Rome

Just back from Rome, were I spend the last three days seeing a lot of great architecture. Sadly, didn't really have any time to check some Roman birds. However there was one amazing phenomenon I witnessed in person for the first time - a massive Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) roost - all along the river Tiber in the evenings.

There were surely a few million of these birds and as they gathered for the night a large part of the city stung of fresh bird dropping.
Sadly because of my position while this was happening I didn't manage to get any decent snaps of them in cloud formations. What a sight that was! Check out a you tube video that someone has posted about the same from Rome - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadP3w7vkJA

The only other bird that I managed to watch for a while was the Hooded crow (Corvus cornix)
Snapped above walking in the ancient Roman forum.

Starlings in the Park

Snapped these Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Hyde Park earlier today.


These birds look black at a distance but you you seen them closer they are very glossy with a sheen of purples and greens as seen in the snap above.

Battersea park

Spend a few nice and sunny hours in the Battersea park today.
And saw some very common birds at the lake.. however, common birds are better than no birds
: )

Here's a few snapsI've never seen so many Coots (Fulica atra) in one pond.. especially given the fact they are quiet aggressive - territorial birds

And check the Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Check the feet of the Moorhen... It looks like a reptile's feet..

Gatekeeper

Here's 3 snaps of a female Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) shot in South-East London this morning.

Minsmere Nature Reserve

Went on my second trip with RSPB today to Minsmere Nature Reserve along the coast in Suffolk.

It was a great day of birding for everyone!

Soon after reaching the reserve I was greeted by the brilliant sight of this hovering Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus).

And that I made by way to the coast thru the lowland wet grassland,

and along the beach to one of the hides overlooking a great wetland surrounded by reed beds. The first bird to catch my eye as I entered the hide was a black bird walking along the edge of the water - a good look thru the binoculars revealed a Spotted redshank (Tringa erythropus) in summer plumage.

The water body had a few small mounts of sand popping out of it making small islands. These were full of birds especially Gulls and Terns. In fact there was a lot of Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) busy feeding their chicks.
Here's a few snaps of the many species and sights I saw today -

A Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) with a Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) in the background.



The strange billed yet elegant Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) was in force, lots of them were seen today.
Yet another Common Tern (Sterna hirundo).

A Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) showed us the way forward!


An Oystercatcher(Haematopus ostralegus) and a Lapwing(Vanellus vanellus) shared an island.

After viewing the main water body from all the hides around it and also having caught a fleeting glimpse of the elusive Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) I made my way back to the coach taking me back to London.

On my way out of the reserve I spend around half an hour watching some common garden birds feeding off the bird feeders fixed next to the ticket office/ shop of Mismere.

There I saw these fellows flying off!!!

In all I saw 47 species - 5 of which were lifers!! : )

Blue

Went for a peaceful walk at a cemetery in South London this morning and saw quiet a few birds and butterflies there.

Managed to make a few snaps of a female Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) just before the camera died out on me.

A Monday Afternoon at St James' Park

Clicked this earlier today at St James' Park here in London.
It was beautiful sunny day and there were loads of people making the most out of it.

I really like the above snap because it reminds me of the paintings of French Neo-impressionist - Georges Seurat.

Especially his painting titled - "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (attached below)

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte Georges Seurat, 1884–1886

A few garden birds from Cambridge (UK)

Just back from Cambridge... Went for a quick day trip to check out some the city and some architecture there. While there sneaked in a few minutes of bird watching here and there in the nice gardens and parks of the colleges.

The most noteworthy catch of the day was the amazingly entertaining and cute -
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

A few more snaps of the same...


The most amazing aspect of the city for me was it's amazing trees. It's always great to visit a place with nice old trees : )

After being entertained by the Long-tails for quiet a while a few more noisy birds from the same family caught my attention -
The Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
And the Great Tit (Parus major)

And I'll end with a snap of the city most important natural feature - the River Cam.