Over 1000 Wood Pigeon,100+Pintails,Bewicks,Whoopers,Marsh Harriers Mipits

Had a cracking lunchtime early afternoon session on the LDV we actually got some half decent light for a few hours!!! I the great man upstairs was a birder!

Had a walk around and came across a huge flock of Wood Pigeon easily over 1000 birds then had a walk on the usual path other than the run of the mill tits,wrens robins etc there was not a great deal so I moved on lots of rooks and crows about but again nothing of any great interest. A lone kestrel flew across the fields and my usual gaggle of 25+ moorehen were as comical as ever.

Decided to head back when I took a detour as I could see even more woodpigeon flying around, came across this heap of whatever and noticed in the ditch to the left a good size flock of reed bunting 10-15 back at the heap and I noticed upto 30 little birds scurrying about obviously eating something in the heap, I tried to get closer.....

Moved onto the bridge and noted 1000's of teal and wigeon very upset by something in the area (no not me!) more on that later.

 Bloomin Twig (Doh!)

Sorry but could not resist the above two....
Still could not work out why there were so few birds around.
Finally made it to North Duff Carrs came across a lovely thrush and a tiny goldcrest on the way in I then  met up with a stranger to these parts Arnie I think he said his name was!!!

It then dawned on me why there were so few birds out and about there must have been at least three open shoots going on and all the birds had assembled on the carrs. 1000's of birds!!!!!

Pintail coming out of our earholes easily 100+ also brilliant views of Goldeneye, Pochard, Wigeon, Teal, Golden Plover, Lapwing,100's of Tufteds Greylags Mutes Whoopers and at least two Bewicks.

Wildfowl on the river getting seriously spooked......heres why....

 

then this.........

 

and finally this....

 

 

In fairness there were two Buzzard's and Two Marsh Harriers Patrolling the river.

 

Most of the bird action was in front of the farm in the corner where the male scaup put in an appearance so I couldn't resist a peek...

 

Decided to get back to the flock of meadow pipits and skylarks as the light was fading fast had one barn owl and stacks of skylarks in the fields barn owl put in a late show but he was distant and by 3pm the light was so bad I gave it up for the day even my mate below had thrown in the towel,,,,

 

 

 



 

Turdus pilaris

Another brisk walk on the local patch this morning and I noticed a huge flock of Fieldfare (300+) they were obviously very hungry and were also very vocal.Nothing else except for the usual robin,wren,great tits and blue tits although all the blue tits I came across were all feeding on the floor.

Moved onto Aughton and had a look around the church could see lots of teal and wigeon across the ings but not much else so decided to have a look around Bubwith bridge one of the huge Aughton buzzards was seen roosting in the top of a roadside tree it flew off as soon as I stopped the car.
Nothing like as many birds as yesterday but there were a lot more walkers out today as the flood water is dropping fast, more on that later.
Good size flocks of lapwing and yet more fieldfare and redwing still plenty of snipe around and 6-8 redshank.
Reed buntings were numerous (8-10) as were chaffinch and the local sparrow population is still looking healthy.Several collared dove were flying around and a constant stream of incoming gulls were seen

popped into the GS hide and thankfully I was greeted by my regular barn owl pheasants and partridge running around in the fields, plenty of crows rooks and jackdaws hanging around.

Shortly after getting settled in an empty hide all the visible teal and wigeon on the river were seriously spooked by something, I followed the flock and observed a single Marsh harrier gliding down the river.

I was then joined by three other birders and within 5 minutes one of them had picked out the male scaup dozing off on the icy water loads of pochard and 100+ tufted duck were seen.Pintails looking good in the fading light lots of whoopers near the still flooded garganey hide but numbers were well down on yesterday.

Garganey hide!!!!

decided to risk a walk to the gargeney hide to see what the floods had done.................

Think this will take some drying out!!!!

more redshank and snipe flying over and a huge flock of starlings, walking back to the GS hide I had chaffinch, great tit,blue tit robin and a very busy goldcrest.

Cold and misty day..

