Saturday 28 December 2019

A Review of 2019

    It's crazy to think that the year where I did my GCSEs 7 months ago has almost finished - what a year! For me, on the nature front, I've had some seriously amazing experiences and memories to treasure. 

    Although I haven't left England since the summer of 2018, I've had some seriously good time to explore a lot more of the country, and visit areas I'd always wanted to visit.
Overall, it was quite an achievement (well when put in perspective, I've still not seen the likes of Kittiwake/Goosander etc) to get 37 lifers in the UK in 2019. I finally managed to see my first Little Owl, even if it took until December 15th for me to do so. 24 of them came across three days out, and it was great to finally see some species that I'd never seen before. Some of the sites I visited included Spurn, Titchwell (and a lot of Norfolk,) Pagham, Oare Marshes, Rutland and many more. While 12 of my lifers would be considered 'scarce' or 'rare' by most birdwatchers, it was the wildlife spectacles I got to see that were my favourite, as I'm less likely to ever witness them again. Managing to reach 200 birds in a year was also a surprise, as I didn't think I'd see anywhere near that many. My top 5 highlights are also further down this post.

    On top of this, I had plenty of time for patch birding (read below for my brief summary on that.) It's obvious to me that Morden Hall Park has become a special place for me, and I wouldn't have got through 2019 without somewhere to visit when stressed...


Lifers of 2019


National Trust:
     On the environmental side, I'll remember it most for the opportunities that have come up through the National Trust. Since I joined a young rangers group in Feb 2018 at Morden Hall Park NT, I've been fortunate enough to be given a range of opportunities related to environmental campaigning and conservation over the course of the year. Despite the fact that my greatest interests are in birdwatching and nature, I've realised that I just can't enjoy the hobby as much when I can see nature declining and struggling. With a youth movement growing significantly since the end of 2018, I've been lucky to get involved with so much of it, which is almost all down to those at the National Trust. For example, this year I've:
*helped lead youth groups for nature;
*done talks/panel discussions about engaging young people with nature;
*spoken to MPs about how they can use their power to help, especially in education;
*written blogs for a range of people who are also trying to achieve similar things;
*become an ambassador for the #iwill campaign;
*visited Morden Hall Park regularly to complete active conservation work, whether that's maintaining habitat, creating areas for wildlife or even communicating with the public to get them involved.
    I'm so grateful to have a platform to share my ideas about engaging young people with nature and trying to bring about change, which has been possible for example by joining a youth forum for the London Wildlife Trust, or going to events led by the British Ecological Society or World Land Trust. Again, ultimately this has come down to those at the trust who have helped me so much, and so the 4 people I thank most for that are Hattie Clayton, Gemma Jones, David Coughlin and Richard Newman.


Image
Speaking on a panel at Countryfile Live (August)


    Morden Hall Park has continued to grow as my much loved patch which I try to visit weekly, or at least fortnightly. I'll be doing some writing for a few groups about the importance of it to me in the coming months, as it is 100% my place to visit when stressed/bored/in need of wildlife. I'd estimate that I've visited at least 35 times in 2019 and spent well over 200 hours there in total, just emphasising how important it is to me. With the additions of Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Whitethroat, Pheasant, Green Sandpiper and Rook, my all time list here has reached 91 at the end of the year, which means reaching 100 species by the time I go to university is very possible. My highlight here of 2019 was finding 3 nests of Common Whitethroat, 2 of which successfully fledged young. Although frustrating at times as I'm still yet to find that patch 'mega,' I've really learnt to appreciate seeing the common species like the warblers, Kingfishers, Little Egrets more than ever before.
As always, I'm happy to show people around, and it's always much more fun when visiting with other people!


Morden Hall Park 2019. The bottom left/middle is the same habitat after conservation work to create a winter marshland. It'll be reedbeds again by March/April

The Cameron Bespolka Trust:
    With 2019 being almost like a 'break through' year for my environmental interests on the whole, birdwatching - as I've said - has always been the thing I enjoy most, and so I couldn't be more proud to be an ambassador for the Cameron Bespolka Trust. After Cameron's tragic death in 2013, the work Cameron's mother Corinne has put in for the benefit of the upcoming young birders is nothing short of inspirational. To recover from such a loss and be able to help so many more young people has made her one of the most admirable people to the young birders community, and so the young ambassadors team have been trying hard to help her continue this. Alongside my friend Sam Levy, we've been organising Young Birders walks in London for over 18 months now, with our most recent walk(s) being 'Bespolka Walks.' 
As my good friend Elliot Montieth, who has been struggling for a long time on personal levels, said perfectly after the 29th October, the group of people and young nature-lovers that make up the Cameron Bespolka Trust are like a family. It sounds like a weird thing to say but we all want to see the same thing achieved, which is a future that helps the younger birdwatchers of the UK have the opportunity to enjoy nature with others. We're a team of people that all get along very well and so it's become something I love being part of. I can't wait for the future of the Trust, as I feel it will only continue to grow and will help so many more people.




