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John's Mammals 2012 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Farnboro John
- Start date
I presume the bigger challenge is for Maz to put up with him that long :-O
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Bogey birds are bad news. You never know what is going to become a bogey. It happens over time and bitter failures to encounter. I've had a few over the years: it took me four goes to see Rock Thrush, four goes to see Desert Wheatear, four goes to see Black-eared Wheatear.
I was mildly annoyed when Portland Obs first of all hummed and hawed over a Hippo for a weekend, then after it had gone not only pronounced that it was definitely Sykes's but also that they had always known that. Bit of a kicker, that.
I don't twitch Shetland so a couple slid past without me even blinking, then I missed the Druridge Bay bird by a day. That wasn't so funny cos it was a wasted day, basically.
I pretty much shrugged off the Green Farm Warbler on Scilly: I decided to go for it as an either/or, it turned out Booted, I had a great day's birding including Blyth's Pipit and American Robin for my Scilly list and a nice Red-eyed Vireo that posed for pictures.
So we come to Friday. From Friday evening, two weeks off for twitching or anything else. Hurrah! Gone 1730 and there's a Sykes's Warbler on Scilly: still time to call Steve (booked for work) Clare (free) and book two day tickets for the Scillonian. Safest in case of dodgy weather, but limitations I hadn't fully appreciated - more of that later.
At 0230 when I picked Clare up the weather certainly was dodgy, it was hammering down with rain though there didn't seem to be much wind. In one way that was worrying because it might mean the system wasn't moving as fast as it was supposed to. The journey down seemed to be uneventful despite the rain until we reached the start of the dual carriageway at Yeovilton. There, as I neared the roundabout where the A37 goes North, I was surprised to see white instead of red lights ahead and even more surprised when a car passed me going the wrong way up the dual carriageway. Still, it was Somerset.....
The rain had stopped by the time we reached Exeter and there were no further excitements between there and Marazion, where I grabbed a few minutes sleep before it was light enough for the Red-rumped Swallows to leave their roost and start hunting. We had one Red Fox en route and Marazion has loads of Rabbits. We saw five rather than the full seven, but what's two Red-rumped Swallows between friends? It was a great start to the day, which dawned dry but with broken cloud and a brisk Easterly wind that I really wasn't expecting. The Scillonian crossing might well be quite smooth with a following wind.
The boat left at 0915 nad the crossing really was quite smooth. The sea however had a short chop on it that made cetacean spotting difficult. Despite this we were lucky enough to have half a dozen Common Dolphins come to the ship and give close views before vanishing after a brief surf in the wake.
Bird-wise it was a fairly quiet crossing with a single Balearic Shearwater and an adult Pom with (I think) one spoon left. Other than that, one Manx, half a dozen Fulmars and some Kittiwakes were best of a thin bunch.
Of course there were birders on board heading for Scilly for booked stays, so we weren't short of company. However, as is usual these days, numbers were low. I remember when you couldn't move on that deck, and on this occasion there was plenty of room despite fine weather (by the time we reached Scilly it was mostly sunny.)
Off the Scillonian and onto the Surprise for our move to Tresco. Unfortunately the islands were suffering from a bad case of tides and despite our destination being Old Grimsby we were dropped - and to be picked up - at Carn Near, which as we all know is the furthest point from anywhere.
This meant a forced march which we undertook at max chat, not very fast these days! AS we passed through the Abbey Area we had a Brown Rat cross the path in front of us and a second could be heard pushing its way through the tall orange flowers. On arrival we joined a crowd lined up on a slope watching a hillside with low scrub backed by bracken and a tall hedge behind that.
Unfortunately the crowd, which was mostly made up of regular twitchers and photographers, was as unhelpful with directions as any bunch of people I've ever had to try to pry information out of. When the bird popped up those of us stuck on the end of the crowd (those who had already seen it having opted to maintain their prime positions rather than let newcomers in) had to listen to the ones who could see it mutter to their next-door neighbours but not speak out loudly.
After missing a couple of these pop-ups, several of us were beginning to suggest that perhaps some concise, accurate, clearly enunciated directions would help those of us still trying for a tick. Luckily one or two guys let us know in the gaps between showings, roughly where we should be looking and then someone to my right who hadn't seen it, gave an exemplary demonstration of how to give directions as it popped up and we scored.
Here I digress for a minute. I'm not going to enquire what motivates observers who don't wish to help others to see birds, but assuming one intends to give directions, there are things to say and things that just waste time. NB I'm only talking here about birds perched/hopping/clambering in the landscape
In the time-wasting category:
Over there
In the open
In that bush
Where I'm looking
Helpful
Going from big to little (this is a combat pilot technique too and works very quickly) e.g. find the tallest stalk of yellow flowers , go three feet right and a bit back and look in the seeding plants. NB: MOST BIRDERS DONT KNOW PLANT NAMES OR RECOGNISE THEM BUT DO KNOW YELLOW FROM RED, BLUE OR PURPLE
Using obvious objects and the clock code
Mentioning any direction of movement
Distances (assuming you can estimate fairly accurately)
Off soapbox.
