Weekend of 16th and 17th January

 

Sparrowhawk at second screen (c) Bark

This was a weekend with two very different contrasting mornings. Saturday was grey, misty and with a fine drizzle. The rain got on bins scopes and cameras, and for me it made seeing through my glasses very tricky.

Goldcrest in the mist (c) Bark

Sunday however was the very best kind of winters morning, with bright sunshine, clear blue skies, temperatures just above freezing and birds seemingly everywhere.

Lapwings over Big Otmoor (c) Bark

One of the best things on Sunday morning after coming through the Car park Field was finding that some of the White-fronted Geese were feeding quite close to the cattle pens. 

White fronts (c) Bark

They were with Canada Geese and Greylags but did not seem unduly nervous of us on the bridleway. We counted approximately twenty or so of them on Greenaways and a similar number at the top of Ashgrave. Unfortunately, we could find no sign of the Brent Goose that was seen last week, and we assume it has moved on.

The size difference between the Whitefronts and Greylags is very Noticeable (c) Bark

Both Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier were seen at the weekend, but I didn't connect with the Hen Harrier.

Marsh Harrier (c) Tom N-L

I did, however, get very lucky with a Sparrow Hawk. Just as I was about to leave the second screen, with my scope on my shoulder, I glanced out at the lagoon for one last time and as if from nowhere a Sparrow Hawk landed on the fence post outside, not more than two metres away.

Sparrowhawk (c) Bark

I managed to fire off six pictures one handed, before it saw me and flew. On Sunday morning we were lucky enough to see a Peregrine bathing in the flood on the further edge of Noke Sides it spent at least five minutes in the water splashing about and flapping its wings, it then flew up into one of the adjacent Oak trees to preen.

Distant bathing Peregrine (c) Bark

When we looked more closely, we could see that there was another Peregrine with it in the tree. Scope views showed that there was pale fringing on the smaller of the two and it appeared slightly more brown than slaty grey, and so we assumed that it was a juvenile.

Redpoll (c) Bark

Walking along the bridleway on Sunday morning we came upon a small party of five redpolls feeding. They were on one of their favourite food plants Rose Bay Willow Herb. It was difficult to pick them out and could so easily have been overlooked, given their size and from behind their extremely effective camouflage.

Their camouflage in the dried grasses is superb (c) Bark

Increasingly Redwings and Fieldfares are feeding on the ground as the berries are all gone. Some Redwings in particular are becoming less nervous and more confiding as they forage in the short grass beside the paths.

Confiding Redwing (c) Bark

Bullfinches are changing their feeding strategy too and are beginning to change from picking seeds from dried up blackberries to eating the swelling buds of Blackthorn bushes. They can most easily be seen doing this in the larger bushes of the car park field.

Bullfinch on blackthorn (c) Bark

It is surprising how we take some birds for granted and don’t always  appreciate their colour or their beauty. A careful, close look at a Starling or a Chaffinch reveals amazing colour and structure, because they are so common, we sometimes overlook them.

Starling (c) Tom N-L and Chaffinch (c) Bark

As I have been writing this morning, news has come in that three Cranes have been seen over Greenaway's and headed towards Noke Sides. Cranes have been heard in the past few days at other sites in the county and these birds may be the same ones.

Stonechat along the bridleway (c) Bark

Until we get a good look at them and can see leg ring colours we will not know if they are “our” birds returning It seems to be very early for our breeding cranes to come back as last year they returned on fourteenth of February, which itself was earlier than the year before. More information will follow when I have it.

Like winter watercolours (c) Tom N-L

First two weeks of 2021

 

Russian White Fronted Goose (c) Dan Miller

The year has started with a short cold snap and the moor has very often been grey, misty and dank.

As the water levels drop twigs are left with petticoats of ice. (c) Bark

For several days the scrapes and lagoons were iced over, although there were always some leads of open water.

Lapwings (c) Bark

The latest freeze has had the  effect of reducing the numbers of Lapwings and Golden Plovers on the reserve. Now things have warmed up it will be interesting to see if the numbers will build up again.

Redwing tackling Sloes

Fieldfares and Redwings have finished the most palatable of the hedgerow berries and are now either feeding on the ground or tackling the harder to eat sloes.

Bullfinch and bramble (c) Bark

Bullfinches are extracting the kernels from the desiccated blackberries beside the paths to both screens, although mostly what we see is their white rumps disappearing ahead of us further down the track.

Distant record shot of Brent Goose with Canadas (c) Peter Alfrey

It has been a very birdy start to the year and already we have recorded eighty-six different species since the first of January. Geese are doing especially well. The Russian White-fronted Geese are still on site as are the flock of Barnacles they have been joined by a much scarcer, black- bellied Brent Goose. Not an uncommon goose around the coast in winter but more unusual so far from the sea. Three Egyptian Geese have also been on site.

Hen Harrier disappearing into the murk (c) Bark

There is a Hen Harrier working across the whole moor It has frequently been seen hunting across The Closes. I was lucky enough on Sunday to see it land on the grass beside the game strip and could scope it as it sat on the ground preening. It is a very sleek and elegant bird immaculately feathered.

Wigeon Shoveller and Pintail. (c) Bark

A mass of Wigeon feeding out on the flooded Noke Sides were flushed by a Peregrine and we were able to see it well as it sat at the top of the barest most skeletal oak tree in the hedge on the other side of the field. This vantage point would appear to be one of its favourite perches as this was the third time I have seen it up there in as many visits. From its somewhat smaller size we think that it is probably a juvenile male. Merlin too is being seen more frequently but only ever briefly and in flight.

Wagtails on ice (c) Bark

There have been up to twenty or so Pied Wagtails picking their way across the ice on Noke sides and with them a similar number of Meadow Pipits. Goldfinches are still gleaning seeds from the clumps of dried out Burdock and Teasels beside the bridleway.

Goldfinches beside the bridleway (c) Bark

There are up to forty Chaffinches now coming down to the seed scattered by the hide, along with fifty or so Reed Buntings. There appear to be fewer Linnets coming in this year compared with the last two years. The feeding finches can be very confiding if one waits quietly and patiently by the gate. Amongst them are both male and female Bramblings.

Cetti's by the second screen (c) Bark

A Redpoll has been seen near the feeders in the carpark field. An unusual sighting was a Jack Snipe that flushed up from beneath someone’s feet as they walked along the bridleway.

There are still very large numbers of wildfowl across the whole reserve, Wigeon are the most numerous but significant numbers of Shovellers, Pintail and Teal are also present. A pair of Goosander were seen and there was a report of Shelduck. With the three Ring-necked Ducks having left Pit sixty it will be worth looking carefully through the Tufted Ducks out on the southern lagoon….we could get lucky!

Waiting for the thaw. (c) Bark