Well it's been a very quiet time on the birding front, with wedding anniversary, Tina's birthday (I won't mention the age, but she's caught me up again!) and the Children coming home, plus the recent weather has been awful, but sitting here looking at the rain and waiting for my works laptop to re-boot, I thought I'd add a few lines to the blog!
So since Upton we haven't been birding at all, although we took advantage of the late sunshine last Sunday (after a very late Saturday night!) to pop down to our favourite National Trust property; Charlcote Park.
It's always rewarding and is a great place to relax and go for a stroll amongst the Deer. Plus there's always a chance of a bird or two and we weren't disappointed.
A Redwing taking berries from a Holly Tree by the Cafe was a good start. (Whilst we were having a coffee of course.) The usual small birds were around as well, Robin, Tits, Chaffinch etc.
So we then took ourselves off for a stroll. The Deer were close to the house which was nice and let us get quite close, we continued on a circular walk around the estate coming back via the pond. We were then surprised by a Sparrowhawk zooming after some small bird (Couldn't make out what as they were zipping around like a WWII dogfight) the Sparrowhawk gave up though as the littll'un fled for the trees.
We then arrived at the pond, not much about, Mallard and Moorhen, but then a flash of blue and our first Kingfisher at Charlcote. It stayed for a few minutes perched on a branch on the small island before disappearing in the fading light.
So to today, I just went down to the kitchen from my 'office' to make a drink and was happily watching a Coal Tit on the feeders in the Garden when I saw a movement in one of the trees, it was tiny... a Goldcrest, brilliant, a first for the Garden! I rushed to get Tina who is home today, but sadly to late, it had gone.
That's it.. we are off to Norfolk on Saturday for a week, staying on the coast, so hopefully might get a few firsts and add to our year list, you never know. I have been monitoring the forums and there's a lot of interesting stuff about, but I'm sure never where we will be or the usual when when we get somewhere, "oh you should have been here 10 minutes ago......"
So next blog will be when we get back!
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
A Couple of Hours at Upton Warren
So now its getting dark so early we just about managed a couple of hours at Upton on Saturday before it got dark.
Our main objective was to see Water Rail, this is a bird that eludes us all the time, we have only had one sighting in the past 18 months, at Slimbridge, so reading that they seem abundant at UW at the moment we went down, also hoping to see some Redpoll and Brambling if we were lucky.
We went to the new hide at Moors Pool first, to get that all important Coffee in (there's a bit more room in there) We stayed in there about 40 minutes, but no Water Rail, plenty of activity on the feeders though:
Bullfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Blue & Great Tits, Blackcap and Pheasant were very busy and gave me some nice shots.
So after Coffee we popped into the concrete hide. Two friendly chaps told us the Water Rail had been out all the time whilst they were waiting for the Kingfisher. But of course even though we waited and waited, nothing!! A nice female Reed Bunting did oblige though:
A Lesser Black Backed Gull being chased by a Black-headed Gull proved entertaining:
The Cormorant must be thinking he should have got the fish first!
A Robin posed nicely:
and the Cormorants were taking in the last of the Sun:
So we gave up on the Water Rail and decided for a last twenty minutes over at the Lapwing Hide to see the Snipe and see if we could get a better view of the Pintail that we had seen in the distance from the New Hide.
We did see the Snipe, however the Jack Snipe were in hiding. Good job we had good views of a Jack up at Cresswell the other week. The Pintail was a little closer, but still not great views. A good display was had by a Kestrel:
The light was really going now so not a great photo.
So that was it, 30 species for a couple of hours isn't bad, not the ones we were after though, but that's birding for you!
Our main objective was to see Water Rail, this is a bird that eludes us all the time, we have only had one sighting in the past 18 months, at Slimbridge, so reading that they seem abundant at UW at the moment we went down, also hoping to see some Redpoll and Brambling if we were lucky.
We went to the new hide at Moors Pool first, to get that all important Coffee in (there's a bit more room in there) We stayed in there about 40 minutes, but no Water Rail, plenty of activity on the feeders though:
Bullfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Blue & Great Tits, Blackcap and Pheasant were very busy and gave me some nice shots.
So after Coffee we popped into the concrete hide. Two friendly chaps told us the Water Rail had been out all the time whilst they were waiting for the Kingfisher. But of course even though we waited and waited, nothing!! A nice female Reed Bunting did oblige though:
A Robin posed nicely:
We did see the Snipe, however the Jack Snipe were in hiding. Good job we had good views of a Jack up at Cresswell the other week. The Pintail was a little closer, but still not great views. A good display was had by a Kestrel:
So that was it, 30 species for a couple of hours isn't bad, not the ones we were after though, but that's birding for you!
