By later on the week, conditions had distinctly improved. On Thursday (14/12) I had a half day off work. Before partaking in a little Christmas shopping, I decided to pop up the road to Thenford to check if any Hawfinches were still about, having not been there for a while.
A half an hour look produced a number of sightings of 2-3 birds flying around and feeding in the large yews on the far side of the lake producing some nice scope views.
The next day (Friday 15/12) was another day off for me. I was meeting up with my parents during the afternoon, however I had the morning free for some birding. I decided to pay another visit to my local-ish patch of Bucknell Wood, in a further attempt to unearth some Parrot Crossbills.
It was a beautifully clear morning, however there was a bitter wind chill making it kind of unpleasant to be honest! It was all a bit quiet in the wood too, however I persevered.
I spent a while around one of the main crossroads in the centre of the wood for a bit of a scan. I then got a bit jammy, as a Hawfinch flew in, calling loudly, before continuing over my head and landing in a nearby tree. My view of the bird was obstructed by a Yew tree, so I slowly and gently crunched my way through the snow a few feet to my left, to reveal the beautifully sunlit male Hawfinch...what a cracker. I took a few photos before the bird headed off up the ride and out of sight.
This welcome distraction allowed me to momentarily forget about how flipping cold it was, however this didn't last long! So on I trudged to complete my circuit, enjoying an unexpected Grey Wagtail feeding in the small, steam-fed pool close to the car park.
I still had a couple of hours to kill so on my way to Northampton, I popped into Shires Meadow, Towcester to see if I could locate the Firecrest that was seen earlier in the week. The park was full of birds with quite a few showy Redwings foraging around the icy grass and leaves.
Despite plenty of effort, I failed to find the Firecrest, although I jammed on yet another Hawfinch heading low NW! Considering how low it was flying, I thought there was a good chance it may have lingered, however I couldn't re-locate it.
I also got out a bit during the weekend too. On Saturday (16/12) Em & I popped over to Bucknell Wood again to walk our usual loop. No Hawfinches or pie-in-the-sky Parrot Crossbills, however a Nuthatch gave some brilliant views, coming down to feed on one of the tracks.
On Sunday (17/12), I met up up with Dan & Gareth for a long overdue catch up. We planned for a day of birding, however seeing the forecast, it was only likely to be the morning, before the rain set in. We set off early for a walk around Otmoor, hopefully to catch up with the long-staying male Hen Harrier. After a fair old bit of scanning we found him cruising about distantly, towards the back right of the Greenaways field, providing some decent scope views. It was cool too to see it alongside one of the three resident Marsh Harriers, allowing us to really appreciate the considerable size difference.
We didn't see too much more of interest, other than a couple of Barnacle Geese amongst the local Greylags, 1-2 male Stonechats and a Fox. There was generally a distinct lack of wildfowl and Plovers, presumably due to the recent snow and ice.
Around 11:30am the rain began to set in as predicted, encouraging us to head off in search of a pub with a nice fire and a good roast!
On the way home, the guys were keen to pop into Thenford for a quick look for Hawfinch so we paid homage for half an hour or so as the rain briefly abated. We managed views of one bursting out of a nearby yew tree calling as it headed off into the Heseltine estate. It was cold and the light was closing in, so around 15:00pm we decided to call it a day.
We didn't see too much more of interest, other than a couple of Barnacle Geese amongst the local Greylags, 1-2 male Stonechats and a Fox. There was generally a distinct lack of wildfowl and Plovers, presumably due to the recent snow and ice.
Around 11:30am the rain began to set in as predicted, encouraging us to head off in search of a pub with a nice fire and a good roast!
On the way home, the guys were keen to pop into Thenford for a quick look for Hawfinch so we paid homage for half an hour or so as the rain briefly abated. We managed views of one bursting out of a nearby yew tree calling as it headed off into the Heseltine estate. It was cold and the light was closing in, so around 15:00pm we decided to call it a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment