Wednesday 2 January 2013

January 1st

What a fine start, I wasn't up particularly early but was at the castle by 8.15am, a quick stop in the first lay-by produced 4 COMMON SNIPE a REED BUNTING and a real surprise in the form of a PEREGRINE flying south-west. The car park was quiet, a couple of things flew over there, SISKIN, REDPOLL and PIED WAGTAIL. A BULLFINCH called as did a NUTHATCH, I saw both well later. FIELDFARES and REDWINGS were again around in good numbers which is to be expected here. I headed for the lake and was lucky to see the WATER RAIL in the same place as on the 30th. In the wood MARSH TIT, LONG TAILED TIT, TREECREEPER and GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER were added.
Wren

Walking around and taking in the view also produced quite a few bits and pieces, 20 SKYLARKS were over the fields and YELLOWHAMMERS were all around, 7 GREYLAG GEESE flew over high, 3 types of gull were seen BLACK HEADED, COMMON and HERRING. I also added 3 BUZZARD, 1 SPARROWHAWK and a KESTREL. Overall 49 species were noted today, a nice start on a beautiful day.
Sparrowhawk

15 comments:

Jason K said...

A nice mix of species there Alan. A good start to 2013!

Pete Woodruff said...

Yes, a good start as you say Alan, excellent images with an enjoyable account.

I'm still waiting to get started in 2013.

6 Wheeled Birder said...

Wren picture is great, absolutely love the pig pic. I hope 2013 is better for you than 2012...the 2 of us would have made a right old pair! Once I'm a bit better, I'll try and arrange a time with Pete where we can all meet up.

Warren Baker said...

Snipe and Reed Bunting are hard to get here Alan, Water Rail has only been recorded once, and Ive got my fingers crossed that the Marsh tit from last year hangs about into this, so far its eluded me!

Good start for you though, hope you can get out a bit more this year :-)

Greenie said...

Alan ,
Alas that fine start didn't last for long , but you certainly made the best of the weather and a great start to your year list .
Hope it's a good one for you and yours .

Stephen Mills said...

A nice start to the year Alan.Snipe are always hard to find on my patch as they mostly appear when everywhere else is frozen.

Giga said...

Piękne ptaki na początek roku. Życzę, żebyś cały rok miał taki szczęśliwy. Pozdrawiam.
Beautiful birds at the beginning of the year. I hope you all had a happy year. Yours.

Brian King said...

The little wren is gorgeous! We have Carolina Wrens that stay during the winter. Love the Sparrowhawk, too!

Helma said...


Hi Alan,

a beautiful picture of the wren :-)
I wish you all the best for this year and beautiful and that it may be a better year than last year.

Greetings, Helma

ShySongbird said...

A good start and so nice to see some sunshine Alan. Lovely photo of he Wren, they usually skulk about in the undergrowth too much for me to get a decent shot.

Rachel J said...

Good start Alan, I just about managed a nuthatch and a goldcrest (the latter in the new garden and a new one for the list!) Happy new year, hope to see you out and about sometime soon.

Unknown said...

I love birds.
Happy New Year!

Ingemar Pettersson said...

Hi!
Lovely bird photos, my favorite are the wren
Have a nice evening
/Ingemar

Pasión por las aves said...

Hola bellas imagenes .Un saludo

Maria said...

The sparrow hawk is gorgeous.