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JULY 2011
25 years as the UK’s number one
Become an ID expert Summer duck plumage made easy
Mandarin madness
Why it’s crazy to ignore these ducks
PLUS
All the ge!n
on ALL Britain’s groef grouse at
BLACK GROUSE Why it should be top of your wish list all year round
SCOPE TEST
ANTARCTICA
Incredible photos and stories of extreme survival from that frozen continent
6ft ft PENGUINS? ft Amazing facts about these flightless favourites
SEE MORE BIRDS! 15 sites to visit this month 001 cover.indd 5
July 2011 £4.10
Opticron’s latest offering is compact and affordable, but is it any good? Find out inside
08/06/2011 16:44
month
YOUR BIRDING
When, where and how to see more birds
CLASSIC BOOK Birds of Europe
Lars Jonsson is widely regarded, with ample justification, as one of Europe’s top bird artists. He also knows a thing or two about birds. Before the days of the Collins Bird Guide, this chunky fieldguide was the new birding Bible, combining Jonsson’s superb (though sometimes quirky) portraits with excellent text and ranges of plumages (such as juvenile waders and immature gulls) previously unseen in European fieldguides.
TOP TEN BIRDING
Birdfair 2011 build-up begins It’s alm of year agost that time for this y ain. Get ready ear’s Rutland W Birdfair at ater a www.bird watching t .co uk/birdfa ir2011 .
ON THE MOVE Turnstone
The ‘quiet’ period of summer can be productive for returning Arctic breeding waders, heading back south. The first birds are usually failed or unsuccessful breeding adults, with the bulk of juveniles coming through later. Turnstone is a classic example of a wader that can turn up at inland sites at this time. At inland pits, where there isn’t really the seaweed to work through, you may see them turning over goose droppings and the like.
Wood Sandpiper
The prettiest of our regular Tringas (though Spotted Redshanks may have some claim in certain plumages…), these elegant little sandpipers are always great to find. They are slightly smaller than Green Sandpipers and are paler, lacking the striking dark underwing and black-and-white look of its cogener. Like all Tringa sandpipers, Woods often give themselves away by call, so learn the rapid, high ‘pee-peepee’.
Greenshank Balearic Shearwater juvenile This is the time of year when Greenshanks and Green Woodpeckers bizarrely resemble each other. It is all in the voice of the juveniles, with both making a horrible, harsh version of the adults’ more pleasing note. Juveniles are darker backed and more uniformly patterned than the adults, with even streaking on the breast and neat outlines of the back feathers and wing coverts.
One of Europe’s rarest breeding seabirds readily turns up off British shores during July. Most records are from the south-west, but birds are seen off Norfolk and north-east England with some regularity. This Shearwater looks like a bit of a smudgy, brown, pot-bellied version of the neat Manx Shearwater but as a critically endangered bird has a magic all of its own.
Elvis songs
1 Bittern to Sender 2 Jailhouse Rook 3 That’s All Kite 4 Heart Beak Hotel 5 The Wonder of Smew 6 Suspigeon Minds 7 Swallow That Dream 8 Curlew Lonesome Tonight 9 Tits Now or Never 10 Burning Dove Thanks to Paul Casey, Brian Harrison, Emma Richbell, Richard Payne and everyone else who took part. Next issue we’re after stock for our birding sweetshop such as Swan Bons. Send your puns to birdwatching@bauermedia. co.uk
Balearic Shearwater – will you be lucky enough to find one?
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ROSEATE TERN W
ith fewer than 100 pairs in the whole of the UK, this elegant bird is easily our rarest regularly breeding tern and so is a special treat to encounter. They are similar to Common Terns in size and overall shape, but are much whiter in their upperparts and have extremely long tail streamers, more exaggerated even than Arctic Terns. Indeed, the streamers protrude way beyond the wingtips on the resting bird. The bill is also slightly different from a Common, being predominantly black with a bright red base on the breeding adult. The legs are relatively long and bright red (lighter in tone than Common Tern legs). To ice the cake, breeding birds may also have a distinct pinkish flush to their underparts, which of course gives them the Roseate name. Roseate Terns are strictly coastal birds and are only rarely encountered at inland sites. There are just a few colonies scattered around the country, and easily the best way to see one of these pale beauties is to visit a known breeding site. The main colonies are off the Northumberland, north Wales, south-east Scottish and Kent coasts.
