Your birding
month Oliver Smart
key bird for august an autumn Black Tern isn’t as black as the birds you see passing through in spring
Black Tern The exceptionally elegant Black Tern is easily the most numerous of the three Marsh Tern species which visit the UK on passage, or as strays (the others being White-winged Black Tern and Whiskered Tern). They do not stay to bred, but pass through the country during their spring migration and again on return migration. Unlike most of our breeding terns, these are not so habitually tied to the sea and they can turn up at inland water bodies during their extended migration period,
from July to September. These late summer birds have usually started their moult so are not as immaculate and striking as the matt black and dark grey spring birds. Adults look patchy and splodged with black on their underparts, while juvenile birds, which also pass during autumn passage, have white underparts and a dark ‘saddle’ on the mantle, with distinctive pale-tipped feathers giving a barred appearance (if you get a close look). All birds have a diagnostic
Steve Young (Alamy)
NHPA/Photoshot
Whiskered Tern
dark line onto the breast sides just in front of the wing, which is lacking in Whitewinged Black and Whiskered Terns. Search for them on gravel pits, reservoirs, and close in shore at the coast. They feed on the wing by buoyantly flying up and down looking to pick out invertebrates, tiny fish and other tasty morsels from the water surface. They are small terns, much smaller than for instance, Common Terns; closer in size to the tiny Little Tern.
White-winged Black Tern
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conservation
Curlew Sandpiper
Red-necked Stint
TheSe biRdS need you! How we can all help to protect 50 million birds and a threatened migration flyway – just by going to the Birdfair. By Martin Fowley
hen you visit the Birdfair later this month, you’ll be helping to safeguard the future of more than 50 million waterbirds under threat from development. These threatened birds use the East AsianAustralasian Flyway and many of them travel all the way from their high arctic breeding grounds to spend the northern winter in the temperate latitudes of the southern hemisphere. But developments on crucial wetland sites within the flyway, which extends from Arctic Russia and Alaska to Australia and New Zealand, and encompasses large parts of East Asia and all of South-east Asia, are having a disastrous effect on bird populations, which is why the Birdfair is supporting BirdLife International’s Flyways Programme this year. Twenty-two migratory species, including the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill and Nordmann’s Greenshank and the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Chinese Crested Tern have almost their entire global population within the flyway. Waders and other waterbirds moving along the flyway use a number of stopover (or staging) sites during their migration, to rest and refuel. Recent satellite-tracking studies have shown
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that Bar-tailed Godwits complete the journey from their wintering sites in New Zealand to their staging areas around the Yellow Sea in a single flight taking eight to 10 days, before flying non-stop to their Arctic breeding grounds in Russia and Alaska. Others species, such as Red-necked Stint, make shorter hops and need to stop over at more sites. For all these long-distance migrants, the rich feeding grounds provided by intertidal sand and mudflats are vital to sustain their spectacular migrations, but these habitats are being lost at an alarming rate and many waterbirds are declining rapidly in numbers.
The shocking stats When areas of habitat used by birds on their migration are lost, there can be a tendency to think that, although obviously grim from a conservation perspective, the result won’t necessarily be catastrophic as the birds will adapt their behaviour and move elsewhere. Indeed, this was the argument used by the South Korean government, when building a dam at the Saemangeum tidal flat in 2006 – a development fiercely opposed by environmental groups. The government claimed that shorebirds would
“move their habitats to the neighbouring Geum Estuary or Gomso Bay or other tidal-flats” (both ironically now threatened with development). However, data gathered after Saemangeum’s degradation shows the folly of this thinking. In 2002, Great Knot had (according to Wetlands International) an estimated global population of 380,000, with about 119,000 (just over 30%) using Saemangeum as a staging area (with 176,000 in total moving through South Korea on their northward migration). To monitor the effects of the reclamation project on the site, a joint project was carried out between 2006 and 2008 by Birds Korea and the Australasian Wader Studies Group (part of BirdLife Australia). The Saemangeum Shorebird Monitoring Program aimed to quantify the impact of enclosing the intertidal habitat used by migrating shorebirds during their northbound migration, as well as any knock-on effect at neighbouring sites. The counts produced a staggering conclusion in relation to Saemangeum’s visiting Great Knot population: 86,288 in 2006; 31,739 in 2007; and just 12,460 in 2008 (by which time the wetland habitat at the site had deteriorated further). Neighbouring Yellow Sea sites reported no increases in Great
go birding august
Walk 05: staffordshire
Difficulty
BlithfielD reservoir
site guiDe Pete Hackett
One of the top wildfowl sites in the country Curlew Sandpiper
a good passage of terns. The reservoir has seen a slight dip in form in recent years, possibly due to less birders visiting, so there is now a real chance of finding your own rarity, and with a species list of over 250 and mouth-watering rarities such as Arctic Warbler, Squacco Heron and several Nearctic waders recorded, a visit beckons. Pete Hackett
Scan the causeway for passage waders, and the chance of Black Redstart. Check skyline for Raven, Peregrine and Red Kite. Main bodies of water attract good numbers of terns with a chance of Little Tern during May and passage Kittiwake, while the roost may hold Iceland, Glaucous, Mediterranean and Caspian Gulls in winter. Permit holders have access to the whole reservoir. Tad and Blithe Bay are best in autumn for waders. Baird’s, White-rumped and Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs have all been recorded. Stansley Wood holds breeding warblers, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Jay, possible Spotted Flycatcher and Marsh Tit. The feeding station attracts Great Spotted Woodpecker, Reed Bunting, Pheasant and the occasional Brambling among feeding finches. There are new boardwalks, hides and viewing areas at Tad Bay open to the general public.
