March 2015: Catch-up

Much has happened since last I updated this blog. Let me try to bring you guys up to speed!
The Grey Wagtail that has been visiting our garden pond since she was a juvenile way back in 2011 is still here. "Waggy", as we have affectionately called her, still arrives in the garden each autumn/winter until the following spring when she moves away to find a mate and raise a brood.

Over the successive seasons, she has matured into an adult Grey Wagtail, capable of evading threats from aggressively territorial Robins and hunting Sparrowhawks. She continues to spend the winter months on the garden pond, coming to the back door to accept live mealworms and spending the daylight hours in our garden.

Forward to 22nd March 2014, out of the blue sky, a male Grey Wagtail appeared on the garden lawn. Larger and with bolder colouring, the male departed and returned each day with the female over successive days until April 17th, which turned-out to be the last day that they spent time here. After that we have to assume that they flew to the summer breeding grounds to raise a brood.

December 3rd 2014 saw the female Grey Wagtail return to our garden pond and to be fed a regular intake of live mealworms. As of writing this account (Sunday 8th March 2015), "Waggy" is still here, but last Wednesday 4th, a male Grey Wagtail landed in the garden.

It too accepts live mealworms and will walk right up to the back door to accept a meaty morsel. As the male has arrived early, you will notice that his black bib has not fully developed compared to last year.

Now there are two Grey Wagtails in residence, this has given the resident male Robin much to think about. Whereas before, both the Robins (there is a resident pair) would continually chase the female Wagtail, now both species are evenly matched! The male Robin will still vent his spleen at any and all House Sparrows but particularly hates the resident Dunnock!

While all this is going on around us, the daily comings and goings of the Wren, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, and occasionally the Sparrowhawk, makes for intriguing observations.

Last Summer, our garden hosted the regular visits from two Hedgehogs. Each night both Hogs would spend time in the garden and share a bowl of live mealworms. Through May to October, the two Hedgehogs would eat and spend their nights in our garden. We purchased a couple of Hog-Houses, Mel fitted them out with hay and dried leaves. Both Hogs, for a few weeks, spent the days in the houses. This year we're hoping that one of them will return.

January 2011 - Hatfield Moor

Saturday 15th: An overcast and very blustery day started with a stop on the road to Hatfield Moor, on the banks of the river Torne to join other Birders in looking for a Rough-legged Buzzard. Set up the scope and spent maybe 50 minutes scoping the farm fields and tree-line. In the scope saw got a good view of a Common Buzzard. Decided to come back later in the afternoon for another look.


Parking up at Boston car park, a first year Mute Swan stood forlornly at the fence and when Sandra went to feed it some bread, it was quickly joined by two Canada Geese and a Lesser Scaup (Aythya Duck). I say Lesser Scaup for want of another name. It seems that there is some discussion as to what the duck actually is, on the Hatfield Moor blog. But in the final analysis, it is likely to be an immature female Lesser Scaup.

The duck (whatever it is), seemed unconcerned with us and was more interested in the bread that Sandra was feeding the Swan. It was constantly on the move and it seemed that we were treated to the "Little 'n Large" show as the little duck ran around the much larger Swan!

Sandra wanted to visit the hide where we would be guaranteed to get a good sighting of various birds and we weren't to be disappointed! I have never seen so many Great Tits and Blue Tits gathered together in one group before! On and around the feeders, (note: when feeding birds fatballs, please remove the green plastic netting as they can easily get their feet tangled in this) there were at least 10 Great Tits with at least 9 Blue Tits! I suspect that nearby there were more! We even had a surprise visit by two Long-tailed Tits to the feeders. Reed Buntings, Chaffinches, a Robin and female Blackbird along with 2 Dunnocks picked at scraps that had fallen to the ground. Some good photos were captured from here as can be seen above and below.

We moved on towards what is named as The Prison Lakes. A short trek up a muddy trail to a couple of very large lakes. No waterfowl on these except for a solitary pair of Mallards. But we did get a good close view of a Kestrel as it glided at low-level above us. Three Bulfinches whistled overhead and perched for a few minutes in the bare branches of Alders, long enough for us to get stunning views of the rose-breasted male and the female. Wandering back to the car we came across a birder who was watching some Lesser Redpolls amongst the Silver Birch. We too studied them before they took to flight.

Back at Boston Park lake we made a check on the waterfowl. Plenty of Canada Geese, of which I counted 125 using my "counter-device",Coot; 140, Black-headed Gulls with some Tufted Duck, one male Wigeon (above) and some Pochard. A Good day out though very blustery at times but mildish!

January 2011 - Sandra's Garden

Saturday 8th: A dry but cold and sometimes sunny day, I called round to Sandra's house on an errand and as she gets a good variety of birds, took my camera along... just in case. Well as I've said before on this blog, there must be something in the trees over there as Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Great Tits and Blue Tits are regular visitors to her garden.

This afternoon a few Goldfinches fed from the feeders, always a pleasing sight. A couple of Greenfinches provided competition for sunflower hearts while a couple of male Chaffinches alternated between the feeders and the ground.

Over on the other side of the garden, a Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock and Robin were in the buddleia bush. Every now and then a Collard Dove or Wood Pigeon would touchdown, scattering the smaller birds to the neighbouring gardens.

January 2011 - New Years Day Birding

Saturday 1st: The first day of the New Year is traditionally a day when "Birders" get out and about for those first ticks of the year! This one is no different. A cold and wet day with the promise of sporadic rain shows... great! For Sandra and myself, it started with a drive down to Sheffield in search of those elusive Waxwings! Unfortunately when we got there at 10am, there were none to be seen, though Sandra did see a small flock of birds through her binoculars that may have been a group of Waxwings though we couldn't confirm this as I had left my binoculars in the car! A walk around Abbeydale constantly searching the leafless trees and skies did not reveal any of these birds. Though a small group of Long-tailed Tits did provide our first sighting of the year! A Robin, Carrion Crows and half-a-dozen Wood Pigeons added to that tally.

