Murmuration

Made the short trip to Conway RSPB last night to try and catch the murmuration of thousands of starlings. We were told that the best place to stand would be on the top of a small raised area just behind the café. At 6 pm the first flock of about a thousand starlings began to circle overhead. This soon built up to a flock of an estimated thirty thousand birds, and we were right underneath!
In the 1980's the metal band Slayer wrote a classic tune called "Raining Blood", but for the brave souls directly beneath the murmurating flock it was raining poo! The sound of the starling droppings was like a heavy rain shower; it was definitely an evening for keeping your hood up. And there were avian slayers present in the shape of two dynamic sparrowhawks. Their presence caused the flock to bunch and twist in a black ballet designed to confuse the would-be predators. As the flock coalesced their calls became incessantly louder; they could well have been shouting "sh*t, sparrowhawk!" And yes the poo rained down even heavier, although this could be a fear response, it might also serve to soil the sparrowhawk's plumage and act as a deterrent.
At one point part of the main flock pealed off and dived towards the ground like a waterfall of oil; some birds took refuge in the trees and bushes while another part of the flock streaked along the footpath barely inches from the ground, all determined not to become a meal for the sparrowhawk. I have never seen starlings flying so fast! It was a breath-taking spectacle. But both sparrowhawks successfully caught starlings. The flock then reformed and after a few more sweeps over the reserve dropped into the reedbed like one vast organism.
As the last vestiges of daylight disappeared a lone peregrine shot overhead and up the Conway valley, he was too late for a starling supper.



Sparrowhawk on  the edge of the starling flock

 

Year List 2015

All naturalists keep lists. And birders are among the most prolific list keepers; county lists, life lists, British lists, local patch lists, the list goes on!
When I was more of a twitcher my year list was second only to my British list. A year list is a record of all the birds seen in Britain in one year and keen birders can, with a bit of effort, see over 300 species in one year. As a birder who only occasionally strayed out of Northwest England and North Wales my list was of more modest proportions; anything over 200 species was a good year. These days I keep a year list more as a record of what I have seen, and as an incentive to seek out those birds that I missed in previous years.
Last year was a particularly quiet birding year for me as I moved house and my spare time was quite limited. And I  therefore missed species that occur quite regularly such as Mediterranean Gull and Barn Owl.
But the beauty of  the New Year is that the list starts anew and all birds no matter how common are all welcome additions to the overall tally. But don't get me wrong here, birds are far more to me than just ticks and numbers! It is just a fascinating way of recording variations between years. For instance I have already seen a Little Egret this year, a bird that I twitched in Wales in 1987!
New Year's day is a great time to get out and observe the local birdlife and I used to plan my day like a military campaign to maximise my sightings. But these days I am more leisurely, after all there are another 364 days to catch up on gaps in the list. Also, I am currently training for my next marathon, so there is even less time for birding. Having said that I did see my first pair of Goldcrests for the year while out on my New Year's day run. I was crossing a bridge over the River Dee in Chester when I heard their high pitched calls emanating from a small tree. I stopped briefly to observe these tiny birds, before continuing on my way, but not before I had also seen my first Cormorants of the year fishing on the river's weir.
New Year's day itself was a bit of a washout due to the incessant rain, but the highlight was definitely the pair of ring-tail Hen Harriers seen over the marsh at Parkgate. Although I ended the day on a meagre 30 species.
I was in work on Friday, but did add Blue and Great Tit to the list.
Saturday dawned grey and very wet, but my morning run did produce two Jays and my first Long-tailed Tits of the year. My back garden remained in the winter shade all day, resulting in dull photos of the flocks of Starlings and House Sparrows. A brief spell of sunshine in the late afternoon allowed better photos of a Woodpigeon perched on a street light behind my house.

I decided on Sunday that my list required the addition of some quality birds so I went in search of three Black-necked Grebes that had been seen on Shotwick boating lake just over the border in Wales. Although in winter plumage these scarce birds were a real treat, and despite being viewed through a fence I was able to take some "record" photographs. The adjacent field also held four species of swan; Mute, Whooper, Bewick's and Black! Naturally, the latter being an escapee didn't make it onto the list.

 

Friday 13th

As a birthday treat for my friend Jane I bought her vouchers for Airkix in Manchester to experience indoor free-fall. It was great fun especially when the instructors spun us up to the full 11 metre height of the wind tunnel, fantastic!
Afterwards we zipped up the motorway to spend the afternoon at Leighton Moss RSPB. The Glossy Ibis was still feeding distantly in the field by the level crossing. We had our picnic in Lilian's Hide and were rewarded with great views of a Bittern catching a fish. Unfortunately, I'd only brought a smallish lens with me due to being in Manchester for the morning, but the pictures aren't too bad; I think the bird has caught a small fish in one of  the photos.
We went in search of the Otters and managed a brief glimpse of one animal as it swam into the reedbed on the far side of the Lower Hide. Undaunted, we waited and and were overjoyed when three Otters re-appeared and began chasing, diving and catching fish in full view. The views through the telescope were magnificent, what truly magical animals they are. It was almost night as we walked back up the public causeway, but Leighton Moss had one more stunning visual treat in store for us; the evening roost of thousands of Starlings. It's almost a cliche to say the sky was black with birds, but it was! You could hear their wingbeats and chattering calls as they flew over us, not to mention their droppings falling like rain. And more than one Sparrowhawk was attracted to this mobile feast. It was a fitting finale to a fabulous day.

Starling Roost at Leighton Moss, November 2011

Photo courtesy of Airkix Manchester

Training update - ran 15 miles today at 7.06 min/mile, (14th Jan), very cold, pleased I completed the distance. Saw Purple Sandpiper for the year list in New Brighton.