Country Blog: Ruth Millertag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://1702007-12-21T17:17:30ZMovable Type Publishing Platform 4.02aThe Biggest Twitch - birding and blogging all over the world!tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.340592007-12-21T17:08:50Z2007-12-21T17:17:30Z DON’T get me wrong, the birding in Wales can be great! This year’s seen an amazing number of rarities and vagrants on our doorstep: Red-flanked Bluetail, Red-breasteed Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Warblers, Hume’s Yellow-browed Warbler, Desert Wheatear, Pechora Pipit, and Great...Ruth Miller
DON’T get me wrong, the birding in Wales can be great! This year’s seen an amazing number of rarities and vagrants on our doorstep: Red-flanked Bluetail, Red-breasteed Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Warblers, Hume’s Yellow-browed Warbler, Desert Wheatear, Pechora Pipit, and Great White Egret all spring to mind.
But Alan and I decided we wanted to bird further afield.
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Southern Masked Weaver from Africa, Namibia
As well as our essential bins and scopes, we’ll be armed with video and digital cameras as we travel as we aim to record as much of our adventure as possible.
We’ll be uploading a diary with news of our progress and bird photos onto our website as we go, www.thebiggesttwitch.com so do log on to see how we’re doing!
And before anyone mutters about global warming and carbon footprints, we want to use The Biggest Twitch as a vehicle to raise the profile of wildlife conservation.
We’ll be visiting various conservation projects around the world and writing about them on our website and in our forthcoming book of The Biggest Twitch, and where possible promoting their work in any media interviews.
Nutcracker in Finland
But we’re not just talking about it. We also want to raise funds to go directly into wildlife and habitat conservation by supporting the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation.
MCF is based in Ecuador, one of the key destinations on our itinerary for next year. MCF works with local landowners to protect unspoiled cloudforest habitat and restore cleared farmland to its original state for the benefit of its wildlife, particularly birds.
Ecotourism, including birding trips, is then encouraged in the area with the revenue generated benefiting the locals.
It’s a successful formula which is being rolled out across a greater area.
The World Land Trust is acting as our intermediary both here in the UK and in the USA so donors can give funds in either sterling or dollars.
Our website has the details of how to make a donation, so there’s another reason to log on to www.thebiggesttwitch.com and take a look!
So do wish us well in our venture, and we’ll be back to tell you all about it in 2009!
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Birds not blogs for jet-setting Ruthtag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.323892007-12-04T18:23:15Z2007-12-04T18:31:36ZRUTH and fellow bird watcher Alan Davies are flying out to Arizona at the start of world record twitching attempt....Ruth Miller
RUTH and fellow bird watcher Alan Davies are flying out to Arizona at the start of world record twitching attempt.
They will spend a year travelling the world aiming to spot as many species of birds as possible.
The current record is 3,662 set by a North America twitcher three years ago.
Ruth and Alan have quit their jobs and sold their homes to fund the trip.
Until she returns Ruth will not be posting her usual blogs.
All the fun of the fair!tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.220332007-08-15T18:06:10Z2007-08-15T18:38:40ZI’m off to the Birdfair, or The British Birdwatching Fair to be precise, at Rutland Water this weekend. Three days of all sorts of things to do with birds, birdwatching and wildlife in general....Ruth Miller
I’m off to the Birdfair, or The British Birdwatching Fair to be precise, at Rutland Water this weekend.
Three days of all sorts of things to do with birds, birdwatching and wildlife in general.
Before my first visit, I had no idea that birdwatching was such big business but, believe me, it is.
There are five marquees in the fields around the reservoir at Rutland Water and inside is everything with even the remotest connection to birds and the great outdoors: clothing; wildlife books, CDs and DVDs; wildlife paintings, sculptures and photographs; binoculars, telescopes and all sorts of gizmos; birdfeeders, birdfood and other bits and pieces for your garden; and representatives of birding countries and travel companies from all over the world tempting you to look for wildlife further afield.
An awful lot of money changes hands in just three days here!
There are snack bars, restaurant and roving food trolleys, and hundreds and hundreds of portaloos.
And just in case you get bored with all this, there are more marquees hosting slide shows, presentations and competitions for adults and children alike.
If getting hands on is more your thing, there are guided walks in the surrounding countryside and demonstrations of rural crafts.
Or of course, you could just go birdwatching on Rutland Water itself.
The last few years the weather has been great, and pretty hot inside the marquees, but maybe this year with rain forecast over the next few days, it could more like Glastonbury, but with fewer rock bands.
Mud bath, anyone?
All sorts of birding celebs will be there: Bill Oddie, Simon King, Nigel Marven, Mike Dilger, Janet Sumner, Chris Packham - familiar faces from TV as well as other, perhaps less familiar, experts, sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm.
And I’ll be there rubbing shoulders with the great and the good, not only enjoying the fair as a visitor but also helping out on the trade stand for one of the largest specialist travel companies in the world, Tropical Birding - though I must confess, my greatest contribution is usually in keeping the expert guides well fed and watered during the fair!
