Much colder this morning with frost on the ground in the more sheltered areas. Thought there might be more wildfowl in this morning, with the shooting heard all morning from the direction of Octagon, but sadly not.
On the main lake:
25 Pochard (1f)
1 Tufted (m)
12 Shoveler
19 Cormorant
4 Great Crested Grebe!
Fingers:
2 Shoveler (m)
5 Teal (3m2f)
at least 4 Little Grebe, possibly up to 6
7 Siskin over the Crescent. A Fox strolled past the Crescent while I chatted to TonyP.
Kingfisher around the Crescent and Water Rail in the Reeds on West Fingers, near the Steps.
Nothing spotted on Fenlake and little up at Fish Ponds, just a handful of Tits and Finches. Another Kingfisher along the Cut between Fish Ponds and the park entrance. Another or same Kingfisher crossed the cycle path and headed into the marina.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Saturday 20th December
Another warm, overcast day but fairly quiet on the wildlife front. The main change over the last week was the arrival of some Pochard at last. After the early arrival of a few individuals a few weeks back they have been very intermittent but today we were up to 21 accompanied by 9 Tufted ducks. The rangers are now feeding the over wintering wild fowl so I would expect to see the numbers increasing over the next few weeks. Shoveler numbers were down this week with 9 on the main lake and up to 3 on Fingers. At least 4 Teal were tucked away around the back of Fingers, making plenty of noise. No sign of the Goosander this week, a shame as it was showing really well last week down by the Beach.
On Fingers there were 6 Little Grebe on the west lake. We had to watch and wait to get them all as they are the masters of hide and seek!
Back on the main lake Gull numbers were much higher than of late with in excess of 120 Common Gulls, even more Black Headed Gulls and a couple of Lesser Black Backs. Cormorant numbers were initially low but increased steadily through the morning reaching around 20 by mid morning.
Over on Kingsmead there were at least 17 Moorhen and a party of Canada Geese. A few more Cormorant were roosting in the trees over by the back river. It's not hard to spot which trees they are using, just look for the festive looking ones!
Kingfisher were less evident this week with the main sighting on the south side of the main lake. Goldcrest and Treecreeper were also seen.
On Fingers there were 6 Little Grebe on the west lake. We had to watch and wait to get them all as they are the masters of hide and seek!
Back on the main lake Gull numbers were much higher than of late with in excess of 120 Common Gulls, even more Black Headed Gulls and a couple of Lesser Black Backs. Cormorant numbers were initially low but increased steadily through the morning reaching around 20 by mid morning.
Over on Kingsmead there were at least 17 Moorhen and a party of Canada Geese. A few more Cormorant were roosting in the trees over by the back river. It's not hard to spot which trees they are using, just look for the festive looking ones!
Kingfisher were less evident this week with the main sighting on the south side of the main lake. Goldcrest and Treecreeper were also seen.
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