bedsbirds : Message: Meadow Lane 100Acre GP 19/02 08:30–10:30

bedsbirds : Message: Meadow Lane 100Acre GP 19/02 08:30–10:30:

'via Blog this'

Saturday 18th February 2012

Only 20 degrees centigrade warmer than last Saturday! Blowing a gale though this week and it felt colder than the thermometer said it was. All the ice had gone on both the lakes and life was returning to Fingers. A single Great Crested Grebe was back and the pair of Mute Swans (inc. orange 500) were present. Seems the Swans had managed to ditch last years youngsters. Canada Geese were back to setting up territories in their usual noisy way with lots of disputes between neighbouring pairs. A visiting pair of Mute Swans were soon kicked out by the resident pair. There were a lot more Mute Swans on the main lake this morning with quite a few of last years youngsters. At least 7 Shoveler were present, 2 pairs and three other males.

There was lots of singing this morning with Great Tits and Chaffinches most prominent.

Up at the STW bridge it was quiet but 3 Little Grebe were spotted on the downstream side, one at the mouth of the New Cut and 2 on the main river. 100 Acre was quiet with no sign of the large flocks of Geese that have been present over winter.

Back around Fingers a couple of Teal were flushed from the section by the Sedgewick Seat.

Along the Canoe Slalom the Grey Wagtail was back looking very smart. On the main lake wildfowl numbers were good and Pochard were very close to the main lake hide giving great views. Tufted Ducks and Gadwall were also present along with 100+ Mute Swans and 31 Cormorants.

2 flocks of c80 Woodpigeons passed over Pressmead and joined up to make one big flock.  Fenlake Meadows was quiet with no sign of the Stonechat or the Common Buzzard. Just a pair of Teal, some Black-headed Gulls, Wood Pigeons and Magpies were spotted. A single Little Grebe was on the river here.

Greenfinches and Goldfinches were present along the back of the sailing club.

A pretty quiet morning in the park, not surprising really given the strong wind. Next weekend we have a guided bird walk on Sunday morning. Meet at the Visitor Centre at 9am. See you there.

Saturday 11th February 2012

And I thought it was cold last week! -12.5C this morning when I left the house. On arrival at the park fog had descended so nothing could be seen on the main lake. Not a promising start but I met up with JA and we headed down to Fingers in the hope of some Little Egrets sleeping in. The meadow by the Visitor Centre resembled a snowman graveyard following the snow in the week. No Egrets to be seen but we did a loop of the Crescent reed bed and had 6 Corn Buntings leave the roost and a singing Reed Bunting. Fingers was solid ice so nothing doing there. DK arrived as we headed back to the main path, he'd had a Water Rail at the bottom of the steps. Amazingly there is a tiny patch of ice free water there and the birds all know it.

A walk up to 100 Acre produced very little due to the fog but there was a single Teal and a Gadwall with 3 Mallards at the end of the New Cut where we found some ice free water.

Back in the park, we cut through the Woodland Walk on our way back to Fingers. Exiting the wood we had a Sparrowhawk flying low across the New Meadow and over the Sheep Pen. It was very quiet around Fingers and DK's Water Rail was long gone. Back on the main path and the sun was just visible through the fog, I noticed a couple of prominent sun spots just below the centre of the sun.  

Sun Spots

JA spotted a Goldfinch in the Alders by the Crescent. The frosted branches contrasted nicely with the birds plumage.   

Goldfinch in Frosty Alder

By this time, amazingly, the fog had lifted and we could see across the main lake, and the fact that the wildfowl had managed to keep a sizable patch of water ice free. We headed around to the main lake hide where DK had already done a count of the ducks. Numbers remained consistent except for the Pochard which had reduced over the week.

We headed around to the Fenlake Meadows view point and flushed a Kingfisher from his perch at the Leat Pool. On Fenlake a Common Buzzard was in his usual tree. There was little else of note otherwise and the river was frozen across it's entire width here.

Common Buzzard

Along the west side of the main lake, behind the sailing club we had a few Greenfinch before we came across some superb ice formations caused by a burst pipe on the marina side of the wall.

Iced branches at the top of the wall

On the ground, at the base of the above formation, the ice had built up like stalagmites, encapsulating vegetation including a couple of grass stems.

Grass on ice! 

With a beautiful blue sky by this time the frosted branches of the trees looked stunning.

Frosted branches against blue sky

It may have been cold but it made for some great photo opportunities. Nothing to add to the sightings board today but a superb morning none-the-less.