The Fair’s a fundraising event too. Each year the organisers select a particular project for which to raise funds, and last year raised £215,000 for BirdLife International’s work to conserve parrots and other threatened birds in the South Pacific islands.
This year’s theme, and next year’s too, is called ‘Preventing Extinctions: Saving the World’s Critically Endangered Birds’.
The plan is to do what it says on the tin: to identify the most critical cases around the world and take specific actions to prevent their extinction.
Good luck to them, sounds ambitious!
So, if you fancy doing something different at the weekend, why not try the Birdfair?
You may leave only with a birdfeeder, some binoculars or just a bagful of holiday brochures, but given the weather forecast, you’d probably better bring your wellies, just in case.
The ones that got away!tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.217722007-08-13T09:23:30Z2007-08-13T09:32:51ZWALES has done pretty well for rare birds recently. First, the Alaw Estuary in Anglesey was visited by a Black Stork. This was a fairly obliging bird, hanging around for plenty of people to see it, even if it did...Ruth Miller
WALES has done pretty well for rare birds recently. First, the Alaw Estuary in Anglesey was visited by a Black Stork.
This was a fairly obliging bird, hanging around for plenty of people to see it, even if it did occasionally give everyone the slip briefly by sneaking away into some nearby fields.
Anglesey's Black Stork - not a brilliant photo, but it's mine!
Him Indoors was just that, stuck indoors in his office, so he wasn’t best pleased that I’d seen the bird and he hadn’t.
Being gripped off, as it’s known in the trade, it can be a very painful condition when a keen birder hasn’t seen a particular bird but his girlfriend has.
So a couple of tense hours passed before he could escape the computer and dash over to see the Black Stork for himself.
Phew!
Sharing the treats around, mid-Wales was graced with a Gull-billed Tern on the Dyfi Estuary.
Another rarity, this Tern looks not too dissimilar to a Sandwich Tern which we see quite frequently along the North Wales coastline, but its call is quite unique, being said to sound like Punch saying to Judy, “That’s the way to do it!”
This I had to hear for myself!
South Wales did even better with a Roller hanging around a farm on the Gower Peninsula for about a week, very obligingly sitting on telegraph wires showing off well to all the birders who went to see it.
Unlike so many of our rather drab-coloured birds, a Roller is a very jazzy number indeed, being generally bright blue-green with a brown back.
With the Black Stork under our belt, we decided to make a day of it and go for the others.
This meant a 4am start, not my favourite time of day but very popular with the local fox population, perhaps another beneficiary of the Council’s economy drive on the refuse collection front.
The roads heading south through Wales, though very scenic, are not the fastest so it was a good three hours before we reached the Dyfi estuary.
Driving towards the beach we saw two raptors perched together on a telegraph pole and wire. Buzzards, we thought, given their posture. But no.
We must have woken them for they suddenly straightened up and showed themselves to be a beautiful pair of Ospreys.
Such an amazing sight so close up!
With this great start, surely our luck was in for birding?
Sadly not. As we started scanning the enormous expanse of marshland at the mouth of the Dyfi river, the news came in that the Roller had disappeared.
It had stayed a week but not a day longer. We’d dipped. Disappointed, we continued to scan the river but the few birds we could see were all gulls.
After two hours of this, we deserted our post seeking breakfast to feed the inner birder.
Fortified with egg and bacon, we returned to the estuary. With no Roller to drive on for, we decided to stay put until we found the Tern.
So we watched and we waited.
And waited.
Birders came and birders went, and still we waited.
By this time, I’ll confess I was turning my bins to other things in search of entertainment. Aberdovey looks very attractive from across the river, and picturesquely, a steam engine puffed its way down the valley into the town.
Gulls seemed to be settling further upstream, too far to see from the beach, so we tried another route to the water to see if we could get a better look.
Armed with bins and scope, we walked about a mile along a footpath to an alternative viewpoint.
Another very pretty spot, where we looked and looked: plenty of Black-headed Gulls, some Little Egrets and two Green Sandpipers, even a Green Crab and some tiny fish, but no Gull-billed Tern.
Eventually we gave up, trudged back to the car and began the three-hour drive home.
Maybe birding isn’t such a good thing after all.
If we hadn’t been looking for the Tern, we’d have said it was a great day out in beautiful countryside and glorious sunshine.
We explored new places, had a picnic beside a river and went home slightly pink from all the fresh air and sunshine.
As it was, we drove home feeling rather disappointed, and the unsuccessful journey seemed even longer on the way back.
But hang on a minute. If it wasn’t for the Tern, would we have still gone out, would we have discovered a new birding spot and would we have enjoyed the most amazing close-up views of Ospreys, not to mention all the other wildlife during the day?
No, on balance I think I’d rather try and miss out, than not try at all.]]>
Aargh! Turn the volume down, will you!tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.207892007-08-06T09:50:34Z2007-08-06T10:03:23Z AM I turning into a Grumpy Old Woman or is life getting noisier these days? All around us the general hubbub of daily life seems to have increased without us realising: we all live with the constant background noise...Ruth Miller
AM I turning into a Grumpy Old Woman or is life getting noisier these days?