My Top 5 Memories of 2019:

5. Two days of Birding
 
    After a disappointing 2018 where I didn't really go birdwatching much, and when I did I had absolutely no luck with weather etc, this year my luck turned and I ended up getting out much more. There were two particularly notable days - visiting Oare Marshes with Calum & James in July and spending a day out in Bedfordshire with Sam and Megan under a week ago. Across these 2 days, I got to see some awesome wildlife; Oare Marshes - despite the blistering 37 °C heat on the day - was rewarding with the range of species we saw, from Lesser Yellowlegs and Bonaparte's Gull to Curlew Sandpipers and Southern Migrant Hawker Dragonflies. Sunday the 22nd December however was more about quality, and the two star birds of the day were both pretty rare for the UK; a pristine adult male Black-throated Thrush and a stunning Great Grey Shrike. With both days in the company of 4 of my  best mates, I really couldn't have asked for more. The fact I got 6 bird lifers and two insect lifers across the two days made them so much more successful than I'd ever been before, and was a massive bonus.



Ruff and Lesser Yellowlegs (Oare)


Waders at Oare


Black-throated Thrush

4. Birdfair

    As I've already said, I'd not been able to go to many social events related to wildlife before 2019; that's despite being interested in it for many years. So being able to go Birdfair this summer, where I met an endless number of people I considered friends yet had only 'met' online, was something I thoroughly enjoyed. Since it helped raise money for conservation, it was for an important cause, and therefore was something that I hope to go to again. Of course, the birding was pretty decent as well...



Great White Egret


Toby Carter's walk

3. Norfolk (and Sussex)

    Before 2019, I still had a pretty pathetic life list for birdwatching in Britain. I was missing some species that I just couldn't understand how I'd not seen, and were all pretty cool birds. With the help of a handful of older birders, I was finally able to go to some quality places for birdwatching. Across these two days, with Sussex in January and Norfolk earlier this month, I saw 20 new species of bird, with a great deal of entertainment along the way. I haven't had a chance to do a blog post about my trip to Norfolk yet, but the dawn-dusk visit included my best moment of birdwatching in the UK...



colour ringed Sanderling


Shorelark

2. London Young Birders Walks

    These walks really increased in popularity this year. As more young people now seem to want to meet up for the social aspect of birdwatching as much as the birdwatching itself, it was so good to be able to help lead these walks at London's best nature reserve, Rainham Marshes. 4 successful walks took place across the year; each walk was well-attended (over 15 different young people overall,) while the species seen numbered over 100 across all 4 walks, including Caspian Gulls, White Stork, Water Pipits, Cattle Egret, Wood Sandpiper and much more. The 3rd of January will see our first walk of 2019 for the Cameron Bespolka Trust, and will hopefully be the best one yet, especially with at least 13 people signing up already. For me, it's one of the highlights of my holidays, as it gives me a chance to take a step back from work and everything else, in the company of friends I can only wish to see more often, at a place I always enjoy visiting.



1st winter Caspian Gull


Young Birders


White Stork

1. SPURN
 
    This was by far and away the best thing I did all year and arguably the most enjoyable 5 days of my life. It had been a dream for many years to visit a bird observatory and visit Spurn, so being able to stay at the Spurn Bird Observatory for the BTO Young Leaders Course in August was just a dream come true. I couldn't have asked for anything more during the visit; I got to learn from some of the best at the BTO, go birding every day, all in the company of people that have now become close friends. Not often do I find myself learning and birding at the same time, in a community as tight as the Spurn area, where everyone's a friend. Seeing White-rumped Sandpiper, over 140 Willow Warblers which were practically dripping from the bushes and thousands of waders was just an added bonus. I can say for certain that at Spurn, I really did find my happy place, and so can't wait to go back. https://wildthingsandwings.blogspot.com/2019/12/spurn-day-5-9th-august-2019.html


Spurn at sunset (picture by Luke Hawkins)


Wood Sandpiper


juvenile Willow Warbler


White-rumped Sandpiper

The Wildlife/Birding Community - Young Birders:

