Australia: The Birds

Australia: The Birds ~ December 2016 ~ 

Over Christmas I spent 2 weeks in Australia visiting a friend and birding. In this post I will focus solely on the birds we saw and will write about the other wildlife encountered in another post (or two). As well as the birds illustrated below, we also saw loads of other species, including some particularly cool species such as Crested Shrike-tit, Australasian Bittern, Noisy Friarbird, Chestnut Quail-thrush, Mulga Parrot and Golden Whistler!

Red-capped Robin (Petroica goodenovii)

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis)

Apostlebird (Struthidea cinerea)

White-winged Fairy-wren (Malurus leucopterus)

Jack Winter (Microeca fascinans)

Rufous Whistler (Pachycephalu rufiventris)

Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)

Red-kneed Dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus)

Magpie Goose (Anseranas semipalmata)

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Variegated Fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti)

Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)

White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops)

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina papuensis)

Rock Warbler (Origma solitaria)

Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus)

Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus)

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis)

Brown Falcon (Falco berigora)

Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica)

Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus)

Lewin's Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii)

Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea)

Bassian Thrush (Zoothera lunulata)

White-cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris niger)

White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus)

Hen Harrier Day 2016

Hen Harrier Day 2016, RSPB Rainham Marshes ~ 6th August 2016 ~ 

INSPIRED, DETERMINED, ANGRY...

...These three words describe how I felt after attending my first Hen Harrier Day last weekend.

I attended one of 12 events being held over 'Hen Harrier weekend', this one being at RSPB Rainham Marshes (a super reserve by the way). It was great to see such a high turnout (around 300 people) and we were all treated to some incredibly inspiring talks by Charlie Moores (BAWC), Mike Clarke (RSPB) and Chris Packham about Hen Harriers; what they symbolise, what it means to conserve them and why we should not be belittled, but instead feel proud to call ourselves conservationists, "greenies" or "eco-warriors" and to feel even more determined to end the illegal and systematic persecution of our birds of prey.

A portion of the attendees at Hen Harrier Day Rainham Marshes August 2016

The talks kicked off at 11am with a short introduction to the day by Mark Avery, who then introduced Charlie Moores of Birders Against Wildlife Crime (BAWC). Charlie's speech was incredibly passionate and moving but also angry. Angry at the fact that these people are taking away our Hen Harriers for their own selfish reasons - "It doesn't matter where you live, how old or young you are, whether you can even identify a Hen Harrier, our views count".

Next up was Mike Clarke, Chief Executive of the RSPB, who spoke about how the solutions will involve the land managers, but "do not include inappropriate burning, do not include putting damaging tracks up moorland, do not include taking out vast numbers of Mountain Hares, of course, the solution has to start with upholding the law". Mike emphasised the fact that "it's about targeting illegal activity, responsible management and driving up environmental standards" and that "the start point has to be if people don't obey the law, they don't have a licence to operate".

After Mike came Chris Packham. As expected he made a hard case for saving the Hen Harriers, for continuing the battle, for not giving in to the name-callers and criminals and to stand up for what we believe is right, no matter what. "It's not about politics at all, it's about birds, plain and simple". He also emphasised the point that the continued persecution of our birds of prey by trapping and poisoning is not in any way 'controversial' as the shooting fraternity is trying to make out, it is illegal through and through, and should be dealt with as such. Chris rounded off his speech with a poignant Ghandi quote: "When you are fighting a campaign, first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you and then you win".

We are now at the stage where they are fighting us through their snide comments, Twitter trolls and vicious articles, but they will not win; with over 85,000 signatures on Mark Avery's petition to 'Ban Driven Grouse Shooting', they are not laughing now.

As the conservationists we are, and are proud to be, now, more than ever, we need to stand up for what we believe and protect our birds of prey on the moors for today, tomorrow, and always.

Tomorrow marks the 'Glorious 12th', the beginning of the British Game shooting season. The day that all the hard work gamekeepers have put in to burning the uplands and ruthlessly kill mountain hares and birds of prey, pays off...the day where more people than ever need to realise the true cost of driven grouse shooting.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION AND SHARE WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/125003


WE WILL WIN!

Credit to http://henharrierday.org/index.html for this banner

30 Days Wild - Week 4

30 Days Wild: Week 4 (and a bit) ~ 22-30th June 2016 ~ 

You can find weeks 1, 2 & 3 below:

Week 1 - http://blog.josiehewittphotography.co.uk/2016/06/30-days-wild-week-1.html
Week 2 - http://blog.josiehewittphotography.co.uk/2016/06/30-days-wild-week-2.html
Week 3 - http://blog.josiehewittphotography.co.uk/2016/06/30-days-wild-week-3.html

Here's what I got up to in the last week and a bit of June...