All around us the general hubbub of daily life seems to have increased without us realising: we all live with the constant background noise of cars, machinery, tools, loud voices, music and (if you’re near the coast) Herring Gulls! ]]>
Screaming should be for falling off, not jumping up and down
I don’t remember life being any less exciting because I had to turn down the volume a little. But then, listening to a succession of adults simply walking along the road today, I realise that every one of them is talking at top voice.
They have to. It’s the only way to make themselves heard above the general cacophony of urban life all around us.
As I’m typing this, a car alarm is going off to my left, and the 8.20am dog has started up.
Its owner regularly leaves for work at this time, and the daft animal still hasn’t realised that barking for a couple of hours won’t bring them back any earlier.
To my right, there’s a revving car engine and a roaring motorbike accelerating into the distance, White Van Man has just hooted as he pushes through a gap, and somewhere further off, I can hear the beep, beep, beep of a delivery vehicle reversing.
In the flat above me, the washing machine has just reached spin cycle, and now a pneumatic drill has just started up outside my window.
Aargh!
The smoking ban has certainly improved the atmosphere inside our pubs, clubs and restaurants, but an unfortunate by-product is the increase in punters taking their drinks and cigarettes out onto the pavement during the day, even when the sun’s not shining.
If you live within earshot of a pub, as I do, you can expect to be entertained all evening with the noise of increasingly loud and raucous voices and laughter as the evening progresses.
I’m sure the punchlines are very funny but somehow we’re missing the joke.
Police and ambulance sirens are also a regular occurrence as it gets later, and the boom-boom-boom of a car stereo on wheels goes past in the wee small hours.
Are bodywork, windows, seats and interior décor just optional extras for the ultimate mobile ghetto blaster?
And it starts all over again before dawn as our Herring Gull neighbours greet the morning.
So earlier this morning I gave up. I stomped up the Great Orme in a bad mood and tramped along some of the lesser-used footpaths to get myself some rural sound therapy.
In a secluded spot near the edge of the limestone pavement, I threw myself down on the soft grass, closed my eyes against the glare of the sun, and listened.
To nothing. No cars, no engines, no sirens, no music, no voices. Just the sound of the breeze, the occasional high-pitched twitter of a Meadow Pipit flying over, and the distant soothing call of Kittiwakes on the sea below me.
Absolute bliss!
I could feel myself relaxing, de-stressing, being soothed by the peaceful sound of natural, unmodified nature.
At last I felt ready to face the urban world again, though maybe I’ll keep my iPod plugged firmly into my ears!]]>
At least someone likes fortnightly bin collectionstag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.167982007-06-25T10:14:03Z2007-06-25T10:18:38ZTHE street cleaners were out early again this morning. Long before you or I had opened our eyes, they were out on the streets, picking up the discarded food from the day before....Ruth Miller
THE street cleaners were out early again this morning. Long before you or I had opened our eyes, they were out on the streets, picking up the discarded food from the day before.
My avian neighbours now have a family of three hungry chicks to feed. They look quite cute at this stage (see photo above), though perhaps only their parents would call them beautiful, but they’re growing fast and need a constant supply of food.
So what would any self-respecting caring parent do but seek out an easy food source and raid it regularly.
Why fly out to sea to look for food when breakfast is literally at your feet, in the gutter?
But what does this mean for them in the long term?
Apart from a risk of obesity from eating too many fatty products, there is the more real risk of swallowing something even more harmful – plastic wrapping for example which is totally indigestible, may stick in the gut and will ultimately kill the bird, possibly after long and painful suffering.
So what can we do? Apart from trying to reduce our waste output generally, think twice about discarding food without making sure it is well wrapped up, and never just drop it on the ground.
After all, Herring Gulls may be just the more appealing opportunists to benefit from our wastefulness – ones with four legs, whiskers and a long scaly tail won’t be far behind!]]>
Turkey - a paradise for birderstag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.155572007-06-13T10:26:31Z2007-06-13T10:34:28ZTURKEY’S not just for Christmas. It’s pretty good in June too....Ruth Miller
TURKEY’S not just for Christmas.
It’s pretty good in June too.
No, I prefer what I’d call the real Turkey in the east and south, where the local form of transport has four legs and a tail;
where the local children rush out to look at you but giggle shyly from behind their hands;
where the waiters come at a run in their eagerness to replenish your plate and glass;
where wearing a headscarf wins the smiling approval of the village matriarchs;
where the birds may be hard to find, but oh, so rewarding when you see them.
Take, for example, the Caspian Snowcock, elusive resident of the snowy tops of the Anatolian Mountains.
To see this bird, you need to take a tractor-ride at 5am up into the mountains to an altitude of 3,000m.
This is the lowest level that the bird descends to in the night, before it retreats back up to the snow-covered peaks during the day, so you have to go high and you have to be early to have any chance of seeing it.
A good telescope and a large dose of luck help too.
And our reward for having both was surprisingly good views of about six birds, large members of the pheasant family with delicately striped grey bodies and striking white facial markings.
Their almost Curlew-like calls echoed eerily around the mountaintops as we soaked up the fantastic scenic view and atmosphere of this awe-inspiring setting.
