It has been a long
time since I last posted a blog, and a lot has happened. Here I will give a
quick run down of a few highlights, before I talk about why you should get out
and look for waxwing, and not give a damn whether you see them or not...
Back in August, I spent a week in
Norfolk; highlights included avocet, bearded tit, osprey and migrating
pink-footed geese at dusk… truly phenomenal, and I am not even the biggest goose
fan!
Bearded tit
To come back from
Norfolk, and to get an extremely grateful tip-off that the local kingfisher chicks had successfully
fledged, I couldn’t resist sitting in the nettles for a few days watching them
as they went from begging their parents for food, to attempting the odd dive of
their own… with limited success!
Three days were spent
living on a ship with the ‘twuly incwedible’ naturalist Chris Packham. Three
days whale watching as a guide for ORCA, with the odd bit of bird watching
thrown in, across the Bay of Biscay. There were fin whales galore, bottlenose
dolphins, common and striped dolphins, as well as petrels and shearwaters.
An incredible sun
halo, as the light refracted in the ice in the clouds, formed this circular
rainbow-like ring around the sun.
Then to Wales with the
family, where we were graced by the presence of powerful peregrines, agile
choughs, and the cutest of grey seal pups.
Chough
I have been absolutely
amazed by Wales, particularly Pembrokeshire, not dissimilar to the Devon coastline;
the scenery and wildlife were stunning. The next time I was lucky enough to go
to Wales was with Sale and Batman, where we wild camped in the New Forest and
the Gower. Before being told our car had been clamped, and we had to pay £100 to get it removed. Only to be told it was a joke, but we had to leave anyway…
Now, winter is here,
and if you have any kind of keen interest in birds, you will be well aware of
this year’s invasion of waxwing, as they move south from Scandinavia in search
of food, their favourites being the bounty of berries on our trees and bushes. It
is a particularly exceptional year for spotting these very handsome birds, with
waxwing sightings in every county of England.
Everywhere I have
been, I have looked for waxwing. There have been numerous local sightings, and
yet, I haven’t seen a single one. I spent a whole weekend out walking in the
hope of seeing a waxwing. I didn’t, and still haven’t, seen a waxwing. Instead,
I had a great weekend walking in the countryside, and couldn’t care less about
the waxwing. I walked from Langford to Biggleswade along the River Ivel. Along
the way I saw redwing, another winter visitor, similar to the song thrush,
except, as the name suggests, with a bright red blotch underneath their wings.
Redwing
A great spotted
woodpecker flew across the river, black and white with its little red bum.
Great spotted woodpeckers could have one of the greatest skull designs on the
planet, with their shock absorbent tissue at the base of their skull enabling
them to bang their little peckers at forces over 1,000 times that of gravity. A
tiny goldcrest, the UKs smallest bird, with its drab green colouration, and
bright golden crest running from front to back like some plump little punk
rocker, bounced from branch to branch in the bushes.
Rachael joined me in
Broom lakes, where we wondered for a while, admiring the flock of lapwing, the
wonderfully crested birds, with their large deep wings, before we drove around
some car parks, staring at the bushes. Not seeing any waxwing.
The lesson to be
learned here, is that watching wildlife isn’t about spotting that rare
Scandinavian winter visitor, but simply getting out and enjoying each species
for what they are, as each one is unique, and each in their own right is
special. I would sooner watch the local kestrel hunt from telegraph wires,
catching voles in its talons, carrying them off and tearing them apart in the
nearby tree tops, than travel to the far end of the country to catch a fleeting
glimpse of a little brown bird that was blown over from the US in a freak
Atlantic storm, the first recorded in the country for over 25 years; the
wildlife equivalent of train spotting. Its also highly likely, that after the
exhausting trip across the Atlantic, the little brown bird will die not long
after being recorded here.
My advice, go for a
stroll on a nice sunny morning (or rainy morning for that matter), see what you
can see, and enjoy the cuteness of the goldcrest, the awesomeness of the birds
of prey, and everything in between.
Kestrel
Or, if you are lazy, look out of your window, you could see one of these little cutie pies.
Blue tit
