NE Winter Birding Round Up

A generic title, I know, but because I haven’t really accounted my local birding this winter,  it does exactly what it says on the tin.  From a local perspective, 2012 ended on a bit of a wimper, but the transition into 2013 has been far more frutiful. This is not to say that 2012 ended badly. The Desert Wheatear at Rattray – which still persists at the time of writing –  and finding a couple of Smew at Strathbeg gave December a real boost early on, but I struggled to muster very much after that point. After a frantically busy mid month, I was finally able to get out on Christmas Eve, giving Rosehearty a grilling for the Laughing Gull which had been found there a few days prior, but this proved to be unsuccessful. The local birding year came to a quiet close at Girdle Ness on 27th, before I headed down to Somerset to see in the New Year.

I returned to the NE on 3rd January, and found myself working the Ythan Estuary by foot on 6th.  This was then followed by my first round of The Ness in 2013 on 13th, and eventually Strathbeg on 19th.  In a similar vein to a previous ‘catch up’ post of mine, I’ve decided to structure this post in a ‘species by species’ format, which will encompass the full range of the typical winter fare that I’ve had the pleasure of watching over the last month or so.

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Whooper Swan – On 19th January numbers were fairly low of this graceful Cygnus at Strathbeg, with no more than 70 noted across the reserve, many of which were on the unlikely location of the flight ponds by the airfield track. A Black Swan stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the Whoopers on these ponds, which could well refer to an individual seen earlier in the month on Loch of Skene.

Gadwall – numbers were very sparse at Strathbeg on 19th, concerning just 3 females in with a healthy raft of Wigeon in front of Fen Hide.

Pintail – at least 4 were dotted across the loch on 19th, including a pair in with the Wigeon raft right in front of Fen Hide

Shoveler – up to 8 (5 drakes and 4 females) were amongst a mixed duck flock on the Savoch Pools from Tower Pool Hide at Strathbeg on 19th, watched hunkering against the juncus in the midst of a bitter snow storm.

Wigeon – approximately 43 were seen on a pool at Doocot near Rosehearty on Christmas Eve, during a thorough search for the Laughing Gull. Interestingly, the Strathbeg American Wigeon was seen on this pool just a few days later. At least 60 were also along the coast between Roshearty Harbour and Phingask Bay on the same date. 30+ were noted at the mouth of the Ythan on 6th January, whilst a drake was with Eiders off Greyhope Bay at Girdle Ness on 13th. Numbers at Strathbeg were very healthy on 19th, with a raft of at least 300 of these timelessly ornate looking ducks affording fantastic views, and another 100+ at the south end.

Teal – 24 were roosting at the edge of the pool at Doocot on Christmas Eve, whilst at Strathbeg on 19th there were up to 100 in with the Wigeon raft. Personal totals of this species have generally been low as of late, however.

Pochard – a declining winter visitor in the region nowadays, with Strathbeg being the most reliable site by a considerable margin. 4 (3 drakes and a female) were noteworthy at the south end of the loch on 19th, though a considerable decrease from the 15 noted on 7th December.

Common Scoter -a group of 40 – mostly juveniles – were flighty in around the Coo at Girdle Ness on 27th December, associating with the local Eiders before heading off northwards after a short while.

Long-tailed Duck – healthy numbers have been seen throughout the region this winter. 11 were in the bay at Rosehearty on Christmas Eve, whilst the same number was noted at Girdle Ness on 13th January, with a paricularly preponderance of stunning drakes at this site. 3 drakes went north at the same site on 27th December, whilst a congregation of 27 opposite the seal colony at the mouth of the Ythan on 6th was quite comfortably the largest flock I have seen there. Views were fantastic of these dainty yet flamboyant ducks at the mouth, for me a real highlight of winter birding year in and year out up here. Of most interest was 3 on the Savoch Pools at Strathbeg on 19th, the first I have seen on site away from the lagoon.

Red-breasted Merganser – similarly healthy numbers of this species at several sites. The Ythan as usually has held the largest numbers, with 17 from the mouth to Waterside Bridge on 6th. Girdle Ness has also held good numbers, with 10 noted on 27th December.

Smew – a redhead was one of the highlights when working the Ythan on 6th, very distantly from the Waterside Bridge with Goldeneyes towards Inch Geck, diving constantly and somewhat detached from the core of the flock. 2 redheads have recently been on Sand Loch at the nearby Sand of Forvie, perhaps including this individual.

Red-throated Diver – at least 15 were off Hackley Bay, Sands of Forvie on 6th, whilst a few were at Girdle Ness on 13th as far as in as the harbour.

