Building up to it...

I am gradually building up to a large trip report, I can't quite take the plunge. I cannot believe that is has nearly been a month since I travelled but there it is. Part of the delay is due to the vast numbers of photos I have been unable to cull. Back in the day it used to be the same, but I have got used to birding trips where my photos are a load of old rubbish, or even nonexistent as I couldn't be bothered to lug the camera around. This new Sony stuff - cheap Sony stuff - is a game-changer. Whilst the Canon was nearly twice as heavy it was also four or five times more expensive. At the time it was what everyone used so I used it too. The pros like the great Arthur Morris published reams about it and I learned a ton. It was great, wonderful even, and it set me up on a lifetime journey. But things move on and I am now using a camera that can sit on top of my mobile phone and still has space around the edges. The lens is a mid-range consumer(ish) zoom which lets in about half as much light as the Canon prime did and would comfortable fit inside it were it hollow. The whole lot easily comes in at under 3kg and in Brazil I carried it all day every day without really noticing it. The Canon was over 5kg and in its latter years was carted across the Atlantic only to stay in the car. The whole premise is completely bonkers. 

Anyway, I am the world's greatest bore and nobody cares. It is all about the birds, always has been, and you will rarely find anything else on these pages. Here is a quick Bananaquit as it has just gone 7am and I am itching to get down to the greenhouse.

Bananaquit

A Brazilian taster

I've just come back from a monumental trip to the Atlantic rainforest in the State of Sao Paolo. The idea for this came from being blown away by the diversity of birds in the Pantanal and just wanting more of that. I hadn't been back long before I was planning this one for the following year. It did not disappoint. It does of course mean that I am now behind again as I've been back a week and am only now starting to review some of the 3000 photos I came home with. On the plus side I now have something to write about other than the constant watering of my many plants in this hot weather - this has been my life for about a month now and whilst I enjoy it a lot it does not make good blogging. By all accounts it was warmer in Wanstead than it was in Brazil, which I was a little sad to miss. Then again my bird feeder does not have things like this on it. On balance....

Brazilian Tanager

So of the 3000 images I've managed to get down to about 500 after the first pass. This sounds like a lot but actually birding came first, photogaphy a distant second. Most of the 3000 were just feeder session grabs between birding in the incredible forest fragments I was lucky enough to visit, and so will be somewhat unrepresentative of what I actually spent time doing. Nonetheless I reckon there will be enough images of the interior to accompany the words and give a decent feel for the place. Onwards!

A bit drastic

With apologies to anyone who came here for bird news

Agave attenuata is one of favourite plants. Planted en masse it is a wall of soft green architecture. Crucially it lacks the spines of others in its genus that regularly maim me as I move around the garden and the greenhouse. I have something like a dozen plants, all grown from small suckers of larger plants. Mostly on Madeira, where they grow like weeds in huge clumps, but I think I brought some back from the Canaries and mainland Spain on different trips. At that stage they were tiny, perhaps fifteen or so centimetres, possibly smaller than that. Planted in pots here in Wanstead they have thrived, grown quite large, but over the years they have also become extremely leggy, growing horiztonally and becoming rather awkward. I solved this problem by arranging them like a latticework, with the heads of plants growing some distance from their pots, with the stems crossing over one another. It looked vaguely okay until it didn't. For some reason that moment occured this morning. A bit of research on the web to confirm what I already knew. I could chop the top off the leggy stems, some two feet tall at this point, leave the cut to callous over and for a few roots to emerge, and then simply replant upright. What is more the stems will then grow new heads, possibly several, which can then be detached to form new plants. Or that is plan anyway. 

It took a bit of nerve to actually chop the first one and I ended up leaving one intact in case this doesn't work. I have every faith that it will though, succulents are generally a synch. In fact the last two weeks have been all about succulents - dividing bushy plants and replanting, and I think I doubled my Haworthias over the space of an hour or so. For if this rather brutal beheading of the Agave attenuata works, I will end up having doubled the number of plants. Perhaps even quadrupled because I also chopped the several feet of stem that I had taken off into small chunks, all of which have latent root nodes, and which with the proper care will I think root in their own right and create new plants. The heads are currently in empty pots whilst they air heal. I plan to try a couple methods. Some I will plant immediately in a nice succulent mix, others I will leave suspended until they put out roots, after which I will plant them up. Both methods are said to be successful, so let's see which works best. The rootballs and remaining stems look rather sad at the moment, but they have the summer to start anew. Hopefully in a couple of months I will have something to report back on. Other than compost...

