Swamp Thing

On Sunday 31st July a Western Swamphen was found at Minsmere, Suffolk. Still present a few days later I realised that the only window to see this was to divert a family holiday via Suffolk at a stupid time of the morning on Friday 5th August.  So there we were at dawn after a 2am wake-up.  And what an absolute pleasure it was walking through the woods of Minsmere out into the reeds as the sun rose (sunrise pics by Eve Hines).

A bird with many names; previously known in the guides as Purple Gallinule, now referred to as Purple Swamphen, and in this case the Purple Chicken - Western Swamphen is its current title as the race of south-west Europe.

The bird was seen immediately before it disappeared for some time, before appearing briefly close in and then flying some distance to the far side of the pool.  In between a couple of Bitterns flew around and Marsh Harriers passed over.

A walk back through the woods to the cafe rounded off a perfect morning.  It was gone by the next morning.

Not-So-Common Rosefinch in London

Didn't expect to see this in London in July!  A superb male summer-plumaged Common Rosefinch at Walthamstow Marshes. Singing on and off from early morning, it favoured the aerials above the Anchor and Hope pub, which unfortunately wasn't open for a celebratory drink at 6.30am.

Usual view...

Slightly better view...

That's better....it briefly flew over the river to feed with sparrows just behind us, where I managed to snatch a couple of shots through the reeds.

Thanks for looking.

More Gannets

Almost by accident, I was near Bempton Cliffs earlier this year in March. I managed to spend a couple of hours on the cliff tops. Although early in the breeding calendar, the Gannets were numerous.

A few Kittiwakes were the only other birds present in any good numbers:

Lesser Spotted, Spotted Lesser

"Why is it lesser spotted, lesser spotted than what?" asked the passing dog-walker.  He was intrigued why we were staring up into the trees adjacent to a car park in Hertfordshire at 7am, watching a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker doing its spring thing. I was finding it quite hard to explain that it didn't have less spots; it was lesser in size that its greater spotted and much more common relative. The number of spots has nothing to do with it, I explained.  It was too early for this, so I didn't bother going into the fact that it wasn't really spotted, more barred, but the dog-walker walked away looking confused anyway. 

Sadly the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is indeed spotted less, suffering a recent rapid decline in numbers in the UK.  One observer noted that it was odd to see so many people arriving to see a bird that used to be relatively common.

This one, a superb male bird, was very active, returning frequently to one of two drumming posts, with the hope of drumming up interest from a female.  

Thanks for looking.

Winter Barn Owl

There's nothing better than ending a cold winter's day in north Norfolk with a hunting Barn Owl. Pics taken in February.

Gannets Graveyard

Some time ago in October 2014 I was on my annual trek along the beach from Cley to Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast, a walk that is only about three miles each way but, due to every footstep sinking into shingle, sometimes feels like thirty.

Before reaching the Point I came across a dead Gannet lying on the tideline, an adult bird.  I thought it may be interesting to see what would happen if I placed the Gannet in the vegetation on the point and returned to it on a later visit.  Would a scavenging mammal or corvid take advantage? Or would a high winter tide wash it away across the marshes? Would it still be there if I returned in the future? I carried it over the shingle ridge, and dumped it in a dense patch of saltmarsh Sueda bushes.  Making a rough mental note of its location, I headed off to the point and then later that day made the long return along the shoreline to Cley.

A year later I was back, heading up to Blakeney point on a windy grey autumnal morning.  I had forgotten all about the dead Gannet until I reached a certain part of the peninsular, when I suddenly recalled what I had done a year earlier.  I soon found the bush where I had placed the dead bird, and there it was - a skeleton hanging in the exact position I had left it.  The only difference was that it had no head - this was disappointing as I was hoping to gather it to add to my collection of mammal and bird skulls.  However, a few feet away in the shingle I found the upper part of the skull and bill, and soon located the lower bill nearby. 

After a bit of a clean up, the skull is now taking centre stage in my small collection. 

It's a surprisingly fragile skull for that of a bird engineered to take huge contact pressure.  Gannets fish by diving from height and entering the sea at up to 60 mph.  The skull shows its superb streamlined design to minimise impact as its head hits the water; it dives with its wings tucked into its body to reduce drag on entry.  The large eye sockets also point to its unusual binocular vision used to accurately judge distances.

Juvenile Gannet, about to hit the water off Blakeney Point, 2012

As I walked back along Blakeney point with the skull in my pocket I wondered how many times that head had hit the water at great speed between the North Sea and the Southern Hemisphere (rough estimate was 45,000 times for a five year old!).  Oddly, in almost exactly the same location on the point, I found another dead Gannet, this time a juvenile - with its a beautiful plumage of dark grey with white speckles.

Into the bushes it went, until next year...

Adult Gannet in better days, Bempton Cliffs, 2013

Thanks for looking!

Red-Foot

A few shots of the beautiful male Red-footed Falcon in Lincs recently.  It put in a very brief appearance close in on a fence post late in the day before departing.

Thanks for looking!