Having just finished 5 night shifts (& refused a 6th - on double time too!!!), I decided to head to Priorslee today for a quick look.
On arrival I joined 2 birders already present, one was Pete Jordan, & was straight onto a 1st w. Glaucous Gull, certainly looked a paler bird (& also slightly small for a Glauc!) to the 'dirty' brown bird I saw previously, but who knows for sure, far brighter day today!!...
Only one ad. Yellow-legged Gull all of note there, no Iceland's & even more disapointing, no Kumlien's!!...
A flock of around c.20 Siskin flew over just as I left.
I moved on to VP where there was very little change, in all fairness it was pretty drab, so I jumped back into the Argo Mk.II# & moved off to Polemere in the hope of a Pink-foot (or better!!) in with the goose flock there (even thoughts of a Smew shot through my mind!!)...
Metallica kept me company on the shortish drive to Polemere gettin' the old pulse raising... which is more than Polemere did!!
Zilcho geese, bar 1 Greylag & a few crappy Canada's!! Had a quick count of what was there, an impressive 95 Teal (sadly, no Green-winged!!) & 25 Wigeon!...
Pretty quiet day, obviously the Glauc. was a great bird to see, but year ticks are now proving tricky!!...
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
The Elusive County Curlew?...Nah, not really!!.
Bloody typical aint it? Spent around 20 minutes yesterday trying to pin down a calling Curlew, only to get to VP around 13:45hrs today & tick 3 Curlew!!...
Also at VP today was 11 Snipe, now 2 Oystercatcher, 22 Lapwing & the normal array of VP regulars...
With that being my last 'easy' tick for the time being, it'll be back to trying to find some of the more difficult birds, like Merlin, SE Owl, Little Owl & not forgetting, those sodding Crossbill's!!...
Also at VP today was 11 Snipe, now 2 Oystercatcher, 22 Lapwing & the normal array of VP regulars...
With that being my last 'easy' tick for the time being, it'll be back to trying to find some of the more difficult birds, like Merlin, SE Owl, Little Owl & not forgetting, those sodding Crossbill's!!...
Monday, 16 February 2009
Bury Ditches & Clunton Coppice - the hunt for Crossbill!!
Amazingly, a day off today & this coupled with a really great day weather-wise! I decided to head off south of the county again, to search for Crossbill. My 3rd visit this year to Bury Ditches (if you count my failed attempt last time!).
I arrived around 10:00am & set straight off for the view point. Scope set up I began scanning. Loads of Buzzard circling (as expected), then I got onto my first of many Red Kite! Initially, 2 birds circling together, were soon joined by 3 more!!..
(At least 6 Red Kite in this general area today).
After searching in the fringes of the surrounding woodland there was no sign of any Crossbill, but I did get great views of a Willow Tit in my scope at one point (quite a few Marsh Tit seen & Coal Tit were plentiful!).
Only one Redpoll seen & amazingly, no Siskin!!??... There was a female Brambling in with 60+ Chaffinch near the car park!
Despite hearing Crossbill, I couldn't locate one, so I decided to head back to the car park & walk along the other trail to the far pine/larch woodland. It was around 400yds dow this track that a Goshawk drifted across the track, just 50 yds or so ahead of me!! Brilliant!! But then, around 10 minutes later, presumably the same bird, flew across the track again, this time almost literally above my head, arguably the best view I've ever had of Goshawk!! I watched the bird for maybe 5 minutes as it flew low over the treeline & off towards a distant plantation.
After 3 hours of being at Bury Ditches & no sign of Crossbill I decided to head for Clunton Coppice for a search here.
(En route back to the car a Curlew called somewhere down in the valley, despite searching with the scope for a while I didn't see it!!)
So, to nearby Clunton Coppice, where to be honest (& to save me a lot of time typing... & you reading it..), I drew another big, fat zero on Crossbill!!!
But I did get yet another pretty decent view of Goshawk, as I heard one calling, then just up the hill slightly & through the tree canopy it drifted across, I viewed it for maybe no more than 30 seconds, but still great views of this normally fairly elusive raptor!!
So, sadly no year tick & Crossbill remains surprisingly very elusive still! But I cant complain with the spectacular views I had of Goshawk's today, no distant scoped views of a displaying male, these were through the bins, clear, brilliant views!! Coupled with Red Kite's & another Willow Tit, a pretty decent 5 hours birding!!
So, Curlew & Crossbill still remain 'off the list', but no doubt they'll be nailed soon enough!!...
Now home, given the Argo Mk.II# a much needed wash, I'm now chilling with a cuppa!!!...
I arrived around 10:00am & set straight off for the view point. Scope set up I began scanning. Loads of Buzzard circling (as expected), then I got onto my first of many Red Kite! Initially, 2 birds circling together, were soon joined by 3 more!!..
(At least 6 Red Kite in this general area today).
After searching in the fringes of the surrounding woodland there was no sign of any Crossbill, but I did get great views of a Willow Tit in my scope at one point (quite a few Marsh Tit seen & Coal Tit were plentiful!).
Only one Redpoll seen & amazingly, no Siskin!!??... There was a female Brambling in with 60+ Chaffinch near the car park!
Despite hearing Crossbill, I couldn't locate one, so I decided to head back to the car park & walk along the other trail to the far pine/larch woodland. It was around 400yds dow this track that a Goshawk drifted across the track, just 50 yds or so ahead of me!! Brilliant!! But then, around 10 minutes later, presumably the same bird, flew across the track again, this time almost literally above my head, arguably the best view I've ever had of Goshawk!! I watched the bird for maybe 5 minutes as it flew low over the treeline & off towards a distant plantation.
After 3 hours of being at Bury Ditches & no sign of Crossbill I decided to head for Clunton Coppice for a search here.
(En route back to the car a Curlew called somewhere down in the valley, despite searching with the scope for a while I didn't see it!!)
So, to nearby Clunton Coppice, where to be honest (& to save me a lot of time typing... & you reading it..), I drew another big, fat zero on Crossbill!!!
But I did get yet another pretty decent view of Goshawk, as I heard one calling, then just up the hill slightly & through the tree canopy it drifted across, I viewed it for maybe no more than 30 seconds, but still great views of this normally fairly elusive raptor!!
So, sadly no year tick & Crossbill remains surprisingly very elusive still! But I cant complain with the spectacular views I had of Goshawk's today, no distant scoped views of a displaying male, these were through the bins, clear, brilliant views!! Coupled with Red Kite's & another Willow Tit, a pretty decent 5 hours birding!!
So, Curlew & Crossbill still remain 'off the list', but no doubt they'll be nailed soon enough!!...
Now home, given the Argo Mk.II# a much needed wash, I'm now chilling with a cuppa!!!...
Friday, 13 February 2009
Friday the Thirteenth!!
An unlucky day? A day when a ski-mask wearing lunatic chops up a load of annoying american teenagers in the seventies?...Only to be remade 30 years later!!...
Anyway, who cares?... For me, the only bad luck really is that I'm stuck working afternoon shifts (2-10pm), all this week, a shift I totally detest!!
It was working this shift that cost me going on a twitch with Damo yesterday for Penduline Tit!!
Today I decided that I would put in a couple of hours at VP, even though I have a mountain of jobs to do at home before work... I was actually quite surprised to score a year tick today, certainly didn't expect one, but sat there on the main island at VP was the first returning Oystercatcher of the year!! Nice one, in fact the bird had returned on the 11th!
I had a quick wildfowl count, 25 odd Teal present (when am I gonna get my 1st county Green-winged!??..), 9 Pochard & 6+ Shoveler all of any note.
A walk along the top field resulted in a sizable finch flock, sadly the only bird of note in with the Chaffies & Goldies, was a female Brambling!... I was surprised there was no Redpoll or Linnet present?...
On the trout pool was several GC Grebe & at least 6 Little Grebe.
So, that'll be about it for me today, just 10 hours to go & I'll be finishing my shift today.... & hopefully the Friday the 13th curse wont have nailed me today?!!.... Woooohooooo....
Anyway, who cares?... For me, the only bad luck really is that I'm stuck working afternoon shifts (2-10pm), all this week, a shift I totally detest!!
It was working this shift that cost me going on a twitch with Damo yesterday for Penduline Tit!!
Today I decided that I would put in a couple of hours at VP, even though I have a mountain of jobs to do at home before work... I was actually quite surprised to score a year tick today, certainly didn't expect one, but sat there on the main island at VP was the first returning Oystercatcher of the year!! Nice one, in fact the bird had returned on the 11th!
I had a quick wildfowl count, 25 odd Teal present (when am I gonna get my 1st county Green-winged!??..), 9 Pochard & 6+ Shoveler all of any note.
