9.30-12 o'clock. The place bursting with birdsong.. especially the summer Warblers. Highlights were :-1 Common Buzzard... 1 female Pheasant... 1 Jay... and dozens of House Martins high above out of sight apart from binoculars.
9.30-11.30. Really overgrown now with very little open water as opposed to a couple of years ago... Highlights were.... 1 flushed Common Snipe... 1 Grey Heron... 2 Common Whitethroat... 2 male Reed Buntings...
Plenty of Blackcap and Chiffchaff... a few Willow Warblers... 1 Common Buzzard overhead.
At least three singing Blackcaps on the path from Kestrel Drive. Also I could hear, if not see what sounded like a decent flock of Siskins farther along the same path.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
A quick stomp around the lake and "wetland" before work this morning: 1 Peregrine north-west 17 Moorhen 1 Grey Heron 56 Mallard 3 Coot 1 Grey Wagtail 1 Snipe 2 Siskin 6 Redwing north 1 Treecreeper with a bunch of Long-tailed Tit.
Usual early afternoon stroll: 63 Black-headed Gull 1 Herring Gull (ad.) 9 Goosander (5 (4m, 1f) on the lake, another 4 over headed south) 2 Mistle Thrush
11 Goosander on the main lake early afternoon, along with around 300 Black-headed Gulls. Also c35 Lapwing on the bus depot roof, first time I've seen them here this winter.
Despite a really good look there was no sign of the usual roosting Tawny Owl. Single Kingfisher and a female Goosander both flew over looking for non-existent open water!
On at least two occasions I could have sworn I heard distant Crossbills. I didn't see anything and the calls were very distant. There are a few pines on the site but not so many as to hold any Crossbills for any period I wouldn't have thought, but the two instances were a good 1/2 or 3/4 hour apart. Maybe birds being pushed around by the cold snap?
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
Really quiet today, although that's probably to do with the fact it was 2pm when I got on site.
Tawny Owl still in its roost. 2 redhead Goosander on the lake with well over 100 Black-headed Gulls - Couldn't count them properly as they were all over the place chasing bits of bread. There seemed like a really good number of Mallard too, although again I didn't even attempt a count. Passerines were thin on the ground with just a few Goldfinches and Chaffinches.
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Sunday 11th of February 2018 10:34:10 PM
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
Morning walk in grey and bitterly cold conditions. Sightings included :-
4x redhead goosander on the water.
Roosting tawny owl - very difficult to spot today.
Willow, coal, blue, great and long-tailed tits on the feeding station. Bullfinch in the woods.
Small flock of redwing in Viridor Woods, also here a buzzard and grey heron flying over and kestrel hunting on the edge of the wood. Siskin and goldfinch in the conifers.
Late post for Thursday, beautiful sunny conditions on a walk round the site and Viridor Wood. Highlights :-
Willow tit x 1, long-tailed tit x8, great spotted woodpecker x1, reed bunting x2 on the feeding station along with the regulars, briefly spooked when a female sparrowhawk went through the woods behind the feeders.
1x buzzard over Viridor Wood. Small flock of fieldfare and redwing here also.
4x bullfinch in the woods. Also a large flock of goldfinch with smaller numbers of siskin feeding in the alders along the edge of Three Sisters (where it borders Viridor).
Went in search of roosting Long-eared owls today, checking out their old roost spots. Sadly none to be seen, although I did find a Tawny Owl which is a first for me at Three Sisters and may explain the lack of Long-Eareds as (if memory serves) Tawnys can and will 'evict' Long-Eareds. Must admit to being a bit surprised at finding a Tawny. I didn't think the woodland had matured to a point that it was now suitable habitat.
Otherwise quiet - 4 Goosander on the lake, a small number of Redpolls were heard but only single birds and no big flocks.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
Gloomy and breezy conditions ahead of the rain this afternoon. Sightings included :-
Large flock of long-tailed tits, great tit, blue tit foraging in the nature reserve area, two willow warbler also calling in this area. Buzzard seen distantly in direction of Viridor Wood and kestrel later seen hunting over the farmland on the edge of the woods. Two jays flitting amongst the trees on the edge of the farmland. Bullfinch heard and 2 x chaffinch and 4 x goldfinch seen on the edge of the woods. Treecreeper giving decent views as it foraged up and down the large tree at the feeding station.
Four singing whitethroat in the scrubland around the hide and the ponds. Also reed warbler from the scrubland in front of the hide. Willow warbler, blackcap and chiffchaff all singing from the woodland around the Arena Hill footpath along with a group of long-tailed tits. Jay giving good views from the bird feeding station.
Morning visit....10.15-12.15
2 Kestrels. 1male Kestrel swooped into grass and caught a small mammal.
1 Common Buzzard
1 Grey Heron
1 female Mallard Duck
Pair of Teal
Several Moorhen
Several Jay
1male Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Wrens
2 Robins
Dozen Meadow Pipits mobbing Kestrels.
Not been here for a while.The last time I came here it was very promising with waders but now the water levels are just too high.Can anything be done about this?
Another quick early afternoon visit, Lake-side car park area only (no binoculars etc): Much the same as yesterday 6 Goosander 2 Common Gull 1 Herring Gull 200+ Black-headed Gull 1 Nuthatch