onionbagblog

Image Copyright: Richard Allen

A busy month for birding news, but sadly our own birding endeavours got buried away under the wintry Wivenhoe weather. And the booze.

Whoops.

But @AnnaJCowen and I sort of made up for our lack of twitching, celebrating the chimes of midnight on New Year’s Eve in the fine company of Richard Allen, Wivenhoe Bird Watcher Supreme.

Speaking, of which - here’s the update from Richard, reflecting back on December’s Wivenhoe Bird Walk, as well as some optimism for the months ahead:

“Lovely warm sunshine was very welcome after the cold snap, and little did we realise it would be the last for some time. The tide was low, coming in fast, but many birds were notable for their absence, Golden Plover, Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits seemed to have moved on ahead of the cold weather. The birds that were present however were much tamer, concentrating on feeding, stocking up on winter fuel.

We had particularly good views of five Bar-tailed Godwits, usually the rarer of the two Godwits. There were good numbers of Dunlin and Redshank, a few Grey Plover, and a single Avocet posed nicely. A flock of Redwings and Fieldfares called as they flew over, whilst on the river two female Red-breasted Mergansers and a Great-crested Grebe dived for small fish.

Pushing on to the Creek we found lots of birds, but rather distant on into the light, but there were Wigeon, Teal, lots of Shelduck, big numbers of Knot and Brent Geese further down the estuary, and good views of Curlew.
Walking back we had frustrating views of Greenfinches feeding in a rosehip bush, a Skylark gave a little burst of song, while a single female Goldeneye further frustrated us by constantly diving mid river.

Marsh Harriers also appeared on our way back, an immature bird hunted over the far reeds, and an adult male flew across the river towards us, a lovely sight.

Recent sightings: Waxwings have still been turning up, including 15 briefly in my front garden. The cold weather has forced many waterbirds onto the river, including up to 45 Little Grebes, several Coot, Tufted Duck, a flock of nine Goosander and a Scaup. There is a touch of Spring however with Great-Spotted Woodpeckers drumming and Great Tits singing.”

Meanwhile, I’m still struggling with my bird feeder in the back garden. I blame a very welcome (but slightly mischievous) garden guest. But hey hoe - onwards. Our New Year’s Eve merriment with Richard has even inspired the not so frugal @AnnaJCowen to buy a pair of birding binoculars.

Blimey.

The girl could put them to good use later in the month, with a few more Bird Walk dates from Richard:

15th January, 12th February and 19th March. £8 per person, with a maximum group of ten birders. You can place a booking by contacting Richard on 01206 826753.

Plus: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, or some sort of other mixed metaphor. But yeah - In Bird News has a Part II this month:

The early bird catches the worm (um, you get the idea…) and if the dawn chorus is your sort of thing, then allow Alex Bass to guide you along the banks of the Colne at sunrise.

Alex’s recent Colne talk at the Wivenhoe Society contained many fascinating insights into the river and its wildlife. Time to put the theory to the test with a Wivenhoe to Alresford Creek walk, followed by breakfast at the Rose & Crown.

Splendid.

Looking ahead, and Alex will be guiding birders on 28th and 29th May, setting off at 5:30am.

Cripes.

If you are more of an evening bird (or bloke,) then the parallel tours take place on the same days from 6pm - 9pm. You can contact Alex over here for more details.