NGB Bardsey Island Bird Observatory week

On the morning of the 27th September, NGB chairman; Matt Bruce drove along the north Wales coast, collecting NGB's as he went. First Josie Hewitt and Liam Curson, then myself (James Garside) and Susan Jones. We were travelling down the Lleyn peninsula by eight, bobbing over the sound by nine and hurrying up to the obs a short while later.

Steve Stansfield (the head warden) introduced us to the other obs staff; Steffan and Mark the assistant wardens; and the volunteers - 'Icky' Steve, Mike and of course, 'Bardsey' Ben Porter (also NGB).

After a few short introductory talks and a quick bit of unpacking, we headed into the obs garden in the hope of seeing the Barred Warbler which had been present there for a while. As we waited, we saw a large warbler fly into the heligoland trap, where it was soon caught by Steve. It was the Barred Warbler, and we all enjoyed seeing it in the hand - a lifer for some of us and a great start to the week!

Steve even allowed me to release the bird which was a great moment!

We had a quick bite to eat, before Steve and his wife Emma lead us on a walk around the north of the island. We saw some good species like Purple Sandpiper and Whimbrel (a lifer for Josie), and it was good to get to know each other a bit better.

We ate our evening meal watching jumping Risso's Dolphins against an impressive sunset!

After the evening log, Steve gave an excellent talk about island, and the birds that had been seen there in the past, which really got us fired up for the next days birding!

But the first day wasn't over yet! We headed out into the dark with Ben and Steve in the hope of ringing a few young Manx Shearwater. After a while we found a few and everybody was able to have a go at ringing one under Steve's supervision!

The second day of our visit started well, when Steve got onto a pair of Balearic Shearwaters, shortly after dawn, and myself and Liam were able to get onto them. A short while later the walky-talkies crackled into life. 'Icky' Steve had found a Hoopoe on the south of the island at Pen Cristin!

There was no sign of the others, so me and Liam hurried south with Mark. However, after a few hundred meters, news came through that the bird was flying over the mountain! Looking up, we could see the bird, but we could also make out three juvenile Peregrines close behind! We watched in awe as the bird evaded several close encounters with the powerful raptors, before disappearing into the clouds, high over the mountain! Not the way we had expected to see our first British Hoopoe!

Fortunately Matt, Josie, Susan and Ben had all headed north where Josie had relocated the bird and they had all had good views of it at Nant! Eventually everybody got good views of the bird there, although it was quite flighty and elusive throughout.

The day finished well, when Mark found a Firecrest in the Withies, and after a good evening meal,  we were able to see it in the fading light!

That evening, Steve gave another excellent talk, this time about the family holiday the Stansfields had had in Spain, and the birds they had seen there.

Monday the 29th September dawned clear and calm, and everybody was out birding or ringing around the island. Mike and myself headed down to the Withies to do some ringing, and had a very good morning. By  far the highlight, was when a Yellow-Browed Warbler dropped into one of the nets in Cristin Withy. We popped it in a bird bag and carried it up to the obs, where it was ringed by Josie! At the obs, they had already caught a Goldcrest and a Firecrest, and we were able to have all three birds in the hand together - a memorable moment!

Susan ringed the Firecrest too, which was a lifer for her! After they had been ringed we released the birds into the obs garden, where they were later seen feeding actively in a sycamore. We spent a quiet afternoon birding around the obs and up to Nant, where a Little Owl was the only notable bird.

That evening, Steve gave his third and final talk, this time about his time at Falsterbo, and the work of the Bird Observatories Council.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both a little quieter on the birding front, but we did have good views of a Merlin and several leucorhoa Wheatears on the south end. Me, Liam and Steffan saw a Balearic Shearwater very well from the south hide on Wednesday morning, followed by a Lesser Whitethroat and a Whinchat. The Hoopoe was seen on both days, though never well. We had a good time anyway relaxing in the obs, stuffing our faces with Conors amazing cookies and enjoying some casual seawatching. We also had a walk up the mountain and enjoyed some cracking views!

Ben gave an excellent talk in the evening, about his time ringing and birding in Kenya, and included some great photos of plenty of exotic species!

The male voice choir group 'Only Men Aloud' were also staying on the island, filming a piece for TV. They kindly cooked a meal for us, and performed a short concert in the chapel, which was appreciated by all.

Thursday the 2nd October was the day of the bird race! NGB's vs the obs Staff! As the visitors, we were the clear underdogs, but were determined to have a really good go at it. The rules were simple; a species could be counted as long as at least two members of the team had seen or heard it.

At dawn, Matt, Susan and Josie headed north along the mountainside towards Nant. Myself and Liam headed down through the lowlands and the wetlands to the withies. We picked up on good numbers of the commoner species straight away, and Liams keen ears picked out a group of Siskin amongst the abundant Grey Wagtails streaming over. We flushed a Snipe from the wetlands before heading  north past the reed bed where we heard a Reed Bunting. A Yellow Wagtail flew north calling and Skylarks were passing over in good numbers too. Around the north of the island we picked up some common seabirds and also had a Mediterranean Gull offshore. A couple of Peregrines were over the mountain, and a couple of Sandwich Terns passed by offshore. After breakfast we headed to the south end where we met the rest of the team.

