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| Firecrest |
I went out this morning in the hope of getting a better photograph of Firecrest which to be honest over the years the few shots I have taken here haven't been to good, this morning was a little better and straight away I managed to hear the little beauties calling in some bramble by the crematorium, in total I managed to find 4 Firecrests to which one bird was showing well on and off, and although it was rather a fidget it did manage to come out in the open on several occasions for about 2 seconds each time, and with the camera ready I managed (just about) a couple of record shots and this time with a little more success. Also noted was 3 Goldcrests, 24 Corn Buntings, 14 Skylarks, 7 Redwings, 4 Goldfinches, 14 Linnets, 3 Long-tailed Tits, 7 Chaffinches, 2 House Sparrows, 250 Black-headed Gulls, 600 Wood Pigeons, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 15 Magpies, 2 Rooks, 30 Crows, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel and 2 Ring-necked Parakeets.
Thursday 17th February
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| Distant Reed Buntings |
It was another glorious day to be out and about, and even more so with when good birds are found, I covered the area for most of the morning being joined later on by Dave Gilbert who then went on to cover the afternoon session. The morning started brightly with a Waxwing heading north over the cemo at 9:30am, followed shortly after by 3 Firecrests near the crematorium car park, soon after that a mass of 600 Black-headed Gulls were going bonkers over the garden of rest, but by the time I arrived the probable culprit was nowhere to be seen. I then headed off to cover the paddocks which produced 3 Reed Buntings, and whilst scanning the skies at 10:30am, I heard another flock of Waxwings overhead 11 in total, which also headed off north. In high spirits I carried on round to cover the rest of the patch this in turn produced 43 Golden Plovers west, 3 Goldcrests, 15 Linnets, 7 Jackdaws, 2 Sparrowhawks, 7 Skylarks, 1 Meadow Pipit, 4 Goldfinches, 1 Common Gull, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 5 Chaffinches, 1 Pied Wagtail, 20 Crows, 17 Magpies, 500 Wood Pigeons, 2 Grey Partridges, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Mistle Thrushes and 4 Ring-necked Parakeets. Also present was a Hare by the allotments.
Wednesday 16th February
Today I was out between 12:25 - 1:40pm, and decided to spend most of that time covering the paddocks, adjacent fields and around the allotments, it was certainly a lovely day to be out and within that time I recorded 1 Peregrine, 3 Reed Buntings, 17 Corn Buntings, 15 Skylarks, 21 Linnets, 1 Kestrel, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Meadow Pipit, 55 Crows (seen in the cemetery), 20 Magpies, 450 Black-headed Gulls, 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 800 Wood Pigeons. Earlier this evening I received a call from Dave Gilbert who had covered the patch from 10:00 - 1:30pm, and had a good day recording 6 Common Buzzards which headed n/nw between 10:20 - 11:30am, with other highlights including 1 Merlin, 2 Sparrowhawks, 20 Rooks,10 Chaffinches and 2 Pied Wagtails.
Sunday 13th February
At long last another day out, I have been extremely busy of late but am now looking forward to the arrival of spring, I spent a couple of hours on the patch which produced 1 Firecrest, 3 Goldcrests, an impressive 600 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 7 Goldfinches, 15 Magpies, 300 Wood Pigeons, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Skylarks, 3 Common Gulls and 3 Chaffinches but forget all that it was nice to be out again.
Thursday 3rd February
It was a pleasant day to be out and to go with it some nice birds, I covered the patch from 9:00 - 11:30am, and at first it was very slow going but when the first Firecrest of the year was found by the main entrance it certainly improved. There was a good winter record of 5 Reed Buntings by the horse paddocks with the latter also producing 1 Redwing, 5 Grey Partridges, 1 Meadow Pipit, 23 Magpies and most of the 70 Stock Doves, the cemo also held the first Chiffchaff of the year, 1 Siskin west, 7 Goldcrests, 17 Chaffinches, 10 Skylarks west, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 11 Common Gulls, 60 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Goldfinches, 100 Wood Pigeons and 2 Long-tailed Tits. Other bits of wildlife news included 3 Hares by the garden of rest which were certainly getting ready for the spring if you know what I mean!!.
