Owls well that ends well

It's funny how some birds attract more interest than others, especially from non-birders. A rare finch or warbler will attract a good crowd but they will mainly be birders of one complexion or another. Owls however are a different kettle of fish. They have an almost mystical presence in the collective psyche and are a big pull. When news got out of at least 9 short-eared owls on site at Staines Moor things got a little bit out of hand. For a week the least the moor was packed out with owl worshippers. In itself not a bad thing as the moor is very large but there was a lot of inappropriate behaviour with people chasing the owls and going into their hunting areas risking disturbing them and affecting their ability to catch voles. With lots of warnings on the internet things calmed down a little so I decided to go and pay a visit.

I got to the site about 2pm, normally a bit early for even short-eared owls flying around. SEO's are the most diurnal of all the owls but even they are active in the hour or so before dusk. As I walked onto the moor I could see two or three flying in the distance. I could also see quite a few birders and photographers (a distinction which is in itself is tricky) camped out either on the path or on the moor.

Staines moor is a large area of rough grassland under the Heathrow flightpath. It is a valuable area of wildness in an increasingly developed landscape. In Winter it holds water pipits and snipe as well as owls. 

I quickly established an area by the central path where three other photographers were camped out and which looked good for watching the owls. Unfortunately you could see that a few of the bushes in the central area where the owls roosted hunt were occupied by people potentially disturbing the very subjects they were there to watch.

It was clear that there were quite a few owls in the air already. To my left, right and front you could see the distinctive shapes quartering the rough ground.

For around half an hour the light was gorgeous with the sun behind us and the owls flying low over the golden grassland.

Traversing the field they occasionally came across each other, resulting in a minor altercation as they flew up and squabbled over the best territory.

The moor is generally an open area but has a few bushes and shrubs in the central are and the owls seemed to be moving around those. I'm not sure if they are good for hunting but the owls did their "nose down" dive into the grassland quite a few times. 

 

One of the owls decided to come quite close to us and even fly virtually over our heads as it moved across the central path to pastures new to hunt in. 

Frequently the owls disappeared into the grass either to rest or to eat their prey. Only on a couple of occasions did the owls decide to perch in plain view making use of the scrubby bushes.

By now it was getting really dark. The owls were still happily hunting over the moor. From a high point of probably over 40 people including some who were getting too close

there were about 5 or 6 of us left to enjoy the sight of the short-eared owls preying on the local vole population. 

I slowly meandered my way back to the car with the last few owl worshippers left on the moor. 

It is a difficult conundrum to solve. We want to engage people in the natural world and owls are one of those catalysts to do this. The issue of how we can do this whilst still giving the wildlife room becomes increasingly difficult in a crowded world. I do not say I have an answer to this. All we can do is to behave in a way which we think is appropriate to leave sights like these to those who follow on from us.

A very large bill

 Ducks can be controversial. With so many in collections around the country any rare or mega bird which turns up has its credentials checked very carefully. For those that are into listing the reports then go to one or more different committees who eventually pronounce on whether you "can" tick the bird or not. This takes into account the simple things like identification (hybrids can be a nightmare!) and whether or not it is likely to be wild or a fence jumper. It becomes controversial and of course can be hotly debated. So, when an American cousin of our common pochard, a canvasback, popped up at Abberton reservoir in Essex, all those questions were immediately asked. The ID seemed straight-forward and no one saw any hint of hybridisation. More controversial was the suggestion of it being a captive release. I won't go into the full details, which have taken up many column inches of posts on my birding WhatsApp groups, but a collection not too far way was suggested to have released up to 6 canvasbacks 3 or 4 years ago. Some or all seem to be still at the release site and none appear to have wandered up to now.  The general consensus seemed to be that it was probably wild and that certainly you should go and tick it and let the authorities decide later -  what is termed an insurance tick!!!!

So, I headed off reasonably early this morning to the wilds of Essex. Abberton is a largish reservoir but the bird had helpfully been seen from one of the two causeways crossing it at the western end. I got to the eastern-most one (Layer de la Haye) just as two other birders were leaving. No sign of it and certainly no sign of the large flock of pochard with which it is associating. We could see a large number of waterfowl east of there by the other causeway so we quickly relocated to the Layer Breton end. Here about 5 or 6 birders were already scoping the very large flock but reported no sign of the canvasback.

The light was a bit harsh but at least we weren't looking straight into the sun. The main issue was that we were some distance away scanning through hundreds of birds looking for one that was "a bit" different!!!

