Just before I head on and talk about my day at Rainham Marshes I would like to share with you just a few birding highlights of the days leading up to my visit. On Monday I had the chance to head into the Totteridge Valley and see what is likely to be the biggest count for Hawfinch in the last decade with 46 flying into roost and then on a sunny Tuesday I decided to head out very locally to me to see if the Kingfishers were breeding in their usual spot and as I expected I found a very vocal pair right near the site! I also heard a bonus Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Then on a soggy Wednesday I had a surprise when the long staying, over wintering Male Blackcap was shoved off his favourite feeder by a female. Perhaps it was a migrating individual as it didn't stick around for long. Above: Hawfinch Below: female Blackcap (notice it doesn't have a black cap) Above and Below: My favourite bird, the Kingfisher Now onto the main part of my blog post, the trip to Rainham. I was very worried about getting to Rainham after yesterday's DLR strike woes, however today was different as the trains were empty and honestly scarily empty. I managed to get to Purfleet station by around 0815 and as I headed over the railway bridge it was good to hear the first singing Chiffchaff of the day in the railway station car park. I decided to make a bee line for the river walk so that I could see if there was anything on the river and honestly it was disappointing bar a pair of Oystercatcher on the far bank, eleven Black-tailed Godwit in Aveley Bay and a Great crested Grebe out on the flat Thames. It was actually quite peaceful, but awfully chilly. It was a spring day with a breath of winter. What came next would not have been much a surprise if I was closer to home, but 2 pairs of Ring-necked Parakeet flew over which is still quite a rare sighting for this part of London. Another quick scan of the Thames brought about the first Gadwall, Wigeon, and Teal of the day, but nothing else. Below: One of the Parakeet pairs. I then headed to the visitor centre and had a bit of spare time to have a quick ramble along the river wall, however there wasn't much to boast about bar a few singing Skylarks and Reed Buntings. The sound of the Skylarks song filling the air is very therapeutic and is something that the bits of countryside near me are missing, in fact away from Rainham there are hardly any breeding Skylarks left in London and that is somewhat worrying! Once the reserve opened at 0930 I headed out to see what was on Purfleet scrape. There was a good selection of winter ducks with Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Ducks, Coots, Moorhens, Shelduck, Shoveler, and Pintail. Also tucked away at the backs of the pools were Redshank, Lapwing and quite a number of Common Snipe. The biggest surprise additions were a pair of Mute Swan and also 4 Ruff. Above: Ruff and Wigeon Once I was satisfied that I had seen everything that there was to see I decided to continue and head for the woodland, however I hadn't got very far when I noticed a bird of prey circling the pylon in front of me. When I got my eyes on it, to my surprise it was not a Buzzard, but an Osprey and quite an early one too. I tried to phone Howard who was in the visitor centre, but he wouldn't pick up the phone so I quickly got the best record shot that I could, and now that I think of it I should have videoed it as the quality probably would have been better as the picture is almost unidentifiable. I watched it as it flew west along the power lines. Eventually Howard phoned back and with some dodgy directions, he somehow managed to get onto it, as did several others in the visitor centre. From where I was standing it then became impossible to see the Osprey, however I am informed that it then headed North and was picked up within 3 minutes of us losing it at Rainham over Romford, which is quite something. I then decided to head to Dents drop with some new found happiness in the day. From Dents drop there wasn't too much to add to the day list. What a difference a year makes as this time last year the pools from Dents drop were bone dry and Little Ringed Plovers were dashing around the muddy banks. This year they are full of water and with Shoveler and Wigeon still remaining. I then continued into the woodland to the sound of Singing Chiffchaff and Long-tailed Tits calling from the bushes beside me. When I reached the bend before you head into the cordite store I found not only a male Greenfinch, but also several singing Robins on the bend. One of the Robins which was closest to me looked to be chocking on something and was making a rather strange rattling noise. I am however told that this was probably just the robin