Paxton Pits - 23 December 2012
Walked along the western side of the area to Diddington Pit Late afternoon the highlights being a redhead Smew on Island Pit, 4 Goosander over south, 117 Black-tailed Godwits over west with 3 Golden Plover in tow, a single Ruff on Pumphouse Pit, a lone Woodcock at dusk, 1 Chiffchaff and a respectable count of 55 Yellowhammers.
Grafham Water - 17 December 2012
A fairly swift lunchtime visit in bright sunny conditions and mainly covering the west end of the reservoir with a quick look at the dam...
Bewick's Swan 2, Scaup 1 adult female off Marlow, Smew a male and female in Sanctuary Bay, Goosander 18, Red-breasted Merganser 1 in Savages Creek, Great Northern Diver 1 in Sanctuary Bay, Little Egret 21, Green Sandpiper 1, Common Sandpiper 1 Marlow area, Turnstone 2 just east of Hill Farm, Yellow-legged Gull 3 (2 ads 1 3rd calendar year) and 2 Waxwings in Grafham Village near the old school - my first close views of the influx...
Bewick's Swan 2, Scaup 1 adult female off Marlow, Smew a male and female in Sanctuary Bay, Goosander 18, Red-breasted Merganser 1 in Savages Creek, Great Northern Diver 1 in Sanctuary Bay, Little Egret 21, Green Sandpiper 1, Common Sandpiper 1 Marlow area, Turnstone 2 just east of Hill Farm, Yellow-legged Gull 3 (2 ads 1 3rd calendar year) and 2 Waxwings in Grafham Village near the old school - my first close views of the influx...
Woodwalton Fen area - 16 December 2012
A benign winter morning with light southerly breeze, some high cloud and sunshine. A modest yet satisfying birding session from 0730 to 1300:
16 Bewicks and 4 Whooper Swans distantly on the adjacent fields, 2 redhead Goosanders on Great Raveley drain; a good raptor morning with 6 Sparrowhawks in the air and displaying together, a single male Merlin flashed across Darlow's Farm, a sub adult male Marsh Harrier perched and a ringtail Hen Harrier across the adjacent fields. Passerine highlights were limited to small numbers of winter thrushes, 4 Chiffchaffs, c.30 Siskins and 17 Lesser Redpolls with one larger likely Mealy that offered too brief views to be identified beyond doubt.
16 Bewicks and 4 Whooper Swans distantly on the adjacent fields, 2 redhead Goosanders on Great Raveley drain; a good raptor morning with 6 Sparrowhawks in the air and displaying together, a single male Merlin flashed across Darlow's Farm, a sub adult male Marsh Harrier perched and a ringtail Hen Harrier across the adjacent fields. Passerine highlights were limited to small numbers of winter thrushes, 4 Chiffchaffs, c.30 Siskins and 17 Lesser Redpolls with one larger likely Mealy that offered too brief views to be identified beyond doubt.
Grafham Water - 8 December 2012
A fairly calm and relatively mild morning after recent hard frosts and a fair variety of species seen between 0700 and 1130.
A Slavonian Grebe off the dam was probably the cream of the crop with plenty of variety in support the best of which were probably; 6 Shelduck, 3 Pintail (1 male), 2 female type Common Scoters, c 76 Goldeneye busy displaying off the Marlow Car Park, 5 Goosanders (2 males), 2 Red-breasted Mergansers both redheads, 8 Grey Partridges, 1 Ringed Plover, 3 Golden Plovers over SW, 6+ Redshanks, 4 Turnstones along the north shore, 1 first-winter Caspian Gull east over the dam; 1 Rock Pipit, 3 Waxwings near the Model Farm and later west over the Marlow car park, a single flock of 70 Fieldfares over west and 1 Chiffchaff - a typical collybita.
A Slavonian Grebe off the dam was probably the cream of the crop with plenty of variety in support the best of which were probably; 6 Shelduck, 3 Pintail (1 male), 2 female type Common Scoters, c 76 Goldeneye busy displaying off the Marlow Car Park, 5 Goosanders (2 males), 2 Red-breasted Mergansers both redheads, 8 Grey Partridges, 1 Ringed Plover, 3 Golden Plovers over SW, 6+ Redshanks, 4 Turnstones along the north shore, 1 first-winter Caspian Gull east over the dam; 1 Rock Pipit, 3 Waxwings near the Model Farm and later west over the Marlow car park, a single flock of 70 Fieldfares over west and 1 Chiffchaff - a typical collybita.
 |
| Slavonian Grebe off Grafham Dam 8.12.2012 |
 |
| Starling pre-roost Paxton Pits 25 November 2012 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)