Local Park

Goosander [female]

 Goosander [drake]

 Ditto

 Sparrowhawk [male]

 Ditto

 Black-headed Gull

 Common Gull

 Ditto

 Record Shot of Goldcrest (c) 2013 Aileen Urquhart

 Long-tailed Tit

 Mistle Thrush

 Greylag Goose

 Pied Wagtail [immature] (c) 2013 Aileen Urquhart

 Peacock

there are spread
On the blue surface of thine airy surge,
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head... The locks of the approaching storm.  [P.B. Shelley]

Hybrid Duck - including some Pintail?

Snowed Off

We were due to be on the coast today, but the snow showers were due to be much worse in the east, so we went somewhere more central and where there was supposed to be fewer snow showers. Of course it was snowing when we arrived. The morning saw a full turnout with just the coastal dwellers unwilling to brave the showers. Luckily, the snow didn't last long. Similar to Tophill all the usual wildfowl was present, but the numbers were down. I'm sure it's all the floodwater allowing the birds to try out waterlogged fields rather than being forced to remain on the standard lakes. 

All photos (c) 2013 Maggie Bruce

Fieldfare



 Red-legged Partridge



We had only just left the cars when some Red-legged Partridges were spotted crossing the lane in front of us. In the end a nice covey of 9 birds slipped into the reserve. It wasn't long after this that we spotted first 1 then 2 Green Woodpeckers heads just popping up above the snow. They were trying to dig down in the snow presumably looking for worms. From south hide we saw Teal, Gadwall, tufted Ducks and Pochard, but the water was too high for waders. Some one spotted a large bird perched on the large mound, which doubles as a Rabbit warren. On closer inspection it turned out to be a Buzzard looking for an easy and quick meal. It didn't seem to catch anything while we were watching. There were a couple of Kestrels in the area too, and during the morning both of these captured small mammal prey items. 

Green Woodpeckers



 Ditto



There wasn't much of interest on the western lakes, but Steve spotted a Snipe on the ice on Reedbed lake, which once we got our eyes in increased to 4. There were a few Shelducks here, but they flew off as we approached. A large flock of Lapwings also left the ice as we walked round the circuit.

Record Shot of Common Buzzard



 Snipe



 Snipe



A new area along the hedgerow has been opened and this was stuffed full of birds, including: Fieldfare, a Mistle Thrush, Reed Bunting and Tree Sparrows. A male Great Spotted woodpecker was clamped to the peanuts, and we were able to get fairly close before it took fright at a loud rumbling lorry. A female Bullfinch was eating buds near the bird table and a male and 2 more females were spotted.  This is also the area that both groups had great views of a relatively confiding Fieldfare.

Fieldfare



From the large hide not much new was seen, as most of the area in front iced over, however from the final hide we saw a wisp of Snipe which flew past the hide several times. There was plenty of activity on the bird feeders, but nothing unusual, nevertheless there was a small flock of Siskins in the alders near the entry gate. Overall quite a productive morning. 


House Sparrow [male]






Half the pm group didn't fancy a trip in the snow. They missed out on some of the closest views we've ever had of Green Woodpeckers, but no cameras were carried after lunch. All today's pictures are from this morning. The rest of the sightings were almost identical to the morning. 

180 Degree Neck Turn

Short-eared Owl

 Ditto

 Waxwing

 ditto

Record shot of Drinking Waxwings 

 Record Shot of Weasel

 Record Shot of Goldeneye

 Goldeneye

Offshore

After yesterday's inland jaunt, today we ventured out to the coast. Just outside the car park we came a few Blue and Great Tits and a female Chaffinch, but the star birds were a pair of Goldcrests, which stayed in the open long enough for everyone to obtain decent views. We passed the Sika deer, and took the staircase to the beach. It was low tide, so everything was a long way out, and the light was a bit tricky, but we could make out: Oystercatchers, Turnstones, Redshank, Cormorants, Herring, Great Black Backed and Black Headed Gulls. In the absence of Purple Sandpipers the best birds here were a couple of Ringed Plovers.  The party of 8 Brent Geese were surprising - the 1st time I'd seen this species here - they flew north before they disappeared round Flamborough Head.

