13 Jul 18 - The Next Generation

One of the other great things about Middlebere is the resident mammals are aware that they are relatively safe around the hides & farm and consequently, they are happy to pose for photos.

Sika Deer: This youngster followed mum up to the barbed wire fence, which mum easily jumped, but was too high for the nipper

Sika Deer were introduced from Japan to Brownsea at the end of the 19th Century. They are well suited to Poole Harbour as they are competent swimmers & crossing from Brownsea to the mainland wasn't a problem. They quickly spread out into Poole Harbour & the surrounding forests. They are quite at home in the Purbeck grasslands, woodlands, marshes & heathland. Over the last two decades of living in Dorset, I've seen them continue to spread out from Poole Harbour. A few years ago, I heard a radio program focusing on Sika Deer in the Purbeck area. That said the population was around 4000. To keep the population at this number, about a 1000 a year were being culled. While I really enjoy seeing them in the area, I can't help thinking that this culling program should be increased to significantly reduce the Sika Deer population in the area.

Sika Deer: After sizing the fence up, the nipper decided to just walk around it close to the water's edge

Culling the Sika Deer numbers would help to re-establish the undergrowth that Sika Deer are incredibly good at removing. Perhaps this would allow some of our migrant Warblers like Willow Warblers & Chiffchaffs to improve their numbers in the Purbeck area. Talking to ex-local Steve Morrison, there used to be around a 100 pairs of breeding Willow Warblers at Studland in the 1970s. These day's there are probably only 10-20 pairs. The decline of Willow Warblers in the South of the UK will be down to a number of factors, however, loss of ground cover for nesting in the Purbeck area will be one of those factors. Apparently, Sika Deer have been good at opening up paths within the marshes which have benefited the local Water Rail population. I wouldn't support a complete elimination, but removing half or more of the Sika Deer population, along with a study of the impacts & benefits would be good.

Sika Deer

Another local resident at Middlebere are the Foxes. There are one or two that I sometimes see close to the main hide & which are happy to pose for photos. However, I've not managed to photograph any of the really young cubs in the past. So was happy when this Fox cub decided to rectify that situation.

Fox cub: Initially, it wasn't sure about me

Fox cub: But it quickly realised I wasn't a threat

Fox cub: Like all nippers, it quickly got impatience to explore further & was off soon after this photo

19 May 15 - Have You Seen An Orange Dove In The UK This Summer?

The results of this May's UK National Bird survey are in and it has highlighted an 86% drop in Orange Doves in the UK in the last five years. In the last survey, this species was found in 57 pockets scattered from the South West & Southern England to its strongholds in Scotland, especially in the Highlands & Islands. But the latest survey has shown the Orange Dove has crashed in all these areas, with just eight isolated populations left in the UK.

Orange Dove: A rare species I have yet to photograph (so I had to borrow this image - copyright the Lib Dems) 

When asked for an official government comment, a senior spokesman looked up briefly from his plate of roast Grouse & Peasant (surely a typo Ed) & laughed. After recovering his composure, he blamed the Badgers & promised to extend their slaughter. Off the record, he admitted the Badger slaughter in the last few years was a secret trial to protect the Orange Doves in the South West. The cull to reduce TB was purely a cover story. Despite its failure, with no Orange Doves found in the latest survey, the spokesman was adamant the Badger cull had to press on to protect the Orange Dove. When asked what scientific evidence backed up the cull, he pointed out the lack of Badgers on the Shetlands, the only place in Scotland where the Orange Dove has clung on.

Badger: The cause of the decline of Orange Doves according to a Government spokesman. Poole Harbour (Apr 14)

He then added, don't be complacent, Foxy, we know you are guilty as well & will be coming for you, just as soon as we have introduced tax breaks for anybody who likes to wear a red jacket & white jodphurs whilst riding their horses.

Fox: Another species implicated in the decline of Orange Doves according to the Government spokesman. Middlebere (12 Sep 14)

The President of the leading IQ40 Bird Watching Club was surprisingly elated. Mr 'Bear' Lee Credible has been known to birdwatchers for many years for his extreme views. He quoted, Mr Farfetched, the press officer of UKIQP, the IQ40's political arm of the IQ40 club, who has blamed the decline of Orange Doves on Foreign Doves coming over here & causing the problem. But ever the opportunist, Bear Lee encouraged people to sign up for his Round Britain tours which will visit the remaining strongholds for Orange Doves.

Many conservationists are worried about the future of the Orange Dove as historically this species has been on long term decline. It was widely established across the UK, but has been in terminal decline since the widespread planting of Red Roses in the UK after the First World War.

