STANTON PARK

I stopped off at Stanton Park for a while this morning, and sat by the bird feeding station. Lots to see today, five species  of the tit family; bluetit, great tit, long tailed tit, coal tit and, as  a nice bonus, a marsh tit. Also good views of a couple of nuthatches. Also seen were robin, blackbird, wood pigeon, tree creeper, magpie, rook, redwings, swan, mallard, coot and moorhen. A Canada goose with orange collar was also present, but unwelcome by the resident swans.

blue tit

coal tit

great tit

long tailed tit

marsh tit

female chaffinch

male chaffinch

robin

nuthatch

nuthatch

canada goose being chased off by swan

COTSWOLD WATER PARK

An extra afternoon off gave me the opportunity to visit the water park today, a bit cloudy and not that warm but worth a visit, I thought.  Having been told where to park, I found Pit 30, and spotted the pair of Smew in the distance. As I approached, they took off and landed the other side of the lake; when I caught up with them they quickly swam off round a corner and I couldn't find them, but at least I had identified them through binoculars so could tick them off for this year.  Also saw a pair of red crested pochards, tufted ducks, mallards, great crested grebes doing a courtship display.

great crested grebes

On  to Lower Moor Farm where from the first hide, on the bird feeders,  were plenty of bluetits and great tits, male and female reed buntings, male and female bullfinches, dunnock, robin and nuthatch. From the second hide, I saw a pair of goosanders, herons nest building and long tailed tits. 

fluffed up bluetit

great tit

pair of bullfinches

dunnock

grey heron

nuthatch

reed bunting (f)

reed bunting (m)

robin

goosander (m)

goosander (f)

 blue tit and catkins

KINGFISHER AND WATER RAIL AT COATE WATER

A pleasant afternoon at Coate Water. Clear blue skies and little wind.  A  good number of species seen today, including a kingfisher sitting in a tree near Hide 1 and a water rail at Hide 2, tempted out by some bird seed I put out. 
Species of note were:
 blackheaded gull, herring gull, canada geese, mute swan, mallard, tufted duck, gadwall, pochard, teal, great crested grebe, goosander, heron, cormorant, goldcrest, tree creeper,  greater spotted woodpecker, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, chaffinch, wren, dunnock, moorhen, coot, robin, jackdaw, jay, wood pigeon,  pied wagtail, kingfisher and water rail, 

water rail

kingfisher

wren

great crested grebe

long tailed tits

MOULDON HILL

Was shopping near Mouldon Hill today so   popped in for a quick visit as the sun was shining. Very peaceful on the lake - great crested grebe, mallards, coots, moorhens, canada geese, blackheaded gulls and mute swans. Also noted robin, goldcrest, blue tit, long tailed tit, magpies and blackbirds. 

IN MY GARDEN

Had a quick look out of the window after breakfast and took a few photos.

robin on the summer house roof

house sparrows

goldfinches and greenfinch

blue tit prospecting for a nest site - they haven't used this box before although it has been up for several years now.

SISKINS AT LIDEN LAGOON

A bright and sunny morning for my walk around Liden Lagoon

I'd only walked a few yards from the car when I spotted a flock of siskins feeding in the alders, their colours standing out well against the blue sky.  On the lake were plenty of blackheaded gulls as well as the usual mallards, tufted ducks, coots and moorhens. Also a number of Canada geese feeding on the grass, and the swan family. Also saw long tailed tit, tree creepers, chaffinch, blue tit and dunnock. A few photos from today are below. 

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FROSTY MORNING

A beautiful frosty morning for my drive to school,  saw this pheasant amongst the frosty grass on the side of the road, and managed to get a photo before he made his getaway!

pheasant in the frosty grass

view across frosty field

another field view

COATE WATER

For various reasons I haven't been out and about recently, but today I was able to spend several hours at Coate Water. I started off in Hide 1, where I had good views of a greater spotted woodpecker, as well as the other usual woodland species. Off to Hide 2,  and there were a number of ducks  around, then finally I decided to complete the circuit of Coate Water along Broome Manor Lane, to locate the post which is often used to attract nuthatches and marsh tits to feed on seeds, nuts etc. It wasn't too difficult to find, as there was a hanging feeder in the tree nearby, so I put out some food and waited. It didn't take long for the birds to appear; blue tits, great tits, chaffinch, marsh tits and nuthatches. The nuthatches always seemed to have the priority though, and other birds would wait till they had gone before perching.

Species seen during the afternoon included:

Canada geese, mute swans, cormorant, grey heron, great crested grebe, goosander, tufted duck, mallard, teal, pochard, gadwall, shoveler,coot, moorhen, kingfisher, dunnock, wren, bluetit, great tit, long tailed tit, robin, tree creeper, gold crest, nuthatch, blackbird, marsh tit, magpie, jackdaw, crow, wood pigeon, feral pigeon, herring gull.


A few photos from today are shown below.

blue tit

nuthatch

marsh tit

greater spotted woodpecker

the tree stump on Broome Manor Lane

feral pigeon

line of feral pigeons