trying to get rid of a pellet. Inside the cordite store there wasn't much bar a Grey Squirrel and a few Great Tits. Above: Robin Below: Grey Squirrel I then continued down towards the woodland feeders with a few Goldfinch, a pair of Greenfinch, and some more Reed Buntings for company. Once at the feeders there was very little bar a few Great and Blue Tits, and the odd Collared Dove. With nothing much else around I kept walking and near the trolls bridge a nice Sparrowhawk was thermalling as well as at least one Kestrel. I then had a quick scan for the Barn Owl and sure enough he was sitting on the edge of his box as per usual. Out in the middle of the reserve there were many Canada Geese and also many Greylags, but due to how thick the vegetation is in places my estimates of at least 50 of each are probably way below where they are. I then continued down towards the Ken Barret hide and heard 2 Green Woodpeckers yaffling to each other over near the train lines. Once inside the hide there wasn't too much to see. A group of Canada Geese were out to the right hand side of the hide and a Greylag was sitting on the bank to the left of the hide. A couple of coot were dotted around and a pair of Gadwall slept on one of the islands with up to 8 Mallard. Eventually a pair of Little Grebe wandered past the hide with at least 4 common gull species passing through over head. Above: Gadwall Below: Little Grebe I then proceeded down towards Aveley pools. Upon arrival the pools actually looked quite empty for a change however eventually the diving ducks started to show themselves. A good number of Tufted Ducks and Coots fed out in the open and they were joined by just a handful of Pochard. Cormorants sat at the back of the pool alongside many sleepy ducks including mainly Shelduck and Shoveler with the odd Wigeon and Teal mixed in for good measure. A pair of Great Crested Grebe were also out at the back of the pool with one feeding frantically and the other with its head tucked under its wing sleeping. The next pools along were fuller than usual and this meant that there were quite a few birds around. The pools nearest to me had mainly Gadwall and a few Little Egret dotted around and the other larger ones had Wigeon, Canada Geese, Pochard, and a pair of Great Crested Grebes. I then headed into the Butt's Hide. I have to admit there wasn't too much that I hadn't already mentioned on the winter pools side of the hide however there were good numbers of Wigeon as well as both Tufted Duck and Pochard. Good amounts of both Lapwing and Redshank were also present. Above: Pochard I then headed to look over the Target Pools and I was immediately drawn to a Common Buzzard that was drifting past the hide. Rather surprisingly a pair of Egyptian Geese were out at the very back of the pool with the male aggressively fending of any Canada Goose intruder. At least 10 Pintail were out on the pools alongside at least 50 Shoveler, and just under 100 Wigeon. A few Teal and Shelduck were dotted around as well as both Coot and Moorhen. Only one pair of Gadwall was out at this side of the hide. When I scanned through the Lapwing flock that was roosting in the shallower parts of the pools I picked up a Golden Plover alongside 4 flighty Ruff and 5 Dunlin. 2 Male Marsh Harriers countered the Marsh as well as just one female, however they didn't stay up for very long due to the persistent mobbing from some of the local corvids. Above: Common Buzzard Below: Egyptian Geese, and Shoveler Above: Female Marsh Harrier mobbed by Carrion Crow Below: Pintail, Lapwing and the lonely Golden Plover I then continued round to the ant hill where a pair of Mallard were grazing in the grass. Then onto the MDZ where a pair of Tufted Duck were feeding just in front of the viewing screen and also a few Teal sat on the muddy banks alongside a few Little Egret as well. Above: Mallards Below: Tufted Ducks I then headed back towards the visitor centre and ducked into the Purfleet hide just in time for the heavens to open. Once inside the hide I went about searching for snipe and in the end found a total of 15. Another pair of Pintail had appeared in front of the hide since earlier and also Redshank numbers had upped. Above: Common Snipe Below: Teal and Pintail During a brief respite in the rain I made my way back to the visitor centre for the heavens to open once more just as I made it through the door.
After lunch the afternoon was had river watching and I was rewarded with a pair of Avocet feeding on the bank opposite the visitor centre and a Yellow-legged Gull which Howard picked up in his scope. And so this rounds off another great day's birding and brings my year list up to 120 species while I still wait for my 210th British Species!
