Year End Round-Up

 Dec 16 2015 A Birding Year

2015 has been a year of great adventures. Among many other endeavours I have been to the UK twice (Feb and this Dec) and I also fulfilled a life long dream to drive across Canada (May-July)

 I always promised myself I wouldn't get caught up in a numbers game but there's something about ticking birds that makes it fun and educational. Below are a few random images in chronological order from the past twelve months and and a list of my 2015 Canada birds (291species)

I hope you enjoy them!

Pine Grosbeak
 Burnaby Mountain BC.

Gray Wagtail
 Cannop Ponds Forest of Dean UK.

Long-tailed Tit Brockweir UK

Reed Bunting Newport Wetlands Gwent Wales UK

Anna's Hummingbird
 Queen Elizabeth Park Vancouver BC.

Loggerhead Shrike
 Hope Airport BC.

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs
 Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan.

Red Knot, Black-bellied Plover and Dunlin.
Riverton/Sandy Bar Lake Winnipeg Manitoba

Magnolia Warbler
Ontario on the outward journey.

Northern Parula
Lake Superior Provincial Park.

Nelson's Sparrow Shepody Marsh
 Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia

I think this rock formation looks a little like ET!

Hopwell Rocks
 Bay of Fundy New Brunswick.

Male Eider Duck flotilla. Bay of Fundy
 New Brunswick.

Black-throated Gray Warbler
 Grand Manan Archipelago New Brunswick.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
 Prince Edward Island

Ovenbird
Lake Superior Provincial Park Ontario.

Red Fox
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park Ontario.

Northern Gannet
St Mary's Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland.

Upland Sandpiper courtship behaviour.
Manitoba Birding Trail. 

Grasshopper Sparrow
 Melita Manitoba.

Immature Franklin's Gull
104 Boundary Bay.

Tropical Kingbird
Steveston BC.

White-throated Sparrow.
Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

Sora
 Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary BC.

Great Blue Herons toward Mud Bay

Robin
 Wye Valley  UK.

Fieldfare
Brockweir Wye Valley UK

Finally I would like to wish everyone season's greetings and very, very birdy 2016.

Here is

2015 Year List

Canadian eBird Listers

"It's never too late to start birding"
John Gordon
Langley /Cloverdale
BC Canada

Yet Another Walk to the Village.

Dec 7-10 2015  Brockweir Wye Valley UK. Mainly overcast with sunny breaks 10c

As a child I must have walked and driven the lanes around Brockweir and Hewelsfield thousands of times. Back for a Christmas visit I wonder where the past fifty years have slipped by! No matter, life goes on.
Because of the steep hillsides I never owned a bike and never even rode one until I was well into my twenties, even today I am not that good a rider. If you see me on Iona Jetty, best move over or i'll likely land up joining the wigeon and scoters!

Brockweir. Ancient hedgerows and open fields offer the perfect haven for a wide variety species. Offas's Dyke runs through the village.

In the winter of 1963 there was ten feet of snow and we had to take a sled to the village for groceries. The old post office store is now closed replaced by a community run co-operative.
I must have seen birds on my travels but really I was more drawn to the river. I used to spend hours waiting for a fish to bite and in between I would watch a Kingfisher or a water vole, ask to name any of the other birds and I would be nonplussed. I don't fish anymore, I came to the realization that it was far too an invasive a pastime. Bird watching or birding leaves less of a footprint or so we like to think. There are many philosophical arguments about birders flying around the world just to tick birds or burning fossil fuels to drive across Canada on a "Little Big Year" like I did this summer.

Eventually the sun broke through, always a bonus at this time of year, just enough to catch an inquisitive Chaffinch.

Chaffinch. A common bird that comes to the feeder or feeds on fallen fruit and berries. In the autumn Chaffinches often flock with Yellowhammers and Sparrows

The Great Tit.
A common visitor to gardens and feeders. Gardeners should be particularly grateful to the Great Tit as one study estimated that a pair caught 7000-8000 caterpillars and other insects for their brood over a three week period. 

The Nuthatch can often be heard before it is seen.

Goldfinch
As exotic as any bird anywhere the world, Goldfinches were often trapped by Victorians and sold in markets as cage birds.



*****

There is a cider apple orchard at the end of the lane and many birds are attracted the fallen fruit.

Blackbird
The Blackbird can be found in most Hedgerows where it is often accompanied by a mate. It is the most common resident bird in the UK. The Blackbird is a very wary, this one is feeding on crab apples.

Chaffinch feeding on ripe apples.

Walking to the store I notice a Common Buzzard on a tree branch, its eyes cast down scanning the fields for a rabbit or vole. I take a few shots from a distance and then the bird is airborne and sparring with a Rook. Rooks have white patches on the face and at the base of their long bill.
When rooks congregate to feed there is an established peck or pecking order. Pigeons and domestic fowl also do it to establish a social hierarchy. This ensures the highest ranking birds survive in lean times.

A Common Buzzard and Rook spar in the skies above Brockweir.

Front view of the colourful breast of a Fieldfare feeding on crabapples. Fieldfares are unusual in the thrush family in that they nest in colonies. They very seldom nest in Britain preferring Scandinavia and the Russia Steppes.

A rear view of the Fieldfare with it's distinctive gray rump.

As I was photographing the Fieldfare a Green Woodpecker flew into a tree about one hundred feet away. It was another 'Lifer' the second of the trip and a welcome and unexpected sighting.

 Green Woodpecker (female)

As I continued my walk to pick up the paper and some freshly baked bread I came across a pair of Pied Wagtail running across the old post office roof. The warmth had produced a hatch of insects and the wagtails were making the most of it. There were even a few Butterflies around.

Pied Wagtail on the old post office roof.

Haven't been birding for a few days now but this morning as I opened the curtains a pair of Blue Tits were feeding on insects draw to the bright yellow flowers of a Forsythia. I watched for several minutes until one of the birds seemed to spot me and in a flash they were gone.

Some distant grainy ID shots

Redwing, the smallest of the thrushes.

Mistle Thrush, the largest UK thrush.

Mistle Thrush.

More info

Offas-dyke-path

Offas's Dyke and the

Brockweir area

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC Canada

Disclaimer

While management has the greatest respect for the English language this writer realizes his grammar is a bit dodgy and hopes the reader will forgive him his errors.

Another Walk to the Village/Two Lifers

Dec 4 2015 Brockweir/Hudnalls National Nature Reserve. Gloucestershire UK.

Despite the winds and risk of a soaking I think I'll walk to the village again. The paper should have arrived by now. It's spotting with rain but nothing too serious, besides I want to see if there are good birds around.

As I come up the hill to the farm and pause by the apple orchard I notice a slight movement amongst the ripened apples, it's a Blue Tit having desert.

Blue Tit.

Then way above me I hear an unfamiliar sound, it's loud and raucous. The culprits are a pair of Mistle Thrush which land close-by in a large clump of Mistletoe. I am told they will defend the territory and berries throughout the winter. The old English name for the bird is 'Stormcock'. That goes a long way to explain where the nickname came from especially on a blustery afternoon like today. The shot below is from several hundred feet away, it does however give enough detail for a positive ID. For this trip I brought the Nikon D7100, Nikon 200mm-500mm, my Vortex bins and a Nikon P7100 point to shoot scenics and recordings.

The Mistle Thrush is a 'Lifer' and had I taken the car to the village I would have missed it.

Mistle Thrush.

Next up was the unmistakable Hawfinch. I cannot believe my luck, normally I would have to go to the Parkend or Nagshead in the Royal Forest of Dean to catch a glimpse. The Hawfinch is scarce and is 'Red listed' and is Britain's largest species of finch. It a very nomadic bird it is very difficult to track populations. Normally they stay in the treetops and are very wary. Only in winter do you see them coming down to the forest floor to feed on fallen nuts and other edibles. The two I spotted today were in an apple orchard and appeared to be feeding on the apple pips or on the fruit itself. I took this shot from about 200 feet away and necessitated a considerable amount of cropping .

Hawfinch.

As I have briefly mentioned the Hawfinch was a great addition to my UK list which now exceeds a hundred species.

Fieldfare.

Another 'Lifer' on my walk was the Fieldfare, a bird that migrates over from Scandinavia for the 'cooler' climes of the UK. A few have nested in Scotland but most return back north in the spring in the same way some of our Lower Mainland birds would return to the Interior. The Fieldfares are very timid so I am going to have to use quite a bit of stealth to get close enough for a decent picture.

Below is the Magpie, obviously looking for something on a calf's head, a behaviour I haven't noticed before and worthy of a shot despite the grainy image

Magpie.

I came across another flock of Long-tailed Tits today. They are frenetic feeders and the light was low so I had to shoot at 1600 ISO just to get a few so so shots. Then the postman sped by in his red van and the flock was gone, never to return. I'll keep trying and walk the back lanes which have far less traffic. My goal is to get better shot of this beautiful bird before my return, all I need is a little decent light and a bit of luck.

