Friday 19 July 2019

Silver DofE: Practise Expedition, Ashdown Forest; 19th-21st April 2019

    As some regular readers to this blog may know, I quite enjoy going walking and hiking, even if not explicitly birding. Last year I completed my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh, where I spent 2 days and a night out in the North Downs of Surrey, using a map to walk around and then camp overnight. This year I began my Silver DofE, where I would spend 3 days and 2 nights out navigating around the wild countryside, and then camping overnight with friends. It got better - as we had to do a practise expedition first of all as well, I had 3 days of walking around the Ashdown Forest to look forward to!!!


Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest
   So on the 19th April, the start of Easter Weekend, my school were ready in the Crowborough station Car Park, leaving at around 9am with our DofE assessor (who tried to convince me not to take my camera..!) The start of our walk was quiet as we mostly went through alleyways in the town itself, with the huge numbers of Chiffchaff and Blackcap already showing. Although I recorded the species seen in my birding notebook, I couldn't do anything but a prediction for these 2 species. I reckon I underestimated their numbers by a lot...


Barn Owl Nest Box?


m Redstart photographed by a friend...


Moon


Grass Snake


Marsh Tit


Siskin


Whitethroat

   It was quiet for a long way through our first 2 hours of the journey, with plenty of Song Thrush heard on the route. A golf course was slightly better, with the first singing Willow Warbler of my year heard, while a few Swallows were also seen as was a Grey Wagtail along a small river. A few Garden Warblers were also noted. Eventually we reached the heaths of the Ashdown itself, where Chiffchaffs and Willow Warbler were in greater numbers, and I spotted 2 pairs of Stonechat within a few minutes in, while Linnets were seemingly everywhere. It took a little while of walking to spot the first Tree Pipit, singing away at the top of a tree. It was the best view I'd had of the species, which was pleasing.


Tree Pipit


Tree Pipit


Tree Pipit


spot the Tree Pipit

   Walking onwards we encountered a further few pairs of Stonechat and another Tree Pipit, while my first Whitethroat of the year was also seen. We then approached a car park, where Willow Warblers were singing in good numbers, making it a pleasant start to the 3 days.
   After lunch, where a few lizards were seen, our assessor decided to take us into a bog, meaning we all got ourselves horribly muddy, with a flushed Snipe the best to be found. A Hobby then nipped overhead (my first of the year and my ONLY since!) A few more Stonechat were seen around this point, while a friend photographed a Redstart while I tied my laces!!! I didn't see anymore Redstarts that day amusingly, although we came across a Woodlark with food (attending to a nest,) while I was gutted to miss an Adder that had my friends yelling behind me!
   As we reached the final leg of our journey, we didn't see much else by way of new birds. However, I managed a further few Willow Warbler, Treecreepers, House Martins, Skylark etc before we reached campsite at around 6pm. A long day was fairly productive in the field, and I more or less enjoyed it! It was nice to end the day with a stunning sunset and a few Tawny Owls.

Woodlark


Woodlark


Woodlark




Woodlark


Woodlark


Woodlark


Woodlark

   Following a terrible night where I couldn't sleep due to hayfever etc, we left our campsite at around 08:15. The first part of the day was quiet with barely a bird seen, bar Marsh Tits, a couple of Skylark and numerous Woodpeckers. At around 09:45 we reached our second checkpoint making very good progress, covering around 7km in an hour and a half. At this point it was great to listen to a couple of Whitethroats that had alighted on the wires in surrounding fields, but the highlight of the day was yet to come. As we began walking again a small shape crossed the path ahead of us, and I got a nice view of my first ever Grass Snake.
   We then had a long, gruelling path until lunch at a village, which was largely uphill and in less scenic areas. However, after lunch we made our way towards our next stop at Weir Wood Reservoir where I hoped to have a look for some decent birds.
   At the reservoir, 2 pairs of Common Terns were on the rafts from the main centre area, as were a few Oystercatchers. There were a fair few Great Crested Grebes around as well, while the reeds had fewer Reed and Sedge Warblers than anticipated.
   The rest of the day was tedious at times, with some woodlands making us feel disorientated and confused. As I ended up doing all the map stuff, I wasn't able to stop for pictures as much, although a small site near our campsite near a town called Forest Row was alive with birdsong, with Tree Pipits, Woodlarks, Skylark, Marsh Tit and Firecrests all present. We eventually reached our campsite at 5pm, after getting lost at a nearby golf course for over an hour...