Had a look at to see how much white stuff had landed overnight 2-3 inches was the answer and I quickly realised that the bird feeders were totally empty!!!

Having filled all the feeders and the water trough I returned to the warmth of the house,straight away a single fieldfare flew in and started to tuck into the feast I had laid out in the garden.He/She was quickly joined by two dunnocks a robin and several blackbirds,then the starlings arrived to help clear the bread on the snow.

I decided to have a walk around the village and noticed several bullfinch rummaging around in the shrubs,what was obvious was the huge number of fieldfare in the hedgerows (100+) GSW flew over and a large flock of long tailed tits were observed desperately trying to find food in the shrubs.

I then spotted something moving around in the shrubs turned out to be a dunnock.

walked a bit further flushing out dozens of fieldfare in the process they really are very vocal and hungry.

I decided to move on and see if any barn owls were about found one but sadly he refused to come out of his box obviously much warmer where he was I decided to leave him alone and move on.On arrival at Bubwith bridge it was clear that the river had dropped by a significant amount and visible to all was a huge number of waders golden plover,redshank and snipe in number.wigeon and teal also in big numbers.

Again more fieldfare and several redwing were observed.

I must admit the poor lapwings looked frozen but they were very vocal and were seen to be flying high and then dive bombing other members of the group.

Back at the bridge no sign of the otter that had been seen earlier in the week but there was a small lock of what looked like meadow pipits (6)

Snipe were now all over the place hunting and probing for food in the mud.

I then decided to move onto the GS hide at north duff carrs the light had not been great all day and the mist was descending fast so int the hide stacks of lapwings and a huge flock of Whooper swans (80+) mutes around as well as the usual teal and wigeon,wrens foraging outside the hide and at one point 7 yes 7 robins were seen outside the hide fighting and looking for food, two bewicks flew in late on and as usual the huge gull roost was building up nicely I hope we get some better visibility tomorrow.

7 Barn Owls!!!

Had a quick walk around the local patch and managed to catch a large flock of mixed birds was delighted to see the following in the flock corn bunting, bullfinch,brambling,chaffinch,greenfinch,goldcrest,yellowhammer,reedbunting, I then moved on and watched the hungry blackbirds getting stuck into the remaining hawthorn berries. A song thrush flew across my path and it was good to see large flocks of fieldfare and redwing still hanging around.

moved on and came across not one but three barn owls good to see they are coping with the floods etc.stacks of wigeon and teal and a good flock of pinkfoots (50) making a racket.

moved onto skipwith common to be greeted by two more barn owls not much else to shout about but it was an interesting walk.

Went back to the village to see another barn owl fly across the road and into the shrubs, made it to the GS hide for the last hour and watched a very agile dabchick paddling around outside the hide.A big flock of dunlin (60+) were observed trying to find a roost for the night and the usual gull roost was later than normal but still big numbers.Whoopers and mutes were visible but no bewicks seen.

driving back to the bridge barn owl number 7 flew across the road. cracking afternoon!!

12 Mile yomp..ouch!!!!

Change of scenery today as her indoors wanted a post chrimbo walk.
Started from the village and headed East all the usual village stuff sparrows, collared doves, pigeons,starlings,jackdaw,crows,rooks,great and blue tits chaffinch,wren,robin and blackbirds,mistle and song thrush also seen.

headed along a local path no waxwing but a massive flock (2500+) woodpigeon, then came across a mixed flock of sparrows and finches,40+ in with the flock I observed chaffinch,siskin,brambling,greenfinch and my first corn buntings of the year. Moving on we eventually arrived at Foggathorpe 20+ mix of redpoll and linnet with some reed bunting and bull finches also around in the shrubs. One of the redpoll was very pale (but i'm not going into that here!!!) A flock of 20 pink footed geese flew over heading towards Bubwith.

still good numbers of fieldfare and redwing in the distant trees.

Loads more common stuff and another very nice jay flew across a nearby field.We then moved onto the ponds and had two barn owls fly around and then away,moving to the next field e had wigeon,teal and a very nice grey heron as well as a nice flock of 8 snipe feeding on the ponds.

