I am starting my 4th week off work today, and am getting used to the daily routine. Apart from a day or maybe two taking Mum shopping, it's been a case of getting out for a walk in the early part of the morning, followed by varying amounts of gardening.
There was a slight hiccup when Mum had to be taken into Lister with gallstones. Luckily it was sorted and she should have been out the next day, but there was a holdup sorting out her meds. Rather than spend the weekend occupying a bed, she came home, and I had to go to the ward on Monday to pick the pills up. Not good for me to visit the hospital at this particular time, but luckily it was very quiet, plus parking is currently free, and since its been over a week now, I guess I haven't picked anything nasty up.
The birding continues largely as before, with regular trips around the lakes, particularly during cloudy or drizzly spells (not that we've had many of those) in the hope of a wader or two dropping in. Hasn't happened yet, but with the additional tours around the Aston End area I have picked up many summer migrants now, and so far this April I have recorded 66 species, all in the Stevenage 10kM square-and that's just the two sites mentioned plus my garden.
To add to the fun I have bought a couple of gadgets. Nocturnal migration seems to be a big thing during lock down, with birders picking up species they never thought would occur over they gardens, and while many have been sitting outside for hours on end, others have set up recorders and then spent the following day trying to decipher what, if anything has been picked up. This has been well proven at places like Portland Bill, where a lot of interesting things have been logged. Unfortunately, a lot of suburban nocmigging has revealed lots of distant cars, dogs barking and various domestic disputes, but there have been a lot of gems-one guy I follow on social media has had the expected Oystercatchers, Whimbrels and so on (he's on the Devon Coast) but also had a Stone Curlew the other night-a real county mega. I have bought a recorder myself, but have yet to use it in anger.
I have been out in the garden now and again as it has been pretty clear, so I have been doing a bit of star gazing and doing a few experiments with my camera. Being clear, any birds are likely to be high up, and so I haven't actually heard anything while I have been out-not even an owl. However, along with the recorder, a Tascam DR 05X, I also got a bat detector that fits on my phone. For as long as I can remember, bats have flown around the house, and we have assumed that they are pipistrelles of some sort. On the second night of trying, the detector triggered and I got a clear record of a Common Pipistrelle. Be interesting to see if anything else gets picked up as I have on odd occasions suspected a larger species over the garden.
At some point or other, I am intending to try a late evening walk around Aston End in an effort to try and locate some owls, and I will take the detector with me. There is some old woodlands on the route, but sadly the river has almost dried up so I don't expect to get much. I might have better luck at Fairlands, as the local museum has had bat walks in recent years.
Monday, 27 April 2020
Monday, 13 April 2020
Daily Birding and Old Sightings
I'm still doing my early morning walks, as per the Government advice. Naturally I am recording the birds I see, or perhaps more importantly, hear. In order to make things more meaningful, I am trying to count everything, rather than just a few of the more interesting species, though things like corvids and Wood Pigeons being so abundant and mobile are just noted as present, and the results have been uploaded to eBird, and any significant observations also end up on the Bird Club sightings page.
It's been an interesting exercise. Species numbers seem to vary dramatically on a daily basis. Obviously there is a major timing aspect in that I have to be present when the bird is making a noise or flying around, and birds are very mobile. Overall though there is a consistency to things with the resident Blackbirds, Tits, Robins etc. I've got a pretty good idea where most of the Blackcap and Chiffchaff territories are, andI know how many Nuthatches and Woodpeckers are in each bit of wood I visit. The problem, as expected, seems to be some of the migrants. I found my first Willow Warbler along the river Beane a couple of weeks back, and I thought it had established a territory as it was around for over a week, but I couldn't locate it on the last couple of visits. On the other hand, I did locate another bird in another spot near Aston End, which also seems suitable habitat. Unfortunately Willow Warblers have been declining here in recent years and I suspect birds stay for a bit and then move on.
I am also starting to record more things as well. I've had spreadsheet lists of orchids, butterflies and dragonflies for many years now, and have started to get more serious about plants, bees and so on. For the last five years I have been using the Scythebill recording program for birds, which enables easy uploading to eBird, and users have created a number of extra lists for other groups, so I can record everything in one place.
