birdman
Орнитол&
The weather in these parts defied the forecast, and stayed relatively dry throughout Saturday. I was hoping to take advantage of a small gap in my "schedule" and catch up with the Cattle Egret at Fairburn Ings. However, I couldn't make it before the evening, and a quick look on the Internet showed me it had "flown high to the west" at 4:25.
So, more in hope than expectation, I set off for Fairburn. To get straight to the point, although the egret was apparently spotted again later in the day, it wasn't by me, and so it remains off my lifelist!
That's not to say the evening was a complete washout... far from it. Although nothing unusual made the list, I had a very enjoyable late evening with improving weather - it became rather pleasant in fact - and spent a good deal of time watching the dozens of Swifts.
Regular visitors to Fairburn Ings will be unsurprised to see the Gulls and Wildfowl in the list, but my personall highlights were the Ringed Plover and the Dunlin, the Blackcap and the Warblers. I have listed Willow Warbler based on the disyllabic hoo-eet call, but there were in fact a large number of similar birds, some of which may have been Chiffchaffs, but if so they didn't make themselves known vocally.
So... no egret to report but all in all, it was OK, and a list of 31 in a couple of hours is not too bad at all.
Blackcap
Black-headed Gull
Blue Tit
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Coot
Cormorant
Dunlin
Great Crested Grebe
Grey Heron
Grey Partridge
Greylag Goose
Herring Gull
House Martin
Kestrel
Lapwing
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Mallard
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Pochard
Redshank
Ringed Plover
Sedge Warbler
Stonechat
Swift
Teal
Willow Warbler
Woodpigeon
Wren
So, more in hope than expectation, I set off for Fairburn. To get straight to the point, although the egret was apparently spotted again later in the day, it wasn't by me, and so it remains off my lifelist!
That's not to say the evening was a complete washout... far from it. Although nothing unusual made the list, I had a very enjoyable late evening with improving weather - it became rather pleasant in fact - and spent a good deal of time watching the dozens of Swifts.
Regular visitors to Fairburn Ings will be unsurprised to see the Gulls and Wildfowl in the list, but my personall highlights were the Ringed Plover and the Dunlin, the Blackcap and the Warblers. I have listed Willow Warbler based on the disyllabic hoo-eet call, but there were in fact a large number of similar birds, some of which may have been Chiffchaffs, but if so they didn't make themselves known vocally.
So... no egret to report but all in all, it was OK, and a list of 31 in a couple of hours is not too bad at all.
Blackcap
Black-headed Gull
Blue Tit
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Coot
Cormorant
Dunlin
Great Crested Grebe
Grey Heron
Grey Partridge
Greylag Goose
Herring Gull
House Martin
Kestrel
Lapwing
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Mallard
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Pochard
Redshank
Ringed Plover
Sedge Warbler
Stonechat
Swift
Teal
Willow Warbler
Woodpigeon
Wren
