Nathalie

I made a quick visit to the Thames on Sunday (10th) and ended up in the same quandary as with the Lapwings, with Shovelers. At Crabtree Wharf I could see at least 3 in the 'pools' south of my patch. I waited a while but none came closer, once again I decided to mull it over.
I had no intention to go to the river again on Monday but, after running some errands, decided to make a detour. I was by the 'wasteland' observing a Lapwing on the shore by Hammersmith Bridge when I heard 'tweep tweep'. I didn't take me long to locate a Chiffchaff in one of these bushes that grows on the wall of the Thames. Kerching, #47. With Goldcrest and Blackcap this winter, these bushes and small trees along the path are proving to be a semi goldmine. It didn't last long, people walked by and it left. I went back towards Crabtree Wharf, it felt relatively mild that afternoon, but you never know. Once again, there were Shovelers just outside my patch, but getting closer. I would still check by the Wharf, and who just landed in the water? a pair of Shovelers! re-kerching, #48 and a patch tick. They were gone before I had finished noting it down, it was a case of "blink and you'll miss it!".

Having checked tide times this time, I had decided to go by the Thames early on Wednesday (13th). When I got up and saw the blanket of snow, I almost didn't go out, but I love snow, I love the cold and so I decided to brave it. It was still snowing by the time I got to Crabtree Wharf, and the tide having been down for a while, even the foreshore had a blanket of snow.
View to the South:

View to the North (you can just about make out Hammersmith Bridge in the distance):

As I mentioned previously, part of the Thames Path is closed:

Very few birds around, sunrise had only just been, but some were starting to arrive, like this Grey Heron.

or this Gadwall, who didn't seem too bothered by the snow on its back:

or these Egyptian Geese (4 in total), a somewhat incongruous sight in the snow, but it didn't seem to bother them really:

or this Fieldfare, briefly on the foreshore:

By Hammersmith Bridge, more snow on the foreshore, and some Teals and Mallards, feeding as they usually do at the edge of the water:

and a Shoveler! There were 3 of them, this male and a pair closer to the bridge.

For a moment, it followed the Teals, but then broke off and continued on its way.

I went home.

Tout est relatif évidemment, mon territoire ne tiendra jamais de records mondiaux, mais je viens d'avoir quelques jours productifs ... J'étais arrivée á 43 au moment de mon dernier billet, je suis maintenant à 48, dont 2 coches!

Comme prévu, je suis allée à la Tamise vendredi matin, oú j'ai découvert que la marée était haute (ma faute, j'aurais dû vérifier) et et qu'une partie du chemin a été fermée pendant que l'Agence de l'environnement fait quelques travaux de réparation apparemment. Je peux encore apercevoir l'ensemble de la rive, mais je suis forcée à passer par la rue et marcher á coté des ginkgos, dont 2 sont femelles et ont produit des tonnes de fruits cette année. Un avantage au moins du froid, c'est que l'odeur est moindre... Quoi que vous fassiez ne vous tenez pas en aval d'un gingko en fruits (sauf si vous n'avez aucun odorat)!

Je pouvais entendre les moineaux domestiques de loin, ce qui est toujours rassurant. Je pense qu'ils perchent peut-être dans le lierre qui pousse sur le mur de Rainville Cour, ou ça n'est qu'une étape, mais, en tout cas, j'ai vu 4 d'entre eux voler de l'un à l'autre comme je m'approchais.

Peu d'oiseaux sur la rivière: un Tadorne de Belon, quelques Canards chipeau, Sarcelles et Fuligules morillons, 2 Bergeronnettes de Yarell et 1 des ruisseaux près de ou sur la plage de Crabtree Wharf. Pour une touche exotique, 4 oies d'Egypte, 1 á tête pâle. Les années se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas... L'an dernier, il m'a fallu une éternité avant d'en voir une au bord de la Tamise, cette année, j'en vois à peu près à chaque fois. Même chose avec les crécerelles. Amusant. En fait, je pouvais voir un Crécerelle perché dans un arbre de l'autre côté de la rivière.