The other bonus to the program is nostalgia, and also a few surprises. Back in March I started to transfer my old notebook observations, starting with 1996, and I am now half way through 1994. It's brought back many memories of past twitches, and I seem to be able to recall details of most of them, so in these days of lockdown I am at least still twitching even if it is all past glories. I also had a bit of a shock as well. Back then I wasn't really noting insects except on odd occasions and for years I have been rather annoyed in never having Scotch Argus on my butterfly spreadsheets. Well as it turns out I saw abundant numbers back in Perthshire in August 1994, which I had completely forgotten about, but the memory has been triggered by the old notes.
There are another 15 or so books to go through, and an awful lot of sightings to transfer, so its a good job that I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment
It's been an interesting exercise. Species numbers seem to vary dramatically on a daily basis. Obviously there is a major timing aspect in that I have to be present when the bird is making a noise or flying around, and birds are very mobile. Overall though there is a consistency to things with the resident Blackbirds, Tits, Robins etc. I've got a pretty good idea where most of the Blackcap and Chiffchaff territories are, andI know how many Nuthatches and Woodpeckers are in each bit of wood I visit. The problem, as expected, seems to be some of the migrants. I found my first Willow Warbler along the river Beane a couple of weeks back, and I thought it had established a territory as it was around for over a week, but I couldn't locate it on the last couple of visits. On the other hand, I did locate another bird in another spot near Aston End, which also seems suitable habitat. Unfortunately Willow Warblers have been declining here in recent years and I suspect birds stay for a bit and then move on.
I am also starting to record more things as well. I've had spreadsheet lists of orchids, butterflies and dragonflies for many years now, and have started to get more serious about plants, bees and so on. For the last five years I have been using the Scythebill recording program for birds, which enables easy uploading to eBird, and users have created a number of extra lists for other groups, so I can record everything in one place.
The other bonus to the program is nostalgia, and also a few surprises. Back in March I started to transfer my old notebook observations, starting with 1996, and I am now half way through 1994. It's brought back many memories of past twitches, and I seem to be able to recall details of most of them, so in these days of lockdown I am at least still twitching even if it is all past glories. I also had a bit of a shock as well. Back then I wasn't really noting insects except on odd occasions and for years I have been rather annoyed in never having Scotch Argus on my butterfly spreadsheets. Well as it turns out I saw abundant numbers back in Perthshire in August 1994, which I had completely forgotten about, but the memory has been triggered by the old notes.
There are another 15 or so books to go through, and an awful lot of sightings to transfer, so its a good job that I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
More Daily Walks and Summer Visitors.
I have been going out for walks every morning this week, and spending the rest of the time working in the garden. Basically its been Aston End on Sunday and today, and Fairlands Lakes yesterday. I've been averaging 4-5 miles daily so at least I'm getting fit (ish). The issues I had earlier in the year with my legs seem to have gradually gone as the temperature has increased and it probably has a lot to do with my metabolism and endocrine problems as I always seem to suffer badly in the winter months.
On Sunday, the walk around Aston end produced a lot of the usual suspects that occur, including a couple of Nuthatch territories, which now seem to be encountered regularly here. Summer visitors included one Blackcap, seven Chiffchaffs and the first Willow Warbler (possibly the first reported in Hertfordshire this year).
Monday was cloudy and cooler so I thought that the Lakes would be worthwhile. Five singing Chiffchaffs seem to be around the same as my previous visit, so I guess that most territories are filled. There were also two Blackcaps again. Over the boating lake, while counting the Cormorants (five) I noticed a flock of hirundines. They all seemed to be Swallows, and I reckoned that there were at least eight, and as I was going through the flock I realised there were also two House Martins. The flock didn't linger and moved off north. I wasn't really expecting much more else, particularly on the main lake which just had a couple of gulls, but a Common Tern appeared as I reached the south end. I checked the last years Firecrest spot and then headed home.
I thought it might be a good day to search for Wheatear or Ring Ouzels as there were a lot of ploughed fields and the stroll around Aston end and Chells Manor showed how quickly things change at this time of year. Chiffchaffs were about the same, and in the same spots, there were now two Willow Warblers-both near the river and paddocks, but Blackcaps had risen with nine singing birds. Lots of Yellowhammers and Skylark singing, and being warm, a lot of Buzzards and Kites were up. Three Nuthatch territories now, and at least four Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming.