SITES FOR ROSEATE TERN 1. Various, Northumberland
RSPB Coquet Island, which is about a mile off Amble, has about 90% of the UK’s Roseate Tern population, so is comfortably the best place to see them. However, the sheer number of nesting seabirds here means that there is not public access except by taking a boat trip around the island. Alternatively, look from the Northumberland Seabird Centre on Amble Quayside. The Farne Islands also hold a few pairs of Roseate Terns, and it may be possible to see them on Inner Farne or the other islands.
2. Various, Anglesey
A few pairs persist in this traditional stronghold for Roseate Terns, with birds particularly at the colonies at Cemlyn Bayon on the north coast among other terns; and at Rhosneigr, fewer than 10 miles south of Holyhead on the west coast.
3. Dungeness, Kent
Though far from a reliable breeding site, summering birds and lingerers occur. Perhaps the best place to watch for them is The Patch, the warm water outlet just offshore of the power station.
4. Dawlish Warren
Not a breeding area, but birds may occur during the summer months. Check roosting flocks of Sandwich Terns from the hide, or for fishing terns offshore. Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
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OVER THE PAGE Heathland birds and woodpecker poo! 09/06/2011 15:23
Alan Williams
Riccardo Oggioni (Alamy)
Red Grouse, Capercaillie, P Mike Weedon reveals why our four species of grouse are so special
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his spring has been a real eye-opener for me. I have had a couple of trips away from the flat fenlands to more northerly, heathy, boggy and hilly country. Trips to northern Scotland and eastern Finland have brought
experiences of birds which I rarely even think about down here in the east of the Midlands. Most striking of these birds have been the grouse. They are birds which I have, in some cases, known since I was a child, but recently I
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uk grouse
FLPA (Alamy)
Arco Images/Usher, D. (Alamy)
e, Ptarmigan & Black Grouse have seen them with new eyes, and I’ve loved what I have seen – and heard. The four species of grouse which occur in the British Isles are all extremely beautiful on the eye (and, in my opinion, pretty good on the
ear) and all fascinating in their lifestyles. They are a varied bunch, each choosing different habitats, different feeding strategies and different feeding preferences. Each has faced, and still face, their own threats and challenges.
And each of these British birds deserves a place in birders’ hearts as one of our most exciting species. Here’s why we think all four deserve your special attention... www.birdwatching.co.uk 21
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penguins
Everybody
loves
penguins They’re perhaps the least bird-like of all birds – so why is it that humans seem to have such a fondness for penguins? Steve Newman visited Antarctica to find out
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trip to the Antarctic will guarantee you see penguins. What it will not do is guarantee you see the ones you want. They may be some of the most successful birds on the planet, indeed the 17 species stretch as far north as The Galapagos, South Africa and Australia, but, like all wild animals, when it comes to watching and observing they can be downright awkward. These birds have evolved into the perfect fishing machine. White breasts ensure they blend with the ice and light from the surface when viewed by predators from below and a black back blends nicely in with the darkness of the deep from above. Unlike their fellow birds, penguins have solid bones and a double feather which helps keep them warm and distribute water away from the skin. They weren’t always as small as we see them today, as fossils found in Antarctica reveal an ancestor that grew to six feet tall. The largest species now, The Emperor Penguin, breeds on the
Antarctic Peninsula whilst the second largest, the King Penguin, can be found some 1,000 miles further north on the Falkland Islands. There is simply no rhyme or reason to these birds and my recent trip to the Antarctic proved this beyond any doubt. Distribution of the species is fairly widespread but you should plan your trip in advance should you wish to see a particular bird. However, as with other birds, you can pick up a vagrant and we were lucky enough to see an Emperor sitting on an ice floe some 100 miles north of its known range and a pair of Macaronis preening quite happily in the middle of a Chinstrap rookery. The area we explored consisted of the South Shetland Islands, the Weddell Sea and the north and west coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula as far south as Petermann Island some 65 degrees south. The three dominant species in this region belong to the genus Pygoscelis, namely Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adélie. They are given this Steve Newman
Adélie Penguins (main image and right) are firm believers in safety in numbers www.birdwatching.co.uk 33
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09/06/2011 11:26
GO John Miles
TOP TIP presented by
Crossbills are a possibility – keep an eye out around the woodland areas.
