Avocet Poem in Reach Poetry Magazine

The many supporters of Reach Poetry magazine, edited by Ronnie Goodyer of Indigo Dreams Publishing, are celebrating the arrival of the 240th issue of this well-loved monthly journal. You may like to click back to a previous post, written in 2013 for the 15th anniversary (and 180th issue) of the publication.

My poem about the iconic Avocets at RSPB Titchwell Marsh Nature Reserve in North Norfolk has been included in the 240th issue for September 2018. Despite the fact that my teenage years were spent in Norfolk, it was only when we returned to East Anglia some years ago that I was able to see these stylish birds for the first time at Minsmere, Snape, Cley and Titchwell.

David on the reserve

I took the photograph above on our first visit to Titchwell, soon after our arrival, when we were surveying the scene and getting a feel for the place. With conservation and a breeding programme in mind, an island was created for the birds in 2010. Remarkably it was soon filled with 80 Avocet nests.

'The Migrant Waders' from Dunlin Press

This is the day on which The Migrant Waders will be launched in Colchester.

This beautiful book is lavishly and exquisitely illustrated by designer Ella Johnston. You can see some of her drawings on the accompanying poster here in the Dunlin Press shop. The book, beautifully produced and edited by MW Bewick and Ella Johnston of Dunlin Press, is 'a collection of illustration, evocative prose, poetry and reportage that follows the migration routes of wading and shore birds from the high arctic to the tropics.'

One of the contributors, Samantha Franks, is a Research Ecologist with the BTO. Martin Harper is the Conservation Director of the RSPB.

My Bittern poem has been included; and in a serendipitous way, I see the RSPB have just posted a piece by Rachael Murray about this elusive bird, known more often by sound than its sighting. The Bittern, as I recall, was one of the threatened species to feature in the RSPB 'Conservation' board game that we used to play in the mid 1970s. I saw my first Bittern some thirty years later at Minsmere, and have since seen - and heard - a few more on the reserve. 

P.S. You may have found the same post on both my main blogs today. Birds and poetry seem to cover and span two key points of my (blogworld) focus. I was going to throw a link here (or over at Wild and Wonderful), but I decided it made sense to me to re-post in full.

RSPB - a poem in: a poem out

This is not a good photo, I'm afraid, but Waxwings are hard to find this year!

I have donated a hand written copy of my Waxwing poem, 'Red Letter Day, Lattice Avenue', to the RSPB in the hope that they may be able to sell it and raise some funds for wildlife. My poem was first published in 2014 in Reach Poetry (Indigo Dreams Publishing).

By the same token, we bought a hand written copy of Professor David Morley's poem about Goldcrests. I am looking forward to its arrival from the RSPB. The Society had a file of bird poems (well, wildlife in general, but mainly birds) at the Norfolk Festival of Nature. Matt Howard, RSPB Eastern Region Community Fundraiser has been coordinating the venture. Poets who have donated work include Matt Merritt, Kathleen Jamie and Heidi Williamson. Wendy Cope had given a Haiku, which I expect will find a home before long.

Puffin Quest (5): THANK YOU to all who voted!

It's those puffins again!

My sincere thanks to all who voted for my puffin poem, 'A Chink in the Sky' in the Writelink Spring Fever poetry competition. I am pleased to report that it made the 'grade for publication' in the anthology in the judge's eyes by the skin of its teeth (or should that be by the tip of its bill?).

'A Chink in the Sky' came in at number 10 in judge, Magdalena Ball's shortlist.

If my poem had been number 11, all your votes would in fact have saved my puffins from 'near-extinction' (as the final publication list comprised the judge's Top 10 poems plus the 10 poems with the most votes) - so thank you very much for your support.*

The poem will be published in the Writelink Spring Fever anthology in due course.


* Many of you will know that puffins are in the Amber category on the RSPB 'conservation' list...

Beautiful Birds (18): RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch - and Blog Carnivals

A little reminder about the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend - on 30 and 31 January 2010. Do consider taking part. You can find the details here. There may even be an organised activity in your neck of the woods.

On the subject of birds and their habitats, there is probably still time for you to take part in two of the forthcoming international nature-orientated Blog Carnivals, 'I and the Bird' (IATB site here, deadline 4 February) and the 'Festival of the Trees' (deadline for blog-post submissions: 30 January).

Don't miss the present IATB carnival, hosted on and around a lake created by Seabrooke Leckie ('The Marvelous in Nature' blog) in rural eastern Ontario. This is well worth a visit for the ingenious artwork in addition to the wonderful linked blogs.

You can read my FOTT post here on my Land&Lit blog for a blend of wildlife and history. If you see trees with an artist's eye, you might well enjoy a virtual wander through the new Cornish exhibition, Of Woods and Trees, at Beside the Wave Gallery in Falmouth, UK.

Don't forget: Tuesday 2 February is World Wetlands Day! It marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the city of Ramsar in Iran, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1997, participants have tried to find ways of raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits.

Puffin Quest (4): Winter Water Wings

Above: a single Puffin in a choppy sea off Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK, July 2009
We thought at first it was a castaway decoy (see below)...
... but then it dived.

Below: nesting Puffins, Spring 2009, Yorkshire, UK

'Water, water, every where'
Coleridge

Those who follow my blog will know by now that I have a particularly soft spot for the Puffin!