Little Grebe – a posse of 4 were sticking close to the bank by Waterside Bridge at the Ythan on 6th.

Bittern – the undoubted highlight of 2013 from a local perspective. Despite their annual apperance at Strathbeg, I had never previously been there at the right time to connect with this charasmatic elusive winter visitor, despite putting hours in over many years. Given previous dire luck on site with this species, the joy and relief that surged through me was intense as I picked up a single bird in languid flight over the reeds in front of Fen Hide last weekend, legs dangling somewhat clumsily as it dropped down again after approximately 30 seconds flight views. As the bird was in flight a local patcher said that this was a different individual from the one he had seen an hour or so earlier, which had landed over the other side of the loch. The same bird that we’d seen in flight previously emerged again briefly about 20 minutes later having been flushed by a Buzzard, landing in the same area that it had taken off from at first. I doubted there was a second bird involved at first given how flighty the bird we saw seemed to be, but from reports by others afterwards it does seem that it was a new individual after all. Immensely glad to have finally seen this patch and regional bogey of mine, as a local winter highlight it will take something very good to beat it.

Peregrine – the warehouses round Sinclair Road, Torry have been very reliable in recent months for this species. 2 were seen together in what light remained on 27th December, and one heard at a similar time of day on 13th January. A juvenile bird was also terrorising the wildfowl at Strathbeg on 19th.

Merlin – a miniscule juvenile was seen very briefly zipping westwards across the lochside field opposite Rattray Kirk at the south end of Strathbeg on 19th, my first of the year of this lithe raptor.

Grey Plover – a bit of an Ythan speciality during the winter, with 8 noted between the mouth and Waterside Bridge on 6th.

Sanderling – a 31 strong flock of these classic winter waders were opposite the tin hut at the Ythan on 6th.

Purple Sandpiper – healthy numbers as usual have been at Girdle Ness throughout the winter. On 13th I managed the largest single flock I’ve ever seen together, with c.100 roosting on the rocks at Skate’s Nose. 13 were also in the bay at Roshearty amongst a lovely mixed flock of waders on Christmas Eve.

Dunlin – the predominant wader species at Rosehearty on Christmas Eve, with at least 70 taking advantage of the low tide. This species has not made an appearance elsewhere since then.

Short-eared Owl – a single bird put on a magnificent display at Sands of Forvie on 6th. Its always an exhilarating moment when you first connect with this species, in this case emerging above the dune tops on the path up to the moor. Constantly harrassed by crows, it was pushed away from the moor and descended down onto the fields by the path, where it proceeded to quarter the area within 30ft of  me and did. After short respite from the crows and some diagnostic ghostly fluttering as it found prey, it was harrassed again, picking up speed and flying very low over my head, its crisp eyes wide and mini ear tufts raised. The crows followed in hot pursuit, semi dive-bombing it as it landed on a fence post 2oft up the path from where I was stationed. I was within seconds of capturing this moment on camera, but needless to say it was flushed as a group of folk walked past. It didn’t come back, but to see Short-eared Owl at such close range was evocative; probably the closest I’ve ever managed to get to this species.

Waxwing – its seems to have been a reasonably good winter for these nomadic punks. Perhaps the most noteworthy occasion I’ve bumped into this species was at Rosehearty on Christmas Eve, when a flock of 8 flew over the village and landed briefly in a garden, before heading eastwards. Since then there have been reasonably good numbers around school and in and around the garden, presumably including some of the same birds. A maximum of 60 were on the trees at the front entrance to school on 10th, with 35ish being the usual counts since then. Up to 45 birds were opposite the front garden between 11-13th. I managed to get the photo below on the way back from school on the first day they were around.

Waxwings on trees opposite the front garden, Aberdeen (11/1/13)

Brambling – the highlight amongst a large mixed finch and bunting flock in the crop on the path to Tower Pool Hide at Strathbeg last weekend. A conservative total of 8 birds were in the sapling trees near the hide, including at least 5 males in smart winter males. Bramblings really do have great panache, so it was lovely to see this number amongst a colourful range of finches and buntings. Not only that, but this was quite easily the largest amount I have ever seen on the patch.

Linnet – a flock of at least 400 were detached from the main mixed flock of finches and buntings at Strathbeg, again the largest number of this species I have seen on the patch.