Weir Wood Res


Weir Wood Res


Weir Wood Res


Weir Wood Res


Common Tern 
Weir Wood Res



   The campsite itself was arguably the highlight of the 3 days. Good numbers of Siskin were seemingly preparing to breed in the trees there, while I was surprised by 2 late Brambling that headed over the site during the evening as well. There were also at least 5 Marsh Tit territories in the woodland, with the small, comfortable glades making the evening nice and relaxing. It even inspired me to wake up early that morning to have a walk around, and at 5am I nipped out of the campsite to have a look at the woodland and heathland nearby. I didn't get far, but I was pleased to find a singing Redstart a few hundred metres away from our tents, while a Cuckoo was heard a bit further away. 
   When we eventually left at 07:45, there were Siskins in the trees as we left, while Willow Warblers were in good numbers. The first 4-5km that morning were pretty awesome. It started with 26 Willow warbler along about 2km of road, each bird singing away emphatically. We soon reached a tiny cricket pitch hidden away in a woodland, where a Woodlark was strolling around, showing better than I've ever seen before, all while Marsh Tits continued singing in the woodlands. Frustratingly, we also spooked a Nightingale, which quickly flew deep into cover and gave a nice croak for me. I was annoyed not to get a good view at least...
   The next part of our journey took us through the famous 'Winnie the Pooh' woods. It was surprisingly successful, with a few Redstart seen along the route as well as another Cuckoo heard. However, the highlight was hearing what I was sure was a distant Wood Warbler - another bird that's got a great song, so it was a shame to not get any recording or proof.
As we approached the finish, tiredness managed to overtake the need to look for birds, so I put my camera away for the final 7km. This was somewhat a mistake, as I had a face-off with a Firecrest that I would've got a nice picture of otherwise. 


m Redstart


m Redstart


m Redstart


m Redstart


m Redstart

   It was a thoroughly enjoyable 3 days of walking and birding, with some top birds along the way, and some fantastic experiences. For young nature enthusiasts, I reckon DofE is a great start to improving your understanding of nature as a whole. Being able to spend a few days walking around areas that aren't exactly famous nature reserves show what wildlife you can find, rather than twitch or photograph, even if they are birds or mammals that aren't necessarily rare.

   The only worry/disappointment was seeing 0 Yellowhammer over the entire 55km covered... Writing 3 months later, having finished the final expedition, I can say I wish I could do it all again...

Willow Warbler singing

Willow Warbler
  
Willow Warbler
Birding logbook
Birding logbook

Tuesday 16 July 2019

RSPB Rainham Marshes - Young Birders Walk, 12th April 2019

(I'm back!)

After finishing exams about a month ago, I've been busy catching up with all the stuff I've missed over the last few months; blog posts are something I especially need to catch up on!
I organised the 3rd London Young Birders walk before Easter, setting a date for the 12th April, where it seemed Rainham would get some decent birds. Once again it was to be led by Sam Levy, and although a few people from previous meet-ups couldn't join this walk our group of 6 consisted of myself, Sam, Calum M, Ben R, James McC and Fraser (Essex Birder on Twitter.) We all met at the visitor centre at 09:30am greeted by Rainham legend Howard, ready for a good days birding around the reserve. However, with the decent winds, birding from the visitor centre was a pretty good start - 3 species of hirundines were about, as were Common Terns that were constantly moving down the river. 


Med Gull

Med Gulls

Kestrel

Kestrel
We started off heading through the woodland hoping for a flycatcher or something like that, though very little was seen or heard (except the numerous Cetti's Warblers.) Just as we reached the end of the woodland Sam picked up 2 Mediterranean Gulls drifting NE/E at some height. These turned out to be the first of many for the day. As we walked through the start of the reedbeds a starling imitating a Willow Warbler made us look twice, although very little else was around yet, other than a few Little Egret. Heading onwards our first Sedge Warblers of the day and for some of us the year were singing and hopping up over the reeds, which was a pleasing start. As we reached the end of the boardwalk, our first Bearded Tit of the day made an appearance, as did the first Reed Warbler. 


