Birdwatch October 2018

Yet again our birdwatcher Steve Jones reports lower numbers of species sighted than might be expected.

Group of Starlings Group of Starlings Photo: Steve Jones

Once again October has been quiet in the numbers of birds about and new species passing through.

I was swimming most mornings at Soline/Vrboska and, as reported last month, on October 2nd I saw five common cranes passing over. For two weeks there was a regular Kingfisher visiting at Soline, and during the early part of October I was seeing regular Swallows and Swifts, seeing my last Swift on October 10th.

At the beginning of the month the Blackcaps were most prominent by sound and if you were lucky enough you might see one before it went into the undergrowth.

Female Blackcap. Photo: Steve Jones

Here are examples of female (brown cap, pictured above) and the male (pictured below).

Male Blackcap. Photo: Steve Jones

There was also the odd Wheatear, sometimes on the airfield but this was taken in Dol near the Sv Ana church.

Wheatear. Photo: Steve Jones

As we approached mid October you probably noticed that Robins were starting to sing and they took over as being the most prominent bird. At much the same time we had several Stonechats arrive. As I see them in most Winter months I think that the odd one or two overwinter here although the bulk would move on.

Stonechat. Photo: Steve Jones

In mid-October you also see more activity from birds of prey. I was seeing regular Sparrowhawk and Buzzards, and I managed a poor shot of a Kestrel near the airfield on the October 13th.

Kestrel. Photo: Steve Jones

On October 23rd I saw three Lapwings, I often see them in the Spring but this was the first time I have seen them in October. On the same day saw my first returning Black Redstart and since then several are appearing all over now. Many will over winter here and leave in around March or April next year. These are pretty nondescript in the Winter and they don’t start colouring up until the Spring, try as I might I have yet to capture one on camera in breeding plumage. In the picture you can just make out the orange tail feathers. They will be often seen on buildings or walls, characteristically bobbing.

Lapwing. Photo: Steve Jones

I was also beginning to see bigger flocks of finches. Mainly Chaffinch with a few Serin amongst them. What was interesting (although it may have been a bit early) was that I didn't see one Goldfinch this Autumn. I kept expecting to get more sightings of birds round and about, with the fine weather conditions, but there was next to nothing. 

Starlings flock. Photo: Steve Jones

The most interesting thing for me this month was the arrival of Starlings. It is a common and fantastic sight in the UK when they come into roost in the evening in huge numbers. In mid-month I saw one Starling which I would not be surprised by, then 30+ a few days later. These numbers have been slowly building and I did a rough count of about 150 on October 31st. What makes this really interesting for me is that I have not picked up on these birds coming back through in the Autumn in previous years. It would be nice to find out where they are roosting at dusk ……………….. more work required in November!!

Starlings in trees. Photo: Steve Jones

© Steve Jones 2018

For more of Steve's nature pictures, see his personal pages: Bird Pictures on Hvar 2017Bird Pictures and Sightings on Hvar 2018, and Butterflies of Hvar

 

Nalazite se ovdje: Home Novosti iz prirode Birdwatch October 2018

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Regulator and government accused of colluding with water industry to dump potentially toxic waste without oversight

    An Environment Agency (EA) insider has broken ranks to expose what they describe as a “deliberate and ongoing cover-up” of the public health and environmental dangers of spreading sewage sludge on farmland.

    They accuse the regulator and government of colluding with water companies for years to facilitate the dumping of waste under the guise of soil enrichment – without oversight, transparency or testing.

    Continue reading...

  • Mass lobby in Westminster is kicked off with giant image on cliffs of Dover stating ‘89% of people want climate action’

    More than 5,000 people from across the UK arrived in Westminster on Wednesday to meet their MPs and demand urgent climate action to protect their communities.

    The mass lobby is one of the largest to date. The constituents, including parents and pensioners, doctors, teachers, farmers and youth campaigners, have arranged to lobby at least 500 MPs, about 80% of the total.

    Continue reading...

  • Heat caused 2,300 deaths across 12 cities, of which 1,500 were down to climate crisis, scientists say

    Planet-heating pollution tripled the death toll from the “quietly devastating” heatwave that seared Europe at the end of June, early analysis covering a dozen cities has found, as experts warned of a worsening health crisis that is being overlooked.

    Scientists estimate that high heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across Europe between 23 June and 2 July. They attributed 1,500 of the deaths to climate breakdown, which has heated the planet and made the worst extremes even hotter.

    Continue reading...

