Redwings, Pink Crows and Sparrowhawks.

A couple of Sunday's ago I had one of the best ringing mornings I think I've ever had.

A Redwing is always the best way to start off a morning for a start...

The interesting thing about Redwings and their larger cousins the Fieldfares when it comes to trying to mist net them is that you only really have one shot at it in the early morning. You have to get your nets up and tape under before the sun is fully up and move well out of the way. Even then you may be only likely to catch the odd one or two as, despite traveling round in big flocks, catching more than a couple of Redwing before the chance is over is something I've never seen happen. Those people who say otherwise are just laying down Red (Herr-)wings. I do apologise. Lets move on.

Later on in the morning we were able to catch a bird from a notoriously difficult family of avian brain boxes. I am, of course, talking about the crow family. The crows are probably my favourite group of birds but, due to their intelligence, vigilance and size, are difficult birds to get your hands as they prove masters of detecting, avoiding and escaping nets. Therefore any day that a crow finds its way into the net is a good day in my eyes. Back in September we had a Magpie that had come into the feeding station that we were able to ring, but this Sunday it was time for a crow that I hadn't ringed in over 3 years to make another appearance. - The Jay.

A bird that pretends to not really be a crow at all with its burnt pink and electric blue plumage, the Jay is just as much a corvid as the rest of them. Although it will happily takes chicks and eggs from nests once located, around this time of year you're more than likely to see them gathering up nuts and seeds (mainly acorns) to stash so they have a food source to live off once winter hits.

And finally, on our way back up from net around the feeding station that the Jay had come out of, we passed a net that seemed to have another sizeable bird in one of the bottom shelves. I thought it was likely to be another Blackbird as we had been catching many of them all morning due to an influx of Scandinavian birds but, as we got closer, Dean (a C ringer who was with me) broke out into a sprint and dived on this bird to make sure it didn't go anywhere. When I reached the net to help him take it out the net it was obvious what we had - a Sparrowhawk.

We think of birds of prey to be big birds, but this first year male Sparrowhawk was smaller than the Jay that we had caught moments earlier. The females are a lot bigger (a general rule for raptors is that females are a third bigger) and this means that you have to correctly sex it before putting a ring on as the sexes take two different sizes. Funnily enough me and Dean had ran towards the same net when it was holding a much larger Sparrowhawk (probably a female) that managed to get out earlier that morning. But needless to say, we weren't kicking ourselves for too long with the way the morning eventually panned out.

Finally, I will leave you with this picture of us managing to weigh a Sparrowhawk successfully just by laying it on its back. A trick known by many bird related people, it basically involves making sure the birds wings are tucked securely under its body and it will sit there for some time, unharmed, before its had enough and scarpers.  

A cracking ringing tick and Brent Geese in the mist.

Boom.

Spotted Flycatcher

The first Spotted Flycatcher ever caught at our ringing site and I was lucky enough to stick a ring on its leg! They aren't summer residents on our site, although they can be found in more suitable habitat about ten minutes drive away, but this was a youngster moving through in mid September.

We also did well for 2 members of the Tit family in the past few months that are fairly unusual for us to catch. Marsh Tits, the one on the right, are the species that we more commonly come across whilst Willow Tits, on the left, are more of a rarity. Having the two of them on the same day was allowed for us to compare the defining features of the two species when trying to identify them in the hand.

The Willow Tit can be identified by the presence of a white panel on the secondary feathers once the wing is closed, whilst the easiest feature to pick out on a Marsh Tit is the presence of white on the base of the bill. For more information, this website provides a good breakdown:
http://birdingfrontiers.com/2012/03/23/marsh-or-willow-tit/

Brent Geese out on the sea through the morning fog.

About a month after that glorious day of ringing I visited Spurn Point on a trip with my local bird group. I'd not visited Spurn for about 10 years, and my last memories were of getting a Red Backed Shrike on someone's garden fence, being drowned in Yellow Browed Warblers and then staking out a bush for a couple of hours to get sight of a Radde's Warbler. Unfortunately there was nothing even remotely on the same level upon this visit. After scanning the vegetation in the pub car park to try and find a reported Yellow Browed Warbler and only coming up with a Chiffchaff, we headed along the sea edge to see what we could find.

It was then that the most biblical fog I have ever seen in my life rolled in off the sea and completely blanketed the entire area for a good hour or so. This, as you can imagine, made birding near impossible unless the birds were within about 20 metres of us. Luckily, a few thoughtful birds abliged and we managed to see Brent Geese (to my knowledge a lifer for me), Wheatear and a selection of waders. Then as the mist cleared we picked up Stonechat and Whinchat sat next to each other in the fields as well as my first Fieldfare of the year.

