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RUTH MILLER An adult Egyptian Vulture Walk like an EGYPTIAN! W e had barely settled into Getting up close and personal with these striking the hide before the vultures birds is a moment that will stick in the memory... descended onto the meat feast before us. Griffon Vultures National Park. Now we had a close and personal anticipated getting such good looks at the approached in waves, their huge brown wings outstretched and their long beige necks encounter with this eye-catching bird. Egyptian Vulture, and I found it hard to stop reaching for the bounty of scraps and offal thrown onto the ground for them. Landing Unlike the messy table manners of the other taking more photographs. When they are not with a bounce, the birds ran forward hungrily and snatched, gulped, and gobbled the free vultures, who were bickering over large bones taking advantage of free food at feeding stations, feast. No pleases or thank yous, it was every vulture for itself, here. A scattering of Black and chunks of meat, the Egyptian Vulture was Egyptian Vultures enjoy an eclectic diet Vultures joined, these hulking blackish-brown birds sporting a beige ruff and a blue base to daintily picking up small scraps of meat strewn including carrion, small live mammals, insects, their bill, giving their faces an attractive look. Bigger than the Griffons, they were higher across the bare earth, tidying up the smaller vegetable matter, and, rather less attractively, in the pecking order and commanded the choicest morsels. pieces disregarded by the others. Cameras faeces (including human). Maybe I didn’t want Then a much smaller bird joined the edge of clicked and whirred as we sought to capture to take its photograph quite so much after all! the feeding frenzy: a cream body, neck and head covered with a smattering of ochre-coloured the ultimate Egyptian Vulture moment at this Compared to the massive wingspans of the dust, black flight feathers, contrasting orangey- yellow bare skin around its face and the base of he feeding Black Vultures (250-285 cm) and Griffon its bill, and bubble-gum pink legs. This was an Egyptian Vulture, and what a looker! We station has been operating under couldn’t believe our luck to have this bird just feet away from us. Egyptian Vultures are rare nd birds across most of Europe, though they are more common in Spain where they breed and we were very happy to support Griffon Vulture where some birds even over-winter. rd We were birdwatching in Extremadura, and population, all while enjoying we had previously enjoyed only brief and distant views of a circling Egyptian Vulture at the such incredible views. famous Peña Falcon rock in Monfragüe es n s way through the mêlée on long, red legs and snatched a morsel g, ack PHOTOGRAPHY: RUTH MILLER y waiting their turn to clean up any leftovers. We had hoped to see a variety of scavengers taking advantage ot 52 August 2022

OBSERVATIONS Black Vultures’ wingspans can reach to nearly 3m Egyptian Vultures can breed and overwinter in Spain Vultures (230-265 cm), the Egyptian Vulture is it’s the size of a small shed.” from Wales and had gone missing. People pointed quite compact, with a wingspan measuring just You can imagine our excitement at being in 155-170 cm. This may contribute towards its out the coincidence that we had just driven over just the right place at the right time! We were not l the only ones to be excited. Clearly, all the regular from Wales to Norfolk and now we were the first carcases, where it will customarily wait on the birds in Norfolk had never seen anything quite periphery until the big guns have gone. like this before. As the Egyptian Vulture banked to see it. Had we brought it over with us?! We and followed the coastline westwards, we could However, if you transport it away from its track its progress as it flew over Morston, could not possibly comment. But, however the natural setting in the vastness of Spain and Stiffkey, Wells and beyond, simply by looking transpose it onto the compact coastline of for the swarm of panicking birds lifting off at bird had managed to make its way unseen from Norfolk, in a country that doesn’t hold any its approach. Birdwatchers were also caught up vultures, it will still pack a huge punch. in the flurry as news of this special bird spread. Wales to Norfolk, as The Bangles nearly said, Surprise visitor Later, a photograph taken of the Egyptian nothing walks like an Egyptian! BW Vulture on the ground showed that it had jesses This is exactly what happened in October 2012, on its legs. It was an escaped bird from a private Ruth Miller is one half of The Biggest Twitch team, and when we happened to be birdwatching at NWT collection, but nothing diminished the impact it along with partner Alan Davies, set the then world record Cley Marshes Reserve one afternoon. Scanning had had upon us, or the local birdlife, when it for most bird species seen in a year – 4,341, in 2008, an across the reserve with our binoculars from the first flew in off the sea. A heart-stopping moment experience they wrote about in their book, The Biggest Visitor Centre, we noticed that hundreds of birds for all concerned. It subsequently emerged that a Twitch. Indeed, Ruth is still the female world record- were lifting into the air. Even Cormorants who captive Egyptian Vulture had recently escaped holder! As well as her work as a tour leader, she is the don’t normally budge were taking off and flying author of the Birds, Boots and Butties books, on walking, around in panic. Something major had to be birding and tea-drinking in North Wales, and previously happening to cause this disturbance, and we worked as the RSPB’s head of trading. She lives scanned harder to find the source. Then we in North Wales. birdwatchingtrips.co.uk caught sight of it: an enormous white bird flying in off the sea. Amazingly it was an Egyptian Vulture! What was it doing here? Its huge wings flapping slowly and deeply, the leviathan bird came closer inland, and we could see every detail. Every bird on the reserve was now in the air in alarm, buzzing around the vulture and looking like a swarm of mosquitoes in comparison. As @SupportNWT tweeted at the time, “It’s just flown over Cley Marshes. Great views from the visitor centre. Even without binoculars birdwatching.co.uk 53



ID CHALLENGE IDChallenge This month’s challenge is all about the identification of August waders ILLUSTRATIONS: LAUREN NICHOLSON Every birdwatcher should worn parents, who have earned a break Bird 3: love waders, shouldn’t they? after another tough breeding season. After all they are not nasty And, luckily for us, the UK is a great chip-stealing gulls or boring, stopping place for these birds to feed noisy geese, or skulking LBJs. They are at leisure, before heading off to winter hugely varied in size, shape, colour and here or elsewhere. In this month’s ID behaviour. And it is the combination of Challenge, we have six mystery waders their vast diversity, general good looks for you to name, before turning the page and fascinating behaviour which elevates to reveal the solutions and reasoning. them above many other types of bird. And, as ever, if you still want to learn Late summer is a time when fresh more about late summer wader ID, juvenile waders start to pour in from turn the page once more for a few the Arctic, alongside their weary and extra hints and tips. CAN YOU NAME THESE LATE SUMMER WADERS? Bird 4: Bird 1: Bird 5: Bird 2: Bird 6: TURN THE PAGE To see how many you got right! birdwatching.co.uk 55

Answers & solutions ID TIP! Check your answers against our explanations. Remember, If you can get a look at there are no ‘trick’ birds or extreme rarities among these... the colour and pattern on the rump, it is often a huge help with wader identification Pale Shortish, thick-based, BIRD 1 supercilium slightly downcurved For any ID Challenge about waders, some birders black bill STEPHEN KILL/ALAMY will find it far too easy, while others will find it far too hard. We have tried to go for a middle ground. This greyish wader Neat, fine streaking has a shortish, slightly downcurved black bill, suggesting on pale, buff breast it is probably a Calidris sandpiper. The neat streaking on the pale buff breast plus the pale fringes to the back and Pale greenish wing feathers suggest that this is a juvenile bird (which legs tend to be neater than adults, and show neat, pale fringing). The other most notable feathers are the prominent pale supercilium (‘eyebrow’), and the greenish legs, which are rare in Calidris sandpipers. This must be a juvenile Knot. Key features Short, slightly downcurved black bill Prominent pale supercilium Pale buff breast with neat dark streaks Greenish legs Striking, dark Neatly buff-fringed underwing upperparts Small head; medium-short bill White rump; coarsely Thin, straight, NEIL BOWMAN/ALAMY Long, pale Warm, unmarked ROBIN CHITTENDEN/ALAMY barred tail medium-length bill greenish legs buff ‘face’ and breast BIRD 2 BIRD 3 Here is a strikingly ‘black’-and-white wader having a stretch. The This wader has warm, buff plumage on the underparts and ‘face’. most striking feature is its very dark underwing (with very fine white Those underparts are plain and lack spotting or streaking. On the barring, which would not be obvious in the field). This contrasts with other hand, the upperpart feathers are blackish, but fringed in a the ‘square’ pure white rump which in turn contrasts with the black- similar buff colour to the underparts. The fringes on the mantle and and-white, broadly barred tail. The upperwings and lower back wing even form lines in places. This very neat and uniform fringing are also very dark brown, as is most of the head, apart from a pale should be enough to say we are looking at a fresh juvenile bird (not supercilium in front of the eye (above the dark lores). The bill is quite a scruffy, late summer adult). The legs look long and green, the bill is fine and almost straight. The underparts are largely white (at least shortish and slightly droopy at the tip. The head looks proportionately the belly and undertail coverts). Finally, the legs are a dull green small, which implies this is quite a large wader. This is a juvenile colour. This bird could only be the poorly named Green Sandpiper. (male) Ruff, a very useful wader to familiarise yourself with. Key features Key features Thin, straight bill ‘Clean’, buff underparts Almost black and white Long, greenish leg Striking dark underwings Very long wings Small white rump, barred tail Very short legs 56 August 2022

Golden brown Relatively large ID CHALLENGE upperparts, head of a small prominent Mix of summer and winter supercilium wader feathers on back/wings Quite long green- Pale underwing; Blotchy brick-red KEVIN ELSBY/ALAMY yellow legs white rump feathers stillFLPA/ALAMY unmoulted BIRD 4 BIRD 5 This wader appears to be pulling off a similar trick to Bird 2, having a nice stretch. And the similarities don’t end there, as this bird is also Compared with the neatly patterned juveniles we have seen, similar in structure to Bird 2, like a slightly slimmer, paler version. this wader is a scruff! There are no neat streaks, neatly The bill is similarly straight, medium-short and fine. The most notable fringed mantle and wing feathers, nor the buff infusion which difference is that the underwings are pale (grey and barred) rather comes with newly-grown feathers. This is an adult wader. than almost black. Also the head end and mantle are golden brown This conclusion is backed up by those back and wing feathers: rather than dark brown, and the breast is finely streaked in brown. a mix of spangled breeding plumage feathers and plainer grey There is also a clear pale supercilium (eyebrow) extending behind the winter ones. Using the principle that proportionately larger eye. The rump is similarly white, but the tail slightly more finely barred headed birds are small, this relatively large-headed wader black and white. The legs look long and are pale yellowish-green. must be one of the smaller ones, perhaps Dunlin-sized. This can only be a Wood Sandpiper. (See also p58) The brick red blotches on the breast and belly reveal its identity as a moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper. Key features Key features Thin straight bill Yellowish legs Patchy brick red on breast and belly Pale underwings Mix of summer and winter feathers on back White rump Relatively large head suggests a small wader Black legs Some scruffy BIRD 6 feathers and ‘half-grown bill’ Bird 6 is traditionally either dead easy or dead tough. In this of a youngster case, relax, this is a nice easy one which we are sure you got right. Sometimes it is best to trust your instincts, even Striking black-and- if not everything looks quite right. The general black-and- white pattern white pattern is surely that of an Oystercatcher. But the bill, though robust at the base, is surely too short and too dull Thick, dull coloured for one of those familiar Oystercatcher ‘carrot’ grey-pink legs bills. And the legs, though thick, as you would expect, are too dull grey-pink rather than simply pink; and where is the DAVID OSBORN/ALAMY red eye-ring? Of course, the scruffy plumage (eg., on the nape) is the giveaway, that this is a very young, toned down, not-quite-fully-grown baby Oystercatcher. Key features Black-and-white plumage Scruffy plumage of a youngster Orange tone to long straight bill Strong, pinkish legs MY FAVOURITE SITE “FRAMPTON MARSH RSPB (LINCS) IS ARGUABLY THE BEST PLACE IN EASTERN ENGLAND FOR CLOSE-UP WADER-WATCHING” MIKE WEEDON, ASSISTANT EDITOR birdwatching.co.uk 57

