A walk by the Son-sonnette today produced a couple of siskins, so one more species can be added to the Dec list.
Large numbers of woodpigeons have been around since yesterday with some tight flocks numbering over 400. Othher species today were:
collared dove
great spotted woodpecker
green woodpecker
mallard
grey heron
crow
magpie
jay
buzzard
kestrel
blue tit
great tit
goldcrest
wren
robin
goldfinch
chaffinch
linnet
cirl bunting
skylark
starling
house sparrow
blackbird
mistle thrush
redwing
25 species No great list -- but not quite disgraceful.
On Christmas Day a male hen harrier graced the fields near Fontenille
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Friday, 21 December 2012
How many birds in December?
Well it's getting to that time of year when folk light up their houses and eat mince pies etc so it seems a good time to do a reflectve post.
December is generally a quiet time bird-wise in Charente. Unlike Charente Maritime,the habitat/ location is not one to attract numbers of winter wildfowl or waders except perhaps lapwings and golden plovers so the best one can hope for is an influx of winter passerines searching for food. This year has seen little as yet in terms of northern finches and thrushes so the highlights of this month have been the occasional skein of late-migrating cranes and, of course, the lost pallas's warbler.
Nevertheless I can't resist seeing and recording the birds that are about and there is always something of interest such as the hawfinch which was in the garden earlier this week and a female sparrowhawk eyeing the bird table outside a friend's house. The occasional hen harrier still quarter the fields, the size of the flocks of finches and larks can often be startling and at night-time tawny owls are hooting and barn owls can be glimpsed in the car's headlights.
Readers of this blog may have noted my inclination to list the birds that I have seen in the course of a day. This mildly obsessional trait is typical of most birders (and some are genuinely obsessed by lists of all sorts--year lists, life lists, trip lists etc.) Although I recognise the near pointlessness of it, there is a harmless challenge for me in discovering the number that a local walk or ride will produce. Below 20 species is a mild disgrace but it does happen; more commonly, the list hovers around the 25 to 30 species mark but the number on any day are a bit like the National Lottery in that there are always one or two missing but which were there only a day or two before.
To get an idea of the which birds are commonly around in Charente it probably would make more sense to compile weekly or monthly list and to do so outside of the Spring migration period would result in a figure of 40-50.
Here, in no order other than how they come to mind, is a list of species seen or heard this December:
common buzzard
kestrel
sparrowhawk
hen harrier
merlin
grey heron
pheasant
moorhen
mallard
mute swan
woodpigeon
collared dove
great spotted woodpecker
green woodpecker
lesser spotted woodpecker
barn owl
tawny owl
little owl
chaffinch
greenfinch
hawfinch
linnet
goldfinch
brambling
skylark
woodlark
meadow pipit
stonechat
robin
wren
dunnock
house sparrow
cirl bunting
short-toed tree creeper
nuthatch
firecrest
goldcrest
lapwing
golden plover
carrion crow
rook
jackdaw
jay
magpie
starling
blackbird
song thrush
mistle thrush
redwing
fieldfare
common crane
chiffchaff
white wagtail
grey wagtail
blue tit
great tit
long-tailed tit
marsh tit
cormorant
pallas's warbler
Ok, the last one is a one-off but the list which comes to 60 species does not include birds which doubtlessly are present but which I have not come across this month. These, for example, include the following which are come across on some days:
yellowhammer
tree sparrow
kingfisher
cetti's warbler
blackcap
siskin
bullfinch
black woodpecker
coal tit
snipe
woodcock
grey partridge
red-legged partridge
To these could be added little grebe, great crested grebe, coot, crossbill, crested tit and dipper which occur in Haute Charente.
The list could therefore be around 80 but then, just as with the lottery, you are very unlikely to get all of numbers at any one time, even within a whole month. Still, it could happen and that's a part of what keeps us going.
December is generally a quiet time bird-wise in Charente. Unlike Charente Maritime,the habitat/ location is not one to attract numbers of winter wildfowl or waders except perhaps lapwings and golden plovers so the best one can hope for is an influx of winter passerines searching for food. This year has seen little as yet in terms of northern finches and thrushes so the highlights of this month have been the occasional skein of late-migrating cranes and, of course, the lost pallas's warbler.
