March 2010 - Fairburn Ings RSPB

Sunday 21st: It's been 10 years since I last visited Fairburn Ings. Yes it was 2000. I and Neil (now in Dawlish) went up there. Well Neil, today I traced the exact same route we took around the lake as we did 10 years ago. Unfortunately no Sand Martins or Swallows, too early in the season but I expect to get another visit or two in this year. The layout of the Reserve is basically the same but with modernised facilities, such as the car park! Late March and just seen my first Daffodils of the year anywhere, so I had to photograph them for posterity!

The highlight for me was seeing a male Goldeneye accompanied by two female Goldeneyes. He looks resplendent in all white with black highlights. This photo doesn't do him justice, it is a severely cropped long-range image. In my scope the detail was just fantastic and so elegant to see.

Other highlights were the male and female Bullfinches, my first of the year! The male always looks good in his red suit and black head. Unfortunately the photographer again didn't do him justice.

A fair few Tree Sparrows were about and I got some great views at the feeding station where I counted 11 but I suspect there was many more! Also there were Blue Tits, a male Great Tit along with Dunnocks and a Pheasant pair. Elsewhere there were Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Cormorants, plenty of Mallards and Mute Swans with Teal and Tufted Ducks with one lone Black Swan.

Later I wandered over to the Lin Dyke hide which was more a drive in the car about a mile up the road. Here were loads of Lapwing, Teal, Mallards, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Shelduck, Shoverlers and 3 Redshanks. But peering through my scope, I'm sure I saw two little Egrets. And the biggest surprise was counting fifty-odd Cormorants (or were they Crows, heck I'm not sure now) all perched in leafless trees alongside the lake!

March 2010 - Hatfield Moor

Friday 19th: The day started with bright sunshine and the early Spring warmth could be felt in the air. By lunchtime the weather had started to turn. This was readily noticeable at Hatfield Moor as the breeze off the lake became colder. Gradually the clouds started to form. But this didn't distract me too much as I hiked around a small area of the moor. Plenty of fling things such as Oystercatchers, Mallards, Canada Geese, aeroplanes and various Passerines.......oops, did I say aeroplanes? Well, yes, Finningley airport is just three short miles away to the south and the planes fly low over the moor on their approach.

As you can see in the above photo, two of the five Oystercatchers were caught in flight. These estuary birds are normally quite placid creatures but today there was a great amount of screeching and sqwarkings are the five quarrelled. This resulted in three of them flying away. During my hike around the lake I counted two pairs, both nesting, but the fifth was nowhere to be seen.

Reed Buntings and Chaffinches were seen was a hide overlooking a bird table and a couple of feeders. A Robin and Dunnock along with the proverbial Wren were noticed ti the wooded area. Adders can be found here on the moor and there are a couple of signs that warn visitors. It's too early in the season and still too cold yet to see these wonderful creatures. I have yet to see one in the wild but hope to this year.

I had to pass through a field where there was a Conservation project in progress. A field full of Sheep....more precisely...RAMS! Well they were giving me the evil-eye so I decided to walk away and closer to the lake shore. Unfortunately. I found myself on the wrong side of the fence and had to walk around by the shore back to the car.



On the way I came across a freshwater mussel shell, one of many littering the lake shore. Now this was a surprise to me as I didn't know that mussels frequented freshwater lakes. But yes they do and here in the UK, the Swan Mussel (Anodonta cygnea)is abundant. Apparently one can tell its age by counting the rings on the shell just like on tree trunks. One ring for each year of growth. Swan Mussels can live for between 10 to 40 years. Now what drags it up from the bottom of the lake, opens the hinged shell and removes/eats the mussel then deposits the empty shell on the shore is anyone's guess.

Comments please?

March 2010 - Tawny Owl in garden last night!

