Rick Simpson Birding Services

Sorry to those of you who have taken the trouble to send comments and are not seeing them on the site.

This is due to incompetence on my part. I received a number of nuisance and spam comments and in deleting them managed to delete all the comments. If you feel like re-submitting the comments I’ll try and do better next time. Please keep them coming.

Sorry again and thanks for your interest and taking the time to write, it’s a shame there are so many idiots out there with very little brain spoiling the enjoyment of the sites for others.

Well it’s been a while since I’ve been able to get to a computer to write. I am still in the UK having attended the British Birdwatching Fair in my capacity as co-founder of the Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre which will be opening in October.

I am struck by how few birds I am seeing in my day-to-day comings and goings. The birding landscape has changed considerably since I was a young birdwatcher in Hertfordshire. Driving along the roads one used to see birds all the time, Common Blackbirds, thrushes, Yellowhammers, Corn Buntings and finches along the hedgerows and Barn Swallows and Skylarks over the fields, now there is nearly nothing there save the odd Magpie, other crows and many Woodpigeons.

One thing that is startlingly different too, but on the positive side, is the number of birds of prey that one regularly sees, Red Kites that have so successfully been introduced to the chilterns, Buzzards that have expanded into the area, Ospreys at Rutland and Sparrowhawks, regularly seen from the car. We also saw a hobby fly over the M25 the other day a real unexpected bonus. The only negative side to this is the nearly total lack of Kestrels which we used to see all the time on any journey.

Another bird that is common now in my area around Newport Pagnell, is the Little Egret, who’d have thought…?

The timing of my visit meant that I was probably unlikely to see Common Swifts, but I was delighted that I saw one around the church tower at Stamford where I was staying whilst at the bird fair. I have seen all three common hirundines but in very small numbers.

One bird that seems to be doing well and is very common everywhere I have been is the Robin, but, whilst I can’t say that I have been looking for them, I have yet to see a House Sparrow!

I’ll be back in Brazil after the 11^th of September, and the bird of the week (which should be renamed bird of the month or more) will eventually get changed - I promise!

All photos on this post are copyright Arthur Grosset.

Pair of mixed morph Tropical Screech Owls. Photo Cr Rick and Elis Simpson.

Well folks, here I am in sunny England preparing for the three day Bird Fair marathon. Meanwhile Elis, who is still in Brazil, has not been sitting at home missing me, far from it as you can see from this photo of a pair of Tropical Screech owls that she took near to our apartment yesterday. Interesting that the pair should be mixed morph, one grey and the other rufous. I hope they are still around when I get back.

Crowned Eagle. Photo ₢ Rafael Fortes.

On a recent trip to the Agulhas Negras road with Graham and Penny Lower from the UK, I was lucky enough to come across a pair of Crowned Eagles. We watched them through the scope as they hung in the wind off the ridge. We then saw them both perched with their crown feather standing erect as they turned their heads in the wind. Later one flew down below the ridge and along above the forest and scrub giving excellent views.

The next day sadly the birds were not there again, but we got a cracking fly-by view of a White-rumped Hawk, another scarce raptor and a good selection of the sought after special birds of the region including; Itatiaia Thistletail; Sharp-billed Treehunter; Rufous-tailed Antbird; Rufous-backed Antvireo; Serra do Mar Tyrannulet; Red-rumped and Bay-chested Warbling Finch; Diademed and Brassy-breasted Tanger; Golden-winged Cacique. We came within a few feet of a Speckle-breasted Antpitta, but didn’t get even a glimpse of it! We also had Greenish Tyrannulet which is not a bird I come across often.