A suitably brief résumé from me for April. Mainly because it was six months ago. The best birds seen during the month have already been featured in a couple of previous blogs so you can find longer accounts and many more photos of those further back if you so wish.
Monday 1st April; Foolery By the River
We have a place where we can sit in our car and watch Kingfishers. They nest in the riverbank just metres away from our parking spot. Of course we are not the only ones that know about it, and our friend Trudi had beaten us to it but there is room for a few. Being in such a public place the birds do get disturbed frequently by walkers, dogs, even canoeists but they always return to the general area. On this morning, initially our views of the Kingfishers were limited to the pair of birds either perched on the opposite side of the river or flying past.
We watched a Blue Tit presumably exploring a possible nesting hole in an old tree that overhangs the Kingfishers own preferred nest site. Rather comically the Blue Tit would enter through one opening and emerge from another. A future home with front and back doors! I tried to time when the bird would leave and then take photos. It took a lot of attempts before I captured the bird leaving via the rear exit.
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| Blue Tit |
There was a Moorhen which was also nest building. It would clamber along another bough that leaned over the water and try to snip off a twig. The Moggie wasn't very adept at tree pruning though and would stumble and flutter about in true foolish fashion.
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| Moorhen |
After almost an hour of waiting, a Kingfisher graced us by landing on the nearest tree. I had to be patient a little bit longer for the female bird to move into a clear position. The male passing by encouraged some display so the pair had obviously returned to the nesting site for another summer. This will be the only time I visit. They will be left in peace by me.
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| Kingfisher |
Usually once I've gained a few photos then I'd move straight on but on this morning there was quite a bit going on that was deserving of my attention too. Both Kingfishers had flown off but other birds were available. A pair of Carrion Crows were up to their own tricks and would perch right next to the car. They were involved in much bonding activity and were very vocal. By watching them I surmised that one bird was searching for twigs to be used in their own nest construction while the other egged it on with a lot of boisterous encouragement. They reminded me of a typical couple out shopping for the day; 'Which one do you want?', 'I don't know, get the l-shaped one!', and then, 'I give up, you know which one you want so get it yourself, I'm going for a coffee!'.
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| Carrion Crow |
There was another visit from the female Kingfisher, this time she chose a closer perch right away. The male was around but always stayed on the other side of the river. On one occasion he called loudly and presented his mate with a fish but she had to go to him to get it. They were clearly still at the pair bonding stage and weren't yet building their own nest. I'm well aware that Kingfishers are schedule 1 breeding birds and shouldn't be willingly disturbed at the nest site. That's why we stay put inside our car. Unlike the elderly couple that arrived carrying a canoe and proceeded to float it right next to where the Kingfisher had posed. It was time to go. Fools all round.
Saturday 6th April; A Dip and then a Huge Surprise!
We travelled to the RSPB reserve at Arne hoping to reacquaint ourselves with the Forster's Tern that had reappeared again after being away for the winter. There was no sign of the bird at all and we had to be satisfied with Sandwich Terns and Bar-tailed Godwits for our year list.
The disappointment of dipping on the Tern was completely forgotten and our luck turned around when a Dark-eyed Junco was found in Gillingham in North Dorset. The full blog of that twitch for our 426th UK bird can be found here.
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| Dark-eyed Junco |
Sunday 7th April; A Mountain Bird in the Local Flatlands
We'd missed out on a few Ring Ouzels already this spring and were getting around to thinking that we'd probably have to wait until going up to Scotland in June before we saw one. It was a big surprise then when local birder Gareth, who watches my old lockdown patch these days, discovered a fine male at the waste plant at Ardley less than three miles from home as a Ring Ouzel flies.
The Ring Ouzel was very elusive at first but eventually gave itself up for decent views, although it was typically never very approachable. I couldn't quite manage to get it on the garden list though owing to a railway embankment blocking the view.
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| Ring Ouzel |
Saturday 13th April; Who Gives a Fudge?!
Napton reservoir near Southam has fooled us before when we searched in vain for Bearded Tits there a few years ago. We did have success with a couple of Grey Phalaropes there on a very windy day though so it has remained in favour. A pair of Ferruginous Ducks had been seen there displaying and looking like they may nest at the site.
We found the female Fudge Duck after about an hour of fruitless scanning of the likely spots when it suddenly appeared stood at the edge of the reedbed. There was no sign of the male, but it was conceivable that he was on the newly built nest out of view. The pair went on to lay eggs apparently although I'm not sure if they were successful in raising young.
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| Ferruginous Duck |
Sunday 14th April; Spring Needs to Uncoil
A quiet walk around the Pinkhill reserve at Farmoor with little in the way of the expected spring migrants which are clearly late returning. We saw, or rather had fleeting views, plenty of birds but only logged the more common migrants. There was no sign or sound of the hoped for Grasshopper Warblers. Best birds of the day were a lovely female Bullfinch and a singing Lesser Whitethroat, both of which eluded this photographer.
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| Common Whitethroat |
Wednesday 17th April; Another Dorset Lifer!
Although we'd seen a Subalpine Warbler in Cornwall a couple of years previously, that bird was a female and couldn't be assigned to definite species level. So a ridiculously showy male Western Subalpine Warbler on the Isle of Portland just had to be seen.
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| Western Subalpine Warbler |
We added a fine male Woodchat Shrike to the day and year list in the afternoon as well.