  • Dr Tim Gregory argues that nuclear power is safe, relatively cheap and the only realistic route to achieving net zero targets

    Dr Tim Gregory is a nuclear evangelist. A chemist who works in the labs of Sellafield, Britain’s oldest nuclear site, he argues that embracing nuclear energy is the only way to achieve net zero.

    He tells Helen Pidd it is an energy source long misunderstood – unfairly tainted by the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. It is a safe technology, he says, and despite the billions it costs to build nuclear plants, it represents good value for money.

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: Defra warned three years ago of farmland contamination by water firms’ sewage-derived product

    Government ministers have ignored Environment Agency pleas to tighten rules on the use of sludge fertiliser for three years, despite the regulator having said that water company attitudes towards the substance are “akin to fly-tipping on to agricultural land”, it can be revealed.

    Sludge, sometimes referred to as biosolids, is a byproduct of the sewage treatment process that is sold by water companies to farmers as a low-cost fertiliser.

    Continue reading...

  • Thousands of people are killed each year by floods – and climate breakdown is making them more likely

    Deluges of water are washing away people, homes and livelihoods as extreme rains make rivers burst their banks and high seas help send storm tides surging over coastal walls. How dangerous is flooding – and what can we do to keep ourselves safe?

    Continue reading...

  • Sharpenhoe Clappers, Bedfordshire: The chimney sweeper moths are keeping a low profile, while others are putting on a display

    As we swelter through the meadow, our heat-loving companions bask on knapweed and field scabious, stirring every few seconds to chase off rivals or woo potential mates. The dark green fritillaries and feisty marbled whites command our attention with their dramatic and intricate wing markings, while small heaths, skippers, ringlets and meadow browns provide the butterfly chorus.

    Distracted by the razzle-dazzle, I’ve forgotten that we’re hunting for a sooty anomaly in the summer meadow. With its penchant for flying in bright sunshine, the chimney sweeper could be mistaken for a butterfly, but is, in fact, a day-flying moth. It’s one of about 130 macro-moths in the UK that take to the wing during daylight hours, more than twice the number of butterfly species. Many exhibit vivid colouration or striking patterns, such as the cinnabar, emperor, scarlet tiger or hornet moths. In contrast, the chimney sweeper has no patterning on its black body save for a white margin on the forewings, and it keeps a low profile, alighting on grass stems or making short flights around the white umbel flowers of pignut, its larval food plant. Today, its profile is so low that we fail to see it at all.

    Continue reading...

  • With less congestion, less carbon pollution, less accidents, could it be a model for other US cities? Six months in, environmentalists say yes

    It has faced threats and lawsuits and even had its death proclaimed by Donald Trump as he startlingly depicted himself as a king in a social media post. But New York City’s congestion charge scheme for cars has now survived its first six months, producing perhaps the fastest ever environmental improvement from any policy in US history.

    New York vaulted into a global group of cities – such as London, Singapore and Stockholm – that charge cars for entering their traffic-clogged metropolitan hearts but also ushered in a measure that was unknown to Americans and initially unpopular with commuters, and was confronted by a new Trump administration determined to tear it down.

    Continue reading...

  • Exploring the magical landscape that inspired Narnia and stars as a location in Game of Thrones – just an hour outside of Belfast

    Where is the finest mountain panorama in the UK? As a nine-year-old I was taken up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and told it was the best. Even in those days, it was a struggle to see much except the backs of other people. The following summer Scafell Pike got the same treatment and the next year we climbed Ben Nevis. I disagreed on all counts. For me, Thorpe Cloud in Dovedale was unbeatable, despite it being under a thousand feet tall. What convinced me was the diminutive Derbyshire peak’s shape: a proper pointy summit with clear space all around, plus grassy slopes that you could roll down. The champion trio could not compare.

    This panorama question is in my mind as I begin hiking up Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland’s highest peak (at 850 metres), but a mountain often forgotten by those listing their UK hiking achievements. And a proper peak it is too, with a great sweeping drop to the sea and loads of space all around, guaranteeing, I reckon, a view to beat its more famous rivals.

    Continue reading...

  • Shanxi produces more coal than India. How will it survive in China’s clean energy future?

    Deep in the recesses of an underground cavern, covered in dust and soot, Xu Xiaobo wondered why, having recently graduated with a degree in mechanics, he was on his hands and knees sifting through layers of coal sludge. But there was no time to ponder the ancestral forces that had brought him down into one of his province’s oldest mines. There was coal to dig for.

    New to the job, keeping up with colleagues was challenging. As he tried to crawl at speed under a conveyor belt of coal, he landed badly and sprained his wrist. He still can’t rotate it properly.

    Continue reading...

Novosti: Cybermed.hr

Novosti: Biologija.com

Izvor nije pronađen