I have just finished reading “Falcon” by Helen Macdonald. It is full of all things falcon but with a distinctly anthropological bent. There is an introductory chapter on the natural history of the falcon but thereafter the concern is with the symbolically created meanings arising from human interaction with the falcons – primarily the Peregrine Falcon. Continue reading
February 2011 archive
Feb 15 2011
The Goshawk by T.H.White
I have finished reading T.H. White’s book “The Goshawk” written during 1938 but not published until 1951. Its description of the author’s attempts to train a Goshawk using techniques primitive even at the time is not so much a book about the bird as about his own psychological desire to tame the animal and also his respect for the wildness of it. This contradiction and some of the psychological factors underlying it are nicely observed in the introduction by Marie Winn especially if you are fond of Freudian interpretation. Continue reading
Feb 14 2011
Birding Group Visit to Hilbre Island 14th February 2011
This week the birding group’s visit was to Hilbre Island on the Wirral. There were around 12 of us and we were fortunate to pick a really fine day for it – even if it was a little cold.
We saw a very large flock of Oystercatchers which amounted to at least 200 birds (but probably much more) mixed in with around 50 Black-tailed Godwits, 30 Redshank, 20 Dunlin and a dozen or so Turnstone.There were 3 Grey Heron, a Cormorant, Black-headed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls and around 50 Brent Geese. We also had a great view of a singing Wren. As we were coming back we encountered a small flock of birds bouncing around the sand and rocks and what little grass there was and after much humming and hawing we concluded that it was a flock of a dozen or so Linnets – though, subsequently it crossed my mind that they just might be Twite but they seemed a bit too dull peachy around the chest for Twite.
Anyway we spent nearly 2 hours on the island and also had the added bonus on the way back of seeing a group of 40 Atlantic Grey Seals lying around on a sandbank a few hundred metres from one of the islands.
Feb 08 2011
Birding Group Visit to Neumann’s Flash 8th February 2011
A fine morning for a birding walk at Neumann’s Flash which is a part of the Northwich Woodland Area. There was a clear blue sky and it was mild for February. Birds spotted included a Buzzard flying low across our path and later two roosting in a tree near the biggest lake. Also there two Stock Doves roosting on top of a nest box and a Sparrowhawk roosting in a tree overlooking the lake. On the water were Shovelers, Shelduck and Teal . Elsewhere on the site there were large numbers (150+) of Lapwing rising, wheeling and settling back down and Bullfinch in the trees. A Song Thrush singing on a telephone wire and a Cormorant flying above. Others of the group saw a GreatSpotted Woodpecker and a Golden Plover but I missed those.
Feb 06 2011
Wet Wet Wet
Today has seen heavy rain all day but this just seems to have encouraged the garden birds to stay put so we have been seeing a lot of our daily visitors who are usually :
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Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Starling, Blackcap, Collared Dove and Wood Pidgeon.
Oddly enough the rain seems to provoke bathing in the bird bath.
Feb 04 2011
Redshank on River Conwy Estuary 4 February 2001
Last week we spent a couple of days in Conwy. Our highlight was seeing a small number of Redwing in a stand of trees by the estuary. We visited Conwy RSPB but there were also a great number of waders present on the estuary including lots of Redshank, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew and Shelduck. Here is a short video of one of the Redshanks.
Map of Conwy
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