Or if you prefer your birds at sea level, how about White-breasted Kingfisher in the steamy coastal delta, a mega Kingfisher about a foot long with a bill of four inches!
It’s not always tied to water but can be seen in groves of trees, so its striking azure blue back and tail must surely give it some of the worst camouflage going in the birding world.
But perhaps the easiest birding was looking for the Striated Scops Owl which inhabits the trees of the shady tea gardens in Biracek.
How civilised! A cup of tea in one hand and binoculars in the other as you look up into each tree in turn for the dozing owl – my kind of birding!
I don’t know how it can possibly sleep with the noise of traffic, tea drinkers and the ubiquitous Turkish music all around it, but the gardens obviously suits it, as it is a regular visitor there.
With the combined efforts of the 12 people on the trip, we logged over 200 birds in 10 days, and I snapped nearly 400 photographs single-handed!
Unfortunately all good things come to an end, and was back to reality with a bump as we landed at Manchester at 3am with no sign of our taxi home, but no matter, at least I’ve got my photo album to daydream over.]]>
I'm not one to boast but . . . .tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.123032007-05-11T10:30:50Z2007-05-11T10:42:29ZNORTH Norfolk Blues? Given the forecast for glorious weather in North Wales for the Bank Holiday weekend, who in their right mind would choose to travel to the one part of the country that had cold winds and grey skies?...Ruth Miller
NORTH Norfolk Blues? Given the forecast for glorious weather in North Wales for the Bank Holiday weekend, who in their right mind would choose to travel to the one part of the country that had cold winds and grey skies?
Spotted Redshank
Little Gulls and Little Terns also put in an appearance, but proved almost impossible to photograph.
Once we braved the winds to walk out onto the beach for a spot of seawatching, but the waves were too rough to pick out any bonus birds amongst the rafts of Common Scoter bobbing about.
Somehow, a cooked breakfast tastes so much better after a good birding session! The new Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) visitor centre at Cley had only opened that morning when we turned up later for coffee – I can recommend the locally-sourced organic cakes!
By the car park, we heard the strikingly strident song of a Cetti's Warbler calling from deep within a bush. Amazingly, we then saw this elusive bird fly out only to promptly disappear into the depths of the next bush.
But when it comes to birdsong, nothing can beat a Nightingale.
This time with our local crab sandwiches, we sat on the verge of a narrow lane listening to the beautiful silvery melody as the bird sang out of sight in the bushes.
A drab brown bird emerged opposite us and flew a short way down the lane. The haunting melody started up again, this time from bushes further away and we congratulated ourselves on having seen our second elusive chorist of the day.
Our timing on this trip was incredibly lucky. Strolling across Kelling Heath, not looking for anything in particular we passed a gorse bush just as Mr and Mrs Dartford Warbler hopped up onto the top to enjoy the brief spell of sunshine.
Pulling into a lay-by near Burnham Market to let White Van Man rush by, we looked out of the car window to see a Montagu's Harrier quartering a field of oilseed rape.
What were the odds of us stopping there at that precise second?
A bit of a detour saw us on the edge of Norwich, looking for a rare Iberian Chiffchaff that had been seen in the area.
No other birders were around to give us a clue where to look, but who needed them when the bird itself hopped up into full view and sang its distinctive song right in front of us at full throttle.
And having gone that far, why not drive a bit further south to Graffham Water, where an extremely rare Wilson's Phalarope had just arrived?
My kind of bird this: the brightly-coloured female lays her eggs and then leaves the drab male in charge of parental duties!
Being roughly in the area, we were among the first to enjoy great views of this beautiful bird with a peachy breast and blue-grey head, but she showed off to admirers for the whole weekend, how obliging!
Another first for me was seeing a Stone Curlew. I'd heard all about these birds but never actually seen one, and such is their scarcity today, that you're unlikely to outside special reserves such as Weeting Heath NWT.
Looking out onto a rough, stony patch of heathland, all you can see initially are rabbits, hundreds of them doing a very efficient job of keeping the grass short.
Lapwing pairs shepherded their little families of back-and-white chicks, but no sign of Stone Curlews.
Until the warden pointed them out: “See that bush? Good, go three rabbits to the left and just in front of that dead stick you'll find a Stone Curlew on its nest.”
It still took a good telescope to make out the bird, perfectly camouflaged and motionless, huddled on the bare ground over its eggs.
Even once you knew where to look, only the baleful gaze of its deep yellow eyes gave it away.
So we didn't see much sun, but we saw some good birds, some great birds, and some truly awesome birds – oh, and ate some fantastic food as well.
Not a bad weekend, all in all!
