What a lovely wintery week it has been here on the Axe, wish we would have more of this weather during the winter months.
No day off until today, but earlier in the week I still managed to add some new species to the year list before and after work. Some of these were overdue resident species that I just hadn't bumped into yet, like Jay and Nuthatch, but there was some notable species too, like the 13 Golden Plover on Bridge Marsh on Tuesday...
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| A proper cold weather sight! |
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| A Goldie with a bit of light on it |
The last throws of Wednesday gave an excellent double, with a Goosander south down the Axe at 4:40pm and a Woodcock out of roost at 5:25pm. Especially pleased with the latter as it was a stab in the dark (literally) that produced a result on the first attempt!
Then came today, a day off! And what a stunning day it was, unbroken sunshine and a stunning morning frost...
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| My favourite weather! |
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| A distant Kingfisher in a frosty scene |
Spent a fair bit of today looking for a Dartford Warbler, highly likely the Dartford Warbler that was present on the edge of Sheep's Marsh at the end of 2022. Phil saw it briefly on Seaton Marshes yesterday morning but all further attempts to locate it have failed. No doubt it will appear again at some point though, it is really proving a slippery little sod!
Despite no Dartford, walking around today was just sheer joy. Saw plenty of Snipe, Reed Buntings, three Cetti's Warbler, two Cattle Egrets, the lingering Great White Egret, a Treecreeper (another overdue year tick) and couldn't resist papping this lovely male Bullfinch, which for a change didn't fly off at first sight...
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| Always enoy a good view of one of these, such charming birds |
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| Ok, one more pic... |
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| Two distant and fed-up looking Cattle Egrets soon after dawn |
I unexpectedly had a spare twenty minutes mid this afternoon, so I spent it looking over a nice calm Seaton Bay. Shag and Great Crested Grebe were easy year ticks, but I was not expecting to clap eyes on three 1w drake/female Eider feeding close in off Seaton Hole - not an annual species here. They soon drifted further out but I just about managed to get some record shots. The light was absolutely appalling though...
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| I think it was two 1w drake and a female but I could be wrong, the light was awful |
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| Not a shape we see regularly here! |
Now on 98 species for the Patchwork Challenge year list, be good to break 100 before January is out!
Bullfinch is a good image, like you say they normally dart off. I was in Northumberland in November and 5 bullfinch flew ahead of me in a lane for a god half mile. Never got a clean image.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the comment, yes unless they are on bird feeders the most common view is usually a white rump flying ahead of me along a county lane! Formerly my favourite bird so will always have a soft spot for them. Best wishes, Steve
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