The Booby Prize

Red-footed Booby, Lac de Sainte-Croix, Alpes de haute, France

Superlatives in birding, like in most other things, are used too much. Everything is either unprecedented or amazing. But I'm going to use both of these words to describe the Red-footed Booby that is currently residing in southern France - well inland at Lac de Sainte-Croixe. And what's more, to get the best views of the bird it's a twitch by pedalo across this picturesque spot.

With its closest open ocean breeding colonies being in either the Caribbean or Indian Ocean, this amazingly showy Red-footed Booby is a truly unprecedented record. Well, it's not really that unprecedented as seabird records never cease to amaze - look at the Yellow-nosed Albatross sat next to a Greylag on a small pond in Lincolnshire, a Long-billed Murrelet drowned in a fishing net on Lake Zurich (plus of course the Devon bird and one in Romania too) and a Soft-plumaged Petrel in Arctic Norway to name just a few in recent years.

Good times in Devon, November 2006

Relaxing times

It's been an enjoyable weekend, on the back of a rather hectic week at work. In Rotherhithe, Reed Warblers have successfully bred at Canada Water, the Common Terns are busy feeding young while Black-headed Gulls (including a few juveniles) are back in town and over the next few weeks will hopefully bring the odd scaly juvenile Med Gull with them.

Marbled White

People often go on about the decline of England's wildlife. Anyone been to Hampshire recently? I spent the weekend there, with my parents and at a mate's BBQ, and with the sun shining it was a delight. Just within the confines of my parent's garden I recorded 10 species of butterfly (including Marbled White and Ringlet) as well as a Yellowhammer singing and a juvenile Green Woodpecker calling rather pathetically. Reckon a few Quail could have been found if I'd had the time too...

Meadow Brown

Summer in Rotherhithe

A beautiful day, if not a little quiet on the birding front. Although Black-headed Gulls are now back in town, after the usual few weeks of near-absence - over 200 on the Thames this evening, though no juveniles just yet.

Rotherhithe is the only site in Inner London where Common Terns breed, and they usually settle down a little later than less urban locations. Therefore, it was good to see the first of the year's chicks at Surrey Water yesterday - at least one pair also is still incubating.

Vocal Common Tern

Inner London's first Common Tern chick of 2011

A visit to Burgess Park also produced a pair of Egyptian Geese protecting their nest - it was none other than these two vocal birds, that I photographed in Southwark Park in March, that had settled down and were still just as loud and territorial today as they were three months ago. Although you can't see it on the top photo, the gander bears a metal ring on its right leg.


Egyptian Geese in Southwark Park, March 2011



Egyptian Geese nesting in Burgess Park, June 2011



June - the good times

I might be wrong (that German Long-toed Stint would be appreciated over here), but until the start of return wader passage in late July, we're now into the birding doldrums. So, time to have a quick look back at a few glory days in June...
Locally in London: -

Squacco Heron, Cross Ness, London, June 2007

And on a national scale, the month can produce some real quality birds - such as the first Citril Finch for Britain: -

 And a bit further away still...

An inquisitive Great Grey Owl chick in Finland, June 2008

Another White-winged Scoter...

You wait an eternity, having previously toyed with the idea of a perhaps a glacial treat in Iceland supplemented by a scoter. And then, just like London buses, two come along at once. First it was the 'rhino from the east' in Ireland that exceeded all expectations - excellent views and distinctiveness all set against the spectacular scenery of The Iveragh peninsular in County Kerry.

drake Stejneger's Scoter, Rossbeigh, County Kerry March 2011

And then, almost like a compare and contrast exercise, along came the subdued deglandi that I saw yesterday in grim weather in Aberdeenshire. Rather ironic for the American not to be big and brash, but this young drake was a subtle, interesting bird. Fortunately, having driven through the night, I arrived in the grim hours at Murcar and immediately got onto it, watching it continually for 10-15 minutes at much better range and viewing conditions than I'd expected. Certainly the most subdued immature drake in the flock - a tepid bill colour, with a distinctive nasal protrusion (lacking the killer rhino-effect of the Stejneger's of course!) and some lovely brown flanks that contrasted well with the Velvet Scoters of similar age.

drake King Eider on the Ythan Estuary

The trip up north was supplemented by some excellent views (again in the rain) of a drake King Eider on the Ythan. Lovely to be back there, bringing back memories of the youthful excitement I had when I first went there with my Dad in April 1996.

One shrike and you're out?

I'm currently trying to sort out some stuff for an article in one of the birding journals, and this is involving a bit of musing around the 'isabelline shrike' complex. Shrikes are one of my favourite families of birds - charasmatic and characterful, colourful and to boot they often show themselves rather well.

Over the last few years, through a fair number of trips to the Middle East, I've seen quite a lot of these birds; differing markedly in colour. Just have a look at these spring birds, both stonking birds at both ends of the extreme: -

male Turkestan Shrike (ssp. phoenicuroides)

male Daurian Shrike (ssp. isabellinus)

So, it's unfortunate that bar spring passage, Turkestan Shrikes are pretty hard to find and my winter trips have largely been full of Daurian Shrikes. So here are a couple of more subdued birds: -

check out the warmish tones to the underparts, pale base to the lower mandible with a relatively indistinct supercilium to what you would expect on a Turkestan Shrike.

A pretty typical looking 1st-winter Daurian Shrike, though some birds can show a fair bit more chevroning on the flanks with a nice placid brown tone to the upperparts and overall creamy warmth to the underparts.

And now for this bizarre creature, seen in April 2007: -

This bird is a bit battered, and has an extraordinarily contrasting tail that is deep in colour. It's short winged, with only a handful of primary tips exposed beyond the tertials. However, the centres of the primaries and the tertials are still pretty dark (even though the edges are cream). Presumably an extreme Daurian Shrike, perhaps coming from the east - recent research indicates a cline of Daurian into Chinese (ssp. arenarius - if this is a valid subspecies?)

Ok, and now it's time for bed.

A late spring evening

Oystercatcher

Pheasant

Northern Lapwing

What with all the rain today, the warm glow of yesterday evening seems a long time ago. It's not often that I get to go out of London these days (at least in this country!), so a Kent records committee meeting was an excellent excuse to reacquaint myself with the joys of the English countryside. The entrance track to Elmley RSPB was alive with bird activity - Yellow Wagtails, Marsh Harriers, as well as some rather territorial Oystercatchers and Lapwings.