Long-toed Stint, Swillington Ings 11th October 2021

Last Friday, 8th October, an adult Long-toed Stint was identified at St. Aidan's RSPB (Swillington Ings) in West Yorkshire, by the Swillington Ings Bird Group. At first it was thought to be a Temminck's Stint, then changed to a Least Sandpiper and later that evening, after photographs had been examined, the true identity was revealed as the third UK record of Long-toed Stint.

Since the last record of Long-toed Stint was in 1982 it was pretty clear many birders would want to see this bird. I avoided the crowds over the weekend, numbering 2000 on Saturday! I played it cool & waited until today, arriving on site mid-afternoon. It was quite a long walk from the RSPB car park to Astley Lake. There was a small crowd of about forty birders on site. The bird was out of view asleep behind a Lapwing when I arrived. After about fifteen minutes it awoke and went about its business of feeding all over the small island nearest the crowd. There were only about twenty birders remaining when I departed after the Long-toed Stint flew to another muddy island further away.

Previous records:
1970 Cornwall - Marazion, 7th to 8th June
1982 Cleveland - Saltholme RSPB, juvenile, 28th August to 1st September

Video by Pete Hines

Discovery - A Sense Of Music

DISCOVERY - A SENSE OF MUSIC (320kbs-m4a/61mb/26mins)
BBC World Service broadcast: 2nd August 2021

Music can make us feel happy and sad. It can compel us to move in time with it, or sing along to a melody. It taps into some integral sense of musicality that binds us together. But music is regimented, organised. That same 'sense' that lets us lean into Beethoven makes a bad note or a missed beat instantly recognisable. But does that same thing happen in the minds of animals? Can a monkey feel moved by Mozart? Will a bird bop to a beat?

Do animals share our 'Sense of Music'?

Charles Darwin himself thought that the basic building blocks of an appreciation for music were shared across the animal kingdom. But over decades of scientific investigation, evidence for this has been vanishingly rare.

Fresh from his revelation that animals' experience of time can be vastly different to our own, in the award-winning programme 'A Sense of Time', presenter Geoff Marsh delves once more into the minds of different species. This time he explores three key aspects of musicality: rhythm, melody and emotional sensitivity.

Geoff finds rhythm is lacking in our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. But it's abundantly clear in a dancing Cockatoo, and internet sensation, named Snowball. He speaks with scientists who have revealed that birds enjoy their own music, but may be listening for something completely different to melody. And Geoff listens to music composed for tamarin monkeys, that apparently they find remarkably relaxing, but which sets us on edge.

In 'A Sense of Music', discover what happens when music meets the animal mind.

Produced by Rory Galloway
Presented by Geoff Marsh

The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed - Chris Packham

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - CHRIS PACKHAM (320kbs-m4a/116mb/51mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 4th July 2020

If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink and waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement, scratching away at a poem in the shed. As he works on The Owl and the Nightingale, any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about poetry, music, art, sheds, sherry, owls, nightingales and to throw light on some of the poem's internal themes. However, Lockdown has meant he has had to reach out to technology to find those interruptions.

Wanting to know more about the owl in the poem, Simon talks to naturalist Chris Packham, isolating in his home in the New Forest. Their conversation ranges from ornithology to Asperger syndrome, from Punk music to owl pellets and from the environment to the ability to fly.

The Poet Laureate has gone to his Shed is produced by Susan Roberts.

Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB July/August 2021

I've visited Burton Mere Wetlands a few times recently. Here's a few highlights of both bird and insect life.

Comma butterfly along the path to Bunker Hide 13th July 2021.

Gatekeeper butterfly 11th August 2021.

Common Darter (male) on path to Bunker Hide 13th August 2021.

Common Darter (female) on handrail at Border Hide 13th August 2021.

Southern Hawker (male) along path to Border Hide 13th August 2021.

Great White Egret from Reedbed Screen 14th August 2021. My best ever views!

Other birds and insects of interest seen & heard over the four visits included Green Sandpiper (3), Spotted Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Water Rail (3), Buzzard, Egyptian Goose (9), Raven (2), Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Cetti's Warbler (heard a couple of bursts of song from single bird), Great Spotted Woodpecker (2+), Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Azure Damselfly (several on one of the small pools adjacent to the new path to Border Hide), Migrant Hawker (along path to Border Hide), Speckled Wood, Small White butterflies.

