A number of recent survey jobs have required me to undertake nocturnal surveys in order to check for the presence of flocks of nocturnally active bird species such as owls or feeding flocks of Lapwing, Golden Plover and other waders. Such work is aided by the use of thermal imager. I've been using a Helion 2 XP50 Pro thermal imaging monocular and have been thoroughly impressed by this excellent piece of kit. So, here are just a few images taken with the XP50.
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So, it has been quite a while since I've blogged here, but in the last post I was signposting the fact that I hoped to make my birding greener. In the intervening period I have been extremely busy with professional survey work, which due to the need to be at often obscure locations at or around dawn is usually not compatible with a low carbon mode of transport. However, reducing the carbon footprint of my recreational birding has been something I have been aspiring to achieve over the past three years or so. In order to provide some incentive to achieve this, I have been keeping a 'green' or 'shank-cycle' (on foot / pushbike) year list since 2020. I do still use the car for some recreational birding, but the twitching has mostly lapsed and on the rare occasions I stray from the Scarborough area to see rare or scarce species, it is still undertaken mostly fairly locally. I'm also trying to use public transport if practical and not too costly. For example the long-staying Red-tailed Shrike at Bempton in July/August was easily accessible by rail and I enjoyed my visit to see it in early August. Birding by foot and by bike ended up with a reasonable total of 155 species in 2023. Up on totals of 150 in 2020 and a paltry 111 in 2021 (work and a very poor autumn locally to blame for such a poor total!). At the time of writing in 2023, the 'shank-cycle' list has only just breached 50, so its been a slow start!
I am lucky in being able to walk / cycle to good sea-watching / visible migration spots and places to search for migrant passerines. In addition the bike can get me to locations where a good variety of woodland species can be found and the lakes at Wykeham. 2022 highlights included Great Northern Diver, Sooty and Manx Shearwaters, Common Crane, Long-tailed, Arctic and Great Skuas, Waxwing, Black Redstart, Grasshopper and Yellow-browed Warblers and Pied Flycatcher. In 2022, I also tracked birds I had seen using public transport to bring a combined 'shank-cycle / public transport' total of 162, with a trip to Norfolk by train and birding sites accessed by bus adding Wood Lark and the Snettisham Great Reed Warbler amongst at range of other otherwise difficult species for me to see using the 'shank-cycle' options. In reality it ought to be possible to crack 180 or more if I were a little more focussed. Over 200 species are regularly seen by individual keen birders in the Scarborough area each year. So surely a total closer to that should be achievable? For me, as a not exactly fit 50something, the idea of getting on the bike or walking that half hour to get to see something, is not always appealing. Poor weather, busy roads, steep hills are all disincentives to take the greenest option. Buses aren't usually convenient for my most regular birding spots. As a result the car does still get used. However, greening my birding is something I will continue to work on in 2023! |
AuthorFreelance ornithologist and tour leader based in Scarborough, N Yorkshire. Archives
January 2023
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