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Warrens Hall
Work was bugging me big time yesterday, so as the sun was shining at lunch time I headed out up the canal to Warrens Hall Country Park. I took the camera and bins even though I didn't have a lot of time and it's a good 20 minute walk from home.
I was delighted to see my first Redwings of the season, although they didn't let me get close, nowhere to sneak up for a closer view! But I did get a shot:
Was surprised to find this on the Bumble Hole Lake:
along with 4 Little Grebe who wouldn't keep still and kept disappearing before I could get a shot! Maybe something to do with a Buzzard flying over the Lake.
Two Herons were obliging though, Heron number 1 being patient:
Heron number 2, thinking he's a sparrow:
So enough, back to work. (Adding a Sparrowhawk on the way)
I was delighted to see my first Redwings of the season, although they didn't let me get close, nowhere to sneak up for a closer view! But I did get a shot:
Was surprised to find this on the Bumble Hole Lake:
Two Herons were obliging though, Heron number 1 being patient:
 |
| Must be somewhere to perch around here |
 |
| This will do! |
 |
| Made it! |
Monday, 29 October 2012
Dowles Brook or a Walk in the Forest
Having decided we needed to stretch our legs and take advantage of the sunshine on Saturday I looked for somewhere we could walk, but with the chance of seeing some feathered friends as well.
We then received an email from the National Trust (members of that as well!!) promoting the "Big Walk" so I had a look at what they were suggesting that wasn't to far away and one that came up was a 4.5 mile circular walk around the Wyre Forest taking in Dowles Brook, so as I know there are allegedly Dippers there, decision made! This was a first visit so we didn't know what to expect, but armed with Coffee, Hot Water and snacks we set of from Dry Mill Lane Car Park.
The weather was great if a tad cold, but we soon warmed up walking, the first half of the walk was along one of the cycle routes before dropping down to the brook. There wasn't a great deal of activity, though we did pick up a Jay and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. We were also sure we could hear Crossbills, but couldn't find them. We still haven't had any good sightings of Crossbills in the UK, just a fleeting glimpse once up in Scotland and hearing them occasionally... One day!
Once down in the valley and walking alongside the brook, we kept our eyes peeled for Dipper. On a couple of occasions we thought our luck was in but every time it was Robin darting around the banks of the brook. Can we claim a Red-breasted Dipper!! We have had plenty of Dipper sightings in the past up in Scotland but never locally... One day! (Or is that two days now)
Despite not seeing a dipper we had a great walk and did pick up a Willow Tit near the end which was great, so our small list for the walk was:
Blackbird, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Crow, Great Tit, Willow Tit, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Wood Pecker, Jay, Robin, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and 4 Buzzards on the way there.
We then received an email from the National Trust (members of that as well!!) promoting the "Big Walk" so I had a look at what they were suggesting that wasn't to far away and one that came up was a 4.5 mile circular walk around the Wyre Forest taking in Dowles Brook, so as I know there are allegedly Dippers there, decision made! This was a first visit so we didn't know what to expect, but armed with Coffee, Hot Water and snacks we set of from Dry Mill Lane Car Park.
The weather was great if a tad cold, but we soon warmed up walking, the first half of the walk was along one of the cycle routes before dropping down to the brook. There wasn't a great deal of activity, though we did pick up a Jay and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. We were also sure we could hear Crossbills, but couldn't find them. We still haven't had any good sightings of Crossbills in the UK, just a fleeting glimpse once up in Scotland and hearing them occasionally... One day!
Once down in the valley and walking alongside the brook, we kept our eyes peeled for Dipper. On a couple of occasions we thought our luck was in but every time it was Robin darting around the banks of the brook. Can we claim a Red-breasted Dipper!! We have had plenty of Dipper sightings in the past up in Scotland but never locally... One day! (Or is that two days now)
Despite not seeing a dipper we had a great walk and did pick up a Willow Tit near the end which was great, so our small list for the walk was:
Blackbird, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Crow, Great Tit, Willow Tit, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Wood Pecker, Jay, Robin, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and 4 Buzzards on the way there.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
A Weekend at Cresswell
We were invited up to Cresswell in Northumberland to join Tina's Sister over the weekend, staying in a caravan only 5 minutes drive from Cresswell Pond NWT. We had the pleasure of sleeping in the smallest beds ever invented, but we coped. As a reward we added 5 species to the year list of which 3 were firsts! This was totally unexpected but very welcome.
We visited 4 NWT sites whilst up there, Druridge Pools, East Chevington, Hauxley and Cresswell Pools. Cresswell though was by far the most productive and accounted for the 3 lifers. The nice thing was that they are all pretty close to Cresswell, so driving was kept to a minimum.