We birded the area together, picking up some of the standard species in the narrows; Redshank, Turnstone and Oystercatcher. We also watched three Wheatear arriving on Solfach. Things started to slow up around lunchtime, and we learnt that the obs staff had had several species including the Hoopoe that we had yet to see. They did also, let slip that they had seen a Pied Flycatcher in Cristin Withy, so we headed down there to have a look. It showed well after a short wait, allowing for some decent photos.

Myself and Liam headed to Pen Cristin to try and find the Hoopoe, whilst Josie and Matt headed north, to see what else they could find before dinner. As we headed up the hill, Liam and I heard a Little Owl calling. We continued a few paces, when the Hoopoe flushed up from in front of us. We crawled up the hill to where the bird had landed, and eventually had stunning (though very brief) views of the bird! I managed a few shots which fortunately came out quite well!

We caught up with the others at the obs. They told us the good news that they had had a couple of new species for the day. We spent the evening seawatching from the obs, and added a Great Skua to the list to round things off.

Steve and Emma cooked chilli, and we spent a great evening with everybody on the island. After the log later, we discovered that we had lost the bird race by just a six species. We didn't mind too much, as we had had another great day anyway! Steve had put together a quiz, and we had fun competing against the obs staff once again!

That night, Ben managed to catch some Moorhen and we had a go at ringing them which was quite an experience!

Our last full day was spent seawatching in promising conditions, but with little reward. The total of five Arctic Skua for the day was the only notable count.

The journey home was quiet too, though Matt, Josie, Liam and Susan did have fantastic views of the Grey Phalarope at Morfa Madryn!

We'd all enjoyed a cracking week with some great people!

-James Garside

James is a 19 year old Zoology student at Swansea University. He enjoys regularly birding the University Birdwatch Challenge area (a competition the Swansea team won last year), and he occasionally twitches rares further afield. He's spent most of his life birding in Britain and hopes to do more birding abroad in the near future.

Celebrating Scotland

This is not a political post, simply a birding one. Any suggestions to political opinion are held by the writers and not by NGB as a whole.

With the #indyref dominating all news outlets (in Britain at least), I was a little surprised to see and hear it featuring in a lot of online/real-world birding chat. For a community where RBS is more likely to mean Red-backed Shrike than Royal Bank of Scotland, this particular political race has captured a lot of birders' minds. Perhaps it's the thought of re-jigging lists, the (unfounded) worry you'd have forgotten your passport as you approach the border or maybe the simple fact that the 'United Kingdom' would no longer be able to claim the Cairngorms, Abernethy, the Western Isles and other natural wonders as our own. 

Should a 'Yes' vote come through, the UK would have 'lost' its breeding Crested Tits, Slavonian Grebes, Red and Black-throated Divers, Snow Buntings, Dotterel, Capercaillies and all its breeding eagle and skua species overnight come March 2016. The UK's Osprey population would be down to under 10 pairs, its Hen Harrier to less than 70, with fewer than 5 of those pairs in England.

Osprey - Jack Morris

But birds don't see borders, and whichever way Thursday's outcome leans, Scotland's birdlife will be no less impressive. 

We asked NGB members what their best Scottish birding memories were. Their answers appear throughout this post in blue:

"Driving towards Iona and having a White-tailed Sea Eagle flying at bonnet level just ahead of us, filling the road with its wings (definitely lives up to "flying barn door" nickname!)"

"Yesterday just outside my halls of residence in Aberdeen, watching a Kingfisher chasing a Sparrowhawk with a seal fishing in the background."

"Going to see Capercaillie at Loch Garten, seeing them but being so tired that I went to sit in the car while my dad chatted to someone. My decision to sit in the car meant that I had Crested Tit feeding about 3 feet above me, even if it was through a car windscreen it was pretty amazing and is a bird that I didn't see again until 2013, about 15 years later!"

The group was also polled to find out some of their favourite birding sites in Scotland. Results had one thing in common - birding sights and experiences that would be hard to find in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. From hardy mountain species and seething seabird colonies to islands dripping in vagrants and moors of Hen Harriers.

"Laughing heartily as an American Coot waddled around like a chicken on a frosty winter's morning."

"Finding a female Dotterel at the summit of Cairn Gorm while watching Ptarmigan."

"Stood in Campbletown this year thinking to my self "I'll never have to think about American Herring Gull EVER again"."


"Trout fishing in Boat of Garten and seeing my first ever Osprey dive into the water about 30m in front of me, catch a fish and then get mobbed by a second Osprey!"

Inevitably, the questions about listing without Scotland as part of the UK began to arise. Another discussion on NGB saw the majority of those who commented stating that they would not exclude Scotland from their British List after March 2016, though one member raised a good point that he only kept two lists: his World life list and his Country life list. In the light of a 'Yes' vote, his country would no longer include Scotland so wouldn't count birds seen in Scotland on that list. 
Should Scottish independence come about, will the British List still contain birds that have only turned up in Scotland? Will Olive-tree Warbler stay? And does this mean when Grey's Grasshopper Warbler turns up in Shetland next autumn it won't appear on the British list? 

I have no idea of the answers, I've only been on 5 twitches this year, and 2 of them were by accident...

