FARMOOR

This morning  I was finally able to get to Farmoor Reservoir where all week there have been reports of a pair of Knot in addition to the Great Northern Diver and Scaup which have been there since the beginning of the month. It was a cold morning, but no frost and the air was still, under a cloudy sky.

I began by making my way across the causeway which separates the two reservoirs, the knot had been reported yesterday on the western bank which is the opposite side from the car park, but I hoped that perhaps they would have relocated on the causeway overnight, which they had. They were quite oblivious of humans as they scurried along in tandem at the waters edge, picking up small insects as they went. It was good to be able to see them at close quarters - last year's sighting was a distant tiny shape which someone pointed out through their telescope!!  I also saw a greater black backed gull perched on one of the buoys further out. 

Continuing my walk, I stopped to speak to someone coming toward me - they pointed out where the Scaup was and mentioned the presence of siskins near the Shrike hide and a common sandpiper on the opposite side of the reservoir. The diver hadn't yet been located.   I found the Scaup just around the corner then continued to walk in the direction of the path which leads to the hide. A small wader flew past me toward the causeway which I soon discovered was the common sandpiper. I stopped for a few photos, quite relieved that it would save me a considerable walk! 

Down at the hide, a pair of mute swans were feeding beneath the alder tree containing feeders. A large flock of finches flew into the top of the tree, a mix of siskins and goldfinches. It was hard to photograph them amongst the leaves, particularly as the light wasn't good either but it was good to see them there. 

Retracing my steps, I took another look at the scaup and the knot which hadn't moved far. As I neared the end of the causeway I became aware of a cormorant flying at speed and then descending into a dive, resurfacing after a few seconds with a huge fish which it proceeded to try and swallow with difficulty. I don't think I've seen a cormorant dive from the air before, rather like  a gannet! 

Other birds of note included some great crested and little grebes, as well as Canada and greylag geese, tufted and mallard ducks. 

Altogether a nice morning's walk, with 6 more sightings for the year. I didn't find the diver, but apparently it was there so hopefully will remain until my next visit. 

knot

 scaup female

 the best I could get of a siskin!

tufted duck male

 Canada geese

common sandpiper

looking tiny in comparison to the mallards

cormorant eating a fish -it  seemed to be stuck in this position for a while -  I assume it eventually went down!

another cormorant

great crested grebe in winter plumage

greylag goose

LESSER YELLOW LEGS STILL AT FRAMPTON MARSH

 Back in September, I visited the RSPB reserve at Frampton Marsh, with the hope of seeing a wader called a  Lesser Yellowlegs which had just arrived, but sadly missed it. Now over 100 days later, this bird is still at the site, recently showing well in the flooded area adjacent to the visitor car park and even occasionally in the pools in the car park itself. Frampton Marsh is a reserve I have visited during spring and summer, but not winter months so with a few days planned staying with my sister in nearby Cambridgeshire, I expressed a wish to visit,  with a the added attraction of possibly seeing the lesser yellowlegs if still present. 

After a slightly longer journey than expected due to heavy traffic, we arrived at the reserve at around nine thirty. With the car park  quickly filling, we were pleased to find a suitable parking spot before joining the several other visitors scanning the floods with their scopes. We saw good numbers of ducks, lapwings and even a couple of snipe before someone pointed out the lesser yellow legs making its away along the 'shoreline' where a grass ridge met the water not too far from the carpark boundary. It was an elegant bird, its long yellow legs very apparent  as it probed for food and we spent some time watching it as it made its way left to right giving good views to all observers, 

Having ticked it off mentally on our year lists, we went to the visitor centre, and after checking out the lunch menu  with a view to eating in the café later on,  found our way out to the reserve. It was bright sunshine, quite chilly but with little wind and the reedbeds looked golden yellow against the blue sky and water.  We were glad we had worn wellies, as the wardens warned us that some of the paths were partly or totally flooded! 

As we made out way around the hides, we noted the usual  range of duck species on the reserve which included good numbers of wigeon and a few pintail,  although we missed out on the goldeneyes, not realising they were there. Hoping to see some  wintering brent geese, we climbed the steps to the sea wall and started to walk along it  but then noticed a large flock of dark bodied  geese flying in from the Wash which we identified as brent geese. The high tide had obviously caused them to relocate and whilst some settled in a distant field field, others flew overhead and  stopped off on the reserve itself. I would  like to have seen whooper swans but they tend to fly in at dusk and  off at dawn, not remaining on site during the day and we were unable to spot any during our visit. 

Along the perimeter of the reserve,  goldfinches could be seen enjoying the seeds from the sunflower plot and at one time a  large mixed finch flock flew in and perched on a hawthorn bush. We scanned with binoculars and found that the flock  included several bramblings as well as greenfinches, chaffinches and goldfinches. Whilst  we stood watching, a kestrel landed in a nearby tree, giving excellent views as it sat there almost motionless, seemingly unconcerned by the visitors photographing it. 

With time moving on, we then made our way back to the cafe, stopping for a snack lunch before returning home. 