Once the fog cleared up it was a glorious day.

Unfortunately though that was about it for the whole day. We searched for a Firecrest in vain before giving up hope and deciding to head back. It wasn't until I got home and checked Twitter that I saw reports of a Radde's Warbler sighted at Spurn only an hour after we had left.

Typical.

An expedition to Buton Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

First off let me apologise for the lack of posts since May. I've been a little... preoccupied.

Y'see for two months this summer I got the chance to go to Sulawesi in Indonesia to work as an ornithologist for Operation Wallacea. It was the best thing I've ever done, and here's the story...

I was based on Buton Island, just off the South East coast of mainland Sulawesi, for 8 weeks in a small forest village called Labundobundo - so nice they named it 1 and a half times. We lived with local people, sharing their houses and using the village as a base from which we went to the forest camps. There were forests camps dotted around the island, some close to the village about an hours walk into the forest and others further away. One, at the Northern end of Buton Island, was a 6 hour drive, 1 hour boat trip and 1 hour trek through the forest. So swings and roundabouts really.

Trekking through the forest to one of the camps

Now when I say 1 hour walk, this isn't a walk like "walk" is normally meant. This is a walk in over 30 degrees Celsius heat WITHOUT the sun even out. Add to that the humidity of 100%, the rucksacks filled with enough gear for a 5 night stay on our backs and the "paths" that we were walking through the jungle and you might begin to realise that this wasn't some casual stroll through the forest. It was hard going. After the rains had been down some of the paths were the hardest walking I've ever done anywhere. But the treasures that lay within the forest made it all worthwhile... and then some.


I was there as I had been employed as an ornithologist for Operation Wallacea, and I was working most days over the 8 weeks collecting data through point counts to survey the bird populations of the forest. This data would then be used to try and obtain better protection for the forest reserves and the birds within them. Let me tell you... some of the birds were stunning! One of the most charismatic species there is the Knobbed Hornbill, a bird that isn't found anywhere else on Earth apart from Sulawesi (as with many of the other bird species). Its a huge bird that you could hear most days in the forest, whether that be its barking like call or the sound of their wings as they glided over the forest canopy from tree to tree.

Knobbed Hornbill

The reason that Sulawesi is so important is for the reason that most of the animals there are so special and unique. Sulawesi is on the Wallace Line, an imaginary line that seperates the flora and fauna of the Asian and Australasian continent. On the left hand side of the Wallace line you get typically Asian species; Tigers, Indian Elephants, Orangutans etc. whereas on the right hand side you get Australasian species; Cassowaries, Marsupials and the like. However Sulawesi has a mixture of both, so in the forests you will encounter Macaques (Asian) alongside Bear Cuscus, a marsupial (Australasian). That's why this area is in need of study and protection.

Indonesia as a whole has the second highest rate of deforestation in the world after Brazil and I saw much evidence that designating somewhere as a national park has little effect on logging. That's why the work that the team of scientists that were out there was so important, to make known the value of the area and to try and get better protection for the region.

Perhaps the bird that is highest up any birders list when Sulawesi is mentioned is the Maleo, an endemic member of the Megapode family. The scientists wanted to try and document presence of Maleo on the island as it would add further weight to the protection efforts. After a member of the team had been sent on a week-long trip to document Maleo nesting sites around Buton Island with very little success, a few days after his return a live specimen was brought into the village by a local man who had caught it in a jungle fowl snare. It was found in the forest on the outskirts of the village and some of the locals said, once they knew that was what a Maleo looked like, they occasionally see the bird crossing the forest road. This may mean there is a possibility that there may be a population of this highly endangered endemic species in the local area. Unfortunately I was at a forest camp at the time so was unable to see the Maleo and witness the events that day!

But I did manage to see some fantastic birds. I finished on over 80 species for the trip, which admittedly isn't a large number for such a length of time but that was due to the dense forest vegetation we were working in. I did get some crackers though, birds like the Yellow Billed Malkoha, Sulawesi Crested Myna, Rufous Bellied Eagle and Ornate Lorikeet to name a few with many on my list only being able to be found in that part of the world. I also got Oriental Hobby, which was only ever the second record for the island. I saw some other great wildlife too - Sulawesi Wild Pig, Reticulated Python, Sulawesi Tarsier, Black Macaque, Dwarf Cuscus and a probable King Cobra!