Best Scottish birding moment?: "This." -Joseph Nichols

"Finally seeing Crested Tits in Anagach woods - my grandparents live just down the road, and whereas I'd seen them before at Loch Garten and other places, this had a special 'local patch' feel (I'd looked for them in Anagach every year since I was about 7 or 8)."

"This summer at Lochindorb watching a pair of Black-throated Divers with an osprey flying over head with a Cuckoo calling in the background."

"Seeing the American Herring Gull and American Coot. Mourning Dove was good along with the Calandra Lark on Isle of May. Worst birding moment in Scotland? Dipping Belted Kingfisher.....(still hurts)."

Capercaillie - Jack Morris

"Marsh Sandpiper at Pool of Virkie! Possibly the best rare bird I've ever seen..."

"Regular visits to Aberlady Bay (we have family nearby), where I was able to get my annual fix of Slav and Red-necked Grebes, Velvet Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks and other stuff that's pretty difficult in Sussex in winter."

"Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Kilminning Castle, Fife. Started by getting lost and all that, but things only got better. Arrived on site, which was surprisingly quiet and soon caught up with the bird, giving mega views. Then we were told that a Raddes' Warbler was showing about 150m away so we wandered over for a quick look, and the bird, which was mainly skulky, gave some great views at one point. All this with the back drop of masses of migrating finches, woodpeckers and thrushes, 4 Whooper Swans and a Red-breasted Flycatcher."

Golden Eagle - Jack Morris

"Seeing Snow Buntings and Ptarmigan at Glen Shee the first time I visited (also Crested Tits and Crossbills at Aviemore)"

"Hearing a flock of Waxwings from inside Abernethy forest and then seeing them flying across open moor and start feeding in the heather."

"Wandering around Bridge of Allan housing estates with a friend, with scopes, cameras and bins looking for Waxwings and ending up in a kids play park... the joys."

"Probably Short-eared Owl perched about 15 metres away on a post on Mull. We watched it for about half an hour and it just glared at us. Having Curlew everywhere is always nice too, their calls all the way along the coast."

White-tailed Eagle - Jack Morris

"Seeing and being attacked by a rogue Capercaillie."

"Juv. Masked Shrike Fife 2004. It was my first twitch - I remember my Dad putting me on his shoulders so that I could see the bird over the wall!"

"Ringing Storm Petrels at night on Fair Isle. A special experience whatever country it was/will be in."

"The Black Duck twitch at Strontian was by far the best though. Ended a week of brilliant wildlife out in the middle of nowhere, with a hybrid duck, eagles and the strangest thing to ever fly across the Atlantic."

Crested Tit - Jack Morris

"Seeing my first Golden Eagle on Islay! That and my first real encounter with Osprey and Hen Harrier too.. And Chough!"

"Seeing my first Skuas, Black Guillemots and thousands of seabirds off the North Coast."

"Seeing the Black-winged Pratincole at Loch Stiapabhat on the Isle of Lewis in the summer of 2014. Only the 4th for Scotland, and yet me and Ronan were two of only a dozen people to see it."
"Encountering a fresh-in flock of Waxwings in October 2010 at Musselburgh, picked up on their calls, they gave me a flyby, I briefly relocated them perched up and then they disappeared inland."

LBBG, Inchcolm Island - Jonnie Fisk

"Mine has to be seeing a Caper drop out of a pine and land at my feet. It then decided to fly into my dad, knocking him to the floor then started jumping on his back, will never forget that moment."

"Twitching Collared Flycather at St Abb's Head - fun for being a cross border twitch, and the challenge of doing it by public transport (the thrills in the chase right?)."

"One of my first Scottish birding memories was life ticking Corncrake at first light on a foggy morning on Iona. I was running a university society trip and the rest of the group were still asleep in their tents after seeing the weather. I was determined to get out anyway an wandered up towards the chapel with about 10m visibility. I heard my first corncrake calling, wandered towards the noise and found it perched on top of a stone wall no more than 12ft in front of me. It stayed there calling and preening for the best part of 20 minutes. I was the only person around and you could have heard a pin drop! Incredible!!"

So, Scotland, whichever way you vote, whether we're better together or proud to be apart, just know that birders have enjoyed endless years of Scottish birding, and no doubt will in the future.

-Jonnie Fisk

Jonnie is an 18 year-old Yorkshire-based birder, invertebrate enthusiast and frustrated artist. When not being oblivious to every local rarity, he enjoys autumn vis-mig, the music of Hall & Oates and being distracted by bugs. 

https://twitter.com/jonnie_fisk
http://jonniefiskart.blogspot.co.uk/

-Joseph Nichols

Joseph is a 20 year old Scottish birder and avid patcher currently studying History at the University of Edinburgh. He lives in the capital city and often works his nearby patch at Cramond, where he hopes a Semipalmated Sandpiper will await him at the estuary mouth one autumn day. When not at uni he can usually be found trying to eke out local scarce at his other patch in Costessey, Norfolk. Joseph voted 'Aye' in the referendum.

http://aberdeenshireyoungbirder.wordpress.com/

Trip report: Thérèse O'Hagan-Smyth in Tobago

A week after arriving in Trinidad, it was back to the airport to do the short flight across to Tobago. The flight is only 17 minutes, which was a bit of a novelty. The second week of the trip was to be spent here, with a view to it being a slightly calmer week with more time for touristy/relaxing things.

