Cheshire Birder
Well-known member
It all started yesterday evening when I left my parents. The temperature was plummeting to -6.5°C at 10.30pm, the coldest I have noted in recent years. Two places nearby recorded temperatures of -8°C overnight.
Waking up this morning I didn't really want to go outside at all, but reluctantly I left home at 10.30am to head into town to do some shopping. The temperature was still -4°C despite the sunshine. Anyway after the shopping expedition I headed to my local patch just before lunch. My first stop was an area of farmland and small ponds where I expected to find them completely Teal-less and frozen solid. I was wrong on both counts!!
As I left the car and went toward the pond, I could hear the Teal but I still expected to find them sitting on a frozen solid pond after last nights temperatures. Wrong again!! A small patch of open water was present and along with three Teal were six Shovelers. These have been appearing on this pond in recent winters with increasing frequency. A dozen Mallard, two Coots and about 8 Moorhens completed the wildfowl collection.
Overlooking the pond from a high vantage point, I spotted a large raptor which was obscured behind the tree trunk it was sitting next to. As I got closer the bird turned its head, I discovered it was a female Peregrine. A rare find locally.
Then pleased with my morning so far, I headed to my local lake which I knew would still have open water. Hoping for a Goldeneye or maybe Goosander, I was somewhat disappointed. Around the unfrozen water c50 Black-headed Gulls squabbled over the bread being thrown for them. The only other gull was a solitary Lesser-black back and surprisingly there were no Commons which usually turn up in these cold conditions. The now resident Tufted Ducks did a ceremonial flypast but then thought better of it and landed. Mallard numbers reached over 100, a high count but given the conditions not unexpected.
So then I headed onwards for some lunch followed by six hours at work. :C
The highs and lows of a birdwatcher!!
CB
Waking up this morning I didn't really want to go outside at all, but reluctantly I left home at 10.30am to head into town to do some shopping. The temperature was still -4°C despite the sunshine. Anyway after the shopping expedition I headed to my local patch just before lunch. My first stop was an area of farmland and small ponds where I expected to find them completely Teal-less and frozen solid. I was wrong on both counts!!
As I left the car and went toward the pond, I could hear the Teal but I still expected to find them sitting on a frozen solid pond after last nights temperatures. Wrong again!! A small patch of open water was present and along with three Teal were six Shovelers. These have been appearing on this pond in recent winters with increasing frequency. A dozen Mallard, two Coots and about 8 Moorhens completed the wildfowl collection.
Overlooking the pond from a high vantage point, I spotted a large raptor which was obscured behind the tree trunk it was sitting next to. As I got closer the bird turned its head, I discovered it was a female Peregrine. A rare find locally.
Then pleased with my morning so far, I headed to my local lake which I knew would still have open water. Hoping for a Goldeneye or maybe Goosander, I was somewhat disappointed. Around the unfrozen water c50 Black-headed Gulls squabbled over the bread being thrown for them. The only other gull was a solitary Lesser-black back and surprisingly there were no Commons which usually turn up in these cold conditions. The now resident Tufted Ducks did a ceremonial flypast but then thought better of it and landed. Mallard numbers reached over 100, a high count but given the conditions not unexpected.
So then I headed onwards for some lunch followed by six hours at work. :C
The highs and lows of a birdwatcher!!
CB