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| Woodchat Shrike |
The encounters with these two birds have their own blog further back in the list.
Saturday 20th April; South Coast Again for Another Lifer!
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| Marsh Sandpiper |
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| Little Tern |
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| Spotted Redshank |
A courting pair of Mediterranean Gulls were located by the mewing cat-like calls. Still a scarce bird around our local area, down here just seventy miles away there are thousands. The south coast must remind them of the Med far more than Farmoor reservoir does.
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| Mediterranean Gull |
A fine male Stonechat provided more terrific photography as it clung onto a wire fence while singing away. Stonechats are a truly photogenic bird.
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| Stonechat |
As we left we checked in with the Marsh Sandpiper again. A Redshank had became the brunt of some pretty ferocious behaviour from the more slender bird which had forgotten its own elegance as it launched attack after attack on its cousin.
We had time to drop into the accessible part of Salisbury Plain near Netheravon. This is an established area to see some of the reintroduced population of Great Bustards. We have seen flocks of up to fifty of the large grassland birds here before but on this visit there were just two males on offer. However, one of them flew right past us allowing us to witness just how large they are. Apparently the male Great Bustard is the heaviest flying bird in our region.
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| Great Bustard |
The vast area of farmland that borders the army ranges is home to another scarce breeding bird, the enigmatic Stone Curlew. In the same field as the Great Bustards there were at least four of the camouflage specialists, they may well have been more.
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| Stone Curlew |
A busy bird-filled day was completed with a large flock of Corn Buntings and few Linnets that were feeding close to the access track.
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| Linnet |
Sunday 21st April; Poor Show!
We spent a cold and grey morning at our go-to place for Nightingales. However, in dreary and shivering conditions the unrivalled songsters were particularly reticent to serenade us and the best we got was fleeting snatches of sub-song and just glimpses of the birds.
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| Nightingale |
Far better views were obtained of a drake Red-crested Pochard which had to deal with the unwelcome attention of a Black-headed Gull which was determined to wrest the duck of anything that it was finding on its many surface dives.
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| Red-crested Pochard & Black-headed Gull |
Friday 26th April; Repeat Performance!
Or not! Another visit to our Nightingale hotspot in much better weather although still chilly for the time of year again failed to produce the goods. Hardly any singing from the birds and the ones that were in voice refused to show. Nightingales are a bit like fine wines. Some years are vintage, others less so. This spring so far is corked.
There were our first Swifts of the year, I'll have fun trying to photograph them in the forthcoming weeks. For now though it appears as if my best chance of gaining more excellent Nightingale photos has passed for another year.
The showiest birds were again Blackcaps with both sexes posing beautifully. Often referred to as poor man's Nightingales, Blackcaps have their own merits and win in the looks stakes if not in musicality.
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| Blackcap (male above, female below) |
Saturday 27th April; The First Swift Fix of the Year!
I didn't wait long for a Swift encounter. Breezy and overcast days at the end of April or beginning of May are Swift days for Old Caley, and Farmoor reservoir is the best place locally to host the events. I've learned that on such days there is no better place to be.
Of course where there are Swifts then there will also be Swallows, and Martins. As we tracked along the causeway it was these birds that we encountered first with hundreds of Swallows and Sand Martins, and a few House Martins around as well. However, I didn't tarry too long since I could see the Swifts further ahead.
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| Sand Martin |
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| Swallow |
Another diversion was provided by some smart Yellow Wagtails that were hunting for food along the causeway road. A breeding plumaged male Yellow Wagtail is hard to beat in the colour stakes and they are often quite approachable at Farmoor.
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| Yellow Wagtail |
But it was the Swifts that took my full attention, as they always will do when they're hurtling along and over the causeway. Capturing Swifts that fly above you is relatively easy with practice but I try to gain more interesting level photos as they fly past or towards me. That is much more difficult since they are very fast, especially downwind. Therefore I station myself upwind of them and then hope that they fly past a little slower into the headwind. They need to be fairly close for the best images but not too close since the field of view will be too narrow and thus impossible to get the bird in focus. An hour of holding the camera aloft gave way to a very achy shoulder but I was pleased with some of the photos that I'd taken.
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| Swift |
I just love Swifts!
Sunday 28th April; A Swift Return!
A damp and breezy day so what better to do than go back to Farmoor and get cold and wet! Obviously that was just a lame excuse to get some more Swift action in. There were more Swifts than the day before but generally they were less photogenic with most either higher up or further out over the water. A few did oblige though and I helped myself once more.
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| Swift |
It was the Swallows that performed best in the stronger breeze with many using the causeway hide and the lee that it creates to hawk in. The constant procession of birds streaming past the hide made for compelling viewing. I actually find photographing Swallows more difficult than Swifts. They don't move as fast but have very erratic flight and it's hard to get the correct exposure on the dark head.
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| Swallow |
Whereas on the day before Sand Martins outnumbered House Martins by probably ten to one, this time there were twice as many as the latter as the former. With all four species present it certain should feel like spring had sprung but in such inclement weather you had to wonder if it actually had.
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| House Martin |
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| Sand Martin |
Otherwise it was much the same as the day before. Yellow Wagtails had increased to more than ten while the Dunlin seen flying past the day before had settled down by the hide.
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| Dunlin |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
Hopefully May would bring some better and warmer weather.
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