A walk along the top field resulted in a sizable finch flock, sadly the only bird of note in with the Chaffies & Goldies, was a female Brambling!... I was surprised there was no Redpoll or Linnet present?...
On the trout pool was several GC Grebe & at least 6 Little Grebe.
So, that'll be about it for me today, just 10 hours to go & I'll be finishing my shift today.... & hopefully the Friday the 13th curse wont have nailed me today?!!.... Woooohooooo....
Monday, 9 February 2009
Bad Start, Great Finish!!
With (another!!) day off I planned a bit of a county jaunt today, south of the county in search of Crossbill. However, things never go to plan, do they? Just beyond Church Stretton the fog came down almost as fast as the rain/sleet did! By the time I'd reached Clunton the mist was as thick as could be. But as the roads were okay & as I was now 'already there' I pressed on for Bury Ditches. I arrived at the entrance to Bury Ditches... which was as far as I got! The entrance & car park was a sheet of compacted snow & ice! The Argo Mk.II# did a full 180, span, slid & ground to a halt back on the road! I parked as best I could just off the car park entrance & had a walk through the car park to the foot of the plantation.
The mist was impregnable! No bird call either! Soddit! - back into the warmth of the Argo & back to Shrewsbury, birdless, with just AC/DC to keep me company on the way home...
As I arrived back in Bayston Hill (& into clear skies!!), I did consider home for a warm shower, light the fire & chill with a warm bowl of chilli in front of the afternoon showing of Jez Kyle on ITV2!... Thankfully, I decided to give Haumond yet another go!!
I parked at the Abbey car park, whapped my walking boots on, crossed the road & headed off down the muddy track into the heart of the decidious woodland.
By the first 'dead tree', where I'd previously had 2 vigils, there were certainly Great Spots drumming, with at least 3 present here.. But I pushed on... About a further 100yds or so I stopped for a look round & noticed a small bird feeding on the lower branches of a nearby tree... I couldn't believe my luck, I was staring at a brilliant male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!!! My first county Lesser Spot in around 3 odd years!! Amazingly the bird was then joined, albeit very briefly, by a 2nd male Lesser Spot!
Even though the one vanished as quick as it had appeared, the original bird remained showing well for a good 20 minutes, on & off..., enough time for a very relieved Rob to arrive & also get great views!!.. Brilliant year tick & grip back on ze boys!!
Then Rob told me he'd had Grey Partridge that morning at Painsbrook Lane! Bloody hell!! I'd already dipped them 3 times there... But I felt my luck was in & what the hell, I set off for Painsbrook, my 4th try here. Before though, bumped into Paul in the Abbey car park & gave him directions to where the bird was showing (I later found out he'd also scored!)
Painsbrook Lane, Hadnall, visit no.4!! I didn't even get out of the car... there, opposite the horse stables, a male Grey Partridge!! Year tick No.2!!...
With the weather closing in, now home, warm & cosy, I can happily sit here with a smug grin on my chops & look back on what was a great end to what initially, looked to be a dire day county birding!!.. Up to 110 species now on the county year list!!... & still aint had a Curlew!! ;~)
The mist was impregnable! No bird call either! Soddit! - back into the warmth of the Argo & back to Shrewsbury, birdless, with just AC/DC to keep me company on the way home...
As I arrived back in Bayston Hill (& into clear skies!!), I did consider home for a warm shower, light the fire & chill with a warm bowl of chilli in front of the afternoon showing of Jez Kyle on ITV2!... Thankfully, I decided to give Haumond yet another go!!
I parked at the Abbey car park, whapped my walking boots on, crossed the road & headed off down the muddy track into the heart of the decidious woodland.
By the first 'dead tree', where I'd previously had 2 vigils, there were certainly Great Spots drumming, with at least 3 present here.. But I pushed on... About a further 100yds or so I stopped for a look round & noticed a small bird feeding on the lower branches of a nearby tree... I couldn't believe my luck, I was staring at a brilliant male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!!! My first county Lesser Spot in around 3 odd years!! Amazingly the bird was then joined, albeit very briefly, by a 2nd male Lesser Spot!
Even though the one vanished as quick as it had appeared, the original bird remained showing well for a good 20 minutes, on & off..., enough time for a very relieved Rob to arrive & also get great views!!.. Brilliant year tick & grip back on ze boys!!
