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We have 10 tickets for Friday, July 10th at Global Birdfair to be won in our great competition (remember that under-18s gain free access to the event with a ticket holding adult).

You’ll be able to enjoy all the day’s events and lectures, browse the many stands, and join the Bird Watching team at the Osprey Stage at 10am to celebrate our 40th birthday. And of course, you can watch birds at the adjacent Lyndon reserve, where the Rutland Ospreys should be showing well around their nest sites.

Our competition closes at 11:59pm on Sunday 28th June and all you have to do is name the African nation whose birds are the focus of this year’s fundraising efforts for your chance to win. Is it:

£699

Reviewed by David Chandler

Last month, David Chandler reviewed the Zeiss Conquest Apia 65 – a £1,275 scope that is “designed by Zeiss, made in China”. Here, he reviews a less expensive 65mm scope, developed and designed in Germany with its “final assembly” in China and quality control in Germany. There are two scopes in this range – this one and, for £849, a 20-60x85. Smaller scopes are making a comeback and this one is relatively modestly priced. So how good is it?

Construction and moving parts

It didn’t immediately strike me as lightweight, but at 1,301g, it’s not heavy and was easy enough to lug around on an Opticron Tripac. This scope is well put together with a waterproof, nitrogen-filled, rubber-armoured, magnesium body. The rubber-covered eyecup moves well with two click-stops between fully up and fully down. The zoom mechanism is on the eyepiece – it moves smoothly with a nice amount of resistance. A 2½ finger-wide focuser encircles the barrel – it moves very smoothly with, I would say, enough resistance. The objective lens is well recessed (about 15mm) but a slide out lens hood (with a sighting device) provides another 23mm or so of protection. The tripod plate is on a rotating collar which works well and has, unusually, six click-stops. The plate itself has an anti-rotation pin hole and is Arca-compatible. If you’re buying a new tripod, consider one with an Arca head – it makes life easier. The tripod plate is on the objective side of the focusing wheel and I found this scope rear heavy on my tripod. That’s not ideal but isn’t a major issue and better balance may be achievable on a different tripod head.

Through the glass

GPO claim “maximum resolution, edge-to-edge sharpness, colour fidelity, and brightness” and a “very wide field of view”. The image is very good, with good colours, very good brightness and very good sharpness – certainly at close- and mid-range. Heat haze made it difficult to assess sharpness at greater distance, but I’m pretty sure I picked up a distant Hobby when I tried. 30x gave me a nice view of passage Northern Wheatear about 80m away, with heat haze beyond, and at similar range, with heat haze, 24x let me see the flank stripes on a drake Garganey (Matt Merritt was with me and found two at Ouse Fen). Focus precision is very good. The wheel moves through 1.5 turns (anti-clockwise to infinity) and there were times when it felt like a lot of focus movement was needed. For most birding, though, ½ turn will be the most you’ll need. Checking for colour-fringing was limited during my review time, but I didn’t notice any. I did see some edge softness (nothing too worrying), especially at low magnification – this reduced as I zoomed up, and the field of view felt narrow at the low end but much better at the top end. Apparent field of view figures confirm this – 42° at the low end and 66° at the top. I think 30x or thereabouts is the sweet spot for this scope. Close-focus is said to be 4m, which is plenty close enough for birdwatching. I measured it at 3.85m.

After a sunny, cloudless afternoon I checked its low-light performance. In close, heavily shaded habitat at 16x it pulled some detail out of the darkness 30 minutes after sunset – impressive. At 48x it was struggling at sunset, and mid-zoom began to struggle 10 minutes after sunset. Not surprisingly, distant, open viewing was easier. Half an hour after sunset the 16x view was very good, and the mid-zoom view was reasonable, though mid-zoom focusing was tricky. That’s 30 minutes after sunset, though! At 48x it was struggling 20 minutes after sunset.

A bonus

The package includes a stay-on case (left) with one of the best eye-piece covers I’ve seen. A zip on each side with an easy to grab pull-ring made using it very easy. You can’t use the rotating collar with the case on, but most of us don’t use that often anyway.

Verdict

A not outrageous price tag gets you a well-made scope that is not too big or heavy and can deliver a very good view. The view may feel a bit narrow at lower magnifications (with time you may not notice), but widens as you zoom up. About 30x is its sweet spot. And you don’t pay extra for a stay-on case.

Factfile

Field of view (m@1,000m): 46-24.5

Close focus: 4m

Eye relief: 20.5-18.5mm

Weight: 1,301g

Size (length x width x height): 315x92x158mm

Supplied with: tethered, removable objective cover; eyepiece cover; stay-on-case with strap; lens cloth.

