Because I struggle to keep up with blogging all of my birding days out, mainly because I'm always having birding days out, my aim this year is to produce monthly compendiums alongside individual blogs featuring standout days and the more interesting birds seen. Which, to be fair, is pretty much what I always do. My real aim is therefore to keep up with the blogs. Which is always my aim. And one that I always fail to achieve. I don't expect this year will be prove to be any different but at least I'll be trying.
So this is January's round up. Which, because I'm a bit random, actually starts on Boxing Day last year. And because it's a concise account of a whole month (and a bit) it's actually about three times as big as my usual blogs!
Tuesday December 26th; Waxwings and Why Not?
Everyone loves Waxwings. Their appetite for food even outweighs mine. While I go out on Boxing Day to get a break from the fridge and give my belly a rest, the Waxwings just keep on voraciously piling berries into theirs. We'd already seen Waxwings this winter, a flock of eight helped me just about keep man-flu at bay on the day Mrs Caley and I travelled to see our first ever Pallid Swift in Norfolk. But you can never really ever get enough of Waxies, they are truly beautiful birds and always entertaining to watch. There were quite a few around to choose from, although typically none in our home county of Oxfordshire, so we chose the next nearest which was two birds in Higham Ferrers in neighbouring Northants.
Predictably the roads were quiet, apart from all of the equally "bored as us" folk who were queueing up to get some retail therapy in at Stanwick Lakes. Quite why folk desire to hit the shops on Boxing Day is beyond me after spending the run-up to Christmas spending in shops, but, hey, each to their own (or collective own in their case). Luckily not nearly as many people are interested in Waxwings although they really should be.
We saw the two Waxwings instantly once we'd pulled into the reported location, incidentally on the same housing estate that I'd done some work on about twenty years ago. That visit was almost disastrous but funny to look back on now. I'd gone there to tile a kitchen floor in a newly built house in a row of similar newly built houses. The foreman of the site showed me the tiles which were in the garage of the house. I tiled the kitchen with the tiles. When I returned the following day, the foreman told me that I'd done a lovely job but had tiled the kitchen floor of the house next door! The houses were link detached and the garage with the tiles in it belonged to the wrong house. Luckily they liked the tiling so much that the builders decided to keep it and order the same floor again for the correct house!
Anyway, enough tittle-tattle for once (plenty of that to come later). We parked and walked back a short way to where the two Waxwings were perched up high in a tree preening and resting. When Waxwings are not gulping down berries then they tend to be preening and resting in the top of a tall tree close to the feeding tree. The Rowan trees that they were treating as their own personal larder was along a small alleyway between two houses.
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| Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) |
We took up position close to the Rowans and waited. It wasn't long before one of the Waxwings flew in to feed. The bird was quite wary and had a good look around before going for the berries. These two birds had been feeding on the Rowans for a few days, and there were a fair number of Blackbirds also taking the fruits so the remaining treats tended to be on the outer branches. The first Waxwing chose a bunch on the side of the tree closest to us which was very Christmas spirited of it.
After a few berries more than it probably needed, the Waxwing retreated to its lookout tree. It was instantly replaced at the Rowan by the other bird which tucked into the feast immediately. It was a little bit like the Christmas Day tea in our house.
Thursday 28th December; Local Matters
The weather hadn't been kind over the Christmas period and we had run out of steam somewhat so hadn't ventured out much at all. Our year listing, or so we thought, had ended on 313 and we didn't have much will to add any more to it. So, eager to get some fresh air, we dropped into our local wetlands reserve to while away a couple of hours. One of our most active local birders, Laurie, was also there and we chatted away about the local birding scene and I garnered as much info from him as I could. It's good to know that a pair of Barn Owls are still active nearby.
As far as birds go it was much of a muchness on the reserve. Numbers of the ubiquitous Teal were high with over two hundred counted and I found a resting group of Common Snipe close to the road. I knew that the Jack Snipe, seen recently by Alan, the reserve warden, was likely to be roosting at the same spot. I spent a lot of effort searching through the stubbly reed stems and vetch but couldn't find any of the smaller Jacks but did uncover a few of the larger and more common type. I took a few photos out of the car window as I passed on the way out.
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| Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) |
The main highlight was a female Sparrowhawk that terrorised the birds at the feeder station although, despite mounting an almost nonstop attack over an hour or so, never caught any of the hundreds of small birds. I took advantage to capture the hunter when the Sparrowhawk took a quick breather on the fence.