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Well, when I looked at my phone at the end of the final assembly I didn't expect to be confronted with a wave of messages and alerts about yet another rarity at Walthamstow and so the bus journey home was quite something and the fast paced running meant that from leaving school at 13:15, I somehow managed to get to Walthamstow by 14:30 which is quite something, and trust me it was quite tiring work! When I arrived I was immediately put onto Tony's scope and had the White-spotted Bluethroat within seconds. It was truly magical and as it was a male it was showing its white spot with a lot of pride! This is a bird that I promised my self one day I would get to see and sure enough this was the best opportunity to see one! What a stunning bird it was too and well I have to admit it was just awesome! It was showing in the reed beds on West Warick wich and eventually it got bolder and started to feed around the grassy edges of the path and even occasionally coming out into the open. At one stage a fox snuck up on us and nearly nicked Nick's Ham sandwich out of his bag and then went of in search of food. In a heart stopping moment the fox was up onto the track in front of us and looking as though it was going to pounce. It did just that, but there was a huge sigh of relief when everyone realised that it had come up empty handed and the Bluethroat had made it through its first near fatal day! The Bluethroat then started to feed out in the open again and to make sure everyone got a view I hatched a plan with Magnus, Simon, Andrew, Andrew and Frank to head to Totteridge in the search of some more gold! Above: My shots of the Bluethroat and the Twitch! Below: Dante's superb shot of the Bluethroat!!! To my surprise we arrived at Totteridge still buzzing from what we had all just seen at just after 5pm and so we decided to trundle down to Darlands Lake! Straight away we had the Female Garganey still feeding with the 15 Teal and Rooks called over head! Below: Here is Magnus' shot of the Garganey. © Magnus Andersson © Magnus Andersson We then headed into Owl field where we had a pair of Bullfinch as well as a Cormorant fly over. Just as we got ourselves into position at the top of the field the Barn Owl was spotted flying in the normal area, however it was a bit earlier than usual! We watched gracefully flying around and hunting, however it wasn't too long before the crows started to mob the poor bird and eventually it gave up and grounded itself out of sight. [All of the following photo's are from Magnus as my camera was not able to cope with the poor light as well as his was! Below: Barn Owl in flight © Magnus Andersson © Magnus Andersson We then headed off for Cow Field, where we thought for a split second we might have had a second Barn Owl, however upon closer inspection it turned out to be a pale Buzzard. A pair of Mandarin Grazed in the grass close to the path which was a rather odd behaviour that I don't believe any of us had ever seen before! A Little Owl then performed exceptionally well in the trees surrounding the path, however rather frustratingly we couldn't add Woodcock to the rather impressive day list! © Magnus Andersson Above: Mandarin Duck Below: Little Owl © Magnus Andersson Below: Common Buzzard © Magnus Andersson Just as we were about to part ways to head home Andrew saw something move on the path ahead of us and sure enough we ended up looking at a stunning Male Wheatear feeding on the path ahead. We watched it for a bit and to be honest it looked at though it hadn't really noticed us and who could blame it as it was nearly pitch black. After this we called it a night and what a way to end the day with a bonus patch year tick! What a stunning bird the Bluethroat is and today will be a day that I will never forget! My British Life List now sits at a much healthier 209 and my London List is now up to 176, and now this leads me to the question of; what will be next? Below: Wheatear © Magnus Andersson Here are the links to both Magnus' twitter account and Dante's twitter account and as always I thank them both for allowing me to use their photo's in my blog!