SITE GUIDE GRID REF: NT 482 877 DIFFICULTY
1 Borders
Newcastleton Mixed habitats offer year-round interest
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his is a pleasant, two-mile walk taking in several habitats around the border town of Newcastleton. Your first stop is the river, where you can see a Sand Martin colony on the near bank. The shallows here also offer Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Grey Wagtail and Dipper. Goosander may easily float down river, while Grey Heron is likely. Mixed broadleaved trees are found on the other side of the river, so look out for your woodland birds, including
Crossbill, with the massive Kershope Forest only a stone’s throw away. The path narrows close to the river, with an avenue of Alder growing in front of it. Look out for Siskin and redpoll here. A small open field now guides you towards the road, which you cross, before following the path over the old railway bridge. A rough area on your right looks good for Reed Bunting and possible Grasshopper Warbler. Turn left and into the wood. Redstart, Nuthatch and Treecreeper are here to
greet you, with plenty of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Halfway along the wood you have a great viewpoint to scan towards the Kershope Forest for Goshawk, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. A rookery is found in the wood. Again look to your right over Holm Hill for moorland birds like Sky Lark, Meadow Pipit, Curlew and possible Merlin and Hen Harrier. Drop onto the Langholm road and return to the start. John Miles
V5 OS 1:50,000 Region 5 Southern Scotland www.memory-map.co.uk 0870 743 0121
How to get there: The B6357 comes in from Canobie off the A7 from the south, while the same road comes in from Kielder from the east. Minor roads come in from Langholm and Brampton via Kershope Forest. Postcode: TD9 0QD Where to park: The main car-parking area is in Douglas Square, in town. Distance and time: The circular walk from the car park is approximately two miles. Longer walks can be found on www. visitnewcastleton.com/content/ walks-around-newcastleton with biking at www.forestry.gov.uk/ forestry/ACHS-5RNFYX Terrain: The path is flat along the river, but the woodland walk in Sawmill Bank has plenty of roots to watch out for. There are presently no seats in the wood. Facilities: Shops and pubs in Newcastleton itself. Public transport: There are buses from Carlisle and Hawick. For timetables, go to Traveline, 0870 608 2608. Sites nearby: Go Birdings – Langholm Moor, Longtown Ponds (February 2002), Kielder Forest (October 2009).
LOCAL GUIDE Organisations: The SOC, The Scottish Birdwatching Resource Centre, Waterston House, Aberlady, East Lothian EH32 0PY. Club contact: Borders SOC, Graham Pyatt, The Schoolhouse, Manor, Peebles EH45 9JN, 01721 740 319. County recorder: Ray Murray, raymurray1@tiscali.co.uk Maps: OS Explorer 324, OS Landranger 79.
Carlisle 25m
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Park in Douglas Square in the centre of the town. Walk down from the north end of the square towards the River Liddel. You come to an open area of parkland/amenity grassland with lots of benches from which to scan the river and adjacent woodland. Walk upstream from the village, to a wide track which becomes a narrow
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path along the river. A large field is on your left with alder/sycamore growing along the river’s edge. A bungalow and garden stops any further riverside walk, with the path moving back to the road. Cross the road, where you will see a footpath sign pointing you towards the woodland called Sawmill Bank. Cross over the disused railway bridge/line
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(Waverley Line from Carlisle to Edinburgh), turn left and enter the wood 40 yards onwards. This takes you along a ridge looking down into the wood with mixed Scots Pine, Oak and Ash. Look out over the Holm Hill for open/moorland birds before dropping down onto the Langholm road and back into Newcastleton.
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Brian Unwin
TOP TIP presented by
Little Terns may have dispersed by mid-July, so visit sooner rather than later.
