The Standlake Birder

      There are currently three vagrant Red-breasted Geese in the country. With a lull in the strong winds which have been battering the east coast forecast for Wednesday, I decided to make a visit to Cley in Norfolk to see what was reported as a very showy bird.    The Red-breasted Goose breeds mainly in Artic Siberia and winters on the shores of the Black Sea. It is a rare vagrant to the British Isles where it is sometimes found with flocks of Brent or Barnacle Geese.  It is classified as vulnerable meaning that it is threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threating its survival and reproduction improve. It is a very attractive small stocky goose with a small bill. It has a rich rusty breast and striking rusty and black-and-white head pattern. The mantle is dark and finely barred and it has a noticeable white flank stripe.   Identification of truly wild vagrants in the UK suffers the same escapee problems of all attractive ...

I am most fortunate to have great birding sites close to my new home near Worcester. Within walking distance we have a good, at least by current standards, breeding population of Nightingales which will hopefully be enchanting me with their sweet song again in late April. The beautiful Wyre forest is also only some 25 miles from me and, god willing, I will be watching Pied Flycatchers, Wood Warblers and Redstarts again there in the Spring.   The Wyre forest holds another attraction at this time of year as February is the best time to see the diminutive and increasingly scarce Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. This is a bird which is sadly in great trouble in the UK.  The population of this small Woodpecker is estimated to have fallen by 83% since 1970, with no more than 2,000 pairs thought to be left in the UK. The ongoing loss of ancient and mature woodland and the removal of dead and rotting wood is thought to be a key factor in this decline. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker may ...

American Robin My plan for this week birding wise was to spend a day in Norfolk. I was hoping to get some photos of a very showy Red-breasted Goose and then connect with some other east coast winter specialities  such as Snow Bunting, Shorelark and Pink-footed Goose.      That all went completely out of the window late on Tuesday when RBA reported an American Robin in Eastbourne. Twitching birds in the UK that I have seen loads of in their normal habitat, in this case North America, is always slightly odd but, as I need this for my UK list, a twitch was a no brainer.   The American Robin is really not a Robin at all, it’s a thrush. It was named after our very own Eurasian Robin by the first european settlers due to its red breast.   It is widely distributed throughout North America where it is the most abundant bird with an estimated population of 370 million. It essentiality replaces our european Blackbird in North America where it is a common garden bird....

Three vagrant Penduline Tits are overwintering at an old Airfield just outside of Weston-Super-Mare. I went to see them right at the end of last year but was left quite dissatisfied with the very distant scope views that I had. So on Wednesday I planned another visit to hopefully get a better view and, perhaps, even a few photos.     Penduline Tits are comparatively common in mainland Europe but only occur as rare vagrants in the UK. They were first recorded in the British Isles in the 1960’s and we now usually have one or two small groups that overwinter here. Their range is slowly expanding leading to some hope that they will become more established in the UK.   Penduline tits are not true tits  but are vaguely similar in appearance and share their namesakes' agile and frenetic foraging habits. Their common name refers to their elaborate pear-shaped nests. These nests are woven from spiderweb, wool and animal hair and soft plant materials and are suspended fro...