Then Rob told me he'd had Grey Partridge that morning at Painsbrook Lane! Bloody hell!! I'd already dipped them 3 times there... But I felt my luck was in & what the hell, I set off for Painsbrook, my 4th try here. Before though, bumped into Paul in the Abbey car park & gave him directions to where the bird was showing (I later found out he'd also scored!)
Painsbrook Lane, Hadnall, visit no.4!! I didn't even get out of the car... there, opposite the horse stables, a male Grey Partridge!! Year tick No.2!!...
With the weather closing in, now home, warm & cosy, I can happily sit here with a smug grin on my chops & look back on what was a great end to what initially, looked to be a dire day county birding!!.. Up to 110 species now on the county year list!!... & still aint had a Curlew!! ;~)
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Reluctant Birding?...
This year I have found myself to be far more committed to birding, so far, all county!! But for some strange reason this weekend, a weekend off work too!, I just couldn't be arsed!!??... I reluctantly got out of bed yesterday with every intention of 'doing Priorslee at least'!!...
It never happened, instead I found myself lighting my wood burner & crashing on the sofa with bacon & egg sarnies, watching 'I'm Alan Partridge'!! (at least I got a partridge in doing this, more than can be said for sodding Painsbrook Lane, which after 3 visits this week has still failed to produce a ****ing Grey Partridge!!)...
So, Sunday morning.... a long lie in bed with Mand (& very nice it was too!!), but she had to leave after midday for work... So I decided to get my motovation levels above the 0.3 they were currently reading & headed off to VP!
I was pretty chuffed to go actually, as I aint put much time in on the owd patch this year. There was 4 Gadwall present, 2 drake Pintail, 20+ Teal on the pool, with 11 Pochard on the trout pool... Then the VP Bittern put in a sporadic moments of 'good views', incl. a flight view...
A quick chat with a few local birders I knew it was home for me for Sunday din-dins via the pub for a couple of pints of the old 'black stuff'!!
I was just chillin' when the old mobile went & it was ze Guru! He had had a Kumlien's Gull at Priorslee with Jim!! Now Kumlien's aint a full species, a sub-sp. of Thayer's I believe?... Anyway... there was a day when Caspian wasn't a full sp. too!!!... So, off to Priorslee!!...
I arrived in a minor snow blizzard, with biting cold winds, to join Jim, Andy, Dave & Paul... Fortunately the 1st w. Glaucous Gull was present & showing well (& had been for a couple of hours)... It was soon after I arrived that confirmation came through that the Kumlien's was in fact a Glaucous x Herring hybrid that had been seen at Belvide Res. (info. thanks to Steve Nuttall!!)...
Soon Damo arrived to life tick the Glauc., followed shortly by Rob, a year tick in the bag for him...
So, despite grim weather, lack of year ticks, lack of 'get up & go'... not often in Shropshire you nip out' for a couple of hours birding & see Bittern & Glaucous Gull!!!... So, I aint to down about it at all...
Grey Partridge, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Crossbill, Curlew, Merlin, Little Owl & Short-eared Owl still remain target birds for the owd county year list!!.... Still on 108 species!!!...
It never happened, instead I found myself lighting my wood burner & crashing on the sofa with bacon & egg sarnies, watching 'I'm Alan Partridge'!! (at least I got a partridge in doing this, more than can be said for sodding Painsbrook Lane, which after 3 visits this week has still failed to produce a ****ing Grey Partridge!!)...
So, Sunday morning.... a long lie in bed with Mand (& very nice it was too!!), but she had to leave after midday for work... So I decided to get my motovation levels above the 0.3 they were currently reading & headed off to VP!
I was pretty chuffed to go actually, as I aint put much time in on the owd patch this year. There was 4 Gadwall present, 2 drake Pintail, 20+ Teal on the pool, with 11 Pochard on the trout pool... Then the VP Bittern put in a sporadic moments of 'good views', incl. a flight view...
A quick chat with a few local birders I knew it was home for me for Sunday din-dins via the pub for a couple of pints of the old 'black stuff'!!
I was just chillin' when the old mobile went & it was ze Guru! He had had a Kumlien's Gull at Priorslee with Jim!! Now Kumlien's aint a full species, a sub-sp. of Thayer's I believe?... Anyway... there was a day when Caspian wasn't a full sp. too!!!... So, off to Priorslee!!...
