The Birdwatching Fraternity

Not our normal Aigronne Valley Wildlife post...
but the weather is dull... and some humour is needed!

Birdwatchers come in all shapes, sizes and types...
these are just some of the "species" that can be observed in the wild....
especially now... with the migration in full swing!!

The Birdwatching Fraternity
by Tim
[cartoons by Seppo and Rohan]

The occasional birdwatcher....
cartoon by Seppo

The Occasional Birdwatcher
Weekend vagrant...
Has a good pair of secondhand bins...
occasionally a cheap 'scope...
and a wobbly tripod...
carries a dog-eared original '60s copy of Collins...
that they've had since they were fourteen...
tucked in the pocket of an old water"proofish" coat...
gets out at weekends if the other half allows!
If married, has the sprog in tow!!
Somewhere at home is an old RSPB spotter's list...
with one dedicated to a Life list...
ticked in many different colours...
with lots of gaps!!

On his site Rohan posted a poem and a cartoon...
he's now posted a fully illustrated version...
it sums up perfectly the problems that some birds create...
for the birdwatcher.
[There was an Olive-backed Pipit in Norfolk this w/e...
and a Blyth's Pipit on the Isles of Scilly!]

The Birder
Often to be seen at weekends...
rare vagrant during the week...
has bins, 'scope and a decent tripod...
nowadays, often carries a "bridge" camera...
with a 20x to 30x zoom ability.
Has a first edition of the more recent Collins...
often plastic covered.
Might well be single....
or have an understanding partner...
Much rarer sub-species is...

It's no use... it was up against the sky...
I'll need another look at it... perhaps it will come lower!?

The Paired Birder
As for The Birder...
but this will be a couple...
one struggling to keep up under all the gear!!
The other "travels lite"...
sometimes have their chicks in tow...
which can cause havoc for other serious Birders who have never had chicks...
however, the chicks can be palmed off onto older Birders whose youngsters have long flown the nest...
and will chickmind and enjoy passing on their knowledge to a younger generation.
These chicks will very rarely be seen in their 'teens...
but can reappear as they reach their young adulthood...
no real research has been done in this field...
but rumour has it that they retreat into darkened caves...
and perform strange acts upon tablets and computer screens...
called "gaming"!

"Patchers" will often have excellent records of migratory species!

The Patcher
Out as often as is possible...
but never willing to to travel far...
decent quality bins and 'scope...
good SLR camera and assorted lenses....
record books, a couple of field guides [one on "jizz" perhaps]...
always has a notebook on the go... or a page-a-day diary...
often looks miserable if an entry can't be made!
Often has a dog... the excuse for numerous walks around "the patch"...
the back garden, if there is one, tends to be converted...
into a haven for birds!!

Not a species to be dismissed lightly...
The Patcher is an important part of the naturalist research community...
often a "Citizen Scientist"...
their observations cover many years for the same area...
can evolve into "The Wildlifer" but remain as a 'patcher'...
this adds to the value of their records!!

Occasionally to be seen as a vagrant "off patch"!!

Confusin' the SeaWatcher!

The SeaWatcher
Similar to the Patcher... but much hardier...
spends very long periods sitting in one place...
on damp shingle, in dunes...
or on clifftops...
trying to spot Pomarine Skuas, Such'n'Such's Petrel or JoeSoap's Shearwater...
and have very large 'scopes and SLRs with extremely long focus lenses...
the latter to photograph the dot...
for identification and proof that they have seen the damned thing...
and it isn't that they've been sitting in one place for so long...
and they've got "floaters" from staring at grey sea and grey sky for six hours.
They will know their stretch of coast exceptionally well...
they keep extensive records...
and again play an important part in record keeping for science.

However, both the above species would play an even bigger scientific role...
if someone doing research could get their hands on all those records!!!

The sexes are the wrong way round... but this will be recognised by someone we know!!

The Wildlifer
As for Birder, with the qualities of the Patcher...
started as a Birder... but discovered other things along the way...
so the couple of field guides have become...
field guides [asst'd]....
birds, plants, insects, fungi, mosses and liverworts, butterflies&moths...
the latter in addition to the insect book...
they carry lots of notebooks... as well as all the other gear...
often single or divorced...
always has need of a car...
but some can be seen on bikes...
including one in Britain on a converted tandem [for one]...
there are some biking birders, too.

