CALUMET PHOTOGRAPHY WASTE OF SPACE !!
I don't like dissing companies but Calumet have got my mad up. I ordered and paid for a Canon Speedlite with them and was given a next day delivery promise. I waited 1 week without any notification from Calumet so phoned them, I was told that the one they were going to send was damaged so they had sourced one at their Belfast branch and IT WAS ON ITS WAY and would be with me within the next few days. I waited another week again without any notification from Calumet so had to phone them AGAIN ! This time I'm told that that speedlite is no longer available and they are waiting for the new version to be brought out, and I would have to pay the difference if I wanted this version. They had no recollection of the tale of the Belfast speedlite winging its way to me! Just out of curiosity I checked the website and they were STILL taking orders and payment for the old version knowing full well they cannot get hold of them, what they are doing is trying to tie you in to committing to paying for an order then they hope you will pay the extra for the new version WHAT A BUNCH OF SHYSTERS !!!

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RE-WILDING BRITIAN ?

Some months ago I saw a BBC program that outlined an organisation/charity under the umbrella of Friends of the Earth that are in the process of setting up calling themselves Re-wilding Britain, their aim is just that, to re-wild remote areas of Britain with species such as Lynx and Wolves even Pelican and Sturgeon, but could it work? As a basis for their arguments they cite the reintroduction of Wolves to the Yellowstone National Park in the US, and it is a very impressive study.

In 1995 after being absent for 70 years, Wolves were reintroduced to the park amid a deluge of protests not only from farmers but also some naturalist claiming they would devastate the parks ecosystem. The parks Deer population, without a major predator to keep it in check, had exploded which lead to overgrazing of the valley floors, when the Wolves arrived the Deer were forced up the valley sides into more wooded areas for safety. Without Deer nibbling shoots the valley floors soon regenerated with Aspen, Cottonwood and shrubs, this in turn lead to an increase in songbirds and Beaver. The dams the Beaver created provided habitat for even more species to colonise such as Otter, muskrat and amphibians. The Wolves reduced the large numbers of Coyotes in the park which had the knock-on effect of increasing the populations of Rabbits, Mice and Voles the Coyotes main food source. This increased food source now helped to boost the numbers of Foxes, Badgers, Weasels, Owls and Birds of prey.

Now here’s the really astonishing aspect the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park had... they actually changed the behaviour of the rivers! Studies have shown that because Deer were no longer grazing the shoots of trees and shrubs the river banks became more stable as the roots took hold so reducing erosion, in some areas they stopped meandering and became faster flowing. So the Wolves not only significantly transformed the ecosystem they even affected the physical environment of the park.

The question is could it happen in the UK? Is Re-wilding Britain being too ambitious? Although I would love to see Wolves and Lynx roaming our countryside I unfortunately don’t think it can or will ever happen. Indeed the recent  reintroductions of Beaver is causing controversy, Eagle Owls nesting in Northern England is another contentious issue and for the first time Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean are more likely to be the cause of a traffic accident than Deer. We quite simply haven’t got enough room on this tiny overcrowded island, what little is left after farming, industry and housing provides us with a few small nature reserves. The only lands available and large enough to sustain apex predators are the Scottish Highlands and moorlands of Northern England, and they are already possessed by large landowners with very lucrative shooting rights. The last thing they want on their land is a predator thinning out their Deer herds or devouring their Red Grouse, as is very evident by their massacre of Hen Harriers each year. I may sound overly pessimistic but to put things into perspective Yellowstone National Park is huge, it covers 3,472 square miles which is about ½ the size of Wales, I just cannot see a time when any government or individual would give over that amount of land to wildlife, simple as that.

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Makasutu Forest, Gambia. Bird Sightings.

Before a visit to Makasutu Forest and Mandina Bolon in mid-April 2014 we searched the internet for a list of possible sightings in this area, even e-mailing Clive Barlow co-author of the Helm field Guide to Gambia but to no avail. So I have listed here what we saw with our local guide on our 7 day visit in the forest, river, mangroves and mudflats, for anyone in the same boat as we were.