I arrived in a minor snow blizzard, with biting cold winds, to join Jim, Andy, Dave & Paul... Fortunately the 1st w. Glaucous Gull was present & showing well (& had been for a couple of hours)... It was soon after I arrived that confirmation came through that the Kumlien's was in fact a Glaucous x Herring hybrid that had been seen at Belvide Res. (info. thanks to Steve Nuttall!!)...
Soon Damo arrived to life tick the Glauc., followed shortly by Rob, a year tick in the bag for him...
So, despite grim weather, lack of year ticks, lack of 'get up & go'... not often in Shropshire you nip out' for a couple of hours birding & see Bittern & Glaucous Gull!!!... So, I aint to down about it at all...
Grey Partridge, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Crossbill, Curlew, Merlin, Little Owl & Short-eared Owl still remain target birds for the owd county year list!!.... Still on 108 species!!!...
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Glaucous Gull - Priorslee Lake!
What with the combination of being stuck in 'night shift' mode, severe lack of sleep & possibly a tad too much Guinness last night, it was 11:00am before I reluctantly rolled out of my pit this morning...
So, any thoughts of birding today were diminished! A quick food shop (got my daughter sleeping over tonight, so stocked up with bacon & sausages, as Erin's Mum is a veggie! So, meat is always on the menu at Daddy's house!), home & cleaned up around the house & lit the fire all ready for collecting her from school later...
I then decided to motivate myself & clean my car! I had literally just finished when my mobile rang & it was good 'ol Jimbo!! 'Hiya mate, got a Glaucous Gull at Priorslee!!'...
I dived into the car & sped off to Priorslee... I arrived around 13:30hrs, Jim & Yvonne were still there & on the Glaucous Gull for me! Great, close views in good light. A few phone calls & texts to other interested parties... Jim & Yvonne soon left & within minutes I was joined by Big V, Mike & Geoff (with Dave en route)... The Glaucous Gull had done a brief vanishing act but I located it right in front of us, just over the metal jetty.
A huge collection of gulls present, easily over a thousand gulls in the general area, with aprox. 600 odd on the pool, with possibly as many again over the tree line feeding where I assume they're digging the ground up for a new building area?...
A great grip back & my 2nd Glaucous Gull in Shropshire!... All I gotta do now is try & get that Lesser Pecker nailed!! (Went again yesterday, no joy, only a Peregrine of note).
**Big thank you to Jim for the call!!**
So, any thoughts of birding today were diminished! A quick food shop (got my daughter sleeping over tonight, so stocked up with bacon & sausages, as Erin's Mum is a veggie! So, meat is always on the menu at Daddy's house!), home & cleaned up around the house & lit the fire all ready for collecting her from school later...
I then decided to motivate myself & clean my car! I had literally just finished when my mobile rang & it was good 'ol Jimbo!! 'Hiya mate, got a Glaucous Gull at Priorslee!!'...
I dived into the car & sped off to Priorslee... I arrived around 13:30hrs, Jim & Yvonne were still there & on the Glaucous Gull for me! Great, close views in good light. A few phone calls & texts to other interested parties... Jim & Yvonne soon left & within minutes I was joined by Big V, Mike & Geoff (with Dave en route)... The Glaucous Gull had done a brief vanishing act but I located it right in front of us, just over the metal jetty.
A huge collection of gulls present, easily over a thousand gulls in the general area, with aprox. 600 odd on the pool, with possibly as many again over the tree line feeding where I assume they're digging the ground up for a new building area?...
A great grip back & my 2nd Glaucous Gull in Shropshire!... All I gotta do now is try & get that Lesser Pecker nailed!! (Went again yesterday, no joy, only a Peregrine of note).
**Big thank you to Jim for the call!!**
The juv/1st w. Glaucous Gull at Priorslee today ~ picture thanks to J.Almond Fab Foto's Inc.!!... (Cheers Jim!!) ;~)
Monday, 2 February 2009
Following in the footsteps of Andy & Jim.
A bit of snow wasn't enough to put me off a potential 3 year ticks today!! I was up at 11:00am having had just 3hrs sleep, & once awake & sorted I set straight off for Haughmond Hill. On arrival, Tim was already there, I picked up on a drumming Lesser Spot, but despite a good 30 minutes looking, no sign. As we left, just to rub salt in the wounds, so to speak, the Lesser Spot gave a brief call!! So, at least it's there, probably not the best day to look for one? Anyway, I'll definately be going back again very soon for another look!
