My World Of Wildlife

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! It's been a while since I last posted on here, but now that I've got some spare time, as its the holidays, I thought I'd write a summary of this year. 2018 has been a quieter year for me although a few events such as The People's Walk for Wildlife really stand out. January January started off well with a visit to Pulborough Brooks, where I managed to see 32 species on the 1st including a lifer of Whooper Swan and Barnacle Goose. I finally got round to joining Sussex Ornithological Society and attended their annual conference and after 3 attempts saw my first Hawfinch during the invasion we had of them. I also was pleased to have 3 photos of mine shortlisted in the young bird photographer of the year. February  I was lucky enough to write an article for the brilliant New Nature magazine on one of my favourite nature reserves, Pagham Harbour. Also I went to Cuckmere Haven and had a good day of birding, seeing a Pere...

It's surprising how quickly the species of birds can change throughout the seasons. I haven't been birding in a few weeks now and when I arrived at Pagham Harbour nature reserve on Monday, after walking down to the start of the mudflats I was greeted with flocks of Wigeon and Teal, a real sign of the ever-approaching Winter.  In the distance I just could about make out a flock of Avocet and Lapwing, flying back and forth. Walking back, I stopped off at the Ferry Pool hide, looking over the water, there were lots of Shelduck that were joined by more Wigeon and Teal. I could just about hear the high-pitched call of the Goldcrest just outside the hide, although it didn't make an appearance when I waited to try and get a photo. Also on the way back, a flock of Long-Tailed Tits made their appearance known with their 'pinging' call and a charm of goldfinch tried their best to fly against the relatively strong wind. We then drove to Church Norton and sat on the beach f...

It's less than a week till the People's Walk for Wildlife in Hyde Park, London, led by Chris Packham. I will be attending for lots of different reasons, not only can we raise awareness for the many environmental issues that are affecting wildlife but we can catch the governments attention which could result in some much-needed action being taken. I'm going because I care about the massive declines in birds, mammals, insects and more in this country and I can't wait to walk with people who share the same passion as me. This time 6 years ago I attended a talk by one of my inspirations, Chris Packham, and back then I could never have imagined knowing so many young people who love wildlife as much as I do and are striving to make sure our country is thriving with wildlife for future generations to enjoy. Chris Packham and a 10 year old me! 6 years ago, when I became really interested in wildlife I thought I was one of the only young people who cared but now I will b...

On Wednesday I made the 2 hour train journey down to Romsey in Hampshire to meet up with Tom Saunders (@TommySaunders19) and walk around Fishlake Meadows nature reserve. After a short walk from the train station we made it to a viewpoint which looks over the lake. Fishlake Meadows From the viewpoint we could see a great crested grebe with chicks, greylag and canada geese and lots of hirundines. Then an adult hobby appeared in the distance, gracefully swooping in the air as it attempted to catch insects in flight. A few minutes later a huge white bird flew towards us and as it got closer it was clear it was a great white egret. (©️Tom Saunders) We then walked along the canal path and to our surprise a nightingale flew into some vegetation in front of us, giving brief views before disappearing. Further along the path, a kingfisher dived into the reeds and we could hear the squealing call of a water rail. Also we spotted a cormorant as it flew down onto the lake as well as...

Ringing at Knepp On Sunday I got up early, at 4:45, to go to Knepp estate for some ringing. After getting a lift with James McCulloch we arrived and walked to the site which was mainly scrub. The mist nets had already been set up and we could see lots and lots of birds in one of the nets. On the first net round we had a grasshopper warbler, a lifer for me which I wasn't expecting! Although I didn't get to ring it, it was amazing to see such a elusive bird so close up and be able to have a look at it in the hand. Grasshopper Warbler We also caught two linnet, lots of whitethroat and lesser whitethroat. On the next net round a big flock of blue, great and long-tailed tit flew into one of the nets and after a lot of extracting we started to ring them all. Quite a few willow warblers and chiffchaffs were also caught. On one of the last net rounds it was nice to be able to ring a sedge warbler, my first of the year.  Sedge Warbler Later on in the morning a grou...

On Saturday I woke up early to go to Cissbury ring in Findon, West Sussex for a bird ringing session, my first in over a month. Arriving at around 6 I walked down the path to the site which is adjacent to farmland. Skylarks were singing, but the yellowhammers song was the loudest and a beautiful male was perched at the very top of the hedgerow. After setting all the nets up and after a few net rounds, we were off to a good start, with quite a few birds being caught including this brightly coloured greenfinch. Later on in the morning we caught a young great tit, robins, more greenfinches including a juvenile, whitethroats, young blackcaps, a treecreeper and the first lesser whitethroat of the year. It was interesting to see birds that were starting to moult and one that had finished moulting already.  Lesser whitethroat Robin Treecreeper It was nice to have a ringing tick of a woodpigeon, which aren't the nicest birds to ring as they are surprisingly strong...

Last weekend (25th-27th May) was BTO Bird Camp, sponsored by the Cameron Bespolka Trust, based at the Nunnery in Thetford, Norfolk. The tents set out on the lawn Friday After having my final English literature exam and doing some last minute packing I was very grateful to be able to get a lift to the BTO headquarters with James (@My_Wild_Life). After 4 hours of travelling, due to the traffic, we finally arrived. The majority of people were already there, so it was great to be able to meet everyone I knew and had talked to over social media. After having dinner outside we headed into the nunnery, had an introduction about the weekend and learnt a bit about the Cameron Bespolka Trust. We were then put into small groups and were given cards of birds that needed to be matched up with their names. Also they had to be separated into species where the males and females had different or the same plumage. Our group did pretty well! Next, we were given envelopes that contained pieces o...