Barn door and a crake

This weekend I hooked up with a couple of Danish birders to go to see (or, more accurately, to hear) the LITTLE CRAKE that has been present for a few days in Langeland, one of Denmark's "southern isles". It's a gorgeous island with some great beaches, fantastic rolling green countryside, beautiful meadows and traditional farms (we bought some local strawberries to munch on the way and I have to say they were gorgeous). It's not surprising that so many Danes have "summer houses" there. On the way to Langeland, we stopped off at a small wetland on the west of Sjaelland, called Lejsø, where we found two BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPERS. It was at Lejsø that I also saw my first Danish ICTERINE WARBLER (they are reasonably common here in the right habitat). The LITTLE CRAKE gave itself up pretty easily by calling within 30 second of us arriving (amazingly there were no other birders on site when we arrived!). Unfortunately seeing it was never going to happen - there are no hides, the site is private and the vegetation is very high. So we contented ourselves with several more bursts of its "song" before heading home.

To cap a good weekend, I saw my first WHITE-TAILED EAGLE (also known as a flying barn door due to its huge size and broad wings) at my local patch - Kongelunden. Brucey bonus on the way home was a female RED-BACKED SHRIKE hunting from bushes near Sydvestpynten. Danish total now on 197 (and still no Grey Partridge).

Sock Puppets...

...don't you just love them?? Check out this video of a classic Nirvana tune...

Gilbjerg Hoved

A trip to Gilbjerg Hoved, the most northerly point of Sjaelland (see here for a map), for visible migration produced two new birds for me in Denmark - a SHORT-EARED OWL (finally!) and a BLACK KITE. An elusive WRYNECK led the supporting cast along with 3 RING OUZELS, a male COMMON REDSTART, over 100 TREE PIPITS, 35 SPARROWHAWKS, 3 MARSH HARRIERS, 100s of CHAFFINCHES, BRAMBLINGS and SISKINS, and a handful of LESSER WHITETHROATS.

I was told by local birders that the day was "slow" and that I shouldn't judge the site on that day's performance.. !?!

Black Lark (Ode to Sean Offord)

During our trip to Morocco we visited a site called Merja Zerga (see previous post) to look for Marsh Owls. It was at this time that I received a text message from a friend saying that a BLACK LARK had been found at my old local patch of Winterton-on-Sea in Norfolk! Now Black Lark is a VERY rare bird in Britain with only two previous records. It was found by local birder, Sean Offord (who apparently had to pick himself up off the dunes after realising what he had found) at about 1600 on Saturday, allowing many local Norfolk birders to see it before dusk. It apparently gave very good views and even song-flighted on two brief occasions during the evening. The bird was an adult male in full spring finery, with all-black body plumage contrasting with the heavy, ivory-coloured bill and the neat white flecking on its mantle and upper scapulars (you can see pictures here - look at the entry for 20 April). There was quite a crowd present at dawn on Sunday morning (much to the surprise of the beach car park attendant!). However, the bird didn't stay long and at around 0700 on Sunday morning it waddled behind a tuft of marram grass on the dunes and, despite not being seen to fly, was never seen again much to the disappointment of the hordes of birders who decided to prioritise breakfast over getting on site at dawn!

To illustrate the excitement caused by this bird, there were apparently birders from Belgium and Spain present on the Sunday morning, who had travelled overnight especially to see this bird! Madness....

Sean's Black Lark represents the third record for Britain, following a male at Spurn Point (East Yorks) on 27th April 1984 and a well twitched male at South Stack RSPB (Anglesey) from 1st-8th June 2003. Black Lark is a largely resident species of the grassy steppes of Central Asia from the Lower Volga region of SE Russia to NE Kazakhstan. Outside the breeding season, nomadic flocks wander widely, occasionally roaming west to the Ukraine.

Sean will now have to complete a description of the bird for the British Birds Rarities Committee and, no doubt, write various articles and conduct interviews about its discovery. Fame at last...