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V5 OS 1:50,000 Region 2 Central England www.memory-map.co.uk 0870 743 0121
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Oliver Smart
lways an impressive sight when this 800-acre site comes into view, the drinking water reservoir is also used for recreations such as sailing and fishing, with Tad Bay designated as a nature reserve. Opened in 1953, not 10 years later a severe storm saw huge waves which blew over both the causeway and the dam. Thankfully, now it is a bit more secure, with the concrete central causeway roughly splitting the reservoir into two halves. Summer months can be quiet, but Ospreys are now regular, while there is always a chance of Common Scoter. The autumn wader passage is much anticipated and is probably the best site in the West Midlands for Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint. Gales may blow in Grey Phalarope, Leach’s Petrel and Manx Shearwater. One of the best all-round sites in the Midlands, large winter gatherings of wildfowl will often produce scoters, scarcer grebes, Great Northern Diver and Smew. Although spring water levels are always high, the causeway is worth checking for Rock Pipits and waders such as Sanderling and Turnstone during May, while there is always
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Postcode: WS15 3PH Grid ref: SK 062 239 How to get there: Situated five miles north of Rugeley and one mile west of Abbotts Bromley, take the B5013 north from Rugeley town centre. From Uttoxeter take the A518, then the B5013. Where to park: Free car parking available at either end of the B5013 Blithfield causeway. Permit-holders can access the reservoir from Stansley Wood. Distance and time: At least half a day is recommended, or allow an hour or so if just viewing from the causeway. Terrain: Permit-holders access on rough tracks near Stansley Wood. Boardwalks in parts at the new public area. Pavement along the causeway. Accessibility: Open year-round. The whole reservoir can be accessed with a permit from the West Midland Bird Club. Suitable for wheelchairs in parts. Facilities: Education facility located at Stansley Wood. Nature trail with hide and toilet near the entrance. Public transport: Limited around the area. For the best coverage of the site it is best to visit by car or bicycle. Sites nearby: Go Birdings: Belvide Reservoir (March 2009), Chasewater (Dec 2003 and March 2009), Cannock Chase Country Park (May 2000), Uttoxeter Quarry (January 2010). Club contacts: www.westmidlandbirdclub.com Permits: Barbara Oakley, 147 Worlds End Lane, Quinton, Birmingham B32 1JX, permits@westmidlandbirdclub.com County recorder: Nick Pomiankowski, 22 The Villas, West End, Stoke ST4 5AQ, staffs-recorder@westmidlandbirdclub.com Websites: www.blithfield.com, www.staffordshirebirding.blogspot.com Map: OS Explorer 244, OS Landranger 128.
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Litchfield 12m 62 Bird Watching 2012
TRavel special
In the footsteps of
Livingstone They completed The Biggest Twitch, but even Ruth Miller and Alan Davies are amazed by this African adventure Where do you begin with this lot?
