Monday 14 May 2012

Bird Report March / April

Doh .... late again with my bird report!

After a dismally dreary January and a particularly freezing cold February never has the month of March and early Spring been so welcome .... note to self  'never spend another Winter in this part of France!'

Rant over and on to the sightings. March was a very good month for early migrants with a ridiculously early Cuckoo calling along the River Gartemps on March 8th, my earliest ever by a country mile and didn't have another until the 30th (pic right). The day after on the 9th I had a singing Chiff Chaff  just outside the village which was probably a returning migrant rather than an overwintering bird and on the 10th I had a further 2 singing in the Rouflamme Valley plus 2 splendid male Blackcaps in the village (in a garden tree). There was a very gradual increase in numbers of both of these early returning warblers as the month wore on but the big influx came in the first week of April with up to 30 Blackcaps and 20 Chiff Chaffs recorded locally on the 6th.

A morning's birding at the Etang de Beauvoir on the 11th March saw in my first Sedge Warbler along with a first record of Stock Dove for me in France (5 beating North), about 200 Common Cranes in adjacent fields (pic left), a couple of Black Redstarts and a splendid male Hen Harrier displaying in the sunshine. The 2nd week of March was also good for northward passage of Lapwings and Golden Plover with up to 800 of the former and 60 of the latter overhead on the 11th being typical numbers. Good to see a few Golden Plovers standing fields ... almost like being back in Yorkshire!

The first Swallow of the year is always a magic moment for us birders and although mine was a brief glimpse of one sat on telegraph wires on the 13th March as I was driving (just outside Saulge) it was as iconic and welcome as ever .... 'hurrah, sunny days are just around the corner!' that's what my first swallow always says to me! I actually saw the same bird on the same telegraph wire the next day and had to get out of the car just to make sure it was real (it was!)

There was a minor influx of thrushes on the 14th March with 10 Redwings, c25 Song Thrushes and c15 Mistle Thrushes in local fields but the very poor showing of Fieldfares continues with none at all recorded in either March or April around here.

Etange des Landes
On the 14th March I took a trip out to a place called Etange des Landes in the Creuse area which is about 70k south of here. This is a large lake surrounded by forest and a well known birding and fishing spot. Glorious sunshine all day and my long drive was rewarded by some good birds including a high flying Black Stork, several returning Black Kites, 3 Black Necked Grebes, a displaying male Hen Harrier and a female Marsh Harrier ..... all returning Summer visitors or passage birds on their way further North. Lapwings were also heading North in good numbers with up about 200 over in the 3 hours or so that I was there, whilst on the lake itself there were still good numbers of Winter ducks including about 70 Wigeon.

On the way back I stopped off at Gueret and sat for half an hour on a bench I found at the top of one of the hills around there. It was just grand sitting in the sun and watching Chaffinches fly North over the tops of trees along with a couple of Skylarks, a Sparrowhawk and 4 Common Buzzards. Obviously a day for birds of all kinds to make a move!

The 26th of March seemed to be another good day for passage with clear skies and a slight easterly breeze. I didn't go very far, didn't have to ... just sat outside the barn and came on to a Black Stork circling on high, followed by an Osprey bombing North, followed in turn by a Black Kite floating in the same direction. I had my first House Martin shortly after that and to complete a full house of migrants over the barn I had 2 high flying Short Toed Eagles later on in the day.

A good haul of avian goodies for March so far you would think but the month had several other surprises up its sleeve yet with my earliest ever Hoopoe on the 30th (heard nr Saulge) and a Tawny Pipit on the same day in local fields. Corn Buntings landed in  the area and were singing from this date too and there were 2 Red Crested Pochards on the Etang de Beavoir on the same date ... so, all in all a very good month.

Into April then and the trickle of migrants turned into a predictable flood with big numbers of Chiff Chaff, Blackcaps and Cuckoos arriving in the first week or so and filling the woods with Summer song. I heard my first Nightingale on the evening of the 5th and before the month was out they were singing their beautiful melodies from nearly every hedgerow in the area. Just as tuneful but far less obvious are Wood Warblers and although I didn't manage to clock one I had single singing males on the 6th and 7th. Much less tuneful but we wont hold it against them, Whitethroats arrived on the 7th with 4 in the RouflammeWillow Warblers are common enough in the UK I find them very elusive over here so I was please to hear and see one on the same day, none since though  .... why is that? Anyone out there know why?

More 'firsts of the year' during the month  .... Tree Pipit (7th), Montagues Harrier (9th), Garden Warbler and Quail (both on the 13th and both heard and not seen!).

Resident birds of note included a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling on the 5th and a couple of Hawfinches overhead on the 16th. Not a bird but of note nonetheless I had at least 6 Swallowtail Butterflies in an uncultivated field on the 7th and very nearly captured them mating on camera. I've seen them before around here but never so many and hoping this is going to be a good year for this stunning insect.