We met with our guide for the week, Peter Cox, to have a quick chat about the week and map out a basic plan. A quick wander around Crown Point and a paddle in the sea, then it was to bed to wake up early the next morning and meet Peter.

The next morning we met the others and headed up into the forest. We had heard the Trinidad Motmot was easier to see in Tobago, but we were still surprised to see one just sitting at the edge of the road and took the opportunity to get a great look and some photos. Our first stop was in the small village of Moriah, where we saw a Ruby Topaz and also a nest with a baby Black-throated Mango. Amazing! We also had our first encounter with the other kind of Grassquit that lives on Tobago, the Black-faced Grassquit.

On to Castara, where we stopped at the edge of a river to see our first Green Heron. As we were watching it, a pair of Red-crowned Woodpecker flew in and landed on a tree nearby, giving us a great view.

The bulk of the day was spent on the Main Ridge in the rainforest. Red-legged Honeycreeper are a lot more prolific in Tobago and we were seeing lots of them around. Within 5 minutes of being in the rainforest we had come across the infmaous White-tailed Sabrewing and we were to have many more encounters with them throughout the week, an especially good one being a pair fighting a mere foot over Stuart's head. Another Tobago species is the Blue-backed Manakin and we had a few glimpses of these lovely coloured birds. We also were lucky enough to quickly add the Olivaceous Woodcreeper to our list, a species not present on Trinidad. Heading out of the rainforest we had two more new species, a Great Black Hawk and a Venezuelan Flycatcher.

That evening Stuart and I did a little birding by ourselves in the Bon Accord area. We added some species to our list here including Common Gallinule, White-cheeked Pintail, Black-bellied Whistling Duck and Tricoloured Heron. We spotted a couple of birds we didn't know and discovered from the book that they were both Fuscous Flycatcher and Brown-crested Flycatcher. Stuart was disappointed as he was hoping to turn one of them into the elusive Mangrove Cuckoo, a bird that had been allocated at least half a day to find! As we drove out of the area, I asked to stop to have a quick look at a bird I had spotted across the grassy area. Upon looking through the binoculars I realised it had a long stripey tail and was suspiciously cuckoo like. I yelled at Stuart to come over and look but the bird took off. Luckily, it flew straight at us, then landed in the tree behind and it was indeed a very sweet Mangrove Cuckoo! We also first noticed here that the Spectacled Thrush seemed to have larger eye rings than on Trinidad but I can't find any literature about it on the internet. If anyone has any information, please let me know.

The Magdalena Grand was our first stop the next day, the old Hilton Hotel site. This has many pools and is great for all sorts of herons and supposedly waders, although we didn't see any here! Plenty of Green and Tricoloured Heron were always here, with the occasional Great White Egret and Little Blue Heron. We also saw our only Black-crowned Night Heron here, a juvenile unexpectedly sitting on the side of a pool. Behind the same pool I spotted a few large black birds I didn't think we'd seen before and upon further inspection, these turned out to be Giant Cowbird, a species we'd missed in Trinidad. Another surprise was a large heron flying in, a Great Blue Heron.

Further round there were some overgrown pools where the Masked Duck had been seen. Unfortunately they weren't here when we arrived and didn't show their masked faces at any part of the afternoon. However, there were baby Cattle Egret chicks and Little Blue Heron chicks, so that made up for it. We saw a small flock of Least Grebe and incredible views of a Ruby Topaz, with it coming down to 2 foot away. We followed the call of a White-fringed Antwren for a good half an hour before it decided to give us a fleeting glimpse and then we were off to Buccoo Marsh.

Upon arriving at Buccoo Marsh, we promptly got lost and wandered in circles in very sticky mud for quite a while. Eventually we got onto the right path and had great views of the very same bird we'd stalked for ages earlier, the White-fringed Antwren. There was also another new bird for us, a Scrub Greenlet. Although we had seen the Yellow-breasted Flycatcher on Trinidad, there were three in the Marsh playing around and taking absolutely no notice of us and they were an absolute delight to stop and watch. Tiny little bright yellow things.

We headed across to the island of Little Tobago on the Sunday, to try and get a few more species that were local to there. On the boat across we saw Brown Boobyand once landed, a Broad-winged Hawk. On the way up to the viewpoint, we stopped off at an abandoned house and the boatman told us to go up and have a look in one of the rooms. I did and there was an incredible number of bats roosting in there, which made me very happy! One flew out just past my face and I nearly hyperventilated from excitement. I think I may love bats a little too much. From the viewpoint, we saw the incredible Red-billed Tropicbird almost straight away. There were also Red-footed Booby, Sooty Tern and Bridled Ternand I watched a Scaly-naped Pigeon fly along the cliff. On the way back to the boat I spotted a bird I didn't recognise and the boatman had no idea what it was and got quite excited. Once we got back to the mainland, it was IDed from the photos I had taken as a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, not particularly rare as they do come to the islands but it was very early apparently.

A short trip to the Main Ridge again the next day gave us Plain Antvireo and the one we thought we would miss, the small White-throated Spadebill. We had some more good looks at the Blue-backed Manakin and were lucky enough to see another Olivaceous Woodcreeper. A quick pop in to Magdalena (as we had been doing every afternoon!) finally proved fruitful as one of the Masked Duck must have known it would be our last visit and was kindly out on one of the pools.