ID CHALLENGE ID Tips & tricks ID TIP! Here are a few extra tips to help you identify Beware of the August waders juvenile Redshank, especially when not Wood Sandpiper vs Lesser Yellowlegs quite fully grown. They can resemble Wood Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs! The Wood Sandpiper is a scarce but regular passage migrant (which also breeds in small numbers in Scotland), while the Lesser Yellowlegs is a rare visitor from North America ALON MEIR/ALAMY* CHRITOPHER COOK/ALAMY* Wood Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Prominent pale supercilium behind eye Pale supercilium does not extend behind eye Smaller bird, shorter neck Slightly larger bird, longer neck Bill slightly thicker, proportionately Bill slightly thinner, proportionately Bird appears more compact Bird appears more attenuated at rear end (wings and tail) Legs greeny yelllow Legs brighter yellow or orange-yellow Rump colour/pattern and wing-bars Black-tailed Godwits MENNO VAN DUIJN, AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY/ALAMY Bar-tailed Godwits PAUL R STERRY, NPL/ALAMY* Two features which are very useful for absence of wing-bars are, for example, the clear white wing-bars on Little Ringed identifying waders are the colour and easiest way to tell a Black-tailed Godwit Plovers, but their presence on Ringed pattern of the rump and the presence from a Bar-tailed Godwit, especially in Plovers; or the white rump of the Curlew and shape of wing-bars. The combination flight (when these features show best). Sandpiper easily distinguishing it from of rump pattern and the presence and Other examples include the absence of the Dunlin. SNAP IT! NEXT MONTH’S CHRIS GRADY/ALAMY* CHALLENGE Have you taken a great shot of an August wader? If so, please Autumn garden birds share it! Send your photos to: [email protected] 58 August 2022





COLLECT & KEEP Every month we bring you 10 more sites to build up your GO BIRDING collection GO BIRDING 10 GREAT SITES FOR BRILLIANT BIRDWATCHING FOREMARK RESERVOIR SEATON PARK BLICKWINKEL/ALAMY* FLPA/ALAMY* LOCH GRUINART COQUET ESTUARY GHGH GHGHGHGH STEVE NEWMAN SHARPENHOE CLAPPERS PAULL HOLME STRAYS PAUL TRODD JOHN MILES STRUMBLE HEAD CLEY NWT DOMINIC ROBINSON/ALAMY* JOHN MILES MORE SITES TARKA TRAIL ABBOTSCLIFFE For a full list of the ALAN WILLIAMS/ALAMY* birdwatching.co.uk 61 sites we’ve featured, go to birdwatching.co.uk/gbindex PAUL TRODD

GO BIRDING ABERDEENSHIRE MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 1.5 HOURS SEATON PARK A circular walk with a chance of Surf Scoter PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: AB24 1RQ Slavonian Grebe GRID REF: NJ 939 088 MAPS: OS Explorer 406, OLIVER SMART/ALAMY* OS Landranger 38 PARKING: There is free car This is a circular walk mouth allows you to try some 3The Brig of Galgowrie parking for two hours at Seaton offering good birding good seawatching and sandbank gives excellent views of Park and Donmouth Reserve. with woods, deep river scanning for waders and gulls. the river looking eastwards We started at the pay and display gorge, wetland, reedbed, and the shrubs in the front car park (four cars) outside estuary mudflats, sand banks STEVE NEWMAN gardens of the cottages St Machar’s Cathedral in and seawatching. In places here are well worth looking Old Aberdeen steep steps allow access down WHERE TO WATCH out for migrants. Blue Tit, TERRAIN: Mostly flat with some to the gorge of the river, where Starling, Wren and Robin tarmac and compacted paths. there is natural woodland. 1We visited in February and got were all present. Steady inclines and steep steps in There are paths running both Goldeneye displaying here, places. Riverside walks can be sides of the river between the plus Grey Heron, and Moorhen 4The bridge over the Don muddy in winter two bridges, and a small hide and Dipper on the weir. Mallard gives you two contrasting ACCESS: Open all year round at Donmouth. There are also and Grey Wagtail were also habitats. To the east is the FACILITIES: Toilets in Seaton Park paths that cross and around, as well as Magpie and river, with wooded sides and and at Donmouth. Shops in circumnavigate the manicured Carrion Crow. a large island covered in Old Aberdeen parkland and open spaces. grassland and to the west the Seaton Park has numerous 2A gap in the fence lets you estuary and mouth of the river. INSIDER KNOWLEDGE trees, shrubs and herbaceous access some steep steps, Divers and sea-ducks are borders and is well worth which take you down to the usually present and it’s Look out for Otters on the river exploring if you have the time, bottom of the river’s gorge. a good idea to scan for and seals on the sands. plus a car park at the river We got Goosander, Great Tit, the rarer gulls. Treecreeper, Stock Dove and Mistle Thrush. HARVEY WOOD/ALAMY* 3 4 TARGET SPECIES 2 SPRING/SUMMER ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 1 Surf Scoter Blackcap Kingfisher Stock Dove Pallas Warbler Yellow-browed Warbler AUTUMN/WINTER Goldeneye Iceland Gull Redwing Glaucous Gull Surf Scoter Slavonian Grebe 62 August 2022

ARGYLL MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS LOCH GRUINART Islay’s most renowned birding site PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: PA44 7PR White-tailed Eagle GRID REF: NR 284 677 MAPS: OS Explorer 353, OS Landranger 60 PARKING: Ample parking at the centre and also opposite the walk to the hides TERRAIN: Hard paths on the reserve with occasional wet areas ACCESS: All year round FACILITIES: At the centre – for food go to Bowmore IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY* INSIDER KNOWLEDGE T his RSPB reserve is the and its own feeding station. Hen Harriers, especially Look out for the Glue Crust NATUREPIX/ALAMY crown jewels of a visit to If the weather is not what you stalking the many Teal found Fungus (Hymenochaete Islay, offering spectacular expected then at least you will here in winter. Pintail and corrugata) as you walk the views of the many geese, ducks start dry from this point. Scan Shoveler are often in good woodland trail between and waders, not forgetting the the many geese for oddments numbers along with Wigeon. the hides increasing number of birds of like Snow Geese, small Canada Check for Snipe hiding by the prey. The visitor centre and the and in winter 2021-22, even a rushes. Listen out for Corn TARGET BIRDS hides are ideal for scanning for Red breasted Goose. Check for Crakes in summer and scan SPRING/SUMMER a mixture of wildlife. raptors moving, especially the for Brown Hares and even deer White-tailed Eagles hunting out on the moors. Corn Crake JOHN MILES the geese. Lapwing 3A moorland walk is ideal in Redshank WHERE TO WATCH 2Walk down to the two hides, summer with the chance Oystercatcher offering views of many ducks of Cuckoo, Stonechat or Sedge Warbler 1Start your visit by using the and waders. Look out for hunting even Merlin. Scan for bigger Willow Warbler ’visitor centre’ with a view raptors like Golden Eagle. In Chiffchaff across the fields, over a wetland 5 winter scan the fields towards Whitethroat Ardnave for more geese and Stonechat ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 3 even flocks of Twite. Cuckoo 2 4This bottom road is full of AUTUMN/WINTER breeding waders in summer 1 and Barnacle and Greenland White-tailed Eagle White-fronted Geese and Barnacle Goose 4 waders come the winter. Look Greenland White-fronted out of large flocks of Golden Goose Plover, often in the 1,000s in Whooper Swan winter, with Lapwing, Redshank Hen Harrier and even Ruff and Black-tailed Bar-tailed Godwit Godwit on passage. Grey Plover Golden Plover 5This single track road Dunlin offers great views over the Sanderling estuary, with still more geese present, plus a great mixture birdwatching.co.uk 63 of waders feeding with the tides. Look out for Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Golden and Grey Plovers. Scan for the White-tailed Eagles sitting around waiting for a kill in winter.

GO BIRDING NORTHUMBERLAND MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 2.5 HOURS COQUET ESTUARY A mix of coastal habitats PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: NE65 0SW  Short-eared Owl GRID REF: NU 249 065 MAPS: OS Explorer 332, INCAMERASTOCK/ALAMY* OS Landranger 81 PARKING: There is free car Acircular walk in the WHERE TO WATCH 3Good views of the river with parking for 72 hours and some Northumberland Coast Shelduck, Oystercatcher, 60 cars at Warkworth Picnic Area. Area of Outstanding 1The car park is heavily Lapwing, Swallow and Canada There is also a long stay car park Natural Beauty that offers wooded with paths Goose. Grebes are often seen just up from the A1068 if you want good birding with woods, connecting the various parking here on passage. It’s also a to extend your walk coastal marshland, wetland, areas. Ideal for woodland good idea to scan the scrub TERRAIN: Mostly flat with some reedbed, estuary mudflats, species such as Great Tit, and trees behind you for tarmac and compacted paths. sand dune scrub, superb Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren and Stonechat, Kestrel, Sky Lark Steady and sharp inclines if you beaches and seawatching. If Chiffchaff. Look out here very and Goldfinch. decide to walk along the dune you chose to walk along the early morning for Barn Owls ridge. Sand can be heavy walking dunes ridge, some of the slopes hunting below. 4A small bridge beneath at high tides. A steep slope from are very steep but you do get the caravan park straddles the car park down to the dunes excellent views of the entire 2The end of the beach here the former estuary of the ACCESS: Open all year round dune scrub area, sea and river lets you study a small bay River Aln, which is now a tidal FACILITIES: Toilets in car park. mouth. A tarmac path runs with Eider, Cormorant, Rock inlet with saltmarsh and large Shops/pubs in Warkworth between the river and the Pipit, Turnstone and Pied reedbeds to the north. Grey dunes. The bridge over the Wagtail. Scan for Roseate Heron, Mallard, Curlew and INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: former estuary of the Aln and Arctic Terns fishing from Reed Bunting were all visible. is below the caravan park. nearby Coquet Island. The We visited in June and heard Look out among the grasses Please do not go any further. huge boulders of the pier Sedge Warbler calling and for the small red-leaved humps are worth searching for got a small flock of Linnet. of Sea Pink (Armeria maritima) STEVE NEWMAN resting waders. JANET SHEPPARDSON/ALAMY* ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 1 TARGET SPECIES 4 SPRING/SUMMER 3 2 Surf Scoter Sedge Warbler Roseate Tern Arctic Tern Eider Gannet Mediterranean Gull Linnet AUTUMN/WINTER Slavonian Grebe Redwing Red-throated Diver Short-eared Owl Black-tailed Godwit Purple Sandpiper Wheatear 64 August 2022

EAST YORKSHIRE MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS PAULL HOLME STRAYS A walk around a brilliant ‘new’ wetland site PRACTICAL INFO Golden Plovers POSTCODE: HU12 8AX GRID REF: TA 180 247 MAPS: OS Explorer 293, OS Landranger 106 PARKING: A small car park is present on site TERRAIN: There are steps from the car park limiting disabled access. Most of the footpath runs around the flood bank which can be wet at times ACCESS: All year round FACILITIES: Hedon and Hull MARGARET WELBY/ALAMY* INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: An evening visit may well give you sightings of Barn Owl T his wetland was created in WHERE TO WATCH 2Walk west along the bank 2003 to reduce flooding checking the many channels on the Humber estuary by 1It is only a short walk for ducks and waders. Both Teal opening the banks and allowing from the car park to and Wigeon will use the area saltwater into the area. This the flood bank where you to feed along with Shelduck created 80 hectares of intertidal can have amazing views and Mallard while waders like habitat with 45 hectares of across this flooded tidal area Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher mudflat and 35 hectares of helping to protect Hull from and Lapwing can turn up at saltmarsh, with a further the highest of tides. Listen any time. Avocets and Snipe can 25 hectares offering access out for warblers in spring feed in the channels along with to the site by the large like Common and Lesser Dunlin. inland floodbank. Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warbler with the ever-singing 3A screen gives you some JOHN MILES Cetti’s Warbler any time. cover to scan for raptors like Kestrel, Hobby, Marsh Harrier with Short-eared Owl and Hen FLPA/ALAMY* Harrier in winter. Check the finch 32 1 flocks for Linnets and Twite with TARGET BIRDS the occasional Snow Bunting. SPRING/SUMMER ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 4 4A great way to see the best Sedge Warbler 5 of the area is to use the tide Reed Warbler to move birds along the Humber. Whitethroat These high mud banks offer Lesser Whitethroat feeding when other areas are Cuckoo flooded so look out for huge Swift flocks of Golden Plover, Lapwing, Swallow Dunlin and Oystercatcher, with House Martin smaller flocks of Bar-tailed and Sand Martin Black-tailed Godwit. Both Brent Geese and ducks can move with AUTUMN/WINTER the tide and always check for Peregrines spooking the flocks Shelduck of waders. Teal Wigeon 5For a different walk try going Mallard east with a hide situated Dark-bellied Brent Goose around a mile from the car park. Dunlin Here are views of mud banks Curlew offering more chance of waders Redshank even hunting raptors along the Oystercatcher flood bank. Bar-tailed Godwit birdwatching.co.uk 65

GO BIRDING DERBYSHIRE MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS FOREMARK RESERVOIR Varied birdwatching on a major migration route PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: DE65 6EG Long-tailed Tit GRID REF: SK 335 243 MAPS: OS Explorer 245, STEPHEN ILES/ALAMY* OS Landranger 128 PARKING: There’s lots, at £3 for S ituated overlooking the and Coot. It’s also a good place and Sparrowhawk, with Red Kite up to 2 hours, and £5 all day. You Trent Valley, Foremark to look for gulls – while Black- and Peregrine also possible. need correct change. You can buy Reservoir may be a little headed and Lesser Black- an annual car parking permit for underwatched these days, perhaps backed are the most likely, the 3Carvers Rocks is a Derbyshire £37, or a multi-site parking permit because parking charges make likes of Caspian, Yellow-legged, Wildlife Trusts reserve, for £60 which can also be used at regular but brief visits less Glaucous and Iceland are always notable for bluebells in spring nearby Staunton Harold Reservoir attractive. But it still has a habit possible. During migration and heather in autumn, while the TERRAIN: Some wheelchair of turning up good records during periods, sea-ducks such as birds may include the commoner accessible paths. Dogs welcome migration periods, especially of Common Scoter are always likely. warblers in summer, and roving ACCESS: Open every day from sea-ducks and species such as Wandering Ospreys may drop in. tit and finch flocks in winter. dawn to 8pm, except Christmas divers, and the gulls can reward Day. Last admissions 5pm. It is careful watching, too. 2This south-eastern arm is 4The paths up through the possible to walk down from the a good place to check for woods to the main road A514 out of hours MATT MERRITT more unusual wildfowl – Ring- should bring the commoner FACILITIES: Toilets, including necked Duck has been recorded woodland species, such as disabled and baby-changing WHERE TO WATCH in recent years, with the likes Jay, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, facilities, plus picnic area of Red-necked Grebe seen in Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1The main body of the reservoir the past too. Little Grebes are Treecreeper and Nuthatch. INSIDER KNOWLEDGE is visible from the car park resident. Check for Buzzard, Turtle Doves used to be found and picnic area. Look for resident Kestrel, Hobby (in summer) here, but sadly are long gone. Combine with a visit to nearby species such as Great Crested Staunton Harold Reservoir – Grebe, the commoner ducks you can easily walk between the two HOTIMAGEON/ALAMY ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 1 TARGET SPECIES 2 3 Great Crested Grebe Little Grebe 4 Coot Mallard 66 August 2022 Tufted Duck Buzzard Kestrel Hobby Sparrowhawk Black-headed Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Caspian Gull Great Northern Diver Common Scoter Jay Cormorant Treecreeper Nuthatch Long-tailed Tit

PEMBROKESHIRE MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS STRUMBLE HEAD The Hilton of seawatching stations! PRACTICAL INFO Manx Shearwater POSTCODE: SA64 0JL GRID REF: SM 895 404 MAPS: OS Explorer OL35, OS Landranger 157 WHERE TO PARK: Roadside above the lookout or at the end of the road TERRAIN: The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, steep in places ACCESS: Open at all times FACILTIES: None on site so four miles to Goodwick and Fishguard T he above description was TBKMEDIA.DE/ALAMY*WHERE TO WATCHSkua. Gulls merit careful scrutinyINSIDER KNOWLEDGE given by Bill Oddie, at the REBECCA BEUSMANS/ALAMY* for this is the best place in Wales opening of the lookout 1In July and August, Manx to see Sabine’s Gulls, 222 being Grey Seals are always present in 1988, from which in clear©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22Shearwaters from Ramsey, recorded in the 10 years from close inshore while pups are to weather you can see Bardsey Skokholm and Skomer will be 2010, while Kittiwakes are rarely be seen in autumn at Pwll Deri and Snowdonia. The ideal heading north on feeding forays, absent. The Red-throated Diver conditions for seawatching with return flights from late is the most frequent of its family TARGET BIRDS are when several days of very afternoon onwards. Gannets are to use the tide race while Wales SUMMER/AUTUMN strong south-westerly winds always present, from their mighty can only claim three sightings are followed by equally strong colony on Grassholm, 26 miles of White-billed Diver, the second Common Scoter north-westerly winds, with the distant. From August onwards, flying past Strumble Head on Red-throated Diver result large movements of birds there’s a good chance of Balearic 27 September 1999. Great Northern Diver on passages. Harbour Porpoise and Cory’s Shearwaters, plus Fulmar are almost always present, Great and Sooty Shearwaters 3The autumn passage of Sooty Shearwater while several other species of from the southern hemisphere. martins and Swallows Manx Shearwater cetaceans are regularly seen, heading south and later that Balearic Shearwater though none compare with 2As summer gives way to of Starlings heading west can Leach’s Petrel about 400 Common Dolphins autumn, Great and Arctic be spectacular, again in early Gannet in January this year. Skuas pass regularly, with smaller mornings. Meadow Pipits and Buzzard numbers of Pomarine Skuas, Sky Larks on passage can also Peregrine DAVID SAUNDERS and the occasional Long-tailed occur in spectacular numbers, Grey Phalarope but by contrast an Alpine Pomarine Skua 1 2 Accentor on 30 October 1997 Arctic Skua was, the first and so far only Long-tailed Skua 4 3 record for Wales. Other rare Great Skua visitors have included Pallid Little Gull Swift, Honey Buzzard, Red-footed Sabine’s Gull Falcon, Pallas’s, Yellow-browed Kittiwake and Hume’s Warblers, Sandwich Tern Rose-coloured Starling, Common Tern Siberian Stonechat and Arctic Tern Common Rosefinch. Guillemot Razorbill 4The tiny beaches and sea- Rock Pipit caves are host each autumn Stonechat to Grey Seal pups, with Pwll Deri Wheatear the best place and well worth the Chough steep climb at the conclusion Raven of your visit. Indeed the more Linnet energetic may wish to reach the summits of Garn Fawr and Garn birdwatching.co.uk 67 Fechan, with their Iron Age hill forts, what a view from where you can often look down on passing Choughs and Ravens.

GO BIRDING NORFOLK MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS CLEY NWT Enjoy one of the UK’s most iconic birding sites PRACTICAL INFO Gadwall POSTCODE: NR25 7SB GRID REF: TG 053 441 MAPS: OS Explorer 251, OS Landranger 133 PARKING: Large car park by the centre TERRAIN: Hard paths on the reserve but shingle along the coast ACCESS: All year round FACILITIES: Plenty on site or Cley village CHRISTOPHER COOK/ALAMY* INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: Look out for dragonflies in C ley has always been one looking over various waters. they pass through or listen for a the summer with some great DAVID CHAPMAN/ALAMY* of the top locations to go Check for rare waders in the Mediterranean Gull. Check those species birding in Norfolk, with shallows, or even the Avocets scoters on the sea for a Velvet or the reserve set up way back in or Black-tailed Godwits feeding even a Surf Scoter. Common Darter 1926. It now has an amazing in deeper water. Listen out for visitor centre constructed by Kingfisher or the movement of 5Walk back via the shingle TARGET BIRDS the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and egrets hunting by the reeds. checking for any Snow SPRING/SUMMER a range of hides which can cover Buntings in winter or various all weathers. But do try and make 3Walk up to the sea via the Yellow Wagtails in spring. Call Yellow Wagtail it away from the book shop! Beach Road. Scan for pipits, in at the North Scrape hide to Sandwich Tern larks and chats while listening see what you may have missed. Little Tern JOHN MILES out for Cetti’s Warbler by the Check the ducks in spring for Common Tern dykes and Bearded Tits in the Garganey and the waders in Reed Warbler WHERE TO WATCH reeds. autumn for Ruff, Little Stint Sedge Warbler and Curlew Sandpiper. Little Ringed Plover 1What better way to start your 4Cley is well known for its Avocet birding but from a raised seawatching, and you 6Return down the East Bank Redshank platform overlooking the amazing should look for grebes and checking any warblers for Lapwing wetland. Look out for Marsh ducks on the sea, with the something good like a Yellow- Harriers displaying or even a chance of passage from skuas browed in autumn or Great Reed AUTUMN/WINTER Bittern flying around the reserve. to shearwaters. Spring and Warbler in spring. Listen for the Check out for gulls mobbing autumn can always be good but Bitterns booming or the Bearded Dark-bellied Brent Geese raptors or even the flight of ducks given recent records of scarce Tits ‘pinging’. Check that wader Mallard disturbed by these predators. seabirds any time is worth displaying high in the air for Teal a look. Try to ID the terns as a Little Ringed Plover. Wigeon 2Walk down the track to view Gadwall from a number of hides Shoveler Pintail 4 Ruff Black-tailed Godwit 5 Marsh Harrier ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 3 6 2 1 68 August 2022

