die Fledermaus: Munich, 28th August 2012

Sitting by the fast-flowing river this evening, with a beer in hand, as one is wont to do... as the autumn draws closer, so dusk gets earlier and as a result, for the first time, I was in the right place at the right time to see the bats emerging... Noctules, big, high flying, long-winged bats started to appear while it was still light, apparently coming from a roost nearby, probably in a large riverside willow or poplar a little further downstream. One, then another, then another: at one point there were 7 visible at once, hawking high over the city. And then, as it got darker, Daubenton's (I presume) began to appear, much closer, this time emerging from an apparent roost in the bridge itself, coming out in ones and twos, flashing their pale bellies as they disappeared along the river. Finally, from the buildings behind, Pipistrelles appeared, to hawk in swirls and spirals beneath the street lamps.

And all this, right in the centre of the city, a stone's throw from my window.

Turning the corner towards Autumn: Munich, 26th August 2012

A real feel of Autumn to the air today.


Today's rain is the heavy, grey-skied daytime stuff of autumn, not the thunderous summer evening downpours we've been enjoying up until now.

House Martins gathering over the city, and heading southwards along the river, building in traffic jams below the bridges as they contemplate the next step south, over the Alps.

The trees are starting to change, Horse Chestnuts leading the way, helped into the brown by the leaf miners, but with Limes and Willows not far behind, starting to be misted with yellow.

On the pavement, a dead young Pied Flycatcher, dashed against the mirrored windows of the high rise offices, his first journey south halted here. And a big female Great Green Bush-cricket, exhausted by the summer, slowly being chewed up by a wasp.

Wildlife News: 22nd August 2012

• Fancy a trip to Morocco to shoot one of our fastest declining breeding birds? Classy... Feel free to email to make your views known!

• A much better way of spending your money... name a newly-discovered South African iris! Bidding currently stands at �4005...

• Wild fires threatening laurel forest on Gomera

• Lord Howe to become the next rat-free island? $9 million Australian government dollars should help! Elsewhere, a successful pest (rat/mouse/stoat) eradication project has concluded on Indian Island, Dusky Sound in New Zealand, rat-removal is going on on Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico (once home to the largest Brown Booby colony in the world), and there are plans to clear the mice from the Antipodes! All great news, often carried out by relatively small conservation organisations on a budget... meanwhile, we balk at the idea of getting rid of Ruddy Duck or American Mink...

• More good news: three groups of Orang-utan reintroduced to the wild in Kalimantan. 

• And Scotland's reintroduced Beavers have had a good summer, with three new kits

• And the photo at the top? A random shot of a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo soaking up the sun, as a reminder that we have just two places left on our January 2013 holiday to Tasmania! 

Bavarian pre-Alps, 5th August 2012

A sunny day in the mountains...

About 45 minutes south of Munich, the pre-Alps start, and we headed to the Benediktenwand, a limestone ridge just over 1800m tall.

There were plenty of butterflies on the wing, including 'the usual' Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Brimstone and Silver-washed Fritillary, but also a whole load of tricky and seemingly identical 'browns'.

From the top: Large Wall, Arran Brown, Woodland Ringlet and Silver-washed Fritillary.

At the Tutzinger Hutte, a noisy family of Kestrels were busy screeching away, a couple of Ravens cronked over head and a Buzzard mewed. In the lea of the mountain, a large group of House Martins had gathered to feed up before the not-far-off day comes when they decide to hop over the mountains and head south: summer done with so soon! Behind them, a familiar-yet-unfamiliar crow-ish calling from the trees turned out to be a couple of Nutcrackers, who flopped and chased across from one patch of pines to another, while a Fieldfare shouted at them.

Alas, we didn't make it over to the north side of the ridge, where Alpine Ibex are apparently common... next time!

Wandering through the woodland, I came across a couple of apparently very common plants that were new to me, having only previously visited the Alps in spring and early summer...

 Prenanthes purpurea, a pretty almost-lettuce.

Salvia glutinosa, the aptly-named Sticky Sage (it was very sticky...)

Portugal: Salgados/Pera Marsh update

An update on the threats to Salgados/Pera Marsh, in the Algarve, from Frank McClintock:

"I saw a great quote the other day on Facebook; it went, �If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito�. It�s so appropriate right now I quote it again, as our little petition to try to save Salgados has had the most amazing effect!

We started the petition because we thought someone had to stand up and say �ENOUGH!� and if no-one else was going to, well, it might as well be us, but we never thought that it�d be as successful as it has been. It�s gone right around the world � and then some � continues to grow and grow and has had really great consequences.

First of all, it�s raised awareness of the issue and put Salgados on the map as far as a groundswell of opinion against further development of this fragile area is concerned, but it�s done much, much more.

On a purely practical and immediate level, the waters at the lagoon are rising to where they should be at last, though unfortunately too late for this year�s breeding success as a great number of birds didn�t make it. 

On a longer term note the Ramsar Convention has written a letter to the Portuguese Government. This is really quite an achievement and has been generated uniquely by the raised awareness engendered by the petition.

There have been some organisations that have really helped the petition along the road, principally of course Avaaz themselves, but notably also the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust that have pulled out all the stops to grant it more publicity, so a very big thank you to them and to SPEA too who are right there and have been since the beginning.

So, what happens now?

Well, the effort continues, so if you have friends who haven�t yet signed the petition, beat them around the head until they do, that�s the first thing! Only with the petition growing steadily but surely can we give the NGOs the tool with which to fight for greater protection of the site and a rescindment of the building permission already granted. This is seriously important.

I, Frank McClintock, will have the petition available on my stand at the British Birdwatching Fair for anyone to sign who wishes - Stand 93 in Marquee 4, "Birding in Portugal" - and I will also be giving a lecture about the issue on Friday afternoon at 5 pm in the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre.

Also, we've organised a day of protest at the site itself, so if you�re in Portugal come along to Salgados on the 6th August at 14.00 and join in � the more the merrier. We'll be there from 11.00 onwards at the Dunas Caf� on the western shore. See you there!?"

Lonesome George again

An interesting report on Galapagos after Lonesome George on BBC: listen (available for the next 7 days: go to 0:17:47 for the Galapagos segment) or read here.

New Itinerary: Cyprus for Autumn Bulbs, November 2012

After this year's shortage of summer sun, we have organised an extra holiday where, fingers crossed, sunshine will be plentiful.

We will be returning to the familiar fields and lanes of the Akamas Peninsula in Cyprus, but instead of spring orchids our sights will be set on autumn bulbs. And as with all Wildlife Travel holidays, there is of course much more than just wild flowers... with late summer butterflies still on the wing, several species of lizard and whatever birds we can find along the way, plus more than our fair share of history.

For more details, including the full itinerary, check our website. And maybe see you in November?

Colchicum troodi

Crocus veneris

The endemic Cyclamen cyprium

Muscari parviflora

Lesser Fiery Copper, one of the late flying butterflies we hope to find

The spectacular coastline of the Akamas Peninsula

Chukar, a common resident

Cley Marshes Appeal

Norfolk Wildlife Trust need �1 million pounds to buy the most significant chunk of internationally important coastal marsh to come up for sale in generations, 143 acres next to the famous Cley Marshes nature reserve which will increase the size of the reserve by a third. A worthy cause if ever there was one...