I knew an afternoon at RSPB Arne would be good. 28 Spoonbills, 400 Avocets, Great Crested Grebe, a white stag and a tiny Goldcrest, along with the usual suspects - curlew, heron, redshank, oystercatchers, lapwing, shelduck, teal and plenty of woodland birds at the feeders. Also the British Trust for Ornithology were there catching, sexing, weighing and ringing birds. Brilliant! And if you were wondering how to weigh a blue tit, the answer is to pop it head first into an empty film roll canister and then gently place on the scales.
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An afternoon jaunt of 7 miles around the estuary and salt marshes added several more birds to my list, bringing me up to 46 birds so far for 2015. Especially pleased to spot an elusive Water Rail. It was lovely to see so many waders, ducks and large numbers of brent geese and lapwings. The sun was out, and the views over to the Isle of Wight were stunning, as usual. Today's new spots:
Black-Tailed Godwit, Water Rail, Kestrel, Buzzard, Wigeon, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Shoveler, Pintail, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Knot, Common Sandpiper. Lovely. Spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at Wick Fields and Hengistbury Head this afternoon with my binoculars for the first bird watching outing of the year. Now, traditionally this takes place on 1st January, but was a bit too busy sleeping off the champers yesterday. Nothing out of the ordinary spotted, but a good count nonetheless. It was very busy up on the Head, and my usual birdie route along side the heronry was closed off as there is currently a bull in the field. So had to battle with the crowds and a broken down land train for a while until got to the path to cut up to quarry pond. Meanwhile, Pete was thrashing radio controlled cars about in the big field. Photos courtesy of the interweb. I've listed everything (memory permitting), even the very common ones as they all count to start off the year list. Might have done a bit better with my telescope....next time.
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AuthorI'm Saran and I like hiking (and cats). Archives
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