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| Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) |
We had come hoping to see a Cattle Egret that had graced the reserve for the past few days, the first recorded here, but despite Laurie having seen it earlier in the day, there was no sign of it. I don't think it'll be very long however, before we get another chance of adding the species to our reserve list.
Friday 29th December; Jack on the List!
We made another visit to the wetlands the following morning and this time the warden Alan was there. I quizzed him about the Jack Snipe and when he learned that we hadn't seen one anywhere this year, offered to help us see one. He had to regulate the flow out of the sluice that takes water from the works pond into the main lagoon anyway. So I stood on the road by the small "Snipe Marsh" while Alan carefully walked through the grass. The Common Snipe bolted first, as they always do, flying up and calling before zig-zagging away over the lagoon. There were maybe twenty or so. From the hide and looking through my scope I had found just two. They hide so well.
Right by the water's edge, Alan flushed a Jack Snipe. Typically for the species, Jack Snipe fly away silently and in a straight line. I quickly aimed the camera and managed to capture the smaller Snipe as it flew off towards the other end of the reserve. Another flew up as Alan walked back, he'd almost stood on it. I should add that I'm not a fan of flushing birds but the sluice did need adjusting and it's really the only way of knowing how many Jack Snipe are on the reserve, although thermal imaging cameras are changing that. And it was a very welcome late addition to our year list, one that we thought we'd missed out on.
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| Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) |
Year List addition;
314) Jack Snipe
Saturday 30th December; Baikal Teal
Our last addition to the year list was a Baikal Teal in Somerset. The sighting is blogged here.
Monday 1st January; A Relaxed Start With More Waxies
For the past five years we have headed out on New Years Day to either gain as many species as possible in order to kick-start the year list by visiting a prolific reserve, or have singled out a rare bird somewhere and then raced around adding as many other birds as we could in the same area. This time however, we're determined to take it easy for a change and will prioritise species that we haven't observed very well for a while. So we did take a relaxed morning out and headed just into Gloucestershire but it was to see a couple more Waxwings that we'd only seen just a week ago!
The two Waxwings, do they always go around in pairs, had been feeding in a small Rowan tree bang on the busy High Street in Moreton-in-Marsh for almost a week. We had arranged to meet our friend Mark, "The Early Birder" there. A promised sunny morning soon deteriorated into a typical grey one but as we trundled into the deserted town just before ten o'clock and parked, we could straight away see the two birds perched at the top of a taller tree looking down on the Rowan. There was only Mark and one other chap (another top photographer in fact, nice to meet again Richard) stood watching and waiting for the Waxies to pile into the berries. A short blast of "Waxies Dargle' by The Pogues hit my internal sound system. It generally does when I see a Waxwing.
By keeping our backs to the walls of the buildings lining the service road and path that created a small grassy island where the Rowan tree stood, we were able to stand close to the birds. When the Waxwings descended from the higher tree to feed we were all in prime position for photography. However, the overcast conditions added to the height of the surrounding buildings made this a dingy place to fully appreciate the birds. It did for me with my limited skills anyway, I'm sure the others did somewhat better.
The two birds fed alongside each other, happily and unfettered unless a Mistle Thrush or Blackbird wanted the same fruits and sent them packing back to the lookout tree. Clear views were hard to obtain since this Rowan tree had a messy tangle of branches and twigs. The berries of the Rowan were of the white variety which seem to be a favourite of Waxwings. Most people reckon they go for red berries first but iu think that's only because there are more trees with those. In my own experience, the white berries seem to be deluxe cuisine for Waxwings. If they find a Rowan tree sporting white fruit they don't leave it until they've all been eaten.
Because the Waxwings had been present at the tree for a while, the berries were only available lower down and at the end of slender branches. Thus the two birds had to perform some admirable acrobatics in order to reach them. I had to shift constantly to get clear views of the birds but in truth it was a half-hearted effort by myself to gain photos. It's not like I've never photographed Waxwings before!
I had expected Moreton-in-Marsh to be quiet on the first day of the year but it was actually anything but. By half past ten, the town had woken up and there was a steady flow of tourists and locals past the Rowan tree. Just about all of them were interested in what the four of us were doing. While I admired their collective interest, relating the fact that we were watching a couple of Waxwings soon became tedious so I left them all to Mrs Caley who did a fine job of playing wildlife tour guide. At one point she had at least ten folk lined up, all peering into the Rowan to see the birds!