Druridge Pools
We paid 2 shortish visits here on Friday and Sunday, visiting a couple of hides. Wellies were essential as some of the paths were flooded. There was very little activity though, saw very few species, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, a Heron and a couple of Snipe flying around.
East Chevington
Just one visit here on the Saturday, a lovely reserve, with quite a bit going on. However the hides are terrible! They seem to be converted containers, opening the doors and windows makes a hell of a noise, its a wonder we saw anything with all the racket. They are also the most uncomfortable hides, the windows seem to be at the wrong height, just terrible. We were much better off leaving the hides and going up to the platforms on the track. It did mean though that you needed a scope to see anything. The best sightings here were Goldeneye, the briefest glimpse of a Merlin and a wonderful Short-eared Owl.
Hauxley
Again just one visit here on the Saturday, but it's a great reserve, with good hides and access down to the beach. We asked the warden as we arrived what was about and apart from what you'd expect he told us amongst all the Greylag was a single White-fronted Goose this would be a first for the year if we could find it.
We worked the hides on the northern side of the reserve, the south side was closed due to flooding. Here's a couple of pics from the hide looking at to sea.
We then moved on to the last hide closest to all the geese. But they were all very inactive, with heads tucked away chilling out, so there was no way we were going to find a white front! That is until a noisy model aircraft being flown down on the beach came a bit close and got them all up, even then we didnt think we'd find it as they were all settling down pretty quickly. But after scanning hundreds of geese we found it!
I couldn't get a good photo before he tucked up again but for the record:
Just a few others from Hauxley
Cresswell Pond
The star of the weekend. We visited 5 times there was just so much going on. On the Friday we kicked off with lifers 1 and 2. The first was easy a Jack Snipe in front of the hide, he stayed in the same place the whole three days, only venturing out once when it was to dark to take a pic, so here's the best I could do:
The second was much more difficult, a Long-tailed Duck, unfortunately this was a scope job, so no photo, but made up none the less, he appeared on most visits, but was difficult to find amongst all the other waterfowl.
Apart from the Jack Snipe, I have never seen so many Snipe, I counted at least 30 at one time, but the board in the hide said 54! We spotted our 3rd lifer on Sunday; Golden Plover in the morning we found just the one, but on our second visit there were four.
We had some pretty mixed conditions ranging from glorious sunshine to mist and fog, both of which at times made photography tricky! But here's a few anyway! (There's some more in the gallery)
Other than the reserves, we popped into Newbiggins on Sea for Tea and added Ringed Plover to the list, (until the fog rolled in and we couldn't see a thing), Druridge Country Park for a Cuppa (Found out that a Slavonian Grebe was there, but after we'd left and didn't get chance to go back) and Cresswell Foreshore for an Ice Cream and Dolphins!
So the lists:
Druridge Pools:
Black-headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coot, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Snipe, Wigeon & Wren.
East Chevington:
Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Black-backed Gull,
Great Crested Grebe, Kestrel, Long-tailed Tit, Mallard, Merlin, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pochard,
Short-eared Owl, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck & Wigeon.
Hauxley:
Bar-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Coot.
Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow,
Lapwing, Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank,
Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, White-fronted Goose & Wigeon.
Cresswell Pond:
Barn Owl, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Common Sandpiper, Coot, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Golden Plover, Goldeneye,
Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Greylag Goose,
Herring Gull, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard,
Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink-footed Goose (in nearby field), Pochard, Red-breasted Merganser,
Redshank, Robin, Rock Dove, Rook, Scaup, Short-eared Owl, Snipe, Starling, Stonechat, Teal,
Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon & Woodpigeon.
Newbiggins:
Carrion Crow, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Ringed Plover, Starling, Turnstone & Woodpigeon.
Cresswell Foreshore:
Dolphins, Cormorant, Eider, Grey Heron, Oystercatcher & Redshank.
We visited 4 NWT sites whilst up there, Druridge Pools, East Chevington, Hauxley and Cresswell Pools. Cresswell though was by far the most productive and accounted for the 3 lifers. The nice thing was that they are all pretty close to Cresswell, so driving was kept to a minimum.
Druridge Pools
We paid 2 shortish visits here on Friday and Sunday, visiting a couple of hides. Wellies were essential as some of the paths were flooded. There was very little activity though, saw very few species, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, a Heron and a couple of Snipe flying around.