WONDERFUL WAXWINGS TO START THE YEAR!

A rare influx of Waxwings from Scandinavia has caused a lot of excitement amongst birders - these attractive birds appear to be working their way southwards in the UK as the feed on the plentiful berries that are around this year. 

Last Saturday I dipped some waxwings near Stroud,  but heard of some more at a park near a primary school in  Cheltenham. This morning a kind observer posted that they had been seen there at 8 a.m. so with a free day to do some New Year's birding I headed over there for 9 .30 a.m. Parking was limited but I found a space fairly easily in a residential side street clos by which didn't block anyone's drive.  Walking down to the park entrance, I encountered a couple of birders who  assured me that the waxwings were still present, currently at the top of a tall tree but periodically coming down to feed on some orange rowan berries on one of the smaller trees. There were about 30 or so  people present, and I soon got chatting to  some of them who pointed out  8 waxwings perched near the top of  the tree. I suspect that many of the watchers had come for a second visit, in order to have waxwings on both their 2023 and 2024  lists! After a short while three or four of the waxwings flew down to the berry tree, fed for just enough time for me  to grab a photo and then flew back up to their original tree. They did this about three or four times, sadly not in positions for the best of shots as they were often behind twigs or in the shade of branches but certainly close enough to enjoy their striking plumage and acrobatics for a few moments. As an added bonus  a pair of blackcaps were feeding on the adjacent trees. 

After deciding that I would not get many more views of the waxwings, and with the weather looking as if it would cloud over,  I headed over to Slimbridge WWT  to get my 2024 bird list underway. I spent a couple of hours there, although it soon became quite overcast and in fact started raining on my way home. I did manage to get  44 species there, including white fronted geese, and a spotted redshank, however,  the water rails did not show today. Hopefully I will fit in a  further visit before the Bewick swans leave. 

MID- DECEMBER AT SLIMBRIDGE

  I spent a couple of hours at a rather overcast Slimbridge wetlands Centre today. Highlights were two water rail feeding close to the Willow Hide and the newly arrived Bewicks swans on the Rushy Pen. 

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE PURPLE HERON AND AN OSPREY FLYPAST!

With only a small number of purple herons visiting the UK each year, I thought I'd revisit Whelford pools to see the juvenile bird once more and hopefully see it for longer than the five minutes last Monday! On Saturday a lot of birders were disappointed that the heron didn't turn up at all, but I found out that it had been showing earlier this morning. Having completed my mornings jobs at home, I arrived  at 11.20 to find the car park full but managed to squeeze between two cars further along the road meaning a short walk back to the reserve.

As expected the benches were full, but there was standing room at the back of the hide and I found a good spot and waited. The heron had apparently flown off and no one was sure if it would return. Thankfully a seat became vacant so I  sat down and began to wait. Someone had put out seeds in a couple of feeders in front of the hide so there was a constant stream of blue and great tits with the occasional robin or dunnock. After about three quarters of an hour, just as a couple had given up and left the hide, the purple heron flew in! And this time it looked like it was there for the rest of the day!  To start with it walked along carefully in front of the reeds and back, before stopping to catch a fish. It disappeared for a bit, though could be seen by people at the far end of the hide who said it was fishing regularly. Eventually it made its way back and then settled down just behind a pile of dead reads and stayed more or less motionless,  occasionally lifting up his head, or darting at a fish that had strayed into its territory. Meanwhile, an observant watcher had noticed an osprey pass overhead with a fish, which was an added bonus to my visit.

Having sat for a couple of hours and with the heron still  present but not moving much, I decided to give up my seat to someone else and headed home.

 

A LOCAL PURPLE HERON!

When I looked at the local birding blog for Gloucestershire this morning I saw someone had posted some photos of a juvenile purple heron, seen well from a hide at an undisclosed location.  The only purple heron I've seen was at Blenheim Palace several years back, so this would be an interesting sighting if I knew where it was! After leaving work I checked the  Cotswold water park sightings for a Great Northern Diver seen recently, and  then saw that the purple heron was in fact  at Whelford Pools, only a few miles away! Only problem,  my camera and binoculars were at home, so I frustratingly had to drive a 50 minute round trip to get them ! (But at least I could grab some lunch!) 

Knowing that Whelford Nature reserve only has a small carpark, I was slightly apprehensive as to whether I would be able to park, but thankfully there were some spaces. The hide is only a very short walk  from the car park and I was relieved to find that there was still a bench free from where I could see out onto the cut area of the reeds in front of the hide.

The heron had apparently been stalking amongst the reeds about an hour earlier but had flown off to the right. I had the rest of the afternoon more or less free so decided to wait and see if it returned to its regular spot. I didn't have to wait more than ten minutes before someone said 'oh that looks like a bittern...no... its the purple heron flying in!' and it landed about 10 metres away in full view of the watchers. For about five minutes it walked from left to right and back again and gave some good views, before flying off to the left and up into some trees where it remained out of sight for the next half an hour!  As it didn't look likely to return I decided to call it a day.