Wednesday, 2 May 2018
31st March 2018 (Norfolk)
Headed up to Norfolk today to visit relatives and had 3 Red Kites on the way up. A brief stop at Lynford Arboretum produced a single Hawfinch, plus a few Siskins and Marsh Tits.
25th March 2018 (London, Kent and East Sussex)
Headed to the southeast today for a few year ticks. On the drive over, I had 4 Red Kites, a Ring-Necked Parakeet and, surprisingly, a pair of Mandarins flying over the M25!
There were plenty of Ring-Necked Parakeets around Walthamstow Wetlands, though they rarely provided good photo opportunities. The feeding station was being visited by quite a few Reed Buntings, but eventually the Little Bunting flew down and fed just a few metres away from the crowd (though not giving quite as good views as the Cardiff bird I had a few years ago). A Peregrine and a few Egyptian Geese were all else of note.
The next stop on the agenda was Dungeness for the adult male white-spotted bluethroat (my only previous bird was a 1st winter). As it hadn't been reported all morning, we went in search of the three Smew, a species I haven't seen for over 5 years now. Two females were showing on arrival along with a Great White Egret. A female Sparrowhawk afforded great views with freshly-caught prey.
A check through the gulls at 'The Patch' failed to produced just 2 Sandwich Terns, however a flyby Red-Necked Grebe was a nice bonus. Heading back to the car, a few Firecrests gave incredible views, feeding on the ground just metres away from us.
Last stop of the day was Eastbourne, where a check of the harbour failed to produce the Black Guillemot. So I dipped the two birds I originally came for, but with plenty of compensation I can hardly call it an unsuccessful day.
There were plenty of Ring-Necked Parakeets around Walthamstow Wetlands, though they rarely provided good photo opportunities. The feeding station was being visited by quite a few Reed Buntings, but eventually the Little Bunting flew down and fed just a few metres away from the crowd (though not giving quite as good views as the Cardiff bird I had a few years ago). A Peregrine and a few Egyptian Geese were all else of note.
Little Bunting - Walthamstow Wetlands
Ring-Necked Parakeet - Walthamstow Wetlands
The next stop on the agenda was Dungeness for the adult male white-spotted bluethroat (my only previous bird was a 1st winter). As it hadn't been reported all morning, we went in search of the three Smew, a species I haven't seen for over 5 years now. Two females were showing on arrival along with a Great White Egret. A female Sparrowhawk afforded great views with freshly-caught prey.
Sparrowhawk - Dungeness
Great White Egret - Dungeness
A check through the gulls at 'The Patch' failed to produced just 2 Sandwich Terns, however a flyby Red-Necked Grebe was a nice bonus. Heading back to the car, a few Firecrests gave incredible views, feeding on the ground just metres away from us.
Firecrests - Dungeness
Last stop of the day was Eastbourne, where a check of the harbour failed to produce the Black Guillemot. So I dipped the two birds I originally came for, but with plenty of compensation I can hardly call it an unsuccessful day.
19th March 2018
Following the cold spell, 3 Hawfinches had been reported opposite Bluebell Road. I suspected they had been in the area for a while, but I certainly wasn't expecting what I saw this morning! Initially, a pair of Hawfinches overhead. Which was then joined by a group of 10, and another group! During the couple minutes I spent walking past, I counted at least 33 Hawfinches overhead! A great local record, though it seems they are starting to head back up North now.
18th March 2018
Had a look at Lyde Road this morning in the hope that the second cold spell of the year would be as successful as the first. In the end, a single Snipe and a flyover Hawfinch was the best managed. The backup cast consisted of a 1st winter Common Gull, 4 Skylarks, 5+ Linnets, 5 Lapwings, 2 Cormorants, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, and a Stock Dove. A single Treecreeper was my first at this site, and a male Sparrowhawk showed well briefly. Not exactly the totals I'd been hoping for but good nonetheless.
Had my first proper look at the openspace this afternoon. With a single male Blackcap the only bird of note, a further 4 Hawfinches at the top end somewhat saved the day, also allowing me the opportunity to finally get some shots of the species on patch.
Had my first proper look at the openspace this afternoon. With a single male Blackcap the only bird of note, a further 4 Hawfinches at the top end somewhat saved the day, also allowing me the opportunity to finally get some shots of the species on patch.
Hawfinch - Yeovil Openspace
These are potentially the same birds I had here a couple of months ago.
