Essex Birding (4 Viewers)

[Steve Arlow]

Managed a couple of half hours out today to see the long staying Snow Buntings at Shoebury East Beach, 3 still showing very well.

In the evening 2-3 Hen Harriers and 2 late Short-eared Owls showed from the white gate at Wallasea Island.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Great photo Steve. Seem to be very decent numbers of SEO's around after last autumns mega influx, I heard of a single roost site containing 15+ individuals last week!

 

[Phil Carter]

Went for a nice long walk today from Old Heath to Rowhedge, then back along the river past Hythe Lagoons, over the bridge then along the Wivenhoe trail, around the University then back to Old Heath via Distillery Pond. Thought I'd make it interesting by doing a day list, aiming for 60 species. Unfortunately, I fell well short on 48. Everywhere seemed devoid of birds. Highlights, if there were any, were Green Sandpiper and Nordic Jackdaw. Notable absentees included House Sparrow and Pied Wagtail.

Phil

 

[Steve Arlow]

Pretty quiet at Southend Pier this afternoon considering the numbers of birds being seen from there recently, totals were 5 Guillemot (including a close in bird just before I got the return train), 11 Red-throated Diver, 5 Great Crested Grebe and 4 each of Medgulls and Kittiwakes. No sign of the Purple Sandpiper or any Razorbills

 

[auchinbowie]

A Raven was in the Blackwater, just east of Maldon, this morning. I realise that this is no rarity in the U.K. but it is pretty uncommon in Essex. Anyone who has county lists may be interested.

 

[Viv Connett]

IN the Blackwater?

You can't tick it if it is drowning you know

 

[Phil Carter]

Four Short-horned Hootlets from the Layer Breton causeway at Abberton this afternoon, with one performing particularly well in bright sunshine. Also Red- throated Diver (sadly oiled), Hen Harrier, Peregrine, Marsh Harriers, distant Buzzards, Bittern (missed this), Goosander and Grey Wagtail. All very pleasant.

Phil

 

[auchinbowie]

Essex Raven

IN the Blackwater?

Viv, The bird was mid channel. Let me explain the topography. The estuary is about 300-400 metres wide at this point. There are a lot of mud banks in the estuary, some of which are like islands at low tide. The bird was on a perch, to the north of one such. It was only viewable from the north bank, although it was closer to the south. When I had finished the WeBS LWC from the north, I drove round to the south bank. I could not find the bird from there. It may have flown or it may simply have been obscured. Who knows?

I am neither a twitcher or lister and have seen hundreds if not thousands of Ravens over the years. They are, however, uncommon visitors to Essex and could be of interest to those who build county lists. O.K? No. I have bored you.

 

[johnbuchanan]

A Raven was in the Blackwater, just east of Maldon, this morning. I realise that this is no rarity in the U.K. but it is pretty uncommon in Essex. Anyone who has county lists may be interested.

Any chance you could provide more details of location?
Ravens are good to see anyway but I am particularly keen to see one by Maldon as they were mentioned as ocurring here historically, in the epic poem 'The Battle of Maldon', which forms part of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. Apparently they were feeding on the bodies of the fallen!
White-tailed Eagles are also mentioned as scavenging at the time ...
Cheers
John

 

[Viv Connett]

IN the Blackwater?

Viv, The bird was mid channel. Let me explain the topography. The estuary is about 300-400 metres wide at this point. There are a lot of mud banks in the estuary, some of which are like islands at low tide. The bird was on a perch, to the north of one such. It was only viewable from the north bank, although it was closer to the south. When I had finished the WeBS LWC from the north, I drove round to the south bank. I could not find the bird from there. It may have flown or it may simply have been obscured. Who knows?

I am neither a twitcher or lister and have seen hundreds if not thousands of Ravens over the years. They are, however, uncommon visitors to Essex and could be of interest to those who build county lists. O.K? No. I have bored you.

Actually I live there so am well aware of the area. It was meant to be a joke, okay?

 

[auchinbowie]

Viv,

I guessed that. I also realised that my original comment was open to misinterpretation. Other readers, less familiar with the area, may not have understood the lay of the land. Turn left at Copsey's Fish and Chips drive to the end of the road. Park and continue along the sea wall for about 400 yards.

Checking the Essex Bird Reports, no Raven has been reported in the county in recent years. I am hoping that someone here can provide confirmation of the sighting and advise Les Steward, our County Recorder.

I have no idea whether or not it was present today. I was counting sectors around Osea Island. Nothing unusual there but over 100 Pintail and 17 Mergansers were present. A flock of 34 G-c Grebe was a surprise but the regular flock of 30+ Ruddy Duck was absent.

 

[JamesA]

Checking the Essex Bird Reports, no Raven has been reported in the county in recent years. I am hoping that someone here can provide confirmation of the sighting and advise Les Steward, our County Recorder.

Ravens in Essex seem to be annual at the very least. Helpfully, I can't recall any specifics, but just concentrating on the southern end of the county, I can remember a few sightings. Good observers, too.

Rainham RSPB has had a few raven sightings over the last few years, mostly single birds over, etc. One time there were two in a day, as I recall... I missed them both. Searching the elbf records might help.

There was a run of sightings in the Epping/Waltham Forest/Nazeing region not too long ago and I can remember reports of singles over Ilford and Romford. Searching the LondonBirders wiki might help for these. I think the Waltham Forest birds were widely twitched by London listers as they fell within the LNHS boundary.