ith the motor stilled we drifted silently on the current towards the sandbank, careful not to make a sudden move, binoculars and cameras poised. The boat turned presenting us with the perfect view of a myriad of bills, legs and backs: Cattle Egrets, Blacksmith Lapwings, Whiskered Terns, White-winged Terns, Ruff and, best of all, African Skimmers, were packed cheek-by-jowl on a sliver of white sand. With a whoosh, the skimmers lifted off and circled over our heads before turning and making a flypast over the water right beside our tiny craft. Cameras rattled on rapid machine-gun fire to catch the perfect moment as the birds opened their mismatched bills and lived up to their name, skimming the surface of the water in search of fish. This was sheer birding bliss, as we spent the day pottering about on the river, the Okavango River that is. We were on a 10-day birding tour taking in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Caprivi Strip in Namibia and the area around Livingstone in Zambia, and it not only met but far exceeded our high expectations. Thanks to Sir David Attenborough, many of us have watched on TV the magnificent Okavango Delta with its network of water channels, drifting beds of papyrus and confiding wildlife. But now here we were, experiencing it first-hand as we explored the bird-rich Okavango Panhandle in our boat, steered by eagle-eyed boatsman Otto. Despite our group’s array of top-end optics, it was bare-eyed Otto who picked out the stupendous pair of Pel’s Fishing Owls staring disdainfully down at us from their lofty perch in a large tree. These enormous, ginger birds regularly hang out in a shady patch near a military base, so their habitat is secure, though
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we prudently didn’t overstay our welcome here. It was also Otto who found a White-backed Night Heron lurking in a tangled mangrove. Even when we knew the spot it was hard to make out, so how on earth had Otto spotted it? Local knowledge is a wonderful thing, and clearly our guides knew this area inside out. Luckily, the herons took pity on us and flew upstream giving superb views. Cue that machine-gunning camera work again from Grant with his long lens! But apart from a few lurking specialists, the birds here were easy to see as we drifted lazily: a handsome African Fish Eagle ripped apart his meal with gusto; a jewel-like Malachite Kingfisher zipped past like a bright blue bullet; a Slaty Egret stood to attention in a streamlet; two impressive Wattled Cranes stalked haughtily across a water meadow, riffling their bustles like a pair of dowager duchesses; Collared and Black-winged Pratincoles tested our ID skills as they mingled on an open bank; paint-bynumbers Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters launched themselves from the swaying papyrus in pursuit of dragonflies, and everywhere we looked, African Jacanas tiptoed as daintily as ballerinas across the lilypads. It wasn’t just the avifauna that kept us entertained. Immense crocodiles floated in the shallows like discarded tyre treads. Smooth, semi-submerged rocks metamorphosed into a pod of Hippos which sank down into the muddy waters as our boat approached, only to resurface snorting and grunting behind us. A vivid green snake wound its way across a pockmarked cliff face, home to a colony of Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, slipping in and out of the holes like a green thread as it looked something for tasty to eat. And Vervet Monkey footprints, left when
Brown-hooded Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
TRavel special
they’d raided our riverside campsite for an unguarded packet of biscuits brought home to us just how closely we were immersed in the wildlife of this spectacular corner of Africa. Water features quite prominently here, as the mighty Okavango River is topped up in the rainy months by brisk showers of refreshing, warm rain. We were entertained to some impressive thunderstorms, but it takes more than a rain shower to deter a British birder, so donning rain capes we continued, and so did the excellent birding along the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. We enjoyed the amazing sight of not just one or two but a whole a flock of male and female Pennantwinged Nightjars in the miombo woodland. These cryptically-camouflaged birds were all-but invisible on the ground, but the astonishing secondary feather extensions sported by the males in spring made ribbon circles when they took to the air and made them look like oversized swallow-tailed butterflies as they flew up into the trees. There was jubilation among both the guides and group as we caught up with a gang of tricky Sharp-tailed Starlings, their distinctive tail-shape marking them out from their more regular glossy starling cousins. And the most-wanted Schalow’s Turaco showed off in the lush grounds of a hotel beside the River Zambezi; a lime-green bird the size of a large chicken with a funky pointed crest, how could we fail to be impressed with this? Everywhere we looked we encountered birds, birds and more birds, and the roll call each night round the campfire was impressive. We totalled 175 species in a day, yet it didn’t feel that we were pushing ourselves hard, so rich was the birding. So we felt justified in allowing ourselves a couple of hours off to play tourist. After all, you can’t
Birding by boat – watch out for Hippos!
All image by Ruth Miller and Alan Davies of The Biggest Twitch
victoria falls
fish eagle, with lunch
schalow’s turaco
stay in a town called Livingstone without going to see the statue of the man himself and Victoria Falls, which he was the first European ever to see. More than 150 years and millions of gallons of water after Livingstone first witnessed Mosi-oaTunya or ‘the smoke that thunders’, these waterfalls are still awesome, in the true meaning of the word. The volume of water, the sheer drop and that smoking thunder takes your breath away, and photographs can’t do it justice. But don’t worry, even here the birding never stops, as we ticked off Red-winged Starling taking a shower in the spray. Wonder just how many species David Livingstone had on his bird list all those years ago?
traveL facts Alan and Ruth travelled in Africa with Letaka Safaris, www.letakasafaris.com, the Botswanabased experts on running wildlife tours in this part of the continent. Their guide, Grant Reed, is one of the founding directors with his brother Brent, and what they don’t know about safaris in the best wild parts of Africa isn’t worth knowing. They saw more than 300 species of bird in just 10 days, a staggering total. To see more images of our trip, please check out their blogs on www.thebiggesttwitch.com
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