The BBC has published an amazing account of the winter 'Odyssey' undertaken by this amazing bird. The findings have been made thanks to the adoption of geolocator tags. I am so grateful to Steven of The Golden Fish for drawing my attention to the report. It makes fascinating reading.

The Puffin - or rather a particularly 'snowy-looking' Puffin photographed by Barbara Fryer off Scilly - features in the February 2010 issue of the RSPB magazine, Birds. This Puffin is not an albino, but rather a leucistic specimen, since its eyes and bill have the usual pigments, and its white feathers are edged in black. Albinism (when there is no melanin present) is a genetic mutation: leucism is the result of diluted pigmentation.

The magazine also refers to the story I mentioned on a previous occasion about those silent Sirens, the supposedly alluring Puffin decoys on Ramsey Island off Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Previous Puffin posts:

• OAPs aka Old Age Puffins
• Tufted ('Punk') Puffin *
• Transformative Moment
• A Post on Puffins

*This species reminds me of the rare and declining Northern Rockhopper Penguin. I am grateful to Crafty Green Poet, Juliet Wilson, for pointing me in the direction of the RSPB's Letter to the Future campaign (don't forget to click on the green leaf on CGP's blog).

Readers familiar with Coleridge might also like to support the Save the Albatross campaign.

Postcript: my thanks to Matt Merritt of Polyolbion (see comments for this Polyolbion post) for teaching me a new name today. Matt told me that while the scientific name for 'Puffin is Fratercula arctica, confusingly, Puffinus puffinus is Manx Shearwater.'

PPS: On the subject of decoys and bird conservation, take a look at this! 

Window on Wildlife (10): Biodiversity Countdown 2010

I only discovered very late in the day that NRAS has designated 2009 as 'The Year of Rheumatoid Arthritis'. It is a shame that so many months have gone by, but good nonetheless that there is this opportunity for heightened awareness and for the sharing of new initiatives.

***

On quite a different note, but still on the subject of special years, I see from the RSPB/RSPB Cymru that the countdown has already begun for 2010, the UN International Year of Biodiversity.

If this all seems a bit far removed from the average person in the street, or even the birder in the hide, I wonder what ideas we could come up with to increase the impact of the initiative at a local level - or in a way that has relevance for those we encounter via the virtual world of the web.

• British Ecological Society
• Rare beetle found in North Wales
  

Beautiful Birds (11): How many swifts make a summer?

The RSPB is conducting a survey on swift numbers in the UK. To take part, please follow the link here.

Love Nature

The Times slideshow gallery of the Love Nature photographic competition is online. There are some wonderful shots. The winning photograph is by Andrew Wiltshire. The feature has a number of links to the RSPB site, where you can volunteer to help with a fund-raising collection (in aid of wildlife) during the 2009 Love Nature week (30 May-7 June). There is also a list of other fund-raising ideas.

RSPB Birdwatch 30

The dome at Middleton
Middle photo: redpolls

We thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the RSPB Birdwatch 30 activities over the weekend. We carried out our survey at the Middleton, the National Botanic Garden of Wales, where there was a representative from the Cardiff office of the RSPB on hand to lead guided walks and answer questions. I have submitted our official online list to the RSPB, but plan to list what I might call my 'comprehensive list' below. This is just for interest, and includes not only the birds we saw during our official hour, but also other interesting birds we spotted over the weekend. The species in my 'comprehensive list' did not need to touch down to be counted. My camera does not do justice to the beauty of the birds, but it is better than nothing. It was a real thrill to see the redpoll, and it seems extraordinary to think that only a few years ago we would have been amazed to spot a red kite! I shall log my new finds on my Birdstack (click link and look down right column).

Birds on Gower

• 4 redwing on scrubby moorland

Birds at the National Botanic Garden (this comprises my 'official list', plus extras)

• 3 blackbirds in one go
• 4 other blackbirds
• 2 buzzards
• 1 other buzzard
• 4 carrion crow
• 2 chaffinches in one go
• 1 other chaffinch
• 2 coal tits
• 2 coots
• 1 cormorant
• 5 dunnock
• 1 other dunnock
• 6 geese in the air (could not identify clearly)
  
• 1 house sparrow
• 1 little grebe
• 1 magpie
• 11 mallard
• 2 pied wagtail
• 1 other pied wagtail
• 3 redpoll ... and later ...
  
• 8 redpoll
• 1 robin
• 4 other robins at different times
• 3 stonechats
• 1 swan in the air (could not identify clearly)
• 1 tree creeper
• 1 wood pigeon
• 1 wren

Birds in Carmarthenshire on way to and from the National Botanic Garden

• 1 red kite - in air
  
• 2 little egrets

We also spotted one rabbit at Middleton! Which birds did you find?

Sites of interest:

1. RSPB for the identification of species
2. Katie Fuller's list (RSPB)
3. Matt's list at Polyolbion
4. Posting from Carol at from the field book
5. The Guardian and RSPB 30 (video and all sorts)
   
6. BBC Wales Nature Blog
7. Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (Llanelli)
8. Ecobirder and the golden eagle survey, Minnesota (fabulous photography)
   

RSPB 30 Countdown

The countdown is really underway for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 30 this coming weekend. There have been more UK sightings of the Snowy Owl. The Weaver of Grass has posted a fine poem about a merlin. I spotted a red kite over the weekend in Carmarthenshire, my first one in 2009. I also noticed two little egrets enjoying the flood plains by Dryslwyn Castle.