Winter at the farmlands

 44 Pochard on the Northern Lake following the flooding and high water levels

Been about 300 Teal around this winter

 

This mild wet weather this winter should be good for survival rates of wintering birds. Been good for diving ducks too with 114 Tufted Duck in the week and 44 Pochard. Frankie had a Goosander in the week too.  Frankie also saw a Brimstone butterfly yesterday and there were Bees flying around today so it actually feels more like spring.

 

Not a bad haul between BFBG members this weekend: 1 Iceland Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Stonechat, 4 Jack Snipe, 15 Snipe, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Water Pipit, 200+ Teal, 40+ Gadwall, 20+ Shoveler, 95 Tufted Duck, 44 Pochard and 2 Water Rail.





Another Winter at the Obs

View from the window today

Gulls flying past the window

Coming up to my fifth year in 'the beddington obs'. Here's a few links about life in the obs.

The obs

 http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/beddington-obs.html

http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/beddington-obs.html

Snow at the obs: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/snow-at-obs.html

Riots at the obs: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/view-from-obs-tonight-as-croydon-burns.html

The Bugry

http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/news-from-bugry.html
http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/heat-wave-in-bugry.html
http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/latest-from-bugry.html

Wildlife and Window Gardening
http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/pepper-night-at-obs.html
http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/november-at-obs.html
http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/pottering-around-obs.html

Megas and rares from the obs:
Common Crane: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/big-day-beddington-farmlands.html
Long-tailed Skua: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/mega-fly-by.html
Black Kite: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/black-kite-in-bloody-garden.html
Dewick's Plusia: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/first-for-beddington.html
Turtle Dove in the Garden: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/turtle-dove-twitch.html
Tree Sprogs at the Obs: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/sprogs-at-obs.html
Redstart in the Garden: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/redstart-in-obs-garden.html

HBW Alive

Been slowly reading through the intro sections (basically all there is to know about ornithology) of HBW during these long winter evenings and made a start on putting my life list together on HBW alive. A great on line resource.
www.hbw.com

Also been pottering around doing a bit of winter window gardening, stacked up the bird feeders with seed, peanuts, sunflowers hearts and the birds are slowly getting through the half a tonne of apples that I collected from work.

Incinerator update

http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/Campaigners-launch-legal-challenge-Croydon-Sutton/story-20410133-detail/story.html?ito=email_newsletter_croydonadvertiser

South West Mini-break

 White-billed Diver

 Iceland Gull

 Red-necked Grebe

 Black Guillemot

 Great Northern Diver

Kittiwake  

 Little Ben- Our skipper (more of a man than the three of us old boys put together)

Me and Sam

Brixham Pelagic vid

Spent the last few days in Devon with Jaffa and Sam. Did a bit of birding around Devon which was great. Highlights above and also Cirl Buntings. Our Brixham harbour pelagic was funny with our skipper Little Ben who navigated us safely through a bit of monster storm cell. At one point the hail stones were so hard that we couldn't look ahead so we came in backwards (video above). Great few days.

Goodbye 2013 - All's well that ends well

 Juvenile Iceland Gull

 Male Kestrel

 The Northern Lake- flooded, all the islands are submerged

 Yellow and black Longhorn Beetle from earlier on in the year

 Yarrow Plume from earlier

Small Nettle- been walking past masses of this for over 25 years presuming it's Common Nettle (thanks Frankie!) 

Been pretty good over the farm over the last few days with the juvenile Iceland Gull showing frequently, a couple of Caspian Gulls about, up to 5 Jack Snipe on the mound, good numbers of Pochard (up to 38) and Gadwall (up to 119), a Redshank a couple of days ago, 4-5 Green Sandpiper, 25+ Snipe, 2 Stonechat, 250+ Teal, 32 Lapwing, 5 Water Rails, 2 Water Pipit, 25+ Great Black Backed Gull and Peregrine knocking around too.

Been working through some of the photo specimens I collected over the summer to try and identify them to add to the Beddington species inventory (and my own personal pan-species list). Managed to identify (string) 10 new species which puts me on 1004 species for the farm. So I managed to hit my target to reach 1000 species on the patch! Success!! Forgot what it felt like. All is well that ends well and this year has now ended well. Here's my list:
http://peteralfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/pan-species-list-update.html

2014 PLAN

I'm not one to allow complete and total annihilation to dampen the spirit so despite this year's revelations that:

a) the only government in charge of protecting our local environment is one that cannot afford to enforce it's own rules e.g. there is no government
 b) that a bunch of glorified pikies (Virdor) are at large on doing a glorious bodge job on the single most important part of the green and biodiversity infrastructure of South London,
c) the conservation, environmental and social NGO's in self appointed charge of protecting the local environment and people are self appointing themselves (and others NGO friends) the funds which are awarded for improvements
d) the local people and wildlife who are in a spiral of decline and are the supposed recipients of all this attention are either completely unaware of what is being done in their names or are non-sentient beings (who probably aren't even aware they exist before they go extinct) .

here is my plan for 2014

BEDDINGTON FARMLANDS

1. Attempt to increase the number of members in the Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve support camp

2. Partner with local conservation and environmental NGO's and attempt to help with well focused spending that actually deliver more in the way of real improvements. Try not to call anyone a useless swindling career conservationist toss-pot in the process. 

3. Do what we can in the Judicial Review period. Expose the facts publicly, be aware that the judges are all in on all this way of the world stuff and just hope we (I) get out alive! Go in light, drop the facts off and get out quick. 

4. Continue with the species monitoring, pan-species inventory and reporting- not because scientific facts that prove a declining state have any power over human greed/ weakness but because its good fun. 

5. Continue with public engagement activities and try and connect to the people all these improvements are supposedly aimed at (and try and disengage the free-loaders and green w#nkers) 

6. Work on the green infrastructural improvements that integrate the reserve, the village and the Wandle

7. Try and keep the insults about Viridor to a minimum- they have all powerful omnipotent rule and can quite easily execute all of us (take away the keys and sue us for the shirts off our back)
8. Of course as ever while I'm killing time with all of the above keep looking for that rare gull and/or mega bird. 

THE AZORES

1. Get out of this shit hole and get to the Azores as often as I can.

THEE BRYANS

1. Keep writing and singing this nonsense instead of becoming a terrorist.