SITE GUIDE GRID REF: NZ 483 373 DIFFICULTY
2 Co. Durham
Crimdon
Beauty queens are history as focus switches to coast’s wildlife
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his used to be the former Durham coalfield’s seaside resort, with 50,000 crowds at its annual highlight, the Miss Crimdon beauty contest. Since the pits closed and Mediterranean beaches become more popular, it has blossomed into a significant wildlife haven. Woodland-fringed Crimdon Dene, location of those glamour pageants, has Local Nature Reserve status now. So has Hart Warren Dunes to the south, while the Denemouth shore
area is part of the Durham Coast National Nature Reserve and Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Special Protection Area. A major reason for the Denemouth’s NNR and SPA inclusion is its Little Tern colony. Despite storms, natural predators and a notorious egg-looting incident, this is one of the country’s most productive sites for our second rarest breeding seabird. Up to 120 young have fledged in recent seasons. Last July the colony attracted
particular birder attention through a Dotterel’s appearance. Its week-long stay coincided with much fish shoal activity, resulting in Mediterranean Gull and Roseate Tern sightings, with Red-throated Divers, Manx Shearwaters, Gannets, auks and other tern species also joining the feeding frenzy. Brian Unwin
V5 OS 1:50,000 Region 4 Northern England www.memory-map.co.uk 0870 743 0121
How to get there: Crimdon Denemouth is reached from A1086 coast road running NW from Hartlepool. Road dips to cross dene and an unclassified road runs from the foot of dip to clifftop car park. Drive slowly along this road due to formidable speed humps. The A1086 can be reached from A19 (main Sunderland-Teesside road) via A179 (turning at Sheraton flyover) or B1281 (turning at Castle Eden). Postcode: TS27 4BL Where to park: Extensive parking area along clifftop north of Denemouth (grid ref: NZ 483 373). Public transport: Regular bus services operating along A1086 from Hartlepool, with links to all region’s main centres. Distance & time: Distance between clifftop car park and tern viewpoint less than half a mile. Obviously distance grows if you also visit Hart Warren Dunes, the dene’s woodland or the cliffs to north. Allow at least two hours. Terrain: Soft sand on beach and in dunes unsuitable for wheelchairs but colony can be telescoped from hard-surfaced path down to footbridge. Path along Crimdon Dene floor also hard-surfaced. Accessibility: Always open. Facilities: Coin-op public toilet, including for disabled, near clifftop car park. Nearest shops at Blackhall, two miles N along A1086. More extensive facilities at Hartlepool centre. Sites nearby: Go Birdings – Hartlepool Headland (October, 2009); Easington-Blackhall Coast (October, 2007); Hurworth Burn Reservoir, December, 2005).
LOCAL GUIDE Hartlepool 5m
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Clifftop beside parking spaces is good spot for monitoring seabird and wildfowl passage (which peaks during July-November). Inshore waters also a noted feeding area for diving species. Seasonal Little Tern wardens’ hut on right as surfaced path descends to footbridge over beck (usually dry in summer) at Denemouth. The wardens, on site until young terns fledge, are
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always happy to help with queries. Tern colony best viewed from embankment on S side of Denemouth (wooden bench by path S through dunes from footbridge). Whitethroat, Linnet, Yellowhammer and perhaps Stonechat in dune scrub patches. Possibility of migrants during autumn.
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Hart Warren dunes most noted for plants and insects but unusual autumn bird migrants reported in this nature reserve and from adjacent golf course include Richard’s Pipit, Firecrest and Common Rosefinch. Typical woodland bird range on steep tree-clad sides of Crimdon Dene.
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Club contacts: Durham Bird Club, Membership Secretary, Derek Lawrence, 07957 541820, derek_suzy@hotmail.co.uk Teesmouth Bird Club, secretary Chris Sharp, 20 Auckland Way, Hartlepool TS26 0AN, 01429 865163. County recorder: Durham – Mark Newsome, mvnewsome@hotmail.com, Cleveland – Tom Francis, mot. francis@ntlworld.com Maps: OS Explorer 306, OS Landranger 93. www.birdwatching.co.uk 53
09/06/2011 17:06
round-up Rarity
expecting the u There’s always a chance of a mega turning up in early June, writes Richard Millington, but England’s first-ever White-throated Robin was a real treat
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he first two weeks of June is a time when twitchers are at their most twitchy, because this fortnight marks the end of spring migration and the last window of opportunity for spotting that all-important lost rarity. Furthermore, because pretty much everything else arrives before the end of May, anything still on the move in June has to be at least uncommon or, better still, peculiarly long-travelled. In fact, tradition dictates that we must expect the unexpected! While dreaming of that all-important surprise sighting, birders are still on the lookout for a number of birds that are acknowledged to be the latest of all our summer visitors and, given suitable weather conditions in early June, they will appear. These marker species include Marsh Warbler (an opportunistic late migrant which will even stop and breed if a pair find themselves in the right habitat), Red-backed Shrike (usually errant Scandinavian-bound birds that grab a few east coast bees to fuel their reorientation across the North Sea), Common Rosefinch (yet to fulfil its promise of colonising Britain) and Icterine Warbler (the odd one or two of which overshoot their European breeding range). The weather patterns were not ideal this June, yet one or two suitable ‘drop-in days’ were all that was needed to produce this standard four-way selection. Three Marsh Warblers arrived at Spurn, East Yorkshire, while singles were also seen in Kent, Norfolk, Orkney and Shetland. A female Red-backed Shrike reached North Wales, while males arrived at various sites on the English east coast between Lincolnshire and Shetland. A