All pics (c) 2013 Richard Whateley

Goldcrest

 Brent Geese

 Ringed Plover

 Turnstone

 Cormorants

After the long haul back up the very steep steps we walked around the grounds. The birds can't have been fed much recently as we were besieged by Blue and Great Tits. In the afternoon more than a dozen Great Tits landed in one small bush before landing on the bird table.  Stock Doves could be identified from Woodpigeons in the trees above us. We didn't find any Coal Tits until we reached the rose garden. On the way out we cheated by walking through the duck aviary to get decent views of a drake Pintail and Wigeon - much closer than we would see these in the wild.

Common Gull

 Chaffinch

 Dunnock

In the afternoon drizzle the best bird seen was a Weasel! A great spot by Peter M.

Ho-Hum

As we drove towards today's location many of the fields were under water. This would later come to haunt us. The morning started well with a Mistle Thrush and a Treecreeper singing outside the visitor centre. As we moved off we saw a pair of Siskins feeding on the alders, and a female Great Spotted Woodpecker in a nearby Poplar tree. Then came a long period of virtually no bird song and empty lakes and marshes. This dearth was remedied when we reached the hide overlooking the apparently almost empty reservoir. Here were several Great Crested Grebes and in the afternoon 5 drake Goldeneye displaying to 3 females. There were also plenty of Wigeon, and Tufted Duck, plus a few Pochard. 




Record Shot of Great Grey Shrike (c) 2013 Tony Robinson

 Lesser Redpoll (c) 2013 Aileen Urquhart

We walked through woodland and then scrub to another hide. This is normally the most productive hide at this time of year, but at first it seemed there were only plenty of Greylag Geese. A closer inspection revealed the odd Goldeneye, Gadwall, Teal, Pochard and wigeon, but the numbers were definitely down. The reason for this is the birds are normally concentrated on the lakes and reservoirs in the area, but now that they have so much flood water to chose from then they have become scattered throughout the surrounding water logged fields.

On the return journey we stopped off at South Lagoon and were rewarded with several views of a Kingfisher flying past the hide. A few minutes later we had close views of 4 rather drab Lesser Redpolls. In the end 5 birds flew off, but whether the 5th bird was also a redpoll remains a moot point. The visit to the larger reservoir revealed another depleted water resource, which sees very ironic when the surrounding fields were dripping with water. 

Lesser Redpoll (c) 2013 Tony Robinson

Meanwhile 3 morning students went off to look for roosting Kites.  It was while they were watching those they heard about a more interesting bird, and tracked down a Great Grey Shrike.  That is the only reason this bird appears at the head of the post.

Happy New Year

It's been a long time since a blogpost, but I've been busy trying to contract diabetes over the past 6 weeks, so had nothing to post about.

Today was the first class of 2013. We started at a large local park. The first surprise arrived in the initial 5 minutes when I heard a Jay. On investigation it appeared that a pair had been present since November, and had even been since recently nest-building, but we don't see to for ourselves. One class member was quick enough to spot a scruffy urban fox, but the rest of us weren't so lucky. There were Long-tailed & Blue Tits near the car park. We then had a long walk punctuated only by Starlings & House Sparrows. For beginners the differences between Common & Black-headed were pointed, and later juvenile and adult Herring Gulls were added to the mix.

All pics (c) 2013 Chris Cox

Goosander (Drake)

 Goosander (female)

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Pochard (drake)

 Tufted Duck (female)

On the water Mallard including many 'mongrels' were differentiated, and in the afternoon we discovered 2 apparent Pintail hybrids. More straightforwardly the lake had Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Greylag & Canada Geese, an immature Cormorant and in the afternoon a very brief glimpse was obtained of a Great Crested Grebe. However, the true stars of the water were approximately 30 Goosanders spread throughout the park. Occasionally, these gave very good views, but the light wasn't brilliant for taking photographs. 



The Kingfisher, Heron and Little Grebe didn't survive the previous 3 winters, and don't appear to have returned, and there wasn't even any sign of last years parakeets.



On the return journey the morning highlight was provided by a pair of Goldcrests, whilst in the afternoon we couldn't relocate them, but we did find a pair of Siskins instead. Here's hoping for better light next time.



In the morning every participant wished everyone else a Happy New Year, but in the afternoon as far as I could tell no one bothered.  Is that another difference between mornings and afternoons?