Garden tick... three years too late

I visited my Mum and Dad in Northants today. We had a nice meal, exchanged Easter eggs and then I found them a nice female Brambling in the garden. I wonder how long it had been there?

Non-birding parents (I know you're going to read this), I want to know if it's still there tomorrow!
What to look for:

• pale belly
• orange on the breast and in the wing
• white rump
• spotty flanks
• yellow bill
• eats black sunflower seeds

I moved out three years ago so I don't really know whether this is a proper garden tick or not.




Couldn't resist the cute Coal Tit...

The morals of the story are... always visit your parents at Easter and never leave home without your digiscoping gear.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Like, toadally awesome...

I went to Woodwalton again this morning, still hoping for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. I heard two brief bursts of drumming, and that was it. However, there were other distractions...

These Common Toads were croaking away from the dyke along the path to the hides. My arms weren't long enough to hand-hold the camera, and I didn't really want to fall in, so digiscoping was the answer!








You can see the toad's right eyelid - very odd to watch!

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Common Frog


Brown Hare

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photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece (except where *)

Closer to home...

I digiscoped this Goldfinch through a double-glazed window. I did this without attracting the attention of my neighbours. There is a large cherry tree outside the window, which means I can kneel on the floor and scope birds sitting in the tree while staying out of view myself...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Nene Washes

This calling Snipe was quite happy to sit on a post while I got on with taking some photos






Lucky to bump into a confiding Reed Bunting, preoccupied with singing




Very dodgy, distant record shot of a Peregrine...


Dozing Mute Swan

A very enjoyable, productive six-and-a-half hours spent on the Nene Washes this morning. I got there by 7.30am and enjoyed some digiscoping (see above).

Then Kevin Du Rose turned up and found a Green-winged Teal near where my car was parked! My excuse is that the bird must have been hiding or had flown off when I arrived, because the Peregrine (pictured) was monstering around... Thanks to Charlie Kitchin for giving me a lift back up there from the other end of the drove!

When I'd had my fill of GWT (no pics, too distant), I went back down the drove with Kev for another look around (already there, so why not?). Right at the far end we found a distant. funny-looking wader. After some dithering, we both concluded that it was a Knot. Not exactly spectacular, but a very scarce bird locally and my 200th for my PBC area list!

My pedometer is claiming 7.121 miles so far today (15,937 steps; 528 calories). VG.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Grimeshaw Wood

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Spotted less often than other 'peckers

Drake Gadwall




It was beautifully clear this morning so I leapt out of bed and went to Woodwalton Fen NNR, with Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in mind. Just about everybody who's visited recently has seen at least one, so I couldn't fail, could I?

Er, yes.

I wasn't too miffed initially, but I read on Peterbirder that someone else had been this afternoon, and they'd seen one. That's just a little bit annoying...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Great Grey Shrike

Some more gratuitous twitching, and out of the PBC area for the second day running. Disgraceful. This Great Grey Shrike has been in Oakham, Rutland, for about a month now so this weekend I decided it was finally time to pay it a visit.

A great bird, not far away - why not?

It spent a lot of time perched on the overhead cables, and became quite animated when it heard some Long-tailed Tits calling (potential snack, I suppose). We also watched it hovering briefly to snatch an insect from the air.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Kirkby on Bain area

Today I sampled the delights of birding around the Kirkby on Bain area in Lincolnshire. My guide was Kevin Du Rose, who famously found the Sociable Plover there, back in 1993, and the White-billed Diver.

We would really like to have seen the White-tailed Eagle which flew west there last Sunday (seen later in South Yorkshire), but of course it was no longer around. Nothing of great significance at the pits themselves, though we did see a female Sparrowhawk flying off with a Redshank in its talons!

This lone male Woodlark (above) sang for a couple of minutes before the rain put him off and he flew off... Was also good to see a pair of Willow Tits in the birch woodland at the same site... definitely useful to see and hear them again, in case any pop up around Peterborough (extremely unlikely, though...).

Dropped in at Boston tip on the way back, though the weather (which had been pretty terrible, on and off all day) finally took a turn for the worse and it started sleeting.

It was good to leave the PBC area - more on that later, perhaps...

photo taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Snails meet sticky end

Look innocent, don't they?




Make no mistake, these Song Thrushes became vicious snail-killing machines within seconds.

The extreme violence took place on one of the footpaths in Bluebell Wood, Ferry Meadows, this lunchtime. The birds went foraging for snails in the vegetation but returned each time to the path, where there were obviously some nice, hard stones. Then the birds went into a frenzy of snail-bashing, whacking the hapless molluscs repeatedly until the shell came off and the tasty snack within was revealed.

And eaten.

I can't stop thinking of that poor snail from Creature Comforts...

Thanks to Weedon the Unready for kindly putting me onto these birds, even though he came out without his digiscoping kit...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece