Alarms, hatching and booming bitterns

Don’t you just hate it when the alarm goes off in the morning? Especially when it’s 4am and a little chilly outside. It is at that point when I wonder if I’m mad to have volunteered to lead a dawn chorus walk on Hampstead Heath.

However, once I’m sitting in the car driving through almost deserted streets, I realise just how amazing early morning is at this time of year. Our walk on the Heath, organised by the City of London, was fab. Around 30 people came along which was a real surprise given the early start.

The sights and sounds of Hampstead Heath are amazing at 5am. You walk along listening to the birds and looking at the distant London Eye all lit up and you really feel that two worlds have come together.

And the Hampstead birds didn’t disappoint. The song thrush, wren, blackbird and garden warbler were all in great voice and we enjoyed fantastic views of male kestrel, green woodpecker and treecreeper. But, best of all, I had a group of interested and enthusiastic people to share it with.

It really doesn’t matter if you don’t know each individual birdsong in this great chorus. Just listen and enjoy, it really is one of nature’s spectacles and well worth getting out of bed for!

I think April/May are my favourite months and I’ve been lucky enough to get out and about with my binoculars. We had a fantastic day at Minsmere at the end of April – wandering around in our shorts and enjoying the weather and the birding.

While the UK is in the grip of recession, I think it is fair to say the RSPB is booming – at the least the male bitterns at Minsmere are! Just goes to show how a bird on the brink of extinction can make a come back with hard work and expertise and the support of RSPB members. We sat in the hide looking over the reed bed hearing the booming and watching the marsh harriers and bearded tits. And then, right at the end of the day, just as we had almost given up hope, there it was, a bittern flying over the reeds and dropping into the reedbed almost in front of the hide.

I’ve also been watching birds a little closer to home – from my study to be exact. I’ve not been looking out of the window, but at the computer screen as I follow the progress of the peregrines in Derby via webcam. I watched the female sitting on the eggs for weeks and then it happened. I was in the right place at the right time to see the second of the four eggs hatch! Wow! There are now four white fluffy peregrine chicks in the nest and I’ve been watching the female feed the young. Urban peregrines are doing very well and, if you can manage it without bumping into people, then I suggest you keep an eye on the sky above your town or city – you never know, you might just spot the fastest creature on the planet.

Spring at last!

As I write this I’m enjoying the tail end of a warm and sunny weekend so I really do feel as if spring is finally with us.
I’m also keeping half an eye on the peregrine webcams from Derby and Worcester and am smiling to myself when I think of the Chichester and Tate peregrines sitting on their eggs.

I saw something else amazing this weekend while I was volunteering for the RSPB at the heronry in Regent’s Park. One of the juvenile herons took its maiden flight and the gasp that went around volunteers and onlookers alike was amazing. Ok, I’ll admit it wasn’t much of a flight – probably more of an exaggerated long hop really, but the bird ended up on a branch above the nest with its siblings looking on in amazement. What really cracked me up was when one of the other youngsters stretched its neck up towards the bird above in what looked like a vain attempt to pull it back into the nest.

Watching this first faltering attempt at flying got me to wondering though. What an amazing leap of faith it must be to just launch yourself into the air never having done it before. I guess it’s no different to a baby getting up on its feet the first time – but at least they are closer to the ground! Those nests are pretty high up in the trees!

It also just reminds you how fraught with peril life is for a young bird. As I enjoy the webcams I can’t help remembering the young female peregrine from the Tate pair last year who unfortunately met with an untimely end after flying into a building. I remember how devastated I felt when I heard the news – let’s hope we don’t have to go through that again. Our birds of prey have enough trouble with gamekeepers, pigeon fanciers and others who wish them harm without that sort of bad luck.

Anyway, I hope you are all taking the chance to get out birding. I’ll be out and about over Easter, hoping to see my first swallows of the year. I’m also counting the days until the swifts come back and I’d love it if you’d let me know when you see your first ones – mainly so I can tell my father-in-law to keep an eye out for the two pairs that nest in the boxes on his house in Rutland.