The Dartford Warbler and Other Birds

Feb 18/15 Forest of Dean and Pittville Park Cheltenham, Gloucestershire UK.

Today was the day to go after the Dartford Warbler. On the way I stopped off at the Speech House in the heart of the Forest of Dean. The following three shots were taken from the car window at a place where park visitors leave seed for the wild birds. By choosing a good vantage point I was able to photograph with dark shadows in the background. I had to underexpose a little in manual mode.

Speech House/ Forest of Dean

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

New Fancy View/ Forest of Dean

Common Buzzard (Buteo Buteo)

As a child growing up in the Wye Valley I never once saw a Common Buzzard. There was a decline of food as the rabbit population had been decimated by Myxomatosis

There was so little food the buzzards were even forced to turn over cow dung in search of insects. Their numbers crashed until the rabbit population finally recovered.

The Common Buzzard has now rebounded and can be seen in many parts of the UK. I also was lucky enough to see a pair of Goshawk at New Fancy View, one of the best viewpoints in the Forest of Dean,

Pittville Park Cheltenham 

As I have mentioned this was not a birding holiday but the temptation to try for the Dartford Warbler was too strong. Pittville Park Cheltenham is a passive park with much activity but in one corner a wildflower patch of about an acre has been seeded. It has been there a few years and has matured and has reseeded itself. There were three Stonechat and a dozen Linnets present and one very lost Dartford Warbler. Fortunately the winter has been mild and the sunniest ever recorded, all good news for the diminutive warbler normally found in the southernmost parts of the UK.

Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata)

Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

Stonechat

Well this is the last post from the UK but not the last bird I saw. I took a quick walk around Parkend before leaving and finally had a good views of a Hawfinch. It was the perfect way to end the trip.

I would like to thank Gary Thoburn and Vic Savery for their helpful contributions and suggestions and without their encouragement my trip would not have been so enjoyable.
Also the Gloster Birder website which is an invaluable guide to visitors like myself

Technical details
I brought a Nikon D7100 with battery pack. It never ran out as either the camera battery or the battery pack kicked in when one was exhausted. I bought a Tamron 150mm-600mm lens in the summer for trips like these when photography would be secondary consideration.
I brought a flash, remote controller and monopod but never used them. I dressed as I would for Vancouver and was never cold or wet. I found UK birders and photographers very helpful and willing to help the hapless visitor like myself. Overall I am very happy with my visit and look forward to returning soon.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale
British Columbia
Canada

The Royal Forest of Dean

Robin (Erithachus rubella)
Britain's most familiar bird, the Robin can be seen year round in the UK.

April 18 2014 The Royal Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire UK Sunny

I emigrated to Canada on 1978, actually I went over for "a visit" and never returned except to visit my family who still live near St Briavels and Brockweir.
Most of my early trips back would find me fishing at Lydbrook for chub or searching out tench and carp but over the years I found bird watching a far more enjoyable way to enjoy nature. I can't remember seeing any birds while I sat and waited for a bite, I just wasn't aware of them.
My first years in Canada were spent establishing myself and after loosing my $5 Instamatic camera I received a Pentax K1000 and a 50 mm lens for Christmas. I photographed a few birds here and there and became a newspaper photographer. I covered all sorts of events in my thirty year career and after retiring from the press in April 2011 I began photographing birds. When I come over to the UK I try to take advantage of all the wonderful birding here. A couple of years ago I visited the Farne Islands and last year the Highlands of Scotland.
After Slimbridge, my sights were set on the Forest of Dean and will be going to the Newport Wetlands when I have a chance. Other locations I hope to visit are Frampton and Nagshead.
Before I left Vancouver I put out a few "feelers" to see whether any birders would like to go out together. I received a reply from Ruardean and Cheltenham club birder Tim Fletcher who led me on a trail through the recently cleared area around Woorgreens near the Speech House. We had been on the trail only a few minutes when he spotted a pair of Siskins. I "phissed" them in and one posed for me in the brilliant morning sun.

Siskin (Carduelis spinus)
Found across Europe and winters toward the Mediterranean.

Tim and I then left the wooded trail and entered the open heath where the gorse with its yellow flowers and heather make the perfect open habitat for a plethora of bird species, dragonflies, amphibians and reptiles including the adder.
We were surrounded by birds, many were in pairs. The first was a Tree Pipit which came out to see what we were up to. Thank goodness Tim knows his British birds and birdsong.

A very distant record shot of Willow Warbler (Phyllosopus Trochhilus)
The Willow Warbler can be found near open heath or near new plantations. It breeds across Europe and winters in Africa.Next up were a pair of Jays, Tree Creeper, Wren, Robin, Greylag Goose flying overhead, Buzzard, a distant Common Redstart,  a Blackcap, then a Willow Warbler and Song Thrush. The Cuckoo was calling and three Fallow Deer wandered by but took off before I could get my camera on them. It was too early for the dragonflies but a series of shallow ponds have been created on the heath and soon they should be emerging.

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
This bird was one of a pair that were thrashing around in the undergrowth doing what birds do when it obliged me by popping up onto a branch about twenty feet away.
Widespread across Britain and Europe the Song Thrush migrates south during the winter.

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)
This species likes open heath and migrates to Africa for the winter.

Then it was to Woorgrens Lake where we watched Little Grebe feeding and other common waterfowl. The next stop was Cannop Ponds but it was teeming by Easter holidaymakers enjoying the sun.
However the bird feeder was producing, A Marsh, Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Nuthatch came for seed. The Mandarin Ducks were nowhere to be seen but a Cormorant stood guard near the pathway. Tim told me there have been some "good birds" seen at Cannop over the years.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
Found across Europe and migrates south toward North Africa.

Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)

The Forest of Dean is somewhere I plan to return to after my trip to Lincolnshire where I am told the birding can be quite good at this time of year, funny coincidence that!

Good Birding 

John Gordon

Slimbridge Wetland Centre UK

         April 17 2014 Slimbridge Wetland Centre. Nr Bristol and Gloucester UK Sunny
The 800 acre Ramsar site attracts a diverse range of birds that winter and summer there. There are ponds, fields, hedgerows and shoreline. Here the Skylark can be found on undisturbed grassland and during migration the Severn Estuary acts as a funnel attracting a myriad of species to Gloucestershire and the surrounding counties.

A full description of the site can be found at wwt.org.uk/slimbridge

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
This is one of my favourite UK birds. The goldfinch was brought to dangerously low numbers at the end of the last century  by extensive trapping for the cage bird trade.
In 1860 132,000 were trapped near Worthing in Sussex. A flock is referred to as "charms" of Goldfinch. They can be found feeding on the heads of thistles is similar fashion to the American Goldfinch. UK Populations can be either sedentary or migratory.
This picture was taken at the Slimbridge car park while I waited  and waited for the centre to open at the outrageously late 9.30 a.m.

To visit, the closest local airport is Bristol but both Heathrow or Gatwick 9 are only two hours away. The site is similar to Vancouver's Reifel but in addition has a captive bird area where one can see such rarities as the Redhead Duck, Smew and Chilean Flamingos. Outside of that enclosure are a variety of habitats that contain the wild birds such as the Avocet, Common Eurasian Crane and Little Egret.
As I arrived I quickly let behind the "exotics" and headed for the South lake where I found the Cranes that have now returned to the UK after 400 years of absence. A pair were nesting in the middle of the lake. A pair of Greylag Geese were defending their territory while three Shelduck rested on the mudflats. Three 'Lifers" in five minutes can't be bad but more was to come. A fellow birdwatcher pointed out a Sandpiper then an Oystercatcher.

Eurasian Common Crane. (Wild Birds)
These cranes were re-located to the Somerset Levels near Glastonbury, they have however returned to Slimbridge. I saw eight or nine cranes during the day. Note the radio transmitters on the legs to monitor their locations. As I have just arrived in the Uk I will have to do some more research but their return to the Severn Estuary has been a major success story.
The cranes were absent from the UK for nearly 400 years before a small population re-colonized the Norfolk Broads in 1979. A breeding program is bringing these birds back from the brink.

A Little Egret forages in the Slimbridge wetlands. 

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
The Little Egret  can be found in estuaries on the English south and east coast
and winters in the Mediterranean. Recently the bird is spreading its range to the west coast of the U.K.

Common Sandpiper (Tringa hypoleucos)
This head-bobbing sandpiper, about the size of a Starling breeds in Europe, Asia, winters
 in Africa and even Australia.

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
The Black-tailed Godwit uses Britain as a staging post on their spring and autumn migrations. They can often be seen with Knot and Oystercatchers. They nest and breed in northern Russian and Scandanavia.

A very distant shot of an Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
The last UK breeding colony of Avocets at Salthouse in Norfolk was wiped out
in 1825.
The feathers were use for fishing flies, their eggs to bake cakes. They returned to the east coast of the UK just after the the Second World War probably dislodged by wartime bombing in Holland. By 1957 a 100 pairs were breeding in East Anglia. The birds now breed down the east coast of England, Slimbridge and elsewhere.

A Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) being chased by a Crane.

The Tufted Duck (aytthya fuligula) is a common bird in the UK. Most birds winter south of their
breeding range, some reaching as far north as Africa and Asia.

Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
A Chiffchaff that nests by mid-April and stays in the UK until the autumn. Found throughout the UK and most of Europe.

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
A common summer visitor to the UK. The Cuckoo finds the Sedge Warbler one of the more accessible victims in the same manner as the Brown-headed Cowbird. It winters in marshy regions of tropical Africa.

This Great Tit (Parus major) was feeding on seeds in the same reed bed as the warblers above.
They are sometimes referred to as the 'gardeners friend" as they eat thousands of caterpillars and insects.

In the afternoon I found a bird feeding station and was able to get a few close-ups of some common birds.

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
The Reed Bunting feeds mainly off marsh plants, including snail, beetles, caterpillars and insects. 

Green Finch (Carduelischloris)
This beautiful bird is widespread in the UK except the Shetlands.

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
The Jackdaw is a very common bird at Slimbridge and the UK. At the house I am saying at in the Wye Valley there are two pairs nesting in the chimneys. They are a very social bird and use the same nest every year. British Jackdaws are mainly sedentary.

Wood-Pigeon Columba palumbus
The British farmers greatest enemy. The Wood-pigeon  feeds on newly sown seed and ripening grain. Despite being shot at the bird has adapted itself to gardens and parks. It is the largest  of the UK's pigeons and doves.


The first day of my UK birding trip began with a 5 a.m start at Slimbridge. After leaving the sights and sounds of Vancouver it took me a little while to find my feet .With all the new birds to be ticked off it was a perfect way to shake off the jet lag. Eventually, I ended the day 14 hours later with 20"Lifers" and a total of 36 Species.

"LIFERS"
Greylag Goose
Jackdaw
Eurasian Common Crane
Shellduck
Lapwing
Common Sandpiper
Barnacle Goose
Lesser Black-headed Gull
Rook
Oystercatcher
Black-tailed Godwit
Little Egret
Ruff
Skylark
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Greenfinch
Reed Bunting
Lapwing
Chiffchaff


My next post will be from the Royal Forest of Dean with Ruardean birder Tim Fletcher, until then,

Good Birding



John Gordon