Autumnal Sunshine

Saturday morning had a few things in store for me. One thing unexpected was the slight hangover I felt from possibly one small Brandy too many, and another totally expected, 4 hours at work. Every third Saturday I have to work, I do not like this. As previously mentioned I love my job, but not so much that I want it to get in the way of the rest of my life. However, I begrudgingly downed the paracetamol and headed into, what turned out to be a very busy morning at work. Fast forward 4 hours...

Pulling up at home just in time to see a Green Woodpecker flying over my house. I've seen them before in Barking and at Hainault, but quite surprised to see one in War Torn Dagenham. With my hangover now passed and a tummy full of bacon sarnie I was happy again, and cheerfully loaded up the Family into the Volvo and away we sped to Sunny Hertfordshire, to spend the evening with the In-Laws.

After relaxing my Wife with a couple of glasses of Vino on the Friday night I broke the news that I would be doing my usual "dropping them off and then going for a walk somewhere" once we arrived so she wasn't surprised to see me loading my Camera and Binoculars into the car. After a brief chat to the In-Laws she waved me off with a tear stained hankie (yeah right) and away I went for a rare trip to RSPB Rye Meads. I used to go there a fair bit, but since discovering the habitats on the doorstep of my Wifes family in Ware and Amwell End I usually stay closer to home, but tales of a recent Osprey at Rye Meads, and the hope of seeing a Bittern (which I didn't) were enough to make me take the short drive.



The sun was beautiful, but as is usually the case with Autumn sunshine it was too bloody low. Wherever I walked it seemed the sun was glaring right into my eyes. Photography was therefore difficult as trying to find anywhere to shoot from where the sun was at your back was rare. Rye Meads, if any of you have been will know, is a Hide based Nature Reserve. There are trails, but the main focus is the hides, named after what you can expect to see from those hides. The Kingfisher hide being most popular as you have a very good chance of seeing a Kingfisher or 2, provided you have the patience to wait. I'm not a great one for hides personally. I get more enjoyment from actually moving around a bit and seeing and hearing what's around you, but when in Rome and all that so I found myself in one of the hides for maybe 30 minutes watching what turned out to be 4 Snipe. They were like London Buses. A guy to my left said "There's a Snipe there", I looked where he was pointing and said "There are 2, one behind the other", before we realised that what he was pointing at, and I was looking at were totally different, so there were 3, and another on a distant island made 4. They were all quite open, enjoying the sunshine until something spooked them and they all hid (quite badly really, I could beat them all at Hide n Seek) behind stones they were near. This was my cue to walk on.



Marching Snipe



I enjoyed the walk along the Otter trail, although it didn't yield many more birds, a quiet day in all. Apart from the Snipe and a Juvenile Great Crested Grebe eating a MASSIVE fish there wasn't a lot about. And it wasn't until I was getting in the car that I saw my first raptor of the day, A Kestrel which was a fair distance away (No Osprey for me). Looking forward to a bit more Autumnal weather, and my first Fieldfare, Redwing and hopefully Waxwings of the year.

Bird list: - Black Headed Gull, Coot, Moorhen, Shoveller, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Snipe, Lapwing, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Wood Pigeon, Pheasant, Green Woodpecker (another one), Kestrel, Herring Gull, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe

Free at Last

Worked double hard this weekend to make sure all the jobs that are associated with being a husband and homeowner were completed by Saturday. Who knew that agreeing, in front of a Priest and a congregation of my friends and family, to wear a little gold ring for all eternity would turn me into a painter, decorator and whatever you call somebody who replaces gutters... A Guttereplacerman possibly. In doing so I left myself an opportunity for some birding / photography. Knowing I only had a few hours I thought I'd best stay local and headed to RSPB Rainham Marshes.

Close up of one of the Swans

The weather was good, beautiful sunshine, unseasonably warm and just perfect for a stroll. I had heard the Bearded Tits were back, with a report of 6 on Saturday so I made this my first target, but as soon as I arrived Howards voice came over the radio with a report of a Male Marsh Harrier and looking up there he was twisting and turning over the pools in the centre of the reserve. My first Marsh Harrier so I was really pleased to start my walk with a big tick. I then headed off to where the Beardies usually reside, but was disappointed that they were not showing for me. I knew they were there as I could hear them intermittently calling, but the song was from too far back and after half an hour of standing still I decided it best to try again another day. As I was leaving a woman told me of a couple of fellas at the next pool who had taken some shots of a Water Rail, so thought this would be where I head to next. After speaking to the guys I thought I would hang around for a while to see if the Rail returned, and after a few minutes I could hear it moving through the reeds just to the side of me, and this is where I got a bit annoyed. You see I have a daughter. She is gorgeous, bubbly, fun, everything you want a 4 year old to be, and as much as I really want her to take an interest in Nature, I know she is too young to behave in a manner quiet enough so as not to disturb other birders at a reserve. So when I was stood silently staring into a bunch of reeds, seconds away from the Rail giving me a great photo op I did not appreciate the 2 little girls that, at that second ran screaming, singing and stamping onto the boardwalk. My thought now was do I wait and let them pass or do I move on. My decision made for me when the loudest of the girls shouted "Mummy this is a perfect spot for our picnic!!" Grumpily I moved on.

My last shot of the day!