 

[dbradnum]

There are indeed fairly regular Raven reports - but it's a description species in the county, and very few ever get written up and thus make it into the county reports. Even those that do get submitted end up "not proven" at a surprisingly high rate for a species that doesn't require much ink to be convincingly described (hint: descriptions along the lines of "I've seen loads, it was one: end of." aren't enough). This is a shame, since I suspect the ongoing colonisation of SE England ought to mean we get a clear rise in records. So, auchinbowie, I'm sure Les would be delighted to receive a description.

The only ones I've seen in the county were the pair James mentions at Copped Hall, between Waltham Abbey and Epping. Along with a couple of other birders, we found these on 13th Feb, and they hung around for a while. I must go back soon and check it out - the area isn't very well watched.

 

[auchinbowie]

John, Dave,

Les has my report. We were already exchanging info. on the 2010 EBR. I think he was satisfied -- no clarification requested. It would be better, however, if another source provided confirmation. Most observers, me included, only provide ad. hoc. reports as one file after the year has ended and the Report gets published about a year later still. So it may be 2014/2015 before I know the outcome.

I hope the directions given to Viv were sufficient. If not, a good landmark on the south bank would be the brick pond walls in Promenade Park. Where it is now is unknown to me. Perhaps it got quarters at the Tower of London.

 

[dbradnum]

John, Dave,

Les has my report. We were already exchanging info. on the 2010 EBR. I think he was satisfied -- no clarification requested. It would be better, however, if another source provided confirmation. Most observers, me included, only provide ad. hoc. reports as one file after the year has ended and the Report gets published about a year later still. So it may be 2014/2015 before I know the outcome.

I hope the directions given to Viv were sufficient. If not, a good landmark on the south bank would be the brick pond walls in Promenade Park. Where it is now is unknown to me. Perhaps it got quarters at the Tower of London.

With full respect to Les, it isn't his call - there's an ID panel to assess all description species. (And Raven is one of these: see http://www.ebws.org.uk/ebs/List_Taxa.asp?pageid=11 and scroll down). The principle is that none of these have should have records published where they haven't been formally accepted - otherwise it introduces observer bias, or just makes the official record unreliable for future reference.

That might sound a bit heavy-handed and bureaucratic, but it isn't intended that way - the idea is simply to have a fair and consistent process for assessing rare birds in an Essex context. Given that it sounds like you saw the bird well and recently, it should be really easy to write up and get submitted - certainly easier now, while it's fresh in the mind, than it will be in x months/years time when someone asks you for the necessary description.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

David,

Any idea when we can expect to hear about whether our records have been accepted from last year please?

Regards
Daniel

 

[dbradnum]

David,

Any idea when we can expect to hear about whether our records have been accepted from last year please?

Regards
Daniel

Hi Daniel

Probably not until the 2011 bird report comes out - AFAIK, no-one sends out decisions to individual observers.

If I recall correctly, the majority of the last lot of records to be assessed were the final ones for 2010, so there should be another batch of 2011 ones coming round as soon as there's a critical mass.

 

[auchinbowie]

Daniel,

No idea, though others understand the machinations better than I. The 2009 Report is at the printers and the databases for 2010 are in the process of being relesased to sub-editors. These include open issues on uncommon species, such as Red-footed Falcon. Sometimes resolution is quick, sometimes never. I think a purported Slender-billed Curlew, which was near Minsmere when most of us were still in nappies, never got resolved.

Others,

Correction on Raven. The last sightings that made the Report were 2005. There may have been subsequent sightings but observers may not have reported them or thought it too obvious to include descriptions. (I made such an error with the Great White Egret recently.) Yes, I also sort of understand Les's role. In the past, however, I have found that if there may be an issue, he or Bob Flindall, would have requested more input PDQ. Generally either independent identification by 2 or more observers or a photo. is, however, more persuasive than any single description.

 

[lostinjapan]

The EBR sub-editors..including Auchenbowie Dave & myself have already received our section files from 2010 suggesting that 2011 records are now being assessed.

As David B said no-one finds out if their record has been accepted or rejected until the report comes out. The same was true of BB rarities many years back & might still be the case.

I think Auchinbowie was simply trying to give a heads up regarding his Raven sighting on the Blackwater. I know he is perfectly capable of IDing the species..i've seen him do it in Finland . Out of interest did it call Dave? did you see it in flight or only on the ground?

I'm guessing he was also suggesting that the details he sent to Les were sufficient for assessment, not that Les said it would be accepted?!!

To my knowledge only the odd report of Raven has come from NE or E Essex & usually unconfirmed. I have some vague recollections of birds being claimed at Abberton or Roman River Valley in recent years.

I think the west and south are more likely due to the proximity to the nearest breeding birds in Hertfordshire. If they can get a toehold there then maybe they'll spread like Buzzard & maybe bring the WT Eagles of the Battle of Maldon with them...never heard anyone cite historical reasons for wanting to see a bird on their patch .

Good birding

Sean

 

[auchinbowie]

Sean,

It was the call that first alerted me to the Raven. It only became visible once I had walked further east and it was no longer obscured by a mudbank. I did not see it fly but its size alone, in comparison to Rooks also present, would have been enough for me. (A fuller description was of course made and submitted.) I spent years walking the Fells, so have seen one or two before. As you know, I do not take photos.

So you have all your sub-sections? I am still awaiting one of mine.

Anything in the pipline for trips this year?

Dave