Twite – at least 6 were in amongst the main hoard of buntings and finches in the crop at Strathbeg, though there may well have been as many as 10.The species seems to be having a good winter in the region, with a look in their favoured spot in the dunes at Foveran Links/the mouth of the Ythan on 6th producing my highest total at this site yet, with at least 45 (probably more like 50) being typically flighty here and splitting off into seperate flocks.

Tree Sparrow – up to 120 were amongst the mixed passerine flock, and making a heck of a lot of noise!  Despite this being a very common species on site, this is relatively comfortably the biggest number I’ve ever seen I’ve ever seen, let alone on the patch!

Reed Bunting – passerine numbers in general were quite something that day on the crop towards Tower Pool; a bundle of birds, a bundle of constant noise. In previous years its tended to be finches that have been around in the best numbers, but this time it was the buntings that really dominated proceedings. Literally everywhere you looked and everywhere you walked you would flush a Reed Bunting. Very conservative estimates I’d say were 200, probably more in the region of 250.

Yellowhammer – even more dominant than the Reed Buntings, and adding plenty of colour to proceedings. Around 250 were noted, their zipping calls muffled amongst the endless sounds of Tree Sparrows.

Corn Bunting – coming a close as a highlight amongst the mixed passerine flock. Up to 90 were on telegraph wires on the other side of the path from the main hordes, bunched very tightly together on just two bits of wire and their jangling calls competing with the Tree Sparrows. Given that this species is very locally common in Aberdeenshire, it was particularly fantastic to see them in these numbers, again by far the largest amount I’ve seen anywhere and on the patch.

part of up to 90 Corn Buntings by crop near Tower Pool Hide, Strathbeg (19/1/13)

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After a good start to the year locally, things will die down a bit, with mock exams and Norfolk upcoming up in the next couple of weeks. For more on Norfolk and patching, stay tuned.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

A Great New Year’s Stint

I’ve rarely been in the position on New Year’s Day to get out for some proper birding. This New Year just gone was probably the first time I’d managed to do this. I had been in Somerset since 28th, and with birding during this period having previously been limited to taking the bins on a walk round Wimbleball Lake (producing 10 Gadwall, 25 Tufted Ducks, 3 Goldeneyes and 10 Little Grebes), we were due a full day’s birding. We were thus up bright and early, eager to embrace the new year and get out into the field for the first time.

The yearlister’s instinct always gets hold of me during the New Year period, albeit briefly, so we had our target birds right from the off and our movements that day planned in advance. It took a fair while to reach our first destination from Minehead; Hawkridge Reservoir. The reservoir was well concealed amongst a number of interweaving small country roads east of Nether Stowey and near the village of Spaxton, so we ended up being lost for at least 20 minutes before we eventually found it. On arriving at the reservoir we picked up a Raven overhead, as well as a posse of 6 Great-crested Grebes and a loquacious Green Woodpecker. Our target, bird – a Ring-necked Duck – would be amongst a posse of Tufted Ducks. It transpired that the Tufted Duck group – just 10 or so – were miles off and that the access from the car park we had stopped in was limited, so we drove down the road a bit to see if we could get any closer.

Luck was on our side, as we found a car park which placed us right in front of the flock in question.In the ideal conditions it didn’t take long to pick out the 1st winter drake Ring-necked Duck, which largely associated with the drake Tufties. What I had not quite anticipated was the extent to which the development of this bird’s plumage was retarded. Many of the distinguishing features which are normally visible on 1w drakes were not present on this individual. There was a complete absence of any pale subterminal band at the bill tip, and it was showing large areas of white at the base, both features aking to a juvenile bird. My estimation would be that this bird was in a trasitional phase between juvenile and 1st winter plumage (though very near the end of its moult), given that it showed a disinct peaked crown and the yellow iris of a 1st winter, yet also the aforementioned two features that are typical of a juvenile bird.  Further subtle diagnostics were a very diffuse ring on the neck, and pale undertail coverts, quite unlike the UTCs of a female Tufty. At points we lost the bird, with its back turned, when it proved more tricky to pick out. Views of the bird in horizontal stance however emphasised the peaked crown and ‘S’ shaped flank panel. Had this bird been distant it would have been tricky to ID, without doubt. However, with views down to 15ft in the crisp sunlight we weren’t really faced with this problem. Certainly a very subtle individual that was great fun to analyse, and a fantastic start to the year.

1st winter drake Ring-necked Duck (furthest right), Hawkridge Reservoir, Somerset (1/1/13). Note the diffuse neck ring and area of white at the base of the bill. At an odd angle.

most obvious in this pic; showing nice peaked crown, though notice lack of white-subterminal bill band,

showing the pale undertail coverts

Our next stop was the nearby Steart, a place that brings back lots of memories from being taken there several times as a young child. Steart Point sticks out into the Parrett Estuary and Bristol Channel near Bridgewater. Even though we knew the area fairly well, we had no idea how to get to Stockland Reach for our next target – Temminck’s Stint – which turned out to be in a flooded field at least a mile from the nearest car park. Reaching this flooded field saw us having to walk through a mud-bath for 20+ minutes before we finally came across the wind blown flood, in and around a field where construction was being done. There, hunkering down against the harsh wind, was sat a miniscule Temminck’s Stint. It looked tiny with the bare eyes even though it was only about 12ft away. Accompanied by a couple of Meadow Pipits, it fed incessantly in the mud created by the floods, oblivious to a small crowd of admirers. It wasn’t long to we had the bird to ourselves. What a beautiful bird, but how lonely and out of place it was, virtually in the back end of beyond. Around 20 minutes watching the bird allowed for some digiscoping opportunities, and I even managed to get a video, which display obvious diagnostics such as the neat pectoral band and yellowy legs. Given the location and that it was winter, watching it was an obscure experience, totally unlike watching one in the calm of spring. It represented only the second species of wader for the year, with Lapwing seen just seconds beforehand. A lovely bird and the undoubted highlight of the day. The Parrett Estuary allowed me to pick up on the majority of gull species, as well as a few other waders such as a 600-strong flock of Knot.

Temminck’s Stint, Steart, Somerest (1/1/13)

can you find the Temminck’s…?

The plan had been to focus our efforts on the Westhay Moor/Mudgeley area in the Somerset Levels (near Shapwick Heath and Ham Wall) for a Cattle Egret, considering this would be a lifer if I connected. We had not anticipated that Steart would be so time consuming, so we were left with just over two hours before sundown to scour the Levels. With the absurd amounts of rainfall in recent times, the levels were like I’d never seen them before: miles and miles of flooding encompassing us on either side of the road, making islands out of woodlands, and the reflection of the clouds and submerged reeds mirroring themselves with perfect symmetry on the water in the crisp ‘evening’ sunlight. Given the vastness of these floods, this Cattle Egret could have been everywhere, so we found ourselves scouring fields on either side of the main road early on. It was on the back-road to Mudgeley that the colossal nature of the flooding hit home, as we found ourselves with only a narrow road seperating us from the water on either side…

flooding around Mudgeley, Somerset (1/1/13)

We parked up by the above area of flooding, noticing plenty of activity around here. A Little Egret was lurking in the reedbeds and a few Teal and Wigeon were enjoying the floods, whilst parties of Redwing and Fieldfare passed over westwards, including at least 5 Mistle Thrushes. With no sign of the Cattle Egret after 10 minutes of searching the immediate area, we were about to move further along the road when a gun shot was fired in the distance, reverberating across the tranquil, flooded scene. Instantly whole waves of ducks emerged from the reeds and ascended into the air, including around 50 Teals and 75 Wigeon and 20 Mallards, but also to our delight a Great White Egret, which emerged above the distant line of trees in the second image. This evoked a scene of intense beauty, the languid flight of a Great White Egret amidst throngs of silhouetted Teal, Wigeon and winter thrushes in absolute frenzy, bombing it across the mill-pond like, flooded expanse. A pair of Sparrowhawk emerged from the tree line and took advantage of the havoc and 2 Grey Herons briefly joined the GWE as it headed determinedly westwards, not to be seen again. Within a couple of minutes, quietness descended on the floods once again, as if it was entirely birdless and nothing had happened.

Astounded by that fleeting moment of chaos, we moved on with the conclusion that we would not mind dipping on the Cattle Egret. We did dip in the end, but after that moving experience it didn’t really matter to me. Furthermore, we were provided with the surreal experience pictured below; another Great White Egret and 4 Little Egrets together on a small piece of grass in another area of flooding. We reveled in this unique experience for a good 15 minutes; an experience only the South West or Dungeness in Kent could offer. We returned to the same field at dusk, to find the Great White had disappeared. A couple of minutes later we had what was presumably the same bird over the very nearby Mudgeley village, but could possibly been have a third bird… To be safe though its best to say that we had at least 2 Great White Egrets and at least 10 Little Egrets in the Mudgeley/Westhay Moor area, testament to the unique, amazing birding experiences that the Somerset Levels can offer.