16 Sep 14 - Bicentennial Celebration

Back in mid May, the blog reached it's centennial post, which was a chance to look back on the first 7 months of blogging. The centennial post was split over 2 posts & was a chance to look back on the Non-Passerine & Passerine families photographed up to that point. It was great to have been able to reached that milestone and also look back on some of the great bird families I had photographed up to that date. Also it showed I was getting the enough photos and interest to keep the blog going. At the time, I was really pleased as I had just reached a total of 15,000 hits on the blog and a daily average of 150 hits a day. But I did have the advantage of some great trips over the Winter & Spring to India, Western Sahara & Morocco and Israel to provide plenty of material. I had also been to Croatia as well, but hadn't got around to putting those photos on the blog at that point.

Kingfisher: This was the first Bird photo on my first post (24 Oct 13)

Well 4 months on & I've just reached the bicentennial post. It's quite ironic that a few days ago, I was sitting in the hide at Middlebere & two of the species seen on the first morning with the camera appeared again & gave me the idea for this post. The first post all started with a Kingfisher & a Fox at Middlebere, but then went on to really challenge my fledgling photographic skills with a Pallid Swift at Stanpit. Sadly, there were no rare Swifts involved on this occasion. But at least there was a Kingfisher & it's the first I've seen at Middlebere since the first post & only my third for the site.

Kingfisher: The all black bill indicates this is a male (12 Sep 14)

Kingfisher: Back to the original wooden perch (12 Sep 14)

Kingfisher: You looking at me? (12 Sep 14)

There was also a showy Fox. This is a species I see erratically, but every few visits to Middlebere. They are generally on the approach track, but occasionally they appear in front of the hide. On the first occasion, the Fox came right up to the hide, but the individual was more wary on the recent sighting.

Fox: This was the original photo (24 Oct 13)

Fox: The recent sighting. At least it fits in the photo being further away (12 Sep 14)

So it's been a great last 100 posts. Recently I looked at the number of species of photos already on the blog & realised I have already photographed just over 5% of the Birds of the world. So just another 95% to go.

Reed Warbler: My first Reed Warbler for the blog. That's one less to the 100% target

With the Summer, there has been a lot of opportunity to blog more on other wildlife interests, other than Birds. Butterflies & Dragonflies have been a lot of fun over the Summer, with the undoubted high (& subsequent low) of finding the Map Butterflies. But it's also given me the chance to explore some of the other lesser known Insect groups that Birders rarely look at, including Grasshoppers & Bush Crickets and Shieldbugs. I look forward to more of these posts in the future, as I've really enjoyed looking at these groups and learning more about them. It's been really encouraging that people who know more about these groups are helping point out the occasional error, but good to know I'm getting nearly all the photos correctly identified.

Ruddy Darter: Dragonflies species are dropping off now, but there are still good numbers of some species. South Haven (10 Sep 14)

Another thing that has been encouraging over the last 4 months, the total number of hits has almost tripled to over 43,000 and the daily average is around the 300 hits a day. Another thing that has been fun, but I wish I had started this on day one on the blog is the flag counter. This counts countries, or to be more precise internet countries, of visitors. Thus Jersey, Guernsey & the Isle of Man all appear as flags. Big thanks to my friend Clare for reading the blog from Bhutan today & adding the 90th country since I discovered the flag counter: great timing Clare. Of these 90 countries, I've only managed to visit 38 so far. So it's interesting & really great to see how widely this blog is being read.

Flag Counter: Now up to 90 countries. Wonder if I missed any countries in the first 7 months

Certainly, the Butterflies & Dragonflies has helped to attract some additional followers. If so, I hope you enjoy the blog & will keep visiting it. There might not be so many shots of these over the coming Winter, but they will feature a lot from next Spring onwards & I've got plans for some Butterfly & Dragonfly posts to keep interest going over the next few months. Also, I've still got a couple of more Map posts to finalise, but Birding has kept me so busy, that I've not had the time to really sit down & write them yet. Hopefully I will publish these Map posts soon.

House Martin: The first post ended with a rare Swift. This commoner House Martin will have to do as a stand in. But it's another new species for the blog, just got this photographed as they start departing the UK

I am already looking forward to the next centennial milestone, I've got some exciting plans to keep the photos & ideas on the blog looking fresh, but you will have to wait till these plans develop. In the meantime, there is the important matter of the Autumn's Birding to attend to first. Let's hope there will be some good Birds for us all to enjoy. Finally, a big thank you to everybody who reads the blog. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have & you continue to follow it going forward & better still encourage your friends to have a look at it. Thank You.

8 April 14 - Another Owl

It was an uneventful journey down to Eilat with few birds seen en route. However, we did have a quick roadside stop by the Arabian Oryx reintroduction site in the Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve. Arabian Oryx were extinct in the wild, but reintroduction schemes are being pursued in a number of countries including Israel, Jordon, Saudi Arabia, UAE & Oman with a view of reestablishing captive bred populations. Currently, there about about 100 Arabian Oryx in Israeli & the ones at Yotvata Hai-Bar are in a large 12 square km fenced enclosure. They are accompanied by a number of other species they are trying to reintroduce including Ostriches.