Local Guide :- Amadou Bojang. e-mail :- ams-sss_@hotmail.com

16th-23^rd April. Clear skies, Temperature highs 33-37 degrees.

A, Darter
A, Golden Oriole

A, Harrier Hawk

A, Thrush

Babbler – Blackcap

Babbler – Brown

Bearded Barbet

Bee-eater – Swallow-tailed

Bee-eater – White-throated

Black Crake

Black Kite

Black-crowned Tchagra

Bronze Manakin

Caspian Tern

Common Bulbul

Common Wattle-eye

Cormorant – Great

Cormorant – Long-tailed

Dove – Black-billed Wood

Dove – Blue-spotted Wood

Dove – Laughing

Dove – A, Mourning

Dove – Namaqua

Dove – Red-eyed

Dove – Vinaceous

Eagle – Long-crested

Eagle – Short-toed (over)
Egret - Black

Egret – Cattle

Egret – Great

Egret – Intermediate

Egret – Little

Fanti Saw-Wing

Flycatcher – A, Paradise

Flycatcher – Red-breasted Paradise

Fork-tailed Drongo

Francolin – Ahanta

Francolin – Double-spurred

Green Wood Hoopoe

Green-backed Eremomelea

Grey Kestrel

Grey-headed Sparrow

Heron – Goliath

Heron – Grey

Heron – Purple

Heron – Striated

Heron – Western Reef

Hornbill – A, Grey

Hornbill – A, Pied

Hornbill – Red-billed

Kingfisher – Blue-breasted

Kingfisher – Giant

Kingfisher – Malachite

Kingfisher – Pied

Kingfisher – A, Pygmy

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Lizzard Buzzard

Northern Crombec
Northern Puffback

Oriole Warbler

Osprey

Pelican – Great White

Pelican – Pink-backed

Piac piac

Pigeon – A, Green

Pigeon – Speckled

Plover – Grey

Plover – Little Ringed

Plover – Spur-winged

Plover – Wattled

Red-billed Firefinch

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

Redshank

Roller – Abyssinian

Roller – Blue-bellied

Roller – Broad-billed

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Sacred Ibis
Sandpiper - Green
Sandpiper - Common

Senegal Batis

Senegal Coucal

Senegal Parrot

Senegal Thick-knee

Shikra

Shrike – Sulphur-breasted Bush

Shrike – White-crested Helmet

Shrike – Yellow-billed

Singing Cisticola

Snowy-crowned Robin Chat

Starling – Lesser Blue-eared Glossy

Starling – Long-tailed Glossy

Starling – Purple Glossy

Starling – Violet-backed

Stone Partridge

Sunbird – Beautiful

Sunbird – Collared

Sunbird – Copper

Sunbird – Green-headed

Sunbird – Mouse-brown

Sunbird – Scarlet-chested

Sunbird – Splendid

Swallow – Pied-winged

Swallow – Red-chested

Swallow – Wire-tailed

Swift – Little

Swift – Mottled

Swift – Palm

Swift – White-rumped

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Turaco – Green

Turaco – Violet

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl

Village Indigobird

Vulture – Hooded

Vulture – Palm-nut

Waxbill – Lavender

Waxbill – Orange-cheeked

Weaver – Black-necked

Weaver – Village

Western Grey Plantain-eater

Whimbrel

White-crowned Robin Chat

Woodpecker – Fine-spotted

Woodpecker – Grey

Yellow-breasted Apalis

Yellow-crowned Gonolek

Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

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Humble House Sparrows

Our humble House Sparrows have not always lived in such close proximity to us in our urban sprawls. They used to be countryside and farmyard seed eating birds, indeed if your lucky, and know where to look, you can still find their much scarcer cousins the Tree Sparrow predominantly in countryside hedgerows. And even today you can still find large flocks of House Sparrows inhabiting farmyards and stables where they survive by eating spilled grain and animal feeds.

It was during our own social-economic lifestyle change from agricultural to industrial that brought Sparrows into our towns and cities, as they followed the movement of the population from the countryside.