Morocco

Photos (top to bottom): The sand dunes at Erg Chebbi; Yellow Wagtail (of the subspecies Iberiae or Cinereocapilla); Thick-billed Lark; Desert Sparrow; and White-crowned Black Wheatear

Mid-April saw me, with a couple of birding friends from England, travel to Morocco for a few days to catch up with some species that are very difficult to see in Europe. The trip started with a flight to Marrakech and took in the Atlas Mountains to see species such as Crimson-winged Finch, Alpine Chough and Moussier's Redstart, then east to the desert of Merzouga (via the famous Tagdilt Track) and then west to the Atlantic coast of Agadir (for Bald Ibis, gulls and waders) and then north to Merja Zerga for Marsh Owl. My impressions of north Africa had always been tainted by a brief holiday to Tunisia about 10 years ago where we stayed in a soul-less hotel, were constantly hassled by locals and then got food poisoning. So I was a little apprehensive about going back to the region. But I have to say that this trip has completely changed my opinion of north Africa. What a country. The people were, with the exception of the EMP (Evil Marsh People) at Merja Zerga, extremely friendly and hospitable, the food was excellent (tagines, I love 'em) and the scenery dramatic (from the beautiful Atlas mountains to the orange sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, the coastal cliffs of Tamri and the semi-desert plateaus around the centre. Simply stunning. And of course, extremely cheap (one of the places we stayed in cost us GBP 4 each for the night!).

Overall we saw 214 species of bird including some very sought-after species such as Thick-billed Lark (what a character!), Desert Sparrow, Hoopoe Lark, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Desert Warbler, Fulvous Babbler, Tristram's Warbler, Black-crowned Tchagra plus Lanner, Barbary Falcon and "Pharaoh" Eagle Owl. Top class birding.

The poverty is difficult to handle with many people clearly living on next to nothing. No matter where we stopped along the way, in the middle of the desert, in the mountains or on the plains, inevitably within about 2-3 minutes we would be approached by someone who seemed to appear out of thin air. One guy we spoke to lived in a cave and caught birds with home-made traps for food. Many of these people were simply lonely and very keen to chat rather than looking for any handouts but this was different at Merja Zerga. This marsh is the site where, until recently, the last known Slender-billed Curlews wintered (now presumed extinct). Now it is still very popular with birdwatchers due to its obliging Marsh Owls. So the locals are used to lots of birdwatchers turning up in the area. This shows as, as soon as you arrive on site, masses of children and adolescents turn up claiming to be able to show you the owls (for a fee, of course). We lost count of how many "official wardens" we bumped into, most wearing nothing on their feet and claiming to be the authority who must be paid before we were allowed to look for birds. We had to give one guy the last of our digestive biscuits to go away, taking his yappy dogs with him!

The traffic police were also a constant presence - seemingly two guys on every junction. We were stopped once for speeding and told to pay a fine of 400 Dirhams (about GBP 23) which could be reduced to 200 Dirhams if we didn't want any "paperwork". What a scam.

I couldn't complete this entry without a note on the famous Tagdilt Track. This is, as it says on the tin, a track (definitely not a road) that takes you to Tagdilt from Boumalne du Dades (in the mid-east of the country). It is a high plateau of semi-desert between the High Atlas mountains and a slightly lower range of mountains to the south. It is one of THE best places known to man to see all manner of LARKS. It also doubles up as the local refuse tip (with plastic bags galore) and a loitering area for the local stray dogs, all of which makes for a unique birding experience. But what a place - we saw Thick-billed, Desert, Bar-tailed, Temminck's, Hoope and Short-toed Larks plus Red-rumped Wheatear, Desert Wheatear, Lanner, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Cream-coloured Courser not to mention numerous Black Kites, Montagu's Harriers and Booted Eagles. The one lark we missed, which is very scarce at Tagdilt, is the Dupont's Lark. This bird is one of the trickiest species to see in Europe and North Africa - it sings at night and, according to the bird log at the Auberge Soleil Bleu (the closest accommodation to the Tagdilt Track) they "run faster than Linford Christie and hide better than Lord Lucan". Hmm...

Definitely a place to revisit!

