Is UK birding really pants?

My beloved Dungeness - but is it as good as Cap Griz Nez?

This winter has seen a steady trickle of birders crossing the channel to take advantage of nailed-down Dutch owls, followed by a spot of wildfowl overkill. I know that the crusty old shingle-bashers of Dungeness regularly visit France for a fix of l'oiseau. A rare bird on the European mainland within striking distance of a ferry terminal has become fair game to an increasing number of birders. How many of us Brits went to look at that Wallcreeper that turned up on the north French coast a few years ago? This nipping over to the continent for a day isn't new, but it is certainly becoming more common place. Why? Is it because birding in the UK isn't nearly as good as that enjoyed just over the sea? I've got to say that the answer to my last question is probably yes.

Let's take Cap Gris Nez as an example. This headland in France is easily seen from the south Kent coast. I've been there on just a few occasions, but each time I've seen loads of birds. I've been there on days when the weather conditions were far from ideal and yet the birds still came. The same day that I watched 60,000 Chaffinch and 1,500 Brambling coast by the headland, Dungeness recorded totals of 200 and 5 respectively - and I could see Dungeness Power Station as I was watching this rush of finches!

I don't know northern France like the Dungeness boys do. They go over for the day and come back with a list that reads like a Mediterranean vagrant over-shoot wet dream. And there seems to be good birding habitat to burn. Holland is no different, with vast flocks of geese and waterfowl that make our spectacles in Norfolk seem like a park pond get together.

My only winter trip into mid-France (to visit the lakes south of Paris) was one of wonder - only five hours drive from Calais we were watching a large flock of Cranes, Hawfinches all over the place, Black and Middle-spotted Woodpeckers, plenty of raptors, rafts of wildfowl, wild boar and, had we been luckier, White-tailed Eagles. In summer the woods are full of Golden Orioles and Bonelli's Warblers. Beats Bough Beech...

Of course we do get ornithological spectacle over here, but you can't but help feel as if we are experiencing a form of 'birding-lite'. I know where I'd rather be birding, but it would involve crossing over (or under) the sea to get there.

Comments

Stewart said…
I bet those frenchies would like our Northumberland seabirds though. Thousands of terns, puffins, guillemots etc overflown by fishing gannet frenzies...but you're right, our day to day farmland is shagged.
13 January 2014 at 19:01
Gibster said…
So you gonna rebrand as North Sea and Beyond?
13 January 2014 at 19:14
Steve Gale said…
True Stewart, there are pockets of ornithological greatness in our fair country still, but they are few...
13 January 2014 at 19:21
Steve Gale said…
There's an idea... but as you know Seth, the North Downs isn't about birds, is it.
13 January 2014 at 19:22
Paul Trodd said…
What amazes me when we go over is that their woods are still full of birds we`ve lost or never had, so black-capped tits, Hawfinch, Crested Tit, woodpeckers etc, and the farmland still holds plenty of Turtle Dove, Grey Partridge and Corn Bunting despite extensive hunting. South-east England is buggered for sure, and way over populated,while Frenchland still has acres of human emptiness and fewer alien species. La Manche also thwarts many species from getting here. If it wasn't for our coastal nature reserves birding here would be a joke. I love England, it`s just a shame its being ruined by us lot. Looking forward to going over to Black Woody Land next week...
14 January 2014 at 07:20
Steve Gale said…
If I lived as close to the gateway to France as you Paul, I'd go over very often indeed.
14 January 2014 at 16:11
unclefish said…
Try birding 25 years on North Ronaldsay and gazing across the Fair Isle Channel at the fabled Isle and its annual burden of Lancey's, Pechora's, Yellow-breasted Buntings and PG Tips. We flogged and better flogged our flat little island but it took many years of no joy to finally break their staggering monopoly.
15 January 2014 at 20:48
Steve Gale said…
I thought North Ronaldsay was the new Fair Isle... you had them for a little while though, didn't you.
16 January 2014 at 17:38
unclefish said…
Better described as the 'Poor Man's Fair Isle' it's a very different place to hunt migrants; much, much more in the way of habitat to hide in and many times fewer folk looking so not really comparable like for like. A ridiculous amount of unnecessary competitiveness too between the two Observatories and their followers. But yes, NR has done very well over the years
16 January 2014 at 20:12
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