Essex Birding (1 Viewer)

[purple highflyer]

Hi Paul

Only took 4hrs to find the White rumped ! ,he was playing elusive tough wasnt he !.
I,ve put the dodgy sandpiper out as a possible spotted so anyone who wants to go have a look can.

PH

 

[Original PaulE]

Hi Paul

Only took 4hrs to find the White rumped ! ,he was playing elusive tough wasnt he !.
I,ve put the dodgy sandpiper out as a possible spotted so anyone who wants to go have a look can.

PH

hi
yes i think that's a good plan definitely had pro spotted features hopefully it will stick and someone more familiar with the species can make a definitive judgement

cheers

 

[Fozzybear]

Hi Fozzybear

Yes ,stonechats are always a joy ,I saw 3 at the naze last week ,2 males and a female,I like the way they are allways willing to perch in full view,makes lie much easier !.

PH

Definitely! I'd been wanting to see one of these for ages, intending but putting off going to Two Tree Island where some had been seen. Finding one just a 5-10 minute walk from my house was amazing, I wish I'd taken my camera but the photo would have been awful as the bird was a long way off, was better really to just enjoy the sighting - I wasn't 100% sure it was a stonechat but I noted all the details I could see (it was pretty small even through my 8x bins as it was in the rough scrub across the river from me) - dark legs and beak, dark brown back and wings, warm darkish buff belly with a little white at the behind, just a hint of a neck collar and supercillium, dark brown mottled head and streaky forehead and little white patches on the wings when it flew. Almost certainly a female unless the males lose their black heads in winter.

I don't really go in for lists but I have been keeping one for birds I've seen around Chelmsford on a local group on flickr, which I started writing because I wanted to show people there the richness of wildlife in the local area (one of the guys there thought we had nothing but starlings and pigeons - was really nice to show him some of the different species just around Galleywood Common):

1. Blackbird
2. Blackcap
3. Black-headed Gull
4. Blue Tit
5. Bullfinch
6. Buzzard
7. Canada Goose
8. Carrion Crow
9. Chaffinch
10. Chiffchaff
11. Coal Tit
12. Collared Dove
13. Common Tern
14. Coot
15. Cormorant
16. Cuckoo
17. Dunnock
18. Fieldfare
19. Goldcrest
20. Goldfinch
21. Goosander
22. Great Crested Grebe
23. Great Spotted Woodpecker
24. Great Tit
25. Greenfinch
26. Green Woodpecker
27. Grey Heron
28. Grey Partridge
29. Grey Wagtail
30. Greylag Goose
31. Herring Gull
32. House Martin
33. House Sparrow
34. Jackdaw
35. Jay
36. Kestrel
37. Kingfisher
38. Lapwing
39. Lesser Black-backed Gull
40. Lesser Whitethroat
41. Little Grebe
42. Little Ringed Plover
43. Long-tailed Tit
44. Magpie
45. Mallard
46. Meadow Pipit
47. Mistle Thrush
48. Moorhen
49. Mute Swan
50. Nightingale
51. Pheasant
52. Pied Wagtail
53. Red-legged Partridge
54. Redwing
55. Reed Bunting
56. Robin
57. Rock Dove
58. Rook
59. Siskin
60. Skylark
61. Song Thrush
62. Sparrowhawk
63. Spotted Flycatcher
64. Starling
65. Stock Dove
66. Stonechat (yay!)
67. Swallow
68. Swift
69. Treecreeper
70. Tufted Duck
71. Water Rail
72. Whitethroat
73. Willow Warbler
74. Woodpigeon
75. Wren
76. Yellowhammer

That's in Chelmsford and out as far as Writtle, Galleywood and the outskirts of Little Baddow. Haven't done any birdwatching in Little Baddow or Danbury yet although I will be this autumn/winter. I've left off the possible Raven too because I couldn't confirm it - Nightingale is a touch uncertain as I saw it when I'd only just started watching so could be mistaken, but I did get a good close view of it, albeit very brief, and looking at lots of photos and video I'm pretty convinced it was one, the alternatives don't really match what I saw.

 

[purple highflyer]

Almost certainly a female unless the males lose their black heads in winter.

I don't really go in for lists but I have been keeping one for birds I've seen around Chelmsford on a local group on flickr, which I started writing because I wanted to show people there the richness of wildlife in the local area (one of the guys there thought we had nothing but starlings and pigeons - was really nice to show him some of the different species just around Galleywood Common):

Hi Fozzybear

Stonechat males vary a great deal in winter, I,ve seen them with almost a full black head to some that just have a "shadow" of dark feathering on the head.
Oh dear,hope thats not the slippery slope,lists are addictive you know...

