Whiskered Tern watching in Albufera de Valencia
Checking out the Lappish wildlife!
Moscow
PREVIOUS HIJACKERS
David LambertJohn Charman
Hello.
How's the urban birding going where you live? Over the last few months I have been receiving many emails from birders all over the world telling me about the avian happenings in their cities. It makes great reading and I'm continually surprised by the abundance of good birds in urban areas.
Whilst my News section was being hijacked I have been birding a bit further afield of my beloved local patch, Wormwood Scrubs in west London. In April, I journeyed south to Valencia in eastern Spain and in particular, birded Albufera de Valencia, a few kilometres south of the city. There were some nice spring migrants around including Black Stork, Garganey and several singing Common Nightingale. There were also good numbers of Gull-billed and Whiskered Terns, Mediterranean and Audouin's Gulls. I even discovered a displaying pair of rare Slender-billed Gulls. Valencia itself was pretty uneventful, though there were plenty of Collared Doves and Yellow-legged Gulls to watch.
Late April found me in Finnish Lapland for several days staying in a ski chalet up beyond the Arctic Circle with several women and cases of vodka and stacks of cider! It was actually a non-birdy invitation to experience Lappish culture. Unfortunately, the local birding was very disappointing - it was clear that spring had not sprung yet and my three day visit yielded just six species!
The good news is that I have been invited back to Helsinki in July - in the heat of the summer - thus there should be plenty of birds around....I hope!
Finally, in May I visited Moscow for a few days ostensively to watch the European Cup Final (Manchester United verse Chelsea) but also to explore the city's urban birding delights. Well, that was the plan. In actuality, it rained the whole time that I was there, putting paid to any thoughts of visiting 'proper' urban sites. In the end, I was restricted to a couple of mornings in a local, seemingly nameless wooded park near my hotel that was frequented by drunks, shell-suited balding, bland faced joggers and grim-looking dog walkers!
Despite appearances, it turned out to be a quite a good spot with several singing Thrush Nightingales on full view and a colony of Fieldfare - a bird that I've never seen on their breeding grounds. Willow Warbler, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Tree Sparrows were also plentiful. Aside from the glorious Thrush Nightingales, a hidden singing Golden Oriole in the pouring rain and a performing Icterine Warbler were the highlights.
Well, that's what I have been up to. If you fancy hijacking my News section to tell the world about your urban birding experiences feel free. Just email me a piece (c500 words) with a photo of yourself and I'll stick it up. Simple as that!
Keep finding those birds.
David Lindo
theurbanbirder@theurbanbirder.com