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Return of a Sun Kissed Birder 2009
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<blockquote data-quote="brianfm" data-source="post: 1388809" data-attributes="member: 11997"><p>21st Jan. So much has happened so far in January, lots of birding and thank goodness a new President of the USA that the New Year is feeling like an old year already! Anyway I had a rendezvous arranged with a lady at the Country Park today, only to make plans for the local group so don’t think it was anything to get excited about. ;-) I took the chance to do some birding and in less than two hours clocked up some interesting sightings. I guess the park is just over 2 miles from my home, so walking there and back and walking around the park gave me some exercise on what was a bright if rather cold day.</p><p></p><p>I was greeted at the entrance of the park by <strong>Long Tailed Tits </strong>and then a little further in I found numbers of <strong>Fieldfare </strong>(my first of the year), <strong>Redwings </strong>and <strong>Mistle Thrush </strong>feeding in the field with the horses. There were numbers of <strong>Greenfinch </strong>and <strong>Goldfinch </strong>feeding on the ground too and many more <strong>Redwings </strong>in the trees. In the field opposite, as a guy fed more horses, I found <strong>Dunnock </strong>and <strong>Robin</strong>. There were numerous corvids about and to be honest I felt the park was being over run by <strong>Magpies </strong>which were all over the place. I had seen <strong>Magpies </strong>from the moment I left the house and their numbers appear to be growing each year. I took a walk down to the pine trees as what I was really after were the reported Crossbills. Someone had told me they had found a party of 15 very recently. I did a pretty thorough search without any luck before I made quickly for the café and meeting. As I arrived I disturbed a <strong>Great Spotted Woodpecker </strong>on the feeder, yes, yet another! <strong>Great </strong>and <strong>Blue Tits </strong>were about too.</p><p></p><p>Well I had the meeting, a cup of Earl Grey tea (I know how to live well!) and a large cheese scone. We were so busy talking neither of us finished our scones so we took half away in a doggy serviette, or in my case a Brian serviette, as I was going to have another wander and look for the Crossbills again.</p><p></p><p>I never did find the Crossbills and I searched for some time, so I think they have moved on. I enjoyed the walk though and came across some youngsters on a nature walk with their teachers. They were using those large hand held magnifiers and this has given me an idea for our Local Group event here in June. I walked to the pond, the one caused by mining subsidence in 1959 and found <strong>Mute Swan, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, <strong>Pochard</strong>, Shoveller </strong>(another first for the year) <strong>Tufted Duck, Moo</strong><strong>rhen </strong>and <strong>Coot</strong>. There was also <strong>Black Headed, Common, Herring </strong>and <strong>Great </strong><strong>Black Backed Gulls</strong>. If there were any rarer gulls I didn’t see them and didn’t have my scope to search. As I watched through the screen a large <strong>Brown Rat </strong>kept appearing from a hole a just below the other side of the screen. It seemed friendly enough and was feeding on bread that someone had thrown over for the ducks.</p><p></p><p>Whilst taking a walk a little further alone one of the tracks a <strong>Fox </strong>ran across my path. I was pleased to see two young lads on bicycles excited by seeing it. As I worked further along another <strong>Fox </strong>was in the field to the left of my slinking its way down the edge of the field, perhaps thinking of <strong>Grey Heron </strong>for lunch, but the <strong>Grey Heron </strong>was well aware of it. I watched this very fit looking <strong>Fox </strong>for about 15 minutes and I can’t say that I have ever had a better sighting of a <strong>Fox</strong>. Whilst the <strong>Grey </strong><strong>Heron </strong>seemed safe enough I’m not so sure about the <strong>Moorhens </strong>in the field although nothing was taken whilst I watched! Whilst I was watching I had an interesting chat with a guy whose mate and dog had almost walked into the stag Red Deer. Apparently the dog ran of in a panic! The origin of the stag remains a mystery. Anyway the <strong>Fox </strong>sightings were the highlight of my day.</p><p></p><p>I took a return walk not wishing to give up to quickly on the Crossbills, but I gladly accepted the <strong>Foxes </strong>in their place. I took a quick photo of the rather eye catching sky and small pool used for pond dipping, before retracing my steps out of the park. I noticed that all of the Fieldfare and Redwing had departed, but I caught a brief sighting of <strong>Song Thrush </strong>giving me a full set, or page of Collins! <strong>Goldfinches </strong>were active and calling</p><p></p><p>I was a little surprised that my list in the park came to 38 species of bird, including 2 new ones in <strong>Fieldfare </strong>and <strong>Shoveller </strong>for the year list. Not at all bad for less than two hours birding and I was home by 2.30pm</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="brianfm, post: 1388809, member: 11997"] 21st Jan. So much has happened so far in January, lots of birding and thank goodness a new President of the USA that the New Year is feeling like an old year already! Anyway I had a rendezvous arranged with a lady at the Country Park today, only to make plans for the local group so don’t think it was anything to get excited about. ;-) I took the chance to do some birding and in less than two hours clocked up some interesting sightings. I guess the park is just over 2 miles from my home, so walking there and back and walking around the park gave me some exercise on what was a bright if rather cold day. I was greeted at the entrance of the park by [B]Long Tailed Tits [/B]and then a little further in I found numbers of [B]Fieldfare [/B](my first of the year), [B]Redwings [/B]and [B]Mistle Thrush [/B]feeding in the field with the horses. There were numbers of [B]Greenfinch [/B]and [B]Goldfinch [/B]feeding on the ground too and many more [B]Redwings [/B]in the trees. In the field opposite, as a guy fed more horses, I found [B]Dunnock [/B]and [B]Robin[/B]. There were numerous corvids about and to be honest I felt the park was being over run by [B]Magpies [/B]which were all over the place. I had seen [B]Magpies [/B]from the moment I left the house and their numbers appear to be growing each year. I took a walk down to the pine trees as what I was really after were the reported Crossbills. Someone had told me they had found a party of 15 very recently. I did a pretty thorough search without any luck before I made quickly for the café and meeting. As I arrived I disturbed a [B]Great Spotted Woodpecker [/B]on the feeder, yes, yet another! [B]Great [/B]and [B]Blue Tits [/B]were about too. Well I had the meeting, a cup of Earl Grey tea (I know how to live well!) and a large cheese scone. We were so busy talking neither of us finished our scones so we took half away in a doggy serviette, or in my case a Brian serviette, as I was going to have another wander and look for the Crossbills again. I never did find the Crossbills and I searched for some time, so I think they have moved on. I enjoyed the walk though and came across some youngsters on a nature walk with their teachers. They were using those large hand held magnifiers and this has given me an idea for our Local Group event here in June. I walked to the pond, the one caused by mining subsidence in 1959 and found [B]Mute Swan, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, [B]Pochard[/B], Shoveller [/B](another first for the year) [B]Tufted Duck, Moo[/B][B]rhen [/B]and [B]Coot[/B]. There was also [B]Black Headed, Common, Herring [/B]and [B]Great [/B][B]Black Backed Gulls[/B]. If there were any rarer gulls I didn’t see them and didn’t have my scope to search. As I watched through the screen a large [B]Brown Rat [/B]kept appearing from a hole a just below the other side of the screen. It seemed friendly enough and was feeding on bread that someone had thrown over for the ducks. Whilst taking a walk a little further alone one of the tracks a [B]Fox [/B]ran across my path. I was pleased to see two young lads on bicycles excited by seeing it. As I worked further along another [B]Fox [/B]was in the field to the left of my slinking its way down the edge of the field, perhaps thinking of [B]Grey Heron [/B]for lunch, but the [B]Grey Heron [/B]was well aware of it. I watched this very fit looking [B]Fox [/B]for about 15 minutes and I can’t say that I have ever had a better sighting of a [B]Fox[/B]. Whilst the [B]Grey [/B][B]Heron [/B]seemed safe enough I’m not so sure about the [B]Moorhens [/B]in the field although nothing was taken whilst I watched! Whilst I was watching I had an interesting chat with a guy whose mate and dog had almost walked into the stag Red Deer. Apparently the dog ran of in a panic! The origin of the stag remains a mystery. Anyway the [B]Fox [/B]sightings were the highlight of my day. I took a return walk not wishing to give up to quickly on the Crossbills, but I gladly accepted the [B]Foxes [/B]in their place. I took a quick photo of the rather eye catching sky and small pool used for pond dipping, before retracing my steps out of the park. I noticed that all of the Fieldfare and Redwing had departed, but I caught a brief sighting of [B]Song Thrush [/B]giving me a full set, or page of Collins! [B]Goldfinches [/B]were active and calling I was a little surprised that my list in the park came to 38 species of bird, including 2 new ones in [B]Fieldfare [/B]and [B]Shoveller [/B]for the year list. Not at all bad for less than two hours birding and I was home by 2.30pm [/QUOTE]
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