I was back in the UK for 2 weeks at the end of April and although I had just the one birding trip it was a good 'un .... a day out in the Derwent Valley. Already posted this of course but click here if you can't be bothered to scroll back!
http://timbobagginsabroad.blogspot.fr/2012/04/dodging-april-showers-in-derwent-valley.html

Saturday 5 May 2012

Mad and Merry May!!

Back in the Vienne after a brief 2 weeks in the UK and, although it would have been magic to have come back with my darling fiancee Gabz, at least I've come back to warmth after such dismal weather in the UK!

So, 'tis the merry month of May and on all fronts, what passes for action around here is about to kick off!

'Beyond the Gap' have a summer tour to finalise and for any bar / campsite owners in southern France reading this ... you can still book us; we're playing for expenses only and any tips / money in the hat goes to Breast Cancer Research. Here's our promo clip again -

 
FUN is a big red word when we play...we love to entertain and get folk up and dancing. Wanna book us? Drop me a line on here or email us on beyondthegap@hotmail.com

Before that we have several visitors over from the UK this month to stay at the barn and on a personal note (F sharp maybe) ... I'm looking forward to joining up again with my mate Mark who's coming over for a couple of weeks for chat, wine, chill out time and a birding trip down to the Camargue. Just remembered I also have 15 Open University assignments to mark before the month end too ... pooh!!

Pink Campions by the river. Highly stylised but I like the effect!
It was a good morning for photographs today with weak sunshine and storm clouds brewing making for some good silvery light. Here's a nice selection of birds, flowers and a cracking damselfly from the past couple of days.






Goldfinch in the village ... where has he got that cotton wool from!

'Beautiful Demoiselle' .. yes that's this damselfly's English name and this one is a female of the species.

Singing Stonechat ... immature male

Orange Poppy? I'll come clean ... no idea what this is yet!

























Sunday 29 April 2012

Dodging the April showers in the Derwent Valley

Been back in the UK for the past 10 days or so and its been wonderful to catch up with friends and family although, as per usual, there never seems to be enough time to see everybody!

The weather has been appalling! Wettest April on record by all accounts and birding and photographic opportunities have been limited to say the least. I did manage a half day out and about with my old mucker and birding mate Mark in the Derwent Valley last Thursday and in between the showers we actually had a spectacular day starting off just 5 minutes after we got out of the car with 4 Common Cranes flying North East over Allerthorpe Common a cracking good record!

Got plenty of pics of them and we also saw them again later in the day nr Wheldrake Ings .... who knows maybe they'll breed. There's a reasonable sized and growing colony in Norfolk and a pair nesting every year on Hatfield Moor in South Yorks.


Those Cranes were a lucky sighting and given the poor weather ... rain and bad light, lucky to get any pics at all. Tragically then I'm having to post some pics of my best mate and birding pal Mark .... almost smiling on the 2nd one!

Very close to where I took these pics of photogenic Mark on the Pocklington Canal we saw something rippling in the water, then a brown shape came into view and lo and behold realised we were clocking an Otter! Shame I didn't get a pic, tried in vain but wasn't quick enough, but a few moments later we saw it again, closer this time and as we just stood, stock still in wonderment (this was a first for both of us) we were amazed and enthralled to see it emerge from the reeds up the bank and walk across the path right in front of us! Awesome memory. (pic right taken at nearby Wheldrake Ings - courtesy of York Evening Press)

We really did have a splendid day tramping around the Derwent Valley getting our feet wet, lots of good banter and the enforced rain breaks gave us time to plan our next birding trip .... the Camargue in May. The Cranes and the Otter were special moments but despite the weather this was a good birding day. In between the showers there was sunshine, blue sky and most importantly Southwesterly winds bringing in good selection of migrants including a couple of Swifts beating North right across our heads, at least 2 Cuckoos, Sedge Warbler, a magnificent flock of about 30 Black Tailed Godwits and Wheldrake Ings and an unexpected gem of a bird at Thornton Ings - a Black Tern, looking very incongruous flitting around in the chilly rain. We also had a good Peregrine Falcon that appeared to be nesting in one of the big pylons near Melbourne, a couple of Yellow Wagtails and several singing Corn Buntings. Add to this a late Wigeon, several burbling Curlews, Redshank and a nice little flock of 20 or so summer plumaged Dunlin and you have to say we pulled out the best of what was about in trying conditions! I leave you with a nice view of the Pocklington Canal and a very wet Linnet at Wheldrake Ings!






Tuesday 17 April 2012

'Beyond the Gap' Summer tour promo clip

Band is complete, we have 50 plus songs ready n rehearsed and ready to tour this Summer ..... camp sites, local bars, hotels, festivals and anywhere else that will have us! We set off in June, still taking bookings and will update our tour dates as we have them!