So a trip out towards Redmires Reservoir and towards the Peak District. We didn't actually get to the Reservoir but a sighting of flocks of Fieldfares by Sandra in fields at the roadside necessitated a short road side stop to view them and take photos. Sandra was thrilled as this was a FIRST for her and the first time that I have seen more that one Fieldfare! There were loads of them! We estimated that there could be circa 60 after I did a quick count. As can be seen in a photo above, but not seen by us at the time is a Redwing. Redwings will often join Fieldfares in large flocks. The light rain was constant throughout the day wherever we went and annoying.

Driving on, we ended-up at a small NR called Rivelin. A small secluded car park with picnic area and two small ponds surrounded by trees. Six drake and seven duck Mallards occupied the frozen ponds, a few Long-tailed tits in the trees and a couple of Robins. But a Wren seemed interested in me and landed on the wooden fence just 4 feet away and sang to me. I was so close I could even see it's throat moving as it sang. Of course for reasons I shan't go into, my camera was in the car so no photo of this friendly Wren.

On to Thryburgh Country Park near Rotherham. As with other locations, ice was prevalent here with large swathes of the lake frozen. Mallards, Black-headed Gulls and Common Coots were in very large numbers and flocked around anyone who went near the waters' edge in the hope of food. The Swan Goose was still there and I noticed a tag on it's leg. A lone Great-Crested Grebe in winter plumage, (as Sandra pointed-out) was out on the water.

Before we embarked on a trek around the Park, someone,presumably a Park Ranger came with a huge bucket and threw bread and other food to the flock. From all sides; Canada Geese, Coots, Mallards and inevitably the Gulls rushed to grab their own piece of food. This was when I photographed the Coot below, looking suitably satisfied with itself have just eaten! Look at those huge feet!

In the trees on the bank of the lake were Goldfinches and Chaffinches. We walked over to the hide and there we were treated to a flock feeding at the bird table and peanut feeder of Tree Sparrows, with a few Blue Tits, Great Tits and the one Yellowhammer.

Seeing Tree Sparrows here was a surprise to me because although Thryburgh is in the countryside and surrounded by fields, a town, Rotherham was only a few miles away.

Time was short, it was 3:30pm and darkness would fall by 4pm. The lake didn't look that large an area so we decided to have a quick walk around it back to the car. Well, to cut a long story short, apart from it being very muddy and wet, we saw no more birds! We got to the other side of the lake and were forced to back-track!

It turned-out that a huge fence was blocking off the footpath and it was locked too! Too high to climb so we had no choice, we had to back track, the way we came! The race was on! Get back to the car before it gets dark and the main gate is locked!

A quick march back got us to the car in the gathering gloom. All other cars and people had already departed. The Tea Shop was locked! Thankfully the gate was not locked and we did get home for our respective dinners. I've done some things while out birding, but almost getting locked-in at a site is crazy!!

November 2010 - Hatfield Moor YWT & Blacka Moor YWT

Sunday 7th: An early start to a bright and Sunny day with a visit to Hatfield Moor... well, this was our second visit of the weekend. Sandra and I went over there yesterday afternoon as a Rough-Legged Buzzard had been hanging around for the last 3 days and I need a doctor... I'm turning into a twitcher! Unfortunately we didn't see it yesterday (though a couple of Birders did shout at us to look to the sky as it was airborne)... but I can't be certain I saw it! Lots of formation flying Gulls, hundreds of them. Where did they come from and where were they going? On the lake there wer the usual waterfowl; Little Grebes (the photo below is from Lakesdide a few weeks ago), Pochard,Tufted Duck, B-H Gulls and Mute Swans... not to mention Coots!

Today, we saw high-flying falcons; Buzzard (common), of which I got some questionable photos, Kestrel and another that we couldn't identify. A Roe Deer! After spending 45 minutes with scope at the ready, atop a small hill, we decided to move on. One of the bird hides provided close-quarter photos of Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit and Chaffinch. Sandra saw a Redpoll which evaded me (it would've made an interesting photo). A Common Red Darter obliged for its photo - early November and still a member of the Dragonfly family about, in fact there were two! Then came the Great Buzzard photo shoot... Sandra spotted the raptor high up in the clear blue sky. I immediately took some photos, while she watched it through binoculars slowly circling. It was at the limit of my camera's' zoom! A Ranger believed it could be the Rough-Legged... but another birder confirmed it as Common! Still, a fine image! Time to move on to Sheffield.

Off to Blacka Moor on the edge of Sheffield to see if we could find a Great Grey Shrike... I am turning into a twitcher! Well we eventually got there no thanks to the Sat-Nav! Looking for one little bird amidst a vast Peak-District Moor is impossible but that's the sport of Birding! Needless to say when we got there it was late afternoon. The light was beginning to fade, made even more gloomier with the ever present storm clouds. We did see a Dunnock, missed a pair of Bulfinches but spent a lot of time watching an unusual Kestrel through binoculars as it was pale in colour and I'd decided to leave the scope in the car! Well I started trekking out over the moor in an effort to get closer and that's not to be recommended as the light was fading and the ground was very uneven and boggy! Below is the best long-long range image of the "Kestrel". Needless to say, no Shrike... well it is a very large moor! All-in-all a good day out!

Below are two silhouette images of what is probably a Kestrel - the Sun is behind it and beginning to set. The other three images show a pale and grey bird in a small tree about 200 yards away... is this also the same Kestrel? Is it a Kestrel? The Sun is low and to the right.