We also had a quick drop in at Bon Accord, where we found a Little Egret.

That night we joined Peter on a patrol of Stonehaven Beach to see if there were any turtles coming in to lay eggs. We had heard that they had only seen one or two over the past few nights, mainly after midnight, so we didn't expect to see anything. However, within half an hour of starting the patrol, we came across little movements in the sand and then we realised there were loads of them - leatherback hatchlings! Unfortunately they were nearly all headed towards the street lights and the road, in the opposite direction to the sea. We quickly started gathering them and taking them back to the sea. We must have gathered about 60 in the end, with one even being found having made its way right up the embankment, across the road and down into a drainage channel! It was an incredible experience and something I'd like to go back and help with again. It was added to about twenty minutes later when we spotted a fully grown pregnant female lumbering up the beach, finding her spot, digging out the nest and then laying eggs. An amazing night.

Trinidad and Tobago was an excellent introduction to world birding and with such a high concentration of birds, somewhere I'd definitely recommend.

Thérèse O'Hagan-Smyth
Thérèse is 25 and currently lives in Central London, where she's seen a grand total of 10 species from her flat in the last 4 years. She has only recently got into birding, but is obsessed with any bird that has long legs.
http://www.theresegoesbirding.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/tejsmyth

What young birders can get up to after NGB: Matt Williams in Borneo

If you've ever been to a different country, or even a different site from your local patch, for birdwatching, you’ll know the feeling I experienced when I arrived in Indonesia.

You’re immediately immersed in potential new sounds and sights, confused and thrown off balance, but also more alert than normal.

Almost one year ago I came to Indonesia to work for a rainforest research and conservation organisation, and from the moment I landed in Jakarta I had that feeling. Ubiquitous tree sparrows were the first surprise. In the towns and cities this bird which is becoming increasingly scarce in the UK is more common than our own magpies or blackbirds.

Tree Sparrow

And today, ten months later, I find myself writing this to the backdrop of singing gibbons and the curt, electric buzz of Van Hasselt’s sunbirds. I work as the Communications Manager for the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project, a research and conservation organisation based in the heart of the Sabangau rainforest in Indonesian Borneo.

The Sabangau rainforest is brimming with wildlife and is renowned for being home to the world’s largest populations of orangutans and southern Bornean gibbons. But it’s also a haven for birds. And even in our base camp on the edge of the forest, you can find a wealth of bird life.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

Borneo is one of the world’s largest islands, found in Southeast Asia, and its birds are a subset of the wider Oriental region. Alfred Russell Wallace, a contemporary of Darwin, identified the Wallace line, created by a deep sea trench, which kept many species from crossing to Borneo from nearby Sulawesi or New Guinea, and vice versa. This make’s Borneo’s birds very distinct in evolutionary terms from species to the Southeast of the island.

Rufous-backed Kingfisher

But during the last 50 million years Borneo has at many times been connected by land to other parts of Sundaland – the islands of Sumatra and Java to the West and South. And during the last million years repeated periods of global ice ages allowed Borneo to be connected by land, and species to cross over and (re)colonise the island.

For example, scarlet-headed flowerpecker and savanna nightjar are just two species that made their way to Borneo during colder periods with lower sea levels.

Savannah Nightjar

I often join our field staff, who spend much of their time following primates through the forest and collecting data. These ‘follow days’ start at 4am by the light of a headtorch and end 12 hours later when the primates head to bed.

And whether I’m in camp or deeper in the jungle, I’m always on the lookout for birds, as I have been since the age of five, when I first started clutching binoculars.

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

I’ve had many of my highlights in camp, from the blue-eared and stork-billed kingfishers that flit in and out to fish in the swamp, to the greater coucals – brown and black members of the cuckoo family, the size of a pheasant. It has a very plaintive persistent hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo call that is almost a constant backdrop around camp.

One of my favourites are the nightjars. Savannah nightjars hawk over the sedge on the river’s edge while in the forest Bonaparte’s nightjar is a speciality in our forest and when it’s dark at night or early morning you can hear it’s alien-like call.

Regular visitors to camp are also another member of the cuckoo family – the chestnut-bellie malkohas, with their stunning iridescent green-black plumage, their white tail highlights, bluish bill and red eye ring.

Chestnut-bellied Malkoha

But perhaps the best place to birdwatch from is the tower. It’s a 30 minute walk from camp, and it’s best to get there as the sun rises at 5am, after trudging with a head torch through the knee-deep mud.

You can hear a recording from me sitting up the tower first thing in the morning here, with a backdrop of gibbons and cicadas.

The tower is a great place to watch birds in the early morning. The edible-nest swiftlets, whose saliva-based nests are farmed and collected for food in the local village, are the first to arrive. Soon woodpeckers begin to appear, including the great slaty, the world’s largest species.

Black and red Broadbill

And there’s always a chance a crested-serpent eagle will fly past, as has happened on a couple of my visits.

Blue-crowned hanging parrots, a bright green bird with a flash of blue, occasionally fly past and sunbirds or flowerpeckers buzz from tree to tree. And the black-winged flycatcher shrike, as you might imagine a pied flycatcher crossed with a great grey shrike might look, is a beautiful little bird I often see.

Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher

Blue-throated bee-eaters and dollarbirds are often seen perching together on bare branches. The bee-eaters hawk for insects in a loop that brings them back to their original perch.

But the biggest spectacle is perhaps the hornbills. The Asian black hornbill has an unmistakable wretching sound that can be heard several hundred metres away. These birds are frugivorous, but specialise in different fruits so as each species can live alongside the other but avoid competition.

Olive-backed Sunbird

One morning, three of us stood at the top of the tower watching two adult wrinkled hornbills feeding with one juvenile. With our eyes glued to our bins we failed to notice what was happening to our right. A Storm’s stork, which obviously used the tower as a perch as well, had almost landed up there with us. It only pulled up at the last second, veering away when it realised its usually peaceful perch was otherwise occupied. This is one of the rarest birds I've ever seen, it’s classified as Endangered and there are only 500 of them left in the world.

The year I've spent has taught me, as it did scientists two decades ago, that peat-swamp forests might look like they’re fairly poor quality forest, but they’re actually invaluable for wildlife. And while the orangutans and gibbons might be the star attraction for most people, birds are no exception. And it’s a reminder to focus on songs and calls. In such a dense habitat birdwatching and finding new species can take a long time and be incredibly tricky. Familiarity with songs and calls can make all the difference.

Hasselt's Sunbird

I've still got a few birds I would love to see before I leave in June. Crestless fireback and any pitta species in particular. But even if I don’t get these I’ll feel thoroughly satisfied with the year I've spent in Borneo.

-Matt Williams
Matt is a conservationist and wildlife photographer. He began his conservation career early, joining the rspb at the age of five. He currently works for the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project in Indonesian Borneo, as their Communications Manager. He's also part of The Urban Birder team and a Committee Member of A Focus on Nature. 
@mattadamw 
mattadamwilliams.co.uk.

Amazon Adventure: Oscar Dewhurst in Peru -Part 2-

On 19th February I set off from London for Peru, to spent two and a half months here. I am staying at a research station in the Amazon for two months. Part 1, on the Cusco region can be found here.

From Cusco I flew to Puerto Maldonado, and on the flight I got my first view of the Amazon rainforest - great swathes of green stretching into the distance, unfortunately interrupted by open areas - illegal mines, a huge problem in the Madre de Dios region. The next morning I was on a boat heading up the Madre de Dios river, watching macaws, tanagers and toucans. I couldn't wait to start photographing.

The next morning I was out before dawn to see what I could find. Overlooking the river from the station I could see the mist rising over the forest, and I spotted these 2 Cocoi Herons and a Capped Heron in the trees.

Herons in the mist

Behind me I heard something big landing, and I turned around to see a gorgeous Blue-throated Piping-Guan perched in one of the palm trees. I saw these fairly frequently while I was there but they always seemed skittish, so this was the only photo I ever took of one.

Blue-throated Piping-Guan

The research station I was staying at also had a canopy tower which stretched 60m up into the sky. I first went up it a week after I arrived, and despite the hard slog to get up there with heavy camera kit, it was completely worth it. The view was incredible, and on clear days I could even see the snow-capped peaks of the Andes! One of the birds I photographed was this White-throated Toucan.

White-throated Toucan

One of the primates I saw regularly around the station buildings was the Saddleback Tamarin. They would appear at least a couple of times a week in a tree just outside my room. In this photo it is eating a katydid.

Saddleback Tamarin

One evening I came across a troop of Peruvian Spider Monkeys feeding on these orange fruits. Luckily over the course of the next couple of weeks I saw them most days so was able to build up a nice range of images of them.

Peruvian Spider Monkey

This was just in my first 3 weeks of my stay. I'll have another post on the next part soon!

-Oscar Dewhurst

Oscar Dewhurst is an 19 year-old wildlife photographer and birder based in London. He is currently on a gap year, and after he's finished 3 months of unbelievably boring work, he hopes to spend it photographing wildlife as much as possible. When not photographing obscure brown herons in reedbeds he enjoys failing to find something decent on his patch. His other interests include running around on a cricket pitch during the summer.
http://www.oscardewhurstphotography.co.uk/
http://oscardewhurstphotography.blogspot.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/OscarDewhurst

NGB at Gullfest 2014: the Arctic birding festival! -Part 1-

Hello Varanger in March, where the reindeer roam, where the eiders are king and where where locals take 30 minutes off their journey by cutting across frozen rivers. A place where seabirds swamp the senses, where Cod Is Great and where your eyes tire from scanning the tops of trees for owls.

It was early February when Tormod Amundsen from Biotope; a pretty unique company of architects specialising on birds and birdwatching, sent Zac Hinchcliffe and myself the email that dropped like a big, Scandinavian bombshell: "Gullfest 2014 - you in?". 
There was really no question. To be in one of the coolest birding locations in the world, with some of birding's rockstars, watching the avian awesomeness of the Arctic - YES PLEASE!

