Sunday 26 February 2012

The last full patch walk of the month was undertaken in some bright and sunny conditions, with a light frost at first. I'd hoped to add something to the year/months list during the 4 hour visit, but I seem to have used up all my luck over the recent visits!

I still found a good tally of 47 species for the morning though, with some nice birds amongst them, like the COMMON BUZZARD that was seen perched up in the tree line along the NW boundary of Migrant Alley, the first of three raptor species seen today, the others being the SPARROWHAW and KESTREL.
Distant Common Buzzard  
 In one of the paddocks at Migrant Alley, at least 28 FIELDFARE were seen feeding, the first actually on the floor here for some time  :-) Another nice bird for my patch is the LESSER REDPOLL, six of these lovely finches dropped from the sky and straight into a small larch tree at the College Grounds, where they fed ravenously on the cone seed, I managed to creep right up beneath them, but couldn't get a clear view for a photo, so left them in peace. The first LINNETS of the year were also at the College Grounds ( the first that have been seen away from the roosting flock that is) 4 birds were recorded.

Three Gull species flew over whilst I was out, a single LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL was with one of the small groups of HERRING GULLS that headed W, while 33 BLACK HEADED GULLS fed on the College sports pitch, a good deal of them now sporting their brown hoods.

Other notable birds for my patch were the COOTS over on the lake, I'm confident that they will at least attempt to breed now. The regular CORMORANT was also on duty at the top of the bank side Silver Birch tree, and each of the three water bodies here, now have a pair of CANADA GEESE holding territory.

That was about it for the visit really, all the normal Tits, finch's Woodpeckers, and thrushes were recorded, plus NUTHATCH, TREECREEPER, JAY and YELLOWHAMMER all added to a pleasant mornings walk.Oh! almost forgot about the two Red Admiral butteflies that were seen, the 2nd and 3rd this year  :-)

I took one or two other photo's in the good light :-
CARRION CROW
Black Headed Gull
HOUSE SPARROW
Friendly ROBIN - I'm a sucker for this one, cant resist taking it's photo whenever I see it  ;-)

6 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

:) There are certain birds that no matter how hard I try, I can't help but snap a shot. For me it's the hummingbird or hawks. Fun birds to capture on camera. Do you have a hotline that tips you off on birds in your area/patch? Like an internet site or telephone number? I'm been using a local internet site to track down birds that visit the area. This weekend I located a Great Blue Heron and it was fun. The walks usually start off slow but get hot as we hike to the locations. We had an exciting find thanks to a tip from a local birder. My number increased by 3 this past Saturday. The next great search is the Coromant. Apparently they are here and I will find them:)

Warren Baker said...

Rohrerbot, there are 'hotlines' and messaging sevices here. I prefer to stick to my patch though, where if I dont go out, things dont get found!

I do occasionally venture further afield when the fancy takes me :-)

Marc Heath said...

Love the Buzzard shot, sometimes you don't need a tight crop. This works nicely I think, a sense of size and power.

Millhouse Photography said...

Robins are a man's best friend Warren - I tried some woodland photography yesterday and who was the first to take the bait? Yeah, the Robin!

ShySongbird said...

You can never publish too many photos of Robins especially when they are as lovely as that!

Warren Baker said...

Christian, - Songbird,
There'll be more Robin photo's before the winters out :-)