Sulawesi Hawk Eagle

However despite seeing all of these incredible animals, the best part of the experience was the people that I met. It was nice to be able to find like minded people to myself that were so passionate about nature and concerned with trying to preserve it and understand it. It was also a fascinating experience to work so closely with local people - something that I embraced and managed to learn a decent degree of Indonesian!

It's a wonderful place and was a truly remarkable way to spend 2 months of my summer. I very much hope I'll get to return next year.

Mudskipper down in the mangroves

Bala camp nestled in a jungle clearing

A little dude of a tree frog

Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher with small birds syndrome

He was gorgeous though!

The rarely seen Dwarf Cuscus

A Large Hanging Parrot caught by one the the mist netters

Pied Cuckoo Shrike

Sulawesi Serpent Eagle

Reticulated Python

Sat in the canopy, watching dawn break over the forest

Shrike-y mate!

Its exam season.  The final exam season.

The last Becher's Brook size hurdle of my 3 years at university before I find myself spat out into the big wide world and wait for life to smack me round the face. The exams should go OK. That is, all except one.

 Like an academic Leviathan rising out of the exam timetable froth, formed from the most difficult to remember biological processes comes "Animal Developmental Biology", which I sat today. Well when I say "sat" it felt more like I was spending the entire time drowning in a sea of over complicated gene names and desperately fighting against being dragged down by an undercurrent of biological jargon. "Don't let go Jack"? By the end I was ready to take a lung full and let the exam markers have a feeding frenzy over my soul.

I don't get bothered by exams, as you can tell, but this one really was a nightmare and a one way ticket to Failsville. I needed to cheer myself up.

The day before I had seen through Twitter that there were reports of 5 Bee Eaters being seen in Flamborough, and I half had the mind to abandon my revision right then to go off to see them. I thought better of it in the end though and decided that it might just be the perfect cure for a bout of post exam trauma. They ticked all my twitchable bird boxes; 1. Not too far - only about an hour and a half drive from Leeds, and 2. They are absolute little stunners. Plus they are very rarely recorded this far north and particularly not in these numbers.

So today, at 12 midday, I set off to Flamborough. Flamborough and the surrounding area has been a favourite holiday spot of my family for years so it didn't take much time at all to locate where the Bee Eaters had been seen. It was made all the easier by 3 birders standing aimlessly by the side of the road looking wistfully along telegraph wires. The news was as I feared, no sightings since half 11 that morning (it was now about 2ish) and some people had even reported seeing them high up flying out to sea.

This was turning into my first unsuccessful long range (for me) twitch but the sun was shining and there was plenty else to see. Especially when one of the birders told me of a site five minutes down the road where a Red Backed Shrike had been since the day before and showing brilliantly. Sure enough, after being there for only a couple of minutes, it popped up onto a willow where it stayed for five minutes before disappearing off into a thicket from which no one could locate it.

The sun shining on North Landing. Enough to brighten anybodies mood

I had been hoping to get some photos digiscoped from my phone so hung around for about an hour and managed to see a nice Roe Deer as well as talk to a couple of birders. That's the thing about birdwatching, you can easily pass an hour talking to someone you've never met before. There's something very special in that.

My patience was rewarded after I decided to have a walk up to the direction that it was last seen (no one was checking that area so some reason) and it popped up into view where it stayed for a good 15 minutes where I managed to get some decent record shots.

For those that read this blog looking for directions to the site; the small reserve is located on North Marine Road on the road down to North Landing in Flamborough. Its the left turn dead before the Viking Pub signposted Thornwick Bay Caves and Bird Sanctuary. Good luck!

From there I headed to Bempton Cliffs, one of my favourite places in the world, to see the sea bird colony. I got good views of all the regulars; Puffin, Gannet, Razorbill, Fulmar, Guillemot and Kittiwake.

Razorbills - one of my favourites. They look so smart!

Colony of Guillemots enjoying the evening sun

The view down the cliffs

 It was about 5 when I decided to start making my way back and on the way up to the visitor centre was where I got my best wildlife encounter of the day. From the ground to my left a large white bird rose and started flying across the sky with laborious wing beats. My first instinct was a Little Egret, but as soon as I got my binoculars on it there was no mistaking it; a gorgeous Barn Owl. It its talons it clutched some prey it must have hunted in the fields as it slowly floated into the distant haze.

There was only one way to end such an amazing day; fish and chips. Which I duly demolished with haste.

What started out as a pretty terrible day had turned into one of the most enjoyable days I think I've ever had. Just goes to show that you should always get out there, you never know what's waiting for you!