A busy day.
Willey: Briefly looked at feed station nice to see a couple of Tree Sparrows and Great- spotted Woodpeckers with all the usuals.
Thursday, 9 November 2017
7th Nov - rain on and off and heavy pm
Grim weather few obs today.
Stanford Reservoir; pair Red-Crested Pochard were new in.
Stanford Reservoir; pair Red-Crested Pochard were new in.
Monday, 6 November 2017
6th Nov - a grass frost last night, sunny day, very light SW, 10C
A busy day with little obs time, but I did notice 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers flying down the church lane, a few Redwing were attending the church Yew trees and some on the nearby Holly Tree eating the berries, a couple of Woodpigeon were enjoying them too. A Mistle Thrush was also around as usual visiting the usual berrried bushes.
Sunday, 5 November 2017
5th Nov - sunny intervals, light WNW, 9C, cool
Willey; generally much quieter today with fewer birds around, especially Thrushes. Both Green and a Great-spotted Woodpecker were around.
Stanford Reservoir; on a couple of adjacent recently sown fields I counted 69 Stock Doves that were feeding with a Woodpigeon. Fieldfare were also in good numbers with one flock c400 feeding on haws and in the tree tops. Of course a few Redwings were present too.
In the roving Tit flock, with the Long-tailed Tits were a Coal and Willow Tit.
On the water 11 Pochard were in today and a couple of drake Goldeneye.
As I was watching the Gulls at the inlet end aringtail Hen Harrier flew over, making fly-up before going out of view behind the Willows.
Stanford Reservoir; on a couple of adjacent recently sown fields I counted 69 Stock Doves that were feeding with a Woodpigeon. Fieldfare were also in good numbers with one flock c400 feeding on haws and in the tree tops. Of course a few Redwings were present too.
In the roving Tit flock, with the Long-tailed Tits were a Coal and Willow Tit.
On the water 11 Pochard were in today and a couple of drake Goldeneye.
As I was watching the Gulls at the inlet end aringtail Hen Harrier flew over, making fly-up before going out of view behind the Willows.
Saturday, 4 November 2017
4th Nov - rain till 1030, then mostly cloudy, with light- fresh WNW, 10C
Willey; Hawfinch - late morning I did some more watching on the paddock feed station, thick lane hedge and church yard as this area is very attractive to feeding birds at the moment. On the feed station 2 Nuthatch were present, plus all the usuals, including up to 30 House Sparrows.
I spotted a rather stocky bird in the top of the nearby Ash Tree, thinking it was likely to be the Great-spotted Woodpecker I was surprised to see it fly towards me in a bounding undulating flight with broad wings and a warm buff colour. It landed in the hedge, almost exactly where yesterday’s Ring Ouzel was, and I could see immediately the large bill and small black bib of a female Hawfinch. My first ever record here.
Over the last couple of weeks there has been an invasion of Hawfinch from mainland Europe to the UK. Not sure why this happened, may be a seed failure somewhere, but very occasionally this does occur, so hopefully I will see more locally in the weeks to come.
Shawell Lagoons. Few Gulls here this afternoon, and Grey and Pied Wagtsil were working the shore, 7 Magpies were squabbling on the middle bank, otherwise not much action to report.
I spotted a rather stocky bird in the top of the nearby Ash Tree, thinking it was likely to be the Great-spotted Woodpecker I was surprised to see it fly towards me in a bounding undulating flight with broad wings and a warm buff colour. It landed in the hedge, almost exactly where yesterday’s Ring Ouzel was, and I could see immediately the large bill and small black bib of a female Hawfinch. My first ever record here.
Over the last couple of weeks there has been an invasion of Hawfinch from mainland Europe to the UK. Not sure why this happened, may be a seed failure somewhere, but very occasionally this does occur, so hopefully I will see more locally in the weeks to come.
Shawell Lagoons. Few Gulls here this afternoon, and Grey and Pied Wagtsil were working the shore, 7 Magpies were squabbling on the middle bank, otherwise not much action to report.
3rd Nov - mostly cloudy, very light SW, 13C
Willey; Ring Ouzel - I spent some time this morning watching my feed station area and thick hedges around the church area. There was clearly a fall of Blackbirds last night (another spinney earlier held a good number and later I heard that Holme in Norfolk had a fall too), there were several in the hedge and moving in to the church yard to eat the Yew berries, plus a few Redwings. After a while of watching the coming and goings of Thrushes a ‘blackbird’ flew Up on to the hedge top, it seemed different and instinctively I raised my binoculars to view, it was a lovely female Ring Ouzel, it flew in to the church yard Yew Tree, after 10mins or so I saw it flew back in to the hedge and out of view. A great surprise and my first local patch record.
Stanford Reservoir; a look here in the afternoon, plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare were in the bushes. Four Snipe flew over and landed somewhere further down. The Black-tailed Godwit was on the point. All the usual birds were around, maybe more Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye had arrived. A Kingfisher zipped by with a small fish and a Grey Wagtail flew passed calling.
Stanford Reservoir; a look here in the afternoon, plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare were in the bushes. Four Snipe flew over and landed somewhere further down. The Black-tailed Godwit was on the point. All the usual birds were around, maybe more Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye had arrived. A Kingfisher zipped by with a small fish and a Grey Wagtail flew passed calling.
Thursday, 2 November 2017
2nd Nov - cloudy, light SW, 13C, a bit dull pm
Willey; this morning a Kestrel was at the village street-coal pit lane junction, before flying off over the fields.
Rutland Water; late morning news came that a Cory's Shearwater had been found in the north arm and showing well (I had also heard of a Lesser Yellowlegs not too far from me - and had thought about going to see it), after finishing some jobs the Cory's won and I set off to find it. I did find it flying out over the reservoir and sometimes settled on the water. Quite why this turned up today is a puzzle, no storms etc, amazing to see inland. Others, including Chris Hubbard had made it earlier than me and had close views, Chris managed some photos too.
Rutland Water; late morning news came that a Cory's Shearwater had been found in the north arm and showing well (I had also heard of a Lesser Yellowlegs not too far from me - and had thought about going to see it), after finishing some jobs the Cory's won and I set off to find it. I did find it flying out over the reservoir and sometimes settled on the water. Quite why this turned up today is a puzzle, no storms etc, amazing to see inland. Others, including Chris Hubbard had made it earlier than me and had close views, Chris managed some photos too.
Cory's Shearwater (C Hubbard)
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