18/03/2014
So little over a month later, we found ourselves Oslo bound, seeing the weather get colder and the ground snowier as we travelled Manchester - Stockholm - Oslo. Our final destination was Kirkenes, a town 69° North and close to the Pasvik taiga forest where we were to spend our first official day of Gullfest 2014, but that was tomorrow and right now our first night of the trip was spent in the Scandic Oslo airport hotel. A spot of compulsory evening birding in the surrounding snowy forest and fields brought Yellowhammers, Blue and Great Tits and Starlings doing a good job at imitating Redwing song. Most impressive, however, were the human head-sized Moose prints in the snow, as well as mounds of Elk-crement. Scarlet Elf Caps were found as a Sparrowhawk slinked through the trees.   

19/03/2014
Morning dawned with snow flurries over breakfast and a building sense of excitement. Before boarding the shuttle bus back to the airport for the flight to the Arctic Circle, we met Graham White and his partner Jacqui. Graham (aka The Grumpy Ecologist) is a senior wetland ecologist with the RSPB and would later show just what an incredible task the RSPB undertakes on its reserves -and beyond-! A very closely-cut sprint through security and customs was unnecessary when our plane was delayed some 40 minutes. 

The iced-cake scenery from Oslo - Kirkenes plane

Kirkenes is in a very interesting area of Norway. Further East than Istanbul and a stone's throw from the Russian border (in fact, for much of the drive to the taiga forest, the only thing separating us from Russia was a frozen river), it was occupied first by the Nazis, then by Russia's Red Army in WWII and it has a large Norwegian military presence even today, with watchtowers and cameo-clad Norwegians milling about the airport. We were met by Elin Taranger, of Biotope who filled us in on all things Varanger; the birdlife, human life and way of life (the mining side of this was evident, with large areas of scarred grey rockface in the snowy hills) as we drove to our first destination. 

It was here we had our first 'proper' Arctic birds, both causing us to lurch forward as the brakes were slammed on. Our first was sitting pretty at the top of a fir tree, like a fiery-eyed predatory Christmas angel: Hawk Owl or Haukugle (pronounced "Hurk Urgler"). The only time I've ever been stared at so terrifyingly was when I was caught cheating in a French exam. I would not like to be a lemming here. 

Hawk Owl cubism ©Jonnie Fisk

Our second Arctic special jumped abruptly in front of the car in a forested area. It could well have been a floating pair of eyes and a black beak, the Willow Grouse was Predator-like in its invisibility with the environment. It was followed by another and a few seconds later, a whole flock of 13 erupted from the birches like a barrage of fat, black-tailed white pigeons. 

We shortly arrived at the first 'base' for Gullfest 2014, the electricity and water-less Ellentjernkoia, where the toilets were outside and fires were perpetual. The first words we heard were from Jacqui who simply stated "It's birds on tap." That pretty much covered this place. I nonchalantly raised my bins to a nearby feeder and promptly had a visual assault of Pine Grosbeak, Siberian Tits and Coues's Arctic Redpolls alongside more familiar (but undoubtedly hardy) Great and Willow Tits. No words were exchanged between Zac and I, just witless grinning. 

What a feeding flock!

The cosy cabin was a very good way of getting acquainted to the other Gullfest 2014 contributors, who, for the moment, consisted of Graham and Jacqui, Tormod Amundsen and Elin (of Biotope), Norwegian birdguide and (often unintentional) comic Anders Mæland, artistic gull-god Hans Larsson from Sweden and the charismatic and characterful Richard Crossley (of Crossley ID guides), an Englishman living in the USA. Meals were hot and filling, cooked by Marit Sundt, owner of the cabin, who walked about the sub-10°C in just salopettes, thermal tshirt and a smile. 

Reindeer stew and incredible company

From introductions over food, the conversation remoulded into typical birder topics and I managed to capture snippets from subjects as diverse as modern field guides, albatrosses, thermal imaging cameras, the use of Twitter and cod. The Arctic nights fall quickly and the light fades to deep blue by 5pm, but this brought perhaps the most excitement: Aurora time! Hours of electrical-phenomenon-appreciative fun were had on a frozen lake by the cabin, as we watched the green troughs and spikes in a star-spilled sky, before breaking out the headtorches for some light-painting. 

Scandinavian sky-grafitti

©Zac Hinchliffe

The temperature had descended to -25°C, the coldest I had experienced and it showed - inhalation through the nose became painful as ice crystals formed. Our custom Gullfest hats were very welcome! After a good few nocturnal hours in the taiga, and with the aurora imprinted on our eyelids, we turned in for our first Norwegian night. 

Ellentjernkoia - magic!

20/03/14
The clear ringing song of Pine Grosbeak filters through the wood panels and I'm wearing 3 layers in my sleeping bag; no, yesterday was not a dream. Biting cold pre-breakfast birding gives a good chance to fully appreciate the Arctic taiga specialties. The 15-or-so Pine Grosbeaks hop about the feeders like inflated sparrows; part Bullfinch, part Crossbill, full raspberry, being the messiest eaters of any bird I've seen, dribbling sunflower husks everywhere. One female bird had no tail, looking even more like a small avian balloon than the rest of them. 

Female Pine Grosbeak ©Zac Hinchliffe

Male Pine Grosbeak ©Zac Hinchliffe

Tits were well represented with the charming Siberians (or Lappmeis) and frosty Willows, which opened up a taxonomic paradox as to whether they were race borealis (Northern Europe and Arctic) or uralensis (SE European Russia and W Siberia), joined by 2 puffed-up Great Tits (Kjøttmeis). Just to further add to the party, a pair each of fat Northern Bullfinches and Arctic Redpoll plus a vocal GSWoodpecker and an icy two-toned Red Squirrel joined the massed ranks. 

