Sunday, 29 January 2017

28th Jan - sunny spells, light occasional shower late afternoon, light-mod SW, 6C

I was passing Lutteworth country park in the morning so popped in for a look before it became too busy.  There was at least 15 Goldfinch in the thicket making a lot of noise, and several Greenfinch too, with song and fight display. A Song Thrush was singing here with at least 4 feeding in the grassy areas.  About 40 Starlings were feeding on the pasture, along with ~20 each of Fieldfare and Redwing.

During the afternoon I visited Draycote water to see if I could connect with the Red-necked Grebe.  I headed of to its preferred area and soon found it feeding close to the shore.

 At Draycote a lot of Little Grebe over winter, this one had just caught a small fish.  In fact Black-headed Gull was after the food every time they surfaced with a catch, making them dive immediately.  Interesting to compare this Little grebe with the Red-necked Grebe.

A 'redhead' Smew was still present and this was feeding distantly before flying much closer to the shore.


I spotted 2 male Scaup feeding way out on the water, later I found them close to shore resting, with their heads tucked under, so not a great photo, most unco-operative!


Quite a few Goosander were around, some resting on the shore, a Raven flew passed, calling as it went.  in the bushes a flock of Long-tailed Tits were busy searching for food.    I stayed a little longer as the Gulls were coming on to roost, another local birder at this site found an adult Glaucous Gull, possibly the one I found last weekend here.  Showers had been threatening and finally passed directly over, a mixture of rain and hail, but allowing a nice rainbow to form - I headed off before it worsened.




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