    Realistically, I shouldn't have anything to complain about after such an amazing year for my nature hobby. Yet I've more or less ended it how I started it, where I've had some memorable experiences but still don't feel as happy. School is probably the biggest cause of this, and I'm really fed up of hearing the constant stupid jokes about birds; there's only so many times you can ignore it. Despite enjoying learning at my school, with the academics and sports side of it showing how lucky I am, it can still be a pain to deal with. As frustrating as it is, and as upset as it can make me feel, I know other people are suffering from similar problems.
    All I can hope for in 2020 is for people to be more supportive and actively tell those who make the comments to stop. After all, every one of us are 'normal' people - there's not a requirement to be a birdwatcher, or to like nature. It should be for everyone to respect and enjoy, and the fact it's seen as a weakness just seems stupid to me. From the pic below of some of the friends I've made this year, it's obvious that there's nothing to split us from someone who plays a sport or a musical instrument etc. At the end of the day, we're all normal people that like a 'normal' thing...
    In reality, I know that though I've tried to stop birdwatching a few times when in a bad mood, the thing I need the most when I'm not feeling great is nature; whatever it is about it, just the fresh air, and looking for things, or for me birdsong which always makes me smile, it does have the power to make you relax and feel a lot calmer. Just hearing a Redwing call in the miserable winter weather or a screaming swift in the summer has kept me going through stress, and so the idea of 'Bird Therapy' as written in a book by Joe Harkness does sit very well with me, as I don't think I'd be anywhere without it. If I could teach one thing to my school friends before 2020, it would be to just try and enjoy what the natural world has to offer; without birds and insects and foxes, the world would be a noticeably boring place, and if you don't realise that soon, by the time you do it'll be too late...
 
This may be a weird picture of young birders, but to me it shows what it's about perfectly. There's nothing different to a 'normal' group of 12-17 year olds. Just a group of young people having a great time out birdwatching, as many would when going to the cinema or playing a sport.

    However, much as I need wildlife, the thing I feel I need even more is the wildlife and birding community. This year, when I've often felt a bit isolated at school etc, I've become so reliant on this circle of people to keep me going. Without some of the older birdwatchers, such as Ed Stubbs, David Campbell, David Walsh and Shaun Ferguson to name a few, I'd never have been able to visit some of the places I'd been to, and so therefore owe a lot to them for offering to take me out, so I can forget any other problems and just enjoy birdwatching.
     But above all, the people that I owe the most to are without doubt the other young people I've got to know via Twitter. With the exception of one, the highlights of 2019 have been in the company of other people my age with similar interests to me. Meeting some of the young birders at Spurn, Birdfair and via the walks we've organised has given me the chance to take a step back and enjoy the company of people that respect me more; it's a shame that I could go a week without having much conversation with school friends in the holidays, yet now I'd feel terrible if none of the close friends I've made from the nature circle messaged me in a normal way. Without a doubt, all the young birders have become much more important to me than they may ever realise, and even if this is a bit one-sided because they have their own school friends, I really wish I could meet up with some of them more often. The thing I look forward to most always involves birding and people, which shows that although birdwatching by yourself can be fun, for me it's so much better with other people.


Some of #teamkittiwake at Birdfair



London Young Birders Walk #3 


London Young Birders Walk #4


Spurn

I apologise for the slight rant at the end of the post...

    Nonetheless, I'm extremely excited at entering a new year and new decade, where I'll continue to dream of seeing people appreciate the natural world more, and where I can enjoy birdwatching with young people as much as I have this year.
I'd like to wish all my readers a belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Spurn. Pic by Sam Levy


Tuesday 24 December 2019

Birding Bedfordshire - An awesome day out. 22nd December 2019

   With school finishing (never been so relieved) on Friday, I'd organised to head up to North London on the last Sunday before Christmas, where Sam Levy would pick me up so we could go and see a Black-throated Thrush. The (wild) thrush, a stonking male bird, had turned up 10 days ago and has been showing unbelievably well ever since in Whipsnade Zoo, causing quite a stir. With many hundreds of keen birders out there, it has been a popular place to visit this weekend, especially with some decent winter weather.
   After I reached North London at 08:15, we went to pick up young birding friend Megan McCleverty - who we'd met at Spurn earlier in the year - before driving to Whipsnade, reaching the zoo at 09:40. It was a slightly surreal sight seeing about 50 birders in the reception of the zoo, all having paid the entry fee of £20, to see the thrush. Considering most of this money will be going to wildlife conservation, I see it as money well spent! 
As soon as the door opened at 10am, everyone walked as a group to the area for the farmyard animals where the thrush had been seen. Before long it was found asleep in a tree, and eventually - after having a nice Sunday lie-in - it popped up to the top of the bush, much to the delight of the awaiting group of birders. While Megan took some terrible pictures and Sam remarked at his amazing video footage, the thrush was happily feeding away in some sort of Himalayan Berry Tree (which makes sense as the Himalayas is where you'd normally expect to find a Black-throated Thrush!)