At this point we had a choice that required an instant decision. Hang around and get the 1545 boat (Scillonian check-in closes at 1615) or leg it for the 1415 and spend the rest of the afternoon on Mary's. We opted to leg it and try for Lesser White-toothed Shrews in Old Town Bay. Catching the boat cost me a blistered foot and both of us aches and pains all over: we must be getting old.
We didn't get the shrews, the boats got back from Tresco in time for the Scillonian and we still had the aches and pains.
The ship again routed round the Garrison on the way back and I had a sudden inspiration. I searched the slopes with my bins and found four Black Rabbits for Clare to add to her burgeoning Black Rabbit list. I felt fairly smug being able to find rabbit variants at sea!
Another sign that the numbers on Scilly are low was that the buffet on the Scillonian had pasties left. Time was you had no chance on the return trip. We needed them to pass the time because there were fewer wildlife highlights on the way back than there were on the way out, one Balearic Shearwater being the top bird.
Driving back, thankfully, was totally uneventful even on passage through Somerset. After a long day I did need support and I recommend shares in Coke or Red Bull as a long-lasting success for investors.
I took few pix despite lugging all the camera gear around all day: below are a couple of scenic evening shots and a hopelessly pumped up Pom.
John
I was mildly annoyed when Portland Obs first of all hummed and hawed over a Hippo for a weekend, then after it had gone not only pronounced that it was definitely Sykes's but also that they had always known that. Bit of a kicker, that.
I don't twitch Shetland so a couple slid past without me even blinking, then I missed the Druridge Bay bird by a day. That wasn't so funny cos it was a wasted day, basically.
I pretty much shrugged off the Green Farm Warbler on Scilly: I decided to go for it as an either/or, it turned out Booted, I had a great day's birding including Blyth's Pipit and American Robin for my Scilly list and a nice Red-eyed Vireo that posed for pictures.
So we come to Friday. From Friday evening, two weeks off for twitching or anything else. Hurrah! Gone 1730 and there's a Sykes's Warbler on Scilly: still time to call Steve (booked for work) Clare (free) and book two day tickets for the Scillonian. Safest in case of dodgy weather, but limitations I hadn't fully appreciated - more of that later.
At 0230 when I picked Clare up the weather certainly was dodgy, it was hammering down with rain though there didn't seem to be much wind. In one way that was worrying because it might mean the system wasn't moving as fast as it was supposed to. The journey down seemed to be uneventful despite the rain until we reached the start of the dual carriageway at Yeovilton. There, as I neared the roundabout where the A37 goes North, I was surprised to see white instead of red lights ahead and even more surprised when a car passed me going the wrong way up the dual carriageway. Still, it was Somerset.....
The rain had stopped by the time we reached Exeter and there were no further excitements between there and Marazion, where I grabbed a few minutes sleep before it was light enough for the Red-rumped Swallows to leave their roost and start hunting. We had one Red Fox en route and Marazion has loads of Rabbits. We saw five rather than the full seven, but what's two Red-rumped Swallows between friends? It was a great start to the day, which dawned dry but with broken cloud and a brisk Easterly wind that I really wasn't expecting. The Scillonian crossing might well be quite smooth with a following wind.
The boat left at 0915 nad the crossing really was quite smooth. The sea however had a short chop on it that made cetacean spotting difficult. Despite this we were lucky enough to have half a dozen Common Dolphins come to the ship and give close views before vanishing after a brief surf in the wake.
Bird-wise it was a fairly quiet crossing with a single Balearic Shearwater and an adult Pom with (I think) one spoon left. Other than that, one Manx, half a dozen Fulmars and some Kittiwakes were best of a thin bunch.
Of course there were birders on board heading for Scilly for booked stays, so we weren't short of company. However, as is usual these days, numbers were low. I remember when you couldn't move on that deck, and on this occasion there was plenty of room despite fine weather (by the time we reached Scilly it was mostly sunny.)
Off the Scillonian and onto the Surprise for our move to Tresco. Unfortunately the islands were suffering from a bad case of tides and despite our destination being Old Grimsby we were dropped - and to be picked up - at Carn Near, which as we all know is the furthest point from anywhere.
This meant a forced march which we undertook at max chat, not very fast these days! AS we passed through the Abbey Area we had a Brown Rat cross the path in front of us and a second could be heard pushing its way through the tall orange flowers. On arrival we joined a crowd lined up on a slope watching a hillside with low scrub backed by bracken and a tall hedge behind that.
Unfortunately the crowd, which was mostly made up of regular twitchers and photographers, was as unhelpful with directions as any bunch of people I've ever had to try to pry information out of. When the bird popped up those of us stuck on the end of the crowd (those who had already seen it having opted to maintain their prime positions rather than let newcomers in) had to listen to the ones who could see it mutter to their next-door neighbours but not speak out loudly.