Enjoy the clip - please email us at beyondthegap@hotmail.com for any booking requests

Monday 16 April 2012

Free as bird, cuckoos n wags by the river

Still not convinced I'm getting the very best out of the new lens, 400mm just seems to be leaving me struggling for a bit more reach but given that most of the birds I shoot are 'on the hoof' and not from a hide I can't ever get very close. Still these aren't bad. A nice soaring Buzzard is one of the best I have taken of this ubiquitous raptor. Could have cropped this more but I kinda like the sense of space beneath the bird.




Stalked a Cuckoo the other day and got within 100m before this one spotted me and flew off.
Been trying to photograph cuckoos for ages and thought my best chance was one on flight so this perched and calling male bird was a bit of a bonus, even though I never got close enough for it to fill the frame.





And (before a certain somebody tells me that you should never begin a sentence with 'and') .... here's a bird you might see quite often flying around your garden or local park but rarely caught on film flying so feel rather smug about this shot of a White Wagtail (the European sub species of the Pied Wagtail).

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Getting down and dirty!

Well at long last my new lens has arrived .... all been a bit of a do to be honest and have to say that after placing my order on Feb 28th and paying an extra £30 for express delivery I'm less than impressed to be unwrapping my Canon EF 400mm lens some 6 weeks later and with a wapping 267 euros import / VAT tax to pay to boot!

Still getting to grips with it and trying not to compare it with the excellent results I got from my defunct Tamron big lens but early results are ok.

I seem to have got into photographing closer to hand subjects like flowers and butterflies of late, keeping my eyes trained less on the skies and more on the hedgerows; new lens or not, this habit seems to have stuck with me but hey the results have been good and already had several wild flower and butterfly pics accepted by stock sites.

New flowers coming up all the time at the moment of course and not being much of a botanist it's been a real challenge id'ing the flowers I photograph (thank you Google images!). So here's an opportunity to show off my new found knowledge ..... first off are some lovely Grape Hyacinths (left)








For me, getting good pics of wild flowers is all about 2 things - good light and interesting angles. Light I can usually gauge ok and can usually be rectified with any decent photographic software if necessary but as I have discovered the interesting angles usually involve some degree of getting horizontal .... in other words lying down and getting dirty on the earth!

Apart from getting grubby, thorned and nettled I also lost a mobile phone out of my jacket pocket taking some of these!

From top to bottom - Buttercups against the blue sky, early emerging Wood Anemones at eye level and Cuckoo Flowers (or lady's smock) against the river.

Whilst scrambling about like this in a local meadow recently I was lucky enough to spot a different looking butterfly flitting about which was quickly joined by another of the same kind. Swallowtails! Dashing and stunningly beautiful here's the best shot of one of them and although the second shot is out of focus I've included because it only very nearly captures the pair of them mating!
Swallowtails are just awesome and being relatively scarce even in these parts they certainly add a taste of the exotic to a morning walk in the early Springtime. A lot more common are the yellow Brimstones that have been out for a few weeks now - tricky to photograph as they never seem to settle but this one did rest a while on a Lungwort flower head, albeit with closed wings (pic right) producing a pleasing image, and to complete my little collection of April flutterbies here's what I believe is a Speckled Wood (below)


You never know what you might find when you're scrabbling around in the grass trying to get a decent photographic angle and this big beetle (sorry, but no idea what species) certainly seemed nosey so I snapped him with my macro lens!
Now then, before you all start thinking I've turned into an amateur botanist come bug hunter, although my eyes have spent more time than usual trained on the ground my main prey is always the birds and here's a couple with the new lens. First up is a nice female Blackcap (right), a returning Summer migrant and one of many that are singing from nearly every hedgerow at the moment, and pictured below are a couple of the best shots of a briefly glimpsed male Montague's Harrier.


Have to that so far I've not really noticed a huge amount of difference between the Canon and my old Tamron which at 500mm had more reach but I guess time will tell. I'm considering a 1.4 or even a 2 x converter for the Canon now (more expense!)












Sunday 1 April 2012

Early Spring wild flowers compensate for late delivery of mega lens!

Still waiting for my new lens to arrive, been over a month since  ordered my Canon EF400 and although I've received a reassuring email to say it will be delivered tomorrow I'm sure missing many opportunities with several great birds passing over the barn in recent days ..... more in the March bird report but an Osprey, Black Kite and Black Stork in the last few days of March were all noteworthy!

Meanwhile, I've been more or less forced into using my other lenses and whilst neither are any good for bird shots I have been rather enjoying the challenge of trying to catch some of the early spring flowers that have been been emerging. Here's a few decent flower 'portraits'

From to to bottom here we have 'Lesser Celandines', 'White Campion', 'Orange Flame wild Tulips', 'Pink Apple Blossom' and lastly 'Common Lungwort'.