Lucky escape

I very nearly went twitching this weekend. I'd been discussing plans to go for the Belted Kingfisher (seemingly settled on the River Dee near Aberdeen) and there were tricky problems with none of us having a decent car capable of doing the trip. Plus it's not exactly a very relaxing way to spend your spare time, when you could be out doing proper birding instead...

The problem solved itself this morning, though - the kingfisher was seen flying off to the north and wasn't seen again. So now I'm thinking of all the time, tiredness, money and wear on my poor car that I've saved.

I'm not going to get Belted Kingfisher on my British list (or life list, for that matter) anytime soon, but since I don't keep a Brit list, it's irrelevant...

Sandwich Tern!

I visited Ferry Meadows again this evening. No Little Gulls leftover from yesterday, and only a handful of Common Terns and a couple of Swallows over the water.

I walked round to Lynch Lake (the smallest of the three) and was messing about trying to digiscope some Tufted Ducks. Not a lot about. I had a long chat with Kevan, another local birder, and he'd just left when a big tern caught my eye...

Got my bins on it... it was against the sky and light was bad, but it looked big... and there was a pale tip to the bill - bloody hell, Sandwich Tern! Then it called a couple of times before disappearing over Wagtail Ridge towards Gunwade.

I followed it and looked down from the ridge, while I was on the phone to get the news out. Couldn't see it - must be on Overton. Rushed round there and it still wasn't visible.

Birds - you can't trust them.

Little Gulls

Honest... This is what's known as a record shot, ie. a really crap photo.

Brian Stone found a flock of eight Little Gulls, feeding at Gunwade Lake, Ferry Meadows CP, when he dropped in on the way home this evening. Just like I did yesterday. Except there weren't any Little Gulls then... Some you win, some you lose.

I nearly went to FM again this evening but I had curry on my mind and went straight home. This is not the way to find birds.


Another day, another Common Tern...

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

The boys are back in town

Now the clocks have changed I can get some birding done after work. Which is why I was at Ferry Meadows tonight.

The weather looked good when I left work but by the time I was onsite, it had become very cloudy and dull - no good for digiscoping. A large black cloud approached from the west - would it bring migrants pouring down as well as rain?

No, of course not. The only birds of significance were three Common Terns, seven Swallows and five House Martins (my first of the year). I picked up the martins calling before I saw them; good to hear those sounds again.

One of the Common Terns conveniently perched on a buoy off the watersports centre. I showed it to a couple of kids and their dad through my scope. They seemed pretty fascinated when I told them the bird had just arrived from west Africa. Migration is a wondrous thing; it's easy to forget the amazing feats that birds undertake all the time.

Along one of the paths, I happened to glance downwards into some brambles, and saw a dark lump there. On closer inspection, it was revealed to be a Moorhen sitting on a nest. It seemed quite content, pulling up bits of vegetation around it. A couple of feet above the water, precariously balanced on some spindly twigs wouldn't seem to be the best nest location in the world to me, but what do I know?

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

Spring really is here

My first Willow Warbler of the year was singing from the hawthorns on Coney Meadow, Ferry Meadows CP.


These two Magpies were indulging in some kind of courtship display... there was much wing-flapping, high-pitched squeaking and tail-waving. Except you can't really see any of that in this photo. Sorry.


Nothing particularly springlike about this Woodpigeon.

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

Wildlife garden: phase one...

After two days' hard labour by Mum's Landscape Gardening Co. (ahem...), this is what my garden now looks like.

The pampas grass is no more. Hurray!

What's new

1. Wildflower patch. We planted the contents of a wildflower seed packet, and hoped for the best. Let's hope the sparrows don't eat them all. We also planted a buddleia (Black Knight) which I've had in a pot for about the past two years. Mum cut it back savagely. She says it will grow back with renewed vigour. We'll see...

2. Shady patch. There are bluebells (and things that I can't remember the name of) under the ash tree. Oh, and some foxgloves.


3. Wildlife pond (small, but perfectly formed). We used an old preformed liner that used to live at home and recycled some cobbles which were already lying around the garden in various flower beds. Mum brought some plants from her established pond at home - water mint, Canadian pondweed, yellow flag. There were already some toads and a newt in the garden (discovered during the landscaping works) so hopefully they'll find their way in.

4. Lawn. Well, it will be eventually. There used to be some paving slabs here. We also got rid of a few rows of slabs from the patio.

It's a good job I don't know anything about plants, or I might get obsessed with buying them...

photo taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Lunchtime highlight

Male Chaffinch, Milton Ferry Bridge, Peterborough

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

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!

*

*


Common Frog


Brown Hare

*

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