mountain man
Guest
After the excitement of monday, we decided to have a break from the old pager and check Marbury Country Park in nearby Cheshire. After a bit of a late start (tut-tut) we arrived just before midday to a near-deafening choir of Nuthatch all intent on outdoing each other in terms of decibels! God they drive me insane!!!
It was obvious by the number of singing Blackcaps, Willows & Chiffs and a lot had happened since I last visited 3 weeks back when it was dead. Hirundines zooming around overhead confirmed it.
When I last visited I scored with 3 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but only poor views. The nest hole I knew of from 2003 was on a dead branch that had been blown off in some strong wind, but I had been tipped by a friend that a few days before he had seen one on the same dead tree seemingly excavating a new hole.
We went straight to the tree and noticed the trunk had been drummed to pieces and that there WAS a hole. We waited and waited and waited, but nothing. Not even a single call. Treecreepers were attacking each other which was good fun and still those bloody Nuthatches would just not shut up!
I decided to get a bit closer and see if it really was a hole or just a knot or an optical illusion or something. As I moved in I saw a dark piece of the trunk move a bit. Bins up to the eyes and there he was - a belting little male Lesser Pecker. He'd been there all the time!!!
Well to say that we had good views would be the understatement of the millenium. He crept around and zoomed along thin branches for 5 minutes before we eventually lost him in the tree behind. WOW!
As we headed back I heard a Brambling calling somewhere and then picked up a female at the top of some very tall trees. Got the scope on it and had great views. Someone then came past and said they had just had a male on the feeders, but we failed to see that one.
There was no sign of the adult Little Gull that has been there recently, but there were 2 Oystercatcher which is a bit unusual and even better 2 White Wagtails which were a great "race" year tick and a Common Sand bobbing around in the mud.
Well that was just fine and we decided to call it a day. I had to be in Leeds that night for a gig with Opera North so we went home more than satisfied.
Later that night, after I was finished playing, I turned my phone back on and there was a text message from Sarah. I'd left my pager at home and the MEGA ALERT had gone off...
NORFOLK ALPINE ACCENTOR AT OVERSTRAND.
Day 3 to follow...
It was obvious by the number of singing Blackcaps, Willows & Chiffs and a lot had happened since I last visited 3 weeks back when it was dead. Hirundines zooming around overhead confirmed it.
When I last visited I scored with 3 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but only poor views. The nest hole I knew of from 2003 was on a dead branch that had been blown off in some strong wind, but I had been tipped by a friend that a few days before he had seen one on the same dead tree seemingly excavating a new hole.
We went straight to the tree and noticed the trunk had been drummed to pieces and that there WAS a hole. We waited and waited and waited, but nothing. Not even a single call. Treecreepers were attacking each other which was good fun and still those bloody Nuthatches would just not shut up!
I decided to get a bit closer and see if it really was a hole or just a knot or an optical illusion or something. As I moved in I saw a dark piece of the trunk move a bit. Bins up to the eyes and there he was - a belting little male Lesser Pecker. He'd been there all the time!!!
Well to say that we had good views would be the understatement of the millenium. He crept around and zoomed along thin branches for 5 minutes before we eventually lost him in the tree behind. WOW!
As we headed back I heard a Brambling calling somewhere and then picked up a female at the top of some very tall trees. Got the scope on it and had great views. Someone then came past and said they had just had a male on the feeders, but we failed to see that one.
There was no sign of the adult Little Gull that has been there recently, but there were 2 Oystercatcher which is a bit unusual and even better 2 White Wagtails which were a great "race" year tick and a Common Sand bobbing around in the mud.
Well that was just fine and we decided to call it a day. I had to be in Leeds that night for a gig with Opera North so we went home more than satisfied.
Later that night, after I was finished playing, I turned my phone back on and there was a text message from Sarah. I'd left my pager at home and the MEGA ALERT had gone off...
NORFOLK ALPINE ACCENTOR AT OVERSTRAND.
Day 3 to follow...