m Black-throated Thrush in its roost tree 


Breakfast time
m Black-throated Thrush in its roost tree

m Black-throated Thrush

m Black-throated Thrush

m Black-throated Thrush

m Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Crash landing

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Redwing

Redwing

Redwing
    These were by far my best views of a rarity I'd ever had, and I was thrilled to spend a good hour and a half or so watching the bird as it switched between it's snooze tree and the berry tree. With Redwings for company, it made the bird all the more confiding, showing as well as we'd hoped. This gave us a great chance to study its stunning male plumage, as well as a bit of photography. It was also a surprise to bump into Milosz Cousens, a young birder from Poland who was here for Christmas. All this made it a thoroughly enjoyable 'twitch,' and well worth the trip up for. It was my 227th UK bird and one of the rarest I'd seen.
Once we'd had a very brief wander around a bit of the zoo and a caffeine fix in the shop, we decided to get ready to head on to our next site for the day.

Black-throated Thrush landing

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

   This year was the first time I was 'year listing' and due to the good year I was having with my birdwatching, I found myself on 199 species thanks to the Black-throated Thrush, which was the same year list as Sam's. So we decided to drive up a bit further into Bedfordshire, where a Great Grey Shrike had been seen. This was my #1 target bird for the winter, especially as it was the emblem of the Cameron Bespolka Trust. I've always wanted to see a shrike in the UK, with the Great Grey - due to its fascinating hunting techniques and striking black and white patterning - at the top of the list. 
With some useful information on where to go from Calum, we parked up by a gate, looking in the direction we thought it would be. Another bit of luck came when the very helpful finder of the bird drove past, telling us where to look. Almost immediately Sam picked up the bird miles away, which was a great start. Although Calum had said not to be too hopeful at getting good views, the finder showed us where to go and where to walk along, as the fields had footpaths all along the edges. He also warned us about the thick clay that carpeted the fields, acting like quicksand pulling us down at times...
Common Snipe


Goldeneye

Goldeneye, Brogborough Lake

Goldeneye, Brogborough Lake

Lapwing

Lapwing

   We were quickly shown the stunning site of Brogborough Lake, before returning for the shrike. Almost immediately, a group of 30 Goldeneye swam in front of us, while Great Crested Grebes were present further out. After admiring his patch, we headed off into the fields where several hundred Lapwing were swirling around (a sight I wish I could see and hear more often,) while a Stonechat was seen briefly a few times. We trudged along the hedgerows, with the dense clay quickly accumulating on our shoes and trousers, failing to refind the shrike. A few Reed Bunting and a Raven were all to be seen, while a pair of Snipe were flushed from the field. Then in another routine check of the hedgerow a long way south of the hill, from where we'd walked up, much to our relief, I picked up the Shrike at the top of the hedge. We walked down again, looking forward to some good views, before finding it had completely disappeared. In a real scooby-doo moment, the finder was waving at us as it had flown across the field unnoticed and was sitting at the top of the line of hedges on the other side. So we gradually crept a little closer, into the gunky mud; eventually we found ourselves standing in the middle of the field with another birder, watching the impressive Great Grey Shrike hunting along the bushes. We got some fantastic views of the normally elusive bird for around 15 minutes, even seeing it hover mid-air at one point, which was a bit of a surprise. Eventually it flew across the field again, and so we decided to leave in the hope we'd reach Wilstone Reservoir (Megan's patch) before dusk. Already we'd had a great day out, and so were a tired but very happy bunch!

Great Grey Shrike, Brogborough Hill

Great Grey Shrike, Brogborough Hill

Great Grey Shrike, Brogborough Hill

Great Grey Shrike, Brogborough Hill

Great Grey Shrike, Brogborough Hill

Great Grey Shrike, Brogborough Hill
    By the time we reached Wilstone, it was very nearly dark and we decided not to risk walking around the extremely damp slopes of the reservoir in the pitch black. This was soon found to be a wise decision, especially as Sam nearly fell head first into the reservoir after slipping on the banks! Although we didn't make it far, there was nothing to be disappointed about. Watching a group of Fieldfare emerge to roost behind us, while all the Wigeon were calling away on the lake, made it an awesome way to end an awesome day. 




   I'd like to thank Sam and Megan for the cracking day out; you couldn't ask for much better company, and it would've been just as enjoyable had we not seen a single good bird. I can only wish I could spend more time with some of the birding community, especially those my age, as I undoubtedly feel much happier when with them (even if they don't necessarily feel the same way!)

Here are there blog posts:
https://twitter.com/FinchleyBirder/status/1209168251860738048?s=20
https://twitter.com/stonechat_42/status/1208806655883980801?s=20