Birding is unpredictable – but it's never dull . . .
Do I ever get bored by bird watching? No. Never.
Yes, there are times when I'm out in the local countryside when not much is happening – a blue tit, chaffinch and a couple of wood pigeons might be all I see in an hour's walking – birds you can see from your window. What motivates me and other local patch birders is the hope that there will be a surprise in the next field, tree or bush or simply flying past: the flap-flap-glide of a predatory sparrowhawk searching for its next meal; the sudden explosion of a zigzagging snipe from a wet meadow; or a rising flock of lapwings, like a flurry of black and white scarves caught in the wind. Such sights, however familiar, make local birding anything but dull.
In December, I took a three mile circular walk north of Stoke by Clare. It was a bright, cold day with a strong westerly breeze. This was hardly prime birding territory, mainly fields of emergent winter wheat with a few scattered trees bordering the footpath. Nevertheless, a few winters ago I had found a flock of 15 corn buntings here and I hoped that history might repeat itself. Strong winds depress bird activity and in the first half-mile all I saw were two carrion crows. When I reached the isolated clump of trees where I had seen the buntings there were none, nor any other birds for that matter. I pressed on, pulling up my collar against the nagging wind. The omens were not good. Then, a call that I knew – tlui, tlui. A tightly-packed flock of about 50 golden plovers flew across the footpath showing their distinctive white underwings. They had obviously been feeding in nearby fields and I had disturbed them. They circled once before heading north. In the next mile all I saw was one man and his dog and a few wood pigeons but then a bird rose a few feet from the fields before quickly dropping back to earth – a skylark. As I watched through binoculars, others appeared, 12 in all. Locally, skylarks are scarce, so a dozen was notable. Another lull followed and I was soon nearing my starting point. Luckily, before returning to the car, I decided to take a short detour. This took me on to a quiet, sunken road through woodland. Silence, apart from the wind rustling the trees. Then a movement. What was that? I raised my bins but couldn't get on it. A few anxious seconds passed and there it was again and this time a nuthatch came into focus as it climbed nimbly up the trunk of an ash. This is a fairly common species in Britain but on my local patches, where I have not seen one for 15 years, it's a mega rarity. This walk typified the highs and lows of birding. Cold weather, unfavourable landscape, no corn buntings and few species seen were all on the downside but were easily outweighed by a trio of special sightings.
February has been a bonanza. I found a bittern at Sturmer mere (11th) and a short-eared owl at Stradishall airfield (18th).
Birding is unpredictable but it's never dull.
HOUSE SPARROW UPDATE:
Following last month’s article on their decline, Terry Foster rang to say that around 30 house sparrows are regular visitors to his wildlife friendly garden in Monarch Close, Haverhill.
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Weather for Haverhill
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