Number two... the Wildlife Photographer
From Rohan Chackravati's "The 11 Types of Wildlife Photographers"
which is here...

The Wildlifer can evolve into the The Wildlife Photographer...
this species may travel lighter...
but often not...
the guides may have been left at home...
but a lot of "glass" and other accessories have replaced them!

Has this ever happened?
Very possibly...
there is great kudos attached to being the person....
who spots the bird first!!

The Twitcher
Perhaps the most well-known...
a lot of this species are to be found in sudden eruptions at remote sites.
These are the Skuas of the species...

If a field has crops growing...
most twitchers couldn't give a ****!!

Can be a pest to permanent residents...
and can also cause terrible damage to habitats...
especially fragile ones...
if a large number gather in one place, the surroundings get trampled severely!

Twitchers at Cley, Norfolk...
this bit of Cley is normally VERY quiet!!

The more "juvenile" of the species will behave very irresponsibly...
breaking into peoples' property and couldn't give a damn about anything....
but getting a sight of that "twitch"!!

The amount of equipment carried varies considerably...
but always involves a pager or other means of instant communication...
always has an excellent pair of binos and a very good 'scope...
if one of their means of communication is a mobile 'phone...
then they will have the 'scope adapter...
for that combination of lens and 'phone!
It will probably be an EyePhone...
they will, also, probably have a tablet...
in fact an EyePad... major or minor...
the purchase of these is because you cannot get Collins or the BWPi for an Android!
In fact a lot of naturalists carry these....
mainly because all the worthwhile identification "Apps"....
are only released for EyePads and EyePhones.

The Chequebook Twitcher has ALL the equipment!!

The Chequebook Twitcher

The ultimate raptor of the Birdwatching Fraternity...
has all the latest equipment...
access to fast transport...
access to "loadsamoney"...
willing to pay to have someone "bumped" off a plane...
if young... has inherited a fortune...
if middle-aged... is self-employed as a consultant...
if retired... they are spending the kids' inheritance!!
They don't have a pager... they have multiple pagers...
They have a life list... that runs to several volumes....
Like all "twitchers"... they "tick" and move on...
they have no real knowledge of the birds...
instead, rely on others to "let them know"!
Because there is always a real birder...
usually local...
at any rarity sighting...
for them it will be a...

......"mega"!!! 

Not a "twitch"!!

Dedicated to all those Blue-nosed Coldtails...
who braved the elements to see the Red-flanked Bluetail....
at Holkham in Norfolk this week! !!
Another one of Seppo's cartoons...

As you may have gathered from the above....
I'm not very impressed by "twitchers"....
or "tickers" of any persuasion!
Get a life...
there is a "patcher" I follow...
his blog is called "Birds and Beer"...
and includes a list of Norfolk pubs that are good for watching birds from...
that is real luxury birding...
Pauline and I were out with the Leeds RSPB to the Wirral...
it was bitterly cold... we retreated to a nearby pub...
found a window seat that overlooked the marsh...
and watched seven spoonbills feeding...
just outside the window!!
That's birdwatching luxury...

Perhaps we should just let them fly around us and say
"There's yet another bird over there!"

-----ooooo00000ooooo-----

I was inspired to write this after reading another blog I follow....
written by a Norfolk birdwatcher who coined the term "chequebook twitcher"!
Thanks, Penny! And the Red-flanked Bluetail is dedicated to you...

-----ooooo00000ooooo-----

Thanks also to the two cartoonists featured here...
Seppo Leinonen from Finland....
and The Green Humourist,  Rohan Chakravarty from India....
both of whom put their cartoons up as Creative Commons artwork...
both their sites have some wonderfully drawn environmental 'toons...
and I can't draw 'toons!!

Seppo
Rohan

Posted by Tim 

The Daily Bugle... full story!

Posted just after midnight... so yesterday is Sunday and this report is for Monday 4th...
Blodger was playing up like crazy.