Shaun Barnes
Trumpeter Finch, Lundy, Devon, 13 May
singing male Common Rosefinch set up temporary residence on Anglesey while more were reported from half-a-dozen sites between the Isles of Scilly and Shetland. And Icterine Warblers visited East Yorkshire (one at Spurn Point for three days) and Shetland (three on Fair Isle for one day). In addition to these late birds, the early June pick’n’mix of scarce passerines also included a male Black-headed Bunting at Mallaig, Highland, and an adult Rose-coloured Starling at Hunterstone Sands, Ayrshire, plus the occasional Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Red-rumped Swallow, while bigger birds hitting the Birdline headlines on 09068 700 222 included a Broad-billed Sandpiper and a flyover Black Stork in Norfolk (at Breydon Water and Waxham respectively), as well as the odd Black Kite, Red-necked Phalarope and Whitewinged Black Tern. All relatively predictable really... Yet, on Monday 6th June, Cleveland birder Chris Brown shattered the undue calm when he mist-netted a mega rarity of the utmost quality: England’s first ever White-throated Robin! On the tail of northeasterly winds and overnight rain, this third for Britain had found sanctuary in a couple of the small green spaces situated amongst the urban sprawl of Hartlepool headland and, to the relief of a large tick-hungry crowd, it continued to commute between the famous bowling green and an adjacent garden for the next couple of days. Initially, the bird spent some time feeding in the rather exposed flower beds, even brazenly hopping out to feed on the adjacent road, but it eventually
discovered a more secluded retreat, the nearby doctor’s garden. It had effectively gone missing as, somewhat disturbingly, high walls precluded casual viewing of this particular leafy oasis. Enterprising birders were not to be easily foiled however, and one intrepid chap found that standing atop the roof of his van offered a suitable vantage point; once provided with enough height to look over the wall, he relocated the robin. As the evening progressed, aluminium ladders began to appear, and thankful birders soon began to scale the fortifications in order to get a glimpse of their quarry. It was a twitch like no other, more like the storming of a castle than a genteel stroll in a park, but the local residents were amused and the bird performed admirably. By the following morning, sense had prevailed and organised access to the garden had been granted, so the event continued in a far more relaxed style. The Hartlepool White-throated Robin was a female, which is dusky-faced, grey-backed and blacktailed, with a flush of apricot-orange along the flank; nowhere near as spectacular as the dazzling, somewhat Redstart-like male, but a sight for sore eyes regardless. Since the only other British records were a briefly seen bird on the Calf of Man on 22nd June 1983 and a female that was deliberately suppressed on Skokholm, Pembrokeshire for four days (from 27th until 30th May 1990), the Cleveland individual was the first White-throated Robin ever to prove twitchable in Britain, and it was very much admired accordingly! Indeed, for all those birders who had never visited Turkey (the true homeland of this exotic bird), it was even a world tick! With the Irania hogging the headlines, the other star birds of early June were somewhat eclipsed, even though each would normally have caused quite a stir in their own right; as well as a Squacco Heron in Shetland (at Urafirth on 6th-7th), Blyth’s Reed Warblers were found in Cheshire (on Hilbre Island on 5th) and Orkney (on North Ronaldsay on 7th). And already the memories of late May (including such superb birds as the displaying Great Snipe at Cley, Norfolk on 11th-16th, the male Trumpeter Finch that had lingered on Lundy, Devon from 12th until 25th, the Least Sandpiper that visited Old Moor RSPB Reserve, South Yorkshire on 26th and the Terek Sandpiper seen at Hauxley, Northumberland on 28th-30th) had long faded. With summer had come a change of direction, and already seabirds were beginning to appear on the menu; the earliest ever Wilson’s Petrel to be seen in waters off the Isles of Scilly was spotted on 1st June, and a few days later it was followed by another. With the seasons shifting so far forward, can we expect return wader passage to bring us the next mouthwatering mega? Long-toed Stint, anyone?
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UK Bird
Red-footed Falcon, Ham Wall, Somerset
Terek Sandpiper, Hauxley NR, Northumberland, 28 May
Steve & Annette Phillips
Female White-throated Robin, Hartlepool, Cleveland
Gary Thoburn
Kevin Du Rose
unexpected
Keith O’Hagen
Nick Hopper
Spotted Sandpiper, Caldecotte Lake, Buckinghamshire, 12 May
Black-winged Stilt, Radipole, Dorset, 20 May www.birdwatching.co.uk 89
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