Long-tailed Tit

After yet another vehicle had sped by I noticed a slight movement deep in the woods. Not that familiar with the UK woodland birds I crept closer and after quite a few misfires managed to capture a Firecrest during one of its infrequent pauses. It looks very similar to the Golden-crowned Kinglet but even smaller.

Goldcrest

                                                                         

  ****    

                
And what walk would be complete without meeting my new friend the Robin. I am sure I will have names for all of them by the time my visit ends. Each of the four birds down the lane come out to meet me every day. They are so territorial and inquisitive. Voted as the UK's favourite bird it is often depicted on Christmas cards, children's books and like the Blackbird sings at night, even in winter!

Robin

                 Next Morning:

  I am just leaving for another walk to the village, I wonder what surprises lay ahead.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC Canada with notes from the Forest of Dean

A Walk to the Village

Dec1/15 Hewelsfield Common UK.

Whenever I am in the UK I try to visit the local charity shops for birding books. Believe it or not there is often a better selection than in traditional bookstores. This time I found a real beauty. For the princely of 4 quid (pounds) I picked up Birds and Men (ISBN 1870630 14 9)
There is a great chapter about how humans have shaped nature in Britain and how robins have taken advantage of the changes. Once a heavily wooded land, the countryside is now made up of farms, gardens, orchards, fields and parks. This has allowed the robin and other species to proliferate. It's a great read as I sit overlooking an English country garden waiting for rain and wind to blow over.
After the jet lag had worn off I walked to the village to pick-up the paper. The pace of life here is a little slower and a welcome break from all the rushing around back in the Lower Mainland. I could have taken the car but I wouldn't have seen as many birds. It didn't take me long to find my first robin, first one then another. Later I read in the book that robins require at at least an acre of territory which they will defend to the death. Anyway, I'll be reading about birds more than actually birding so until then here are a few shots from my afternoon ramble. I have posted the list on eBird.

Robin

                                                                     More about the area

Long-tailed Tit. One of the Britain's smallert birds

Hudnalls Woods, Gloucestershire, England, GB

Dec 1, 2015 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 kilometer(s)
Comments:     This area is mixed decidious forest, open fields and ancient hedgerows.
21 species (+1 other taxa)

Ring-necked Pheasant  5
Common Buzzard  1
Mew Gull  5
Common Wood-Pigeon  12
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker  0
Great Spotted Woodpecker  2
Eurasian Jay  1  
Eurasian Magpie  7
Eurasian Jackdaw  2
Carrion Crow  41
Eurasian Blue Tit  8
Great Tit  12
Long-tailed Tit  11
Eurasian Nuthatch  1
Eurasian Wren  1
European Robin  6
Eurasian Blackbird  8
Dunnock  4
Gray Wagtail  1

 Pied Wagtail 3

Common Chaffinch  12
European Goldfinch  3
House Sparrow  2

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26102163

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

:It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC Canada

A Waiting Game

Sea Island-Richmond/Centennial Beach-Tsawwassen Nov 26/15 Sunny 5c

There were a number of reasons I couldn't make it to Sea Island to photograph a Burrowing Owl when it was first reported a few days earlier, I just had to hope it would stay around. The same could be said about the Hudsonian Godwit at Tsawwasen. Every birder knows the feeling of helplessness when there's a twitch going on and for whatever reason he/she can't make it.
The first waiting game finally ended when I arrived at a nondescript location in the shadows of Vancouver International Airport. Commercial jets were taking off and landing all around but apparently it proved to be ideal spot for diminutive owl to take up residence. As far as I know it is quite unusual to have a Burrowing owl in Vancouver and an un-banded one at that.

Burrowing Owl. I used shadows and differing colour tones from the rocks to liven up this composition.

A change of body posture gives the owl an elongated look.

When people got too close the owl prepared to take off.

It was a real privilege to spend an hour with this bird and my only hope is that the pressure from all those who wanted to see it will eventually dissipate. The only people who can decide when enough is enough are the birders themselves.

Later that day and as the sun began to wane a quick visit to Centennial Beach in Tsawwassen saw me kneeling on the sandy beach photographing a gorgeous Hudsonian Godwit. 

Hudsonian Godwit

It was a another beautiful sunny day in the Lower Mainland. The Burrowing Owl in the morning, a Northern Mockingbird after lunch (alas no decent pictures) and the Godwit in the late afternoon.

What more could a person ask for?

                                                  "It's never too late to start birding"
                                                                 John Gordon
                                                           Langley/Cloverdale
                                                                 BC Canada