And in case you're interested, here's my bird list for the weekend:
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant
Bittern (heard)
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Pink-footed Goose
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Brent Goose
Egyptian Goose
Shelduck
Wigeon
Gadwall
Teal
Mallard
Garganey
Shoveler
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red Kite
Marsh Harrier
Montagu’s Harrier
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Kestrel
Hobby
Peregrine
Red-legged Partridge
Pheasant
Water Rail (heard)
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Avocet
Stone Curlew
Little Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Knot
Sanderling
Temminck’s Stint
Dunlin
Ruff
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Whimbrel
Curlew
Spotted Redshank
Redshank
Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Turnstone
Mediterranean Gull
Little Gull
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Sandwich Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Little Tern
Stock Dove
Woodpigeon
Collard Dove
Turtle Dove
Cuckoo
Barn Owl
Swift
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Woodlark
Skylark
Sand Martin
Swallow
House Martin
Meadow Pipit
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Nightingale
Stonechat
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Cetti’s Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler (heard)
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Dartford Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Common Whitethroat
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Wood Warbler
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Bearded Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Siskin
Linnet
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
Iberian Chiffchaff
Wilson’s Phalarope]]>
Bird “tornado” blew me awaytag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.116602007-05-03T09:45:42Z2007-05-03T09:51:39ZIT'S Osprey time of year again. From April onwards, these magnificent birds can be seen around here as they return from their African winter haunts to breed in the UK, where the climate is cooler and the fishing is good....Ruth Miller
IT'S Osprey time of year again. From April onwards, these magnificent birds can be seen around here as they return from their African winter haunts to breed in the UK, where the climate is cooler and the fishing is good.
The regular male arrived quite early this year, and was seen mating with his female within 20 minutes of her arrival a few days later.
Obviously foreplay is not an Osprey speciality! There are now three eggs in the nest which are due to hatch any time from mid-May onwards.
Again with lucky timing, I watched the female take over incubating duties from the male and then carefully rotate the eggs to ensure an even temperature.
The eggshells have a wonderful blood-red marbling pattern all over – how often do you get to see something like that?
After turning them all over to her satisfaction and fidgeting around for a little while, the female settled down onto the nest while the male flew to a nearby tree to keep an eye on things.
All this in the beautiful setting of the Glaslyn valley, with the backdrop of Cnicht, the Welsh Matterhorn, glowing in the sunlight.
Can it get any better than that?
Well, perhaps it can.
The other morning, back at home, we noticed the herring gulls were making even more noise than usual.
Looking out the window, we could see every bird in the area had flown up into the sky and was circling around in the air much higher than usual, almost giving the effect of a tornado in the sky over the town.
Their alarm cries were extremely agitated; clearly something had them very worried. The bird tornado seemed to be getting closer, and looking high into the sky we could make out a much larger bird flying steadily towards us: an Osprey.
Closer and closer it came, until it flew right over our heads as we peered out of the window, playing Pied Piper to the trail of Herring Gulls following in its wake.
A magnificent bird of prey seen out of our sitting room window, how cool is that?
But if that wasn't enough, yesterday’s view topped the bill.
I paid an early visit before work to Conwy RSPB to catch up with a beautiful male Garganey that had just arrived on the freshwater lagoon: a dapper brown and grey duck with a startling broad white eyestripe that looked so smart in the early sunshine.
Again our attention was attracted upwards by the reaction of the birds around us. Some birds on the lagoon lifted up in the air, feeling threatened by a predator and looking up, we could clearly see an Osprey flying towards the hide, being harried by a valiant pair of Oystercatchers, an avian David challenging Goliath.
This time the Osprey flew by much lower and was so close, we could clearly see its white belly and the slight mottled effect at the base of its throat, its pale underwings with a black patch at its 'wrist' and the long black 'fingers'.
It really was amazing to see this spectacular bird so close, and made a fantastic start to the day.
Going into the office was such an anticlimax!]]>
Noisy neighbours keep me awake at nighttag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.105332007-04-20T09:55:02Z2007-04-20T10:00:22ZA QUICK update on the new neighbours. As you can see from the photos, they’ve checked out vacant property in the area, and have decided this spot will suit them perfectly....Ruth Miller
A QUICK update on the new neighbours. As you can see from the photos, they’ve checked out vacant property in the area, and have decided this spot will suit them perfectly.
I guess it’s quite a good spot to sit and admire the view, with a bit of protection from the chimney stacks from the driving rain, or rather the heat of the sun that we’re enjoying at the moment.
Certainly the noise levels in the early hours of the morning have increased, as the pair declares to the world that this is their patch.
When one bird returns to the other, there is also period of calling, which sounds for all the world like a conversation between them.
“Where have you been?”
“Oh, just down to the promenade.”
“Much about?”
“No, only a few empty fish-and-chip wrappers, you didn’t miss much.”
Fair enough, but do they have to be quite so loud at 5am?]]>
My horrifying attack by a farm dogtag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.101072007-04-13T09:01:01Z2007-04-13T09:11:51ZSADLY my Easter weekend took a turn for the worse while out walking with my sister in the Conwy valley....Ruth Miller
SADLY my Easter weekend took a turn for the worse while out walking with my sister in the Conwy valley.
Owners of unpredictable dogs should keep them away from children
The farmer saw what happened but didn't seem too concerned.
Was this a regular occurrence?
The dogs sense fear, he said, but growing up in an animal-mad family, I have no fear of dogs, at least not until now.
Luckily for me, I was wearing stout trousers and thick walking socks. The dog's teeth only broke the skin slightly and didn't draw much blood; all I have to show for it now are the teethmarks and some bruising.
But what if I'd been bare-legged?
What if I'd been a small child?
Particularly worrying was that this farm was also a campsite, so would have more visitors than most.
I can understand the need for farm dogs to be guard dogs, but it does seem rather irresponsible to have an unpredictable dog running loose in the same place as children.
I have since made friends with a lovely collie out walking on the Great Orme, so I've not developed dog-phobia.
But I'll still think twice about choosing a route near any farmyards in future.
]]>
Something to grouse about!tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.101062007-04-13T08:56:17Z2007-04-13T09:00:56ZWE HEARD them long before we saw them. The wonderful, warm, burbling, almost purring sound carried across the moors to us clearly as soon as we wound down the window....Ruth Miller
WE HEARD them long before we saw them. The wonderful, warm, burbling, almost purring sound carried across the moors to us clearly as soon as we wound down the window.
Black Grouse on Llandegla Moor
All the males, black bodies, red eyebrows, had almost turned themselves inside out to display their startling white tails fanned out behind them.
They made little jumps into the air and mock charges at each other, vying for supremacy, all the while burbling and bubbling loudly.
The display caught our attention, but more importantly, it attracted the attention of a female who watched the males with a critical eye from the edge of the dance floor, her muted camouflage making her hard to spot.
Truly a sight to warm your heart in the bracing temperatures of 6am.
We make this annual spring pilgrimage to World's End, one of the few reliable sites left in North Wales to see the Black Grouse lek.
A cripplingly early start ensures you reach the moors at dawn, for by 9am the grouse show is over.
The best way to see the performance is from your car; walking across the moors will only disturb the birds you've come to see, perhaps for good.
(If you prefer your views on foot, the RSPB arranges guided tours in season from Llandegla to a special viewing hide.)
As we drove slowly along the single-track lane across the moor, we stopped twice, using the car as a mobile hide, to hear and see more grouse displaying.
At our third stop, we heard, and then briefly caught sight of, a Red Grouse peering out over the heather before it crouched down under the cover of the bushes.
The theme tune of a certain whisky ad kept running through my mind as we decided it was time to toast our successful birding with a cooked breakfast.
So, certainly nothing to grouse about that morning.]]>
Conwy's getting 'otter - my extraordinary discoverytag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.95362007-04-04T10:59:59Z2007-04-04T11:10:09ZMONDAY mornings normally mean the weekly supermarket shop but the spring sunshine was too enticing this week, so I made a detour first to Conwy RSPB Reserve. Out of the wind and in the warmth of the sun, it really...Ruth Miller
MONDAY mornings normally mean the weekly supermarket shop but the spring sunshine was too enticing this week, so I made a detour first to Conwy RSPB Reserve.
Out of the wind and in the warmth of the sun, it really felt as though spring was finally springing.
Two dark humps emerged and then disappeared back down into the water, like a mini Loch Ness monster.
I watched the spot to see if the humps would reappear.
Then beside the nearest island right in front of me, two heads popped up: not one, but two otters!
A brief glimpse and they submerged again. This time I had a trail of bubbles to follow, and before long, their two backs humped up out of the water side by side as they swam along strongly.
They disappeared from my sight again but the gulls still circling overhead gave the game away.
Another pause, and then once again, two heads broke the water, this time slightly further away.
There was a ripple and a roll in the water: were the two otters play-fighting?
They dived again, and came up one last time near the far side of the lagoon, their streamlined bodies breaking the water smoothly before disappearing from sight.
The gulls stopped their alarm calls and settled back down on land to preen themselves back into calmness.
The otter show was over.
This isn't the first time otters have been seen around here. Last year, birders following a rarity just upstream on the River Conwy may have missed their bird, but had the reward of seeing a dog otter instead.
And the warden at Conwy RSPB has apparently caught glimpses of one on the reserve a few times before.
Last year, Conwy County Council installed an artificial otter holt on the reserve, so perhaps the pair I saw had found it and moved in.
With a ready source of fish to eat in the lagoons of the reserve and the much-improved water of the River Conwy itself, maybe they'll stay and even breed here.
Wouldn't that be fantastic! Getting a little 'otter in Conwy, and nothing to do with global warming!
I've never seen two otters together in the wild before, and was very excited by the whole experience.
I'll have to go back to the reserve to look for them again.
Still fired up about my close encounter of the furry kind, I dragged myself away to the supermarket.
Fish for tea, I think.
]]>
My new neighbours are keeping me awake at nighttag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.91362007-03-29T15:04:35Z2007-03-29T15:17:10ZVISITORS to the North Wales coast always comment on two things: how they love the scenery and how they love the sound of seagulls....Ruth Miller
VISITORS to the North Wales coast always comment on two things: how they love the scenery and how they love the sound of seagulls.
Evocative calls, horrible neighbours
It's our own fault, we've created the perfect living habitat for them, and gulls, fantastic opportunists that they are, have adapted to take full advantage of us.
Without man's influence, Herring Gulls would nest on cliffs, finding nooks and ledges on which to build their nest.
From a gull's point of view, a tall building with its roof angles, chimneys and balustrades, is a glorified cliff, and just as suitable for building a nest and raising a family.
Then there's the ready supply of food. Why would any self-respecting gull do things the hard way - flying out to sea to look for fish - when we provide such rich pickings here on land?
Unsuspecting visitors throw chips to the birds that scrounge around their feet, not realising that today's beggars are tomorrow's muggers, swooping down to help themselves to your unwrapped fish and chips or ice cream without so much as a please or thank you!
Apart from having the element of surprise, these aerial thieves are big birds with a strong, sharp beak, so you may not feel inclined to defend your food.
“These were not just any sandwiches, these were M&S prawn sandwiches!"
We can't just blame unaware visitors for unwittingly attracting the birds. I have seen my neighbour deliberately putting sandwiches down on the pavement to feed a pair of breeding Herring Gulls; not just any sandwiches, these were M&S prawn sandwiches!
At least the litter wasn't long on the pavement as the birds demolished the food within seconds, but smart gulls have learned that tasty snacks may be hidden inside black bin bags and will not hesitate to rip open a rubbish bag and scatter its contents across the pavement as they look for something to eat.
Problem gulls in Caernarfon
A Herring Gull's plumage develops further each year as it reaches maturity. Adult Herring Gulls in full breeding plumage wear quite a smart livery: white head and neck, yellow bill with an orange tip, pale grey back with the black-and-white tips of their wings extending beyond the tail, and pink legs and feet.
Juvenile birds are altogether scruffier, being a mottled brown and white with grey feet, and can usually be heard whining for food from their parents long after they're perfectly self-sufficient.
But soon they'll have to fend for themselves. Spring is here, and an adult's thoughts are turning to raising the next generation.
Already they're beginning to pair up and check out likely nesting sites. Last year, a pair of Herring Gulls raised a brood between the chimney pots on next-door's roof.
It probably made the perfect nesting site: a view to make an estate agent weak at the knees, chimney pots to prevent an attack from above by a Peregrine Falcon who would happily make a meal out of a Herring Gull chick, and a small patch of flat roof for the chicks to run around on once they'd outgrown the nest.
Initially, I rather enjoyed watching the fluffy chicks take their first wobbly steps from the nest and waggle their hopelessly ineffective new wings.
But I soon learned that a growing gull family is a noisy affair.
Every time one parent arrived with food, the other would greet them with a loud raucous cry as they re-established the pair bond and told the rest of gull society that this was their territory.
The adults didn't just call to one another during the day, they kept it up during the night too, and as the run of broken nights grew longer, so my enthusiasm for our feathered neighbours decreased somewhat.
"Just who are the smart ones here?"
Now I'm watching two Herring Gulls checking out the chimney stacks again, presumably the same pair checking that last year's nesting site is still suitable.
I wonder how long it will be before they start building a nest amongst the chimneys; I'll keep you posted on progress.
I do admire how Herring Gulls have adapted to take full advantage of us humans: just who are the smart ones here?
But must they nest right outside my bedroom window?
Perhaps I should buy some ear plugs in readiness!]]>
Time for spring migration….. or is it?tag:ruthmiller.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://170.87902007-03-26T10:50:40Z2007-03-26T12:42:18ZWORK has had me deskbound recently but the arrival of warmer weather meant I could resist the siren song of the great outdoors no longer....Ruth Miller
WORK has had me deskbound recently but the arrival of warmer weather meant I could resist the siren song of the great outdoors no longer.
Northern Wheatear
The Orme is one of their frequent summer haunts but these birds were the first I'd seen this year, and when I rang the news into BirdLine Wales (the place to ring for the latest news of bird arrivals), I learned they were the first reported anywhere in Wales or the North West.
And I found them!
By the end of the day, Northern Wheatears had also been reported at South Stack and Cemlyn on Anglesey, and Conwy RSPB.
Migration is like that: no new birds for ages, then suddenly the weather conditions are just right and new migrant birds are dropping in all over the place.
Bit like buses I suppose.
The signs were good; spring was here and the migrants were coming. But a week isn't just a long time in politics.
Only seven days later, and bitter northerly winds had returned us to winter almost overnight, with snow on the ground and weathermen talking gleefully of wind chill factors.
These northerlies were blasting so strongly across the North Sea onto our shores that they stopped spring migration in its tracks.
Birds that had started to move north probably regretted the decision and dropped back south again to escape the worst weather.
Moreover, we were suddenly seeing birds along the coast who should by rights have been further out to sea.
On Tuesday evening, from the warmth of my car, I watched nine Little Gulls feeding off the beach at Llandudno, just below the Little Orme.
These diminutive birds - pocket-sized gulls less than half the size of a Herring Gull - aren't normally seen in the bay here but they had been no match for the gusting winds which had driven them so close inland, where they skittered over the waves in the comparative shelter, picking up tiny morsels of food from the water's surface.
An unexpected bonus bird in this bitter weather.
The clocks went forward at the weekend, officially bringing British Summer Time. Well, it may be summertime in name but it doesn’t fool me.
I'm keeping my hat and gloves handy for a while longer.
