The birding wasn’t bad with ten lifers eventually plucked out following a very slow start. January saw Pine Bunting added and then the next tick didn’t come along until 11th June when the Elegant Tern was found down at Church Norton. In July I manged to get on the Marsh Sandpiper at Cliffe Pools in […]
Tag: Short-Eared Owl
POLL: Should there be a tough crack down on the killing of raptors?
Grouse moors are to blame for persecuting endangered birds of prey in the Scottish Highlands and Uplands, according to a wildlife crime expert. Ian Thomson, the head of investigations at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said data from 77 birds of prey that had been satellite-tagged showed a direct correlation between […]
Marsh Harrier and Short-eared Owls at Elmley NNR
I took a drive down to Elmley this afternoon after work thinking it’s as good a place as any to clear the head after a very hard week of chasing numbers. I spent two hours there with little to note other than singing Skylarks, Lapwings and a few Redshank before it all kicked off. First […]
The severe Baltic winter that made thousands of birds flee
We seem, nowadays, to have forgotten what a “proper” winter is like. A series of mild seasons, punctuated only by the freeze-ups of 2009-10 and 2010-11, have perhaps made us complacent. But for Europe’s birds, cold winters need to be taken far more seriously. Almost 30 years ago the winter of 1978-79 led to a […]
Harriers and Shorties!
My day started in gloomy weather at Wallasea this morning where four Marsh Harriers and a single Ring-tail Hen Harrier entertained me. With the Shorties staying down I headed off in search of a bit more light and found some in Cambridgeshire and the Short-eared Owls came out to play at this venue too. A […]
Birthday presents
Yes I’m a year older and with some of the battles I’ve faced over the years each birthday is something to celebrate believe me. So after answering a few text messages, opening a few presents (mostly bird related with a sprinkling of Springsteen) seeing my parents, eating cake and enjoying a garden tick when a […]
Alaska – 9th June (Day 13)
Another day spent birding the Council Road which runs east from Nome, thats not a negative comment, its a fantastic birding road as it extends along the length of Safety Sound with the sound to the north and the open sea of Norton Sound to the south. Today we birded as far as the summit […]
Oare and Elmley
An early morning trip down to Oare marsh in Kent rewarded me with a drake Garganey, Marsh Harriers, Cuckoo and Bearded Tits to name a few. Moving on to Elmley I found more Marsh Harriers and a Short-eared Owl along with plenty of Yellow Wagtails, Redshank and Lapwing as you’d […]