do if the visibility was good. Sealions that sounded exactly like the ones from San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf were playing near the shoreline. As Steller's Sealion seldom barks, I came to the conclusion that these were Californian Sealions.

A road leads south from the Cultural center climbing the slope toards the meadow. Animals have worn trails into the forest along the road and walking paths cros it. At last, I ran into a small party of birds consisting of American Robins, Varied Thrush, Spotted Towhee, Golden Crowned Kinglet and Brown Creeper. A small flock of Pine Siskins were feeding, silhouetted in the top of an Alder.

The Loop Trail crosses a quiet road that drops down to the lighthouse at West Point. I hadn't seen much from the viewpoint, so there didn't seem much point in trekking all the way down the hill and back up again. View points in the meadow looking out over Puget Sound were also disappointing. Cliffs here afford a good vantage point to view the water and J Pod, the resident Orca family had been playing with the ferries the previous day. No sign now though, sadly.

A group of Birders from the Seattle Audobon Society were conducting a monthly point count. I had hoped that they might have had more luck than me, but they bemoaned that fact that it was a quiet morning. They were very helpful and pleasant, but confirmed what I probably already knew that my chances of seeing a Snowy Owl were marginal. One had been sighted closeby before Christmas, but had not been seen again since. Ah well, I have another chance in New York next week.

Lee Barnes was also able smooth my furrowed brow concerning the Northwest/American Crow conundrum and most people take American Crow in Discovery Park. He told me later that he found a few Snowy Owls at Damon Point, Ocean Shores and I am hoping that he will send me a picture for an otherwise disappointingly illustrated post.
A bird list for Discovery Park can be found at this link. It is rather more impressive than my paltry collection below.

Birds seen; 17

Horned Grebe 4, Double-crested Cormorant 3, Bald Eagle 2, Sharp-shinned Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk 2, Glaucous-winged Gull 3, Northern Flicker 1, American Robin 25, Varied Thrush 2, Golden-crowned Kinglet 3, Black-capped Chickadee 6, Brown Creeper 1, American Crow 20, Pine Sikin 14, Spotted Towhee 2, Song Sparrow 6, Dark-eyed Junco 4.

The bus no 33 to Discovery Park leaves from 3^rd St and Union, it stops at the North Parking Lot (Google Earth ref;  47°39'52.54"N 122°24'39.46"W) close to the Daybreak Indian Cultural Centre. No 24 also leaves from the same stop, but turns off just before the park entrance. At weekends, they run once an hour. During the week the service is more frequent, but less regular. You can pick up a timetable on the bus or look up route 33 at www.kingcounty.gov/tripplanner

For other posts from Discovery Park and other sites in Seattle, follow the links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/12/discovery-park-seattle.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-night-i-took-quick-run-down-to.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/12/montlake-fill-seattle.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/10/seattle-ferry-to-bremerton.html

Visit the dedicated USA and Canada page for more from the North American continent.

High Resolution Images from December 2011

High Resolution Images from December 2011

The images in the main blog have been reduced in size to 600 pixels or less across to facilitate quick loading. It goes against all my sensibilities to reduce the resolution, so each month I shall select a few shots that warrant being seen in in hi-res.
These posts may take slightly longer to load, so please be patient.

The links will take you to the original post.
These Black-tailed Godwits were flying out to see if the tide had receded enough to allow them to start feeding in the Thames Estuary near Oare Marshes.

Any African pictures are always going to make it onto my favourites list. Just inside the gate at the Kruger National Park in South Africa was an Impala receiving a grooming from a Red-billed Oxpecker.

Lake Panic provided a delightful couple of hours during the visit to the Kruger NP where a family of Goliath Herons kept us all entertained.

Visit the dedicated Hi-resolution page for more

Sultanpur National Park, New Delhi, January 2012

Dutch New Year burst upon us with a barrage of glitter bombs, sparklers and apple cake. The celebrations of the KLM crew were likely to outshine the attempts of the British trying to sing a traditional Scottish song to which no-one actually knows the words, so I took the opportunity for a quick lie down before heading out to Sultanpur National Park. As it happens, I was disturbed a short while later, by a full-throated roar to the tune of Auld Lang Syne from the airline party room 4 floors up. Well done chaps!

Given my track record, I had foolishly left a few issues unresolved and had 3 things to worry about this New Year’s morning. Would the car arrive? I had tried to book a car on-line, but had not received any confirmation. Would the sanctuary be open on New Year’s morning? Would the fog lift? There had been fog inside the terminal building and the hotel lobby when we arrived! Would the driver know the way (OK, so that’s 4 things to worry about, but Indian drivers often confuse the ability to ask directions at the roadside with actual knowledge of the route)?

Perhaps my luck is changing in anticipation of a great year ahead because just before 06.00 Jasvinder Singh arrived with the car and confirmed that he did indeed know the way. We arrived just over an hour later after having to stop only three times to ask the way, but found the gates firmly locked. Luckily another birder/photographer was already waiting and confirmed that the park would open as soon as the gatekeeper woke up. Shortly after, a couple of men arrived on a motorbike and one jumped over the gate, woke the guard by poking him with a stick through the grille and moments later, we were in.

I joined the other photographer, Vinay Chand and he led me along the lakeside to a spit which juts out into the lake and can be seen at Google Earth ref; 28 27 43N 76 53 18E. The fog had not lifted unfortunately but it was still possible to see out across the lake through the murk. Small island mounds were proving very popular with the wildfowl and in particular, the Bar-headed Geese which Vinay was hoping to photograph today. I am sure that his pictures will be atmospheric, while mine just turned out grainy and grey.

