Redesmere Lake, Siddington

These pictures were all taken just after the new year, when we were still allowed out and prior to the latest lockdown. 

Redesmere lake, just a short drive from home, is where I have spent a lot of time over the last 18 months or so. Since taking on the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) count here for the BTO I have found myself gravitating to it more and more. It is a large lake, about half a mile in length and is surrounded by woodland. This attracts some good birds all year round, with winter thrushes, Siskin and Redpoll, while in the summer I have had Spotted Flycatchers as the stars of the show.

The water itself also brings in some great wildfowl and geese. Last year I found 3 Greenland White fronted Geese and on the 1st of January this year I found 25 Whooper Swans on it. Add to this, Smew, Great White Egret and Red Crested Pochard, it has really turned out to be a surprising bit of water. I feel it is rather under-watched, so I am trying to visit more, as I am sure lots comes and goes unnoticed.

Here are a few of my sightings in early January.

Male Chaffinch in very poor light.

Female Chaffinch

Goldcrest with that rather sad looking downturned moustache.

These little guys do not stop still for a second, but fascinating to watch.

Greylag Geese on the march in the snow.

One of four Lesser Redpoll. These small birds don't hang about either.

Quite a few Redwings around, now down to the leaf litter having devoured all the berries.

I'd never really noticed how elegant they are from behind. A stunning winter thrush.

A look back to when it was nice and quiet.

 As I've not been out for a couple of weeks with the camera, I thought I would take a look back at some pictures taken during lockdown. This was a time when I felt that nature tried to take back a hold on it's surrounding environment. This was a time when cars were very few and far between for a good two or three months. The sound of planes overhead stopped, but footfall on the pavements increased. Birdsong appeared louder and activity more pronounced. Or was this just the perception? Maybe they are always that loud, but it is drowned out by the modern world around us. Either way, it was a joy to walk through their habitat during my lockdown exercise walks. Blessed with some glorious weather too, it was nice to reconnect with nature and proof that whatever happens to the human world, nature can survive and thrive, probably better than it does now.

Chaffinch

Golden Plover

Jays became very easy to spot during April

One of our smaller birds, the Wren.

Bring on the Winter Weather

A look back to some colder winter mornings, well more of a look forward to what is to come. Some of the better birding mornings are spent when there is a cold frost on the ground. The birds are forced out to feed and take more risks, which allows more opportunities to get shots of them. So as much as I am not looking forward to the cold wet windy weather, I am looking forward to some cold blue sky days, when I can sit in five layers of clothes in a hide and take myself away.

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Willow Tit

Lynford Arboretum

Lynford Arboretum is somewhere I always try to visit when I'm spending time in Norfolk. I usually make it one of my stop offs on the way. Well, it's actually out of my way, but well worth it. In the winter months the trees can hold Crossbills and it's a very reliable site for Hawfinch. I wasn't lucky enough to see any this time, but someone had kindly put out some feed for the birds on some fence posts. The temperatures were still well below freezing so it was nice to be able to close to some of our more common species, such as Blue and Great Tits and Chaffinch.

Hey!! That's mine!!

Best of the rest from Sculthorpe - Norfolk

There were plenty of other birds that visited the feeders while we were there. Most of the finches, including Bullfinch, Chaffinch and Greenfinch. Plus most of the Tit family. Some shots of a few below for you.

Male Bullfinch. Always a delight to see.

Chaffinch 

Long Tailed Tit

Usually in small flocks of half a dozen or so, there are 8 here.

Macclesfield Forest

Some more shots from Macclesfield Forest. A nice mix of birds seen last weekend. Another Crossbill below here and a Siskin.

I found a pair of Mandarin ducks sat up in a tree. Not really where I thought I might find them, when I was looking for Redstart and Flycatchers. I think this site will only get better in the coming weeks with the hopeful return of these two species.

Female Crossbill

Look at that bill.(please excuse the branch in the way)

Siskin

A pair of Mandarin ducks in a tree. Not where I expected to find them.

Just when you think it might be something interesting, it's usually a Chaffinch.

Pennington Flash

A windy drizzly start to the morning, but it quickly turned out be quite decent. Starting at Horrocks hide there were an incredible 24 Snipe at the very end of the scrape. These were joined by 12 Oystercatchers and 2 Redshank. Goldeneye were still around and some very handsome looking Great Crested Grebes.
At the Teal Hide was a Green Sandpiper (my first of the year) 6 Shovelers and 3 Goosander.
The usual suspects were to be found at the Bunting Hide. These being Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Buntings and a lone Pheasant. A good mornings birding, but just needed a little more time to get around more of the site.

Goosander (female)

Another Bullfinch, but I find it hard to ignore them.

Chaffinch

Reed Bunting (female)



Another Robin, but this picture shows that Spring is on the way with buds bursting on this tree.