Pacific Golden Plover, Frampton Marsh RSPB 10th August 2021

A Pacific Golden Plover arrived at Frampton Marsh RSPB a few weeks ago. A few days later a second bird arrived in exactly the same area of the marsh as the first bird! Both birds have been seen daily in the same area viewable from the old sea wall. There's been a few Pacific Golden Plovers about recently including one on the west coast on Anglesey at Malltraeth, with another bird still present intermittently at various sites along the north Norfolk coast. I headed over to Frampton early this morning, arriving on site mid-morning.

The map on the front of Reception proved very useful, and looking towards the sea wall I could see birders all along it, but there was a small group to the right corresponding to the Pacific Golden Plovers' location on the map, so I headed over. As I walked along the sea wall there was a birder scoping the nearest pool. Naturally, I asked him if he was watching one of the Pacific Golden Plovers, which he was. I sat down on the bank & could see the bird immediately. It was present for the whole time I was on site, sometimes disappearing briefly behind the vegatation.

The second Pacific Golden Plover was a bit further east along the sea wall (It could be seen from where we were watching the other bird). All the birders who were watching this other bird had migrated to where we were watching from, enabling them closer views than the other bird. At this point I moved along the sea wall & watched alone, except for a couple further back along the sea wall.

I did check out the reserve since I'd not been there previously. Most birds were concentrated on the pool(s) behind the main Reception includng loads of Black-tailed Godwits, Avocets, Dunlin and others. Best of all were four Little Stints (two juveniles and two adults).

Video by Pete Hines

American Golden Plover, Hoylake 8th August 2021

An American Golden Plover was found by local birder Tim Kinch at Hoylake yesterday afternoon. Once I'd managed to sort out transport this morning I headed over to Hoylake.

A first-summer and the sixth record for Cheshire & Wirral, had moved further along the beach, about 200yds west of King's Gap. There was a small group watching the bird when I arrived, so I walked the short distance along the beach to join them, The American Golden Plover was feeding voraciously about 80yds away with other waders including Dunlin & Ringed Plover. The bird was on view the whole time I was on site.

Previous records:
1987 Middlewich, juvenile, 20th to 24th October (B. Bowyer, A. G. Goodwin, D. E. Norbury).
1991 Penketh, juvenile, 13th October (A. Clarke).
2003 Leasowe/Meols, juvenile, 20th September (A. Conlin, M. G. Turner).
2009 Leasowe, 11th October (A. Conlin, P. Woollen).
2012 Hilbre, 23rd September (D. Bates, S. R. Williams, C. J. Williams); presumed same, Red Rocks, 27th September (J. E. Turner).

James And The Giant Eagle

JAMES AND THE GIANT EAGLE (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 28th June 2021

Like most small boys James Aldred loved climbing trees and now he has grown up, he's still climbing trees; helping scientists and film crews up into the canopy. When he was invited to help a wildlife team film one of the world's largest eagles in Southern Brazil, it was an offer he couldn't refuse. But what happened next was a nerve-wracking and painful encounter with one of the world's most powerful birds. Harpy Eagles have a body length of over 3ft, a wingspan of over 6ft and weigh 10-12 pounds. Their hind talons can grow up to the size of grizzly bear claws, and are used to strike their prey; monkeys, sloths and possums, which they then carry aloft. When James was asked to climb a tree, to assist with moving a camera on an eagle's nest, he found out exactly why these birds have such an awesome reputation.

Harpy Eagles are found in tropical lowland forests from southeast Mexico to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Their name is derived from the Harpies in Greek Mythology, which were ferocious winged creatures with sharp claws, a woman's face and a vulture's body.

Harpy Eagles are successful predators, owing primarily to their size and strength. They are also highly manoeuvrable fliers. They have excellent eyesight and good hearing, and are acutely observant and opportunistic birds. Taken together these attributes make for a highly impressive predator. Recordings made by James Aldred on location are combined with interviews with ornithologist Ian Newton and field biologist, Marta Curti (who has spent many years working with Harpy Eagles with The Peregrine Fund) in a programme which explores the behaviour and ecology of Harpy Eagles and what happens when a female tries to protect her young.

Producer Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.