Two owls and a piece of cake


A far more agreeable visit to Holmethorpe today, with my whinges of four days ago largely gone - the ground was drier, there were not nearly as many human beings getting in the way, I managed to find several extra viewpoints that opened up the larger water bodies to my scope and even the noise appeared to have lessened - results all round!

The calm, dry and mainly sunny weather bathed everything in a positive light and it was then only up to the birds to play their part in the proceedings, which they largely did. Two Ravens that flew over the farmland and up onto Nutfield Ridge were a long overdue site tick for me, with other notable counts/sightings being: Little Egret (1), Wigeon (13), Gadwall (63), Teal (52), Shoveler (11), Tufted Duck (219), Common Buzzard (3), Coot (210), Snipe (6), Black-headed Gull (2000), Common Gull (100), Lesser Black-backed Gull (75), Herring Gull (2250), Great Black-backed Gull (5), Little Owl (1, above), Kingfisher (2), Grey Wagtail (1), Fieldfare (30), Redwing (30), Yellowhammer (1), Reed Bunting (7).

A late afternoon visit to Canons Farm coincided with an early, but brief, fly-around the barns from the wintering Barn Owl. I'm glad it decided to show when it did, as the rain soon set in, so it was time to head home for a cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake. Alas, the cake is almost gone...

Comments

Factor said…
Good to get a couple of Raven on the list early. I didn't see one on the patch last year but had one fly low over my house one morning. We could do with a Waxwing and particularly a Smew. Wonder why we haven't had one for more than a year?
6 January 2017 at 22:12
Steve Gale said…
Neil, Gordon was saying just that the other day.
6 January 2017 at 22:43
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