House Sparrows live a communal existence with a dominant male at the head. During the breeding season the male Sparrows pecking order can be defined by the size of his black bib, which can only be found on the male bird. The larger the bib the more dominant the male.

House Sparrows were once considered as pests and culled whenever possible, in the 1860’s the Sussex village of Rudgwick recorded a cull of 5,321 Sparrows killed during the year, the local press of the day making special note of an ever vigilant Mr W Wooberry bagging 1,363 alone.

How times have changed, there is now a well recorded decline in the numbers of urban House Sparrows of late, and many “experts” have put forward many differing theories on what they think is the cause. But the simple answer is, as yet, nobody knows.

Dominant male House Sparrow showing his large black bib.

Female House Sparrow.

Tree Sparrow

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Clever Kestrels.

The Common Kestrel, our most common bird of prey, are seen regularly by most people hovering alongside our motorways in search of their favourite foods, Bank Voles, Shrews and Mice but they will also take almost anything from beetles and worms to a Dragonfly. But a Kestrels hunting technique would seem a hit and miss affair to many people who think Kestrels just hang there in the air waiting for an unlucky Bank Vole to amble along right underneath for the Kestrel to pounce upon. The truth is much more interesting.

Most small mammals like to use familiar hidden trails and tracks through the undergrowth and long grass; they are also incontinent leaving constant urine trails along these paths. As everyone knows a hawks eyesight is very impressive, but Kestrels have an added bonus, their eyesight is more attuned to the ultra violet end of the colour spectrum, and urine shows up bright yellow under ultra violet light, so those hidden trails now stand out as bright yellow paths through the vegetation to our Kestrel. So in effect a Kestrel is not just prospecting for food when you see him hovering, he’s waiting directly over one of the mammal’s favourite hidden tracks just waiting for one to pass underneath.

In answer to a question over a viewers sighting of a bird of prey hovering on Springwatch a couple of years ago Bill Oddie replied that “If its hovering it’s a Kestrel” This answer could be misleading as I personally have seen Sparrowhawks and Buzzards hovering, although the Sparrowhawk doesn’t hover for as long and the Buzzard is a much larger bird, Bill’s answer was not quite as cut and dried as it may seem.

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Wheatear Family

For some time now I have been trying to get a good shot of a male Northern Wheatear a bird which I consider to be very striking when in full breeding plumage, which we a lucky enough to see at this time of year. And so this year I have made a concerted effort, I was lucky and in the process even managed to get some good shots of a female and a fledgling.

Europe can boast 13 different species of Wheatear some resident and others rare and not so rare visitors. But the only species we get as a regular summer visitor in this country is the Northern Wheatear when it comes to breed during the summer months.  It usually breeds in stony areas such as the uplands of the Pennines, Snowdonia Cumbria, Scotland, etc but can also be found along the coasts. During migration times, spring and autumn, we can also get Northern Wheatears passing through from Greenland and even Canada on their way to and from North Africa where they spend the winter months.

Male Wheatear

Female Wheatear

Fledgling Wheatear

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Changing face of Starlings.

I feel Starlings are a bird that is much overlooked. They're probably best know for their swirlling flocks swarming across our skies in winter, when we get large numbers arriving from the northern parts of the European continent. There are many different kinds of Starling around the world and they can be some of the most colourful birds you could wish to see. Europe hold just 3 species, the Common Starling (native to the UK and mainland Europe), the Spotless Starling (native to Iberia and the islands of the western Mediterranean) and the Rose-coloured Starling which can be seen in the far east of the continent in the summer months. The Common Starling is not as plain as most people think, with iridescent plumage and arrow head spots they can, in the right light, be very interesting. Starlings also subtlety change their  plumage over the year, in the winter they replace feathers worn out during the breeding season, in spring the beak colour changes from black to yellow then after breeding the beak turns back to black and the feathers are showing signs of needing replacement as the birds have not been able to keep up with cleaning and preening their feathers having been kept extremely busy feeding chicks at the nest.

Late winter bird with fresh plumage but still keeping its black beak.

Pre-breeding bird with fresh plumage and the beak starting to turn yellow.

Post breeding bird with worn plumage and beak turned back to black.

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