Arabian Oryx (left) & Addax (right): Some Arabian Oryx have already been released back into the wild in Israel, but there appear to be no plans to release the Addax, until they can be sure they once occurred in Israel

Dorcas Gazelle: These were on the other side of the road from the Yotvata Hai-Bar Reserve & we assumed they were wild as we didn't see any other Mammals or Ostrich on that side of the road and think the fence may be to keep animals off the road

Once at Eilat, we checked into our hotel, the Nova Like, for the next 4 nights & soon after were heading back to Yotvata again for some uninspiring food in the restaurant there, while we were waiting to meet up with our Owl guide, Itai Shanni, for the night.

There was time to celebrate the previous night's Hume's Tawny Owl (with ice cream of course)

Itai with Edge, Nigel & Simon: At the end of the evening, Itai gave us a few extra sites to try over the following few days

While we waited for it to get dark, we headed off to the sewerage works at Yotvata as there were a pair of Little Crakes feeding on one of the pools there. One of the Little Crakes was feeding in the edge of the reeds, but didn't show itself well enough to allow any photographs.

Green Sandpiper: This flew into the muddy pool & started to feed

Green Sandpiper

Temminck's Stint: The Green Sandpiper was then joined by this Temminck's Stint 

Yellow Wagtail: Yellow Wagtail races are often really hard to figure out, especially on migration. This looks like a 'superciliaris' bird which is a hybrid of Yellow Wagtail races

Masked Shrike 

Next stop was the two large circular fields on the Yotvata kibbutz. We walked this one in the hope that the Oriental Skylarks that had been present there over a week ago were still around. But we didn't seriously expect they would be given Yotvata is regularly watched by Itai. We also had a drive around the neighbouring fields in case there were any Caspian Plovers around as one had been found near Ovda earlier that afternoon. Not surprisingly there weren't any at Yotvata.

The circular field is irrigated by a huge circular sprinkler

Fox: Initially feeding on the edge of the circular fields

Fox: The Fox then sat on the dunes which are part of the borderline with Jordon & watched us

Finally, it started to get dark. Once dark we drove around a number of fields in the Yotvata area. After a couple of hours of looking, Itai spotted a Pharoah Eagle Owl in the spotlight, which gave good views.

Pharaoh Eagle Owl: This is the nominate ascalaphus subspecies which ranges from NW Africa to Egypt, Israel & West Iraq

24 Oct 13 - Beginners Luck

I've just completed over 3 months working in London & Birmingham and as a reward I had promised myself a nice camera & lens for bird photography. So it was up early to get out on the first day with the new toy to have a play with it. Southerly winds suggested a coastal location, but an early morning rising tide had me heading to Middlebere.

Middlebere: The view from the Avocet hide showing the Middlebere creek which is one of the last areas of mud in the harbour to be covered on a rising tide (with the Arne RSPB reserve beyond)

A typical selection of species were present including a good numbers of Teal with a few Wigeon, brief views of male Hen Harrier and 1st Winter Marsh Harrier. Waders included 31 Avocets and 120+ Dunlin and a Green Sandpiper.

Fox: This young animal came to check out who was birding in the hide

The highlight of the morning came in the form of a showy Kingfisher which perched up in front of the hide: a species I've rarely seen at Middlebere.

Kingfisher: The all black beak indicates this is a male

Things quietened down once the tide had finished rising. I checked the pager as I was leaving & there was a message of a probable Pallid Swift at Stanpit. This was a long wanted County tick after dipping on the 2 birds on Portland in Nov 84. Swifts often move on quickly so I decided to head straight there rather than wait for confirmation of the id. I ran into Ian & Jean S as I arrived, who said it hadn't been seen for an hour, but fortunately, another local arrived saying it had been over the Honda garage about 10 minutes earlier, before disappearing. Headed off in that direction & not finding anywhere to park, I ended up in the Two Riversmeet car park. A raised bank was the obvious viewpoint & quickly located the Swift in the distance. It took a long time to get decent views & make myself happy it was a Pallid Swift: not helped by switching to the camera every time it came closer.

Pallid Swift: The contrast between the paler secondaries/inner primaries and the darker outer primaries & underwing coverts is a key feature. The bird also was closer to a Sand Martin colouration on the body (which wasn't as obvious on these over exposed photos)

Pallid Swift: Upperside view

Pallid Swift: Note the diffuse pale throat & big beady eye

Pallid Swift: Showing the spread tail

Nick Hopper rang as I was leaving Christchurch to say he had just found a Pallas's Warbler at Studland. Fortunately there was enough light to get over there & located both Nick & more importantly the bird on the path to Old Harry. Only the 3rd Studland record & the second I've seen at Studland. It finished off a great days birding.