I was also getting a lot of Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells, and probably because it was fairly early and a weekday, a lot of rabbits and my first Hare in this area for several years.
Later on while gardening, I had my year's first Orange Tip.
On Sunday, the walk around Aston end produced a lot of the usual suspects that occur, including a couple of Nuthatch territories, which now seem to be encountered regularly here. Summer visitors included one Blackcap, seven Chiffchaffs and the first Willow Warbler (possibly the first reported in Hertfordshire this year).
Monday was cloudy and cooler so I thought that the Lakes would be worthwhile. Five singing Chiffchaffs seem to be around the same as my previous visit, so I guess that most territories are filled. There were also two Blackcaps again. Over the boating lake, while counting the Cormorants (five) I noticed a flock of hirundines. They all seemed to be Swallows, and I reckoned that there were at least eight, and as I was going through the flock I realised there were also two House Martins. The flock didn't linger and moved off north. I wasn't really expecting much more else, particularly on the main lake which just had a couple of gulls, but a Common Tern appeared as I reached the south end. I checked the last years Firecrest spot and then headed home.
I thought it might be a good day to search for Wheatear or Ring Ouzels as there were a lot of ploughed fields and the stroll around Aston end and Chells Manor showed how quickly things change at this time of year. Chiffchaffs were about the same, and in the same spots, there were now two Willow Warblers-both near the river and paddocks, but Blackcaps had risen with nine singing birds. Lots of Yellowhammers and Skylark singing, and being warm, a lot of Buzzards and Kites were up. Three Nuthatch territories now, and at least four Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming.
I was also getting a lot of Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells, and probably because it was fairly early and a weekday, a lot of rabbits and my first Hare in this area for several years.
Later on while gardening, I had my year's first Orange Tip.
Saturday, 4 April 2020
Fairlands Valley
I have been continuing to work since our company is one of those classed as essential. However, this week they have announced furloughing to start next week as a lot of our non-essential customers have closed or are cutting work back. On Thursday I had another consultation with my GP as my chest and ribs are still hurting a bit when I cough so he has given me some antibiotics as bone bruising could lead to infection. He also pointed out that with my medical conditions I am classed as very vulnerable and should be in isolation for 12 weeks, so he sent me a letter, I presented it to my manager and am now furloughed until the end of June.
Now what is a very keen gardener going to do at the start of spring with plenty of time on his hands?
Think I'm going to enjoy my time off.
Anyway, I am still allowed to do the essential shopping and daily exercise so I did a circuit of Fairlands Lakes this morning. While it was nice and sunny, and starting to warm up there was a bit of a chill to the breeze.
With the winds switching to a southerly, I was hoping for a few hirundines going through, but with little cloud cover there wasn't much to force them down, so the best I could manage were five Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps singing. There was also a pair of Shoveller on the boating lake.
Here is a complete EBird list. https://ebird.org/checklist/S66601714
Now what is a very keen gardener going to do at the start of spring with plenty of time on his hands?
Think I'm going to enjoy my time off.
Anyway, I am still allowed to do the essential shopping and daily exercise so I did a circuit of Fairlands Lakes this morning. While it was nice and sunny, and starting to warm up there was a bit of a chill to the breeze.
With the winds switching to a southerly, I was hoping for a few hirundines going through, but with little cloud cover there wasn't much to force them down, so the best I could manage were five Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps singing. There was also a pair of Shoveller on the boating lake.
Here is a complete EBird list. https://ebird.org/checklist/S66601714
Saturday, 28 March 2020
Lockdown Birding and a Disaster
While the vast majority of the UK is in lockdown, I am still working. As my company provides essential support to medical, telecoms and transport we have to continue operating. This has made the short drive into work absolute bliss as the roads are virtually empty.
The big drawback though is I cannot participate in any of the online birding from home threads appearing in social media-many people are discovering that there are an awful lot of interesting things flying over and visiting their gardens and from their balconies. There are still some people taking day trips but generally most are accepting that non-essential travel means that they cannot get out. No twitching for the foreseeable future and trying to get a big year list has gone out of the window.
