Sunday 16th December
A visit between 9am and 11am today. Glorious sunshine but very cold.
I had a call from Eddie Denson at about 8.30 he was watching a Goshawk soaring over the Millstream lake....how infuriating!! I was there about half an hour later...but of course no sign.
I parked at the Water Works entrance and walked again towards the Water Vole spot. No sign but then all of a sudden there was one, digging out his hole in the bank...I managed a few shots before it was spooked by a dog walker.....they could see my there with my camera but still came bounding towards me screaming at their dog. These are the same people who tell me there is no wildlife here...I wonder why they never see anything!
WATER VOLE
Over towards the railway line pit......I could see a small grebe diving at the end of the pit. I got my scope on it....a Black Necked Grebe....excellent!! It was very active diving and flapping.
Close by a Reed Bunting called and showed well. Over towards Abbey Mead the first of several Bullfinch called - there are lots of Bullfinch around at the moment. Today I had some really good views of males and females - they are very flighty though.
PAPER MILL OVERLOOKING BROOKLANDS LAKE
Again plenty of Teal on the river and 2 calling Cettis and lots of Redwing around. Back along the Millstream a Lesser Black Backed Gull showed well and a Chiffchaff called.
DUNNOCK
posted by Steve @ 7:46 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
Nice pic. of the Water Vole steve. Black neck grebe eh! well if I had such a species here, I could give up birding, being well satisfied with my lot! I can share your utter frustration with the ignorance of the dog owners.Thick as sh*t!!
Charming photo of the Water Vole. Great to hear about the Black-necked Grebe, however it is rather annoying to know that I was there and didn't see it! Shame about the Goshawk, that would have been a fantastic tick for your patch. By having a public park as a local patch, I know exactly how you feel about dog walkers.
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