Day 22: I emptied the moth trap first thing then was studying for the rest of the day, before going for a walk up to my patch in the evening.

L->R: Dark Arches, Flame Shoulder, Endotricha flammealis, Bee Orchid.

Day 23: Who said moths were boring?!

L->R: Dichomeris marginella, The Flame, Scythropia crataegella, Broad-barred White,
Double-striped Pug, Blotched Emerald, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana.

Day 24: A super walk round patch produced lots of insects and butterflies.

L->R: (top) Caterpillar sp, Pyramidal Orchid, Silver-studded Blue, Black-and-yellow Longhorn Beetle, Small Heath (bottom) Silver-studded Blue, Grasshopper sp, Scorpionfly, Burnet moth caterpillar, Common Blue.

Day 25: I had a great day down at Martin Down NNR in Hampshire, with my friend Max Hellicar. We saw Turtle Doves, lots of insects, flowers and butterflies and also got drenched just as we were heading back to the car. Once back home we headed to my patch where we found a Turtle Dove, my first ever on patch, so that was pretty cool! I also set the moth trap.

L->R: (top) Gasteruption jaculator, Turtle Dove, Marbled White, Tree Pipit, Pyramidal Orchid,
(bottom), Bloody-nosed Beetle, Yellowhammer, Small Heath, Corn Bunting, Dark Green Fritillary.

Day 26: Emptied the moth trap then went for a wonderful walk round patch with my parents and our dog.

L->R: (top) Our dog, Heath SPotted Orchid,The stream on patch, Large Skipper, Glyphipterix thrasonella, Red Polar Leaf Beetle larvae (bottom), female Common Blue Damselfly, Common Darter, male Beautiful Demoiselle, male Common Blue Damselfly, Comma Butterfly, Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Day 27: A walk round patch and some cool moths.

L->R: Bell Heather, Uncertain, Yellow Shell, Marbled Orchard Tortrix, Eudonia lacustrata, Anania coronata.

Day 28: Attended a University open day and around the campus there was lots of wildlife including wild flower patches, bees and also lots of Swifts screaming around in the skies above. Sadly no photos from today.

Day 29: No photos again I'm afraid. In the evening I went up to the park with our dog, a tennis ball and a tennis racket and had great fun hitting the ball as far as I could for the dog to chase and run around like the loony that she is!

Day 30: Where has this month gone?! Sadly the weather put me off doing much today so all I got up to was studying, checking I have everything for our holiday and a quick run up at the park with our dog, though I think I wore her out!

The dog was a bit knackered.

So I'm not really sure where June has gone because a lot sure happened in it! Here's to many more wild days & crazy adventures.

30 Days Wild - Week 3

30 Days Wild: Week 3 ~ 15-21st June 2016 ~ 

You can find weeks 1 & 2 below:

Week 1 - http://blog.josiehewittphotography.co.uk/2016/06/30-days-wild-week-1.html
Week 2 - http://blog.josiehewittphotography.co.uk/2016/06/30-days-wild-week-2.html

Here goes Week 3 of #30DaysWild...

Day 15: Lots of moths, a beautiful walk round my patch with a single orchid and lots of fledged birds. In the evening I help lead a Nightjar walk on my patch and everyone in the group got great views of the birds and seemed to enjoy themselves (except for the midges)!

L->R: Small Magpie Moth, View on my walk, Bright Line Brown Eye, Yellow Rattle,
Poplar Leaf Beetle larvae, Common Spotted Orchid, Group of Nightjar watchers.

Day 16: Moths and some 'interesting' weather on the drive up to Bristol.

L->R: Cool clouds, Large Tabby (Aglossa pinguinalis)

Day 17: Sadly not too much 'wild' today as I was visiting the University of Bristol for an open day. There was some rather brilliant weather on the drive up to Swansea in the afternoon though.

Day 18: Marginally more 'wild' today as the Swansea University campus has lots of wildflower patches and is right by the beach. I saw lots of Bees and other pollinators but I didn't get any pictures. There was some lovely scenery on the way home though (if you ignore the pylon). Also a moth had made its way inside and onto our landing wall so I rescued it and put it back outside.

L->R: View on the drive home and Riband Wave.

Day 19: Father's day...I went for a nice walk in the morning but didn't take any photos. The spent the evening trying to ID moths from my pictures.

Day 20: I had a lovely walk in the evening with my parents and we saw a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, some Bee Orchids and some moths.

L->R: Golden-ringed Dragonfly x2, Bee Orchid, Pebble Hook-tip, Small Magpie.

Day 21: All about the moths! Moths during the day and set the moth trap in the evening as well.