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| Mrs Caley, the Waxwing Pointer Outer! |
Mark and I had spent most of our time there willing the sun to emerge from the clouds. When it finally did, the Waxwings looked up and promptly flew off! You can't trust a wild bird to behave itself. When they returned the cloud came back with them!
We had one last look at the Waxwings, I took a few more photos, but then decided it was getting too busy. In any case a couple of horse riders that trotted up the High Street on their charges sent the birds packing and they flew high and strongly up the street and well out of sight. It had been a nice tranquil start to our new birding year.
Back at home we popped in to our local wetlands again. Not really for any serious year listing, we are not going there this time remember, but to look through the "Snipe Marsh" again. We had some luck too, when a driver of one of the Thames Water vans stopped right next to the sluice area, and then got out to check (presumably) the water levels. The Snipe were alarmed enough to fly up en masse, and luckily we caught sight of a Jack Snipe tagging along. Last year we saw our first Jack three days before the end of the year. Just four days later and we'd already got one on this years list. Yes, that list that I'm not keeping.
Friday 5th January; What a Thrush? No, a Warbler!
A twitch into Essex for a very rare Northern Waterthrush is blogged up here.
Saturday 6th January; A Winter Tradition!
The time was when we'd wait until our October holiday week, usually spent in Cornwall to see a Yellow-browed Warbler. But for the past four winters we've seen them in the first week in January, in Gloucestershire, Aylesbury, Cambridge and last New Year's Day in Oxford! So when one was discovered near Oakthorpe in Leicestershire, just over an hour and a quarter from home, I thought we may as well go for the nap hand.
The Yellow-browed Warbler was frequenting a small nature reserve and had been showing well at times. When it was reported early on the Saturday morning we headed out there. We arrived at half past ten, just as the sun put in appearance. It seemed a shoo-in that we'd get an easy look at one of our favourite birds. There were a few others looking but none had seen the bird so nobody had any useful information. It seemed as if we would have to find the bird ourselves. Not to worry though since Yellow-browed Warblers can be elusive at times. For the next ninety minutes we wandered up and down the trail through the nature reserve without clocking anything that resembled a Yellow-browed. We did get almost the next best thing when we found a Firecrest flitting through a dense bramble with a couple of Goldcrests. Unfortunately by the time another birder had cottoned on to the fact that we were on to something, the Firecrest had disappeared.
We also found a fine male Bullfinch, our first of the year. I didn't bother with the camera because the sun shone brightly through the trees directly at me. We were now ranging widely outside the reserve in our search for the Warbler. And we shouldn't have really since all of the previous reports had been from a small area of trees next to what was known as the pit, or mining wheel. Virtually on the point of giving up we were wandering back to our car when a chap, who we'd been speaking to earlier, called us back proclaiming that he'd just seen the Yellow-browed.
The really interesting thing was that he saw the bird on the ground. I never thought of looking there when searching for a Yellow-browed Warbler! Usually the little sprites are frantically darting around the branches of a tree or at least seeking out insects from bramble bushes. Apparently, as the chap went on to tell us, this particular bird had a habit of feeding amongst the leaf litter that lay on the ground in the area next to the pit wheel. The part of the wood it favoured was actually tricky to observe with hundreds of twiggy saplings impairing the view. We were about to give up again when suddenly the same chap said, "It's there, just left of the bramble bush". He certainly had his eye in. I didn't. It took me a few seconds to see the bird myself. I guess I'm just not accustomed to seeing Yellow-browed Warblers on the deck!
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| Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) |
Despite the diminutive size of the bird, it was still tricky to get a clear view of it through the twigs and branches. It took me quite a few tries before I finally captured an image that didn't have the birds head blurred out by a branch.
Having said all that though, the bird showed brilliantly for the next fifteen minutes and at times was only a few metres away. We watched it catch tiny insects and cough up a tiny pellet. Capturing decent photos remained difficult though, for me anyway.
Sunday 7th January; Farmoor Birds
Sticking to our resolve to do more local birding and much less charging around, we spent a fine and sunny Sunday morning at Farmoor Reservoir. We are not trying to attain a huge list this year but instead intending to get decent views of select birds and new "lifers". Farmoor gives a winter home to a couple of species that are hard to observe elsewhere without travelling.