BirdLine Wales: Call 09068 700249 for the latest bird news in the area or 01492 544588 to report any interesting sightings.]]>
Nutcracker in Finland
But we’re not just talking about it. We also want to raise funds to go directly into wildlife and habitat conservation by supporting the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation.
MCF is based in Ecuador, one of the key destinations on our itinerary for next year. MCF works with local landowners to protect unspoiled cloudforest habitat and restore cleared farmland to its original state for the benefit of its wildlife, particularly birds.
Ecotourism, including birding trips, is then encouraged in the area with the revenue generated benefiting the locals.
It’s a successful formula which is being rolled out across a greater area.
The World Land Trust is acting as our intermediary both here in the UK and in the USA so donors can give funds in either sterling or dollars.
Our website has the details of how to make a donation, so there’s another reason to log on to www.thebiggesttwitch.com and take a look!
So do wish us well in our venture, and we’ll be back to tell you all about it in 2009!
]]>
This is the lowest level that the bird descends to in the night, before it retreats back up to the snow-covered peaks during the day, so you have to go high and you have to be early to have any chance of seeing it.
A good telescope and a large dose of luck help too.
And our reward for having both was surprisingly good views of about six birds, large members of the pheasant family with delicately striped grey bodies and striking white facial markings.
Their almost Curlew-like calls echoed eerily around the mountaintops as we soaked up the fantastic scenic view and atmosphere of this awe-inspiring setting.
Or if you prefer your birds at sea level, how about White-breasted Kingfisher in the steamy coastal delta, a mega Kingfisher about a foot long with a bill of four inches!
It’s not always tied to water but can be seen in groves of trees, so its striking azure blue back and tail must surely give it some of the worst camouflage going in the birding world.
But perhaps the easiest birding was looking for the Striated Scops Owl which inhabits the trees of the shady tea gardens in Biracek.
How civilised! A cup of tea in one hand and binoculars in the other as you look up into each tree in turn for the dozing owl – my kind of birding!
I don’t know how it can possibly sleep with the noise of traffic, tea drinkers and the ubiquitous Turkish music all around it, but the gardens obviously suits it, as it is a regular visitor there.
With the combined efforts of the 12 people on the trip, we logged over 200 birds in 10 days, and I snapped nearly 400 photographs single-handed!
Unfortunately all good things come to an end, and was back to reality with a bump as we landed at Manchester at 3am with no sign of our taxi home, but no matter, at least I’ve got my photo album to daydream over.]]>
This isn't the first time otters have been seen around here. Last year, birders following a rarity just upstream on the River Conwy may have missed their bird, but had the reward of seeing a dog otter instead.
And the warden at Conwy RSPB has apparently caught glimpses of one on the reserve a few times before.
Last year, Conwy County Council installed an artificial otter holt on the reserve, so perhaps the pair I saw had found it and moved in.
With a ready source of fish to eat in the lagoons of the reserve and the much-improved water of the River Conwy itself, maybe they'll stay and even breed here.
Wouldn't that be fantastic! Getting a little 'otter in Conwy, and nothing to do with global warming!
I've never seen two otters together in the wild before, and was very excited by the whole experience.
I'll have to go back to the reserve to look for them again.
Still fired up about my close encounter of the furry kind, I dragged myself away to the supermarket.
Fish for tea, I think.
]]>
Problem gulls in Caernarfon
A Herring Gull's plumage develops further each year as it reaches maturity. Adult Herring Gulls in full breeding plumage wear quite a smart livery: white head and neck, yellow bill with an orange tip, pale grey back with the black-and-white tips of their wings extending beyond the tail, and pink legs and feet.
Juvenile birds are altogether scruffier, being a mottled brown and white with grey feet, and can usually be heard whining for food from their parents long after they're perfectly self-sufficient.
But soon they'll have to fend for themselves. Spring is here, and an adult's thoughts are turning to raising the next generation.
Already they're beginning to pair up and check out likely nesting sites. Last year, a pair of Herring Gulls raised a brood between the chimney pots on next-door's roof.
It probably made the perfect nesting site: a view to make an estate agent weak at the knees, chimney pots to prevent an attack from above by a Peregrine Falcon who would happily make a meal out of a Herring Gull chick, and a small patch of flat roof for the chicks to run around on once they'd outgrown the nest.
Initially, I rather enjoyed watching the fluffy chicks take their first wobbly steps from the nest and waggle their hopelessly ineffective new wings.
But I soon learned that a growing gull family is a noisy affair.
Every time one parent arrived with food, the other would greet them with a loud raucous cry as they re-established the pair bond and told the rest of gull society that this was their territory.
The adults didn't just call to one another during the day, they kept it up during the night too, and as the run of broken nights grew longer, so my enthusiasm for our feathered neighbours decreased somewhat.
"Just who are the smart ones here?"
Now I'm watching two Herring Gulls checking out the chimney stacks again, presumably the same pair checking that last year's nesting site is still suitable.
I wonder how long it will be before they start building a nest amongst the chimneys; I'll keep you posted on progress.
I do admire how Herring Gulls have adapted to take full advantage of us humans: just who are the smart ones here?
But must they nest right outside my bedroom window?
Perhaps I should buy some ear plugs in readiness!]]>