Date: 8th-13th February
Location:
Newton St Loe, Chew Valley Lake, Stockhill, Ashleworth Ham, Slimbridge
Weather:
Cold, Rain, Blue Skies.
Newton St Loe, Chew Valley Lake, Stockhill, Ashleworth Ham, Slimbridge
Weather:
Cold, Rain, Blue Skies.
Species Highlights:
Frogs, Bearded Reedlings, Greater Scaup, Crossbill, Black-tailed godwit, Kestrel.
Frogs, Bearded Reedlings, Greater Scaup, Crossbill, Black-tailed godwit, Kestrel.
Observation:
This year our frog spawn is early 2 weeks early, it appeared a day after we did a Pond clean, just pulling up dead and dying plants getting it ready for a bumper Dragonfly year I hope.
Lauren does the photos for the pond, and a great job she does!
Monday the weather wasn't great so a trip down to Chew Valley Lake was in order not long after entering the hide and seeing nothing in front...I mean nothing we left and we were gonna try another hide when I spotted a Bearded Reedling, year tick for Lauren, again Laurens pictures.
We heard 2 but this male put on a great show, such stunners.
We walked around to next hide with rain starting, on entering we spied Scaup another year tick for Lauren, 15 birds seen, really Scaup through the rain.
The rain eased off eventually leaving the great looking rainbow, with scaup at the end of it.
Next stop was Stockhill, It wasn't long before we spotted our targets Crossbill, male & female perched as always at the top of larch tree's very tricky as the wind was blowing a hooly!
Wednesday Lauren at work I decided to go to Ashleworth Ham in Gloucestershire, for a look for the Bean Goose after the drive up and an hour waiting for it, it was a no show. A bit of a Knightmare journey back, with a road closed, the diversion was flooded and my Van door falling off!
I dropped into Slimbridge on way back eventually to at least see some birds, hardly anything from hides so wandered around the captive pools.
Canvasback duck- Aythya valisineria
Hooded Merganser F -Lophodytes cucullatus
Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis
Ferruginous duck - Aythya nyroca ( a Duck I keep missing for Uk but have seen in Rhodes)
This the male.
Not a bird I expect to see in the Uk but another Duck I've never seen, I've been to Slimbridge many times, seen photos of this bird there but never managed to see it! Its a Baikal teal (Sibirionetta formosa
What a beauty eh!
A Jackdaw posed nicely too.
An airborne predator or something flew over spoking the Godwits.
So that was Wednesday highs and lows.
Thursday was patch walk day, and a grey day to start but on top fields, I had a view of the only Fieldfare of the year.
Not much else to report apart from the Whooper Swan now it's 115 days. Mute swans all showing aggression towards it now, I hope soon it will depart.
Another year Patch tick was this Kestrel in the horse fields.
Like buses another kestrel, male/female.
Patch year list up to 55.
Wayne Year Bird List: 126
Lauren Year Bird List: 118
This year our frog spawn is early 2 weeks early, it appeared a day after we did a Pond clean, just pulling up dead and dying plants getting it ready for a bumper Dragonfly year I hope.
Lauren does the photos for the pond, and a great job she does!
Monday the weather wasn't great so a trip down to Chew Valley Lake was in order not long after entering the hide and seeing nothing in front...I mean nothing we left and we were gonna try another hide when I spotted a Bearded Reedling, year tick for Lauren, again Laurens pictures.
We heard 2 but this male put on a great show, such stunners.
We walked around to next hide with rain starting, on entering we spied Scaup another year tick for Lauren, 15 birds seen, really Scaup through the rain.
The rain eased off eventually leaving the great looking rainbow, with scaup at the end of it.
Next stop was Stockhill, It wasn't long before we spotted our targets Crossbill, male & female perched as always at the top of larch tree's very tricky as the wind was blowing a hooly!
Wednesday Lauren at work I decided to go to Ashleworth Ham in Gloucestershire, for a look for the Bean Goose after the drive up and an hour waiting for it, it was a no show. A bit of a Knightmare journey back, with a road closed, the diversion was flooded and my Van door falling off!
I dropped into Slimbridge on way back eventually to at least see some birds, hardly anything from hides so wandered around the captive pools.
Canvasback duck- Aythya valisineria
Hooded Merganser F -Lophodytes cucullatus
Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis
Ferruginous duck - Aythya nyroca ( a Duck I keep missing for Uk but have seen in Rhodes)
This the male.
Not a bird I expect to see in the Uk but another Duck I've never seen, I've been to Slimbridge many times, seen photos of this bird there but never managed to see it! Its a Baikal teal (Sibirionetta formosa
What a beauty eh!
The captive Crane looks great close Up this one just a few feet away.
A Jackdaw posed nicely too.
The only hide where anything was happening was the Hogarth hide, Black-tailed Godwits just outside the windows.
An airborne predator or something flew over spoking the Godwits.
So that was Wednesday highs and lows.
Thursday was patch walk day, and a grey day to start but on top fields, I had a view of the only Fieldfare of the year.
Not much else to report apart from the Whooper Swan now it's 115 days. Mute swans all showing aggression towards it now, I hope soon it will depart.
Another year Patch tick was this Kestrel in the horse fields.
Like buses another kestrel, male/female.
Patch year list up to 55.
Wayne Year Bird List: 126
Lauren Year Bird List: 118
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