Abominable Snowpoll/Arctic Roll  field sketches ©Jonnie Fisk

Siberian Tit ©Zac Hinchliffe

A jaunt across the frozen lake was halted when a stream of reindeer crossed in front of us, some sporting GPS collars, others spray-painted hides - all in the arsenal of a modern Sami herder. 

Zac and the reindeer train

A minibus pick-up later and we were on our way to Kirkenes to board the Coastal Express ferry which would take us to Vardø - the 'home' of Gullfest, via a few choice birding stops. Siberian Jays, three of them, were eventually tracked down yapping to and fro across a forest road and the first of many Richard Crossley "STOP THE BUS!" moments brought us a pale male Sparrowhawk perched in a tree - a very scarce bird in the Pasvik area. 

At Kirkenes docks we met Mark Thomas, Senior Investigator at the RSPB, a man who's had to deal with enough brutal bird persecution cases to stop a lesser birder sleeping for life. Introductions were sporadic on the Coastal Express as every hundred metres of black sea would throw up another storm of Brünnich's Guillemot or Long-tailed Duck squadron. Keeping tally of the journey's birds became death by lines of 5. 

NGB Coastal Express seflie - deckchair birding

Point to the Brünnich's Guillemot...and the other...and the other...

The sea-crossing took a turn for the phenomenal upon nearing Vardø, as we entered the realm of the 'Eider Vortex'. The name is not an exaggeration; the entire sea seemed to lift upwards as several thousand each of King and Common sprung from the water simultaneously, like a summer English river thick with mayflies. Even non-birders on deck were pointing. 

(From L to R: Tormod Amundsun, Hans Larsson, Zac Hinchliffe)

After that experience, I have to admit that our first Steller's Eider, a loly drake bobbing about Vardø harbour after docking, seemed a little tame in comparison, even when joined by 2 friends. 

Home for the night was the Vardø Hotel, right on the harbour front, complete with a stuffed Shag in the reception. After unpacking, a bit of bonding with the locals was had as I was taught the Yukidance routine, part of the Yukigassen competitive snowballing festival held in Vardø, by a group of girls. Naturally Zac filmed me dancing for future embarrassment/blackmail. 

Vardø Hotel - Zac and a skyscanning mate (he was a little inanimate)

A fantastic meal consisting of 2 different species of fish as well as Sea Urchin roe was wolfed down before skidding down the road to the Nordpol Kro (= North Pole Pub) for the first of the Gullfest Talks. The pub was stuffed to bursting with international memerobilia and locals, as well as the recreated skin of the World's last Great Auk (RIP the 5 Razorbills it took to make it). 

Tucking into Scandi scran: Sea Urchin

After a warmup by Tormod, the artist Hans Larsson took us through 'The Joy and Obstacles of Depicting Gulls'. This Swedish Viking ("even if I don't look like one") was merciless with self-criticism of his frankly perfect plates but also regaled us with his knack for finding fantastic visual cues to help identify gulls. A Glaucous Gull is a "flying pig"; a Heuglin's a "bull terrier". Caspian Gulls resemble "Blanka Vlašić" and what do juvenile Herring Gulls look like? George Constanza of course!

Hans is currently working on a new seabirds guide, illustrating the gull, terns and skua families and we were treated to viewings of a few plates - original Larssons! 

Hans Larsson and his Black-headed Gull plate (with Med and Slender-billed Gulls looming behind)

Richard Crossley was up next with a rollercoaster of a talk covering bases from growing up, the psychology of bird ID, all things Cape May and even serenading us with the first verse of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons' "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". We were shown the meticulous process that goes into the Crossley ID guides and a taster of the birding scene in the USA, including an exciting sounding scheme called Pledge to Fledge, where a non-birder is taken birding by a friend in the hope that they will gain enthusiasm for the hobby. To finish, Richard recounted a poem that he felt reflected his favorite bird, the Sanderling, as stunning images of these clockwork-legged hydrophobics were shown behind him. 

The Nordpol Kro - with Polar Bear sign.

Our minds buzzing with euphoria for the future of birding, we made our way back to the hotel via the darkened star-shaped Vardøhus Fortress with Mark Thomas for a spot of light-painting photography with the Northern Lights, a lot fainter than in Pasvik but still (in the words of Tormod) "super amazing"!

Tormod rounding up the evening

-Jonnie Fisk and Zac Hinchliffe
Jonnie is an 18 year-old Yorkshire-based birder, invertebrate enthusiast and frustrated artist. When not being oblivious to every local rarity, he enjoys autumn vis-mig and being distracted by bugs. 
https://twitter.com/jonnie_fisk

When Zac's not counting birds on patch, he's usually ringing birds on his regular Bangor site or is depressed that he does't have the money or time to twitch the latest big thing. Zac is 22 and currently studying a Research Masters at Bangor University and investigating Welsh Twite; adding a touch of science to his birding.
https://twitter.com/Zac_Hinchcliffe
http://www.zacswildlifeblog.blogspot.co.uk/

(links to Zac's take on Gullfest 2014 can be found here, here, here, here aaand here)