birdgirl: May 2016

Monday, 16 May 2016

Lammergier Dip - Dartmoor NP

On Sunday 15 May 2016 in the morning, we heard about a Lammergier seen in Devon not that far from where we live that had been videoed by a non birdwatcher on Thursday but identified from the video. However there had been no more sign. It is the first time one has been seen in Britain, a first.

This morning, Monday 16 May 2016, my Dad left to visit his mum a long distance away. At 11.30 am Mum heard they the Lammergier was seen briefly on Dartmoor 1 1/2 hours south from our house. Mum doesn't like driving on the motorway, so she persuaded my sister Ayesha (who used to twitch before she had kids) to drive us after my school had finished, plus my niece Laila and nephew Lucas.

We did think about whether it was right to go without Dad, but decided that he would 'want us' to see a Lammergier even if it's without him.

As we started our journey we heard that the bird had been seen again at 3.30 pm. Little did we know that whilst one Devon birder friend had seen the bird another Somerset birder friend had been standing on the other side of the hillside and missed it.

When we got to the site, we couldn't find anyone else so were probably in the wrong place. We tried to find somewhere with phone reception, to get news, but that was hard. The bird wasn't seen again, which was really disappointing. This is called dipping.

We still had time to play outside with the kids and go up close to the wild Dartmoor Ponies. We stopped for dinner at a motorway service station but Lucas just wanted "dudu" (milk) but they didn't sell any at the service station. So I had to "collect" loads of milk sachets for tea/coffee and use them to fill up his milk bottle, just to keep him happy.

I was gutting to miss such an amazing first for Britain but at least I was i good company.

Lammergier twitch, Dartmoor NP
Copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. She organised a conference in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

Sunday, 15 May 2016

Lady Amhurst's Pheasant - 5th time lucky

Today I saw a Lady Amhurst's Pheasant in Bedfordshire. They are originally from China and were released here some time ago like our other pheasants. They bred and had a self sustaining population (meaning they survived here) but recently went into decline. There is now just one male left that we know about, 3 hours from our house, and really hard to see.

Today was the fifth time I had tried to see it. Twice last May and the third time this year. It's a stunning bird with an amazing long tail. Today I watched it for 20 minutes but it was deep in the woods and impossible to photograph. That is 3 new birds for me in Britain in 4 days - an unbelievable run of good luck. The photo is of me as soon as we were back in the car. I had to get up at 3.00 am and so I'm tired but happy.

Young Birder bird girl Mya-Rose Craig at Lady Amhurst's Pheasant Twitch

About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig