Black magic

An engagement with the family at the Warner Bros studios near Watford for the 'Making of Harry Potter' tour - a birthday present for my youngest son - saw us heading in the general direction of Watford this weekend to pay homage to J K Rowling's bumfluff-chinned occultist and his pagan pals. A birder's instinct is 'always on' they say, so I was pleased to see my first animatronic Phoenix and several Snowy Owls. I'm not sure whether Buckbeak, being half-bird, half-horse, is tickable, but I suspect it's included on the UK400 Club version of the British list.

Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes

Potter's Snowy Owl, Hedwig

Hagrid's bird-horse, Buckbeak - tickable under UK400 Club rules

The trip had the added advantage of putting me within reach of Whipsnade Zoo, where a long-staying Black-throated Thrush has been delighting visiting birders and photographers for the last few weeks. Knowing that we would be heading that way at the end of the holiday period, and being the cost- and carbon-conscious type, I couldn't justify the trip up from Dorset to see this bird previously but as we were in the area anyway, it seemed almost rude not to.

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Now before anyone accuses me of manipulating a Harry Potter-themed family excursion just to put me within striking distance of a rare bird - as if I would do such a thing - I should point out that the Warner Bros tickets had been procured some months prior to the actual studio visit, and long before the Black-throated Thrush appeared.

On the fence of the pig enclosure

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

On arrival at the Zoo I followed a few birders who looked like they knew where to go and after a short walk found myself by the pig pen which I recognised from several photos of the bird which had been posted online. If it returned to this spot, views would be excellent. Many other online images had depicted the Thrush feeding in a heavily-laden Cotoneaster. There was one next to the pig pen but I figured it couldn't be this one as it was right next to the path and surely too prone to disturbance, so assumed it must be somewhere else in the Zoo.

Black-throated Thrush

Damaged primaries on the right wing might explain this bird's long stay

Black-throated Thrush

If it was this Cotoneaster which the Thrush was feeding in, views would have been ridiculous. But within minutes, it appeared in the very same tree and gave, well, ridiculous views. Even when the crowds built up and prams, scooters and excitable toddlers were running around the base of the trunk, it continued to feed periodically out in the open. I had seen just one of this species before - in South Wales 2006 - but only distantly through a telescope, so it was a bonus to get such exceptional views as well as an 'English' tick.

The Thrush roosted in this tree between bouts of feeding

Black-throated Thrush

Plenty of Cotoneaster berries to keep it well fed

As for the speccy sorcerer tour, it was actually pretty good. It's where they made the movies and a lot of the original sets and props are on show, so it's more of a movie history tour, and not the theme park of my worst fears. Yes the queueing was a pain and the whole over-priced food/merch thing was a bit much, but thankfully the children are now old enough to be capable of leaving such places without pestering us into shelling out thirty quid each for a plastic wand. This also meant I could afford the Whipsnade entry fee (with 10% discount for booking online, if you're thinking of going).

A single Redwing kept company with the Black-throated Thrush

Normally a shy species, it was a bonus to see this one so well

Redwing feeding on Cotoneaster

So a good double-attraction day with something for all the family. It's been a while since I enjoyed point blank views of a photogenic top rarity, and with only a handful of birders present, and plenty of opportunities to point out the Thrush and explain the mysteries of migration to passers-by, it was a satisfying experience all round.

The Dursleys from the Harry Potter films. But fans of Withnail and I will know what I mean when I say I can't see this guy without thinking 'Monty, you terrible ****'!

Winter on the wing

I'm not a huge fan of rugby, but I do love the Six Nations. I went to a grammar school where the games master was sadistically fond of the game, to the extent that when, after a rare football match enabled me to show a turn of pace and score a couple of decent goals, instead of letting me start a team, he said he wanted to see me run down the wing like that in rugby.

Golden Plover, Maiden Castle

I was able to photograph these birds from the car window, using the car as a hide

Momentarily inspired, at the next available training opportunity I gave it a shot, regaining consciousness a few minutes later with a mouth full of dirt and the fat kid who had pummelled my head into the turf laughing over me. Thus ended a glittering rugby career, forsaken thereafter for cross-country, known in our school as 'the smoker's sport'.

