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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

RSPB Middleton Lakes (1 Viewer)

There is a theory being espoused, in certain circles of the scientific community, that human contribution to 'global warming' will delay the onset of any 'Little Ice Ages' that may or may not be due to sunspot activity.....There are so many facets to the equation and we live on such a short time-scale. Certainly, my life-span, thus far, has seen so much change so quickly who knows what the future holds - none of us i think?

The Cetti's don't know that, that's for sure;)

Laurie:t:
 
I finally caught up with 3 Tree Sparrows, they were in the farm hedge with several House Sparrows. The main reserve was very quiet as a Peregrine was flying around, however 1 Oystercatcher and 3 Snipe were seen and 80 Lapwing flew over. 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Stonechat and a Redpoll were also noted.
Geoff.
 
New river bridge at last.

It was good to see the long awaited bridge at last however they say it could be a week or two before we can use it.
On the Dosthill side today were 3 Oystercatcher, 19 Wigeon and a Grey Wagtail.
Geoff
 

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At last some birds to report, it must be Spring.
2 Ringed Plover, 5 Golden Plover and a Green Sandpiper were on JWs, a Skylark was over the adjacent fields, 3 Cetti's Warbler were singing, 4 Stonechat were around the JWs fence.
24 House Sparrows and 2 Tree Sparrows were in the farm hedge and 9 Yellowhammer were in the setaside viewable from the canal.
Men were working on the new river bridge so no chance to sneak across.
Geoff
 
This morning 3 Ringed Plover and a Green Sandpiper were on the JWs, 9 Goosander were on North Pit and a Peregrine was hanging around. A Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest were along the river.
Geoff
 
Still quiet birdwise today, 2 Goosander were on the river, on the JWs were 300 Lapwing and 200 Black-headed Gulls but no sign of yesterdays reported Dunlin and Med Gull. 4 Tree Sparrows were still in the Farm hedge and a large Frog was on the carpark footpath.
The river bridge is still closed.
Yesterday on the Dosthill side were 20 Wigeon, 4 Goldeneye, 9 Oystercatcher, 1 Raven, 3 Skylark, 5 Cetti's Warbler and a Chiffchaff.
Geoff.
 
The drake Pintail was on the new reedbed pool, also seen were 16 Shelduck, 6 Goldeneye, 3 Goosander, 3 Little Egret, 1 Peregrine, 5 Snipe, 2 Stonechat, 3 Tree Sparrow, 1 Grey Wagtail and 5 Mipit.
A few Coltsfoot were in flower, 16 days later than average based on 32 years of observation.
On the 27th February I heard my first singing Chiffchaff of the year, over on the Dosthill side of the reserve.
Geoff.
 
North pit tonight single Wheatear. Very difficult to get to at the moment as the West side is closed and the river is running over the pipe bridge on the East side. Also path to hide is flooded. Other stuff on the reserve included 5 Ringed Plover and 4 Redshank on JW, 9 Little Egret in various places, 15 Snipe on Fishers Mill and 4 Lesser Redpoll on the feeders. This was all eclipsed by the display 2500 Starlings put on over silt pool for 3/4 of an hour with 2 Sparrowhawks in pursuit. Still don't know how I missed the 8 Blackwits - must walk round with my eyes closed.
 

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A large increase in the number of starlings roosting at silt pool tonight with 3350 individuals all going in together at 6.30pm. Again putting on a good display for half an hour and right above the viewing platform. Why are numbers building when they should be dispersing.
 
I haven’t got the energy to count the Starlings tonight so we are going to have to rely on the output from ImageJ (attached) which is giving the total as 3487. Image J usually counts slightly low so lets call it 3500 tonight which yet again is an increase on the previous total. Also around the reserve were 3, possibly 4 Redshank, 2 Ringed Plover, single Green Sandpiper and Barn Owl over the Play Meadow.

Steve
 

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I must admit, Steve, at first glance that does'nt look like 3500 birds, perhaps the dark bits could be small groups? Could u do me a favour and put up the original image? - i'm intrigued as i have not used the software since the Autumn and have had nothing worth counting.....

ATB Laurie:t:
 
Laurie

I've attached the original and as your post got me doubting the size of the flock I've had to do the manual count after all - thanks. Anyway this has come back with 3571 birds which is what I would have expected. Generally I find that ImageJ is 2% lower than the actual when using a noise tolerance of about 30. The original picture is not the best as it's heavily crowded to the RHS, thus I've ignored a lot of potential doubles so the actual number was probably nearer 3700 birds.

I wonder if the numbers will continue to grow this week

I've had to heavily reduce the file size of the attached to upload so perhaps some detail will be lost.


Steve
 

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A good selection of waders this morning 5 Oystercatcher, 4 Ringed Plover, 1 LRP, 11 Snipe, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin and 1 Ruff. Also noted were 1 Pink-footed Goose which seemed wary, 1 Pintail, 3 Goosander and 3 Water Rail.
Geoff
 
Does anyone know what the crack is with the combination locks on the car park access gates. Got there tonight just gone 5pm and both gates were locked up. After trying all 9999 combinations it was dark. All I saw was a Barn Owl at Fishers Mill and a few Starlings.

Steve
 
10,000+ starlings tonight. The reason I can’t be more accurate is because there were so many I couldn't get them in a single shot. ImageJ is giving 8500 for the attached partial flock and as it's so dense in places it's missing a lot of birds. They behaved strange tonight preferring to roost out in the open at the far end of silt pool in the bushes that line the bank. Perhaps there were too many for the reeds or they are off later tonight. Also out on the reserve single Black-tailed Godwit, single Dunlin, 4+ Redshank, 3 Ringed Plover and a male Pintail on North Pit.

Path is advancing towards West screen - Motorway standard in places with banked curves and chicanes. The dirt bikers are going to love it once they can get over the river bridge.
 

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Afternoon visit today, 9 Wigeon, 2 male Pintail (1 North Pit, 1 Hall Lake), 6 Goldeneye, 5 Goosander, 4 Oystercatcher, 11 Ringed Plover, 9 Snipe, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Dunlin.
Geoff.
 

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