Local surprises

7/02/13
I headed to Sheepwash Urban park following my lesson, and it turned out to be a fairly productive visit.
Upon my first view of the lake i quickly counted a small flock of 7 Goosander on the far side. It was while scanning the Pochard and Tufted Ducks that i heard a loud 'Wheooooo' call from my right. The superb evocative sound of a calling male WIGEON!

The bird was resting on the rocks for some time (cue digi-binned picture), before swimming off into the middle, calling almost incessantly, probably trying to say 'How the f**k did i end up here?!'.

I have only ever seen one previous Wigeon at Sheepwash, so i was well chuffed to see it!

The Pochard flock was at a low 24 birds, and similarly, Tufted Duck only counted 8! I was also glad to see that the 2 TEAL dabbling on the muddy shoreline.

Moving away from Pumphouse pool, i found a flock of 30c Chaffinch adjacent to the 'mound' along the Canel.

For any locals interested, the 'mound' atm is looking amazing for any passage Chats or Wheatears due to its open barron-ness, if your in the area, have a look!

MB

A bit of Woodland watching- A few year ticks!

6/02/13

A walk in a local woodland was fairly rewarding, however my true target species failed to appear, but they are fairly elusive at this site, but with spare time every Wednesday, i've been making regular visits to this woodland.
At one of the most famous locations withing the woodland, i was treated to awesome views of this Robin, as it decided to perch on a tree a mere 5 foot away! At one point, the bird even tried to walk over my boots it was that confiding!

Why is the site famous i hear you say? Well the tree above where i was standing is often frequented by a roosting TAWNEY OWL. This bird often just sits on one of the broken tree trunks in the wood, giving close intimate views of this usually elusive resident.

After a few hours searching likely spots for the resident pair of LesserPeckers drew a blank, i headed towards the feeding area, and i soon picked up a female BRAMBLING perched on the edge of the adjacent hawthorn, quickly followed by a stunning male!

I sat down on the bench adjacent to the feeders, and after some time, i witnessed 4 BRAMBLING (3 males) perched in the tree next to me at the same time.

I was hoping the birds would join the flock of Chaffinch and 2 Reed Bunting, but the birds didn't.

However, one of the male birds perched on a close Hawthorn bush not far away, and i was able to take some digi-binned pictures of it as it perched there.

A stunning Scandinavian finch, and one that i don't see enough of, so it was great to get a small flock at a local site, and being able to get decent views of them!

MB