East Chevington
Just one visit here on the Saturday, a lovely reserve, with quite a bit going on. However the hides are terrible! They seem to be converted containers, opening the doors and windows makes a hell of a noise, its a wonder we saw anything with all the racket. They are also the most uncomfortable hides, the windows seem to be at the wrong height, just terrible. We were much better off leaving the hides and going up to the platforms on the track. It did mean though that you needed a scope to see anything. The best sightings here were Goldeneye, the briefest glimpse of a Merlin and a wonderful Short-eared Owl.
Hauxley
Again just one visit here on the Saturday, but it's a great reserve, with good hides and access down to the beach. We asked the warden as we arrived what was about and apart from what you'd expect he told us amongst all the Greylag was a single White-fronted Goose this would be a first for the year if we could find it.
We worked the hides on the northern side of the reserve, the south side was closed due to flooding. Here's a couple of pics from the hide looking at to sea.
 |
| Really love Tree Sparrows! |
 |
| Rats! No you can't have any! |
I couldn't get a good photo before he tucked up again but for the record:
 |
| The top of it's white face can just be seen if you look closely! |
 |
| Greylags on finals |
 |
| Curlew touchdown |
 |
| Coquet Island, went there in 2010 to see Roseate Tern |
The star of the weekend. We visited 5 times there was just so much going on. On the Friday we kicked off with lifers 1 and 2. The first was easy a Jack Snipe in front of the hide, he stayed in the same place the whole three days, only venturing out once when it was to dark to take a pic, so here's the best I could do:
The second was much more difficult, a Long-tailed Duck, unfortunately this was a scope job, so no photo, but made up none the less, he appeared on most visits, but was difficult to find amongst all the other waterfowl.
Apart from the Jack Snipe, I have never seen so many Snipe, I counted at least 30 at one time, but the board in the hide said 54! We spotted our 3rd lifer on Sunday; Golden Plover in the morning we found just the one, but on our second visit there were four.
We had some pretty mixed conditions ranging from glorious sunshine to mist and fog, both of which at times made photography tricky! But here's a few anyway! (There's some more in the gallery)
 |
| GSW! |
 |
| Lapwing |
 |
| Little Grebe with Lunch |
 |
| Red Breasted Mergansers |
 |
| Spot the Snipe |
 |
| Golden Plover |
 |
| Great Crested Grebe showing a paddle! |
 |
| Curlew |
 |
| Short Eared Owl fly-by |
 |
| The mist rolling in |
 |
| Heron in the fog! |
 |
| Teal |
 |
| Goldcrest on the path to the hide |
 |
| Pink-footed in a field near Cresswell...... |
 |
| ........ along with some Swans |
Other than the reserves, we popped into Newbiggins on Sea for Tea and added Ringed Plover to the list, (until the fog rolled in and we couldn't see a thing), Druridge Country Park for a Cuppa (Found out that a Slavonian Grebe was there, but after we'd left and didn't get chance to go back) and Cresswell Foreshore for an Ice Cream and Dolphins!
Druridge Pools:
Black-headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coot, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Snipe, Wigeon & Wren.
East Chevington:
Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Black-backed Gull,
Great Crested Grebe, Kestrel, Long-tailed Tit, Mallard, Merlin, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pochard,
Short-eared Owl, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck & Wigeon.
Hauxley:
Bar-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Coot.
Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow,
Lapwing, Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank,
Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, White-fronted Goose & Wigeon.
Cresswell Pond:
Barn Owl, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Common Sandpiper, Coot, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Golden Plover, Goldeneye,
Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Greylag Goose,
Herring Gull, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard,
Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink-footed Goose (in nearby field), Pochard, Red-breasted Merganser,
Redshank, Robin, Rock Dove, Rook, Scaup, Short-eared Owl, Snipe, Starling, Stonechat, Teal,
Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon & Woodpigeon.
Newbiggins:
Carrion Crow, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Ringed Plover, Starling, Turnstone & Woodpigeon.
Cresswell Foreshore:
Dolphins, Cormorant, Eider, Grey Heron, Oystercatcher & Redshank.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
It's All Gone Quiet Over Here...
On Tuesday, I managed to get out at lunch time and get up to Haden Hill, to see if I could see the Kingfisher and check if any Redwings had turned up yet.
I hastened down to the lower pool and hung around for a while but sadly no sign of the Kingfisher. In fact the pool was really quiet as was the reserve, unless of course you wanted to see Woodpigeon or Magpie!
The pool had about 50 Mallard, 3 Canada Geese, 1 Black-headed Gull, plus some Coot and Moorhens, that was it!
Walking around the only other birds to be seen were a couple of Blackbirds, a Blue Tit, Rook, Crow and a low flying Buzzard that I nearly missed. That was it!