Fife micro-patching

The view south over Lochore CP. One of the lumps on the horizon is the Bass Rock.

I'm up in Fife for a bit. The birding is better than Wanstead (not hard) but I would still class it as quiet, passage has dried up here too. I finally managed to track down a Cuckoo for my Fife list but that was the only realistic target this week, I missed all the good birds earlier in the month, including a Woodchat Shrike. The best birding up here is undoubtedly the East Neuk, which is where the Shrike was, but that is a bit far to get to in the mornings before work. Instead I've been concentrating on the sites that I visit regularly whilst I'm up here and that are closer to home, none of which are more than 15 minutes away, and trying to build up the number of species that I've seen at each of them. Far less chance of a rarity, but it means that things like Song Thrush have become interesting again.

Benarty ridge. The Cuckoo was in the pine plantation.

Letham Pools - 97

My favourite spot locally, albeit that the water levels at the moment are a) too high and b) not managed, so the site is not as good as it once was. There is almost nothing of interest for a wader now. I managed to visit twice on this trip and added Great Crested Grebe, my top target. It wasn't there the second time I went so perhaps I got lucky - apparently it was my 47th visit so it must be quite a rare bird for the site. Top remaining targets are Osprey, Song Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Blackcap and Redshank. I also came away with the highest list I've ever had here, just over an hour saw me accumulate 41 species including Peregrine, Marsh Harrier and Raven. I'd love to see 100 here but I reckon the final three will be quite difficult.

Angle Park GP - 80

A very succesful few visits adding 13 species. Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher, this has taken over from Letham as the best inland spot for waders locally. Away from the water I found a host of common passerines like Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Skylark, Linnet, Swift and Song Thrush. There are quite a lot of targets remaining, many of them sounding pretty easy it has to be said as I've only started visiting this location quite recently. This is where I jammed a Great White Egret last September, which is I suppose what has encouraged me to go back.

Leven Shore - 78

This is the just about the closest bit of the coast to the house and one of the places I've visited regularly over the years. I think I must have lost the records of many of my visits as I could not find anything between 2008 and 2019 when I started trying to historically populate eBird. Oh well - I don't recall anything mega but perhaps a few common things might be missing as a result. This site is best in winter, with lots of sea duck and grebes, so on my lone visit on this late spring trip I saw only Eider, Common Scoter and Velvet Scoter. I did add Greylag and a singing Song Thrush near the river mouth though, with such gems as Blue Tit (it's mostly sand and water, not great habitat...) and Great Crested Grebe still to come.

Loch Gelly - 76

A site that is between the family house and Edinburgh and so quite convenient for a stop off. I first visited on a twitch over fifteen years ago, managing to get back from the Highlands in time to see both Ferruginous and Ring-necked Duck before dusk. I visit two or three times a year, adding a few species each time. This time it was a Great Black-backed Gull having a bathe. You view from the minor road on the north side, and whilst the mean-spirited landowner has unhelpfully placed a series of large boulders across the two pull-ins to prevent parking I am normally in a Land Rover and as such unstoppable. There are some simple things still to find like Pheasant and House Martin. All in good time.

The Wilderness - 74

I think I am done with this site, there is a new tenant who does not like visitors and has made it increasingly difficult to access and once you do get in viewing the pools is almost impossible. Whoever it is also cut down all the bushes west of the main lake so what was once really good habitat for Reed Bunting and other birds is now a wasteland. What they have not done is cut down anything around the lake itself, no doubt deliberately, and the bushes are now so high  that you cannot see most of it. They have also started shooting there, and there is a nice yellow sign warning of this. Thus my short visit this trip was very disappointing indeed. It was excellent at one time though, with a good amount of mud for waders and it is still one of the only places up here where I've seen Garganey.

