Sunday 13 March 2016

Birds of the spring sunshine

Hello

A ringing session at Glyn Davies Wood well over to the west of the county was busy with about 140 birds captured and was a nice cross section of birds that utilise this small but ancient woodland site. Great Tits and Blue Tits dominated of course but other birds included a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Nuthatches, a Siskin, a Treecreeper and small numbers of Coal, Long-tailed and Marsh Tits and Chaffinches. A Willow Tit was heard singing briefly.

A brief stop at Boddington Reservoir on the way home produced just a pair of Goosander. Pacing up and down the causeway at Ravensthorpe Reservoir this afternoon didn't provide any views of Otter but there were plenty of fishing Cormorants and Grey Herons. Several Goldeneye are often relatively close to the causeway and today the drakes looked super in the spring sunshine. Two Chiffchaffs included a singing bird.

Two drake Smew and a pair of Goosander were in the small section of the Moulton Grange Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this morning and two Barn Owls were hunting the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

A great deal of diurnal visible migration has been on-going during the last few afternoons, lots of high-flying gulls moving north and the Red Kites have been very mobile and nomadic. Migrant flocks of Starling, Redwing and Fieldfare are on the move and wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks are shifting in smaller numbers.

Regards

Neil M


Drake Goldeneye
Ravensthorpe Reservoir

Cormorant at Ravensthorpe Reservoir.
Courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Red Kite at Pitsford Reservoir.
Courtesy of Jacob Spinks

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