Rouzels and Crests

This week has seen an increasing trickle of migrants with many Long-eared Owls being seen at coastal sites plus several Firecrests, White Storks and a good movement of Buzzards, including a few Rough-leggeds. Bird of the week in Denmark must go to the 3rd calendar year Bonelli's Eagle seen on 11th at the mega Spring migration site of Skagen in northern Jutland. Photos can be seen here. A visit to one of my local patches - Nordhavn - on 10th provided me with my first Danish Ring Ouzel (a cracking male which you can just about make out in the flight shot above if you squint and use lots of imagination). There were also good numbers of Goldcrests present, probably on their way to Sweden or Finland.. These tiny and hardy birds always thrill me and I am constantly amazed that such a small bundle of feathers can travel so far and survives the harsh winters... I liked the photo above looking straight at me - I wonder what he was thinking?

Spring

1 April was a fantastic Spring day here in Copenhagen - a clear blue sky, light south-easterly winds and the warmest temperatures of the year so far. Needless to say the birds thought so, too, and Cranes were again sighted in their hundreds migrating north to breeding grounds in Sweden. Any easterly element in the wind direction at this time of year pushes these flocks west over Copenhagen on the island of Sjaelland - a magnificent sight. The summer's first Wheatears were spotted today on southerly and westerly headlands and several FIRECRESTs were found, including the individual in the photo above at one of my local patches, Nordhavn/Stubben. I managed to sneak away for a couple of hours this afternoon to get a look at this fantastic tiny bird and, with the gorgeous afternoon light I was able to take my best ever photograph of a Firecrest. The supporting cast was made up of 2 Long-eared Owls and a probable tristis Chiffchaff. This bird was very obviously pale with black legs and a black bill. It was very vocal, its call very similar to a Bullfinch with a slight downward inflection. Unfortunately it was too mobile and skittish for me to get a photograph. I have only ever seen one before, at a sewage works in Warwickshire many winters ago. Hopefully this is the start of a bumper Spring! Firecrest is species 185 for me in Denmark.

A Purple Easter

The earliest Easter for over 100 years was also one of the coldest I can remember, including heavy snowfall. I spent a few days in Yorkshire with Libby's parents before migrating south to spend Easter with my parents in Winterton, Norfolk. Saturday was one of the most inhospitable days I have ever experienced in Winterton with a bitter and strong north-easterly wind battering the coast, coinciding with a high tide. I was determined to do some birding and I was rewarded early with a genuine HOODED CROW in the horse paddocks - a scarce bird in east Norfolk (we do have at least two hybrids regularly wintering between Winterton and Horsey but a "real" Hoodie is rare). As I ventured north the sea was pounding against the sea-wall between the village and Horsey and, for some reason, I thought it might produce some good sea-watching. A few Gannets, Fulmars and Red-throated Divers didn't do enough to keep me there for long, though, and after I received an exfoliating sand-blasting that you'd pay good money for in a spa..(!), I soon retired to the relative shelter of the west side of the dunes to scour the area in the vain hope of an early migrant or two. It wasn't long before I gave up and wandered back, wind-assisted, to a cup of tea and a piece of homemade cake! Sunday was much better, at least initially, and the sunny early morning produced a FIRECREST along Low Road and, shortly afterwards, the highlight for me - a SLAVONIAN GREBE - on the sea off the cafe at the beach car park. Tim showed up about half an hour later but by then the grebe had drifted south.. There was some compensation in the form of a first-winter MEDITERRANEAN GULL feeding in the surf. After a break during several hours of heavy snowfall, the day later produced SHORT-EARED OWL (thanks Peter!) and the first real summer migrant of the year in the form of a NORTHERN WHEATEAR (Peter again, unfortunately not seen by me). Tim then found a cracking male BLACK REDSTART in the allotments - always a very welcome sight. I finished the weekend on 86 species for my Winterton year-list so far, not including the PURPLE SANDPIPER that frustratingly inhabited the reefs just north of the parish. Nevertheless, it did pose well for photographs with the accompanying Grey Seals... Poor old Sean was due to spend Easter on the Isles of Scilly but, as of Sunday, hadn't made it due to the cancellation of the RMV Scillonian crossing due to high winds - I certainly wouldn't want to do that journey in bad weather - it's bad enough on a flat calm sea! It was good to see Ted out and about, too, and he had a tantalising glimpse of what was almost certainly another rarity for Winterton in the form of a WATER RAIL on the duckpond.. Nice one Ted!

As usual, a thoroughly enjoyable trip back!