BEDFORDSHIRE MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS SHARPENHOE CLAPPERS Search for autumn migrants on the Chiltern Hills PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: LU3 3PP Willow Warbler GRID REF: TL 065 293 MAPS: OS Explorer 195, BLICKWINKEL/ALAMY* OS Landranger 166 PARKING: From Sharpenhoe S et among the Chiltern WHERE TO WATCH Siskin, redpoll and maybe village take the Streatley road TOM BAILEY Hills Area of Outstanding Brambling. south for one mile and park in the ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 Natural Beauty, 1Check in and around the small National Trust signposted Sharpenhoe Clappers is the site Beech wood in early autumn 2Scan open arable land for car park of a medieval hillfort with for passage migrants such flocks of Lapwings and TERRAIN: A mix of rough tracks panoramic views across rolling as Willow Warbler, Spotted Golden Plovers, plus Red-legged and bridleways, including some farmland to the north. This Flycatcher and Redstart. As and Grey Partridges, Stock steep inclines; can be slippery circular walk includes classic autumn progresses Chiffchaff, Dove, Kestrel, Buzzard, Rook, after rain chalk downland habitat around Blackcap, Goldcrest and the Jackdaw, Sky Lark, Meadow ACCESS: Full public access the summit along with patches of chance of a Firecrest are likely. Pipit and Pied Wagtail. Check throughout the year scattered scrub, arable farmland, Gaps in the wood looking for passage Wheatear or Yellow FACILITIES: None on site apart a copse and an old chalk quarry. east provide suitable vis mig Wagtail, plus a chance of from information boards. Limited Viewpoints offer up good visible viewpoints to scan for raptors Whinchat, Whitethroat and Lesser range of facilities in nearby migration opportunities in late such as Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Whitethroats in hedgerows Barton-le-Clay including a pub autumn with a chance of Buzzard and Red Kite, plus along with Stonechat, Linnet, and a takeaway Hawfinch and Lapland Bunting. possible Hobby and Honey Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting, Grey Partridge and Corn Buzzard on the move from mid- and Little Owl sat in dead trees. INSIDER KNOWLEDGE Bunting are present in small day. Visible migration around Ploughed fields can lure in numbers, while Red Kites are dawn in early autumn should corvids, gulls and even Red Kites For a visible migration session well established. Brown Hares yield a trickle of Swallows and and Buzzards on occasions. select a high point and arrive are often encountered along the House Martins, Meadow and an hour before dawn on route and Muntjac Deer are Tree Pipits, Pied, Yellow and Grey 3The track passes by a copse easterly airflow. commonplace in woodland. Wagtails, and by late autumn, suitable for migrant warblers Sky Lark, Song Thrush, Redwing, and maybe a late Turtle Dove TARGET SPECIES PAUL TRODD Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, amongst the Woodpigeon and SPRING/SUMMER Stock Dove flocks; check a 3 4 stand of conifers for Coal Tit Red Kite and Goldcrest. Another good Hobby 2 1 point to scan the arable lands Grey Partridge for farmland birds. Woodcock Tree Pipit   The slopes around the old Yellow Wagtail 4chalk quarry are favourite Wheatear Whinchat spots for a passage Wheatear Redstart or Ring Ouzel while adjacent Spotted Flycatcher scrub can attract the odd Corn Bunting Redstart or Black Redstart, Whinchat, Stonechat, Lesser AUTUMN/WINTER Whitethroat and Whitethroat and maybe a Woodcock flushed Golden Plover from cover. Bullfinch, Lapwing Yellowhammer, Long-tailed Tit, Grey Partridge Linnet, Goldfinch and Corn Grey Wagtail Bunting are likely, plus hunting Redwing Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. Fieldfare Raven Brambling birdwatching.co.uk 69

GO BIRDING DEVON MAX MILES ON FOOT: 12 MIN TIME: 8 HOURS TARKA TRAIL Follow the River Torridge through saltmarsh, mudflats, and ancient woodlands PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: EX39 4BB Grey Heron (Bideford Heritage Railway) GRID REF: SS 457 263 PHILIP JONES/ALAMY* MAPS: OS Explorer 139, OS Landranger 180 T he Tarka Trail winds changing scenery and tidal 2Iron Bridge In Tarka the PARKING: There are plenty of JEFF TUCKER/STOCKIMO/ALAMY its way through North nature of the estuary, there’s Otter, Williamson named this car parks within Bideford centre, Devon’s biosphere reserve, always something new to see. stretch of the river ‘the pool of the but long and short stay Clarence taking in favourite haunts of 6 herons.’ Today it’s a great spot Wharf pay-and-display car park Henry Williamson’s Tarka the JENI BELL for gulls; Mediterranean Gulls is located close to the Tarka Trail. Otter. This section follows the are sometimes spotted amongst Open all day Monday–Sunday. River Torridge as it changes WHERE TO WATCH Black-headed and Herring Gulls. Charges apply 8am–6pm from tidal estuary to winding Watch out for waders such as TERRAIN: Flat, tarmacked route waterway via reedbeds, salt 1Kynoch’s Foreshore LNR Redshank, Common Sandpiper, with a tunnelled section where marshes and remnants of A raised boardwalk takes and during the winter Green it’s advisable to remove your ancient woodland. Utilising a in the River Torridge’s salt Sandpiper can be seen along sunglasses on bright days former railway line, it’s popular marsh and mudflats but be the river’s muddy edges. ACCESS: Open all year with other walkers and cyclists, careful, during high tides as FACILITIES: Shops, cafes and especially during holidays, so be this can be fully submerged. 3Rolle Canal Sealock toilets in Bideford. The Puffing Billy sure to keep to the left of the Little Egrets, Mallards, and I was greeted by a flurry café and rest stop at Torrington path. Although you return via Shelducks were on show of Chiffchaffs, Coal Tits, and the same route, thanks to the during my visit. Reed Warblers Goldcrests flitting through ancient INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: and Reed Buntings are also treetops. This high viewpoint is spotted in this area. great for woodland species but The imposing 5-arched Beam also ideal for watching Whooper Aqueduct, once part of the 1 Swans on the river below in Rolle Canal, is the setting for 2 winter. In summer months look the start, and sadly, the end for Blackcaps and other warblers of Tarka’s tale 3 skulking in the scrub. TARGET SPECIES ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 4 4Beam Aqueduct 5 Nuthatches, Chaffinches, Kingfisher Blue Tits, Great Tits, and Coal Tits Grey Heron all make use of various feeding Little Egret stations situated beyond the Cormorant bridge overlooking the aqueduct. Redshank Kingfishers can also be spotted Common Sandpiper dashing along the river below the Green Sandpiper bridge, or fishing from branches Oystercatcher overhanging the water. Mediterranean Gull Herring Gull 5Beam Weir Close views of Shelduck Grey Herons can be had from Whooper Swan the bridge above the weir and Goldcrest Great Spotted Woodpeckers are Chiffchaff regulars in the surrounding trees. Reed Warbler Scanning above the surrounding Blackcap fields revealed circling Buzzards Nuthatch and a Sparrowhawk fly by. Reed Bunting Buzzard Sparrowhawk 70 August 2022

KENT MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS ABBOTSCLIFFE Cliff-top walk for passage migrants and raptors PRACTICAL INFO POSTCODE: CT18 7HZ Ring Ouzel GRID REF: TR 266 387 MAPS: OS Explorer 138, AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY/ALAMY* OS Landranger 179 ©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2022 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 004/22 PARKING: From the B2011 roundabout at the junction with A20 take the Old Folkestone Road and turn left after a ¼ mile along a lane where there is limited parking TERRAIN: A variety of grass footpaths and tracks, some on uneven ground. Do not approach the cliff edge. For those with mobility issues limited viewing is possible along the B2011 ACCESS: Open access on public rights of way throughout FACILITIES: None on site, but there are toilets, a café and a pub further along the B2011 at Capel-le-Ferne A bbotscliffe is situated Corn Bunting, plus the chance Spotted Flycatchers, plus Jay, INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: where the North Downs of gems such as Serin, Crossbill, Great Spotted Woodpecker and chalk lands tumble into Hawfinch and Lapland Bunting. maybe a Woodcock. As autumn The best weather conditions the English Channel, and Kestrel and Peregrine are progresses thoughts turn to for a ‘fall’ are after overnight commands spectacular views resident and the open vista can, likely rarities such as Richard’s rain and cloud cover on an to France, which is easily visible at times, be good for passage or Tawny Pipits, Yellow-browed, easterly airflow during October. on a clear day. It is a notable site raptors; typically Sparrowhawks Pallas’s and Dusky Warblers. for observing visible migration and Buzzards, but also a fair TARGET SPECIES during the autumn passage. chance of Hobby, Red Kite, 3A track leads down the SUMMER The habitat comprises mainly Honey Buzzard and Osprey, cliff to the rocky foreshore scrub and rough grassland with and increasingly Black Kite and where scrub holds tits and Fulmar scattered stands of trees suitable White-tailed Eagle. finches such as Long-tailed and for tired migrants, while the continental Coal Tits, Bullfinch AUTUMN cliff-top Saxon Shore Way 2The rough ground and cover and Treecreeper. Scan along the affords views across arable between the cycle path cliffs for hirundines on the move, Honey Buzzard farmland and the chalk cliffs. and track attracts grounded plus Raven, Peregrine, Rock Pipit, Woodcock passage migrants such as Ring Ouzel and Black Redstart. Yellow Wagtail PAUL TRODD Whinchat, Stonechat, Tree Wagtails, pipits and Wheatear Ring Ouzel Pipit, Ring Ouzel, Grasshopper often occur on the stony beach Black Redstart WHERE TO WATCH Warbler, Whitethroat and Lesser and rock pools along with Wheatear Whitethroats, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Whinchat 1Visible migration from the Linnet, Reed and Corn Buntings. Ringed Plover, Little Egret, Lesser Whitethroat clifftop area around dawn can Open fields can deliver flocks Grey Heron and gulls, including Yellow-browed Warbler be spectacular with an overhead of Sky Larks, Meadow Pipits Mediterranean Gulls. Given Firecrest passage of Swifts, hirundines, and Yellow Wagtails. Check an onshore wind passing terns Pied Flycatcher larks, wagtails, pipits, thrushes, stands of trees for Blackcap, and gulls may be on the cards Redpoll sparrows, finches and buntings, Chiffchaff, Willow and Wood along with an auk, diver or Brambling and can include WoodLark, Grey Warblers, Redstart, Pied and sea duck. Hawfinch Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting redpoll, Siskin, Brambling and WINTER 3 Raven 1 Peregrine 2 Winter thrushes Winter finches Buntings SPRING Passage hirundines Passage warblers Passage crests BW birdwatching.co.uk 71



DOMINIC COUZENS ON THE... Yellowhammer Far from just a summer bird, this colourful character is with us year-round, and wants you to know it. SPECIES FACTFILE IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY YELLOWHAMMER Scientific name: Emberiza citrinella Length: 16-16.5cm Wingspan: 23-29.5cm UK numbers: 700,000 territories Habitat: Open countryside with bushes and hedgerows Diet: Seeds and insects birdwatching.co.uk 73