I was already getting to like taking it easier. I was enjoying being able to get home in decent time rather than facing a four hour drive to get there. The problem though, is that I get bored quickly and can't keep making repeated visits to the same place over and over. I need variety in my birding. But for now, local is good and within a hundred metres of strolling along the causeway between the two basins of the reservoir, we'd seen several new birds for the year, the best of which was a superb adult Great Black-backed Gull. Not rare, not even unusual, but for me one of the best Gull species because it's a bird that has a whole lot of attitude and doesn't play second fiddle to anything.
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| Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) |
We spotted the overwintering Great Northern Diver. It was preening and fairly close in to the causeway. When sorting carefully through its feathers a Diver performs an elegant ballet holding beautiful lines and poses. When seen closeup, I'm always amazed at just how big these Divers are.
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| Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) |
I've learned from observing many different waterfowl, including Divers, that a preening session is usually followed by a wing stretch and flap. Sure enough the Great Northern didn't let us down. And what wings it has too! Comparable to many large bird of prey, the long and strong looking wings are required not for soaring high in the air but for propulsion under water as well as to provide the power required for getting the huge bulk of the bird airborne. I harbour a dream to photograph a flying Great Northern Diver but so far I've never had the opportunity. To get off the water they need to take a long run-up along the water surface before they get enough wind in their sails to take off.
We scanned the surprisingly few Tufted Ducks on offer for the female Greater Scaup but couldn't find it, and judging by the way the tufties shunned us, they weren't willing to help us out either. Little Grebes dived at our approach, as they always do, and popped back up further away, as they always do.
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| Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) |
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| Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) |
I was alerted to the barking calls of Barnacle Geese, and saw that around twenty or so were flying low over F1. These Barnacle Geese form a feral flock and roam freely around Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties. We also have a large flock of feral Snow Geese in Oxon which are often seen at Farmoor but they were not present on this walk.
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| Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) |
We found the female Greater Scaup close to the north-west corner of F2. Not surprising because it's a usual spot for it. She loosely associates with a number of the Tufted Ducks but is normally just apart from them, on the edge of the flock. I've never seen her interacting with any of the males of her companions.
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| Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) |
We had another brief look at the Great Northern Diver as we returned back along the causeway. The pair of Carrion Crows which Dai has taken under his wing and feeds daily were following him along the causeway. These two birds give us the opportunity to study and photograph a species which is often overlooked and dismissed. Close views allow the beautiful blue sheen of their feathers to be admired as well as witnessing some of the cleverest, and cheeky, bird behaviour there is.
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| Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) |
On our way back home we saw the small flock of Cattle Egret that have been feeding in the fields next to the main Oxford Road outside of Farmoor village for a few weeks. We quickly counted around fifteen as we sped past.
Wednesday 10th January; The Waterthrush Part 2
We made a second visit to see the Northern Waterthrush in Essex. Really good views this time around and I managed some photos worthy of posterity. Read the blog and see lots of photos here.
Friday 12th January; Screamer!
We are lucky to have a whole tribe of Red Kites in our immediate area and regularly see ten or more above and around our house. One of them is a young bird that likes to perch in prominent trees in gardens and utters its shrill like call. I was in the garden when I heard it calling from a neighbours tree. By using my van as a hide I was able to get up close enough to gain a few nice images.
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| Red Kite (Milvus milvus) |
Saturday 13th January; A Local Check
With Hawfinches appearing in many places, we checked a few of the likely spots in our part of North Oxfordshire for some. No sign yet but hopefully some will pitch up soon.
I also stopped at a couple of small sewage works because the settling beds create as a hotbed (literally) for insects and flies which in turn attract small birds. I was hoping for a Siberian Chiffchaff or Firecrest but predictably didn't find any. A lovely little Goldcrest kept me entertained at Sandford St Martin, giving me a right runaround as I tried to photograph it, as it fed in trees alongside the water treatment plant. I'll be checking that spot again, it looks a good place that may attract a Firecrest or similar. Who knows, maybe even a Pallas's Warbler! Yeah, right.