As I can only really get out for walks on the weekends, I realistically only have two venues now, Fairlands Valley and the Aston End area, though I could conceivably get to Norton Green after work.
I won't be taking my camera out now, largely because I broke it. Basically I was out in the garden last Sunday and had a bad fall, the Panasonic GX8 hit my chest, and, I think the 100-400 lens my upper arm. Not really sure what happened as one minute I was taking a step forward and the next my face hit the deck and there was a massive blow to the chest. My glasses are busted too, so I am having to get by with an old pair. Spoke to the insurance, and hopefully everything will be ok, but with the opticians now shut I can't take the glasses in for evaluation, and hopefully I can post the camera and lens to Panasonic. However from what I know on forums, the lens certainly cannot be repaired.
Obviously this was a bit of a blow. I had for some time now been considering options, whether to eventually upgrade the micro four thirds system with one of the newer Olympus bodies and perhaps the 300mm f4 lens, a combination that a lot of the pro wildlife photographers seem to be moving towards, or alternatively a new full frame high resolution Nikon primarily for landscape and garden still life work. The idea was basically have a very portable and light four thirds gear for travelling and wildlife, and have a second system for everything else, which has been essentially what I have been doing using the (very heavy) D3s where there has been a need to use a full frame camera.
Since I have a lot of Nikon F mount lenses, including the manual 500mm f4, and the 300mm f2.8, the decision was made for me, and rather than the D850, I have got the more or less mirrorless equivalent Z7 with a 24-70f4 and an adaptor for the F mount lenses. Only done a few brief tests so far, but I like the lens, and the 300mm lens works very well with the adaptor. I will put up some images soon, but for the time being photography will strictly garden plants and insects.
This morning I had stroll around Fairlands Lakes. There wasn't a great deal to report with four singing Chiffchaffs-plus another in the woods on the way back, one Mistle Thrush around the old farm buildings and two Son Thrushes. There were only a few gulls present, two adult Black Heads, four Lesser Black Backs and a Herring. Wildfowl consisted of a lot of wild and domestic Mallards, a couple of Canada geese, a pair of Coot, two pairs of Moorhen and a Great Crested Grebe. In Ashtree Woods on the way back there was a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a singing Nuthatch.
The big drawback though is I cannot participate in any of the online birding from home threads appearing in social media-many people are discovering that there are an awful lot of interesting things flying over and visiting their gardens and from their balconies. There are still some people taking day trips but generally most are accepting that non-essential travel means that they cannot get out. No twitching for the foreseeable future and trying to get a big year list has gone out of the window.
As I can only really get out for walks on the weekends, I realistically only have two venues now, Fairlands Valley and the Aston End area, though I could conceivably get to Norton Green after work.
I won't be taking my camera out now, largely because I broke it. Basically I was out in the garden last Sunday and had a bad fall, the Panasonic GX8 hit my chest, and, I think the 100-400 lens my upper arm. Not really sure what happened as one minute I was taking a step forward and the next my face hit the deck and there was a massive blow to the chest. My glasses are busted too, so I am having to get by with an old pair. Spoke to the insurance, and hopefully everything will be ok, but with the opticians now shut I can't take the glasses in for evaluation, and hopefully I can post the camera and lens to Panasonic. However from what I know on forums, the lens certainly cannot be repaired.
Obviously this was a bit of a blow. I had for some time now been considering options, whether to eventually upgrade the micro four thirds system with one of the newer Olympus bodies and perhaps the 300mm f4 lens, a combination that a lot of the pro wildlife photographers seem to be moving towards, or alternatively a new full frame high resolution Nikon primarily for landscape and garden still life work. The idea was basically have a very portable and light four thirds gear for travelling and wildlife, and have a second system for everything else, which has been essentially what I have been doing using the (very heavy) D3s where there has been a need to use a full frame camera.
Since I have a lot of Nikon F mount lenses, including the manual 500mm f4, and the 300mm f2.8, the decision was made for me, and rather than the D850, I have got the more or less mirrorless equivalent Z7 with a 24-70f4 and an adaptor for the F mount lenses. Only done a few brief tests so far, but I like the lens, and the 300mm lens works very well with the adaptor. I will put up some images soon, but for the time being photography will strictly garden plants and insects.
