I again decided to use the relative peace and quiet of the early morning to visit the lake area first, this always means missing out on seeing the Linnets leave their roost site at the tree nursery, however, it paid dividends today, as I found a pair of GOOSANDER (71,55) resting on the main lake - a fabulous bird to have on my patch, and one that is visiting the lake more regularly in recent winters. Also on the water were 8 CANADA GEESE, 8 MALLARD, 3 MOORHEN and the now resident COOT (dare I call it a resident ?).
Around the Scrub all the usual woodland species were seen, TREECREEPER, NUTHATCH, COAL, LONG TAILED, and MARSH TIT, as well as GOLDCREST and BULLFINCH.
Small parties of REDWING were in the Wet Woods, along with a few CHAFFINCH, there must be something in the leaf litter still available for them to feed on. More Redwing were out on the fields at Migrant Alley, and marchants field next to the Tree Nursery, with them were hundreds of FIELDFARE, in just a fortnights time i'll struggle to find either of these species for my daylist!
Passing through the paddocks at migrant alley I picked up two raptor species, the KESTREL and the SPARROWHAWK, both soaring in the dark blue sky, but a more gentler species gave me just as much pleasure, a pair of MUTE SWANS (56) that flew over, their wings forcing the air to give up its silence upon every beat. I'm always impressed to see these huge birds flying, I seldom see them on my patch.
46 species were recorded today, and with two more for the month, the March list looking good at 56, still 13 behind last March though. The year list is lagging a little on last year, the total so far is 71, that's 10 behind what I achieved at the end of last March, but I should get a couple of Migrants to add to it.
Still no sign of a Skylark for this month, and Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Grey Heron should have been seen by now, and havn't, maybe i'll find them this week.
Above: Female Goosander
Above: Male and Female Goosander, not the best of photo's but I didn't want to get too close and flush them.
Above: A GOLDFINCH feeding on a seed head, so much better than seeing them at the feeders.
Above are the majestic Mute swans, a welcome additon to the months list.
5 comments:
A most enjoyable post Warren! Well done on the Goosander and I loved the beautifully written description of the swans flying over. I don't see that often and I remember one occasion when I heard something overhead in a place I wouldn't expect to see them. When I looked up there was something quite magical about the unexpected sight of a pair flying over, a special moment which I have never forgotten.
Lovely to see the Goldfinch in its natural habitat as well.
Congrats on the new ticks! One thing I love about reading your blog is learning more about the similarities and differences between European and North American birds, both their nomenclature and speciation. Your goosander, for instance, is considered the same species as our common merganser, but other birds that look the same are considered separate species!
Nice one, with the Goosanders, Warren.
We had wall to wall blue sky, but it never actually felt warm.
Warren ,
Great sighting the Goosanders .
Another bird that I haven't seen this Winter .
Nice one Warren, well done with the Goosander - rather jealous!! Never personally seen a Goosander on the lake in Mote Park but they have been recorded in the past.
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