WHERE TO SEE THEM Yellowhammer in winter Yellowhammers are found across the UK. They are least abundant in the north and west and absent from upland areas, such as the Pennines and Highlands. T here’s something that everybody gets wrong about Yellowhammers. This article, published in August, isn’t helping, either. The widespread perception about this glorious bird, one of our very few yellow species, is that it is a creature of summer. The reality, though, is that although it is undoubtedly easier to see now at this time of year, it isn’t exclusively a summer visitor, such as a Swift or Swallow. Yellowhammers are very much here all year round, as are Sky Larks, another bird that falls into the same misconception. If you want to see a lot of Yellowhammers – and up to 1,000 have been seen in a single flock – you need to look for them long after the breeding season has finished. But as far as people’s memories of Yellowhammers are concerned, the dreams are inevitably sun-soaked. Here’s a delightful piece of poetry, quoted to give you an extent of the problem. “Only the plaintive yellow bird JUNIORS BILDARCHIV GMBH/ALAMY Sighing in sultry fields around – AGEFOTOSTOCK/ALAMY* Chary, chary, chary chee – Only the grasshopper and the bee.” Penned by Irishman William Allingham think they were here in winter.” I will then Yellowhammer’s most unusual characteristics is and published in 1927, it neatly sums up the berate the person and throw coffee over them. very much its tendency to provide a soundtrack experience of the song. The ditty is heard from to a summer day. And I don’t mean an early sultry fields, with bees and grasshoppers for its To be fair, though, one of the summer day, either, but a scorcher in July or instrumental accompaniment. The perception August. I am writing this article in mid-June, of the summer is writ large. and already the bird song is fading in abundance and variety. Great Tits finished long And I know for a fact that, next winter, when ago, and the Blackbird is singing with all the I show people wild Yellowhammers down here vigour of the England national football team in Dorset, somebody will say: “But I didn’t in the Nations League (which isn’t much.) The woods have almost all fallen silent. The Yellowhammer is a The Nightingale has sung, signed autographs late nester, and usually and disappeared. double broods Non-stop singing IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY* But out in the fields, the Yellowhammer is just getting started. It sings its famous phrase, popularly rendered “A Little Bit of Bread and No Cheese!” again and again and again. On a midsummer day it may repeat it 7000 times. On an August day it’s been known to sing 3,482 times. This is a phenomenally energetic output, and for the season it is quite exceptional. 74 August 2022

DOMINIC COUZENS YELLOWHAMMER The Yellowhammer is not only frequently the food on the ground – perhaps unlike most Sarah Groves, most vigorous singer in August, but typically the other species nesting at this time. Slightly communications only singer, although some Sky Larks may add embarrassingly, bearing in mind the earlier manager at Suffolk their own pleasing notes in the same habitat. poem, it eats a fair number of grasshoppers Wildlife Trust Some birds even carry on into September. and crickets, too, eliminating the rivals for the summer soundtrack! YELLOWHAMMER Yellowhammer is a late nester, not normally having eggs in the nest until May, and it is also The famous song is a brief ‘sentence’, UK Conservation status: Red usually double-brooded, with a second clutch in or ‘strapline’ which usually ends with the The Yellowhammer is often heard before it July. But in contrast to many other late nesters, emphatic ‘cheese’ note, which has given rise is seen, and when you do see it, it’s always such as Goldfinches and pigeons, it feeds its to the apt description that the singer is running a treat. Sadly, UK populations plummeted young on insects, not grain. It doesn’t specialise out of breath at the end and so inhales heavily. from the 1980s and it is now red-listed. Its much, but it takes a wide range of summer decline is due to agricultural intensification invertebrates, including flies and beetles, Each male has between one and three causing direct habitat loss as well as moths and lacewings, earwigs and typical bugs. different song types which are often easy insecticides and herbicides removing A recent study found that the abundance of to tell apart. Males frequently omit the last, food sources. However, it’s possible for its preferred insects fed to the young began exhaling syllable, leaving out the ‘cheese’, populations to be restored with improved to peak between mid-May and the end of July. and it is also this last syllable that varies farmland management. Yellowhammers The same study found that, if the fields where greatly, leading to song dialects. are ground-nesting birds and favour grassy the Yellowhammer forages are sprayed with margins below hedgerows or alongside insecticide, this build-up doesn’t occur, with Looking good scrubby farmland ditches or tracks. They an obvious effect on the birds’ subsequent can breed late into the season, so leaving breeding success. You might think that, in a reasonable world, these areas uncut until late September will flogging out a song 7,000 times a day might help prevent nest destruction. They will The Yellowhammer catches almost all its be enough to impress a female. But apparently, flock with other finches and buntings over this is just the baseline. If you want to be winter, feeding on seeds where farmers have planted wild bird mix or left stubble or weedy habitats. During breeding season, both adults and chicks depend on insects for food – wide, tussocky, grassy margins or headlands provide both the insects and the nesting habitat Yellowhammers need. birdwatching.co.uk 75



DOMINIC COUZENS YELLOWHAMMER a truly successful Yellowhammer, you need Female Yellowhammer to be – well, yellow! In case you ever wondered why so few birds are yellow, the answer is that mustering the appropriate pigments, carotenoids, into your plumage isn’t easy. Some feather pigments, such as melanin, are natural by-products of a bird’s metabolism, but carotenoids are not among these. Instead, a bird needs to get them from its food, which could be either plant products or invertebrate juices derived from eating plants. Now, what is really interesting about this is that garnishing your plumage with carotenoids is a variable skill. Some individual birds are better at it than others; they are able to make themselves yellower or redder or both, either because they are better at foraging or are better at converting what they find into useful pigment. Birds generally have exceptional colour vision, far better and more vivid than ours, and this means that you can wear your colouration as a badge. Simply put, yellowness or redness can be seen as a mark of quality. Remarkably, studies have shown that bright plumage is negatively correlated to the number of feather lice on the skin, for example. In other words, the brighter looking you are, the purer your plumage. Amazingly, your peers can apparently assess you at a glance in terms of glowing or not glowing health – or at least, your health when you were moulting. Find a friend IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY And of course, while this idea is faintly amusing and help them feed the young. Instead, they do the pair bond. In this study, every one of the to us, in the Yellowhammer’s world it is deadly what many a small bird does – they seek out the earnest. These birds live in a competitive most attractive male in the neighbourhood to males sought out for extra-pair copulations environment, where your body is everything, sire one or two of their chicks, which ensures where your chances of breeding depend on that at least some of their brood is of known were at least three years old. And the easiest being attractive enough to be chosen. Not every quality. One study (cited below) found that male is. And, to make life sound somewhat 37% of all chicks in a measured population of way for a female to tell how old and successful unfair, some males are chosen more than once. 32 pairs (with 127 young) were fathered outside they were, was from the yellow colour. The yellowest and reddest (on the rump and elsewhere) individuals also tend to be the oldest. It so happens, then, that when we all say, as In our human society, age isn’t necessarily a pairing advantage, but in many small bird we often do: “Just look at that Yellowhammer. species, maturity is a phenomenally attractive quality – it reeks of continued health and Isn’t that bright yellow gorgeous?” the local experience. Females seek it out assiduously. The female Yellowhammers don’t necessarily expect experience and maturity from their social mates, the males that defend the territory Yellowhammers are saying exactly the same thing. Or at least, the females are. YELLOWHAMMER BY JAMES GILBERT It is a curious fact, and quite unusual By a dusty track skirting fields of ripened wheat, a Yellowhammer in birding, that our perceptions and the declares high summer under forget-me-not sky. Citrus bright, perched upright atop a rose-clad hedgerow, zestfully he delivers bird’s perceptions are in agreement. a pleasant rattle in the noon heat; it fizzles out over shimmering air, and so he repeats. However, it doesn’t last. As soon as the You can follow James on Twitter @jamesgilbertmr breeding season ends and the colder weather Follow Dominic on Twitter at @DominicCouzens arrives, human perception and the birds’ reality drift apart again. BW Ref: Old, colourful male yellowhammers, Emberiza citrinella, benefit from extra-pair copulations JAN Sundberg, A Dixon – Animal Behaviour, 1996 – Elsevier birdwatching.co.uk 77

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JO WIMPENNY INTERVIEW White Stork. In Aesop’s Fables, the stork teaches the fox a lesson... F antast ic BLICKWINKEL/ALAMY BW editor Matt Merritt catches up with Aesop’s Animals author Jo Wimpenny to see how much science is behind the myths… When I was at primary important in a 1970s classroom is probably all of course the fables themselves. So what gave school, one of the first the evidence you need that there’s real substance Jo the idea for it? books I can remember to his tales of anthropomorphic animals. catching my attention “My background is in crow intelligence, was a children’s edition That’s what’s behind zoologist and writer and my PhD was looking at tool use by crows. of Aesop’s Fables. In fact, I remember us Jo Wimpenny’s book Aesop’s Animals, which While I was doing my research, a paper by having to read it aloud, to the whole class. came out late last year and which seeks to Nathan Emery and Chis Bird came out. discover whether there’s any scientific truth It looked at whether Rooks could drop stones The Greek author (if he existed at all, and behind the fables. to release food, rather like in one of the fables. isn’t a sort of nom de plume of another author And a little while after that I started wondering or authors) was born around 620BC, so perhaps It is, I should say first, a very informative if any of the other fables had been evaluated the fact that his stories were still deemed but thoroughly accessible read – it balances scientifically.” hard science with folklore, anecdote, and birdwatching.co.uk 79

PAUL R. STERRY - NPL/ALAMY* The Rook; smarter than the average bird I’M GLAD TO HEAR THAT THERE’S THAT New Caledonian Crow: a talented tool user INTEREST, AND CORVIDS DO SEEM TO CAPTURE PEOPLE’S IMAGINATIONS. So, how rooted in the science are they all? example, and the foxes cunning, and so on. AUSCAPE INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD/ALAMY* “There are different answers to that question. “So, some of them do seem to be grounded in Aesop wasn’t writing as a scientist. The fables were there to communicate moral messages, science – the Crow and the Pitcher, for example, and to warn people about the perils of certain or the Dog and Shadow. My interest in the crow behaviour, so in that sense they’re not scientific one particularly was not just that we now know at all. that corvids can do this sort of thing, but in “But, Aesop clearly had very definite ideas how exactly they do that.” about how certain animals behaved, and he used them very consistently. The crows are Jo estimates that 20 or more of the fables generally always doing clever things, for are bird-related – as well as crows, storks and pigeons also turn up. Has Aesop, then, over two and a half Nightingale (as featured in Aesop’s The Hawk and the Nightingale) HAN BOUWMEESTER, AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY/ALAMY* millennia, shaped our views of certain species? Jo said: “I think he must have done, although it’s hard to say for sure. The stories have been so widespread that these ideas have trickled down – I quote someone in the book, in the 19th Century, saying that virtually everybody had a copy of Aesop then.” On the tools Jo’s own research into crow intelligence has involved a species which she describes as “the avian superstars of tool use” – the New Caledonian Crow. “They’re the best tool-makers and tool-users. Plenty of other species have been shown using tools, and not just corvids. Egyptian Vultures, for example, drop stones to crack eggs. 80 August 2022

