Arrived early to check for Otters but nothing doing again this morning. Very cold start with minus 5.5c on the car thermometer on my way to the park. A good covering of ice over most of Fingers and significant portions of the main lake, even the navigation channel had a covering along a lot of its length. On the way to Kramer Hide a Chiffchaff was singing in the long hedge just after I left the conservation area having just passed the Sedgewick Seat.
At Kramer hide little movement with just a couple of Moorhen showing some tentative nesting behaviour. A female Muntjac was feeding on the far bank at the back of the right hand channel. A male Sparrowhawk flew in, from behind the hide to the trees on the far bank, below the old nest site. I left the hide and had a pair of Coot on east Fingers along with a single Little Grebe and a Great Crested Grebe. A Reed Bunting was singing in the Crescent.
I joined the guided walk and we headed down the main path to the steps stopping to scan the main lake for "odd" Gulls but finding only BH, LBB and Common. EN counted c.40 Pochard and there was a Male Tufted duck in amongst them. We turned off the main path at the steps and continued around the Finger lakes. There were plenty of Finches and Tits about and a single Heron on west Fingers. The pair of Sparrowhawks showed briefly overhead. Just passed the Sedgewick Seat we stopped to watch a Treecreeper while a couple of Green Woodpeckers called behind us. Leaving the conservation area a beautiful Male Bullfinch was sunning himself in the Long hedge with a female nearby. Another Treecreeper flew from the Long Hedge to join the other one we had just seen. We followed the Long Hedge up towards the kissing gate pausing to watch a female Great Spotted Woodpecker in the top of one of the trees. The "sickly" Mute Swan was still on the meadow grazing but had moved back onto the water as we walked back along the navigation channel. There were 8 Moorhen on Kingsmead.
By east Fingers we stopped and watched 6 Little Grebe at the north end. Further along a single Coot and a Great Crested Grebe were seen but then we noticed a number of ducks circling and estimate 20+ Shoveller and 20+ Teal most of which finally settled on east Fingers. A pair of Wigeon joined them. They had all been put up from the main lake, by a group of canoeists, and had no where else to go as the rest of the Finger lakes were still frozen. We searched for Siskin along the beach end of the main lake and crossed the Leat and walked back along the canoe slalom. Our final hope for Siskin, by the Crescent, was in vain, maybe next time. There were 38 Mute Swans on the main lake. That's about it another cracking morning in good company and some great sightings. See you at the next one.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
"Boxing Day"
With the assistance of my trainee [head honcho at BTCV] to carry the ladder, we successfully cleaned and repaired 12 nest boxes in the conservation area. We attached metal plates to repair the woodpecker and squirrel damage as well, 6 smaller, Blue Tit ones and 6 larger, Great Tit ones. Hopefully, they will all be used again after a gap of two years. The ringers will monitor the boxes in May and ring the pulli when they reach the right size. Having carried the ladder, there are now 3 ringers who know where all the boxes are!
Saturday 16th February
Very quiet this morning at Kramer hide. A Moorhen fight was the highlight. Had only seen a couple of Moorhen until a squabble broke out, then they all came out of the woodwork! While two were locked in a death grip others kept diving in for a free shot. Turned out to be at least 7 Moorhen in the right hand channel and surrounding reed beds, might have been as many as 10.
Five Shoveller swam past (2 pair and a gooseberry male), 2 swam through and the other three remained in the reed bed directly in front of the hide for a while. A single Little Grebe showed up in the channel to east Fingers and a Siskin came down to drink nearby. A group of 8 Teal flew in and a large group (30+) flew through. Another group of 15 flew in but they may have been part of the larger group that flew through (min 38, max 53+). The resident pair of Mute Swans were getting aggro with the Canada Geese which were very vocal and quite aggressive this morning. A single juvenile Heron was in the usual roosting place (EN reported 4 later). A Green Woodpecker passed through stopping in the dead tree opposite the hide for a few moments.
Having left the hide I walked downstream alongside the navigation channel and back along the Long Hedge. A brief snatch of Chiffchaff song was heard from across Kingsmead, where 44 Canada Geese grazed. 8 Moorhen and a pheasant were also seen. A Mute Swan was grazing in the meadow by the navigation channel. It looks to be injured or sick as it is very approachable and is probably the same one as was seen last week in the same area.
On east Fingers the Great Crested Grebe pair were joined by the pair of Mute Swans. On west Fingers there was a Coot (pair seen later by EN), some of the Shoveller and several of the Teal. No more Little Grebe although EN reported 4 seen later. Leaving the Spit I headed around the main lake and heard a Reed Bunting singing from the Crescent.
There were c.34 Mute Swans on the main lake but the big surprise was the 42 Teal seen from the main lake hide. There were c.10 Pochard (1f) and 4 Shoveller. Little else of note as I completed my circuit of the main lake.
Although I didn't see any Otters today 1 was reported, seen on Thursday at approx 09:15 from Kramer hide.
Five Shoveller swam past (2 pair and a gooseberry male), 2 swam through and the other three remained in the reed bed directly in front of the hide for a while. A single Little Grebe showed up in the channel to east Fingers and a Siskin came down to drink nearby. A group of 8 Teal flew in and a large group (30+) flew through. Another group of 15 flew in but they may have been part of the larger group that flew through (min 38, max 53+). The resident pair of Mute Swans were getting aggro with the Canada Geese which were very vocal and quite aggressive this morning. A single juvenile Heron was in the usual roosting place (EN reported 4 later). A Green Woodpecker passed through stopping in the dead tree opposite the hide for a few moments.
Having left the hide I walked downstream alongside the navigation channel and back along the Long Hedge. A brief snatch of Chiffchaff song was heard from across Kingsmead, where 44 Canada Geese grazed. 8 Moorhen and a pheasant were also seen. A Mute Swan was grazing in the meadow by the navigation channel. It looks to be injured or sick as it is very approachable and is probably the same one as was seen last week in the same area.
On east Fingers the Great Crested Grebe pair were joined by the pair of Mute Swans. On west Fingers there was a Coot (pair seen later by EN), some of the Shoveller and several of the Teal. No more Little Grebe although EN reported 4 seen later. Leaving the Spit I headed around the main lake and heard a Reed Bunting singing from the Crescent.
There were c.34 Mute Swans on the main lake but the big surprise was the 42 Teal seen from the main lake hide. There were c.10 Pochard (1f) and 4 Shoveller. Little else of note as I completed my circuit of the main lake.
Although I didn't see any Otters today 1 was reported, seen on Thursday at approx 09:15 from Kramer hide.
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