Nevertheless I can't resist seeing and recording the birds that are about and there is always something of interest such as the hawfinch which was in the garden earlier this week and a female sparrowhawk eyeing the bird table outside a friend's house. The occasional hen harrier still quarter the fields, the size of the flocks of finches and larks can often be startling and at night-time tawny owls are hooting and barn owls can be glimpsed in the car's headlights.
Readers of this blog may have noted my inclination to list the birds that I have seen in the course of a day. This mildly obsessional trait is typical of most birders (and some are genuinely obsessed by lists of all sorts--year lists, life lists, trip lists etc.) Although I recognise the near pointlessness of it, there is a harmless challenge for me in discovering the number that a local walk or ride will produce. Below 20 species is a mild disgrace but it does happen; more commonly, the list hovers around the 25 to 30 species mark but the number on any day are a bit like the National Lottery in that there are always one or two missing but which were there only a day or two before.
To get an idea of the which birds are commonly around in Charente it probably would make more sense to compile weekly or monthly list and to do so outside of the Spring migration period would result in a figure of 40-50.
Here, in no order other than how they come to mind, is a list of species seen or heard this December:
common buzzard
kestrel
sparrowhawk
hen harrier
merlin
grey heron
pheasant
moorhen
mallard
mute swan
woodpigeon
collared dove
great spotted woodpecker
green woodpecker
lesser spotted woodpecker
barn owl
tawny owl
little owl
chaffinch
greenfinch
hawfinch
linnet
goldfinch
brambling
skylark
woodlark
meadow pipit
stonechat
robin
wren
dunnock
house sparrow
cirl bunting
short-toed tree creeper
nuthatch
firecrest
goldcrest
lapwing
golden plover
carrion crow
rook
jackdaw
jay
magpie
starling
blackbird
song thrush
mistle thrush
redwing
fieldfare
common crane
chiffchaff
white wagtail
grey wagtail
blue tit
great tit
long-tailed tit
marsh tit
cormorant
pallas's warbler
Ok, the last one is a one-off but the list which comes to 60 species does not include birds which doubtlessly are present but which I have not come across this month. These, for example, include the following which are come across on some days:
yellowhammer
tree sparrow
kingfisher
cetti's warbler
blackcap
siskin
bullfinch
black woodpecker
coal tit
snipe
woodcock
grey partridge
red-legged partridge
To these could be added little grebe, great crested grebe, coot, crossbill, crested tit and dipper which occur in Haute Charente.
The list could therefore be around 80 but then, just as with the lottery, you are very unlikely to get all of numbers at any one time, even within a whole month. Still, it could happen and that's a part of what keeps us going.
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
golden plover and cranes
Since the pallas warbler surprise the birding has been quite interesting; a hawfinch and a lesser spotted woodpecker were present at Valence yesterday and a flock of 100 cranes flew high over La Poterie. A trip over the Lairiere plains this morning revealed a single lapwing, no less than five herons following a plough and a flock of over 50 golden plover feeding in the same field. Flocks of skylarks and chaffinches contained many hundreds and a single flock of linnets consisted of around 400 birds.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Pallas's warbler-a real rarity
Today was a very good day, not only did Man U sort out Abu Dhabi FC but a birding rarity made its appearance near Valence viz a pallas's warbler!
This tiny asian bird should be well on its way down to southern China for the winter but has been displaced far westward from its usual route and ended up busily feeding in the low trees at the side of the track along the Son-Sonette valley. It is only the size of a goldcrest and was making no sound to make my brother and I aware of its presence but luckily Carl caught sight of a movement and we spent a pleasant 15 minutes watching it feeding restessly above us. It was still there when we left so I'll check out the spot again tomorrow morning. Lost individuals such as this are recorded in very small numbers every year in western europe but this is my first ----so a red letter day indeed.
This tiny asian bird should be well on its way down to southern China for the winter but has been displaced far westward from its usual route and ended up busily feeding in the low trees at the side of the track along the Son-Sonette valley. It is only the size of a goldcrest and was making no sound to make my brother and I aware of its presence but luckily Carl caught sight of a movement and we spent a pleasant 15 minutes watching it feeding restessly above us. It was still there when we left so I'll check out the spot again tomorrow morning. Lost individuals such as this are recorded in very small numbers every year in western europe but this is my first ----so a red letter day indeed.
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