Monday 30 January 2012

Barn Owl 29.01.12

On my way to the Queens Head for a couple of Adnams last night and got superb views of a female barn owl. It was roosting on a low overhanging branch over the road just after AVGC. Turned car around and watched for a full 2 minutes before it flew off. Typical: I had only just taken me camera out of the car for safety! Later on, near Allens Green, we came across a badger waddling along the lane: more close cameraless views!
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Sunday 29 January 2012

Amwell visit 29.01.12

An afternoon wander around Amwell Reserve. Not too much on offer, with a cetti's warbler heard from the vantage point. From here all the usual suspects were observed; lapwing, regular gulls (bhg, herring, common and lbbg) wigeon, teal, shoveler, coot etc. A few siskins heard in alders and beech and a solitary little egret were the pick of the wander around to Tumbling Bay. Phone photo attached of view from vantage point. Light not good

Saturday 28 January 2012

More photos

Photo round up

Selection of recent photos from Dungeness (22.1.12) and Ridge walk (27.1.12)
Wigeon/teal, tufted duck, 2 of distant great egret, hybrid geese and barnacle geese all from Dungeness.
Pre sunrise, sunrise, 3 of the two distant foxes and a humble wood pigeon from Much Hadham to Little Hadham.

Friday 27 January 2012

Another early start 27.01.12

Another walk started at 7a.m. from Winding Hill, Much Hadham. This time I took the ridge footpath and observed a good range of wildlife. Early morning buzzards called along with rooks, carrion crows, jackdaws, robins and blackbirds. A fly over herring gull was followed by a solitary black headed gull as I watched 2 foxes sitting in the middle of a winter wheat field. Other wildlife interest was watching several hares, plenty of rabbits and a single muntjac. Other birds noted were great spotted woodpecker, kestrel, green woodpecker, fieldfare and redwing.
Photos to follow

Thursday 26 January 2012

Early morning 26.01.12

Dropped off at Winding Hill, Much Hadham at 7a.m. and then walked along the Ash Valley, over the golf course and home by 8.30a.m. A total of 4 tawny owls were heard and 1 little owl. The hoped for barn owl didn't show, unfortunately. Other noteworthy birds were green woodpecker, 125+ fieldfares, 60 jackdaws heading north and a pair of bullfinches in the small coppice adjacent to the 18th fairway. Very poor light meant I couldn't get a photo of a singing song thrush. Other songsters were dunnock, robin, skylark and blackbird. A phone camera shot here, showing the general greyness in light drizzle

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Dungeness photos: 22.01.12

All photos here by Graeme Smith. See his website: www.britainsbirder.co.uk

Dungeness 22.01.12

A full day of birding with local birder Graeme plus Therese and Stuart from Berdmonsey. Weather was kind although blowing a gale as we approached the sea watch hide at 7.45a.m. Reasonable movement offshore, with auks, gannets and gulls although nothing of quality. Off to The Patch to check gulls but just the regular lesser, great black backed, herring and black headed. A search for possible glaucous, little, med and caspian proved fruitless
A visit to the fishing boats gave us the first winter caspian gull along with great views of guillemots close to the shore and several kittiwakes. From here we headed to the RSPB reserve. Coffee and the hides; plenty of wildfowl: wigeon, teal, shoveler etc but a highlight bird was a flyby merlin as we exited the Firth Hide. Onwards we picked up Marsh Harrier, stonechat, plenty of robins and the great white egret at Denge Marsh Hide. Good views that Grame missed as he had stayed behind to photo the male stonechat. A wander further round didn't realise much more than dunnock and wren although a suspected bearded reedling was seen shooting into a reed bed, plus our first mallards. A few oystercatchers and shelduck and little egret were added before we headed over to the ARC pit, picking up another great egret and tree sparrow. Long tailed duck, pintail, bittern, grey heron and another diistant merlin were recorded before we dropped Graeme off to get snaps of the caspian whilst us three visited The Pilot for a fish and chip lunch.
Reconnecting with GJS we then went to Scotney Pits for barnacle geese, golden plover, dunlin and numerous lapwings. A group of 4 strange geese had us thinking blue phase snow goose, but turned out they were hybrid efforts, probably barnacle x greylag. From here we paid a flying visit to Rye Harbour where mistle thrush, turnstone, common gull, curlew and redshank were added.
In all a super day out and trust Stuart and Therese found it fun.
Species list:
red throated diver; great crested grebe; gannet; cormorant; bittern; little egret; great white egret; grey heron; mute swan; greylag goose (10 sp); canada goose; barnacle goose; brent goose; shelduck; mallard; gadwall; pintail; shoveler; wigeon; teal;( 20 sp) pochard; tufted duck; long tailed duck; goldeneye; marsh harrier; common buzzard; kestrel (en route): merlin; moorhen; coot;( 30 sp) oystercatcher; golden plover; lapwing; turnstone; dunlin; redshank; curlew; snipe; black headed gull; common gull; herring gull;(40) caspian gull; lesser black backed gull; greater black backed gull; kittiwake; guillemot; razorbill; wood pigeon; collared dove; pied wagtail; wren; (50) dunnock; robin; stonechat; mistle thrush; blackbird; great tit; blue tit; long tailed tit; magpie; jackdaw (60); rook; carrion crow; starling; house sparrow; tree sparrow; chaffinch; (66 species)
Be back at Dungeness on Wednesday 28th March: should be a big change in the bird life by then
Photos to follow

Monday 2 January 2012

1st walk of the year 02.01.12

A long wander, in wonderful conditions, led to seeing over 24 species of bird. Nothing too noteworthy but a common buzzard in trees near Hadham Hall was a new bird for this site. A 2nd buzzard was seen near Ford Hill as I returned from the hall, Bury Green via Millfield Lane and Hoecroft Lane. Plenty of starlings (200+) and fieldfare (250+)in horse fields around Millfield Lane, along with both green and great spotted woodpeckers. A good find was a roost where a barn owl had been, with 5 large pellets found which I can use for my school science shows. Will need to return to see if the owl itself is present. Photos of the buzzard at the hall and, an as yet unidentified, fungus found in hedgerow by thge village school.

This is me

This is me
At the end of another Norfolk Coastal footpath walk. 47 miles, 3 days 99 species of bird. September 2009

Caley Wood view

Caley Wood view
sunshine through the canopy 29.05.08

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007
Best birds on this walk: black and middle spotted woodpecker and short toed treecreeper

About Me

My photo
A primary school teacher for 30 years, I retired from teaching in July 2009 to set up my own science enhancement and communication company. The Primary Works offers science clubs, workshops and staged science shows nationwide. I have always been interested in bird watching since my early years. Apparently my first tick was after inquiring about a chaffinch and then receiving the Observer book of birds. By the age of 9 I had moved on to Tory Peterson's collins guide and was now involved on YOC birding holidays to Northumbria, Essex coast, Slimbridge and Yorkshire. My twitching rule is that I will willingly travel 1km for each gram the bird weighs. However, I have had many rarities just by being in the right place. I have travelled widely throughout Europe and also visited Australia and Sri Lanka. In 2016 I spent time at Portland Bird Obs and two trips to Aviero, Portugal. 2017 found me back in Sri Lanka in Feb/March, then July and back for New Year's Eve celebrations in December. Also returned to The Camargue in May for a 4 day trip. Few plans for 2018, but nothing yet booked apart from a trip to the IOW.

Grey heron

Grey heron
Over the allotment 28.09.08

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker
Ridge footpath 27.08.08

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)
Note the stripes, denoting a bird fledged this year.

common blue

common blue
Ash Valley G.C. 15.08.08

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)
River Ash

azure damselfly

azure damselfly
River Ash 28.07.08

marbled white

marbled white
Discovered at Westland Green 22.07.08

ruddy darter

ruddy darter
Bush Wood 21.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08
growing in hedgerow in Chapel Lane

cinnabar moth caterpillar

cinnabar moth caterpillar
Photographed on ragwort 19.07.08

Bittersweet

Bittersweet
Study of petals 11.06.08

male yellowhammer

male yellowhammer
08.06.08

common blue butterfly

common blue butterfly
06.06.08

River Ash

River Ash
looking south from the bridge at Hadham Ford

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)
in rape field 29.05.08

Caley Wood sunshine

Caley Wood sunshine
29.05.08

Millenium Wood fox

Millenium Wood fox
24.05.08

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)
06.05.08 banks of the River Ash

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)
flowers, leaves and fruit edible . Good in salad and pesto

April showers

April showers
Double rainbow 30.04.08

Caley Wood bluebells

Caley Wood bluebells
22.04.08

Yellow Archangel

Yellow Archangel
Chapel Lane (20.04.08)

sunlight 16.04.08

sunlight 16.04.08
looking south west from Bush Wood

snowy buds

snowy buds
06.04.08 in Bush Wood

Looking north west

Looking north west
05.04.08 evening shower approaching

Back Garden

Back Garden
Easter Sunday (23.03.08)

Brick Kiln Hill

Brick Kiln Hill
Looking east (23.03.08)

No play today

No play today
The 2nd hole at Ash Valley golf course

Teasel head

Teasel head
Bush Wood (21.03.08)

Reflections

Reflections
daffodils at Bush Wood pond (21.03.08)

Swollen River Ash

Swollen River Ash
The river at the bottom of Winding Hill 16.03.08

Daybreak over the chapel

Daybreak over the chapel
Thursday 13th March

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)
growing in Bush Wood

January snowdrops

January snowdrops
Banks of River Ash, north of Much Hadham

Good Moon

Good Moon
From garden 24.01.08

Village Green

Village Green
Looking east towards Acremore Street

Looking south before Hadham Ford

Looking south before Hadham Ford
rare January blue sky

Useful sites

The following are some useful websites that may interest readers of this blog.
Firstly, Bishop's Stortford Natural History Society http://bsnhs.webplus.net/

Fellow birder, Gary Whelan's blog. Gives reports from our trips out together plus reports from his trips abroad. http://hairybirders.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.hertsbirdclub.org.uk/ The official herts bird club website. Frequently updated, listing bird sightings around the county. Offers links to many other websites. Both of these sites also offer links to yahoo discussion groups.
http://www.birdforum.net/ An international site. You can enter as a guest but become a member( free) to post comments, bird sightings and just about anything to do with wild birds. Good news updates, classified section for binoculars, cameras etc.
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com/ A new site set up where you can contact people worldwide who will help you find good birds in their country. UK section being set up presently.
http://www.britainsbirder.co.uk/
Fellow birders blog. Strtford resident, Graeme Smith regulary birds the area south of Stortford as well as around Spellbrook and the River Stort from Spellbrook to Twyford Locks. Some superb bird photography: Graeme uses a digital camera attached to his powerful telescope to get detailled images of the birds he sees. Well worth a browse.
Two local sites that may be of interest can be found at
http://www.thehadhams.com/ www.thepelhams.net/content/section/12/139/

South Easterly walk

South Easterly walk
black, normal, red extended walk

South Westerly route.

South Westerly route.
Black usual, red extended

North Easterly walk

North Easterly walk
black short, walk. Red, extended

North West Patch

North West Patch
black route regular. Red route the extended wander