Sunday 7th: At 11pm last night Melanie opened the back-door only to glimpse an owl perched on a feeder bar! She saw enough of it before it silently took flight. After discussing the shape, size,colour and ID-ing the raptor from the Internet, we are 99% sure it was a Tawny Owl. I believe this is not unusual as a few years ago I too also saw an Owl perched on the feeders in the garden and that was while I was doing some astronomy and operating the telescope. I suspect that Owls pay regular visits to our garden and others during the course of the night. Unfortunately no photo was obtained of last night's apparition. But we will get one sooner or later!


The Robin pair were again sighted in the garden this morning by Mel and it looks like they are setting-up a nest near to last years' nest.






Our friendly Wren has again been around all day and never seems to go far from the back-door. Yesterday I saw him (not sure if it is a Him or Her), go into the kitchen on two separate occasions as I was working outside, to get some mealworms. Today, the Wren has paid regular visits to the kitchen and on one occasion a female Blackbird stood over the bowl of mealworms so he had to wait.

This female Blackbird is the familiar "Nice Misses" as we have called her. See earlier posts about her raising broods last year in the garden. She paid at least two visits that I saw and possibly others that I didn't see.

February 2010 - Wren in the house!!

Thursday 25th: Not content with waiting outside for his fix of mealworms, our local friendly Wren has now taken it upon himself to come into the kitchen for a bite to eat. Though unsure of himself: he cautiously looks around, grabs a mealworm and then off he goes. We suspect that he has watched a female Blackbird coming into the kitchen to get some mealworms and learnt from her! This short video was taken by Melanie at 11am last Thursday.



The videos below show the female Blackbird who we suspect the Wren has been watching. She has been coming to the kitchen for over a year now and has raised at least 2 broods in the garden. We know it is the same female as she has a distinctive hump on her back of feathers that she developed last year while raising her broods. We believe that she comes into the kitchen to avoid rival Blackbirds as they tend not to come in and she can eat all the mealworms she wants without getting mobbed. Melanie also captured these videos.

February 2010: Wren and Robin pair.

Sunday 21st: Snow fell early this morning and we woke up to a good covering of 4 inches. That means the birds will need some extra food to sustain them through another cold-spell. The coming week is forecast for more snow and it's going to be bitterly cold! Our friendly Wren is as ever perched in the lilac tree by the back door, waiting for mealworms. But he is not alone. House Sparrows, 4 Blackbirds, a Robin and the ever present cheeky Starling keep him company. But for one so small, he appears to be more than a match for his bigger rivals and is always nipping in to grab the tasty morsel. What the Wren is doing now is calling for our attention when there is no mealworms available and wow, has he got a loud call!

Melanie has been saying to me for this past week that there are two Robins that have paired-off and settled in the garden. Well yesterday, I finally saw this for myself and managed to grab a none too great photo of both Robins together! We are both hoping that just as last year, they raise a brood in our garden.

The female Sparrowhawk has still been making the odd visit to the garden. She was here this afternoon but stayed only briefly. Mel has taken to shooing her off as she has a tendency to harass 'Sunny', our Canary, who spends the day in his cage hanging outside the back door. A couple of days ago, the Sparrowhawk was stood on the plastic roof above the door trying to peer into the protective barrier that Mel has built around his cage

February 2010 - Hyde Park, London

Saturday 6th: Went down to London to the Astrofest convention in Kennsington. Met up with Neil from Dawlish, Eddie, Dave and Brian. After looking around the stalls and spending a little money, I ventured that we go and to Hyde Park as it was a 5 minute walk up the road. This was my first visit for....about 30 years! In all that time, it's not really changed at all. As you can see from the image of the BT Tower, which looks closer than it really is, Euston is not that far away, 3 miles I think.



Anyway, I wanted to sample the bird life here and see what was about, unfortunately I had not fetched my binoculars, only the camera. There were plenty of Gulls, most Black-headed, though I did count 6 Common Gulls and I suspect that there were plenty more around the lake. It was perishingly cold and the breeze coming off the water didn't help!

