dantheman
Wednesday 1st July 2009, 15:30
This was just going to be a brief account of my bird of the day (from yesterday), but I couldn’t really choose between the 3 for different reasons. Plus there were a few other nice birds worth considering .... ;)
Location: SW France, hence a different suite of ‘common or garden’ birds than usually get in the uk. Not rarities for the locale, but nice anyway.
Went out for a 2 hour walk after checking the moth trap (fairly dismal results again, lots of caddis flies and very few moths) before the heat built up. No new birds, but a fair selection of the commoner birds about, not too many that different from the uk. Highlight undoubtably a couple of pairs of Fan-tailed Warblers (Zitting Cisticolas if you must) in the edges of some cereal fields. Took me a while to get onto them, their almost ventriloquical thin calls filling the air around me. Smart tiny little things when I finally saw them, rich yet subtley coloured as they hovered and chased. Seemingly about the same size as a male Stag Beetle solemnly investigating a shady woodland patch shortly after!
Not a contender really, in this instance, but a Honey Buzzard circling lazily over the village on my return was nice, as able to get the parents onto it, confirmation they had been seeing one a few weeks back (not a common Buzzard, ‘tail was too long and wings held too flat’…..), and it was as I reckoned it would be. They’re progressing well (and I got an id right!!)
After a few hours work type things (eg hedge trimming) and lunch, went outside to do some digging, but a quick return ensued for the bins as a large flock of raptors was circling over the nearby hills. Dozens of them….. As I suspected initially, Black Kites, nothing else apart from a high up Kestrel, but pretty high numbers…. 30, no, 45 in total, all wheeling and turning just off the side of the valley in a couple of close-packed thermalling action groups. Excellent! A daily seen bird (singles or pairs or so in the last week), but never in these numbers outside of migration (these didn’t seem to be actively migrating south at any rate, as they eventually headed off north). A sky full of raptors is always something special, and the constant action mesmerising as you enjoy the full spectacle. All the while still scanning for further possible species and drinking in the details of individual variation and nuance of flight. Superb!
Another nice bird here is the Hoopoe. Seen infrequently last year, but the year before a whole family spent much time feeding on the lawn. So having spotted one I’d heard calling in a neighbours tree the day before, it was even nicer to see it on the lawn again, feeding close by. A veritable vision of buff and black and white stripes, bright and bold, impressive. No sense of the cheap and gawdy . (I’m sure there’s better ways of putting it, but they are pretty unique and cool!) It allowed me to approach within about 15 feet, as it dug around the base of a Japonica (I am reliably informed) bush and catching grubs and larvae type things. Great to watch, a little wary, toddling off around the other side when it felt I was getting a little close for a while, and instantly raising its crest when a House Sparrow flew just above it and into the bush, but overall seeming very easy with my presence as it worked away. I did try and take some pics on the mobile (unfortunately all pretty rubbish) as it moved and dug and continuously tussled with the grass roots. Could have watched all day, but when a nearby car started up and disturbed it, I decided I really ought to go and do a few other things. Closest and most prolonged viewing of this not that uncommon French bird I’ve had to be honest. Very nice...
The third contender could be one a bit more familiar in the uk, but only to some, and not necessarily normally as a garden bird. The clouds had built up at the end of the day, and some spots of rain fell as I sat outside with a massive wide cloud front hung above the house, chilling after tea. Into this atmospheric arena off to my left as I sat and watched the skies, something moved. Direct and unhurried, with measured wingbeats a harrier flew towards me. Squinting at the silhouetted form through my bins as it gradually came closer, I gradually picked up more detail of the plumage and form. Disappointed a little initially that it wasn’t a Montie’s (doing a French yearlist, sadly and needed it for the year), but this was pretty much shortlived as the enjoyment of the male Hen Harrier flying directly overhead took over. Almost a surreal moment as he disappeared over the opposite side of the valley and between opposing cloud banks, the light and stillness and feeling of heaviness in the air all building an atmosphere to the sighting which you just don’t get in the middle of the day.
Best views of Hen Harrier from the garden at any rate (and raptor no. 10 for the garden yearlist of course), but superb birds wherever.
Wouldn’t really like to pick between the three (or four) as a favourite for the day, as all representative of different aspects of birding in different ways. I’m sure that the species involved could have made a difference, but in other respects the experiences could have been repeatable almost anywhere and anywhen ... Just needs a few star players…. with feathers… and the time to notice and enjoy them I guess ....