Birnie & Gaddon Lochs - 60

Two connected freshwater lakes that are about ten minutes away at most. I've seen American Wigeon here. As it is designated a Local Nature Reserve it is obviously the best  and most popular place to take a dog for a walk and as a result I don't visit especially often, including on this trip. You can walk a figure of eight circuit around them both, and on the eastern side there is a rise with a good view. This winter just gone one of the many Great White Egrets in Fife spent a bit of time here so I've got this on the list too.

Loch of Lindores - 55

This is only a few minutes up the road from Letham and Angle Park, and as it is highly scenic I stop in from time to time. It is where I first found Raven in Fife, they're pretty much nailed on here. On this trip I added Grey Heron, Long-tailed Tit and Mistle Thrush, and with such a low total there are loads of possibilities, especially in winter.

East Weymss - 55

This is about the same distance for me as Leven Shore but for some reason I don't visit it as often. It is the best place in Fife to see Med Gull, and is a good spot to see what is going on in the Forth. I managed one brief visit this time and rather than look at the sea I concentrated on the woodland near the caves and the gully at the end. The result was seven new birds for the site, nothing special - Robin, Wren, Whitethroat and so on - but a minor thrill all the same. Blue Tit eluded me!

Ansers on a postcard

Welcome to June. No birds. June actually started a few weeks ago and so birding has already taken a back seat at Chateau L. One shall resume in August. One last foray yesterday however, the irresistable lure of overnight rain dragged me out. For nothing. It was pathetic, inland sites are the worst. Rainham had a Roseate Tern and a supporting cast of waders including Curlew Sandpiper. Wanstead had this.

They say the big one travels alone......so what is this? On Jubilee and looking as glorious as it did rare, it soon continued, ahem, its migration west. Answers (or Brantas) on a postcard please. This just screams June, it's enough to make anyone hang up their bins for a few months.

I've been busy in the garden. Naturellement. As birds decline so my other interests take over. This year the focus has been on succulents, so I've been splitting Agaves and repotting Aloes. Normally my greenhouse is organised by family groups, but this year I've mixed it up and made the benches more geographical. So now I have Aloe, Haworthia and Strelitzia dotted amongst the Cycads to create a miniature South African landscape. At the other end, Agave and Echeveria nestle amongst Mexican Cycads. Outside, now deemed safe for most things, there has been a frenzy of repotting Palms and Bamboo, Some of the larger Agaves are enjoying the fresh air, and yesterday I potted up about 30 Monkey Puzzle seedlings from community pots and bands. Indoor Palms, mainly Chamaedorea, are now poking out of the flower beds for the summer. It doesn't last long, but for a few short months I shall enjoy my small tropical paradise. 

Mid-Atlantic - May 2025 - Trip List

We vistited six States and finished on 131 species, a decent return for just three days. Delaware headed the list, with West Virginia a surprising second. New Jersey, added just because, trails on 33. For me Delaware and West Virginia were entirely new, but I also added birds for the first time in Pennsylvania and Virginia, whilst Maryland felt new as I'd constructed a list of perhaps two birds that I definitely remembered from visiting my Aunt a few years ago before eBird came into my life.

The full list of species has been lovingly curated below in the usual format - this is actually pretty straightforward once you have a method. As you can see a lot of Warblers, 20 I think, despite seemingly missing loads. Late April or early May is prime time.

quite

Mid-Atlantic - May 2025 - Day 3 - West Virginia and Virginia

We had arrived in West Virginia overnight and this being a new State it was important to get the list going immediately. This involved standing around the car for a couple of minutes ticking all the usual suspects like Mockingbird, Robin, Grackle and so on. This early in the morning there were a couple of Chimney Swift quite low - we hardly ever saw these during the day, not sure where they go. Perhaps they are very high up?