It's been a good couple of days for the sighting of Common Crane [Grus grus] Grue cendrée...

Four of the sunset flight today!

Yesterday at around 2:30pm a flight of 58 birds...

followed today by a flight at around the same time of 61 birds, well split up...

then... another flight at 3:28 of 70 individuals in two groups...

we then heard but didn't see birds at 4:30'ish and towards 5pm.

A tremendous noise at 6:10pm heralded a flight of 100 cranes, split into two groups flying almost together...

Wither goest thou?

and then to cap it all... at 6:25 a flight of 31 came flying out of the sunset... straight over us.

Out of the sunset they came!

Wing tips shining in the setting sun...

But it wasn't over... after dark I was busy building bee nestboxes for the solitary bees and heard three more groups before 8pm!


262 birds seen today...
plus who knows how many were in the groups we heard?
A major movement through our area...
never observed such a continuous succession of flights in one day before.

The wind was from almost due South all day and, in the constant sunshine, the temperature peaked at 18.5 °Centigrade at around 5pm.
They must have thought it was the perfect day to move on!

The big Carpenter bees were out... scouting for holes...
Pauline heard a Skylark practising...
I put up a pair of Sandpipers from the middle of the meadow...
not sure which of Green or Wood they were...
both have white rumps and both are here at this time of the year...
they jinked away too fast...

And we got some nestboxes up...

T'was a grand day, Grommit!!

The Daily Bugle

Twittering again...
we've had cranes over at intervals all afternoon...
heading straight down the Aigronne Valley.
Both sides of us and just five minutes ago....
straight overhead.
Full blog entry later...

Strange?... [and THIS is called bird WATCHING.]

We have Black Redstarts [Phoenicurus ochruros var. gibraltariensis] Rougequeue noire here but we seem to lose the male each summer... The book shows the male in all his dinner suited glory like this photo....

Picture taken July 4th '06

and this is how he arrives... [there is another picture here from March of this year]

And then he and the female bounce around a bit in their courtship... lots of "ball bearings" being heard... and then the male seems to go invisible... still hearing the "ball bearings"... but we seem to have two females chasing each other around. And one "female" feeding the other that is begging... typical courtship behaviour... so one female must be a 1st summer male. [According to the book]

Female, male, first year male? Who knows...
whichever, this bird was sitting where our kitchen sink now is...
behind the newly installed double-glazed windows.
The only way in was via the owl-slot in the gable end.
This brood was raised successfully and so was a second.
[Picture taken 17th July '07]
The 2008 broods were raised in what is now our guest room!
The loft hatch was in place by 2009!!

We've noticed this occurrence now for two years running... either we are very unfortunate and have lost the mature male twice, or something else is going on.

But, do the books always get it right? These are just my thoughts...

Does the male have his main moult at the end of summer, just before migration... which makes sense as it gives the bird new feathers just before the  long flight... and a moult of the worn primaries just after mating. And it would make sense for two reasons... firstly, he renews his feathers just before he has to do a lot of hunting... and secondly, he can get into a plumage that makes him less obvious!
I ask this because we find the black wing primaries up in the longère's grenier... a reasonably safe place to "undress"! With a food supply on hand amongst the beams, too.

In which case, the female may well have a moult whilst she is sitting and being fed by the male... it makes evolutionary sense... she wouldn't waste energy moulting before, as all her spare energy is going into the eggs. But, as she remains the same colour all year, we can't really tell.

The Black Redstart is a 'short distance' migrant... like the Robin... if we see them here in winter, they won't be 'our' Black Redstarts. Ours are probably in Spain... but no further south than Morocco or Algieria.

And, whilst mentioning migration, which is now in full swing, we have a very colourful visitor at the moment.... just passing through on the way to Africa... a male  Redstart [Phoenicurus phoenicurus] Rougequeue á front blanc.
Now as you can see from Pauline's picture here... he is glorious!

You can clearly see the rusty-red breast and the white forehead that identify him as a male Redstart.

I've seen Redstarts only in Spring and they've never been this bright... is a similar moult pattern going on here too? We don't get Redstarts here, and this is a first sighting for us at La Forge, so I've nothing on which to base a comparison.