L->R: Straw Dot, Riband Wave, Moth trap, Dark Arches, Micro Moth sp.

30 Days Wild - Week 2

30 Days Wild: Week 2 ~ 8-14th June 2016 ~ 

Following on from my first week of #30DaysWild, here are the next 7 days of my wild adventures in June!

Day 8: Went through the moth trap and it had lots of lovely species in it! I also went for a lovely dog walk round patch but didn't manage to take any photographs.

L->R: Heart & Club, Light Emerald, Middle-barred Minor, Small Magpie, Heart & Dart, Tachystola acroxantha, Shears.

Day 9: I set the moth trap again and had already caught a few when I checked it late at night.

L->R: Scoparia subfusca, True Lover's Knot, Tachystola acroxantha, Light Brown Apple Moth.

Day 10: More moths and a lovely walk with our crazy dog.

L->R: Heart & Club, Common Blue Damselfly, Elephant Hawkmoth, Our mad dog.

Day 11: A superb walk round my local area (see my blog here for more detail and photos).

L->R: Speckled Wood, Green Tiger Beetle, Common Heath, Wasp Beetle, Slow Worm.

Day 12: A nice walk in the morning with my dad looking for Dragon and Damselflies and a nice walk in the evening with the dog.

L->R: (TOP) View on walk, Four-spotted Chaser, Beautiful Demoiselle,
(BOTTOM) Micropterix aruncella, Our dog, Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Day 13: A lovely evening walk with my mum.

L->R: Nice sunset, Lobesia reliquana, A micro moth, Cinnabar Moth.

Day 14: A cracking evening spent looking for Nightjars on my local patch with my mum (turn the sound up, click play and listen until the end)!

30 Days Wild: Week 1

30 Days Wild: Week 1 ~ 1-7th June 2016 ~ 

This year I am going to be rather lazy with my blogging in that instead of doing a daily round up of my wildlife adventure, I am simply going to do a weekly summary, accompanied with plenty of photographs of course!

Day 1: 2 days previously (on Monday 30th) I had arrived down at Portland Bird Observatory in Dorset. This meant that there were plenty of birds to be seen, as well as the daily chance to rifle through the moth traps and see what had been caught (and which species I could ID!) I also went for a wander with Liam, one of the other NGBs down at the Obs to look at some plants and insects, however our walk got cut short due to an increase in wind and a sudden downpour!

L->R: Spotted Flycatcher, Lesser Trefoil, Eyed Hawkmoth, Hairy Buttercup & Silver Y.

Day 2: I was still at Portland so more birds and moths were on the cards. The weather brightened up a bit in the afternoon and I went for a walk with some of the NGBs to look for the Great Spotted Cuckoo (we saw it numerous times during our stay!) We saw some other wildlife in the Obs garden too.

L->R: White Ermine, Large Red Damselfly, View from Obs, Painted Lady, Four-spotted Moth.

Day 3: More moths, birds and nature down at Portland. Great Spotted Cuckoo seen again!

L->R: Thistle Ermine, Grasshopper sp, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Swollen-thighed Beetle, Drinker Moth.

Day 4: Headed home from Portland but still had time to look at some moths and the GS Cuckoo again (got there only minutes before it flew off for the morning). Stopped in the New Forest on the way home but dipped Goshawk & Honey Buzzard yet again...had to make do with some Redstarts and a singing Firecrest. Once home, headed to patch for a quick wander and saw some cool beetles that I've yet to ID (any help is much appreciated).

L->R: Burnished Brass, Acres Down, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Mullein Moth, Unidentified Beetle.

Day 5: I wasn't up too early but spent most of the day doing a bird ringing demonstration at one of our local sites as part of a Wildlife Day event that was being held. I didn't get the chance to take any photographs as I was busy talking to people about birds and ringing, but luckily my dad took a photo of us showing the ringing process to members of the public. Everyone seemed very interested and we got asked some great questions. It's always a pleasure to do ringing demonstrations, especially where there are lots of really enthusiastic kids there as well.

Bird ringing demonstration at Fleet Pond Wildlife Day

Day 6: Went through the moth trap, sat in the sun with our dog and visited patch. On patch I saw lots of birds as well as some insects and other wildlife.

L->R: Grey Pine Carpet, Scorched Wing, Clouded Border, Patch sunset, Our dog, Cool Beetle, Damselfly.

Day 7: A bit of a lazy day today but I did put the moth trap out again. Had to move it under a tree around midnight though as it started raining.

L->R: Mottled Pug, Shieldbug sp, The moth trap after moving it out of the rain.

Well that's it for this week but tune in around the 14/15th for the next instalment of my #30DaysWild!