Our destination was Stauffer's Marsh, just over one of the first of the Appalachian ridges. We had to follow a very slow school bus for a while, bear in mind that this is 6.30am....poor kids. Once clear of this we found ourselves on a fabulous road that went up and then along a ridge. It looked like excellent birding as and soon as we found a place to stop we did. It was so productive we stayed in this one spot for over an hour generally being frustrated by Merlin which heard everything, almost none of which we could actually see. The tactic was to see what was being heard and then see if we could triangulate that and home in on it. This included pishing which was once again remarkably effective on some species. Birds we actually saw included Red-bellied Woodpecker and Northern Flicker and Pileated Woodpecker. On the Warbler front we added two Worm-eating Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler, but the full list of Warblers present was sadly much longer. Also of note was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo which we could hear higher up on the ridge calling repeatedly but which never came near us. Once we had actually seen this later on at Stauffer's Marsh we added it retrospectively.

Stauffer's Marsh

Stauffer's was excellent. There is small area to park that will hold perhaps half a dozen cars, and then you walk out to the water's edge and around a small section of it before heading into the forest and the creek. Yellow-billed Cuckoo seemed to be everywhere, the trees in front, behind, and on one occasion flying over the water. There were several Solitary Sandpiper and Spotted Sandpiper, and a Belted Kingfisher surveyed the pool. Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Barn Swallow sallied over the water, and a Eastern Kingbird flew from perch to perch. 

Within the treeline we found five species of Woodpecker, Red-headed being new, and a very smart Louisiana Waterthrush was on the small stream by the bridge and later relocated to the creek. Yellow Warblers were common, as were Common Yellowthroat, and a male American Redstart responded to pishing. The trail took us back via a meadow, and in this open area we had views of a fly-over Red-shouldered Hawk as well as a couple of Field Sparrow. In short this was an excellent area and we saw a lot in a short space of time.

A Killdeer flew over the car as we headed back east towards Maryland and Virginia. Our destination was Harper's Ferry, a famous Civil War site where three states intersect at the Shenandoah River. We stayed on the West Virginia bit, birding Murphy Farm where the focus is on the historic battlefield. One of the cannons on display had an Eastern Bluebird nesting in the barrel, and the grassy meadow had Eastern Meadowlark displaying. We went into the woods here, there are several trails that head towards the river. We didn't go especially far as it was already nearly midday, but we went far enough to find Eastern Wood-Pewee, Wood Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Parula, Redstart, Scarlet Tanager and Indigo Bunting. Yellow-rumped Warbler were especially common.

In the historic village/museum of Harper's Ferry itself we went down the to water to look at the Shenandoah. I've heard this name mentioned I don't know how many times in various songs and literature, it was interesting to actually be here. I'd imagine this place is very popular with history buffs. I do sometimes think is shame I only really focus on birds given how much other interest there can sometimes be at the places I visit. Best stick to sewage farms to ensure you know you're not missing out on anything else. Chimney Swift were over the buildings, and we finally picked out American Black Vulture amongst the commoner Turkey Vultures. 

At 2pm or so we crossed into Virgina, the final State of the trip. The sky was beginning to look ominous and as we arrived at Sweet Run State Park it started to bucket down. Thoughts of going on a long walk receded. Instead we birded along Arnold Lane near the sawmill and this was actually pretty good, with Raven breeding on a pylon, a pair of American Kestrel, Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, another Meadowlark, Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrow, a vocal Orchard Oriole and a distant Red-shouldered Hawk. 

We diverted south to Lake Frederick to add Great Northern Diver to the list, a bird rather incongruously floating around on a somewhat suburban lake, along with three Spotted Sandpiper, Brown Thrasher and Warbling Vireo.

The final site I had earmarked for the trip was the State Arboretum. This was picked for its proximity to Dulles rather than sensational birding, although the eBird lists looked decent. In the end it was rather a let-down really, very quiet at 4.30pm. We gamely struggled on though, building up a list of 23 species but it felt like the trip was over. A nice colony of Purple Martin were perhaps the highlight but we barely added anything new here. A last hurrah close to the airport resulted in driving in circles around some habitat that we had no idea how to access, at which point a dramatic thunderstrom called an end to proceedings. The rain was torrential as we closed in on the rental car centre, with dramatic forked lightning and dark charcoal skies. 

Eastern Meadowlark

Purple Martin

Northern Cardinal