So I arrived at the half way point of the reserve with 2 nearly, but not quites of 2 birds that I dearly want a chance to photograph. I've seen them both before, both this year in fact, but never got a shot I was happy with (not a shot at all when it comes to the Beardy). So although grumpy I consoled myself with the memory of the Marsh harrier, and then the Peregrine. He was bleedin miles away, right at the top of an electricity pylon, but sure enough there he (or she) was. My hopes were now on for a raptor hat-trick. There wasn't really an awful lot else about. Some Swans with their Cygnets, a Little Grebe, a Little Egret fishing away happily, and plenty of ducks, Geese and Gulls on the main pools. But the one thing that stuck with me was the sheer amount of Goldfinches there were. Everywhere I looked there were flocks of them. At the feeders there were fights, which is great to see. Such aggression in such a small bird, is something you really have to see. Popping into the Ken Barratt hide There was a very poorly Greylag, probably not long for this world and some Wigeon that were quite close to the hide, but by this time the sun had gone, and it was getting quite cold. A couple of circuits of the Woodland area and I thought it time to go when I saw a familiar shape in the sky, the completion of the Raptor Hat-trick thanks to a Buzzard soaring above. Just had time for the final shot of the day, which I think was my best Goldfinch shot of the lot.

LET ME OUT!!!

I am nearing breaking point. It has been AGES since I last got out in to the big outdoors with my Camera and Binoculars. Family engagements and decorating (Grrrr) have meant that I have been locked away for weeks. Sure I can escape at Lunchtime for a quick half an hour by the Thames, or a traipse around the local Nature Reserve, but all this seems to do is make me feel worse. I am desperate to pull on the Hiking boots, load up the rucksack and hit the trails.

This weekend holds the promise of replacing the guttering around the house. Although this will get me out into the open air, I'm not sure this will be enough to satisfy my hunger for the great outdoors. This also means that I will miss out on the Wildlife Expo that I wanted to visit. Although given the choice of the Expo or a walking / Birding / Photography outing The expo would come second. So all I can do is dream, and plan.

A Pied Wagtail in a Car Park that I can not see from where I am!

The return of Autumnwatch adds to my agony, as do the tweets and blogs I read from people doing what I want to do. I think I wouldn't feel too bad if I only had a window so that I could see the Pied Wagtail that I can hear in my works car park. You see I work in a workshop, which sits in a warehouse. I have 2 windows, which look out into the warehouse. This allows people to walk past and stare in at me like a fish in a bowl. Don't get me wrong I love my job (I am one of the fortunate ones who does), but I would love to be sat by a River waiting for a Kingfisher, or walking through a heath in search of a great photo opportunity.

So I need to plan. I need to scheme and hope that one day soon I shall be freed, even if only for one day. I have in fact just one days holiday to take this year (excepting Xmas) and I've been holding on to it. You see this year I want to see a Waxwing, or possibly 2, so I'm holding off taking it as late as I can until these beautiful little chaps come my way. Last year they were everywhere. Wherever I looked there were Photos of Waxwings, Reports of Waxwings, Stories of flocks and flocks of Waxwings, but did I see any? No I bloody didn't. So this year I am determined.

I suppose I'll have to get on with the Guttering, attend the next family lunch, finish glossing the doors, but I won't have my mind on it. I'll be planning my escape. I'll be researching where I'd be most likely to see them, when they'll be there, how to get to them and what to pack with me. This year my Wax winged friends we shall meet, and I for one, am really looking forward to it.

Barking Bay - 3rd October 2011

Just a quick note of what was seen by me yesterday at Barking Bay, as I sat by the river for half an hour at lunchtime:

34 - Cormorant
18 - Wigeon
20+ - Linnet
5ish - Great Black Backed Gull
5ish - Lesser Black Backed Gulls
Loads of Black headed Gulls, and a smattering of Shelduck.

Might pop back today.

False Imprisonment

Wow, a day out birding and in one day I see American Eagle Owl, Pair of Snowy Owls, a Tawny owl, African Grey Parrots and a Budgie... Ah you see through my thin veil of lies. All of the above were indeed seen, but they were all held in cages at Old McDonalds Farm in Brentwood.


Imprisoned for being too pretty!
(One of the luckier Owls from Paradise Park)



There's something about caged birds that make me really sad. It's great that we're able to see them up close, but you're not really seeing them are you? A bird, to me, loses something of itself in being in captivity. I'm yet to see a wild Tawny, but I know when I do that it will feel incredible, exciting. But in this cage I just stood there, looked at her, she looked back at me, we were both quite unmoved, apart from my sorrow that this beautiful bird wasn't scouring the fields for food, but probably eating dead mice from a bowl like a prisoner (not sure what the prison service feeds inmates, could be mice, I'm just not certain). My point is to truly see a bird you see all of the bird, hear it's call, see the way it behaves and ultimately watch as it flies away when it notices you. These captive birds may as well be stuffed as they just sat there.

A few years ago I visited Paradise Park in Hayle, Cornwall and that seemed somehow different. The birds there were pretty much all born into captivity, but they made special efforts to return birds to their natural environment if possible. They were running a conservation project to return the Chough to Cornwall, and I think they are having some success. The cages were high, wide and deep enough for the birds to stretch their wings and it just seemed a bit more like a hotel than a prison. To the point that the Golden Eagle there took me a couple of minutes to find in it's suite. And rightly so, a beautiful bird like that deserves respect. They had bird shows there allowing some of the birds to fly around, and encouraged natural behaviour, even if it was just a Kookaburra trying to kill a rubber snake.

I suppose captivity can be ok, if it's done right. Paradise Park to my mind has got it right, Old McDonalds Farm is way off the mark. Hainault Forest in Essex has a Little Owl in a cage, why? To me that's like putting a child in a cage in a playground. The child can see the fun all the other children are having, without being able to be involved.

Got that off my chest for now, in other news saw a Buzzard soaring over the fields near the farm, and a Sparrowhawk glided over my garden when I got home. That's how I like to see my birds, soaring and free.