Birding etc with Dominic Mitchell

Margate - twinned with Beidaihe

2013-05-18T22:35:00.000+01:00

Britain's first-ever twitchable Dusky Thrush - debate has already started about whether there is any Naumann's Thrush influence in the plumage (the two species, formerly treated as one, hybridise in areas of range overlap). There’s a good chance that many of Britain’s keener birders awoke oblivious to the big news of the day. While some slumbered in their pits, others who had stayed up a

Shrike in song

2013-05-11T18:00:00.000+01:00

Have you ever heard the fast-paced song of Red-backed Shrike? This handsome male is quietly delivering its slightly incongruous yet rapid song, which in terms of performance and volume is rather more subsong-like, and apparently also seldom heard. I've come across it on a few previous occasions, but this time during a recent trip to Bulgaria was able to capture it in HD video using my Canon

Balkan bonanza

2013-05-01T14:43:00.000+01:00

The enigmatic Wallcreeper - a star bird on any trip, and possible at close range in Bulgaria. Question: what’s the best birding destination in Europe? The answer partly depends on your perspective – the species you want to see, the kind of terrain you enjoy, climate considerations and so on. But in terms of diversity (for which read trip total) and also sheer numbers, right up there among

Arctic Tern video

2013-04-20T23:26:00.003+01:00

Thursday's first-ever Arctic Tern on my Alexandra Park patch provided an impromptu opportunity to test video mode on Canon's SX40 HS camera. I don't shoot video often but when I do it is usually with a tripod-mounted Canon EOS 7D and prime telephoto lens. Although the SX40 HS boasts 1080p HD video, clearly the results from a handheld bridge camera will be different - though, in the event, I

Another week, another patch first

2013-04-18T22:44:00.000+01:00

Arctic Tern at Alexandra Park this morning: the first-ever site record. Spring finally uncorked itself in London this week, a flood of migrants pouring in since the weekend and - initially at least - in unprecedented numbers. The closest of my two London patches, Alexandra Park, benefited big time in the form of a fall of Northern Wheatears four days ago, anything between 10 and 30 birds

London, 24 years ago today ...

2013-04-14T21:14:00.000+01:00

This superb male Desert Wheatear in London back in April 1989 was one of the first rarities I got really close to with a camera - or rather, it got close to me, flying directly towards me and landing too close for the camera to focus. While a big arrival of Northern Wheatears is taking place in London at the moment, it's worth remembering that it was this time 24 years ago that the capital's

Patch first!

2013-04-12T23:10:00.002+01:00

Hot news from Alexandra Park in grey and rainy north London this morning - the site's first Slavonian Grebe, a well-deserved find for dedicated patcher Bob Watts on his daily visit. I was on the scene within about 20 minutes and took a series of images of the moulting bird as it swam and dived within range of the west bank of Wood Green Reservoir. More to follow shortly ...

April phal

2013-04-01T22:51:00.001+01:00

First-winter Grey Phalarope flying east inshore at Kelling, Norfolk, this morning. Typically, the weather for the long Easter weekend has been dire. A bitingly cold easterly wind meant that a few days in Norfolk were very unlikely to deliver migrants at what should be an exciting time of year. So on the second morning out on my 'away patch' at Kelling, I wasn't hopeful of much turning up.

Cuba 2: more endemics

2013-03-29T10:59:00.001Z

A close encounter with the wary and retiring Blue-headed Quail-Dove, one of four quail-dove species we saw in a single morning at Zapata Swamp. No less beautiful was this Grey-fronted Quail-Dove, seemingly an even shyer species than its congeners. This endemic was formerly lumped with Hispaniola's White-fronted Quail-Dove as Grey-headed Quail-Dove. A Bare-legged Owl, one of two seen

Cuba 1: endemic birds

2013-03-25T22:29:00.000Z

Cuban Trogon: the national bird, purportedly reflecting the red, blue and white colours of the country's flag. It was a long time in the planning, but the preparation paid off and this month’s trip to Cuba proved to be a resounding success. Eight of us went with the primary aim of seeing the country’s endemic birds, and we were not disappointed: of 25 endemic species (according to Clements

Field guide revolution

2013-03-14T07:40:00.000Z

An exclusive preview from the forthcoming Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland, showing the huge potential that digital manipulation offers in selecting and combining a wide range of photographic images into montage plates. Digital technology has unquestionably revolutionised birding – the very fact that you’re reading this on a blog is ample evidence of that. From journal-keeping to bird

Unsolved mystery

2013-03-04T19:26:00.000Z

Unidentified gull, Rainham, Greater London, 1 March 2013. Note the mid-grey upperpart tone, red orbital ring,pink feet and pattern of black in the wing-tip extending to P5. After the practical side of gulling, today it was time for the theory. A week ago I had arranged to visit the Natural History Museum collection at Tring, mainly to look at skins of Vega Gull Larus (smithsonianus) vegae

Field report: Gull ID Event with Klaus Malling Olsen

2013-02-23T21:54:00.000Z

Trash birding, literally: eight gull species provided excellent opportunities for learning. As for many other gull-watchers in this part of the world, Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America by Klaus Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson has been a regular companion in the field and an essential reference at home for many years now. So it was a great pleasure to personally welcome the author to my

Gull ID event at Rainham: book now!

