Not much of a turn-out - no doubt because of the weather. The river had subsided by at least two feet, making much of the park accessible again, but Fingers remained high, with the path by the steps needing good wellies! Even in wellies, one couldn't make the crescent circuit. Reliably, Fingers was emptying back into the navigation channel.
31 Lapwing blogging; we saw them twice; and a male Sparr!. Finding a singing Chiff on the spit was very pleasing. About 6 Little Grebes swimming in the murky waters of 'lilypads'. Just the one Great Spot. The Grey Herons totalled 7 in all, with 2 breeding adults, 2 non-breeding adults (3CY?) and the rest 'real immatures'. Kingsmead was very "watchable" - a party of 100+ Rooks dominated the Crows, with maybe 50 Jackdaws admixed. 22 Starlings gave a good performance. Small birds yielded up 3 or more Mipits and well over 50 Pied Wagtails. 12 Magpies were being a pest.
We had a look at the progress of the new Meadow Lane diggings, but nothing doing (birdwise). There were 3 well spaced Song Thrushes belting out their claim to various parts of the park on our return. The main lake held the usual numbers of Pochard (c.160), Tufted (c.10), Shoveler (c.24), Swans (c.30) & GC Grebes (c.12). Overall concensus = very quiet generally, but well worth the effort ... and it was mild. So mild of late, the Blackthorn is ready to bud-burst!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Saturday 19th January
A lot of flooding around the park today following the heavy rain this week. The water is very high in Fingers and water is still flowing in through the pipe from the navigation channel. The crescent is under water as is the path at the bottom of the steps. Suggest you wear your wellies if you are going for a walk around the park. Looks like the water level is dropping this morning however if the rain continues today it could rise again later.
I arrived at the park around 07:30 and it was still quite dark due to the heavy cloud cover. The wind had dropped from the previous evening and temperature was quite high which was probably why I had a flypast by a bat as I crossed the meadow towards Fingers. At Kramer hide it was very quiet, 2 Little Egret were on roost when I arrived as were the Crows and Jackdaws. The Little Egrets left around 07:45, just after the Corvids.
The only other visitors were a pair of Mute Swans, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe along and a couple of Moorhen. There was a large disturbance in the water out of sight to the right of the hide, which disturbed a group of Wood Pigeon. Not sure what it was, may have been a Muntjac crossing a flooded section but it certainly caused some large ripples.
C.80 of the Willington Barnacle Geese did several flypasts during the morning and there were several Mute Swan movements, the largest group being a nine.
Kingsmead was under water and there were at least 5 Grey Herons on there along with good numbers of Black Headed Gulls.
From the Spit there were 7 Little Grebe on West Fingers and a pair of Great Crested Grebe on East Fingers. 1 of the pair of Great Crested Grebe chased off a third and the pair were also seen displaying during the morning. At the end of the spit a Water Rail flew, from the fenced off section, across east Fingers towards the crescent.
From the main lake beach there 14 Great Crested Grebe, 35 Mute Swan (13 of those being first year birds) and 15 Cormorant. There were still good numbers of Pochard and some Tufted Ducks over by the hide.
I arrived at the park around 07:30 and it was still quite dark due to the heavy cloud cover. The wind had dropped from the previous evening and temperature was quite high which was probably why I had a flypast by a bat as I crossed the meadow towards Fingers. At Kramer hide it was very quiet, 2 Little Egret were on roost when I arrived as were the Crows and Jackdaws. The Little Egrets left around 07:45, just after the Corvids.
The only other visitors were a pair of Mute Swans, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe along and a couple of Moorhen. There was a large disturbance in the water out of sight to the right of the hide, which disturbed a group of Wood Pigeon. Not sure what it was, may have been a Muntjac crossing a flooded section but it certainly caused some large ripples.
C.80 of the Willington Barnacle Geese did several flypasts during the morning and there were several Mute Swan movements, the largest group being a nine.
Kingsmead was under water and there were at least 5 Grey Herons on there along with good numbers of Black Headed Gulls.
From the Spit there were 7 Little Grebe on West Fingers and a pair of Great Crested Grebe on East Fingers. 1 of the pair of Great Crested Grebe chased off a third and the pair were also seen displaying during the morning. At the end of the spit a Water Rail flew, from the fenced off section, across east Fingers towards the crescent.
From the main lake beach there 14 Great Crested Grebe, 35 Mute Swan (13 of those being first year birds) and 15 Cormorant. There were still good numbers of Pochard and some Tufted Ducks over by the hide.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Sunday 13th January
I parked up by the old railway bridge across the river and walked along the river to Kramer hide. The river was very high and pushing through, after yesterday evenings rain, and there were no Otters to be found. In the hide it was very quiet with just 3+ Herons, a pair of Gadwall, single male Shoveller, pair of Sparrowhawk and the usual Kingfisher.
I just did a loop around Fingers again today and while around the back came across the usual 2 pairs of Gadwall but a second check revealed they had been joined by another female.
At the Dead Seat just the usual 6 Canada Geese and a couple of Heron. Along the path to the steps a Chaffinch was practising his song but not quite getting it, further along a Wren was showing him how it's done.
From the Spit:
Another 2 Canada Geese
1 Great Crested Grebe
2 Little Grebe
I haven't seen the pair of Mute Swans on the Finger lakes this weekend!
Crescent:
At least 3 Siskins in the Alders
Main Lake (from the beach):
34 Mute Swans
3 Great Crested Grebe
I headed back along the navigation channel and noted at least 20 Pied Wagtails around the standing water on Kingsmead. There were also 28 Canada Geese and at least 13 Moorhen.
I just did a loop around Fingers again today and while around the back came across the usual 2 pairs of Gadwall but a second check revealed they had been joined by another female.
At the Dead Seat just the usual 6 Canada Geese and a couple of Heron. Along the path to the steps a Chaffinch was practising his song but not quite getting it, further along a Wren was showing him how it's done.
From the Spit:
Another 2 Canada Geese
1 Great Crested Grebe
2 Little Grebe
I haven't seen the pair of Mute Swans on the Finger lakes this weekend!
Crescent:
At least 3 Siskins in the Alders
Main Lake (from the beach):
34 Mute Swans
3 Great Crested Grebe
I headed back along the navigation channel and noted at least 20 Pied Wagtails around the standing water on Kingsmead. There were also 28 Canada Geese and at least 13 Moorhen.
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