Couple of brief outings

On Saturday (14/02) Em & I went for lunch at the Red Lion in East Haddon (very nice there by the way!). Afterwards, I had a quick 10 minute scan from the causeway at nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir. Nice to see the 1st-winter drake Scaup (now sporting pretty much full adult plumage from what I could see) amongst several Tufties on the small side however very little else of note, yet again on a miserable, cloudy day!

Had another look for Lesser Peckers again first thing on Sunday (15/02). Again no luck but I'll persevere! Was probably an even drearier day than the previous and so bird activity was pretty low key.

Before heading back to Brackers for lunch, I took a trip to nearby Abington Park. On the lake, 3 Goosander were present. Of them, a male and female were knocking about in the centre of the lake, however the other bird, a female, came insanely close, probably 6 feet away. As per usual, I'm going to moan about the shit light (the SX50 really is a fair weather camera!) however I guess the photos aren't too bad considering.

One of the now resident Ring-Necked Parakeet was to be heard squawking away and it didn't take me long to locate it in the top of a nearby tree.

  

Birding under gloomy skies

During early February I've made a couple of trips out birding in & around Northampton seeing some decent winter birds.

On Saturday (07/02), a truly grim, cloudy day I first popped into Hardingstone GP on the edge of Northampton to look for a drake Red Crested Pochard, always a nice bird to see. Took me no time to find him feeding away with several Gadwall and Tufties and relatively close quarters.

The Gadwall too were at times showing pretty close too, though bloody shame about the grotty light!

After a brief, unsuccessful look at a nearby Little Owl site, I next headed a short way along the road to Barnes Meadow nature reserve, a small flooded, reedy meadow adjacent to both the River Nene & the A45. Here I found at least 5 Jack Snipe and several Snipe, as well as a brief Water Rail too. Nice little haul!

I then went along the A45 to Summer Leys. Here there was a nice pair of Pintail from the Pioneer hide, as well as a single Shelduck.
I then spent a bit of time at the feeding station enjoying point blank views of several Bullfinch, a Marsh Tit and good numbers of Reed Bunting amongst other things.

Best of all though for me though was a Water Rail strutting around nervously feeding no more than 15 feet away. Magic!

The next day (Sunday 08/02) I went for a walk early doors with my mum looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in Northampton. Sadly no sign, however it was a stunning, cold and sunny morning and did see a good selection of woodland birds. Here, I also heard my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year...spring is on it's way!

Afterwards, we went to Summer Leys again for a bit, hoping to see the Water Rail in the much improved light. Sadly, there were just too many people about, making just too much noise and frustratingly it only showed occasionally and briefly before scuttling back into the rushes.

In the meantime, there were plenty of birds coming down to the feeding station in great light, making it a great opportunity to get some good close-ups. We also saw one of the local Great White Egrets loafing around distantly on the main lake, as well as a single Little Egret.

The delights of Dean

On Monday (02/02) I took the day off to head down to the Forest of Dean with my mate Dave James and Matt Whitelock who was down from Fort William in Scotland. Was a darn pleasure to see him again! On a grey and murky early morning we headed down, eventually dodging the shockingly bad traffic on the M40 & A34.

We arrived at Parkend, a village in the heart of the forest on what was a seriously cold morning. We then parked up by what must be one of the best spots in the country for Hawfinch, with a large circle of yew trees in front of us. We set about scanning here and the big tall trees on the other side of the road.

It wasn't long before we were onto a couple of Hawfinch flying down to the ground, feeding amongst the leaf litter under the yews. We proceeded to have at least 4 on the ground giving great scope views. 

The numbers soon increased further with at least 8 in total. The air filled with their 'ticking' calls. As quickly as they appeared the birds soon stealthily melted away, however we had been treated to a brilliant encounter with these illusive beasts!

After a bracing but rewarding session with the Hawfinch, we stopped off at a brilliant nearby cafe, putting away an awesome sausage and bacon roll and a welcome coffee! We then drove onto nearby New Fancy View, a great and well known spot to scan for Goshawks. The weather was looking far from ideal with it being a grey old day but it was certainly worth a go.

Soon after arriving several Siskin and Crossbill could be heard calling frequently from the trees below us. I soon picked up a large bird cruising along a ridge probably at least a couple of miles away! It quickly perched up in a bare-looking tree. After a bit of deliberation and deduction, we decided it probably was a Goshawk however it was just too far away to be sure. Of course as soon as we looked away it had gone, however thankfully we soon picked it up again in the air and that typical shape soon made it obvious that it was indeed a Goshawk. Get in! It slowly cruised at quite a height towards us and effortlessly drifted over our heads and away into the distance.

We soon got onto another large bird zooming across the distant treetops before pitching up at the top of a pine...another Goshawk! We watched it for a while before it vanished.

Time was pressing on so it was time to head off, going onto Cannop Ponds to enjoy the Mandarins! They didn't disappoint with around 15 coming down to the loaf of bread Dave had picked up in Parkend!

We planned to stop off at Hawling, east of Cheltenham for Short Eared Owl, however before we left Cannop we enjoyed some of the birds coming down to food put out on the bird table close to the car park. 

We arrived at the rough grassland habitat near to Hawling (Gloucs) late afternoon. The site has become very popular in recent weeks for the several Short Eared Owl present here. Before we'd even got out of the car, Dave spotted one on a nearby fence post...the signs were good!
We went on to enjoy good views of around 4 birds, along with a single Barn Owl and a showy pair of Stonechat.

Was then time to head for home via the pub of course!