So I took a photo of a Crow and some fungi just to prove I'd been there
The following day after doing some shopping up Blackheath I returned home via the Powke Lane POS and Canal with an even worse result than the day before, nothing on the canal, nothing in the fields apart from Magpie and nothing through the Woodland back to the house, I did hear some Sparrows but that was all.
Just hope this weekend isn't as bad!
I hastened down to the lower pool and hung around for a while but sadly no sign of the Kingfisher. In fact the pool was really quiet as was the reserve, unless of course you wanted to see Woodpigeon or Magpie!
The pool had about 50 Mallard, 3 Canada Geese, 1 Black-headed Gull, plus some Coot and Moorhens, that was it!
 |
| Where have all my mates gone? |
 |
| Just about managed to get all 3 in one shot! |
So I took a photo of a Crow and some fungi just to prove I'd been there
The following day after doing some shopping up Blackheath I returned home via the Powke Lane POS and Canal with an even worse result than the day before, nothing on the canal, nothing in the fields apart from Magpie and nothing through the Woodland back to the house, I did hear some Sparrows but that was all.
Just hope this weekend isn't as bad!
Monday, 15 October 2012
Aqualate Mere (It was a Coot!)
Whilst on our NT visit to Attingham last weekend we got chatting to a couple who'd noticed we were birders. (Birders cricked neck syndrome from staring up into the trees!)
They mentioned to us nearby Aqualate Mere, where they had recently seen a Bittern, plus their description sounded pretty interesting, so we decided to go there on Sunday.
It was pretty straight forward to find just off the A518 near Newport (Salop).
The walk to the hide was very pleasant with woodland on the one side and boggy meadows on the other, although apart from a pair of fighting Robins, who were really going at it playground style rolling around in the dirt and Crows we didn't see much, although we heard a lot.
The final boardwalk up to the hide was flooded in places, so there goes the chance of any waders. The hide itself was coay, with plenty of cushions to support my prominent posterior! (I was told this by a tailor many years ago, when being measured for my wedding suit) Anyway I digress as usual.
The view over the Mere was great although everything apart from what seemed like thousands of coots were right down the other end. About a mile away, so even with the scope identifying anything other than the geese and swans was difficult. Because the Mere is privately owned, even though the hide side is an NNR, there is no 'legal' way to get to that end of the lake.
So we had to be content with whatever wandered down our end:
A Kingfisher did fly across the hide and land on a nearby post, but didn't hang around for more than a few seconds before he was off again.
So our list for the reserve:
Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Kingfisher, Coot (100s), Moorhen (1), Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Pheasant, Kestrel, Buzzard, Hobby, Crow, Rook and of course Woodpigeon.
The record book in the hide showed for the last few days a Black-necked Grebe was about but we couldn't find it.
We had a wander around the reserve as it got very cold in the hide and we needed to warm up, so here's a couple of snaps of a few other things:
We finished up having a cuppa on the only bench overlooking one of the meadows and were treated to a Kestrel, Hobby and Buzzard all within a few minutes of each other, none got close enough for a decent photo though.
Bye for now.
They mentioned to us nearby Aqualate Mere, where they had recently seen a Bittern, plus their description sounded pretty interesting, so we decided to go there on Sunday.
It was pretty straight forward to find just off the A518 near Newport (Salop).
The walk to the hide was very pleasant with woodland on the one side and boggy meadows on the other, although apart from a pair of fighting Robins, who were really going at it playground style rolling around in the dirt and Crows we didn't see much, although we heard a lot.
The final boardwalk up to the hide was flooded in places, so there goes the chance of any waders. The hide itself was coay, with plenty of cushions to support my prominent posterior! (I was told this by a tailor many years ago, when being measured for my wedding suit) Anyway I digress as usual.
The view over the Mere was great although everything apart from what seemed like thousands of coots were right down the other end. About a mile away, so even with the scope identifying anything other than the geese and swans was difficult. Because the Mere is privately owned, even though the hide side is an NNR, there is no 'legal' way to get to that end of the lake.
So we had to be content with whatever wandered down our end:
 |
| Just needed a stretch |
 |
| Run Away! |
 |
| Shoveler, hiding |
 |
| One of many Tufted Duck |
 |
| A few GCBs about |
So our list for the reserve:
Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Kingfisher, Coot (100s), Moorhen (1), Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Pheasant, Kestrel, Buzzard, Hobby, Crow, Rook and of course Woodpigeon.
The record book in the hide showed for the last few days a Black-necked Grebe was about but we couldn't find it.
We had a wander around the reserve as it got very cold in the hide and we needed to warm up, so here's a couple of snaps of a few other things:
Bye for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)