Out on the water ducks included Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, and Eurasian Teal. An Intermediate Egret stalked the shallow weedy margins with Common Coot and Common Moorhens. A Common Snipe flushed and I was able to get my first ever picture of one in flight.

On a couple of occasions the mist thinned. Vinay was confident that the sun would come out soon and burn it all away, but sadly his optimism was misplaced. A flock of Painted Storks could just be made out on the far side of the lake and occasionally one would appear, pterodactyl-like from the mist.

We returned to the path that runs around the lake and began retracing our steps towards the entrance. Dry woodland surrounds part of the lake attracting birds such as Black Redstart, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Indian Peafowl. We were concentrating on the lake and found Little Grebe, Purple Swamphen and Little Cormorant as we continued along the path and back past the entrance. Vinay told me that this part of the park was less visited and the birds appeared to be more wary.

Spot-billed Ducks and Comb Ducks were quick to move away from the bank as we appeared through the gloom Even the Greylag Geese were quick to take flight. Rose-ringed Parakeets and Tree Pipits were seen in the woodland to our left as we rounded the northern part of the Lake.

We were headed for another spit which can be seen at Google Earth ref; 28 27 51N 76 53 33E. Vinay was hoping to find some good photo opportunities with Pied Kingfishers and Crested Serpent Eagle. I am still unsure what the large birds of prey that we saw outlined in the distance were, though I was able to confirm a Booted Eagle, seen later, by its “headlights” on a photograph when I got home.

The nesting colony, or “village” as Vinay preferred, of Painted Storks can be seen from this point. On a day such as this, it was an unimpressive sight and the grey, drab juveniles looked wraith-like in the low light.

A Plain Prinia showed in the rushes along the spit and at last I was able to get a clear photograph of something. The mist had thinned, but the light was still poor by the time I had to leave. A Black-necked Stork in the distance could be seen at the top of a tree, watching over its nest and its brooding mate.

Away from the lake during the journey home, the air quality improved somewhat. A Hoopoe was seen on the wall at the entrance. Cattle Egrets and Indian Black Ibis were seen in the fields and Black-necked Stilt could be found in even the dirtiest of puddles.

Birds Seen; 68

Little Grebe 8, Great Cormorant 20, Little Cormorant 40, Oriental Darter 10, Grey Heron 5, Purple Heron 1, Great Egret 4, Intermediate Egret 2, Little Egret 3, Cattle Egret 150, Indian Pond Heron 6, Painted Stork 70, Black-necked Stork 2, Black-headed Ibis 6, Indian Black Ibis 2, Eurasian Spoonbill 1, Greylag Goose 300, Bar-headed Goose 250, African Comb Duck 30, Gadwall 200, Eurasian Teal 400, Spot-billed Duck 30, Northern Pintail 60, Northern Shoveler 100, Tufted Duck 3, Black-shouldered Kite 1, Black Kite 10, Shikra 1, Booted Eagle 1, Common Kestrel 1, Grey Francolin 1, Indian Peafowl 3, White-breasted Waterhen 3, Purple Swamphen 3, Common Moorhen 25, Common Coot 60, Black-winged Stilt 12, Red-watttled Lapwing 12, Common Snipe 3, Common Greenshank 1, Common Sandpiper 2, Eurasian Collared Dove 1, Rose-ringed Parakeet 40, Greater Coucal 3, White-throated Kingfisher 10, Pied Kingfisher 4, Hoopoe 1, Plain Martin 15, Barn Swallow 20, Tree Pipit, White Wagtail 1, Red-vented Bulbul 3, Orange-headed Thrush 1, Oriental Magpie Robin 2, Indian Robin 2, Black Redstart 8, Plain Prinia 12, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Red-breasted Flycatcher 3, Jungle Babbler 12, Purple Sunbird 1, Isabelline Shrike 12, Black Drongo 20, House Crow 150, Large-billed Crow 15, Bank Myna 6, Common Myna 25, Asian Pied Starling 2.

 Sultanpur is approximately 50 Kms from New Delhi and the drive should take about an hour. Normal street taxis may have difficulty crossing the state line (perhaps a special licence is required or maybe heavy tax is payable, but drivers seem reluctant to try for whatever reason). A private car should be used and a price set with waiting time for the driver taken into account. 2 years ago a negotiated price from a private hire company was Rs1200 with 3 hours waiting. On this occasion I booked ahead with www.uniqueindiatour.com (good driver, good car and punctual). Considering that I was unlikely to be able to find a car on the street at 06.00 on New Year’s morning, the price of Rs2500 was not unreasonable (all tolls and taxes were included, but 5% for using Paypal was additonal).

** Amendment; as at November 2013, the gate times have changed. The sanctuary opens between 09.00 and 16.30. It is closed on Tuesdays.
A metered cab cost IR2700 + IR 100 for tolls. **

Other posts from Sultanpur NP and other sites near New Delhi can be found by following the links below;

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/10/sultanpur-new-delhi-india.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/02/tughluqabad-fort-new-delhi.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/04/mercury-had-passed-40c-in-new-delhi.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/08/tughlaqabad-fort-new-delhi-india.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/02/kalindi-kunj-crescent.html

Visit the dedicated India Page for posts from the rest of India.