My kind of birding or, the blog still lives

January 2nd 2017 - Topsham

OK, it's been a while. Several reasons come to mind but mostly it's just idleness and bloody-mindedness. Early in the autumn I decided the theme for the season was going to be 'patch loyalty'. I'd turn my nose up at all the fancy vagrating exotica turning up elsewhere and spend my time in and around Topsham; yeah, I know I twitched the LG Shrike in September but that was only 40 miles away and it was a shrike, plus my plan hadn't fully developed by then. So I daily scanned The Rec for rare gulls, stood by suitable bushes at BGM and Highfield Farm listening for the calls of lost Siberian passerines, and checked the pools for transatlantic waders. The result - zero. Nothing to trouble the BBRC (or even the DBRC for that matter). I could have become discouraged; maybe it was the patch, maybe it was me. But The Rec has had some great birds in the past and I've even found some of them myself. This is where bloody-mindedness comes in to its own, persistence in the absence of encouragement or, no birds yet - keep plugging away. At this point I should be able to report a major rarity find but as you'll know that hasn't happened just yet. Still, a new year and all that; January and February to come and still the chance of a decent gull, we've turned the corner on winter and spring's now in sight. I decided to refresh my birding batteries, join the crowd for a day and spend a few hours just pottering around Topsham on my bike for some New Year's Day birding - I know it was the 2nd but the 1st was a shocker so I postponed. Maybe it was the weather, sunny though not warm, maybe it was bumping in to old birding mates, but more than anything it was the birds - nothing rare, just variety, a bit of spectacle and some real quality. I had a really great day; I also took a few photos.

First the Yellow-browed Warbler found by The Rec's other regular 'patcher' Martin Elcoate. Always a pleasure to spend time with one of these, I just wish they'd sit still a bit more often.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

 Tracking the bird and focusing through the branches was a little difficult at times.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

 Showing the faint pale crown stripe.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

The tail feathers appear to be worn and pointed indicating, not surprisingly, a 1st winter bird.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

Constantly searching for, and finding, food - overwintering caterpillars presumably.

Bowling Green Marsh and the VP were, as expected, heaving with people, Avocets and ducks so after an hour scanning the estuary for a few year ticks I went on to Goosemoor. The long-staying Spotted Redshank gave its usual close views as it swam and probed for worms (ragworm?) as soon as the falling tide allowed.

Spotted Redshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

Spotted Redshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

Spotted Redshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

Spotted Redshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

  And possibly even more elegant, a fine Greenshank.

 Greenshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

Greenshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

Greenshank - Topsham Goosemoor 2/1/2017

I dropped back in on The Rec later for the low tide gulls and another seesion with the Yellow-browed Warbler. The gulls failed to deliver but the YBW continued to perform and our wintering Goldeneye and Long-tailed Duck looked good enough to photograph, so I did.

Goldeneye - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

Long-tailed Duck - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

Long-tailed Duck - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

Long-tailed Duck - Topsham Rec 2/1/2017

A few final thoughts: is Topsham really the best place in the world? Why does birding these days feel like an episode of  'Last of the Summer Wine', and why is every other birder I know called Dave?

Another Marsh Harrier

Topsham Recreation Ground - 24th March 2013

It didn't seem that cold when I left the house. When I reached the river I wished I'd brought gloves - well actually I was starting to wish I'd stayed at home. It was cold and it was dark. So if there was anything interesting I was just going to get more rubbish photos, if any. Photographing distant flying birds at ISO 800 with a 300mm lens plus converter is generally pointless, I usually get grainy pixellated blobs, in fact, pretty much what you see here.

Another male Marsh Harrier and a different bird - unless he's picked up a wing tag in the last couple of weeks. It also looked to be another third calendar year bird judging by the dark tips to the flight feathers. A quick web search later and this appears to have been tagged as a nestling in Norfolk in 2011. There is a code on the tag but I can't read it from these photos

And, if only to underline the winter feel, there were Bramblings still in the riverside gardens and the usual Long-tailed Duck looking quite at home on the river.

I think this time last year I was wondering if it was time for shorts and sandals...

Postscript 28/3/2013.

I contacted Phil Littler of the North West Norfolk Ringing Group since the Marsh Harrier appeared to be one of his birds. After looking again at the photos we've concluded that the code is in fact AC. This bird was ringed and tagged as a pullus at Sculthorpe Moor, Norfolk on 10th June 2011; it was sexed as a male on leg measurements - looks like I aged it correctly. This was its first sighting since then, presumably it's been living somewhere a little warmer for the last year and a half and is now heading north for its first breeding season.