Fieldfare near Wareham

Part of a large flock of winter thrushes

A wonder then that I look forward to the Six Nations at all, though in truth I do so not just for the sport but for what it signifies about the time of year: when the championship starts, it's still winter, and by the time it comes to a climax, spring will be underway. Here I am uploading photos of wintering thrushes, and by the time it's over, I fully expect to be posting images of the first migrant Wheatears of the year to hit the Dorset coast.

Fieldfare is often accompanied by...

...Redwing

Back-to-back bouts of man flu have curtailed my outdoor exploits of late, so it was good to curl up in front of the TV yesterday and watch the games, but today I felt well enough to drive to a few local spots which I knew would provide some opportunities to do a bit of birding and photography from the warmth and comfort of the car.

Robin

A look back at the beast

In the excitement of blogging about patch Hawfinches, I almost forgot to recount everything else I saw during the cold snap in the Swineham/Wareham area a couple of weekends ago. In truth, there was nothing spectacular, but plenty of common or scarce species were turning up in unusual locations, some surprisingly easy to see as the harsh conditions forced them into gardens or otherwise into the open in the search for sustenance. The highlights were a Firecrest in my postage stamp of a town centre garden, and an icicle-clad Spoonbill on the main gravel pit at Swineham. Sadly, two of this last species were found dead in recent days in Dorset: one had presumably succumbed to the cold, the other, which had two broken legs, was thought possibly to have snapped them trying to free itself from ice. An illustration of the harsh impacts of the freeze which, judging by the death toll chronicled on social media, befell many individual birds over the course of a few days. And a reminder to put some food out for the garden birds if the coming weekend's forecast of snow materialises.

Adult Spoonbill - I have never seen one with icicles on the breast feathers.

Black-tailed Godwit, one of several hundred on the frozen fields at Bestwall.

A few dozen Curlew were also present.

Fieldfares were in the gardens of Wareham.

Redwings were everywhere, including my town centre garden and this one in the town's churchyard.

Blackbirds were among the other thrushes in the churchyard.

Normally shy Song Thrushes seemed unusually bold in the cold.

Not a great view of a Water Rail - but any view is a good view in the thick reeds at Bestwall. This was one of three of this species out in the open.

This was the only reasonably sharp photograph of the Firecrest in my garden I could manage, snatched through foggy glass with shaking hands!

The first time I have seen ice floes coming up the River Frome!

Swineham Point inundated by a very high tide - Redshanks, Skylarks, Meadow and Rock Pipits were attempting to feed on the ice here.



Within hours of the last snowflake, the onset of spring seemed to resume: temperatures were back up to double figures and this Dunnock was belting out song as if to declare it had survived the harsh conditions.

Finch finding

I mentioned recently that the Hawfinch invasion was in danger of passing me by - I finally caught up with one last weekend on a visit to friends in Kent but had still yet to see one at home in Dorset, so I set out this morning with the aim of doing just that. Several sites seem to be holding Hawfinch since they arrived but Bonsley Wood near Blandford Forum sounded like one of the most reliable so I headed there. I bumped into one of these chunky, short-tailed birds before I got to the main wood, a few more whilst there, and even more on the way back, confirming the impression formed from recent reports that they can be seen just about anywhere in suitable habitat at the moment. Brambling, Redpoll and Bullfinch were also in the wood, an enjoyable couple of hours in a location I hadn't checked out before.

Hawfinch, Bonsley Wood

This head-on view shows the bulk of a Hawfinch bill

Side view of the impressive bill

The best flight shot I could manage - note the curled tips to the primaries can just be seen on the edge of the folded wing

A few Brambling were in with the Chaffinch flock in Bonsley Wood

Grey Wagtail, Bonsley Wood

Bullfinch last weekend at Sissinghurst in Kent

Fieldfare, Sissinghurst, Kent

Fieldfare, Sissinghurst

Mistle Thrush in Yew at Igtham Mote, Kent

Redwing, Sissinghurst

Nuthatch, Sissinghurst