London Wetland Centre

A few hours at the London Wetland Centre this afternoon produced 1 Bittern showing fairly well on the Sheltered Lagoon (though still not close enough for a decent photo), 3 Pintail, 1 Shelduck, 34 Wigeon, 35 Gadwall, 48 Shoveler, 185 Tufted Duck, 100+ Teal, 89 Lapwing, 3 Common Snipe and 2 Sparrowhawk.

The Grazing Marsh from the Peacock Tower

No show Short-eared

This afternoon Rachel and I tried for the Short-eared Owl seen recently in Richmond Park, but unfortunately all we had was the usual gangs of Ring-necked Parakeets. While scanning I got to thinking back to the Short-eared Owl we saw on the island of Genovesa, Galapagos in 2006 (photo below). This endemic subspecies - Asio flammeus galapagoensis - looks quite different from the European birds, but the biggest difference is their unique hunting strategy - where they clamber around on the lava fields stalking Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels returning to their nests. Check out this excellent BBC footage.

A dull day at Staines Moor

Spent a few hours today seeing nothing at the moor. 2 Goosander, 1 Little Egret, 50 Fieldfares and 25 Redwings was all I had to show for grilling the place. The wintering Firecrest once again alluded me and a pair of Mallard constituted the wintering wildfowl population. I don't think I've ever seen the moor so devoid of birds - where have all the wildfowl gone?? Perhaps the swarms of dog walkers traipsing around has something to do with it? So why is it I have a problem with dog walkers? Maybe it's the two terriers that wouldn't stop jumping up at me, defying the raucous yelling of the owner to control them? Or maybe it was one couple's pack crashing into the river ruining the tranquility and flushing a probable Water Pipit? The list goes on...

Staines Moor looking south from The Butts - note the absence of avifauna

The River Colne - note the presence of dog walkers

The lynx effect

Arrived back early this morning from a five day trip to southern Spain to try and see the world's rarest cat - the Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus. Now classified by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, the population has crashed over the last couple of decades, with surveys estimating only around 150 individuals remaining, and just 40 breeding females! Today there are only two known isolated breeding populations, both in Spain - one in the Coto Doñana and the other, the species stronghold, in the Sierra Morena. Both areas are vast, but regular sightings over the last few years from the Sierra de Andújar Natural Park in the Sierra Morena prompted me, Rachel, Jaffa and Helen to try and connect with one.

After four long intense days scanning endless boulder strewn dehesa hillsides (photo below) we managed two Lynx sightings. The first was a very distant animal found by Jaffa and seen for just a few seconds walking along a hilltop track on the evening of 2nd. Lucky as we felt about seeing such a rare animal, it wasn't the view we wanted, and the image of Steve Bird's irritatingly awesome photo of a Lynx lying on a rock, taken last year from the very same road we were standing on, just wouldn't stop haunting us! So the scanning intensified, the night-drives got later and the number of sites visited increased. Two days later and we'd had no further sign - this was hard work! Then at dusk on 4th, our last evening, just as we were heading back to the car, a Lynx suddenly appeared on the hillside just a few metres from us! We expected it to bolt but instead it just looked at us nonchalantly, then slowly swaggered down the hill and across the car park, passing within four metres of Rachel who was sitting in the car (who first saw it in the side mirror!), before ambling across a bridge that we had been standing on just a short while before! The sighting lasted for about 10 minutes and has to be one of the best wildlife experiences of my life! Frustratingly I couldn't get a photo, but for some great footage that sums up our elation visit Cream Tea Birding.

Other mammals seen include 1 European Otter, Mouflon, 2 Wild Boar and lots of Red Deer and Fallow Deer (first photo below). The best birds were 2-3 Spanish Imperial Eagles, 4 Golden Eagles, Black Vulture, Rock Bunting, Rock Sparrow, Blue Rock Thrush, Hoopoe, Hawfinch, Woodlark, Iberian Grey Shrike, loads of Black Redstarts and hundreds of Azure-winged Magpies. Also noteworthy were small flocks of overwintering House Martins (or early migrants), 2 Barn Swallows, a few White Storks and an unseasonal Red-backed Shrike. Other highlights include a Horseshoe Whip Snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis (second photo below), Southern Tree Frogs Hyla meridionalis (last photo) and Natterjack Toads Bufo calamita. A full trip report will follow soon.

For more information about the Iberian Lynx see the IUCN Red List. To find out what is being done to try and save them visit SOSLynx.org.

Will the real Cream Tea Birder please stand up?

On this blog you will find some real cream tea birding! You know, the type that actually involves scones, jam, cream and a cup of char, as well as birds. This is me in July 2009 at Ye Olde Smokehouse at Fraser's Hill in Malaysia, where at 3pm every day we would chill out after a busy mornings birding with a superb cream tea, while watching Streaked Spiderhunters (second photo), Silver-eared Mesias (third photo) and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrushes bombing around in the garden! Jungle birding with a touch of English class! So don't let the excellent but rather inappropriately named Cream Tea Birding blog fool you - although there's plenty of birds, I've never seen a scone or dollop of jam anywhere near it!

London Wetland Centre

I dropped by the WWT London Wetland Centre this afternoon to try and catch up with Bittern. First stop was the Dulverton Hide - I opened the hide door, sat down, opened the window and there siting on top of a clump of reeds was a Bittern in full view! Unfortunately it was far too distant for a photo. Good numbers of duck were also seen including about 200 Teal, 30 Shoverler, 20 Wigeon, 6 Pintail (inc. 3 drakes), 20 Gadwall and 1 Shelduck. Also noted were 2 Water Rail, 7 Common Snipe, 40 Lapwing, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Sparrowhawk.

Thaw underway

After the rapid thaw of the last two days the snow has all but disappeared, so hopefully birds will start to return. Still very little about at Staines Moor. A walk along the east edge produced 2 Woodcock (flushed from Bonehead Ditch) and on the Colne a female Goosander was a bonus. Despite the thaw, wildfowl are still restricted to the river as the floods remain frozen. Also, numbers are still very low, with 2 Shoveler, 1 Gadwall and 7 Teal being about it. The best of the other birds present were: 1 Little Egret along the Colne, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Reed Bunting, 19 Linnet, Fieldfare, Redwing and c1000 Ring-necked Parakeets heading to roost at dusk.