What intrigued me was that while people were feeding the waterfowl, they were being surrounded not just by lots of Gulls and Mallards but Starlings and Feral Pigeons! Didn't see any House Sparrows though. The Starlings for instance, and there were very many of them and Pigeons were right at the waters' edge in an effort to get to the food before the Mallards etc! Walking back to the tube, I did catch a glimpse of what I was certain was a Peregrine, that familiar call and sleek flight are a give-a-way! A good day out combining Birding with Astronomy.

February 2010 - The Wren joins the mealworm Crew

SNOW FELL AGAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THE WEATHER HAS TURNED COLD AGAIN SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP FEEDING THE BIRDS

Wednesday 3rd: For sometime now, we have had a solitary Wren patrolling the garden. Now, since last Thursday, the Wren has been coming to the back door and taking mealworms. It takes one then flys to a nearby perch and devours the morsel, returning soon after for another. In fact the Wren is proving to be a serious rival to the Robin! Both are usually waiting at the door first thing in the morning and both seem to call for our attention...demanding mealworms!

As you can see from the above photos, both the Robin and Wren use the same perch close to the door when they call for mealworms. They have almost come to blows over their rivalry. Meanwhile, the Blackbirds have not totally departed the scene. There is still a female from who reared a couple of broods in the garden who visits when she can much to the annoyance of a male Blackbird who is trying to mark-out his own territory. A younger female will also take mealworms. We believe that she is the offspring from one of the five broods raised in the garden last year. A small group of House Sparrows also hang around for mealworms, not to mention a lone and very persistent Starling!

January 2010 - Artistic Blackbirds in the rain.

Friday 15th: This morning it rained constantly for 3 hours, gradually washing away the remaining snow. As usual the Blackbirds were about in the garden. During this cold-snap, our garden has played host to as many as 7 Blackbirds - 4 males and 3 females - on a fairly regular basis. The photos here taken by Melanie show a pair at the backdoor where they tend to eat mealworms which we give them to supplement their diet. Due to the low light levels this morning Mel used the flash to take photos, resulting in some remarkably artistic images. We believe that the white speckles on the male could be a mixture of rain drops and dandruff...yes dandruff! The images of the male Blackbird in particular seem to portray him as though carved from black marble or some such solid substance!

January 2010 - Fieldfare returns!

Thursday 14th: Is this the same Fieldfare seen last weekend and earlier this week? Well it seems to me that for one bird to be in the same place as previous days and be a totally different individual is just too much of an improbability for me to accept. This is the SAME bird as with previous days. But what intrigues me is the lack of any other Fieldfares in the vicinity. These are usually flocking birds and with the Pyracantha berries on view, its strange that only one individual is feeding on them!Still the Fieldfare is a fine looking bird!

Meanwhile, out in the back garden, the Wren, who is almost a daily visitor, was out and about amongst the rapidly thawing snow in the pursuit of tasty morsels. This photo was taken as the Wren raced through the plants, it's eye on the prize.

January 2010 - Garden Fieldfare

Tuesday 12th: This recent cold-snap has been bringing some unusual visitors to our garden in the hunt for food. Today, another FIRST...a Fieldfare! Now in all the years we have been feeding the birds, we have never seen a Fieldfare in or anywhere near our garden in the Winter. But today, today technically this bird was the 2nd Fieldfare in 4 days that has visited the garden. Melanie grabbed a series of 4 photos through the windows of today's bird, two of which are shown here.

Last Sunday, a good showing of a Fieldfare on top of the conifers by the house and later in the day, a second visit by a Redwing. This after a Redwing came into the garden late Saturday afternoon! So the appearance of these two unusual birds was preceded by the Pied Wagtail last week. This cold-snap has shown us that if you put the food out, you will help the birds in their time of need and may even see some uncommon visitors!

PLEASE FEED THE BIRDS DURING THIS COLD WEATHER!