Monday, 2 April 2018
16th March 2018
A surprise today in the form of a flyover Woodcock late morning, a great addition to the the patch year list and my first in Yeovil since 2015. Hopefully a foreshadow of whats to come with the cold weather this weekend.
Wednesday, 7 March 2018
4th March 2018
Another look at Lyde Road this morning produced a couple of Common Snipe along the ditch, but no jacks. 3 Lesser Redpolls were new, and 3 Linnets, 3 Pheasant and 2 Stonechat were also present, but probably more surprising was a flyover Mistle Thrush at Larkhill.
Was in Weymouth this afternoon so had a look off Chesil Cove which gave good but distant views of the adult Little Gull, and a search of Weymouth Bay failed to produce the ross's gull, but did result in staggering numbers of Med Gulls.
Little Gull - Chesil Cove
Was in Weymouth this afternoon so had a look off Chesil Cove which gave good but distant views of the adult Little Gull, and a search of Weymouth Bay failed to produce the ross's gull, but did result in staggering numbers of Med Gulls.
Friday, 2 March 2018
1st/2nd March 2018
With snow building up, I decided to walk to work yesterday. This turned out to be profitable with 100+ Lapwing and 13 Golden Plovers overhead, both species I didn't get in Yeovil last year and good additions to the patch year list. However, after hearing how other people scored with large numbers of woodcocks, snipes, gulls and thrushes I felt that my sightings were somewhat average. I decided that if work and college were cancelled tomorrow, I would head down to Ninesprings lake on foot hoping that the water might attract some displaced birds.
With the news I was hoping for I began the trek down to Ninesprings, and on the way had a few Lapwing and a fairly large flock of Golden Plovers over. Most of the lake was frozen over with good numbers of gulls but nothing other than Black-Headed and Herring Gulls. The usual Mandarins were present along with the escaped blue-winged goose. Thankfully the SouthWest corner of the lake wasn't frozen, and a search of the area produced 2 Little Grebes and 3 Water Rails - not the hoped for snipe but still a good number for this site. A walk further up the stream produced little of note other than a Grey Wagtail, but the snow drifts echoing down the small valley were somewhat unnerving! I headed downriver producing virtually nothing of note until I reached Pen Mill, where I had a male Bullfinch, a single Chiffchaff and a few Goldcrests.
Pen Mill Sewage works was alive with gulls! However, I could, once again, only see Herring and Black-Headed Gulls. Continuing along the river, I had both Great-Spotted and Green Woodpeckers and heard (but didn't see) a redpoll pass overhead. Three Lapwings huddled around a tiny snowless patch in the field was a sorry sight. As I reached Lyde Road, I had a pair of Stock Dove and oddly, a Mute Swan pass overhead before heading east (the first I've seen away from Ninesprings). 6 Golden Plovers frequently pitched around the site as well and I heard a flyover Reed Bunting, but can't say for sure that I picked up the right bird in flight.
At last, I reached the field. 4 times I've visited here and every time I came away with a Yeovil tick, surely my luck had to run out? After the now routine mental deliberation on the footbridge, I stepped into the field and continued along the river. Within seconds, the 6 Golden Plovers flew up, and then a lone Lapwing with a smaller wader. I got it under the bins and it was a Snipe! Lyde Road produces yet another Yeovil tick! Wandering along the river towards where it landed, more snipe flew up until I noticed one with a short bill. All the snipe were frequenting a long ditch which hadn't frozen over. Walking along it flushed several more Common Snipe until the bird flew up again, it was indeed a Jack Snipe! Yet another patch tick, didn't expect to get both today! Amazingly, I also flushed a 2nd Jack Snipe from the ditch - Lyde Road really is the place to be! Heading back to the river, I picked out a female Stonechat. I noticed a number of ducks were occasionally flying back and forth along the river and the wing pattern looked good for Teal. Eventually they flew back and landed down on the river and I was able to nail the ID, another great Yeovil tick considering I've only ever seen mallard and mandarin in Yeovil. Shortly after, another two ducks passed overhead, heading south at fairly high altitude. I got them under the bins and it was a pair of Gadwall! 4 Yeovil ticks!? this is just getting ridiculous now!