JO WIMPENNY INTERVIEW But New Caledonian Crows are unique in How do our own UK breeding corvids “What we have found is that even with those that they all use tools. compare to these avian superstars? species that don’t seem to use them in the wild, “It’s interesting that the behaviour only My hunch is that it would be pretty well, came to light in 1996, although the natives given the number of letters and emails we they will learn to use tools very quickly if you of New Caledonia had been well aware of receive at Bird Watching from readers regarding it and were surprised to find that it didn’t the ingenious birds. bring them into the lab. Ravens, in particular, happen elsewhere.” Jo said: “I’m glad to hear that there’s that learn very fast. “My PhD was about how they were using the interest, and corvids do seem to capture people’s tools, and whether or not there was evidence imaginations. “The prevailing view is that across the that they were doing so in a way that was flexible. Could they solve problems using them? “New Caledonian Crows stand out as tool corvid family there is similar high intelligence, Was tool use hard wired into them? One of the users, but that doesn’t mean others can’t, just big experiments I did was looking at sequences that they don’t generally need to. Rooks, for but that it has evolved in different ways. of tools – whether they could assess a problem example, generally have a very plentiful food and work out which tool they needed to solve it, supply, so have no need to, but in New American Crows, for example, are very good and use a tool to fetch another tool, and so on. Caledonia there are larvae that the birds It turned out that they could.” can only get at using tools (there are no at using humans.” woodpeckers in New Caledonia). So, next time you watch a crow in your garden, dipping hard bread in water to soften it up for eating, or similar, remember that one of history’s most enduringly popular authors, whoever he was, probably watched the same thing. In the meantime, read Aesop’s Animals – it’s as enjoyable as it is educational. BW birdwatching.co.uk 81



YOU VIEW GET IN TOUCH PHOTOS, LETTER, TWEETS, QUESTIONS – HAVE YOUR SAY [email protected] facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA themselves to “pick it up on the NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY/ALAMY* Saltmarshes in way back”. Shocking and very north Norfolk Mulling it over or so; great for the island’s sad behaviour…. economy, but at what expense to barren of life. The only places that After reading the travel article the island itself and its wildlife? Who’d have thought, that after seem to be doing somewhat well on Mull in Bird Watching July, all these years, I’d now consider are the reserves. What has gone I wanted to write and tell you On numerous occasions, my the midge to be my new BFF! wrong in Norfolk? Recently my about our sad observations. husband and I have witnessed I truly hope they’re sharpening wife and I went for a break in the In recent years, Mull has been unacceptable behaviour; tourists their teeth this summer! Yorkshire Dales, then to Scotland, thrust into the limelight. chasing Otters, including an and I was shocked and happily Understandably so, as it is one injured one, to get that precious If you ever need a replacement surprised at what was up there. of the most beautiful isles of the holiday photo. The distressed for the Grumpy Old Birder… Wherever we went, wildlife Inner Hebrides, with stunning cries of a Hen Harrier as a I’m your woman! was abundant. In every village, scenery and amazing wildlife. ‘professional photographer’ gets Nadine Bate Swifts, House Martins and Having been a regular visitor far too close to the nest for Swallows were everywhere. to Mull for many years, I’ve comfort. We have heard stories of Norfolk’s Willow Warblers singing in every personally seen a huge increase in chemical toilets being emptied at nature no-no tree, it was fantastic. The Dales holidaymakers (and lenses!) to the the side of roads, and we’ve and the rest of northern England island, especially over the last year picked up dog ‘poop bags’ left on At one time there was no better must be doing something right place than North Norfolk, but for nature; something that 1 tracks by owners who now Norfolk worries me a lot. Norfolk is lacking. Give it have promised I was looking in my diaries from 20 years and there will be hardly 2002, then 2022, and was shocked any wildlife in Norfolk. how the wildlife has declined. Robin Hawker Back in 1992, Grey Partridge, Corn Bunting, Turtle Doves, Nightingale, Willow Warbler… Where I walked in the Norfolk countryside, they were singing for joy. I would see loads of Swifts and House Martins flying together, lots of Swallows, 100s of butterflies, insects, toads, lizards etc. But now they are all gone. The fields in Norfolk are Reader Shots WE LOVE... Send your snaps to [email protected] Side-on to a very handsome Garganey. Glorious! to be in with a chance of seeing your photo in print. All images should be high resolution JPEG files. 4 2 1 Garganey by James Officer Camera: Nikon D500 Lens: 500mm, Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec Aperture: f/5.6 ISO: 500 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers by Martin Yelland Camera: Canon EOS 7D Lens: 600mm, Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 200 3 3 Pied Wagtail by Mark James Camera: Canon EOS R5 Lens: 600mm, Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec Aperture: f/10 ISO: 3,200 4 Greenfinches by Kevin Bowers Camera: Nikon D850 Lens: 600mm, Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec Aperture: f/7.1 ISO: 1,600 birdwatching.co.uk 83

PICS FROM OUR Get yourself FACEBOOK GROUP up close... Join our dedicated #My200BirdYear Facebook group and share your best birding experiences and images with the community: facebook.com/groups/My200BirdYear ED BROWN WILDLIFE/ALAMY* Stay focused b il h I i d What an interesting and at all planting trees without informative article: Get the Mini Beast Safari Bug by Gail Ashton the landowner agreeing to it! (BW May). Being a birder, I always have my Swarovski binoculars Yes, you should use native species with me whenever I go either walking, in the car, or on my bike, that grow there naturally. So, but I also always take with me my Dipper by Sheila Anne Williams pair of Pentax 8.5 x 21 extremely what is wrong with enclosing the close-focusing binoculars. Avocet by Steve Gregory I was surprised that Gail did not land (to keep out deer and idiots) mention in the article that a pair Tufted Duck by Kerry Anne Hillebrandt of extremely close-focusing and seeing what self-seeds? Okay, binoculars is a fantastic way White Stork by John Gawthrope to observe the mini beasts! you will have to remove the Steve Martin, Guernsey 84 August 2022 rhododendron and spruce, but the Bo’s dreams rest is coming from trees nearby Bo often has much good advice for us, but I must take issue with and is free. a few of the points he raises on ‘fast’ forests (BW July) Dave Sanderson Planting 20 to 30 times more What kit do I need? ‘whips’ than normal will cost 20- 30 times as much, and what IRI VONDROUS/ALAMY* small community organisation can afford that? Camera basics All “bits of land we have messed I’m an absolute novice when with” will be owned by someone. birdwatching. Having just So, you plant and nurture your recently bought my first RSPB trees, then the owner sells the pocket guidebook, I am looking forward to getting out and ,5 identifying some birds, but what I’m struggling to get my head around is the photography side of it. Where do I start? What type of camera for a beginner like me, that doesn’t break the bank? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Chris Laverick  The editor says: Hybrid or bridge cameras are probably your best bet to start off with, as they’re cheaper and a little less complex than DSLRs (but not necessarily as capable). You should also look at secondhand DSLRs – even relatively old models can do a great job to get you started.

Your Questions JOHN L. POULTER Send all your birding questions to [email protected] and our experts will give you the answers Walks like a pigeon… CHRIS EVANS Q Looked like a pigeon, walked like a pigeon, but I’ve never seen markings like this before. Visited our garden on Wednesday and Thursday. Can you help identify this bird, please?  John L Poulter Co-operative A It is a pigeon! It is most likely a racing pigeon (judging by Cormorants those leg rings), or some kind of show pigeon. ‘Domestic’ Q Could I please get birds derived from Rock Doves come in all sorts of colour your thoughts on this variations, including this one. raft (gulp?) of Cormorants at Staines Reservoir? I’ve seen RICHARD HARRISON of saying that we agree that your I’m sure it is a Jackdaw but it small groups of Cormorants shoveler appears to be a hybrid, has white marks on its neck? sunning themselves, and often beak suggests Shoveler, so probably of two birds in the I took this photo at 5.30pm larger roosts, but don’t recall could it be a hybrid? I thought Spatula genus. In some ways on 14 May in Broadstairs, seeing more than one or two it has details of Blue-winged it resembles an Australasian Kent. Thanks in advance. this close on the water Teal but others have Shoveler, including the dark head Reg Lester together. There were 15 in suggested Cinnamon Teal. and prominent pale stripe behind total (13 in shot, one out of What do you think?  the bill. But the latter species is A Your bird is indeed a view and one just taken off). Richard Harrison more speckled, looking like an Jackdaw, Reg, a small, There was some diving going eclipse plumage Shoveler on, though this was sporadic (‘eclipse’ being an ’intermediate’ white-eyed crow with a dark and infrequent so I ruled out a female-like summer plumage that hunting party but might be many drakes go into during the grey body and paler grey wrong. I’d very much extended post-breeding moult). appreciate any light you could That pale facial stripe also cheeks and nape (and black shine on the behaviour.  resembles that of a drake Chris Evans Blue-winged Teal. However, the crown and throat). Where the shape of the bird, the green head A Most of us are familiar (with white stripe) and the paler grey of the nape ‘wraps’ with the idea that the most ‘cinnamon’ body plumage makes it most likely your bird, Richard, round onto the ‘shoulders’, the is a hybrid (Northern) Shoveler familiar ‘dabbling’ ducks belong x Cinnamon Teal. grey is slightly paler, and can A Cormorants often hunt in the genus Anas. However, White-collared bird look almost white. Indeed, for fish individually, but ‘recent’ genetic studies have led Q Could you please ID some birds with a prominent are known to fish seemingly some taxonomists to ‘split’ the where this bird is from, pale patch there are thought to cooperatively. BW assistant genus; and 10 species of the be ‘eastern Jackdaws’. It is not editor Mike Weedon says that Shoveler-like ducks are now easy to see from your single at his local country park, Ferry placed, by some, into their own photograph, but it appears your Meadows, in Peterborough, genus, Spatula. These include bird would fall within the range there is often a flock of birds like the Shoveler and of a normal Jackdaw. Now, Cormorants which tour the main Garganey in a European context, you will start noticing how lakes apparently fishing as a and some American ducks, such variable this feature is on team. There can be more than 30 as Cinnamon Teal and Blue- your local Jackdaws! birds in the fishing flock, there, he winged Teal, as well as a few reports. It has been argued that other shovelers, such as the ‘herding’ fish increases capture (southern African) Cape Shoveler, rates, thus each individual the Australasian Shoveler. benefits from the cooperation. Hybridisation among ducks is not uncommon, often throwing up Strange duck offspring which show features Q I saw this bird at Leighton which look like a mix of the two Moss (Eric Morecambe parents (particularly with more hide) on 26 May 2022. At first glance I assumed it was a colourful male offspring), but also Shoveler but on a second look the colours are all wrong. The sometimes showing features REG LESTER which look like a third species. That long introduction is a way BW birdwatching.co.uk 85





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BIRDTHEW RLD THE BEST HOLIDAY OFFERS & TRAVEL REPORTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE READER HOLIDAY Join the Bird Watching team for some fabulous birding in the KEITH FERGUS/ALAMY* Scottish Highlands this autumn… Autumn in Scotland means rich wildlife potential in a gloriously colourful countryside, and you can join us there for an exclusive trip from: 23 October to 28 October 2022 Bird Watching magazine ingredients; and while it takes care such as Burghead and the Black Cost editor Matthew Merritt of bed, breakfast and dinner, we’ll Isle for wildfowl (including sea and assistant editor provide optional guided walks, ducks), divers, grebes and waders. Bird Watching subscribers  Mike Weedon will expert tips, bird quizzes, films We’ll also look for Black and Red Standard Room £579 per be joined by Scottish birding and evening talks.  Grouse near to Grantown. And, person, dinner bed and aficionado and UKBS editor as well as the great birdlife, breakfast; Superior Room  Gordon Hamlett, to lead a week From our Highland location, there’ll be the chance to see £674pp DBB of wildlife-watching, based at we’ll be within easy reach of sites dolphins, Red Squirrels, Red the lovely Grant Arms Hotel such as Glenmore Forest Park, for Deer, Otter, Mountain Hare, and Bird Watching non-subscribers in Grantown-on-Spey.  Crested Tits and crossbills; the maybe even Pine Marten.  Standard Room £610pp DBB , Cairngorms, for Snow Bunting Superior Room £705pp DBB The hotel boasts high quality and possible Ptarmigan; The Grant Arms Hotel is home Extra nights: BW subscribers en suite rooms and traditional Strathdearn, for eagles and other to the Birdwatching and Wildlife £128pp per night DBB Scottish fare prepared with local raptors, and Moray Firth sites, Club and its expert staff will be standard room, £148 on hand to guide you to the best superior; non-subscribers What’s included areas, offer local knowledge and £135pp per night DBB seasonal tips if you prefer to standard room, £156pp per This five-day break is held in partnership with Bird Watching organise your own time. It’s night DBB superior  and includes: perfect for birdwatchers of all levels and a great way to meet No deposit required, but Five nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast like-minded people, share tips card details required to En suite rooms equipped with hairdryer, tea and coffee- and make the most of this secure the booking making facilities, TV and toiletries  incredible time of year Excludes: Transport, lunches, Gala dinner  and wonderful place. alcoholic drinks, soft drinks Programme of evening talks and quizzes by Bird Watching’s Matt Merritt, Mike Weedon and Gordon Hamlett BOOK NOW Guided walks  No single supplement  Call: 01479 872526 Leaders: Matt Merritt, Mike Weedon, Gordon Hamlett, Visit: bwwc.co.uk & grantarmshotel.com Chris Hamlett Email: [email protected] Please note: A car is essential on this break, although we arrange car-sharing where possible on a day-to-day basis BW birdwatching.co.uk 89

Birdwatching ST LUCIA A family holiday to St Lucia provided Stephen Moss with the perfect opportunity to seek out this Caribbean island’s rare and sought-after birds. CASTRIES GRANDE A fter two years of lockdown and Typically, the very first bird I saw was a very ANSE restrictions, my wife and three familiar one – Collared Dove – the same species teenage children were really that wakes me up most mornings with its soft, CASTRIES looking forward to relaxing mournful cooing. This colonist from Europe WATERWORKS by the pool. So, to be honest, is a fairly recent arrival on the island, yet was FOREST RESERVE was I. But, like any birder visiting a new seemingly everywhere. location, I had also planned to spend time SOUFRIERE QUILESSE FOREST exploring the beautiful island of St Lucia, The next three species I came across – BAY RESERVE and discovering its unique birdlife. Tropical Mockingbird, Carib Grackle, and its cousin the Shiny Cowbird – are birds I have EDMUND FOREST My target birds included a dozen or so species seen many times, on previous visits to this part RESERVE confined to the Lesser Antilles – the group of of the world. GROS PITON islands that run like a string of pearls across the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea Then, in the bushes by the tennis courts, AIRPORT – plus five species endemic to St Lucia itself; I finally caught sight of something new and found here, but nowhere else on the planet. unfamiliar: a dark black bird, smaller than the grackle and cowbird, with a small patch To start my quest, I didn’t even need to leave of russet on its throat. It was my first local the hotel. St James’s Club Morgan Bay is on the endemic: Lesser Antillean Bullfinch. north-west coast, close to the capital Castries, and is set in lush gardens, providing the ideal I have learned, after many years of exploring habitat for birds. So, while Suzanne, Charlie, new locations, to look for any areas of rough George and Daisy slept off the long flight, ground, as these usually provide the insects and I was up and out at the crack of dawn. seeds which attract a wider range of birds. Sure enough, just south of the hotel I found exactly 90 August 2022

TRAVEL ST LUCIA Tropical Mockingbird Views across Castries harbour AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY/ALAMY Lesser Antillean Bullfinch SIMON DANNHAUER/ALAMY AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY/ALAMY* the right spot: a patch of long grass and trees, Antillean Crested with a herd of grazing cattle accompanied by Hummingbird a flock of Cattle Egrets – rather like back home in Somerset, in fact. MINDEN PICTURES/ALAMY* A sudden movement, a flash of iridescent green, and right in front of me was a bird very different from any I might find there, though. An Antillean Crested Hummingbird, flitting rapidly from flower to flower, sipping nectar for life-giving energy. After this first, brief excursion, I returned to the hotel and joined my family for breakfast. Here, I was amused to see the bullfinches and grackles hopping cheekily from table to table, grabbing morsels of leftover food from the abandoned plates. Strangely, the local Bananaquits, which I have seen doing exactly the same in Trinidad and Tobago, were far less confident here, and tended to stay away from people. The next morning, I headed out once again to explore the rough ground next to the hotel. birdwatching.co.uk 91

St Lucia Warbler Forests cover about 77% of the island NEIL BOWMAN/ALAMY ST LUCIA WARBLERS, TRILLING LIKE WRENS – THESE WERE RAPIDLY BECOMING MY FAVOURITE BIRD HERE. This time, the first bird I found was a large, and where to find them – than anyone. only on St Lucia and neighbouring Martinique. heavy-billed bird, skulking in the undergrowth: I had sent my ‘wishlist’ of target species As its name suggests, this member of the a Lesser Antillean Saltator, a member of the thrasher and mockingbird family has a bizarre tanager family. I also watched the first of many to Adams in advance, and he seemed quietly courtship display, in which it literally trembles Gray Kingbirds, a large and showy flycatcher, confident that we would get nearly all of them. its wings to attract a mate. performing acrobatic sallies from the tops of However, although St Lucia may be small – at trees. Birds of prey are few and far between 617 square kilometres, not even twice the size of After that first stop, we then staked out one on the island, but I did enjoy close-up views Rutland – the winding roads and tracks mean it of the trickiest birds to see here: the White- of a pair of American Kestrels – smaller and can take a long time to travel between locations. breasted Thrasher. This proved surprisingly more colourful than our familiar bird – nesting So, for this first of two half-day excursions, we obliging, posing on low branches and, with its close by. focused solely on the dry forest, and its very dark plumage relieved by a snow-white breast, special suite of species. reminding me of a dipper. We also heard Then, to my delight, my very first island Bridled Quail-dove, another very tricky species, endemic: the St Lucia Warbler. This yellow- Obliging birds which sadly we could never quite manage to see. and-black sprite is an absolute cracker, even by the very high standards of its family, the New Like all forest birding, this involved going With an hour or so to go before sunset, we World warblers, which are so much more very slowly along a rough track, and stopping had time to walk down to the beach, where a colourful than our warblers. at specific sites where we hoped the birds might lone Spotted Sandpiper (the New World be. Our very first location hit the jackpot, with equivalent of our Common Sandpiper) was When visiting an unfamiliar destination two more endemics: the St Lucia Pewee (a small, feeding unobtrusively along the tideline; while like St Lucia, it’s essential to hire a local guide; and very cute, flycatcher) and a family party of Brown Boobies, looking like chocolate-coloured and fortunately, I had two of the best. That St Lucia Black Finches, which some have gannets, flew past offshore. Along the way, we afternoon, I headed out with Adams Toussaint, suggested are the ancestor of the famous enjoyed views of a second hummingbird, the the godfather of St Lucia birding. In a previous Darwin’s Finches of the Galapagos. Green-throated Carib, plus Lesser Antillean life, Adams ran the island’s Forestry Service, and he knows more about the island’s birds – But the best bird we saw here, the Gray Trembler, is ‘merely’ a near-endemic, found Gray Trembler ALL CANADA PHOTOS/ALAMY 92 August 2022

TRAVEL ST LUCIA Rufous Nightjar Flycatcher, Caribbean Elaenia, and more Matthew Francois, who goes by the nickname MALCOLM SCHUYL/ALAMY* St Lucia Warblers, trilling like wrens – these Willow. This time we would spend the morning were rapidly becoming my favourite bird here. exploring the rainforest at the centre of the White-breasted and Scaly-breasted Thrashers. island, targeting the two endemics I had yet But soon we were heading up a steep forest As dusk fell, we stood in a forest clearing, to see: St Lucia Oriole, and the island’s national trail, accompanied by the raucous calls of waiting expectantly for a sighting of one of bird, St Lucia Parrot; plus several other elusive St Lucia Parrots, high in the canopy above – the region’s most elusive birds. We had almost forest birds. yet frustratingly invisible. These birds may given up hope, when out of the rapidly dying be large, loud and colourful, but their light came a distinctive shape, with a On the way, we stopped briefly at a small plumage serves as excellent camouflage patch of coastal dry forest, where we got brief in their forest home. ar views of a Black-whiskered Vireo, along with hawking for insects in the gathering gloom. Fortunately, there were many other birds to Having performed its aerial acrobatics, it then landed on a mango tree, giving brief but excellent views. More rarities Our third day on the island was George and Daisy’s 17th birthday, which we spent playing tennis and swimming in the sea – even so, I managed to spot a passing Osprey fishing offshore. The next morning, I was up well before daybreak, heading out for my second half-day excursion, with Adams’ colleague birdwatching.co.uk 93

TRAVEL ST LUCIA View down to Soufriere, with the twin peaks of the Piton mountains behind JIM MONK/ALAMYsee, including Lesser Antillean Swifts, afront of us – a real beauty.Yet of these, almost half were new for me; when NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY/ALAMYPurple-throated Carib (a hummingbird), severalThanks to my expert (and very patient) tiny Antillean Euphonias – one of which did it comes to birds, quality often beats quantity. a brief ‘moonwalk’ display to its mate – and guides, Adams and Willow, in just two half-day another Gray Trembler. Then, from a high excursions, I had seen all five of St Lucia’s I had also enjoyed exploring one of the most viewpoint overlooking the top of the forest unique endemic birds, plus a host of other canopy, Willow and I finally enjoyed several scarce and localised species. I could now spend scenically beautiful and varied of all the Lesser sightings of St Lucia Parrots: both perched, and the rest of the holiday relaxing with my family: in flight, showing off their rainbow colours. It including a really enjoyable excursion along Antilles, thrashed my 18-year-old son at tennis, seemed appropriate to see St Lucia’s national the coast. As we headed by boat to Soufriere, bird on the country’s national day. we saw Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls, swam, read trashy novels, ate and drank too Royal Terns and, best of all, a squadron That left just one island endemic for us of Magnificent Frigatebirds, hanging like much, and, best of all, relaxed properly for the to find. Orioles are colourful birds, and the paragliders in the blue Caribbean sky. We also St Lucia Oriole is no exception: a vibrant had great views of the Pitons – St Lucia’s first time in months. What more could anyone orange and black. However, unlike many famous mountain landmark – as well as of its relatives, it is also incredibly skulking. snorkelling over an undersea reef. want from a family holiday? BW After several hours of searching, I was beginning to think I would never see one; By the end of our 10-day visit, I had managed More info when a male suddenly popped up right in to see just fewer than 50 species – a typically low tally for an oceanic island such as St Lucia. Stephen and his family travelled with St Lucia Oriole British Airways Holidays to St James’s Club Morgan Bay. He would like to thank his guides Adams Toussaint and Matthew (Willow) Francois, Karolin Troubetzkoy from Anse Chastenet resort, and Ed Drewitt, who provided very useful advance knowledge of the island from his many visits here as a tour-leader with Naturetrek: ansechastanet.com/activities/ birdwatching.html Adams and Willow can be contacted on the St Lucia Birding and Wildlife website: www.stluciawildlife.com/about Email: [email protected] or via WhatsApp on: +1 (758) 518-8678. Birds of the Lesser Antilles: A Photographic Guide, by Ryan Chenery, is published by Helm Wildlife Guides (Bloomsbury), price £16.99. 94 August 2022