2013-02-04T16:49:00.000Z

Learn to meet the ID challenges posed by tricky larids such as this second-winter Caspian Gull, present last month on the landfill at Rainham Marshes. For those who enjoy it gull identification can be one of the most rewarding aspects of birding, but others can find it daunting trying to decipher all the confusing and detailed ageing and ID criteria, especially for the larger species. London

Snow-bound patch delivers

2013-01-21T20:30:00.000Z

This was the scene as I walked to work through the snow today. Alexandra Park was transformed by the white stuff, if rather birdless. But then it happened - a distinctive flight call that I know well, even if not from these parts. Woodlark! As instantaneously as it clicked, it was followed by the rasping chirrups of Skylarks. I looked up to see a significant lark flock heading north,

Bird feeding in the snow

2013-01-20T17:11:00.002Z

Friday 18 January 09:02 hrs Friday 18 January 11:28 hrs After the damp squib of last Tuesday when the forecast snow failed to materialise, this time the prediction was correct and it reached my part of north London soon after 09:00 on Friday 18th. With conditions deteriorating steadily and the roads on the hill where I live ungritted, I abandoned plans for a 40-mile round trip for

Azores Bullfinch crowdfunding campaign

2013-01-17T07:42:00.003Z

Azores Bullfinch: still classified as Endangered by the IUCN. As a regular visitor to the Azores and a long-standing supporter of the campaign to ensure a future for the endemic and endangered Azores Bullfinch, I am well aware of the problem of securing funding for long-term field conservation. Back in 2008, in support of BirdLife International, I was delighted to help with fundraising for

Inner London's first Bearded Tits

2013-01-12T21:43:00.000Z

It takes quite a lot to overshadow the continuing presence of two Buff-bellied Pipits together in the London Area, but that feat has now been achieved - by two Bearded Tits. The first time the species has ever been seen in Inner London, their presence in a tiny reedbed close to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in the ludicrous location of Hyde Park is the reason for their impromptu

Highland fling

2013-01-10T17:23:00.000Z

Male Capercaillie: one of the most highly prized of Scotland's specialities. Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining the guiding team at Heatherlea as a guest leader for a birding holiday with a difference - the New Year Birdlist Booster, an innovative joint promotion between the specialist Speyside tour company and Birdwatch magazine. Designed to get year lists off to a flying start with

Happy New Year!

2013-01-01T08:56:00.000Z

Part of the Waxwing flock at Lakeside Thurrock today - a good bird to see on 1 January, and indeed any time. New year, new year list. I was out at dawn on my Rainham Marshes patch this morning, working the West Marsh and stone barges area first. At the barges I met up with Chris and Pete Langsdon, who'd started the day well with Short-eared Owl and a first-winter Caspian Gull - two species we

First white-winger of the season

2012-12-29T18:29:00.004Z

At the end of the wettest year on record in the UK, the weather so far this winter has continued the trend, being generally vile with plenty of rain and wind. Yesterday brought both in fair quantity to my Rainham patch, which is looking more waterlogged than I have ever seen it before in 25 years or so - some of the reserve trails are so submerged in water that fish have apparently been seen

2012-12-24T20:08:00.002Z

Christmas goose

2012-12-21T22:19:00.002Z

Adult dark-bellied Brent Goose just south of Cheshunt this morning. With no sign of the world ending after all, I decided to head north today to just beyond the London recording area to Bramfield, Hertfordshire, the churchyard in this small village having recently produced regular sightings of the elusive Hawfinch. My route took me up the A10, near Cheshunt - still within the official London

Bittern roosting at dusk

2012-12-15T21:41:00.000Z

The small reedbed at Fishers Green, in the Lea Valley just north of London, often hosts Eurasian Bittern in winter, and sometimes up to three are present. This bird was seen mid-morning today, but not again by the time I arrived at 2.45pm. Just as I was about to leave at 4pm, with the light fading rapidly, it suddenly emerged from hiding and clambered straight up to the top of the reeds to

Arctic 'snowball'

2012-12-14T21:06:00.000Z

Yesterday might have ended in style with London's first Buff-bellied Pipit, but it began with an even rarer vagrant. While 'only' a subspecies, Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll is - away from the Scottish islands - a rarer bird even than Buff-bellied Pipit. Still considered an official rarity in Britain, unlike the increasingly numerous subspecies exilipes (Coues's Arctic Redpoll), nominate