Another catch up post

Too much time in the park and not enough time at the computer so not many posts recently. Any way we now have a selection of wintering ducks in the park covering all of the expected species although not in the numbers we normally expect, probably due to the warmer winter weather we have been experiencing. The decision not to feed the ducks, by the rangers, unless we have a prolonged cold spell may also be having an effect in the numbers of winter ducks.

We've also had a couple of occasional visitors in the form of Goldeneye and Goosander. The latter showed up on the Christmas guided bird walk which was handy.

Another recent visitor was a Penduline Tit which showed up on 100 Acre. This caused major excitement amongst the local birders and some not so local birders too. There are some great pictures of this bird over on the Beds Birds Blog.

As I mentioned earlier I've been volunteering with the rangers a lot recently. Firstly there was some tree cutting at Fish Ponds. We did some tree pruning and brush cutting in the Cardington Mill car park followed by a trip to Browns Wood and Putnoe Wood on the following day. I then joined Jane for some tree thinning up at Mowsbury Hillfort NR over the Christmas/New Year period.

Yesterday I was back with the monthly Sunday volunteers coppicing at the east end of the main lake. We had a good turnout despite freezing temperatures and we managed to get quite a bit done. It needs a little more tidying up so we might be back there again.

Mute Swan drying off after morning wash and brush up.

We've had a couple of dead Mute Swan's in the last couple of weeks. Not sure of the cause, they may have been taken by Foxes or dogs but we are keeping an open mind and will be keeping our eyes open over the coming days and weeks. If you come across any dead birds in the park please notify the rangers. If they are not at the visitor centre office then a contact number is always posted on the VC door.  

Guilded Walk 30/11/2014

It was guided walk time again today and another good turn out for the final walk before Christmas! With the unrelenting mild weather we are still short on migratory ducks with no Pochards again today although there have been a few around this week. We were lucky to have a couple of Goldeneye on the main lake this morning, the second weekend running that this species has turned up, after a singleton last Saturday. I initially found one this morning and we all had good views before we set off around the main lake. We met DK on the South side who was on the Goldeneye, but now there were 2, a juvenile and an adult female. There were also good numbers of Gadwalls, Tufteds and Wigeons. The latter males looking very fine in their winter breeding plumage.

We had a couple of Kingfishers on the south side with one confiding individual giving good views as it remained perched in a tree close by while we watched the ducks.

A couple of Little Grebes and a few Great Crested Grebes were also seen along with a large gathering of Black-headed Gulls and a handful of Common Gulls. Coot numbers remain reasonably high as does the number of Mute Swans which is in excess of 60.

Cormorant numbers are relatively low but the south side roost is now a regular site during the day with 10 birds there today.

We moved on to the Finger Lakes and from the east side managed to spy a single female Shoveler and at least 3 Little Grebes around the gaps between the lakes.

There was little else of note until we reached 100 Acre. We had several Teal sightings on the large lake. The males are looking very fine now. There were large numbers of Canada Geese and Greylags all grazing along with good numbers of Wigeon. The white Greylag was present again. Unlike yesterday there were no Barnacle Geese. We moved on to the Castle Mill view point where Skylarks were plentiful, taking to the air and even singing in the autumn sunshine. Meadow Pipits were also numerous along with Pied Wagtails. Across towards Castle Mill there were good numbers of Lapwings with a few Golden Plovers interspersed. Gulls were also plentiful with plenty of Black-headeds, a few Common Gulls and the odd Lesser Black-backed and a Herring Gull. A good sized flock of Starlings were also moving across the site feeding. I am unsure where they are roosting now as a visit to the Willington GP roost, the previous evening, found just 27 birds visiting, a long way short of the 4000-5000 of a few weeks ago.

On the way back we had a female Kestrel over Meadow Lane GP and when we got back to the park we cut through the Finger Lakes and had limited views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A Common Buzzard was heard as we searched for the Great Spot and then we finished with excellent views of a male Green Woodpecker on the New Meadow.

Thanks to all who came out today, why not join us on the next walk on Sunday the 28th of December. Meet at 9am outside the Visitor Centre and walk off some of the Christmas excess!

Also of note we had a couple of Otters on the Finger Lakes yesterday morning and a Muntjac in the Rough this morning.

Saturday 8th November

Quite a few Fieldfares around this morning with a flock of 250-300 over 100 Acre/Riverside the largest I've seen so far this year. There were also a lot of Lapwings and Golden Plovers in the area between 100 Acre and Castle Mill with ~300 Lapwings and a similar number of Golden Plovers, the latter circling high over head. There were also good numbers of Geese (Greylag and Canada) grazing between the river and the big lake and ~120 Wigeon with them. A couple of Snipe were seen, but no sign of the Stonechats this week. Of note on 100 Acre were 2 Chiffchaffs and a third along the cycle track by the Sewage works. This last one had an interesting call, not as thin as the usual Chiffchaff call but it looked normal.

Pretty standard stuff in the park although Wigeon numbers were initially down until boosted by some of the birds disturbed by a dog walker on 100 Acre. A few more Cormorants in now but other duck numbers remain static. Still no sign of any Pochards. A few small flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings passed over early on. A single Grey Wagtail was on the canoe slalom and a Kingfisher was seen near the Beach. A single Bullfinch was seen along the Spit and Goldcrests were seen and heard at various locations around the park. The best place to see them seems to be between the gate to the Rough and the Sedgewick Seat.

This week a Blackcap was seen around the car park by TP, the second sighting in a week following on from the one seen by myself and DK in the Rough last Sunday. DK reported having seen a couple of Corn Buntings leaving the Crescent roost one morning in the week.