Skip to main content

Posts

Oasi WWF Padule Orti-Bottagone

   Black-winged Stilt   Our fabulous Tuscan host, Fabio, organised an excursion for us to the Oasi WWF Padule Orti-Bottagone only some 30 minutes from our villa.     The reserve is a     hot spot for Black-winged Stilts and Greater Flamingos. Our arrival we met local birder and reserve volunteer Stefano who was unlocking the gates - it was now obvious that we were going to get a private tour of the reserve! The location, I have to say, was not picturesque! The reserve was bisected by a motorway and a large factory belching out something horrible from a high chimney was on the boundary. I had read a review before we visited which said that the surround location was hardly pretty but the reserve itself was top notch for birds.   Stefano explained that on one side of the motorway was a freshwater marsh with a saline one on the other side. We made our way to the fresh marsh via walking under the motorway. We could immediately see Black-winged Stilts feeding and snoozing in their characteri
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

A Tuscan Spring

Hoopoe Sometime in January we decided enough (rain and mud) was enough and to preserve our sanity we booked a spring holiday in our favourite part of Europe, Tuscany. The lack of blogs in the past month or so reflects the fun I’ve been having recently starting with an horrific dental abscess resulting in a late night visit to an emergency dentist. The dentist sorted out the abscess but in return seems to have given me some horrific bug which was the worst I’ve had for many a year and laid me low for two weeks. Three covid test were all negative so perhaps it was just a dose of flu followed by a chest infection – man flu is a truly terrible thing! Luckily, I had just about recovered in time for our Tuscan holiday.   A two hour flight to Pisa with BA followed by  a two hour drive delivered us to our villa on the outskirts of Castagneto Carducci at mid-afternoon on Monday 15 th  April. This is going to sound very snobbish but it was the first time for at least 20 years that I had flown in
1 comment
Read more

Sand Martins herald in spring with a touch of Spoonbill

  With nothing bird wise to temp me to drive any great distance I popped down to Slimbridge again o n Friday for a relaxed days birding. Making use of the members early access privilege I arrived before normal opening time and made my way to the Robbie Garnet hide where the sky seemed full of Sand Martins, an uplifting and welcome sight after such a dreadful wet winter.    Taking pictures of Hirundines is, to say the least, challenging, mainly due to the speed they move at. The more distant they are the more chance you have of getting focus to lock on but the smaller the image and hence the larger the crop and noise. This is compounded by the very high shutter speeds required, typically 1/4000 sec which almost always equates to high ISO and hence noise. To be honest this is 10% skill and 90% luck but if you shoot enough a few will be in focus as per this typical example.    From the hide I could also see an adult Spoonbill that has been present at Slimbridge since mid-February. There h
Post a Comment
Read more

Early spring in the Wyre Forest

  On Wednesday I met Jeremy just after dawn in the Wyre forest to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. To cut a long story short, a few hours searching where they have been in previous years only yielded two sounds of them drumming somewhere but no confirmed sightings. There was quite a nice selection of backup birds to keep us entertained, good flocks of Siskin, a few Redpoll and my first singing Chiffchaff of the spring.   Just to prove they do sometimes show themselves, here’s a picture taken in the forest two years ago.      Come mid-morning we relocated to Dowles Brook to look for Dippers where we had much more success. We spotted two very active birds almost immediately collecting nesting material with huge beaks full of moss. Assuming they were the same pair, they had chosen a new nest location compared to previous years, possibly because the water level was much higher. This led us to speculate how big a territory is and whether there could be more than one pair. Somewhat unhel
Post a Comment
Read more

Looking for Dartford Warblers and Wood Larks at Thursley Common in Surrey.

       Dartford Warbler This Wednesday just gone I planned  to meet Jeremy at dawn in the Wyre forest to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. On Tuesday the forecast was for fog for the first couple of hours so, as this is exactly when these diminutive little  Woodpeckers are most active,  we decided to postpone the trip. Instead I decided to pay a visit to Thursley Common in Surrey which is normally a top spot for Dartford Warblers and Wood Larks in early spring. The forecast for Thursley was also mist and fog for the first couple of hours so I planned to arrive at 10:00.   Dawn broke on Wednesday in Pirton to reveal a lovely bright early spring day – typical! The weather did deteriorate to heavy fog as I drove down the M5 so perhaps it was also foggy in the forest. The forecast for Thursley was mist clearing to light cloud but in fact it was again a lovely sunny spring day right up to sunset. My wife always laughs when I check the forecast for birding  - she says wait and look out of
1 comment
Read more

Barn and Short Eared Owls in the Cotswolds

          I had a lovely bistro lunch with my gorgeous elder daughter Louisa in Witney yesterday. On the way home I decided to try and see the above Owls at a well-known Cotswold  hilltop spot. I used to go to this spot every year but stopped going 5 years ago when it became very popular and, at times I’m afraid, a bit of a circus. I know its been very busy there again this winter but I hoped that, as it is quite late in the season, it might be a bit quieter. I was pleasantly surprised to find just a couple of friendly and well behaved birders present when I arrived. Encouragingly, there were also four Short Eared Owls flying over the fields, all be it a little distantly.   The Short Eared Owl is a grass land specialist with an almost world-wide range. It is found on all continents except Antarctica and Australia and hence has one of the most widespread distributions of any bird. It is an attractive grey and sandy coloured bird with very noticeable bright yellow eyes. It is strongly de
3 comments
Read more