Un Grèbe huppéest arrivé, # 44 pour l'année.

Je pensais qu'il était temps de partir, rien d'autre n'allait vraiment arriver, lorsque j'ai vu plein d'oiseaux s'envoler au dessus du Wetland Centre,  D'abord j'ai pensé que c'était des corbeaux, mais dès que je les ai eu dans mes jumelles, il était évident que c'était des Vanneaux Huppés ! Peut-être environ 50 d'entre eux. J'avais espéré quelque chose comme ça depuis longtemps ... Certaines personnes mentionnent les volées d'Étourneaux, Bécasseaux maubèche , Oies, et j'en passe, pour moi les vanneaux ont le même résultat. Je ne sais pas si c'est parce que c'était un spectacle commun où j'ai grandi (campagne normande), mais c'est comme ça. Ils ont suivi la rivière vers le sud jusqu'à un peu avant la courbe où ils sont repartis vers l'intérieur & je les ai perdues derrière les arbres. Ils n'étaient a aucun moment sur mon territoire. Il y a eu une longue discussion ce mois-ci sur la mailing list londonbirders pour savoir quels oiseaux comptent ou non. La règle choisie en fin de compte était «soit vous soit l'oiseau doit être sur le territoire" mais je suis en faveur de "l'oiseau doit être au dessus ou sur le patch ', ce qui est la façon dont j'ai compté les oiseaux jusqu'à présent, et avais décidé de m'en tenir à ma règle. J'étais donc dans un dilemme: "dois-je les compter ou pas ?" Ca serait une coche, mais ca ne me parrainerait pas une coche légitime. J'ai décidé d'y réfléchir et de décider plus tard.

I was thinking it was time to go, nothing else was really going to turn up, when I saw lots of birds lift up by the Wetland Centre. Initially thought it was the crows but as soon as I had them in my bins it was obvious it was Lapwings! Possibly about 50 of them. I'd been waiting for something like this forever... Some people go on about flocks of Starlings, Knots, Geese, you name it, for me lapwings do it. I don't know if it's because it was a common sight where I grew up (Normandy countryside) but that's how it is. They followed the river south until slightly before the bend where they flew back inland & I lost them behind the trees. At no point were they on my patch. There has been a fair amount of discussion this month on the londonbirders mailing list regarding which birds to count or not. The rule chosen in the end was "either you or the bird has to be on the patch" but I am in favour of "the bird has to be on or over the patch', which is what how I have counted birds sofar, and had decided to stick to my rule. So I was in a bit of a quandary: "do I count them or not?" Plus it would be a patch tick, but a patch tick not on patch proper somehow didn't sound right. I decided to mull it over and decide later. I made a quick visit in the afternoon at low tide, as I'd forgotten my rule of not going by the river on sunny winter days, all I get is a headache. I did indeed get one of those, got totally blinded by the sun reflecting on the water, but I also got #45 in the shape of 4 Coots. Coots are actually less common on this stretch of the river than Moorhens, so it was nice and provided some light relief. I decided to give the Thames a miss on Saturday morning, in part as I needed to help TOH, but I did a quick visit mid-afternoon. I had just arrived and was doing a first scan of the foreshore, when I heard a tweet. Lifted my bins. YES! There on the foreshore, on patch, proper!

Quandary over for now. #46. It flew off, but then it, or another one, landed on the mud even closer, giving me a chance for more photos, and then it flew off (again). To be continued...

Oiseau exotique dans un arbre exotique ...

Ca fait longtemps que j'ai envie de prendre une photo comme celle ci-dessus, mais chaque fois que j'en vois un dans cet arbre, je n'ai pas mon appareil photo avec moi. Je n'ai jamais vu aucun autre oiseau manger ces gousses de graines de l'arbre indien Bean dans Margravine Cemetery, mais les perruches semblent vraiment les aimer. J'aime bien les regarder saisir puis ouvrir les gousses, puis extraire systématiquement les graines.

La photo est malheureusement un peu délavée mais alors que j'étais encore en train d'affiner mes réglages quand elle a pris peur au passage d'un pigeon...