In the woodland carpark, a search began in ernest for Willow Tit. One called, but only a brief flight view was gained, & I really wasn't happy 'ticking' that! There were loads of Marsh Tit in the area, but I couldn't locate a Willow. There were also several Bullfinch, incl. a large, very bright male, I'm not saying this was a Northern, but it certainly looked different to me to usual male Bullfinches, but I aint 100% on the full ID criteria of the Northern race? (I did see one once a few years ago!)
Eventually I got onto a female Brambling & also a Redpoll over on the other side of the carpark. I was then joined by the Big V, & he must've brought a bit of luck with him as we soon got onto a lone Willow Tit feeding close to the car park. At last, a year tick!
With no sign of Crossbill I then decided to go & search for Jim's Grey Partridge on Painsbrook Lane, Hadnall. I soon found 'the field' (& the worst pot-holed road I think I've ever driven down!!)... Sadly, no sign of any partridge. I then had a thourough drive around the area checking every field in the area, but apart from a large flock of Fieldfare & Redwing, there was nothing of any note!!
So, 4hrs birding today & just one year tick (107 species now), but I'm confident I'll score with the Lesser Spot soon & Grey Partridge will eventually get on the list!.... (I hope!!) ;~)
In the woodland carpark, a search began in ernest for Willow Tit. One called, but only a brief flight view was gained, & I really wasn't happy 'ticking' that! There were loads of Marsh Tit in the area, but I couldn't locate a Willow. There were also several Bullfinch, incl. a large, very bright male, I'm not saying this was a Northern, but it certainly looked different to me to usual male Bullfinches, but I aint 100% on the full ID criteria of the Northern race? (I did see one once a few years ago!)
Eventually I got onto a female Brambling & also a Redpoll over on the other side of the carpark. I was then joined by the Big V, & he must've brought a bit of luck with him as we soon got onto a lone Willow Tit feeding close to the car park. At last, a year tick!
With no sign of Crossbill I then decided to go & search for Jim's Grey Partridge on Painsbrook Lane, Hadnall. I soon found 'the field' (& the worst pot-holed road I think I've ever driven down!!)... Sadly, no sign of any partridge. I then had a thourough drive around the area checking every field in the area, but apart from a large flock of Fieldfare & Redwing, there was nothing of any note!!
So, 4hrs birding today & just one year tick (107 species now), but I'm confident I'll score with the Lesser Spot soon & Grey Partridge will eventually get on the list!.... (I hope!!) ;~)
Sunday, 1 February 2009
February, the mission continues.
A great start to 2009, better than I hoped actually by some degree. Okay, so I didn't manage to see the Glaucous Gull, narrowly missed out on a SE Owl & look's like the Pink-foot has gone? However, I have had 2 county ticks, seen 6 species this year I failed to see at all last year in Shropshire & have had the best start to a county yearlist yet with 105 species!!
Some excellent birds already on the list with 2 Iceland Gull's, 2 lots of Waxwing, White-fronted Goose & Hawfinch not only being year ticks but county ticks also! Hen Harrier, Goshawk & Red Kite nailed, 2 Jack Snipe's, Scaup, Bittern & best of all for me, finding a Great Grey Shrike!!
February aint started too bad either, I was slightly later than normal leaving work this morning as my relief had a bit of a lie-in, but I arrived at VP in time to not only gain a year tick, but to also watch a brilliant Barn Owl for around 10 minutes, & at times the closest I've ever been to this species... So, a good start. And with tonight being my final shift for a week I hope to add a few more year ticks in the next week!
Also of note today, on the main pool at VP were 75 Mute Swan! Also counted 18 Pochard.
Some excellent birds already on the list with 2 Iceland Gull's, 2 lots of Waxwing, White-fronted Goose & Hawfinch not only being year ticks but county ticks also! Hen Harrier, Goshawk & Red Kite nailed, 2 Jack Snipe's, Scaup, Bittern & best of all for me, finding a Great Grey Shrike!!
February aint started too bad either, I was slightly later than normal leaving work this morning as my relief had a bit of a lie-in, but I arrived at VP in time to not only gain a year tick, but to also watch a brilliant Barn Owl for around 10 minutes, & at times the closest I've ever been to this species... So, a good start. And with tonight being my final shift for a week I hope to add a few more year ticks in the next week!
Also of note today, on the main pool at VP were 75 Mute Swan! Also counted 18 Pochard.
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