birdman
Saturday 24th January 2004, 16:51
Funny sort of a day today.
The weather is fine, quite sunny, and cool with a breeze, and we are still 24-48 hours ahead of the forecast cold snap.
Started today's walk at 11.50, and the first hour was interesting and quite busy, including the pleasant surprise of some unexpected ducks on the pond, as well as a number of singing Skylarks, and and noticeable increase in the size of the Black-headed Gull flock... as I set off, 30 BHGulls, and 1 other unidentified sub-adult Large Gull. Not at all good at gull plumages, but the amount of dark on the wings suggested a Black-back rather than a Grey Gull.
However, on reaching the woods around the hotel, the was plainly almost zero activity. Time of day, perhaps? The only real action was a (the?) covey of Partridges - about 20 birds - that I could not id (yet again!) although I suspect they are Grey. I'll keep looking!!!
Apart from a single Chaffinch, a couple of crows, and a larger recount of the Gull flock... everything was subsequently very quiet until I got home. Still, a nice way to pass a couple of hours.
As usual, list follows.
Plain text = Outback day tick
Bold text = Outback year tick
Bold italic text = Outback life tick
(Number in brackets is highest number of individuals identifed at one time)
Starling : 12 (7)
Skylark : 7 (4)
Magpie : 6 (2)
Black-headed Gull : 43 (43)
Woodpigeon : 20 (5)
Kestrel : 3 (1)
Blackbird : 2 (1)
Pheasant : 1 (1)
Moorhen : 5 (2)
Long-tailed Tit : 9 (8)
Goldcrest : 1 (1)
Grey Heron : 1 (1)
Mallard : 10 (10)
Blue Tit : 9 (2)
Tufted Duck : 3 (3)
Coot : 1 (1)
Green Woodpecker : 1 (1)
Robin : 2 (1)
Carrion Crow : 8 (4)
Great Black-backed Gull : 2 (2)
Chaffinch : 1 (1)
The weather is fine, quite sunny, and cool with a breeze, and we are still 24-48 hours ahead of the forecast cold snap.
Started today's walk at 11.50, and the first hour was interesting and quite busy, including the pleasant surprise of some unexpected ducks on the pond, as well as a number of singing Skylarks, and and noticeable increase in the size of the Black-headed Gull flock... as I set off, 30 BHGulls, and 1 other unidentified sub-adult Large Gull. Not at all good at gull plumages, but the amount of dark on the wings suggested a Black-back rather than a Grey Gull.
However, on reaching the woods around the hotel, the was plainly almost zero activity. Time of day, perhaps? The only real action was a (the?) covey of Partridges - about 20 birds - that I could not id (yet again!) although I suspect they are Grey. I'll keep looking!!!
Apart from a single Chaffinch, a couple of crows, and a larger recount of the Gull flock... everything was subsequently very quiet until I got home. Still, a nice way to pass a couple of hours.
As usual, list follows.
Plain text = Outback day tick
Bold text = Outback year tick
Bold italic text = Outback life tick
(Number in brackets is highest number of individuals identifed at one time)
Starling : 12 (7)
Skylark : 7 (4)
Magpie : 6 (2)
Black-headed Gull : 43 (43)
Woodpigeon : 20 (5)
Kestrel : 3 (1)
Blackbird : 2 (1)
Pheasant : 1 (1)
Moorhen : 5 (2)
Long-tailed Tit : 9 (8)
Goldcrest : 1 (1)
Grey Heron : 1 (1)
Mallard : 10 (10)
Blue Tit : 9 (2)
Tufted Duck : 3 (3)
Coot : 1 (1)
Green Woodpecker : 1 (1)
Robin : 2 (1)
Carrion Crow : 8 (4)
Great Black-backed Gull : 2 (2)
Chaffinch : 1 (1)