2 mutes were finding our presence curious so we left them to it and moved on.More woodpigeon flying around 1000+ and lots of agitated crows,rooks and jackdaws. Pheasant,english and french partridge were also seen.

Walking back home yellow hammer and more large finch flocks were noted.Arrived home and decided to spend the last hour at the carrs, suprised to see a busy car park and sure enough the GS hide was almost full joined AWBIRDER and others and observed pintail, pochard and huge numbers of gull BHG and black backed as well as herring gulls were seen. No barn owl or bewicks but they are still in the valley.

A pretty good day all in all but the bones and joints are getting their own back now!!!

Afternoon two...

Didn't get out until lunchtime so wondered where to go thought I would check out a few less well known areas on the patch wellies on and off we go...

Noticed huge flocks of woodpigeon (700+) on the outskirts of the village and a big flock of rooks (150+) the rooks were again very vocal and agitated no obvious reason why.

Came across 12 yellowhammers in with a big group  of sparrows (70), greenfinh,chaffinch.
 Moving on I managed to startle a stunning Jay I know a lot of people are not so keen on this bird but they are very striking! Hilarious to watch the 15-20 moorhens running around in a muddy field.And a lone woodcock skulking around in the long grass.

Then moved onto another lesser known spot clagged in mud but hey ho..  siskin on the garden feeders (4) and then I noticed a (40+) flock of tufteds, looking further in the distance I watched 4 corvids harassing a very large buzzard (bigger than usual) two marsh harriers flew by and a young very large cormorant shot across the water big white stripe down its front.

Loads of pheasants long tailed, great and blue tits on the way back to the car.The light was now probably the worst it had been all day so I decided to spend the last hour in the GS hide.

Nice pintails (4) pochard (6-8) seem to be hanging around 2000+ BHG's with Herring Gulls mixed in 1 adult and 3 juvies.Teal and wigeon as ever grey lags mutes and canadas in big numbers. Whoopers (6) flew in and settled behind aughton church, Didn't see any bewicks and the waders were absent but tufteds were noted

Then shock of shocks the SUN came out for at least 8 minutes WOW the valley looks so different in full sun awesome.If only the big birder upstairs will let us have some more tomorrow!!

sorry no pics but light and distance prevented anything decent.

New Year New Patch

After watching from my kitchen window 9 collared doves and 30+ sparrows dispatch my expensive bird seed (supported by a rather fat woodpigeon)  I decided to have a look around the village.Made my way to Bubwith bridge and noted a female sprawk trying to finish eating a blackbird. At the bridge there was the usual wigeon,teal,mallards lots of crows and rooks playing in the thermals at the newly exposed field (water is going down slowly!).

Then decided to have a look around the village church, fieldfare and redwing active in the shrubs which are still surprisingly heavy with fruit.Big numbers of blackbirds and robins as well as the usual noisy wrens. Walked towards dingle dell and could see 15-20 whoopers at the back of the farm (no wonder I can not see them from the bridge!!)

Moving on 40+ rooks were very vocal and huge flocks of starlings and woodpigeon were noted.
Single magpie keeping a beady eye on proceedings as was a number of jackdaw.I then came across the following flock approx 100 birds.

Mainly sparrows but also in with them dunnock, 4-6 yellowhammer,chaffinch,greeninch,brambling,bullfinch,and siskin, they were swooping onto the field feeding and then darting back into the hawthorn.Brilliant to watch even if the light was poor.

 

A further stroll and a bird which I have never seen in the flesh and one that gets people all worked up.

 

now I guess i get it.Very nice to see and was in fact a bit of a poser,obviously very hungry.

Moving on and leaving him to his afternoon tea,

I had another big sprawk fly across my path and a very wet field with over 20 moorehen in it. 4 more yellow hammers and a GSW completed a very pleasant walk.

 

Spent the last 30 minutes in the GS hide pintail,teal,greylags whoopers,mutes,robin,wren,BHG, big juv herring gulls, loads of lapwings and the usual flypast by the ever reliable barn owl.

 

I make that 30+ differnt birds for a two hour stroll.