Common Redshank

Lapwing
With winds shifting and the sky turning grey, it was somewhat amazing to watch the sky suddenly fill with Hirundines, as dozens of them - mostly Swallows and Sand Martins - began to descend from the clouds, while we made our way towards the second hide. As we approached, a further 2 Med Gulls appeared calling, coming fairly low down in the dull grey clouds, before continuing on N/NE.
From here it was largely quiet - however, a few Marsh Harriers were around, and a Ruff was found on the Target Pools, showing well through Calum's scope. Then with news of a Grasshopper Warbler reeling near the river - a lifer for some of us - we began to make our way along the path. Unsurprisingly there was no sight or sound, as it seemed most likely to be a fresh arrival that was resting after it's journey. After finding a second Ruff on the Target Pools, we headed on to the screens where a pinging male Bearded Tit stopped us, showing very well for once! After a brief stop here to admire the bird, we headed up to the river. 


male Bearded Tit

Bearded Tit

Bearded Tit
The plan was to carry along the river path towards the mound. Within seconds of reaching the path, I raised my binoculars to see a bird whizz past a ridge on the river. I couldn't identify the bird in the split second I saw it, but it didn't look like any of the Great Crested Grebes that were on the water, giving the impression of a Merganser/Goosander. At the same time as I said 'What's this' James called 'Merganser' as the male disappeared over the riverwall. Little did we know that this would have been a patch tick for Sam, who legged it to the ridge hoping it hadn't passed the bridge, which it seemingly had...


Skylark

Skylark

Kestrel
Despite this disappointment, we headed on to the mound, where Stonechats, Meadow Pipit and Skylark were all abundant. Whilst watching the Skylarks displaying, Terns continued to move down the river while huge groups of Mediterranean Gulls were moving high overhead. Just as I took a picture of a Skylark on a post Sam noticed another bird on the post further along, and it flew just at that point, confirming a Corn Bunting. After flying it joined 2 more birds, before heading off further down the mound! 


Skylark singing

Skylark and Corn Bunting

Meadow Pipit

Raven

Raven
We then decided to start to head back towards the visitor centre, coming across a Raven overhead - a decent bird for Rainham. As we began to walk back, reaching the river path again, Sam pointed out a very distant bird, before saying slightly unwillingly 'GBBG.' A minute or two later he decided to check his phone. Almost immediately he shouted  'White Stork over Aveley!!!' At this point it was panic stations - we frantically began looking upwards and across trying to find the bird. A few seconds later I spotted it back over the West End of the reserve, getting the unbelievably excited Ben onto it while everyone else was watching it. We then pelted it back along the path, scopes and all, towards the end of the mound. The massive bird then began to drop, towards the tip with all the gulls, who were obviously unhappy with the bird's arrival... For almost half an hour we had the pleasure of watching the bird circle the tip, then the mound, then the reserve again, before it seemingly landed on the tip. It was pretty awesome stuff, and though it wasn't a lifer it was a cracking bird to see so well, with that half an hour showing why birding can be so exciting! 


White Stork

go, go, go

White Stork

White Stork

White Stork

White Stork

White Stork

White Stork


White Stork

White Stork

Jackdaw photobomb

White Stork
Eventually, with everyone happy with the views, we headed back towards the visitor centre, not caring about anything else we came across at that point! As it was already quite late, we decided to nip down to the closest hide after lunch to try and find the Jack Snipe found by Howard that morning. But by this point our luck had run out, and we settled for several Snipe and Redshank. We then had to head back home, concluding a 3rd extremely successful London Young Birders walk, which brought about the 250th UK Bird for both Ben and James, while it was a lifer for Fraser. (Sidenote - although the bird was ringed, it was a bird that had been rehabilitated in the UK following an injury abroad, and so as far as we and others were concerned it was wild enough to tick) 


Marsh Frog

Marsh Frog

Little Egret and Greylag

Marsh Harrier and A13
Thanks for reading :)

https://twitter.com/ArjunDutta210/status/1117014305420058624
https://twitter.com/FinchleyBirder/status/1117115263818915840
https://twitter.com/BRNature1/status/1116786680869138433
https://twitter.com/BirderEssex/status/1116742266343829506
https://twitter.com/My_Wild_Life/status/1116729304799502336
https://twitter.com/mckellar_calum

Fraser was a bit excited..!