Birds of a feather flock together

ALARMED waders will often be seen flying in wheeling, twisting flocks overhead after being disturbed by beach walkers feeding on the tide line.

Others are equally part of our moorland and dales landscape.

Driven by the need to survive, to reproduce, find food and escape bad weather, waders such as godwits, greenshank and ruff are already arriving in numbers on the food-rich Tees estuary and surrounding marshes, their goal to build up fat reserves as they prepare to fly to warmer climes.

As the great autumn bird migration gets under way, a bird club is setting up a one-day school to help novice wildlife watchers to identify what they are able to see, but are frustratingly unable to identify.

Bird migration has fascinated mankind for thousands of years, its mysteries recorded by ancient Greeks such as Aristotle and Homer.

Those who remain fascinated with birds include 67-year-old veteran bird watcher Eric James, who is conducting a one-day wader identification class on behalf of the Teesmouth Bird Club, on Sunday.

Mr James, a former senior research engineer in the steel industry, said: “There are about 214 species of waders in the world and we get a quarter of them visiting Teesmouth.

“Some wader migration is a bit of a mystery, and it’s often surprising. For instance, of the birds which visit Teesmouth, our knots may winter on islands to the north of Canada.

‘‘A lot of turnstones go to Iceland, while Sanderlings head just below the Arctic Circle, breeding further north than any other wader.

‘‘The amazing bar-tailed godwits fly from Alaska to their breeding grounds in New Zealand without stopping.’’ The respected self-taught ‘‘birder’’ added: “Waders are always a bit of a problem to identify.

There are differences in plumage, for instance, the change from juvenile to winter plumage to summer plumage.’’ His class begins at 10am on Sunday and continues into early afternoon, at the Teesmouth Field Centre, in the precincts of Hartlepool Power Station, on Seal Sands, Teesside.

He said: ‘‘I split the waders into groups of similar birds and look at each group in turn.’’ Mr James will illustrate what he has to say with photographs, videos and sound recordings of bird calls. He will teach his students how to identify a bird by observing its size, shape, plumage, colour and structure, such as the length of its legs and bill, its behaviour and its call.

“I will give a bit of background on waders,” he said.

Eric James of Teesmouth Bird Club

“The idea is that after a bit of instruction, we can go out and look at birds, with some chance of catching passage migrants, which will be useful to test skills.

‘‘In some cases it is actually easier to identify waders in flight than standing on the ground.”

SEPTEMBER is a hallowed month among bird watchers as the great autumn passage gets under way, with waders and other birds leaving Britain for Africa and the tropics while others, such as waterfowl, geese and swans, fly into Britain for the winter.

Mr James said: “When you look at the size and structure of birds and the thousands of miles they fly on migration, it is a perennial wonder.”

Trying to explain his love of birds, he added: “It’s all sorts of things. There is the enjoyment of identifying birds. You appreciate the time of year.

‘‘You appreciate what is going on and the changes in the year as birds come and go and bird behaviour changes. It puts you in touch with nature.

“I am largely self-taught, picking up what I know as I go along, so now I want to help people struggling to identify what they see.

‘‘I know what it feels like. It is very satisfying if people come across a bird they have never seen before, take an accurate description and identify it from that.”

When Mr James took up serious bird watching in the 1970s, he started carrying out bird surveys.

“One of my regular activities was carrying out bird counts, mainly at Saltholme, but including other places like Scaling Dam, North Yorkshire.

‘‘And obviously a lot of the birds at Saltholme are waders,’’ he said.

Bird watching had begun as a casual interest as the keen walker wandered around the moors and marshes near his Middlesbrough home, his curiosity aroused by the birds he saw.

“I have never got over the wonder of birds.

They are absolutely amazing creatures,’’ he said.

Godwits on the wing

Mr James has been delighted to see an increase in the number of members joining the Teesmouth Bird Club, one of the things which prompted him to organise the one-day course, though his class is open to anyone.

“The club has expanded so much,” he said.

“A lot of new people are coming in, many of whom are inexperienced and waders are always a bit of a problem to identify.”

There is a £4 charge for the course, to cover the cost of ink and printing a handout summarising all the information learned.

To book a place, email Mr James on idcourses.tbc@gmail.com or call him on 01642- 310103.