;)
Location: SW France, hence a different suite of ‘common or garden’ birds than usually get in the uk. Not rarities for the locale, but nice anyway.
Went out for a 2 hour walk after checking the moth trap (fairly dismal results again, lots of caddis flies and very few moths) before the heat built up. No new birds, but a fair selection of the commoner birds about, not too many that different from the uk. Highlight undoubtably a couple of pairs of Fan-tailed Warblers (Zitting Cisticolas if you must) in the edges of some cereal fields. Took me a while to get onto them, their almost ventriloquical thin calls filling the air around me. Smart tiny little things when I finally saw them, rich yet subtley coloured as they hovered and chased. Seemingly about the same size as a male Stag Beetle solemnly investigating a shady woodland patch shortly after!
Not a contender really, in this instance, but a Honey Buzzard circling lazily over the village on my return was nice, as able to get the parents onto it, confirmation they had been seeing one a few weeks back (not a common Buzzard, ‘tail was too long and wings held too flat’…..), and it was as I reckoned it would be. They’re progressing well (and I got an id right!!)
After a few hours work type things (eg hedge trimming) and lunch, went outside to do some digging, but a quick return ensued for the bins as a large flock of raptors was circling over the nearby hills. Dozens of them….. As I suspected initially, Black Kites, nothing else apart from a high up Kestrel, but pretty high numbers…. 30, no, 45 in total, all wheeling and turning just off the side of the valley in a couple of close-packed thermalling action groups. Excellent! A daily seen bird (singles or pairs or so in the last week), but never in these numbers outside of migration (these didn’t seem to be actively migrating south at any rate, as they eventually headed off north). A sky full of raptors is always something special, and the constant action mesmerising as you enjoy the full spectacle. All the while still scanning for further possible species and drinking in the details of individual variation and nuance of flight. Superb!
Another nice bird here is the Hoopoe. Seen infrequently last year, but the year before a whole family spent much time feeding on the lawn. So having spotted one I’d heard calling in a neighbours tree the day before, it was even nicer to see it on the lawn again, feeding close by. A veritable vision of buff and black and white stripes, bright and bold, impressive. No sense of the cheap and gawdy . (I’m sure there’s better ways of putting it, but they are pretty unique and cool!) It allowed me to approach within about 15 feet, as it dug around the base of a Japonica (I am reliably informed) bush and catching grubs and larvae type things. Great to watch, a little wary, toddling off around the other side when it felt I was getting a little close for a while, and instantly raising its crest when a House Sparrow flew just above it and into the bush, but overall seeming very easy with my presence as it worked away. I did try and take some pics on the mobile (unfortunately all pretty rubbish) as it moved and dug and continuously tussled with the grass roots. Could have watched all day, but when a nearby car started up and disturbed it, I decided I really ought to go and do a few other things. Closest and most prolonged viewing of this not that uncommon French bird I’ve had to be honest. Very nice...
The third contender could be one a bit more familiar in the uk, but only to some, and not necessarily normally as a garden bird. The clouds had built up at the end of the day, and some spots of rain fell as I sat outside with a massive wide cloud front hung above the house, chilling after tea. Into this atmospheric arena off to my left as I sat and watched the skies, something moved. Direct and unhurried, with measured wingbeats a harrier flew towards me. Squinting at the silhouetted form through my bins as it gradually came closer, I gradually picked up more detail of the plumage and form. Disappointed a little initially that it wasn’t a Montie’s (doing a French yearlist, sadly and needed it for the year), but this was pretty much shortlived as the enjoyment of the male Hen Harrier flying directly overhead took over. Almost a surreal moment as he disappeared over the opposite side of the valley and between opposing cloud banks, the light and stillness and feeling of heaviness in the air all building an atmosphere to the sighting which you just don’t get in the middle of the day.
Best views of Hen Harrier from the garden at any rate (and raptor no. 10 for the garden yearlist of course), but superb birds wherever.
Wouldn’t really like to pick between the three (or four) as a favourite for the day, as all representative of different aspects of birding in different ways. I’m sure that the species involved could have made a difference, but in other respects the experiences could have been repeatable almost anywhere and anywhen ... Just needs a few star players…. with feathers… and the time to notice and enjoy them I guess ....
;)