Mais j'étais tellement contente d'avoir enfin obtenu une photo que j'ai quand même voulu la partager, un interlude au milieu de toutes ces photos de neige. Mais ne vous inquiétez pas, il y en aura d'autres plus tard (j'espère).

Avez-vous vu aucun autre oiseau manger ces gousses ? Si non, c'est au moins une source de nourriture pour laquelle elles ne sont pas en concurrence avec nos oiseaux.

Sorry I have neglected this blog once again, but it's been a tad mad around here. I also, foolishly, decided to have a 'net detox over Christmas, which meant it took me ages to catch up afterwards. I have been out lots however, in part to just escape it all, and from 1st January to kick start my patch list. I started with a 2 hour walk in Margravine Cemetery where I managed to find all residents apart from Wren and Greenfinch. I did see a Greenfinch later that day but it took a few more days before I managed to find a Wren. I also managed to find the Coal Tit which was nice as I had not seen it for a while, and I found it in the exact conifer I'd been hoping to find it. And the Redwings were still there, or at least some were, as on New Year's Eve I saw at least 80 of them advancing on the grass like an army, which was quite impressive as the cemetery is not that big!
An unexpected tick by the cemetery that day was a Common Gull, standing on the Woodpecker's aerial on the estate, i.e. the one the Great Spotted Woodpecker drums on in the Spring becoming the talk of the neighbourhood.
The female Peregrine made an appearance around lunchtime, sunning herself, making it 21 for that day. Until the Greenfinch which made it 22 for the first day, on a par with last year albeit with a few different birds.

The next day, being a Saturday morning, I did my usual Thames Path walk and added a few more birds to make it 35 with most of the usual suspects. The most notable thing was that I saw a third adult Great Black-Backed Gull as well as the usual pair, which are currently very busy courting, or at least I assume that's what all this 'barking' is about. A few days previously I could hear them, but just couldn't locate them, until I looked on top of Harrods Depository: they were on top of the flagpoles!

On Sunday 3rd, I was checking if Redwings were still around in the cemetery, and they were making it the start of their 4th week, when 2 Egyptian Geese flew over, a first for me in Margravine, & making it #36.

An early morning visit to the Thames on Tuesday morning allowed me to add Shelduck with one feeding by Crabtree Wharf, not unusual at this time of year, but not that frequent either. Nothing else out of the ordinary, except maybe a few more Gadwalls than previously this winter. I have unfortunately not been able to go and check again since then, but I'm hoping to early tomorrow. We'll see. I finally added Wren for this year as I was almost home, making it #41.

Then yesterday, we were promised some more snow, so I thought I'd go and get some milk before then, and check Margravine Cemetery at the same time. Got to Barons Court having found a few Redwings. I was trying to check them from a distance so as not to disturb them, I shouldn't have bothered, dog walkers do it anyway. The corner shop didn't have any milk so I backtracked and crossed the cemetery again to go to Fulham Palace Road. As I was about half way through, I heard an unusual sound high above in a tree: a Fieldfare! At long last! A patch tick! Grabbed my camera, tried some record shots, but conditions were appalling, and it was just starting to snow quite heavily. Thankfully, it flew over to another tree closer to me, where I managed some slightly better shots.

I also decided to take a record-video. Pretty crappy quality and I wouldn't have bothered putting it up if it wasn't for the goldfinch behind:

I have seen them do it between themselves too, is it threat or courtship? But, in this case, it made me think of these passers by in the background who make faces at the camera when someone is interviewed or talking in the foreground. Might be just me, but I find it funny...

That was #42, and #43 came today in the shape of a Kestrel hovering over the hospital.
A pity the Skylark I saw on the foreshore by the supermarket this afternoon wasn't on my patch, but it was nice nevertheless...

Je pars pour la France demain, laissant la maison aux bons soins de la minette, et vous souhaite un très Joyeux Noël !

Nathalie

(Cet individu a posé pour moi l'année dernière dans le cimetière de Margravine, baigné par le soleil d'hiver de mi-après-midi, un moment magique)