Wednesday 28 December 2016

28th December

I haven’t posted for a little while as it’s been so quiet. I went down the river this morning hoping the cold might have pushed birds off any frozen water. A group of 11 Cormorants flew over along with a single Goosander and a small group of Common Gulls was by the railway bridge…


This Grey Heron caught the early sun...


But after this the mist closed back in…


A large flock of geese was on the far side of the river but the mist was so thick I couldn’t see anything but vague shapes.
Yesterday there was a group of around 40 Curlew feeding here…


I flushed a small group of Teal…


a flock of 13 Wigeon was on a  riverside flood pool, 150 Golden Plover on the fields south of the bridge and a single Oystercatcher was still present…


And finally, in the misty distance today, a reminder that spring isn’t that far away…


Sunday 4 December 2016

4th December

Snipe are one of my favourite birds, a typical species of my younger days in Worcestershire in the damp meadows along the Avon. The Bottom Fields in Ainderby have similar habitat and yesterday there were around 45 Snipe there including this tight flock of 30 odd birds…



Today there were about half that number but I spotted a couple (very) distantly on the ground…


Numbers of wintering Snipe do seem to be on the increase in the parish despite a decline in the national numbers. I assume this is a feature of better habitat, so surely it can’t be long until I find my first village Jack Snipe…

A few Wigeon were also in the Bottom Fields but I didn’t see them until they were  flushed off by dog walkers. The third bird down looks different but may just be the angle?


Nearby This Grey Heron was stalking something in the ploughed field.


Herons will eat virtually anything, I once saw one swallow a Coot and I have also seen them reaching into rabbit burrows but I assume this one was after earthworms.  
I’ll finish with a couple of shots of Fieldfare, the first one showing clearly why the local dialect name for them was Blueback…


whilst this smart bird was perched in the garden of the Old Vicarage…