PH

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks PH. Some time ago I did start one of those 'life lists' but found I started getting annoyed when I went a while without adding to it, which really is not my thing - I am interested in watching wildlife and not ticking off names so I deleted the list off my computer. Somehow, maybe because this one is aimed at showing some of the local people in the flickr group what's around, I don't feel the same way about it. Fortunately I feel pretty relaxed about my local birdwatching so 'list angst' is unlikely here, I like to see new things of course but I'm happy as long as I see 'something'.

My List list:

1. Chelmsford area

...that is all.

 

[purple highflyer]

Thanks PH. Some time ago I did start one of those 'life lists' but found I started getting annoyed when I went a while without adding to it, which really is not my thing - I am interested in watching wildlife and not ticking off names so I deleted the list off my computer. Somehow, maybe because this one is aimed at showing some of the local people in the flickr group what's around, I don't feel the same way about it. Fortunately I feel pretty relaxed about my local birdwatching so 'list angst' is unlikely here, I like to see new things of course but I'm happy as long as I see 'something'.

My List list:

1. Chelmsford area

...that is all.

Hi Fozzybear

Nothing wrong with lists,I have a life list & this year I,ve been doing a hertfordshire & essex list because I live almost right on the border of the two counties ,admit I,ve had some angst about a few birds missed,but its all part of the game,and a game is all it is (to me anyway).
You say you like to see new things, thats the same motivation that gets a lot of people out weather it be to shetland to see a lbj or like someone I know who gets up an unearthly hour to scour the local patch before work and the information he gathers on local bird movement and numbers is staggering,we all ,in our hearts, are hoping for that day when a rare bird shows up,a list is still a list, and a bit of fun,thats all.:smoke:

PH

.

 

[Fozzybear]

Indeed. My problem with listing is that I started to be more concerned about the list than watching the birds - purely personal and I've nothing against listing in general, I just dislike what it brings out in me. I still feel a bit mixed about the Chelmsford list but it's only because I've somehow not experienced the list fever with that one that I've kept updating it.

If it was just a bit of fun for me I'd do it, I just am inclined to take it too seriously. I'll be out before dawn tomorrow morning for a wander along the river and up to the nature reserve though. :t:

 

[Essex Tern]

Hi all,

Just thought I would join the list debate.

Indeed there is nothing wrong in it, and it is up to the individual how far they want to take it - for example this year I decided not to do a year list as I felt that was taking something away from my birding enjoyment, the constant pressure to add to it and improve the total in the time allocated, i.e. a year, seemed too short for me and not that relaxing - but I have continued my life list, and have put more focus on my Essex list, which I hadn't until this year kept properly, although it was very easy to make from my life list - my Essex list isn't that far behind my life list which was quite nice to find.

It is always nice to add to any list, and that is where your style of birding comes into play - I am serious but not a twitcher, that is why I don't have a huge list, but that means there are always new birds to see which is nice to know, but I know I won't get them every time I go out, but if I do then that should be special for me. If I learn my usual species well then if something special crops up, hopefully that will make the ID process easier.

My view is that everyone keeps a list, whether it be on paper, on computer, or in their head - if you see a new bird, it is a new bird to what? - your life list of course! - no harm in keeping a record in case you start to forget things later on.

 

[TomW]

Nicely put Essex Tern,

I have a life list in my head, but just cannot be bothered with year lists, county lists and the like. I think I'm a walker who likes to do a bit of birding rather than the other way round.

That said I do take the birding seriously and try to identify what's in front of me, but I'm not interested in twitching and generally am happy with IDing what you would consider regular British species.

I really would not be comfortable trying to ID anything out of the ordinary unless it was obvious what it was, (eg.Tufted Puffin) as I still struggle with the normal stuff.

Hopefully I will be around Abberton early tomorrow to see if I can find any of those exotic waders, then maybe a wander round Old Hall or Tolesbury Wick.

Happy hunting

TomW

 

[E.T.]

Nicely put Essex Tern,

I have a life list in my head, but just cannot be bothered with year lists, county lists and the like. I think I'm a walker who likes to do a bit of birding rather than the other way round.

That said I do take the birding seriously and try to identify what's in front of me, but I'm not interested in twitching and generally am happy with IDing what you would consider regular British species.

I really would not be comfortable trying to ID anything out of the ordinary unless it was obvious what it was, (eg.Tufted Puffin) as I still struggle with the normal stuff.