Continuing along, I relocated the Mute Swan sat in the field, a bit of an unnusual sight. Presumably it's one of the Ninesprings birds as I didn't see any there earlier. Passerines also featured heavily with a Skylark and 2 Linnet overhead. Some bunting calls drawed me to a female Yellowhammer followed quickly by a male Reed Bunting. Heading back produced a male Yellowhammer overhead, a few Ravens, a Cormorant and the icing on the cake: an adult Common Gull flying through - I think this species must be commoner than I first throught (as with many of my recent Lyde Road ticks!). I had another check of the ditch on the way back and re-flushed both Jack Snipes. They were almost impossible to see when in the ditch, but I did get decent views of one stood out on the snow. Wish I'd brought my scope as I would have managed some pictures. As time was getting on I decided to head home which took another hour.
I put some apples out in the garden to no avail so I decided to shovel out a small square of snow to see if that helped. Didn't get any thrushes but almost instantly a Meadow Pipit dropped in! The square of grass couldn't have been more that 1.5x1.5 metres so it goes to show just how desperate birds are getting.
With the news I was hoping for I began the trek down to Ninesprings, and on the way had a few Lapwing and a fairly large flock of Golden Plovers over. Most of the lake was frozen over with good numbers of gulls but nothing other than Black-Headed and Herring Gulls. The usual Mandarins were present along with the escaped blue-winged goose. Thankfully the SouthWest corner of the lake wasn't frozen, and a search of the area produced 2 Little Grebes and 3 Water Rails - not the hoped for snipe but still a good number for this site. A walk further up the stream produced little of note other than a Grey Wagtail, but the snow drifts echoing down the small valley were somewhat unnerving! I headed downriver producing virtually nothing of note until I reached Pen Mill, where I had a male Bullfinch, a single Chiffchaff and a few Goldcrests.
Ninesprings
Pen Mill Sewage works was alive with gulls! However, I could, once again, only see Herring and Black-Headed Gulls. Continuing along the river, I had both Great-Spotted and Green Woodpeckers and heard (but didn't see) a redpoll pass overhead. Three Lapwings huddled around a tiny snowless patch in the field was a sorry sight. As I reached Lyde Road, I had a pair of Stock Dove and oddly, a Mute Swan pass overhead before heading east (the first I've seen away from Ninesprings). 6 Golden Plovers frequently pitched around the site as well and I heard a flyover Reed Bunting, but can't say for sure that I picked up the right bird in flight.
At last, I reached the field. 4 times I've visited here and every time I came away with a Yeovil tick, surely my luck had to run out? After the now routine mental deliberation on the footbridge, I stepped into the field and continued along the river. Within seconds, the 6 Golden Plovers flew up, and then a lone Lapwing with a smaller wader. I got it under the bins and it was a Snipe! Lyde Road produces yet another Yeovil tick! Wandering along the river towards where it landed, more snipe flew up until I noticed one with a short bill. All the snipe were frequenting a long ditch which hadn't frozen over. Walking along it flushed several more Common Snipe until the bird flew up again, it was indeed a Jack Snipe! Yet another patch tick, didn't expect to get both today! Amazingly, I also flushed a 2nd Jack Snipe from the ditch - Lyde Road really is the place to be! Heading back to the river, I picked out a female Stonechat. I noticed a number of ducks were occasionally flying back and forth along the river and the wing pattern looked good for Teal. Eventually they flew back and landed down on the river and I was able to nail the ID, another great Yeovil tick considering I've only ever seen mallard and mandarin in Yeovil. Shortly after, another two ducks passed overhead, heading south at fairly high altitude. I got them under the bins and it was a pair of Gadwall! 4 Yeovil ticks!? this is just getting ridiculous now!
Continuing along, I relocated the Mute Swan sat in the field, a bit of an unnusual sight. Presumably it's one of the Ninesprings birds as I didn't see any there earlier. Passerines also featured heavily with a Skylark and 2 Linnet overhead. Some bunting calls drawed me to a female Yellowhammer followed quickly by a male Reed Bunting. Heading back produced a male Yellowhammer overhead, a few Ravens, a Cormorant and the icing on the cake: an adult Common Gull flying through - I think this species must be commoner than I first throught (as with many of my recent Lyde Road ticks!). I had another check of the ditch on the way back and re-flushed both Jack Snipes. They were almost impossible to see when in the ditch, but I did get decent views of one stood out on the snow. Wish I'd brought my scope as I would have managed some pictures. As time was getting on I decided to head home which took another hour.
I put some apples out in the garden to no avail so I decided to shovel out a small square of snow to see if that helped. Didn't get any thrushes but almost instantly a Meadow Pipit dropped in! The square of grass couldn't have been more that 1.5x1.5 metres so it goes to show just how desperate birds are getting.
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