RRP: £699

Guarantee: 10yrs

Web: gp-optics.com, gpobinoculars.co.uk

The gorgeous equatorial African islands of São Tomé and Principe are rich in unique birds; some frighteningly rare, some the commonest birds of the country, discovers Mike Weedon
(All photos by Mike Weedon)

Pico Cão Grande, São Tomé

In April, I spent a week revelling in the endemic-infused birdlife of the equatorial African island country of São Tomé and Principe. The sparsely populated islands (c250,000 people live there) are volcanic in origin and have never been joined to the African mainland. When ancient birds strayed across 150 miles of ocean to reach the islands, some settled, bred and adapted to the available niches. New, geographically isolated species and subspecies developed. Now, separate suites of endemic birds flourish on São Tomé and the much smaller island of Principe, 90 miles of ocean to the north-north-east.

Principe Sunbird

The landscape of both islands consists of beautiful, lush, dramatically angular, densely forested country, with the occasional spectacular volcanic peak, jutting out unrealistically above the canopy, including the incredible Pico Cão Grande, in southern São Tomé, rising 300m above the trees (above).

Some 550 years ago, Portuguese explorers found what were apparently uninhabited islands in the Gulf of Guinea. The Portuguese colonised, settled and used these islands for the African slave trade, as well as bringing slaves from the mainland to work on plantations of sugar, coffee and cacao. Much of the land was changed, but much stayed forested and wild and largely inaccessible; most of the endemic birds continued as the core of the islands’ avifauna. There are about 30 endemic species and subspecies across the two main islands.

It was daylight when I landed into the heat of the afternoon at the small airport in the north-east of São Tomé. Before I could blink it was dark; a first taste of life near the equator. A short drive down the coast from the airport is the Omali resort where I was staying. The next morning, at 5.30 Omali’s palms and surrounding airspace were dense with huge fruit bats, squeaking to each other like demonic babies. A host of formidable land crabs rattled off the path in front of me; a couple more tastes of equatorial life.

São Tomé Prinia

The first bird I saw was a long-tailed warbler with an orange head. It flew up vertically, then plunged down vertically, and repeated this again and again, like a crazed yo-yo bird. Aha, thought I, São Tomé Prinia; this endemic-ticking business will be a breeze! I was half right.

The good news for lazy birders like me is that common endemic species make up the bulk of the common birds you encounter on the islands. But, if you want to see the rarest and most threatened endemics, a bit of hard work will probably be required, as I was soon to find out.

I met my bird guide/driver, Brice Primo Montero, and soon we were rising into the forested hills in his ‘jeep’,  heading south to the renowned forests of Monte Carmo, in the extensive Ôbo Natural Park, home to some exceptional and exceptionally rare endemic birds. Our first (unscheduled) stop was for a distant view of the majestic Pico Cão Grande. A Yellow-billed Kite drifted by us, and I had my first chance to check out the birds in the trees in a ‘garden’ beside the road.

São Tomé Weaver, a weaver which thinks it's a nuthatch?

To my naïve surprise, they were nearly all endemics: the underwhelming São Tomé Thrush; the São Tomé Weaver, which seems to think it is a nuthatch, creeping and probing along epiphyte-encrusted boughs; the São Tomé form of the Principe Seedeater, which resembles a brown, streaky Greenfinch; plus the pretty little yellow and purple, Newton’s Sunbird. Best of the bunch was the São Tomé Paradise Flycatcher – the male being a dark, glossy blue, with gloriously long central tail feathers.

São Tomé form of the Principe Seedeater (like a drab Greenfinch... )

São Tomé Paradise Flycatcher

We drove on until the muddy, rutted road was blocked by flooding – time to walk. But a Biblical downpour held up our progress giving me time to think about my birding ambition at Monte Carmo. This boiled down to seeing one bird: Dwarf Ibis (aka São Tomé Ibis). Today, was perhaps my only chance to see this, rare, range restricted and elusive forest specialist, which has a population of just 130-1,700 individuals.

As the rain lightened, Brice reassured me that the rain would soften the ground, making the ibis easier to see as it probes the forest floor (for invertebrates). It’s the hope that kills.

Entering the gorgeous forest on a barely discernible, overgrown path, we eased our way into the long climb up the mountain. Small groups of endemic Black-capped Speirops were also feeding near the forest edge – grey and blackish, warbler-like ‘white-eyes’.

Black-capped Speirops

The walk started easily and pleasantly. Then the sun came out, changing the forest hike from a nice, cool, post-rain semi-stroll to a hot and sweaty scramble. Seedeaters and sunbirds called around us and we could hear songs of São Tomé Green Pigeon and the shy, near-endemic Island Bronze-naped Pigeon. We also heard the distant single call notes of the São Tomé Scops Owl.

Time passed and as we climbed, my clothes became drenched in sweat, my optics steamed up. I was finding the going a tough, I couldn’t get the ibis out of my hot, obsessive head. “What if I  fail to see it?” evolved into “I’ve blown it; I’ve failed to see the one bird I really wanted to see. This is a disaster!” Onward I plodded, head drooping, slightly.

São Tomé Oriole

In a while, we reached a particular altitude or a particular part of the forest (or both) which seemed to abound with new calls – those of São Tomé Orioles. Eventually (after lens  cleaning) we got great views of a few of these toned down, pale yellow-bodied, black-headed beauties. They seemed to be everywhere. Great birds, sure – but without the ibis would I even be able to return home?

More time and distance passed. Brice was ploughing a route about 15m ahead of me, sometimes clearing the path with his machete. Meanwhile, my fear of ibis-dipping had turned to grief and grief had already reached ‘acceptance’ stage – I’d been defeated in my mission – I’d tried, I’d failed.

Then, ahead of me, Brice stopped and gently waved me closer, whispering the magic word: “Ibis”. And there it was, a gloriously dull-brown, somewhat ugly, tiddly ibis, with a long mullet of a crest and mud encrusted bill, perched in a tree in the middle of a rainforest. Magic.

Dwarf Ibis (aka São Tomé Ibis), king of the island endemics!

Naturally, this gave my broken spirit a new lease of life, and I could continue the ever-upward grind, slightly less wearily clambering over and sliding under fallen trunks. There came a curious hiss and rumble of rushing water, and Brice showed me (through a break in the trees above a terrifying sheer drop of hundreds of feet) a spectacular, inaccessible waterfall on the other side of the forested valley. White dots of distant White-tailed Tropicbirds flew above the dense green – seabirds having flown many miles inland to nest on the forested cliffs. Surreal.

We carried on, up and up, over volcanic rubble and more logs, into new realms of endemics. Brice pointed out the flight across our path of the elusive and very rare São Tomé Grosbeak (a bird only rediscovered in 1991). It was gone in a flash of dull brown. In these slightly higher altitudes, we saw (or did I dream it?) two ‘giant’ endemic birds – the impressive Giant Sunbird (like a ‘normal’ sunbird, but, well, giant) and the thrush-sized Giant Weaver.

By this stage, after hours on the trail, I was overheated, over-sweaty and over-tired, almost delirious. I tried to cool down, sitting on a log, gulping water, while a large, grey bat (perhaps a Noack’s Roundleaf), hunted at eye level figures of eight round the clearing and around our heads. Or did I imagine that, too?

When Brice suggested that perhaps I wasn’t really in the best condition to complete the final part of the climb, I readily agreed. It meant missing the chance to see another extremely rare, recent rediscovery, the São Tomé Fiscal (a yellow-and-black shrike), but I could live with that… I’d seen a Dwarf Ibis (three, in fact, by the end of the walk!

Principe forest and peaks

The next day, I took the short flight to the much smaller (and arguably even more beautiful) island of Principe, where I would stay for the next five nights. My driver and bird guide was the charming Edunaldo Da Glória who took me first to the resort of Bom Bom on the north coast.

Hermit crab on Bom Bom island

That afternoon, I explored the area near my cabin, which was on a palm-fringed, paradise beach. The bird sounds were very different here on Principe than on the bigger island. There were the rich flutings and squawks of the ubiquitous Principe Starling (a long-tailed, dark-breasted, endemic glossy starling), the high-pitched, high-speed ‘buzzing’ of the yellow Principe Weaver, and the various songs and calls of Dohrn’s Warbler (an anomalous, sociable Sylvia).

Principe (Glossy) Starling

Dohrn's Warbler, a bird of many alternative names...

Principe Speirops

There were also the little ‘chep’ calls of flocks of Principe Speirops, a paler grey-bodied version of the São Tomé species. These little guys appeared to be the ‘carriers’ of wandering feeding flocks which often included the warbler, the weaver and the Principe Sunbird. Just outside my cabin, a massive Blue-breasted Kingfisher (another Principe subspecies) was perched up in a tree over the path. A tiny orange and purple (Principe) Malachite Kingfisher was hunting along the water’s edge.

Principe Weavers

Principe race of Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Principe race of Malachite Kingfisher in the footprints of a Western Reef Heron, Bom Bom resort

The next morning, Edunaldo drove me to the old colonial farm/plantation of Roça Sundy, from where we strolled down and up a circular route through the forest. Scarlet-tailed Grey Parrots (arguably the Principe subspecies) squawked and whistled overhead, and we saw plenty of the endemics I’d got to know at Bom Bom, plus occasional Island Bronze-naped Pigeons, and the possible future ‘split’ Principe Velvet-mantled Drongo. I also got my first look at another endemic species, the São Tomé Spinetail, a small white-rumped, pale-bellied swift.

African Grey Parrot (perhaps a Principe subspecies)

Principe Velvet-mantled Drongo

Island Bronze-naped Pigeon

Principe subspecies of African Green Pigeon

Over the next few days, we explored several great birding sites on Principe, building a tidy list, as well as enjoying the magnificent scenery such as the hills bordering the Bay of Needles. Another viewpoint over the scenic Praia Banana (Banana Beach) gave extraordinary views of the nesting White-tailed Tropicbirds, over a magically turquoise Atlantic.

White-tailed Tropicbird

After hearing about my struggles at Monte Carmo, Edunaldo wisely advised against the difficult night climb to seek the rare and critically endangered Principe Scops Owl (a bird only formally described in 2022).

View over Bay of Needles, Principe

Even in the short time I was on Principe (staying at Bom Bom and Praia Sundy, a little down the coast), I became familiar with the sounds and sights of the commoner birds. So, it was a minor shock to the birding system when I flew back to São Tomé to rejoin Brice for one last day, and had to relearn the (largely endemic) birds of the ‘big’ island.

Even more so than any island group I have visited, São Tomé and Principe’s birds are dominated by endemic species and subspecies; birds which only live on these small islands and nowhere else on Earth.

Tragically, nearly half the endemic birds are threatened with extinction. Threats include agricultural expansion (such as of palm oil plantations, loss of habitat, hunting/poaching and predation by introduced mammals, plus pressures from an ever-expanding human population. It would be horrific to lose any of these birds, and take it from me, the Dwarf Ibis alone is more than worth saving.

Many thanks to my guides Brice and Edunaldo, and to Carole Pugh of Four Corners PR for the invitation and organisation, plus Principe Collection for hosting me. See: www.principecollection.com for more info, or to book accommodation on the islands. The hotels can organise guided birdwatching excursions, as well as other activities. TAP Air Portugal(www.flytap.com) fly from Heathrow via Lisbon to São Tomé several times a week.

June is a funny old month. 
You start thinking that migration is over, only to encounter something amazing. Here are five birds it would be great to encounter in the middle of the year...

Night Heron

A rare but regular visitor from the European continent, the Night Heron (or Black-crowned Night Heron) comes in different shades of grey and white (and perhaps 
black) according to the age of the individual, developing the full blackish back only 
in adults. All ages are small, chunky, stocky herons, which often spend much of their time sitting still and perhaps sleeping on a branch overhanging water, becoming 
active in the crepuscular hours (the clue is in the name). They can appear by just 
about any waterbodies.

Grey Partridge

In the past 60 years, the British population of the ‘English Partridge’ (our only native partridge, the Red-legged Partridge being an introduced bird) has undergone 
a shocking decline of c92% to 37,000 pairs. They have become a bit of a special treat to encounter, across much of  the country. And a treat they are on the eye, with an orange face contrasting with the largely grey plumage and brown-striped flanks. Males are brighter than females. Search for them on farmland and grassland. In the evening, listen for the curious, rasping ‘keeerrrrick’ calls.

Little Tern

A well named bird, this tern really is very small indeed compared with the likes of Common and Arctic Terns. The wings flap extra fast, and the proportions are those of a smaller bird, with a proportionately larger head than bigger terns. Largely a coastal bird (where they breed; c2,000 UK nesting pairs), in June, they may wander inland (in very small numbers). Note the size and proportions, the white forehead and fine yellow bill with a black tip. Beware juvenile terns of larger species which will be taking the wing around now, and have orange- not yellow-based bills, and blunter wings.

Ptarmigan

This beautiful mountain grouse is in some danger of being wiped out as a British bird – partly because global climate change is making our mountaintops too warm. So, get yourself up to the high ground before it is too late. They are delightful and somewhat magical grouse – smaller than Red Grouse and seemingly able to live off rock and air, above the conventional vegetation line… They can be quite unobtrusive, and even tame. In June, don’t expect them to be white, as in summer they blend 
in with the surrounding rocks in grey and lichen gold (with white wings, of course).

Marsh Warbler

This rare visitor and breeder in tiny numbers looks pretty similar to a cold-plumaged Reed Warbler, but sounds quite different. Reed Warblers are not ‘bad’ singers, but their stuttering, rhythmic churrs and chatters are no match for the delightful mix of exquisite mimicry and pure notes which make up the song of the Marsh Warbler. Indeed, the song of the Marsh Warbler is an experience in itself, which matches or surpasses even the majesty of the songs 
of Nightingale or Blackbird. Marsh Warblers are mainly found in eastern and south-eastern England at this time of year, usually alongside water bodies in rank vegetation. Go and listen to one in song, 
if you get a chance.