Author: galtrym

You’re desperate for a haircut, but you’ve gripped your wife off on consecutive days on real quality birds: do you dare ask her?  Given that there was no cut-throat razor available, I thought I’d take my chances.  It was a bit of a committee job, but I think I got away with it.  Given that the trimmer was a lockdown purchase, it’s the most expensive haircut I’ve ever had, but it’s certainly not the worst.

I wasn’t offered anything for the weekend, though.

Before: a degree of trepidation

Armed with scissors, a trimmer and a grudge – what could go wrong?

After: several pounds lighter

My best moment as a birder: finding a Hoopoe on my patch.

My worst moment as a birder: watching it fly out of view before Karen got a chance to see it.

There has been an unprecedented influx of Hoopoes into Sussex this month (about 15 birds so far) but the lockdown has meant that even those birds that have hung around have been out of reach, which has been frustrating.  Having been religiously checking paddocks, vicar’s lawns and all short grass around us it was a massive surprise to flush one out of long grass in the evening.  It landed on some cut wood and scrub about 100 m away and sat there for a while: long enough for some record shots.  Before Karen could get to it, it upped and left and we couldn’t refind it.  Having done the same to her the night before with a Turtle Dove, it’s not the best time to ask her to cut my hair.

Here are the dreadful Hoopoe shots and a few other things from the last week.

The Ring Ouzels keep coming: we’ve had at least 10 and probably 13 different birds this month

Stonechat

Early Purple Orchid, one of about 120 spikes in a patch

Spot the odd one out

One of 4 Green Sandpipers we have seen this week

Dingy Skipper

Grizzled Skipper

Common Whitethroat

Wheatear are coming in in large numbers

Hoopoe

Why did it have to fly?

It’s been quiet on the bird front since Saturday, with only a noisy Ring-necked Parakeet adding itself to the house list for the year on Saturday evening.  It’s nice to see, but I hope it doesn’t linger.  Moth trapping has been slow so far – we get very few moths at the start of the season – but Saturday’s haul included a second Brindled Beauty for the house and a first Dotted Chestnut.  In the garden a small Grass Snake has taken up residence.

Brindled Beauty

Dotted Chestnut

Grass Snake

Meanwhile on Cissbury Ring, the ponies were posing.

Our walks continue to be productive, with a good crop of raptors, including our local Peregrine.  A check under the pylon says that it’s partial to a Black-headed Gull.  The local Little Owl has started sunning itself, and on Thursday evening it even had a go at its neighbour, a Barn Owl.  This morning we had more success with a male Pied Flycatcher and a couple of Ring Ouzels, who refused to be photographed.

Peregrine

Red Kite over the garden

Grumpy

A closer view of last weekend’s Hares

Pied Flycatcher

Ring Ouzel

Cowslip

Having had the day’s exercise, I was scoping out of the window and I noticed some movement on the down.  It turned out to be three Hares, not new for the house, but scarce enough to be interesting.  It turned out very interesting, as they started boxing.  It turns out that Mad March Hares are also out of sync this year.  Here’s a terrible digiscoped picture of them.  The female is on the bottom, with her partner between her and the interloper.

Now that the Japan photos are done here’s a few pictures from the garden and the walks around the locality from the last couple of weeks.  We’re incredibly lucky to have the Downs on our doorstep, although this weekend’s stupidity in Brighton might result in us losing even that freedom.

We’ve had some good luck with migrants, although terrible luck with either available camera equipment or the bird sitting in the worst possible place.

One of two Ring Ouzels from today’s walk. Both selected terrible backlit perches.

Brimstone

Comma

Peacock

The Long-tailed Tits seem to be nesting near us this year.

Dartford Warbler (it is, honest)

Green Woodpecker

Corn Bunting

Kestrel

Small Tortoiseshell

Little Ringed Plover

I’ve finished the Japan photos now.  There’s a page here or on the Trips page, with a link to my OneDrive, which has a lot more pictures (and higher resolution and better quality versions of the ones here) and a few videos from the Eagle cruise.

One last post from Japan, this time from our extension, which started with a day in the Tokyo area, followed by an overnight ferry to the Izu Islands in the hope of albatrosses from the boat.

Oriental Turtle Dove

Meiji Jingu Shrine

Varied Tit

Barrels of Sake donated to the shrine

Black-faced Bunting

Brown-cheeked Rail

Wryneck

Chinese Bamboo Partridge, an introduced species

Chinese Hwamei, another introduced species

The Izu Islands ferry

The rising sun

Short-tailed Albatross

Short-tailed Albatross

Laysan Albatross

Black-footed Albatross

Streaked Shearwater

Pomarine Skua

Karen ponders the sunset

Mount Fuji peeks out of the haze

One last lot from Hokkaido, starting with a return to Notsuke, the Fish Owl and Sable at the magnificent Yoroushi Onsen, a visit to Lake Kussharo, some volcanic springs and a return to Tsurui for some more cranes.

Asian Rosy Finch

Blakiston’s Fish Owl

The fish-free option

Sable

What’s it seen?

Sable

Ubiquitous and noisy, it’s difficult to miss a Brown-eared Bulbul

All Long-tailed Tits are gorgeous, but the caudatus subspecies is a totally cute fluffy snowball.

Hawfinch is quite a common bird in Japan

Nuthatch

Eurasian Jay

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

The sulphurous emisions were quite unpleasant, but I love her anyway.

The light was worse today, but the Red-crowned Cranes were dancing.

Red-crowned Crane

If you don’t like eagles look away now.  This post is very edited highlights of our boat trip from Rausu to see the Steller’s and White-tailed Eagles being fed.

Large-billed Crows are always after a scrap, but are also very deferential

White-tailed Eagle

Smaller, faster and smarter, the White-tailed Eagles win most races for a fish.

Steller’s Sea Eagle

The Steller’s Sea Eagle may be slower, but it’sfar more powerful in an arm wrestle.

Victory!

Sliding tackle