After missing a couple of these pop-ups, several of us were beginning to suggest that perhaps some concise, accurate, clearly enunciated directions would help those of us still trying for a tick. Luckily one or two guys let us know in the gaps between showings, roughly where we should be looking and then someone to my right who hadn't seen it, gave an exemplary demonstration of how to give directions as it popped up and we scored.
Here I digress for a minute. I'm not going to enquire what motivates observers who don't wish to help others to see birds, but assuming one intends to give directions, there are things to say and things that just waste time. NB I'm only talking here about birds perched/hopping/clambering in the landscape
In the time-wasting category:
Over there
In the open
In that bush
Where I'm looking
Helpful
Going from big to little (this is a combat pilot technique too and works very quickly) e.g. find the tallest stalk of yellow flowers , go three feet right and a bit back and look in the seeding plants. NB: MOST BIRDERS DONT KNOW PLANT NAMES OR RECOGNISE THEM BUT DO KNOW YELLOW FROM RED, BLUE OR PURPLE
Using obvious objects and the clock code
Mentioning any direction of movement
Distances (assuming you can estimate fairly accurately)
Off soapbox.
At this point we had a choice that required an instant decision. Hang around and get the 1545 boat (Scillonian check-in closes at 1615) or leg it for the 1415 and spend the rest of the afternoon on Mary's. We opted to leg it and try for Lesser White-toothed Shrews in Old Town Bay. Catching the boat cost me a blistered foot and both of us aches and pains all over: we must be getting old.
We didn't get the shrews, the boats got back from Tresco in time for the Scillonian and we still had the aches and pains.
The ship again routed round the Garrison on the way back and I had a sudden inspiration. I searched the slopes with my bins and found four Black Rabbits for Clare to add to her burgeoning Black Rabbit list. I felt fairly smug being able to find rabbit variants at sea!
Another sign that the numbers on Scilly are low was that the buffet on the Scillonian had pasties left. Time was you had no chance on the return trip. We needed them to pass the time because there were fewer wildlife highlights on the way back than there were on the way out, one Balearic Shearwater being the top bird.
Driving back, thankfully, was totally uneventful even on passage through Somerset. After a long day I did need support and I recommend shares in Coke or Red Bull as a long-lasting success for investors.
I took few pix despite lugging all the camera gear around all day: below are a couple of scenic evening shots and a hopelessly pumped up Pom.
John
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Farnboro John
Well-known member
Little bro's cat Dennis has recently brought in his fifth Grey Squirrel of the Autumn. This sciurid-assassin is clearly conservation-minded, although I think Dave would prefer it if he didn't eat them under the bed.
John
John
Marcus Conway - ebirder
Well-known member
I had a wildcat in NE Scotland last night on the edge of the road with a pheasant - just before midnight. First this year. Can add location if interested.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Good stuff Mark!
Clare and I had a casual visit to the canal Badgers last night, loads of Soprano Pips about, one Noctule, plenty of Daubs. The usual Roe doe was in the field by the road and we had two Badgers scratching at the set.
Managed the whole trip without seeing a Rabbit or a Red Fox!
John
Clare and I had a casual visit to the canal Badgers last night, loads of Soprano Pips about, one Noctule, plenty of Daubs. The usual Roe doe was in the field by the road and we had two Badgers scratching at the set.
Managed the whole trip without seeing a Rabbit or a Red Fox!
John
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Went for a crack at the Red Deer in the New Forest yesterday. I didn't see any Reds at all but had some good big Fallow bucks including a white one and missed an encounter between two by a couple of minutes. I might have another go this week.
Pix later
John
Pix later
John
Mike Richardson
Formerly known as Skink1978
Just back from a FANTASTIC two weeks mammal watching in South Africa! Over 60 species including 3 Aardvarks, Cape Porcupines, Aardwolves, 3 Caracal, 2 Serval, 6 Leopard, Wildcat, African Civet, White-tailed Mongoose and Sharpe's Grysbok! Oh, I almost forgot the African Wild Dog, Black-footed Cat and 6 (!) Honey Badgers. Quite a successful trip in all and ended with two days living it up in Johannesburg. Photos and trip report to follow...
Mike Richardson
Formerly known as Skink1978
Nice one! I take it you didn't get a photo?
MarkHows
Mostly Mammals
Farnboro John
Well-known member
JCL
Well-known member
Ditto. The Aard duo particularly gripping. Have had roadkill -wolf but never a schniff of -vark.
HI John, a couple of Common Dolphin photos, taken from the scillonian on the return jourmey from the scillies, well into cornish waters. Very scarce this year, only had about 6 on 2 of the pelagics which didn't hang around very long at all. We had around 50 on the way back.
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Farnboro John
Well-known member
Those are pretty nice!
John
John
Farnboro John
Well-known member
I've just upgraded to a 7D but so far only birds have crossed its path. I will try to get round to putting some Fallow bucks up this evening but they were taken with the emergency 550D.
And here they are!
John
And here they are!
John
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Farnboro John
Well-known member
Thanks John :t: Some nice pics there, I take it the purchase of the 7d went well. Look forward to seeing some pics from it.