But, on another tack.... is the male Black Redstart also like the Robin in that he can have a number of wives? But that wouldn't explain the begging behaviour... this though is what birdWATCHING is all about... observations and records... followed by ponder and discuss!


The book: Collins Bird Guide [Le Guide Ornitho] Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterstrom & Grant [1999]

Old Friends

Yesterday on the way up the valley to Le Petit Pressigny we saw another osprey being mobbed by two crows. The Osprey - chocolate brown bird, white underneath - was not a lot bigger than the crows but with longer, narrower wings. It isn't just the fishermen who appreciate the regular re-stocking of the Aigronne, one of France's premier trout rivers.
Today we visited Beaulieu-les-Loches for the 'Fil et Bio' exhibition. Here we met an old friend - Jim the Mushroom Man, formerly of Leeds Farmers Markets and now based in Loches. He and his partner Philippe have 30 hectares of caves where they raise Japanese mushrooms - Shiitake, Oyster and Eryngii at the moment - and have just secured organic status. As well as Loches market, they sell from their shop at 45 Rue des Lilas.
Heading home, we saw and heard three young peregrine falcons spiralling around the steeple of the old abbey church, again being mobbed, this time by jackdaws.
Finally arriving home at 6:10 pm, it was almost dark and a little owl was calling. Then over the hill came a familiar trumpeting. A single crane grus grus (grue cendré) was heading south, grue-ue-ueing for his mates as hard as he could. According to the latest RSPB magazine, a bird can fly up to 70% further in V-formation than on its own, so this one could be in real trouble. We thought of several captions for this picture, such as "You fellows might have told me the clocks went back today!".

Busy migrants

Today was dreary, damp and misty, the only colour provided by the big flock of small passerines flitting between our lime tree and the bare field opposite recently sown with wheat. The greenfinches, chaffinches and goldfinches could be resident, or more northerly birds replacing our summer breeding colony who have moved on. Just because you see them all the year round, it doesn't mean they are the same birds. Recently they were joined by Bramblings [Pinson du nord] Fringilla montifringilla, the chaffinch's orange relative, and Siskins [Tarin des aulnes] Carduelis spinus. The adult birds, having moulted in summer, now look very fine.

Bagger discovered my fleece tunnel sheltering the winter lettuce plants. I could only find a rather ragged, used piece of fleece when I was constructing it, having bought the young plants on a whim at Descartes market when the night temperature was minus two. He found a hole in the fleece at one side of the tunnel and stuck his head through. Hm, no voles there yet. Fortunately when he pulled his head out again he didn't pull the whole thing down, but it was definitely a smaller hole than the width of his whiskers!

Osprey on migration

This afternoon we came out of the laiterie by chance, to see an Osprey [Balbuzard pêcheur] Pandion haliaetus heading across our meadow and away southeast. How lucky can you get!

Bad GPS? Food source? Migration?

This evening I was sitting on the bench outside the house [to be] planning how to tackle the next stage [with a glass of Anglo-Dutch Wildflower in hand] when I noticed that hundreds of Swallows, House Martins and the occasional group of what looked like Wagtails [no binos, so couldn't confirm.... just going on jizz] passing EAST overhead. Everytime I thought they'd stopped another flight came over... there was group after group [not all directly overhead... to misquote Tennyson "Some to the left of me, some to the right... straight into the east flew the X-hundred"]Straight down the Aigronne Valley toward Le Petit-Pressigny.... BUT, was someones Tom-Tom misfunctioning?
An hour later they all came back, drift after drift... or, as I later thought, were they following a rich food source down the valley and then returning to roost.
We thought we'd seen the last of the Martins and Swallows last week.... were these Northern ones on their way South, tapping a rich food source... or was it just bad programming by the makers of Swallow-Tom?

February 24th 2008

Clear sunny day, warm, wind SW moderate. Large flock of Common Crane gathering over Etableau and flew off NE in three large skeins [upward of 200 birds] followed by a second small group that flew straight towards us.

The noise was incredible. They flew straight overhead and I almost fell over backwards [Falklands Penguin Syndrome!] as I took the following shot ... I was saved from total embarassment by the trunk of a willow!