January 2010 - Pied Wagtail visits garden in the snow!

Tuesday 5th: Heavy snow hit South Yorkshire today. The snow fell relentlesly from 6am until about 4pm, over ankle deep, the heaviest snowfall since 1981! So searching for food became a priority for the birds. On three occasions throughout the day, the last being 4pm, we had a visit from a Pied Wagtail - A FIRST in our garden! This female must be an opportunist and made a pit-stop here because to both mine and my wife's knowledge, we have never seen a pied Wagtail in the garden at any time of the year! My thanks to Melanie for capturing this video footage and taking the superb stills.




As you can imagine, the garden was teaming with bird life today. We even had a visit from a male Chaffinch on the bird table - another rarity in the garden! A recorded 6 Blackbirds, 3 males and 3 females, 2 Robins, 7 Collard Doves and 1 Wood Pigeon along with the usual gang of Starlings and a battalion of House Sparrows also dined!

Meanwhile at work, I had a close encounter with a Kestrel at 12:20pm. It was barely 20 feet away, perched in a small sapling tree trying to shelter from the falling snow.

January 2010 - Old Moor RSPB

Friday 1st: A new year, and what better way to clear the head, than go out for a bracing walk in the freezing cold. At the reserve, all the lakes were frozen solid except for a few small ice-free patches on the largest - the Mere. Getting there at 10:20am, I had a good start and it turned-out to be a cracking day!



Seeking Yellowhammers, I was advised to go to the "play-area" by the Warden, where some had been seen...and sure enough, I saw my FIRST Yellowhammer, a male perched in the hawthorn shrubs a short distance away. A male Greenfinch was perched close by - one of few as the majority of Greenfinches I saw that morning were females! By the "Tree Sparrow farm", a small patch of ground with thistles appeared to be crawling with Goldfinches...I've never seen so many in one place and there were many more! Over at the hide I was presented with the spectacle of passerines of Greenfinch (many more females than males), Goldfinch, Chaffinch, all of which, I lost count as they were in abundance! Along with the former were a couple of Tree Sparrows, 4 Reed Buntings, a Robin, one Dunnock, a Moorhen, several Blackbirds - both male and female, a Stonechat and perched in the hawthorns another 2 YELLOWHAMMERS! There were so many birds that who knows what I didn't see! I'd spent an hour and a half just at this one spot...a great start to the day.

At the Mere, a lake where most waterfowl tend to congregate, I was surprised to see that most of it was still frozen and that only 4 small patches were ice-free where ducks and gulls of various species were unusually crammed together "beak-by-bill"! What I did notice too was that there were no Geese or Swans of any description present. The sight of hundreds of Wigeon and Pochard roaming across the grassland on the far side of the lake, nibbling at the grass made for a fascinating sight. But the highlight was the 7 GOOSANDERS (4 male & 3 female) amongst the various waterfowl packed together in an ice-free area. This is a FIRST for me! The male is easily distinguished from the female by its black head and white body, click RSPB info on Goosanders, whereas the female has a brown head and grey body. Both have bright red legs. Although the Goosanders were amongst all the other waterfowl, I had my scope and saw some good views. The two images below are stills taken from a video.



I then paid a visit to the Wath Ings hide were the lake was totally ice-bound. Nothing at all about except for the Kestrel perched on the bird house alongside the hide. There were also some unusal Sheep grazing closeby. See the image below.






Time was now getting late, the tempreture had dropped noticably and I was hungry and ready for a hot cup of tea. So, walking back to the Visitor Center, I made a short detour towards the Reedbed Hide where I saw and videoed a rather obliging Stonechat (the second of the day) on the fence. To round off the day, while have a cuppa in the cafe and peering through the window down onto the feeders, I got a very good showing of a female Bulfinch together with Blue and Great Tits. So, although it was a very cold day, it was also a very full and fruitful day for bird watching.