Roe Deer - 16th Feb

It was just over a month ago now, but I got a phone call from my dad early on a Tuesday morning as I headed to work that a Great Bustard had been seen quite a few times on a nearby estate. I had to get him to repeat it a GREAT BUSTARD!!!!! 

The bird apparently had been present for a couple of weeks and favouring a Stone Curlew plot in the middle of one of the ploughed fields. Being a Tuesday and with a full week of work, the weekend couldn't come soon enough. So armed with instructions and having promised the Gamekeeper and the Estates owners not to reveal its location to anyone I headed off in search of this giant bird.

Walking alongside some thick hedge rows plenty of Yellowhammer & Corn Bunting chirped away in front of me along with a few small groups of Goldfinch flushing up from the seed heads next to the hedge. I managed to get into a sheltered hidden position to view the area the Bustard had been said to have favoured. Not a thing, I was sure with the size of the bird I would be able to see it, but no, no sign anywhere!

A small covey of Red-legged Partridge flew into the belt to which I sat, and several Pheasants flew out as a female Sparrowhawk emerged from the fir trees but still no Bustard. So I sat and waited for a good hour or more, enjoying distant views of 5 Roe Deer mooching about on the ploughing. Then something caught my eye, a good 600-700 metres away a large bird rising high above the hedgerow.

My first thoughts were Short-eared Owl a bird that had roosted on this ground in previous winters, but no a look through the binoculars confirmed Great Bustard. It circled a couple of times in the distance dropping in height with every turn, eventually coming in to land on a game cover crop 3 fields over quite near the road.

Barely able to contain my excitement I legged it as quickly back to the car as I could not taking my eye of the spot I last saw it. 15 minutes later and I was searching the cover crop. Fruitlessly, whether the bird had wandered on down, or simply glided low over top of the road and to the fields the other side.

Gutted, I dejectedly wandered through a gap in the hedge and instantly come across 2 Roe Deer sat on the track 100 or so yards further down. Sticking tight to the hedge and getting as low as I could tripod and all I stalked as close as I could get to the young Doe & Buck, and was really pleased to get a lot of shots, some of which I think are my best yet of Roe.

So I left happy with my Roe Deer shots but not that I had some incredibly distant unrecognisable Bustard flight shots. But never fear, it was only Saturday and having guaranteed the bird was still in residence I headed back the next day, but I shall save that all for the next blog post.

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Danebury & Red Rice - 25th Jan

This will be a bit of a first for me, a no photo blog post! Some of you might say all the better. After being office bound all week due to the snow, the previous day I had seen on Going Birding for Hampshire that quite some big numbers of Farmland birds had been seen within 10 mins of work.

That pretty much sorted my friday lunchtime. I was soon out the office door and off towards Danebury Hillfort. The large flat fields on the Danebury road resulted in nothing more than the odd Buzzard and around 2000 Rook.

Spying a rough piece of set aside cover next to a fairly low hedge row on the smaller road back towards town I took a punt pulling up in the gateway. Not having the camera with me it was quite nice for a change to make use of the scope. With plenty of Snow still covering the surrounding fields this hedge row proceeded to erupt with flock upon flock of small birds as they fed on the cover crop next door before returning to perch back upon the hedge.

Yellowhammer were the easiest to ID, with the bright yellow breasts and heads glowing against the dark hedgerow. With the odd pause in movement, I started to make out Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Linnet & Dunnock amongst the throngs. And more interestingly a Buzzard perched on a fence post mid hedge right in amongst them all.

With the constant movement it was pretty tricky to get an accurate count but if I had to roughly estimate I'd say

c.250 Yellowhammer
c.370 Corn Bunting
c.200 Linnet
c.22 Reed Bunting
8 Dunnock

All in all quite pleasant just to do a little bit of Birdwatching without having to worry about photographing it all. However I was a little gutted I missed out on some relevantly close shots of some Yellowhammers.

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A Trip To The Midlands

A trip to The West Midlands this weekend, to see the Girlfriend. And explore what the Birmingham area has to offer wildlife wise. A planned visit to the newish RPSB reserve at Middleton Lakes on the way to Tamworth.

With weather that I can describe as Sub zero, we took the first Right hand turning following the RSPB makeshift signs, past the Aston Villa FC Training Facility through what can only be referred to as a disused gravel works for around 800 meters. Word of warning if you like having an intact car avoid this entrance and the huge potholes, carry on down the road another Mile and take the right hand turning to Middleton Hall, it will bring you straight out to the RSPB car park.

Enough with the words of wisdom, we headed off into the reserve hoping to see something in the freezing cold before the forcast snow swept our way. First bird of the day a Goldcrest flitting about in the bramble patch next to the Heronry boardwalk, the feeding station on the edge of the reed bed, teeming with small birds. Great Tit, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch & Robin all seen in numerous numbers. The occasional hoarse squawk of a Grey Heron drew our eyes to the trees, 6-7 or rising and then disappearing back into the woodland. 

