A DISTANT DUCK, AERIAL COMBAT AND A BIG FAT DIP

Yesterday I arranged to meet Keith, at silly o'clock (it was still dark!), in the car park at Wilstone, one of our local reservoirs.

Our quest? to see if we could locate the American vagrant that had been giving good sightings over the last few days...A female Ring-Necked Duck (aythya collaris)    Did we see it?  Eventually yes...sort of, but not until a grown up birder with a big spotting scope had pointed it out to us, it was quite distant!

In case you don't know what a Ring-Necked Duck looks like, here's a picture of it!

After the excitement of seeing 'the duck' we set off to walk around the rest of the reservoir.  After walking for about fifteen minutes it suddenly hit me that I no longer had the back pack, containing the wide angle and macro lenses that I usually carry around with me!  A quick rewind and I came to the conclusion that I'd left it in the bird hide, unloading my camera and bins onto Keith I set off to hopefully retrieve my belongings. Now, have you seen that funny walk  people do when they're in a hurry? .....two or three quick steps followed by a funny sort of  straight legged jogging then a few more quick steps, add in some muddy tracks and grassy banks...get the picture? I even passed two lycra clad young ladies that were out jogging/ walking their dogs (okay...okay...they'd stopped for a chinwag)  back at the deserted hide, there was my bag, exactly where I'd left it.  I shouldn't have worried, it was still early and any sensible birders were still in bed!!

It was a rather slower walk that I took to catch  back up with Keith!...the rest of our journey around the reservoir was rather less eventful, save for a quick glimpse or a long staying Water Pipit and a close flyby of some Greylag Geese that were returning to the water after feeding out in the nearby fields.

Our next stop was College Lake, just a few minute's drive away, where we were hoping to see the (three?) Jack Snipe that had been reported as showing well the previous evening. As we walked the circuit of the lake we stopped off at the various hides...no Jack Snipe to be seen though!

There were quite a few Common Darter dragonflies about along the footpaths, this female decided to have a little game of hide-and-seek with me.

At one end of the lake there is a large area covered in rough grass and small trees/shrubs and it's always a good spot for seeing Kestrels, Red Kites and Buzzards. It wasn't long before we were treated to a graceful/lazy flyover by this Buzzard.

Soon we heard the angry  kaar, kaar call of a Rook, it didn't take long to spot what all the noise was about, up in the sky above and, slowly drifting towards us, was a female Kestrel being harried by a rather persistent  Rook.

This went on above our heads for quite a while before the Kestrel  decided she had had enough and made a graceful exit.

There was one final hide to visit in the hope of seeing those Jack Snipe, although we did managed to spot four or five Snipe none of them were Jack Snipe. In other words we'd experienced what grown up birders call a 'dip' (or they've dipped) when time is spent looking unsuccessfully for their target bird.     And we'd just dipped...a big fat dip!!

A MEGA DAY OUT - PART ONE

Last Wednesday myself and Keith went on a trip to RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire and then onto RSPB Titchwell Marsh in Norfolk.

It's about a two hour drive from Keith's house to Frampton and an early start was called for...so, up at silly o'clock, a 30 minute drive later and I was knocking on Keith's door at just before 6am.

With heavy overnight rain and a reasonably mild temperature the journey started out being rather damp but as we traveled further northwards the sky started to clear and the temperature began to fall, the forecast was for a cold sunny day!  We arrived just before 8am as the sun was beginning to rise and the temperature had settled for 2°C

Which way to go? The sun rises over the sea wall

First things first and it was time for a coffee as we donned boots and coats and made ready for a walk around the reserve. Almost immediately we were treated to a wonderful sight as a large flock of Pink-footed Geese flew directly overhead followed by varying sized flocks of Dark-bellied Brent Geese all making their way from their overnight roosting spots to graze on the arable fields further inland.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese

From where we'd parked the car we could see Reed Buntings flitting through the bushes and out on the wet meadow and marshes, Curlew, Redshank, Little Egrets together with the usual gathering of the more common water fowl. 

A Redshank flies by!

 

There were also very large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover that every so often would take to the air and fill the sky with a spectacular whirling display.