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| Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) |
Sunday 14th January; Far More at Farmoor
At a loss of what to do and determined still to not travel miles for relatively common birds, we took another trip up to Farmoor. The reservoir, despite holding much fewer birds than ever before, still attract unusual (for this area) birds throughout the year. Today it was a pair of (Red) Knot that graced the causeway embankment of F2. They looked resplendent in the rich sunlight of the day although they are of course grey and not red at this time of year. Both birds stayed very close to each other, often appearing to share the same dinner plate.
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| Knot (Calidris canutus) |
I spotted our first Grey Wagtail of the year close to the outfall of F1. This time last year we were rushing around trying to maximise our list so it was enjoyable to be just strolling along and merely picking up what came our way, like the Common Sandpiper that hurtled past on F2. A distant Common Gull out on F1 was added too. We had seventy-three species on our year list, which remarkably was only seven less than in the first two weeks last year. For all of those that are year listing, remember it's a marathon and not a sprint.
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| Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) |
The female Greater Scaup was again in the north-west corner of F2 but this time was even closer in than it had been the week before, in fact as near to the bank as I've ever seen it. I chatted to Mark, who had followed us down the causeway about local birding matters, as we all enjoyed the sunshine and birds.
Lee and Jan were also there, Lee taking some of his first steps out again after a horrific fall down a waterfall last year. I alerted him to the Great Northern Diver that had suddenly appeared close into the western bank of F2. Initially the Diver adopted its defensive posture, whereby it flattens its body, neck and head right down to the water. Presumably it could see an aerial threat that we couldn't, even though that menace would have to be something pretty large to upset a bird the size of a Diver.
The Diver went a diving so I concentrated once more on the Scaup, and a close-in Great Crested Grebe, and a similarly showy Cormorant, the latter sporting the white shawl of a breeding plumaged male. Nothing rare but still enjoyable to see at just a few metres away. The water level is particularly low at Farmoor this winter, with maybe fifteen steps showing on the embankment walls. It's strange because we've had a very wet winter and fields are flooded everywhere. What water companies get up to these days is a mystery.
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| Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) |
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| Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) |
The Great Northern Diver had reappeared a hundred metres away but still close in to the causeway. It was preening so I made my way to it because I know that at the end of a beautifying session, the bird would be sure to stretch its long wings for a flap. I now had another set of open wing shots to admire.
We encountered the two Knots again. They still kept close company. Wading birds like Knot, which can be tricky to observe close up when in massive flocks by the sea, are normally really confiding at Farmoor. This pair provided ample photographic opportunities for anyone that wanted to take shots of them. With the birds so close I could have chosen any of the images I took to embellish this blog.
Wednesday 17th January; A Bittersweet Moment
I was on my way to work at Balscote in North Oxon when my brother and I noticed a Tawny Owl sitting at the edge of the road just a mile or so away from the work site. Like most local roads, this one was busy with traffic so I swung the van around in the nearest convenient gateway and drove back to rescue the Owl. When we got to it another motorist had already stopped with the same aim of picking the distressed tawny Owl up and getting it out of harms way. He was a worker at a farm nearby and thought that it was probably one of the local birds from the farm. We helped him to gather the Owl in a towel and then he took it to the farm to allow it to recuperate. The Owl had clearly been struck by a vehicle at some point which brought back memories of the Long-eared Owl that a friend had seen by a road in May 2022 (read here).
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| Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) |
Friday 19th January; Owling with the Masses
There is a very poorly kept secret site in the Gloucestershire Cotswold Hills where Owls can be seen. Just about every bird photographer knows of the two rough fields where Short Eared Owls spend the winter and on some days it can seem as if most of them are there with their long lenses primed and ready to capture images of the Owls. And, who can blame them, since in some years the Owls show superbly well. There is plenty of room there and you can both park right next to the site and watch from where you park.
I had some work to look at just a few miles from the well known site (that nobody ever names because it's supposed to be a big hush-hush secret) so I cajoled Mrs Caley into joining me so that after the work visit we could go for a coffee and cake at one of our favourite places, The Cotswold Outpost near Windrush, and then on to watch the Owls. I knew that the Short-eared Owl bonanza was popular but even I was taken aback by the amount of cars that were already parked up along the narrow rural road. Fortunately though, there is plenty of room both for cars and people.
The Owls are attracted to two overgrown fields that are divided by a dry stone wall. There is no need to enter the fields at all since good views can be had from the roadside. We arrived far too early, just before two o'clock so knew we'd have to wait for a while before the start of any Owl action. The fields also hold some Stonechats and we were entertained by them as we loitered. There were at least four of them flitting from one tall grass stem to another. Stonechats are always photogenic.