They were constantly moving, diving, sleeping and to be honest it was a nightmare. We were looking for one bird which is superficially identical to a common pochard but which is a bit larger, a bit paler with an all-black aqualine beak and a longer neck. The crowd grew to about a dozen but the general chat was "this is difficult". No one called out even a possible bird as more flew in but thankfully none seemed to be leaving. 

After I suppose an hour one of the birders to my left came up with the "I think I've got it" phrase. We quickly located where she was looking and thankfully it was reasonably well isolated from the main flock.

It was on the right of the lagoon with three or four other pochard and few tufties and coots. I had said earlier to another birder (who had left by now as his wife was waiting back at their hotel!) that when we see it I bet it stands out. Fortunately this was the case and we all agreed she had found the canvasback.

It was still a long way off but at least through the scope you could make out the key features. It was a bit larger, the beak was all-black and, as in the lower photo, aqualine, almost swan-like in shape. It also had a very long neck when it lifted it up. I got the news out and watched as it ploughed across the lake and totally melted into the larger flock. Once it dived and you lost it then there was no chance of finding it again.

For some while as new birders arrived we lost it. After going goggle-eyed scanning the flock I tried going back to looking where we first found it. There was a small group of a few pochards there. 

To my eye one looked a bit different from the rest. I followed it for a minute or so and was convinced it was worth getting the rest of the eyes onto it. I described its location and quickly most people got onto it and agreed I had refound it again.

Again, the comparison to the common pochard with it is very instructional as most of the key features and there. The only one I would say is not very useful is the supposed lighter mantle which with the low sun is very hard to make out. It then repeated what it did before and headed back into the main flock where it disappeared, not helped by lots of them now going head down and having a kip! I decided that as enough and headed back home. A very good day and a cracking Instructional bird. How it was found in the first place god only knows but kudos to the finder!

That is my 8th lifer of the year taking me to 414 BOU (presuming it makes the grade). Still another 6 weeks to go!!!

Small but perfectly formed

With the year starting to wind down, although not yet getting wintry, the number of opportunities for lifers is starting to diminish.  On Monday evening an alert went our for a rare bird only 45 miles from me. The photos clearly showed a little crake but there was a bit of doubt about location and veracity. Quickly it was clarified that it was indeed kosher and was at Linford Lakes near Milton Keynes. Tuesday was already booked for me for a trip to Kent so the reports of it showing well were interesting to say the least. Wednesday was horrid weather and I couldn't get out. By Thursday, when I could go, there was anther fly in the ointment. Linford Lakes is a private reserve with no general access. Early on members had been manning the gate and taking an entrance fee to allow access (and managing the rather small car park). By Thursday it appeared the volunteers had dried up and no public access was to be allowed. Very quickly those who hadn't already been worked out that you could still get in, by joining the reserve online. In exchange for membership you got immediate notification of access codes for the gates and the hides. So, I did this and set off early for the trip up the M1. A closed road delayed me slightly but it was still only about 7.30 when I got to the reserve and 7.45 by the time I got into the hide. It wasn't that big with 4 viewing windows and pretty much all the seats were taken so I stood at the back peering over peoples heads. The views you had were those below. 

The crake had already been spotted but some way off to the left of the hide. Good news though was that meant the chances were that a short wait would get a sighting. In the end it took about half an hour before one of the early-birds with a thermal imager got onto a heat-source in the reeds. Of course, us normal people couldn't yet see it but he was convinced it was the bird. Finally a small shape appeared on the far edge of the reeds almost opposite the hide.

I guess this was about 20 yards away. I had managed to secure a spot where I could poke my lens out and start snapping away.

Little crakes are certainly small, about 17cm long or 2/3rds the size of a water rail. They breed in southern Europe and Winter in Africa though very small numbers do breed (or attempt to) here. They are not really rare, occurring most years but in very small numbers. This of  course is not helped by their size and skulking habit so many may go unnoticed. 

For no more than 2 or 3 minutes it worked its way long the far edge of the reeds picking up small insects to feed on. 

Just as it looked like it was going to show really well in an area out of the reeds it turned around and headed back the way it had come. For 30 minutes or so there was no sight of it, then it appeared on the far reed bed carrying on feeding voraciously.

It spent a few minutes on the edge then disappeared again deeper in.

I stayed for almost 90 minutes longer but it didn't show again. The hide by now had emptied a bit as some people went to work and then filled as the late arrivers joined us. With a work party as Maple Lodge in the afternoon I called it a day and headed back home for some lunch. 

Another really good day. My 413th bird in the UK and 7th this year. I'd like to get another one or two before the year end but that is very much in the lap of the gods!!