Good Riddance 2009

I never profess to be a "proper" birder and am rubbish at keeping track of what I have actually seen, but what with the other half going on about falling short of 200 this year, I thought I'd sit down and work out my bird list for 2009.

2009 total: 173

life list: 182

Not too bad really considering the general lack of outings in the second half of this year, and that I missed out on my big autumn holiday. Generally 2009 has been totally shit, so 2010 doesn't have to try too hard to be an improvement really.
Highlights for 2009 include a pair of montagu's harrier, barn owls, penduline tits, a bittern flying right over our heads, and spoonbills (which are always awesome). Oh, and the robin in Hanningfield attacking Parus. My favourite birds of 2009 had to be the white storks in France, but due to their frenchness don't count to my total. They are just ridiculously big...
Birds missing from my list that really shouldn't be include whooper/berwicks swans, eider, garganey, any exciting herons, golden eagle, osprey, red kite, dipper, lesser spotted woodpecker, dartford warbler, tree sparrow.... loads basically.
The aim for 2010 will be to make the big 200, and if the trip to Mull goes ahead this should be easily achieveable. I would also like to get a decent sight of a kingfisher, to make more of an effort with seabirds, and to finally work out whether or not brambling are a myth. More importantly, I would like to see this "smart looking black and red bird" that my mum claims to have seen in our garden. If we have a bullfinch here i want evidence!

The target zoo-wise will be to try to get away from my desk a bit more and take some photos of all the awesome stuff that lives there. We have a new male gorilla that is shaping up to be a handsome chap, and have had plenty of very cute babies of late. Personally I have my fingers crossed for mini aardvarks.


So here is to a better 2010...

In Which I Actually Went Outside And Saw Some Birds...

Conscious of the fact that I haven't really had much to blog about of late, I figured it's about time I posted something a little more topical (as nice as christmas biscuits are of course).

I saw some birds today. More specifically I saw a really big, dark and mean-looking gull sitting on the Thames in Rainham...


Tempted by the offer of lots of tea and a panini, me and the boy headed to Rainham for lunch, and got some pretty good views of a great skua floating downriver and flying back up a few times while we were there. Having very little patience for things like sea watching, seeing birds like this is always nice for me. Especially when I'm inside a nice heated visitor centre with a cup of tea. Awesome :) I don't think I'd pick a fight with this bird, he looks pretty mean and I'm told that they like to pick on gannets for fun.

It was cold and miserable, and I currently have a cold and was feeling a bit miserable, so didn't bother going onto the reserve but it looked good and wintery. Plenty of ducks, gulls and waders everywhere including at least 6 pintail on Purfleet pools. This is where you think I'd put a photograph of said pintail, but what with all of the cups of tea and the panini I forgot to take one. Instead, have a photo taken of a blue tit at Abberton in October which I don't think I bothered to write about because this person beat me to it. Also I was upset about the squirrel.


I went to Swanage for a couple of days after Christmas with the family, but hardly left the flat really so no news there. It was lovely and sunny the whole time though, so had a nice walk along the seafront. Just need to figure out a way of making money then I'm moving to the sea...


I'll try to make more of an effort to tell you more about birds and zoos in the new year. A trip to Thrigby Hall and Norfolk in January will help with this...

oh well...

Looks like my christmas present to me didn't go as hoped,
albeit unsurprisingly...

Greetings from Amazon.co.uk.

Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below
was changed by the supplier, and we need to provide you with
a new estimated delivery date based on the new release date:

Lars Svensson, et al "Collins Bird Guide"
Estimated arrival date: March 10 2010 - March 12 2010

Seasons Greetings and that

In the absence of anything interesting/ amusing/ informative to tell you, enjoy some christmas biscuits :)

Of mulled wine, dinosaurs and traffic jams...

This is a bit if a disjointed blog post, so I've attempted to pull it together with a title. I don't think it worked but oh well :)

This weekend I went to Tollesbury with the boy, and despite only being a short walk we saw quite a lot. There were ridiculous numbers of waders flying past in huge flocks (for essex at least), including dunlin, knot, golden plover, grey plover, ringed plover, curlew, oystercatchers.. probably many more I can't remember. We got there pretty much at high tide (more by luck and by careful planning), so we were hoping for some interesting seabirds and weren't disappointed. I found myself a pair of scoter (read: two black blobs which vaguely resembled cold looking ducks- tick) and a diver which I'm assured is a great northern diver. It certainly had a stripey rump and a big head, so I'm happy with that. A seal popped up and had a good look at us looking at him. Of course I didn't have my camera, but didn't worry as the boy captured the moment with yet another stunning display of professional-standard photography.
For a much more in depth and useful summary, you might want to check his blog instead :)

Sunday was spent trying to find a decent German christmas market in London with a uni friend of mine who spent a year in Germany. The market on the Southbank was pretty poor, and the one in Hyde Park was even worse, unless you want a funfair and then it's good. A cup of mulled wine, some caramelised almonds and some overpriced chips later, and we found outselves in Kensington with more time on our hands than we expected. What else is in Kensington? Dinosaurs of course.





Love the use of shadows by the way. Oooooh scary teeeeeth.....

What? They're related to birds at least, and you can't really resist popping in when you're walking right past the building. We went into the new Darwin wing too, with the Cocoon. Very impressive and good use of interactive interpretation, but possibly a bit too gimmicky and not enough good old fashioned labels for my liking. Still, worth a look round if you have a spare half hour or so. As I was being a tourist for the day, we also had a wander round the foodhall in Harrods, which is always good to see how the other half live. They have GIANT fruit there.

Today was spent much in the same way as the last few weeks- trudging to and from work through Regent's Park in the pouring rain. Really, I think it would be nice to have at least a couple of dry, crisp winter days please. At the tail end of my commute home, I was sitting in a traffic jam leading up to my good friend the a128 when a big pale bird with broad wings flew slow and low right past my car. Of course I didn't get a photo as I was being a responsible driver, so you'll have to use your imagination here. I am never that great at identifying birds on my own when I am going out looking for them, so it's particularly unusual for me to find something interesting when I'm not expecting it. So I have to say, I'm quite proud of this one :) A barn owl! (Nearly) In Thurrock! Owls are always great to see, and it's nice to know there's more than I knew about near where I live. That means there's now a tawny owl in my road, at least two little owls at my nan's house, and a barn owl up the road. Roll on the short-eared owls... :)