Sunday 23 February 2014

What a joy it was to be out walking in the sunshine on Saturday. A good selection of birds was seen during my 2 hour walk. Down through Kirkins and the maize stubble seems to be attracting lots of corvids, about 140 consisting of a pretty even split of Jackdaws and Rooks. The hedgerow held a few House Sparrows and Chaffinches plus a pair of Reed Buntings and five Fieldfare flew from the apple trees in the top corner.
As I neared the pumping station a Mistle Thrush sang from an oak a bit further along the lane. Two Goldrcrests were foraging in the ivy covered willow next to the station.
The orchard next to the lake held a mixed flock of Fieldfares(25), Redwings(14) and Starlings(200). As I neared the southern end I could hear a Reed Bunting singing and soon found him in a lakeside alder.
All three Woodpeckers could be heard drumming but the lake held just Mallard, Moorhen and a lone Great- crested Grebe until a Kingfisher appeared and landed in a tree in the corner.
A pair of Canada Geese flew over accompanied by a Greylag. Interestingly this trio have been on the lake a couple of weeks ago and the Greylag appeared to be pairing with one of the Canadas.
Around the other side of the lake and the highlight of the morning appeared in the shape of a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Such delightful little birds. Unfortunately I got just one(iffy) shot of the female before they disappeared into the alder wood.
Female Lesser Spot
In total 43 species were seen with a nice pair of Grey Wagtails bringing up the rear as I left the lake.
In the afternoon I had the good fortune of a Peregrine(67) over the garden when I was repairing the the fence which had blown down during the spell of horrid weather we have just endured. Every cloud has a silver lining!

1 comment:

  1. Good to hear there are still some LS Woodpeckers about Steve. The last here was back in 2008 :-(

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