This morning I had stroll around Fairlands Lakes. There wasn't a great deal to report with four singing Chiffchaffs-plus another in the woods on the way back, one Mistle Thrush around the old farm buildings and two Son Thrushes. There were only a few gulls present, two adult Black Heads, four Lesser Black Backs and a Herring. Wildfowl consisted of a lot of wild and domestic Mallards, a couple of Canada geese, a pair of Coot, two pairs of Moorhen and a Great Crested Grebe. In Ashtree Woods on the way back there was a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a singing Nuthatch.
Monday, 9 March 2020
Amwell
The appalling weather over the last couple of months has, for the time being settled down and this weekend was pretty pleasant with some suggestion that spring is on its way.
The previous weekend was rather bad with torrential rain early on the Saturday-and a trip to the Alpine Garden Society show at Theydon was interesting with flooded roads. I did spend a bit of course, which meant a fair bit of time on Sunday getting things sorted out. I also had the Monday off, anticipating having plenty of work to do in the garden and I'm glad I did. It was nice and sunny, and the male Brimstone that visited while I was working was lovely to see. This was snapped with the phone.
This Saturday, I paid a visit to Amwell. It was a bit cool and cloudy, but at least it wasn't raining with a gale force wind.
The water levels are a bit on the high side thanks to all the recent rain, and it appears that the sluice is blocked, so unless something happens soon, there may not be much shoreline and islands available to attract passing waders. There are still a few Goldeneye, Teal and Wigeon hanging around. The lack of habitat meant that Lapwing and Snipe were missing, and the only bird of note from the viewpoint was a passing Parakeet that now seem to be well established here.
A gentle stroll down to Hollycross produced a few tits and several singing Cetii's warblers. From the bridge over the river I heard my first singing Chiffchaff of the year and just beyond a quick scan of Hollycross produced three Goosander-quite why they are here on such a shallow lake is a bit puzzling but they have been around for w while.
There wasn't much else around so I returned picking up a Treecreeper, but the woods were rather quiet. Siskin and redpoll are a bit scarce, though Barry had what might have been a Mealy redpoll earlier in the week.
I reached the viewpoint ant sat down and had a long chat with Bill. This enabled us to have very good views of the pair of Ravens that appeared around noon and spent some time in synchronised flying.
They were over the woods at least 500m away which was a bit much for the 800mm equivalent Panasonic lens, but I think they came out ok.
The previous weekend was rather bad with torrential rain early on the Saturday-and a trip to the Alpine Garden Society show at Theydon was interesting with flooded roads. I did spend a bit of course, which meant a fair bit of time on Sunday getting things sorted out. I also had the Monday off, anticipating having plenty of work to do in the garden and I'm glad I did. It was nice and sunny, and the male Brimstone that visited while I was working was lovely to see. This was snapped with the phone.
This Saturday, I paid a visit to Amwell. It was a bit cool and cloudy, but at least it wasn't raining with a gale force wind.
The water levels are a bit on the high side thanks to all the recent rain, and it appears that the sluice is blocked, so unless something happens soon, there may not be much shoreline and islands available to attract passing waders. There are still a few Goldeneye, Teal and Wigeon hanging around. The lack of habitat meant that Lapwing and Snipe were missing, and the only bird of note from the viewpoint was a passing Parakeet that now seem to be well established here.
A gentle stroll down to Hollycross produced a few tits and several singing Cetii's warblers. From the bridge over the river I heard my first singing Chiffchaff of the year and just beyond a quick scan of Hollycross produced three Goosander-quite why they are here on such a shallow lake is a bit puzzling but they have been around for w while.
There wasn't much else around so I returned picking up a Treecreeper, but the woods were rather quiet. Siskin and redpoll are a bit scarce, though Barry had what might have been a Mealy redpoll earlier in the week.
I reached the viewpoint ant sat down and had a long chat with Bill. This enabled us to have very good views of the pair of Ravens that appeared around noon and spent some time in synchronised flying.
They were over the woods at least 500m away which was a bit much for the 800mm equivalent Panasonic lens, but I think they came out ok.
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