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Robin

A wander down through the woodland are hoped to show a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, but no such luck, a couple we passed did mention that they had seen it a couple of times earlier in the morning. A quick glance down the frozen canal and on into the main lakes part of the reserve. A landscape covered in ice, all of the lakes covered in a thick layer. A few birds concentrated in the odd pool which had escaped from the frosts grasp.

Mute Swans

I'd imagine the lakes are a fantastic walk in slightly better weather, with no hides as of yet, you can walk pretty close to the water all away around the outside of the reserve, the reeds offering enough shelter for the birds and enough gaps to look through. A fair few birds spotted on the water; Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Canada Goose, Grey Heron, Shelduck, Teal & a hovering Kestrel.

The bitter wind blowing got a little more bareable as we spotted a pair of Stonechat, the female teasing me with a close up view but moving just 35-40 yards in front of us along the path the male not quite as receptive  

as the female and staying hidden.

Female Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Male Stonechat

Running alongside the outside edge of the reserve is the River Tame, being the only large stretch of water untouched by the ice it proved abundant with Mallard & Teal. Two Great-crested Grebe also fished in the faster flowing water. Further up river a small group of Goldeneye flushed from the waters edge. And then the snow came, thick and fast, a pretty speedy walk back to the car and on to the M6 and M42 before the weather brought the British road network to a grinding halt. A pretty good visit to an RSPB reserve all in all, and we probably only saw less than a dozen other people.

I headed back down south this morning, before the freezing fog and additional forecast snow, making the journey in only 10 mins longer than clear weather conditions. A quick peep out of the kitchen window presenting plenty of action on the bird tables. All the usual suspects and a frequent visitor in the form of the Great-spotted Woodpecker, So I had a quick walk down the road watching big numbers of Chaffinch working up and down the hedgerow, and some rather large flocks of Corn Bunting with the odd Yellowhammer mixed in feeding on the odd patches untouched by the snow. More surprisingly loads of Fieldfare coming into the garden on the end of the main Apsley House, a tree still with remaining with fruit the attraction.

Fieldfare

Cock Sparrow 

Fieldfare

Exmoor & Back Again

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a little trip down to Exmoor planned, unfortunately not specifically for Wildlife Watching, and wasn't able to take the camera out and about. The location the Orchard Wyndham Estate about 6 or 7 miles from Minehead on the Eastern outskirts of the Exmoor National Park.

Orchard Wyndham Estate

The first encounter of the day a small murmuration of Starlings coming off of roost as it got light over the Illchester to Taunton road, I've never been lucky enough to encounter such a sight, and although it was only a small number (a couple of thousand) it certainly wet the appetite too see the birds heading to roost in all their glory.

After arriving during a rather sudden Downpour, which came rolling in from the Bristol Channel in a mere matter of minutes, the hopes of a dry day wasn't looking good. However it soon cleared, leaving clear blue skies and beautiful golden light. The wind mind, was pretty much gale force so standing still in one place without being blown 15-20 yards proved to be a little tricky.

Although I was soon pleasantly supprised an a little amazed with the species seen and the numbers in which they were present. Flocks of Bullfinches & Goldfinches were present in the Ash Trees on the edge of the Estate, with the Bullfinch numbers way into double figures, the males striking pink underside highlighted by the bright morning sun as they flew from tree to tree.

Now my next sighting questioned my birding knowledge a little bit, there I was in the middle of the rolling Somerset countryside, no real major watercourses around other than a smallish stream, and the customary ditch alongside every hedgerow. 5 or 6 Reed Bunting perched in the nearest hedge row, A somewhat unusual sight I think to myself, but all was to be revealed, or its the reason Im giving. The other side of the hill alongside the B3190 stood several hundred acres of cover around 7ft in height, which on closer inspection appeared to be Reed used for Thatch. Would be logical right?

Other species I noted around this area, Hundreds of Pheasants, 4 Woodcock, Rook, 6 Buzzard, Carrion Crow, 5 or 6 Wheatear, Blue Tit, Magpie, Great Tit & Blackbird.

The afternoon brought a walk across some set aside Wheat stubble fields, the abundance of bird life rising from the ground was pretty incredible to be honest. Huge numbers of Skylark, Yellowhammer & Corn Bunting. All species I'd feel lucky to see at home.

The wind drew the weather in pretty fast, and it was pitch black by the time I made my way back along the A303, so no late afternoon Starling spotting. But a most enjoyable day, unfortunately I sit writing this post at my desk this afternoon, gazing out of the window at the dreariest grey wet day for a long time. But its nice to reminisce even though it was only yesterday.