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| Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) |
The first Short-eared Owl appeared at half-past two flying in from the upper field and into the lower one where we stood watching. It alighted on one of the purpose made perches that are provided for the Owls. When the Shortie set to hunting it gave us reasonably close views, although I've had better. I took photos whenever I felt the bird was within range but mostly just watched it. Watching an Owl hunting is always enjoyable.
As often happens at this place, the sunshine that had been parading in all its glory for most of the day, was quashed by some heavy dark clouds emanating from the River Severn estuary. On the few occasions that the sun did find a gap in the clouds the Short-eared Owls, there were now two hunting over the field, were illuminated beautifully.
There is more than just Short-eared Owls to see at this site. In the past I found a roosting Long-eared Owl here. It was resting in a small bush in a scrubby triangle of land bordered by two roads and an agricultural field. We also twitched a Great Grey Shrike which took up residence in the area one winter and preferred the same triangular patch of land. Since then however, the scrub has been overtaken by many fast growing trees and it's no longer possible to see into the area very well. If Long-eared Owls were still there, you'd never know.
Barn Owls are in the area though, and one made a brief appearance over the "triangle" around an hour after we arrived. The cloud cover had thickened by then so it was nearing dusk conditions. I think that added to the ambience, making the Barn Owl appear more ghostly. Most of the Toggers within earshot didn't agree judging by the mumbling and groaning that I could hear, "Bloody typical, beautiful all day and then as soon as the Owls come out, the sun disappears". It was another fifteen minutes before the Barn Owl was spotted again, hunting over the unkept edge of the field next to the triangle. It never came close but added to the flavour of the day and proved popular amongst the assembled nonetheless.
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| Barn Owl (Tyto alba) |
The Short-eared Owls were still around but were mostly hunting along the ridge of the rough fields which is too far away for decent photography. I was happy to watch them and enjoy the spectacle. We watched one pounce into the long grass. When it didn't immediately resume hunting we assumed it had caught some prey. This assumption proved correct when the Owl became the focus of attention from a Carrion Crow. A quick, but unseen, tussle between the two birds on the ground ensued, resulting in the Crow flying off with the bounty to the annoyance of the Owl. Short-eared Owls may be excellent hunters of small mammals but they are not strong enough to fight off Crows, Gulls and even the smaller Kestrels and frequently lose the prey they've caught. The explosion in the Crow population is probably the reason why many Short-eared Owls don't hunt until later in the day nowadays. We did see encouraging signs that the Owls may be learning to fight back a bit since when one alighted on one of the posts with a vole in its talons it withstood an attack of a Carrion Crow.
Late on, the sun put in a short cameo appearance. Despite much willing the Short-eared Owls remained tantalisingly out of reach for my lens but at least the brighter light allowed a few better images to be obtained. One of the Owls obligingly took to one of the posts. I legged it along the road so that some dark conifer trees were in the background which gave better definition to the photos. And I maintain that I'm not a Togger! I still do, birds are what I want to see and I always consider them as exactly that, birds, and not just photography models. I had an interesting, and amusing, conversation with a chap that day. He said that the place was much better when, "It was just Toggers here", and added, "Your kind have spoiled it", pointing at my binoculars as he did so. When I explained that I had been watching Owls there for almost twenty years he was taken aback. It's definitely not birdwatchers that have spoiled it!
Saturday 20th January; Hawsome!
I wanted another stab at the Bramfield Hawfinches that we had tried for after seeing the Waterthrush for the second time. We arrived at the churchyard fairly early this time on a chilly morning and joined other birders already there. A Hawfinch had been seen earlier but apparently there had been no sign since. I wasn't really surprised either because three men were walking right underneath the Yew trees that I assumed the Hawfinches preferred to feed in. So it became more a matter of waiting for the trio to become bored and leave than waiting for the birds to show up. I had a nice chat with a local birder who told me that birders encroaching too closely to the feeding trees in the small churchyard was a continuing problem there. Some folk just don't get the notion of good fieldcraft.
Incredibly, but maybe predictably, five minutes after the offending birders had left, a Hawfinch was spotted. Not inside the church grounds though but in a garden alongside it. By the time we had got to it, the bird had moved further back from the road and flew almost as soon as we saw it. Mrs Caley however, found it again in the garden next door and we had a better view, although frustratingly brief once again.