Great White Egret with 2 of 4 Little Egrets on a small strand of grass in a flooded field, Mudgeley, Somerset (1/1/13)

After a very successful and lastingly memorable New Year’s Day, a session at Dunster Beach on 2nd (just a mile or two from the house in Minehead) to see what I could muster was a much enjoyed contrast from the high-octane, previous day’s twitch oriented birding. It was relatively quiet, with the highlights being plenty of Curlews and Shelducks, a showy adult Peregrine and floods on golf course curiously holding up to 50 Wigeon, 20 Teal and 100 Canada Geese. By 4th we were back in Aberdeen, after what was an immensely enjoyable break from NE Scotland, with some great birding to boot. To finish up, below is a video of the Peregrine.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

‘Patchwork’ Patching (+ October Highlights)

Happy New Year to all my readers and thanks for your loyalty in 2012. To kick off the year there’s a few posts in store, starting with an overdue post of my October patching when I was down in Norfolk. Before I get into those details, however, there’s news in that I have submitted Costessey House Private Estate for inclusion in the Patchwork Challenge, under way as of January 1st. Whilst I know I have zero chance of winning and don’t mind about that, I have entered the beloved patch into the Norfolk mini-league instead of the inland patch league, mainly to see how it fares against a few other inland Norfolk patches that are taking part, which should be interesting. With its almost entire lack of pools it won’t be challenging the likes of Whitlingham, but it  could compete against some of the others, especially if its flooding while I’m around.

Most importantly though, taking part provides an incentive for hard-graft patching this year and beyond. Hopefully the extra enthusiasm will lead to a healthier patch list and some interesting finds on site this year. Last year I scored my entire patch list total bar one (House Sparrow) – 82 species – which I’m very glad with considering that I can only make it down 5 or 6 times a year. New patch birds will obviously be harder to come by this year, but a bit of flooding and pot luck should hopefully see another crop of new patch birds grace the area and the majority of the same species make an appearance. I could potentially be spending a lenghty amount of time in Norfolk post-exams (a month+ maybe), so I will be aiming for between 80-85 species on site this year, which I’ll be very glad with. Anything better and I’ll be delighted. After birds such as Yellow-legged Gull, Hobby, Green Sandpiper, 3 owl species and a wide array of warblers last year, it’s exhilarating to think what the patch could muster this year. We’ll have to wait and see. I will be down in the area in late Jan/early Feb so will be able to kick things off on the patchwork front. Here’s to a successful patching year. Below is the map of the patch I submitted for the competition.

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I had planned to patch daily during my near two week stay in mid October, but with plenty of birding and other things going on this didn’t quite happen. I was able to work it most days, however, and given the time of year there was plenty of potential to pull a few things out the bag.

I was first able to get out on 15th, during the afternoon after a morning of rain. As always, anticipation was at an all time high as I stepped out onto a far less overgrown and vibrant looking patch than previously, though Drayton Meadows was still largely inaccessible. More or less immediately on entering the patch did a flock of 35 Redwings bolt across the path towards Mill Field, a sign of larger numbers to come of a species that would be daily from then on, though in fact that was the second highest patch Redwing count at that point. A Collared Dove in the thickets at the start of Mill Lane was also of note, just the third  patch record of this species.  As always seems to be the case on the first moments of returning to the patch in a long while, things were lively, with a flurry of activity at Fishermen’s Field producing a patch tick with a Siskin east overhead and a Lesser Redpoll in the same direction shortly afterwards, as well as 3 Grey Wagtails which were flushed from the river’s redge at the start of Fishermen’s Trail, the latter only the second record of this species on site. At least a couple of these Grey Wags stuck around for the majority of my stay, though only seen on and off. Another unprecedented long stayer was a pair of Cormorants which took a liking to the dead tree half a way along Fishermen’s Trail. There had only been two previous records of Cormorant, both of which were flyovers, so it came as a bit of a surprise to see two them atop the dead tree. They were an everyday fixture until I left, so I’ll be interested to see if they’re still around when I’m next down.

Cormorants along Fishermen’s Trail in their favoured dead tree (15/10/12)

As expected, the patch had done its turnover to winter species by this point, with basically all the summer visitors having disappeared with the exception of Reed Bunting, with just a pair seen throughout my stay, though there may have been more lurking in the far reedbeds. The expected Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls were back, with 20 of the former and 5 of the latter in the Drayton Meadows area that day. By the end of my stay numbers had reached an all time high of both species, with flocks congregating daily in a newly harvested field along Marriot’s Way. A maximum of 140 Black-headed Gulls (breaking the record of 120) and 10 Common Gulls (mostly 2cy + 3cy birds) were noted here on 24th. The field also attracted a 5 Great Black Backed Gulls on 24th, surprisingly only the second record of this brutish Larus. Conversely, Lesser Black Backeds had cleared out entirely; summer had long given up the ghost.

Amongst the gulls on Drayton Meadows on 15th I was delighted to set eyes on the two Egyptian Geese, roosting and unfazed by the noise and activity around them. The Egyptian Geese are such charismatic birds, adding a bit of colour both literally and metaphorically, so it was a great moment to see that they had returned after 6 months elsewhere.  Where they go I’m not sure, but I missed them when they weren’t around, though I soon got used to them being around on a daily basis again.  According to one of the neighbours, they were apparently both seen furiously fending off a third bird a few days ago; presumably a genuine fly-over Egyptian Goose from somewhere nearby.

The Egyptian Geese, back at Drayton Meadows (15/10/12)

One of my concerns first thing during my patching is to see how the resident species are getting on, in particular the Mute Swans. The two cygnets were still keeping close to their parents, but I was surprised by how much they’d progessed since my last visit at the end of August; far larger and better developed. They had all but lost the smokey grey plumage and cute-faced appearance, instead acquiring an off-brown colouration. One of them even had a large sheen of adult white plumage on the underwings and axiliaries. By the time I visit at the end of this month they should hopefully be full size and largely independent from the adults. The two Barn Owls were also seen regularly (though never together), mostly on Mill Meadow, allowing for some superb views of my favourite resident patch species. On 19th I found myself having a stare-off with the younger bird, cat eyed and motionless, but with its gaze transfixed on me as I noticed it deep in the thickets at the start of Mill Lane down to 5ft. As quietly and slowly as possible I attempted to get my camera out of my bag and get a photo of this memorable moment, but it was alert, lifting off and disappearing on the first jolt of my body. Up to 2 Tawny Owls were heard throughout, but unfortunately there was still no further sign of any Little Owls.

the two Mute Swan cygents; the white underwing showing the first signs of adulthood (15/10/12)

Patching was pretty quiet over that two week period, with new patch birds being sparse.  Up until the last two days, I contented myself with odd highlights such as 2 Kingfishers flying together along the River Wensum on 16th, 14 Meadow Pipits at Drayton Meadows on 16th (by far the largest total seen on site), a Nuthatch on 19th by the cottage, 4 Goldcrests on 15th (second record), 10 Long-tailed Tits on 19th and a Buzzard on various dates.

The last two days patching took place in the midst of a major fall, so it was no surprise that they produced some niceties. Up to 100 Redwing and 10I Fieldfares were throughout the patch on 24th, the former a patch record, with another 60 and 5 respectively on 25th. Given the prime conditions for migrants and reports of Ring Ouzels and other thrushes having moved as far inland as Norwich, I was hopeful the patch would produce something along these lines. The 25th came up trumps, with 36 Pink-footed Geese north over Fishermen’s Field  a much wanted patch tick right from the off. Up to 50 Feral Pigeons over Drayton Meadows was easily the largest number of this flyover species I’ve seen on the patch.

With this fruitful start, I was hoping there was more out there to discover. It struck gold as I came across a sizeable, mixed finch/bunting flock on the newly harvested field right by Marriot’s Way. 9 Linnets were immediately obvious – like the pinkies a much needed patch tick – amongst at least 40 Goldfinch, 30 Chaffinch, 10 Greenfinch, 2 Yellowhammers and a 1w male Reed Bunting.  As they moved hither and thither between the field and the trees, I caught sight of a flashing white rump. This exactly what I had hoped for given the influx but thought wouldn’t materialise; a winter plumage male Brambling. Views were only brief as it fed intently with the Chaffinches right by the path, before disappearing into the undergrowth and not appearing again. I was delighted though; a very valuable patch tick that I probably won’t see again for some time to come. There was quite a flurry of activity at this point, with 2 Mistle Thrushes amongst some passing Fieldfares and Redwings being a bonus second for the patch, with the female Sparrowhawk in hot pursuit.

Patching ended on that very productive note. Despite days of quietness, it had managed to pull out the goods once again, with Brambling the highlight of 4 patch ticks. Since my last visit, I’ve had reports of an Otter on Hidden Pool, a couple of skeins of Pinkeets and plenty of flooding, which no doubt produced a few new patch birds that I am itching to see. Fingers crossed there’s flooding when I’m down at the end of this month.

Sunset over Fishermen’s Trail (19/10/12)

Thanks for reading,

Joseph