Just a few! of the Lapwings and Golden Plovers taking to the air.

 

 

Sunrise over the reserve, looking back from the sea wall.

Next up it was a visit to the hides to see what else we could find and within  a couple of minutes of getting settled in the first hide eagle eyed Keith had found six Common Snipe just showing through the vegetation on one of the small islands. 

Unfortunately one problem  encountered  at Frampton is that from the main hide at this time of year you look directly into the rising sun so viewing and photography are rather hampered, hence no decent photographs! However we did manage to spot a single Ruff  and a pair of Pintail in amongst the usual overwintering ducks. And on the way back to the car three Skylarks foraging in the grass beside the pathway.

The visitor centre and a newly established Reedbed

After more coffee and a bite to eat whilst watching the Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Tree Sparrows on the feeders by the visitor centre it was time to make the one hour trip around the bottom of the Wash to Titchwell.  With a total count of thirty seven different species could the day get any better?...it certainly could!!  More in part two.

 

A COUPLE OF LAKESIDE WALKS

I originally posted this last Monday (17th.) but it appears that there is still a problem with (some of) my posts not showing up on your reading lists!! So, I've changed the template and fiddled with a few settings and re-posted to see if that cures the problem.   I hope you can 'see' me now?

Just recently I've had the pleasure of accompanying Keith on a couple of very enjoyable walks around his local lake.

The first walk was a week or so ago when the country was gripped in the middle of a mini ice age!

The weather forecasters promised a very heavy frost and a cold and sunny day,  and how right they were,  minus  6°C and a heavy hoar frost made the lake look like it had been dusted with sugar icing and after an early misty and cloudy spell the blue sky and sunshine made the whole scene look spectacular.

This is the arty bit!...a reflection of the trees above.

A large proportion of the lake was frozen over and we were held spellbound as this beautiful fox slowly and gingerly made his way across the ice in the direction of a large group of resting gulls. How close would he get? The answer, not very!  once he got close to their comfort zone the gulls were up and away.  His attention on the gulls now broken he soon spotted us and trotted off and disappeared into the safety of the woods and  the undergrowth... A magical few minutes!

You've probably seen Keith's excellent video of the fox over on his blog, if not it's worth a look.

There were quite a few birds and waterfowl around but mostly on the unfrozen parts and rather distant so not many good photo opportunities. 

This Grey Heron however did  come close enough for a quick photo.

As did this Common Gull.

And this Black-headed Gull.

The conditions for the second walk, Sunday just passed, were completely different, some heavy overnight rain made the ground wet and soggy and the temperature was much warmer at a balmy 7 to 9°C. I met Keith in the car park at 7.30am and after he had seen to his feeding duties and with the prospect of a decent sunrise in the offing we quickly made our way to the bottom of the South lake and through the tunnel under the railway track to the 'crow field'.  After a short wait the sky started to 'colour up' and we were rewarded with a not too bad sunrise. 

Sunrise over flood water

On coming back through the tunnel we were greeted by very dark rain clouds building over the North of the lake and it wasn't long before this beautiful rainbow appeared over the pub.

Fortunately the threatened rain only amounted to a few spots as we made our way back to the car park for  a breakfast of coffee and cheese rolls, thanks Keith.

A quick excursion into nearby Bletchley to see if we could find the recently reported Waxwings soon produced a flock of about 40 or so but with lots of traffic and pedestrians about they were very flighty and it was difficult to get any decent  pictures so after  about an hour we went back to walk around the North lake.

By this time the sun had put in and appearance and it had turned into a very pleasant day.

Again there were not many birds offering photo opportunities  probably because by now a marathon race was in full swing around the perimeter track as well as quite a few walkers out enjoying the sunshine!  And  Keith's best friends, the boat people, were out in force on the lake!!

A Robin and a Dunnock 'posed ' on the footbridge.

And the ever attendant Black-headed Gulls are always pleased to put on a show, especially if there's some food on offer! 

Two great walks in totally different weather conditions and it just goes to show the beauty nature has to offer, you just have to be out there to enjoy it.