Barnwell Cottage in Holme-next-the-Sea Cosy and comfortable sherman’s cottage close to RSPB, beaches & golf. Sleeps 4. WiFi, very well equipped, OFCH. Very popular holiday cottage, ideal hideaway for a couple or small family. Sleeps 4. OFCH & Wi . 6 MONTH LET available from SEP 22 Contact [email protected] Tel 07818 276264 %LUG¿QGHUV With The World Open - Let’s Get Birding Again ASIA 28 tours from £2195 LQFOXGLQJÁLJKWV 1(:<XQQDQ&KLQD ZZZELUGÀQGHUVFRXN ELUGÀ

The Pacific coast Streak-chested of Costa Rica Antpitta PHOTOGRAPHY: THE BIRDING CO-OP T he Birding It’s not a shop full of birdwatching CO-OP gear that gives you stamps with every purchase. Rather, it’s a new approach to birdwatching holidays. David Chandler interviewed Mollee Brown, its founder and found out more. Origins the birds. The local birding community was realised that she wanted to go back to those small and wasn’t well connected to anything places – she had tasted something good but Any visitor to the Global Birdfair will see plenty beyond the state boundary. With hindsight wanted more. Mollee does enjoy listing birds, of bird tour companies there. Some offer full-on Mollee thinks she would have enjoyed birding to a point at least, but really doesn’t mind birding and work hard to build as big a list as more if those connections had been better. missing a few if that means she gets to know possible, while others take a more relaxed the place, and the local birders, a bit better. approach. Mollee Brown believed that there was Fast forward and Mollee was working for another niche, an unoccupied niche, and duly Bird Watchers Digest (birdwatchersdigest. Like many people, I suspect, she likes the set about filling it. The Birding Co-op is based com). She helped plan Birding Expos (that’s learning and discovery aspects of in the US, but does have a handful of members American for birdfairs), worked with birdwatching. She likes to work out a bird’s in the UK, is looking to organise tours to a variety of tour companies and started identity herself and build her birding skills. Europe, and is an approach that could well be guiding. She experienced lots of different She also wants to give something back to the just as relevant here as it is proving to be over bird tours, but for her, none of them quite places she visits. In fact, she realised that her there. hit the mark. most rewarding trip wasn’t a birding trip at all – it was time spent in the Dominican Republic Mollee grew up on a farm in West Virginia. Mollee wanted to do more than travel where she worked with local people, got to She didn’t really use binoculars but still from bird to bird to bird. She wanted to get know them and still connects with them managed to soak up its natural history, to know the local birders. And that was the on social media. She made what she hopes identifying everything she saw – and not just beginning of The Birding Co-op. She also 96 August 2022

TRAVEL CO-OP Turquoise-browed Motmot Scarlet Macaw Broad-billed Motmot will be lifelong relationships. Something was beginning to form. Mollee talked to friends and colleagues in the birding world and found that many of them had similar thoughts. A Glossy Ibis helped in the decision making. It was West Virginia’s second ever, and Mollee went for it, sleeping in the car overnight. As she drove home, thinking about birding and her motivations for it, the decision was made. To make it happen and to keep herself accountable, she told some friends. Those friends were full of enthusiasm and weekly Zoom calls ensued. Planning started in March 2020. The Birding Co-op was launched in September 2020, which you may recall, was not the best time to enter the bird tour marketplace. birdwatching.co.uk 97

CO-OP TRAVEL Approach Rancho Maximo one hour have lasted as long as 3½ hours! The Birding Co-op doesn’t want to compete useful tool, enabling like-minded members to The Birding Co-op was launched in with other bird tour companies – it’s put itself connect. Zoom ‘hangouts’ are regular, where in a different niche. It’s a non-profit that aims 20-25 people gather and talk about anything September 2020 and now has hundreds of to be transparent about costs with any surplus related to birding. What started as a monthly income going to partner organisations or gathering became weekly and then twice- members. As the Co-op grows it will change members of the Co-op community. weekly, and sessions that were expected to last – just how it evolves will depend on who gets It offers ‘experiences’ rather than tours, which, typically, are more basic when it comes involved, so it’s impossible to say what it will to transport, meals and accommodation. Participants may be working on a community project one day and birding the next. They will be led by local guides, spend time with local birders, and the pace will be slower than most tours – a proposed Colombia experience takes what is typically a five-day tour and does it over 10-12 days. To quote Mollee “we’re not spending less time birding, but are doing it differently”. Some of the ideas for packages really are different… attending a Spanish school in Central America with birding at the weekends, birding around a music festival, and a trip focused on fair trade and birding. The hope is to return to destinations so that relationships are built with partner organisations – a conservation station in Costa Rica, for example. This means that the number of experiences being offered will grow year on year. It’s a different model and the people it’s attracting are different from those on more mainstream bird tours. They have a more general appreciation of nature and want more than the identity of every bird. And Mollee is surprised at their diversity. The average age is mid-30s (different from the typical bird tour) but ages range from people in their early 20s to their 60s, and members have a very wide skill range – from birding newbies to well-travelled, world-listing bird guides. About 80% of the members are US-based, but there is a scattering of members elsewhere, including the UK. For the Co-op, community is key. Those who travel with the Co-op will be encouraged to get to know each other before they head off via the website. Covid 19, lockdown and travel restrictions have slowed progress, but the community page on the website proved a very look like in five years time. Mollee wants Blue-and-gold it to be a place where whatever your skill Tanager level you feel welcome, a place that is meaningful for every individual member, a place that does birding community well, and a community that does travel differently, building lasting relationships and making a positive difference to the people and places it rubs shoulders with. BW More info It costs $24 a year to be a member, with surplus funds covering the costs for those who can’t afford to join. Interested? You can find out more at thebirdingcoop.org 98 August 2022

Birdwatching Breaks W B HILDLIFE IRDWATCHING OLIDAYS & Black Isle Birding Stress Free Tours include: Peaceful Stay Scottish Highlands Fantastic Value and Islands Europe Asia North and South America Africa Caribbean Australasia See our new online brochure at BISONS And www.birdwatchingbreaks.com Book with this advert for a 5% discount LYNX Centre Birdwatching Breaks, Cygnus House, FREE ENTRY Gordons Mill, Balblair, IV7 8LQ 01381 610495 Tel: 07985 160 882 YORKSHIRE’S PREMIER www.forestholidaysukpoland.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHIC SHOP AND 7 nights for 4 people £1480 (flights not included) NIKON PREMIER DEALER. Flights available with Ryanair from £20 We also stock a wide range of binoculars & Prices correct on date of print spotting scopes for all of your needs. www.bassandbligh.com 29 years of Birdwatching and Wildlife Holidays 01423 538138 2022 Availability: Portugal (4 places) • Gambia (2 places) Chile (3 places) • Costa Rica (4 places) 2023 Program (January to June) Bulgaria (Rhodope Mts. & Black Sea) Finland & Norway (Lapland & Varanger) Spain (Extremadura) • Spain (Iberian Lynx) Botswana (Okavango Delta) • Bhutan (Kingdom of Druk Yul) New York (Central Park, Jamaica Bay & Bear Mt.) Costa Rica (Selva Verde, Carara & Arenal) • Panama (Tranquilo Bay) www.avianadventures.co.uk 01384 372013 [email protected]

DAVID LINDO THE URBAN BIRDER House Crow This hitch-hiking, trash-eating corvid travels well and learns new skills as it changes habitats. Will it be heading our way? T his corvid may not be immediately whatever port that they may arrive at. They bird was noted in northern Queensland, known to you, but quite possibly, were given a helping hand when they were which was unusual because they were in the not-too-distant future, it introduced to East Africa in 1897 and tasked normally reported from the west or may become a birding household with the job of controlling crop pests and south-east of the country. Following much name. Alternatively known as the dealing with refuse. public interest, the bird was killed in Indian, Grey-necked, Ceylon or Colombo December 2010, two months after its initial Crow, it also should be known as the Ship Quite how anyone would have thought that discovery, in line with the official policy on Crow, owing to its propensity for hitching rides these crows would stick at the task in hand is preventing alien species establishing. on vessels. House Crows are a curiously built beyond me. Because, as with most alien species corvid. Between the size of a Jackdaw and introductions, things soon got out of hand. By Heading our way? Carrion Crow, they are more rakish and longer 1947, they had spread westwards to Kenya. legged than either, with a glossy black plumage, Their numbers had exploded, thanks mainly to Closer to home, there was the infamous and a dark grey wash across the nape and chest, the growing human population and the colony of birds in the Hook of Holland, although the shade of grey depends on the mountains of rubbish that went hand-in-hand Netherlands. It all started pretty innocuously subspecies concerned. Naturally found in with the rising humanity. With the years of bad with the arrival of a pair, via a ship of course, southern Asia, as the alternative names suggest, waste management – there were dumping sites in 1994. It was not long before there were House Crows are well on their way towards everywhere – it meant that there were crows around 35 birds on the loose. The decision total world domination. Their surge into new everywhere. What is more, the House Crows was made by the Government to eradicate lands has been ongoing for more than a century didn’t just stick to foraging through landfill the population. Birds are still occasionally and they are now to be found within at least 28 sites, they soon learned to steal from diners’ seen, with the last record I could find being countries outside of their natural range. Global plates in restaurants. in 2012. There have been a couple of coverage seems to be their intention, although unsubstantiated reports of House Crows Rise and fall in the UK, and some of you may remember y yp the bird that loitered around in Cork, Ireland Ornithologists are more worried about their in 2010. Many speculated that it may have House Crows travel a been a day-tripping Dutch bird that had far and breed quickly o decided to stay on in the Irish city. t a Ships from Rotterdam did the 30-hour t voyage to Cork 5-6 times a week. The bird M remained in the area, scavenging around the h local burger joint, sometimes being fed by t passers-by. Interestingly, it associated with k Jackdaws and Rooks, as did the House Crows c in the Netherlands. It attracted a mixed c reception from birders during its stay, until it was last seen in July 2012. Did we in the UK The population was reduced from ‘hundreds’ dodge an avian bullet? t G Despite their global spread, on continents a like Europe, USA and Australia, their t colonisation will be harder, owing to the lack w of unregulated landfill sites and unrelenting alien species control measures. Being an House Crows arrived in Florida, USA, opportunistic, omnivorous scavenger, House p Crows have essentially managed to thrive d within the developing world and the invasive T potential for the species is greatest across the S tropics. The House Crow is a true urban s bird, indeed, there is not known to be d any populations existing independently s of humans. So, if you come across one h stepping off a ship in the UK, take a gulp! BW They also arrived via ship to Australia. A lone 100 August 2022