On my headstone I am going to have the words "Late again". Not for the first time and probably not for the last time I missed a good sighting. This time it was the 3 Great Bustards which stayed over night and up to about 30 minutes before I arrived had been seen in the fields just below Culverwell. Next time maybe!!
A lot of winter thrushes were visible with at least 10 Song Thrushes and several Redwings about. Overhead there were a few Meadow Pipits and Skylarks calling, and in Culverwell a lot of Chaffinches, but sadly no Bramblings.
Here are few photos:
A Common Buzzard
And another in the next field.
There were a few Kestrels about, this one hovering.
This one in a low-level attack
And on a perch.
Quite a few Song Thrushes about.
Another looks for a good feeding spot!
And not just Song Thrushes but several Blackbirds.
A Raven passes by.
And on the fences behind Southwell a few Meadow Pipits.
Birds recorded: 2 Buzzards, 3 Kestrel, 1 Pheasant, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 4 Skylark, 8 Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 7+ Redwing, 10+ Song Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 2 Raven, 50+ Starling, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Pennsylvania Castle Wood
Just before I left the observatory I was having good chat with Martin Cade and Geoff a local birder, and the conversation moved onto the Yellow-browed Warbler I found on the steps down to Church Ope Cove on. We were just wondering whether it was still around. Well the short answer is yes. After I left them I stopped off at the woods and it was quite apparent there were a lot of Long-tailed Tits foraging in the tree tops, and there amongst them a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Firecrest.
After tweeting it on Twitter, Martin Cade joined me and we managed another view of it high up in the canopy. As the tits moved off so did the Yellow-browed Warbler. However after a good 30 minutes the larger flock of Long-tailed Tits returned and with them the Yellow-browed Warbler.
While we were looking for the Yellow-browed Warbler we also came across a second Firecrest.
Birds recorded: Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrest, 30+ Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
A couple of Ships today
