The Central Park Effect........

It's six years since I was last in Central Park and there is no doubt in my mind that it ranks as one of the most memorable birding experiences of my life. The sheer variety of species, the location.....which feels oddly familiar as if birding on a film set.......the fact that so many of the birds can be approached so easily: it is indeed a special place. I remember being able to hold my guide and check identification details on a nuthatch that was feeding on a tree trunk a matter of not more than a metre away. It is all so new.....a bit like starting out in birding....every bird is a potential new species, unfamiliar bird songs have to be learned and assimilated. Although most birders gravitate towards the wild 'Ramble' area, I find that birds of interest can appear anywhere. I remember observing a Northern Water Thrush feeding in the small stream close to the polar bear enclosure in Central Park Zoo.

The Magic of Gibraltar Point.......

I have been visiting Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire for almost twenty years, sometimes as a birder and mor recently as a geography teacher. It can be a frustrating place.....incredibly 'birdless' compared to the riches just across the Wash in North Norfolk. The Wash Study Centre provides basic but cosy accommodation and SUPERB food and always compensates for a sparce day in the field. When Gibraltar Poibnt is good it is usually very good.....red-backed, great grey and isabelline shrikes, large flocks of brambling, black and common redstarts and great views of short-eared and barn owls. The weather conditions at the weekend for our A level sand dunes study were terrible....not only was it freezing but the wind was biting too. As ever, the students were stoic in their efforts and a credit to themselves. This great sequence by  Bucks Birder Richard Billyard really captures the magic of the place and why I keep going back......

Very funny Fiat advert........

RIP Frank Thornton......

Equality Street.......

Berlin on a starry night.....? Take a closer look......

Beautiful reflection of the German Reichstag building caught in this fountain with coin 'stars'...pleased with this one......

One way or another.....'Blondie'

Very moving and dramatic documentary on Japanese Tsunami from two years ago.......

Blood and milk for breakfast......?

Painting Music.....plant a tree

Woodcock in close-up........

Love this incredible camouflage and how close you can get to them......

Ever had a woodcock first thing in the morning.......?

Driving towards Amersham this morning....which was incredibly cold....I was lucky enough to see a woodcock fly low over the dual carriageway in the early morning light. They are amazing crepuscular birds....waders that breed in woodland and rely on their fantastic camouflage to avoid detection. My favourite place to see them is Thursley Common in Surrey on a nightjar stakeout when they can be seen 'roding' at dusk on summer nights, making strange squeaks and grunts. I have seen them in close-up at Titchwell when they stop off to rest in the little patch of woodland on migration or to overwinter. You almost have to step on them to flush them their markings are so good.......

How To Eat A Kumquat.....

http://youtu.be/z0nK5zXMDDc

The Kumquat Kid........very funny

http://youtu.be/_a06QqjDfUU
I hope this works.......

The Kumquat Kid.......

How To Eat A Kumquat.........