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| Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) |
We decided that we were better off stood at the entrance of the church and viewing from there. We were rewarded with our first Ring-necked Parakeets of the year and a Siskin, also new for the year. Twenty minutes later I spotted another Hawfinch fly over us. I assumed it had gone into the same gardens but was pulled back by my wife yet again, because the bird had alighted in one of the church trees close to where we'd been stood. The Hawfinch was high up the tree but showed really well for the next few minutes before flying off. Alerted by what we were looking at, the dozen or so birders present inside the churchyard all had ample time to get into position to also see the bird. It was strangely amusing though that when a couple, both armed with cameras, arrived and I pointed to the Hawfinch and told them it was there, they chose to continue walking with one saying, 'The light is no good from here'. By the time they got to where the light was supposedly better, the Hawfinch had gone. Some Toggers, eh?
We left the church and headed a few miles into Welwyn Garden City to sneak a quick look at some Waxwings. There had been as many as ninety seen there on a small industrial estate. Once again we spotted the birds immediately although there was "only" around thirty. The birds stayed in two berry fruiting trees for less than five minutes, we stayed for about five and a half. I think I'm "Waxed out" this year already. If you're still with me and haven't fallen asleep, then you may remember that at the start of this blog I said that, 'You can never get enough Waxies!' Well it seems that I can and I'm not bothering with any more until some hit my home town.
Another place I'd been wanting to visit was Lemsford Springs, a small nature reserve just outside Welwyn. The reserve is set around a shallow river which features natural cress beds. The weedy vegetation attracts a variety of birds including Green Sandpipers and Common Snipe but most notably is a good place to see Jack Snipe. Last winter up to five of the little bobbers were frequenting the reserve. Just two days before in a period of cold and icy weather, one was seen from the hide. So we joined quite a few others in the hide after lunch in eager expectation.
The hide affords blistering views of the birds in the creek. Just a shame that a Jack Snipe wasn't with them on this occasion. However, we did see a handful of Green Sandpipers, a bird we're familiar with at our local reserve. They don't show as well there as they did at Lemsford though. Interestingly most of the Green Sandpipers were sporting colour rings. As far as I know, the species only breeds in a few places in Scotland so these birds must be netted and tagged at the reserve.
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| Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) |
Common Snipe were very showy and I spent a good hour searching everywhere for a Jack. No luck on this occasion but the more common species allowed for some decent viewing. It was particularly entertaining to see them swimming across the river.
A Grey Wagtail also posed for the camera and more Ring-necked Parakeets were noisily calling overhead. It's a fabulous place and I'll be keeping an eye out for any reports of Jack Snipe settling in there.
Sunday 28th January; Sky Gazing
We have some special resident birds near home that are a must-see on our birding itinerary. One of these, the Goshawk, can be found in the first few months of the year flying over an area of woodland that we've been visiting for a while now. Usually we'd wait until the middle to end of February to look for what is for my money, our best native bird of prey. However, after a pretty dire weeks weather, the Sunday promised to be much better, with blue skies and little wind, so we went for our first look for them
I don't ever say where these birds are, and I never will. Goshawk sites need to remain unpublished because the birds are still persecuted in some areas. They are also in a tricky to view location. We arrived at half past ten, and saw three Goshawks within the first twenty minutes. First a juvenile bird that set terror amongst a hundred or Fieldfare that were feeding on a muddy field, and then adult male and female birds that passed over the nearby wood together. My photos were pretty much as they always are from this site, distant but recognisable.
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| Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) |
I did have a much closer view of a female Goshawk later that morning but frustratingly it was through trees and I couldn't get the camera to focus on the bird. One day though, I will get the photo that I so desire for my portfolio.
Rather easier to see and photograph were Ravens, Buzzards, and Red Kites that are all prevalent in the area. The landowners here appear to welcome having the birds on their land and thus they are left to thrive.
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| Raven (Corvus corax) |
When home that afternoon, I secreted myself in a corner of my garden to watch a young Red Kite that has taken to scavenging scraps that the people over the road throw out into their garden. The Kite can only access the garden by flying in really low over the road and almost straight over my head. I could hear the wind fluttering through its feathers as it twisted and turned to get in position. It flew off with a chicken drumstick for its efforts!
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