Ah I know I'll go to Lynford Arboretum. Lynford is a hotel with an arboretum attached which you can wander around, there are daffs, snowdrops and a small lake BUT birders go there becuase it is pretty reliable for Hawfinch! with a chance of Crossbill, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Marsh Tit, Treecreeper and at this time winter finches.
As I got out of the car another couple were finishing. "Never seen so few birds", "No Hawfinches, only saw one Chaffinch no Tits". Oh!
Well what the hell I could hear Tits. As I walked towards the Paddock I came across some birds, Long Tails, Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch and Goldcrests.
Curiously I ran into a birder I see at Amwell a lot. He was told on arrival there were loads of Hawfinches but he had seen none. I wandered up one side and nowt as I turned back I saw a group of birds had appeared a top a tree. Looks promising! Puts scope on them YES! The chap from Amwell had also got on them.
No Crossbills etc but hey. So where to now? I went to Sculthorpe Moor Nature reserve. It is a Hawl and Owl Conservation Trust reserve. Its essentially a board walk through damp woodlands and some reeds. There are a few feeding stations. The bird I was after was Willow Tit but no joy today. Did see Marsh Tit and the fellows in the pics below.
Oh twitchibirder told me yesterdays photos were a little dark on her work monitor (my monitor at work has a similar affect). Are these ok?
Great Tit
Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Brambling - winter visit, cousin of the Chaffinch.
Water Rail - not easy to see, related to Moorhens and Coots
Blackbird
Brambling
Water Rail - 3 of them at one time.
6 comments:
These are wonderful Pete. You've had a busy day.
Bramblings are great!
These photos are much brighter than the one digi referred to - they were very dark on my monitor as well!
Water Rails and Kingfishers are now cracked.
Seem to see them everywhere I go!
Now for the Bramblings!oaofcegq
Nice water rail pics. I have never seen long tails on a bird table before.
I haven't seen a brambling this winter either.
It seems that the smaller the bird - the more I like it.
Those long tailed tits are marvellous. I also like firecrest and goldcrest.
Saw a willow tit at Pennington Flash yesterday.
Hey Kaz I tend to agree with you. Goldcrests were posing yesterday!
Willow Tit very rare down here. I was at Potteric Carr near Doncaster a few years ago and was nice to see a few Willows.
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