Hopefully I will be around Abberton early tomorrow to see if I can find any of those exotic waders, then maybe a wander round Old Hall or Tolesbury Wick.

Happy hunting

TomW

I agree.

I did used to keep a list, but TBH, I concur with the above, I'm as happy watching a robin in the garden as looking for something rare. I just like to know what things are. :t:

 

[Fozzybear]

Red-throated Diver in Chelmsford!

Went to Central Park in Chelmsford this morning following a tip-off from snapper1966 on flickr, who'd been told there was a Red-throated Diver seen on the lake on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't expect it to be there still but I walked down there this morning and as I started along the bank and looking out from between the willows I couldn't see anything and was pretty sure it had gone but when I got to the open paved section of bank I found the Diver was there... and only about 20 feet away from me! I got loads of photos as it preened and dove, moving slowly around the lake, really good views and it was frequently coming quite close to the bank. Snapper1966 turned up too and another birder.

Was very cool to see one here, I understand that seeing them inland is pretty rare - certainly a bird I didn't think I'd see without spending a lot of time on the coast. Really must come to this lake more often, it seems to pick up interesting birds quite often. The Kingfishers were around again on the lake and the other birder (didn't catch his name) spotted a Grey Wagtail too, probably from one of the families that were nesting along the river in the summer.

 

[purple highflyer]

Went to Central Park in Chelmsford this morning following a tip-off from snapper1966 on flickr, who'd been told there was a Red-throated Diver seen on the lake on Saturday and Sunday.

Hi Fozzybear

So , twitching aswell as keeping lists now !,I was tempted to go myself as you dont often get close views like that ,if it had not been in quite such an advanced state of moult I would have,saw one at canvey island on saturday but that was way out.

PH

 

[Fozzybear]

I said to Snapper that it was the first time I'd gone to see a bird someone else had found, although I later realised that I'd sorta done that when going to see my brother in Ipswich as he took me to the park there to see the Tawny Owl and try to see the Nuthatches. This was a very long distance twitch... I walked there! Not sure of the definition but at what point do you draw the line? If you're in a hide and the guy over the other side points out a bird and you go to his bench to see it is that twitching? Looking on wikipedia they reckon:

The term 'twitcher', sometimes misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be "ticked", or checked off, on a list.

In which case I doubt you could truly be a pedestrian twitcher unless your name is Wainwright. || I did add it to the list I put in the Chelmsford group on flickr... slippery slope! :eek!on't think I'll be getting a pager and a helecopter to the Scillies 'just' yet though. "Where's my kagool and thermos Marjorie?"

Nice to see these interesting birds in the local park, I really must keep more of an eye on this lake as it seems that there are migrants seen here quite a bit.

 

[purple highflyer]

Hi Fozzy bear

Yep , think you,ll have to add central park to the patch.

PH

 

[Fozzybear]

Indeed!

Went back to the park today, the Red-throated Diver was still there and being watched by a small group of birders, plus saw a Grey Wagtail at the narrow end of the lake. The Diver seems very settled, it was fishing and preening close to the bank where we were standing and had a nap right in front of us too, which was really nice to see.

Out along the river Chelmer east of the town there were a couple of groups of Little Grebes, a Kestrel hunting, some Reed Buntings, a Cormorant fishing in the river and a number of Stonechats too.

 

[Ragna]

Paul just had a look at your diver shots on flickr very impressed.If the weather looks ok on Saturday morning ill try and get over early ,picked up on birdguides that u can park in Viaduct Road is this the best place to park (dont know Chelmsford). Graham.

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks Graham. At the moment it looks pretty wet for Saturday but it might improve - fingers crossed! Not sure about parking, I've lived here all my life but don't drive and none of my family do either. I saw a lot of cars down Viaduct Road this morning but whether that's a good place or not I couldn't really say.

 

[purple highflyer]

Indeed!

Went back to the park today, the Red-throated Diver was still there and being watched by a small group of birders, plus saw a Grey Wagtail at the narrow end of the lake. The Diver seems very settled, it was fishing and preening close to the bank where we were standing and had a nap right in front of us too, which was really nice to see.

Seem to remember reading somwhere that someone noted it may be blind in one eye wich could explain the unusual location/behaviour.

PH

 

[Fozzybear]

That had been mentioned to me but we looked and if it was then we couldn't tell.

 

[Fozzybear]

...could the 'milky-looking' eye be due to the protective clear eyelid? Maybe it has one that it wasn't retracting at times as thinking back I remember seeing it's eyes looking milky at times but at others were clear and red/black.