Beddington 170709

That is not a Garganey (above) its a Mallard looking like one and it took me a couple of takes to work it out. 20+ Green Sandpipers (below) on site again. Where else can you see flocks of Green Sandpipers like this?

Also my first juvenile Shovelers for the autumn (three birds), one Teal, 2 Greenshank and 1 Common Sandpiper. There is flock of Goldfinch building up on hundred acre (so far 20+ birds) and I noticed a family party of Linnet yesterday. Quite a few Whitethroat young are around.

Beddington 150709

Click on the top shot to check out the barred auxillaries of this Green Sandpiper- why do a lot of waders have barred auxillaries- what's the point?

16 Green Sandpiper (top), 2 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 30+ Lapwing (bottom) on hundred acre.

Most of the waders at Beddington now are adults, the juveniles will follow soon. Green Sandpiper peak in early autumn (July to August). The highest count was 46 on August 5th 2006. Fortunately this species has experienced an increasing trend since the early 1990s.

Beddington 140709

A south-west wind and cloudy skies usually means a typical days birding. A few waders stage at Beddington during the autumn- today there were 17 Green Sandpipers (bottom), one Greenshank, one Common Sandpiper and a group of 25+ Lapwing. There was one Teal on the scrape- one of the first of the autumn. Also quite a few juvenile birds, fresh out of the nest such as Long-tailed Tit (middle) and a lot of adult passerines are keeping low and quiet because they are moulting- such as this Chiffchaff (top) which has visible moult in the head.

Beddington Farm Local Community Birding Tour

We had a local community birding tour today. There was a group of 16 of us and we saw 43 species of bird including one to two adult Greenshanks, one Common Sandpiper, 5 Green Sandpipers, 1 Hobby and a distant Buzzard. There must have been between 40 to 50 Grey Herons (above top) on site. We also saw a Marbled White butterfly (bottom) which is only the second one I have seen at the Farm.

Turkey Trip Report

Trip report for our Turkey Trip here:http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=1666

For great accommadation, food and friendly guided birding to see the Snowcocks and other mountain species contact Ali,

www.ozsafak.net

ozsafak@hotmail.com

GUIDED BIRD TOUR AT BEDDINGTON FARM SUNDAY 12th JULY

I am leading a bird tour at Beddington on Sunday 12th July. We are meeting up at 0915 to 0930 at Hackbridge Train Station so if anyone is interested than come along. Be good to know how many are coming so email me at littleoakgroup@btinternet.com

Early July- should be some migrant waders around, post breeding flocks and lots of juvenile birds.

Waiting for autumn

Should really be out looking for that mid summer monster vagrant but instead took the time out to catch up with Peter Jospeh's second part (addendum) of the Internet phenomenon Zeitgeist which was realised last October. He has got digitally remastered versions of both movies now here:

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

An interesting example of an emerging 'pop philosophy' which incorporates science, economics, environmentalism, music, imagery and documentary which he crystallises in this second part.