28 April 2013
I knew I hadn't added anything here for some time
But I hadn't thought it was eight months ago!
Anyway, I'm doing it now, so here goes ...
We moved home in June last year so that took up a
goodly amount of time getting settled in to our flat. Right outside the living room window and
stretching behind the block is an open green space, a smallish space where a
number of the flats all look out on.
When the sun is out and there's little wind it's a nice place to sit out
in with nice glass of whatever does you good ;-))) There's a tree on the lawn in front of our
rear door so Jan straight away got lots of feeders up and we've had a steady
stream of birds coming to feed. Since
the new year we've had ...
Goldcreast; blackcap; wren; sparrow hawk; goldfinch
(I counted 18 at one time); blue, great and coal tits; blackbird; wood pigeon; collared
dove; starling; house sparrow and dunnock.
In addition we seen a number of gulls flying over but weren't able to
see the clear enough to ID them properly.
At various times we've been out shopping and so on we've also seen peregrine;
red legged partridge and pheasants by the hundreds.
Our first trip out this year was to Slimbridge on 8
February. The normal Slimbridge set was
there of course but seeing as it was our first trip of 2013 they were all year
ticks for us. Here's our list - which
includes what saw on the way dawn and the return run ...
Wood Pigeon; Blackbird; goldfinch; blue tit; house
sparrow; kestrel; magpie; jackdaw; black headed gull; herring gull; starling;
collared dove; grey heron; rook; robin; little egret; lapwing; Berwick swan;
greylag goose; shellduck; buzzard; moorhen; mute swan; teal; wigeon; shoveller;
pochard; black tailed godwits; chaffinch; great tit; green finch; reed bunting;
dunnock; coot; Canada goose; cormorant; oystercatcher; pintail; redshank;
golden plover; been goose; white fronted goose; dunlin, giving us a year list
of only 53.
After that we've both been caught up in various
health problems so that is why we are so far behind, even on our own
scores. Anyway, we were OK for a week
early April, which was a relief seeing as Jan had booked a week away at Spring
Harvest, a church teaching event held at Minehead. She came back with her own little list which
included osprey and cirl bunting! Honestly
now, I wasn't in the least bit jealous of her ... muttermuttermutter ... ...
...
The same week I shot off up to Edinburgh and had a
nice week up there. I didn't get a lot
of birding done up with the one birding trip I did do a near off wash out. I went to Vane Farm in the hopes of getting
down to the loch in the hope of a Slavonian grebe. But there are only steps down to the loch, so
all of the hides are out for anyone needing to use wheel chairs or
scooters! There is a short section of
pathway not far away but I was told it was muddy so I might not get my scooter
along there. Ah well ... over the week I
added ...
Raven;
lapwing; house sparrow; mallard; moorhen; black headed gull; buzzard; crow;
rook; lesser great black backed gull; herring gull; blue tit; great tit;
dunnock; wigeon; teal; mute swan; red shank; grey heron; pink footed goose;
greater black backed gull; oystercatcher; curlew; wood pigeon; magpie; shags;
starling; pochard; shell ducks; jackdaws; stock dove; elder duck; red breasted
merganser; golden eye; Canada goose; pheasant; kestrel; swallows to the list
bringing me up to 70.
On the 24th we set out for North Norfolk starting at
Cley. Again we are limited because of
our scooters but did get a marsh harrier there, always a nice spot. From there we headed for Titchwell where we
only added seven more to the days list ... + two ijits, a pair of photographers
in long waders who headed straight for the water's edge. There wasn't a lot there mind and what there
was soon scared off with those two getting their shots before the birds flew
off. the day's list then was ...
Starling; woodpigeon; house sparrow; collard dove;
magpie; crow; pheasant; red kite; jackdaw; rook; bh gull; h gull; mallard; lbb gull; mute
swan; raven; gbb gull; oystercatcher; cormorant; hobby; coot; gray partridge;
kestrel; blackbird; skylark; stonechat; graylag goose; lapwing; shell duck;
avocet; Canada goose; teal; marsh harrier; curlew; swallow; goldfinch; red
legged partridge; shoveller; little grebe; black tailed godwits; bar tailed
godwits; redshank; little egret ; brent goose; gadwall; ringed plover; tufted
duck; pied wagtail; moorhen; wigeon; green shanks; little ringed plover;
sandwich tern; robin; sanderling; ruff; bearded tit; blue tit; dunlin;
chaffinch, giving us 88 now. The best stighting for us was this one ...
This week end we have our grandson with us, so
yesterday we went off to Attenborough
reserve at Nottingham. We hadn't done
that one before so it was new for us too as well as for Kile (and yes, the
spelling is correct - or it's how his mum wanted it spelt!). Best spot of the day is a tossup for the
osprey or the whitethroat. Here's the
list ...
Blackbird; crow; pigeon; magpie; pheasant; jackdaw;
lapwing; mallard; mute swan; tufted duck; coot; moorhen; tree sparrow; great
tit; blue tit; great created grebe; gadwall; chaffinch; graylag goose; black
headed gull; cormorant; wigeon; osprey; common tern; common whitethroat;
Egyptian goose; house martin; buzzard.
In addition we see what we hope is a Red crested pochard but I'm going
to look into that a bit more before I claim it.
As it stands now, we are on 94 for the year.
No more trips are planned just yet but Jan is off to
church thing again later in May so we have booked into a hotel in Brighton for
a long weekend and whole is doing her bit during the day I'll be having fun doing
local birding - and taking lots of photos too.
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