Wednesday started off with a great surprise. I just got down stairs and opened the curtains and there feeding under the Magnolia Tree at 06:20 in the morning was a Red-legged Partridge! This was the first since one on the 14th March last year and only the 3rd record for my garden! What a start to the day as I hadn't seen one since January and they are stunning birds! (Pictured Below) In the afternoon I decided to head into the Totteridge Valley! Whilst I was waiting for Tony at Laurel View Pond I watched as 3 Common Buzzards soared over head using the thermals to get to a great high! A pair of Canada Geese, were with a pair of Moorhen and 15 Mallards on the Pond as well and some local feeders provided great views of Coal, Great, Blue, and Long-tailed Tit, but not the hoped for Lesser Redpoll! There was some frog spawn in the pond and also some fish, which I don't remember being their before. I presume someone had dumped them as it looked like they might have included some goldfish! Above: Canada Geese Below: Mallard Once Tony arrived we headed down the narrow path towards Woodridge. We had a look for the Firecrest in the spot that I had last seen it in, but with no luck we moved slowly on. Almost by fluke just a little bit further down I spotted a crest flicking about in the trees above! Sure enough it was the Firecrest and a female too! Tony and I watched it hurriedly taking microscopic insects from various places, before it spotted a rather large fly lurking a bit too close and tackled it to the ground. The Firecrest then quickly gobbled it up before heading back up into the trees to energetically hunt more microscopic insects! (Pictured Poorly Below) We then headed down the path after it started to feed just a bit too far away from where we were standing and it started to look like a small dot! Tony and I headed down and found at least 3 Sparrowhawks soaring above us in the sun and seemingly getting higher and higher as they went. We decided to test Tony's theory of where he thought the Hawfinch were feeding and sure enough as we got closer we could hear them calling to one another and the crunching off Black Thorn Seeds could be heard as well! Eventually I picked up a Male which had hopped up the bush to see if we were a threat, however after a while of it sitting there calling it flew back down to feed with the others. There were probably at least 3 individuals feeding in the black thorn bushes, however there was the possibility of more than that! What happened next was quite comical! Just as we were moving off I managed to somehow lose my footing on the mud and went hands and face first into the muddiest possible area getting my note book, camera and my self covered from head to toe in gooey ,gungy, horrible stuff. Thank fully I was able to wipe most of the mud of my equipment, however my cloths weren't so lucky and lets just say when I got home my mum wasn't best pleased! We then moved on to old gropper field and had a quick look at the farm land. This produced a few Common and Black-headed Gulls, as well as 2 Lapwing feeding in and around the horses! A Bullfinch was heard, but not located and streams and streams of Stock Dove flew over heading mainly South. A pair of Siskin was also a surprise at this stage as they flew over calling heading towards Woodside park area! I then went back up to Laurel Pond to collect Nicola, before we continued our journey! Above: Sparrowhawk Below: Lapwing There were 2 reasons for Nicola coming out today; one was to hopefully see her first ever Woodcock and the other was in the hope of some Owls! Lets just say that no sooner had we met back up with Tony and just started to trample along the Folly Brook had we met one of those targets. A Woodcock flew over our heads giving everyone a decent view of it and caused mass excitement and relief! We then had a quick look at the pond in front of John's field to see if anything was there. To my surprise the female Garganey was feeding there alongside a pair of Mallard, however the Mallards presence meant that the Garganey didn't show as well as it could have and remained well hidden! (Pictured Poorly Below) We then continued to Darlands Lake where at least 15 Teal were feeding, a Moorhen or possibly two were lurking around the outside as well as a pair of Mallard. The Rooks were noisy in the trees surrounding the lake as well as the local Jackdaws and Crows. What happened next was rather odd! We all stopped after I said that I heard something odd. It wasn't until I started walking again when we realised what it was! As a Woodcock exploded from the ground in front of us rather frustrated that we hadn't spotted it amongst the leaf litter! Above: Teal Below: Rook A pair of Mandarin flew onto Darlands lake as it started to get closer to dusk and that was when we decided to head towards the Owl Field. We did this via a brief stop to look at the snakes head fritillary that flower every year in the forest floor surrounding the lake! Above: Mandarin Duck Below Snakes Head fritillary Below: Nicola's Photo of the Mandarin Duck We then headed to the top of 'Owl Field' and waited patiently. Whilst we were waiting a few Redwing came in to roost in the bushes surrounding us and also we had a great surprise when a Common Snipe flew North following the course of the Folly Brook. A Woodcock eventually took flight from the field in front of us before another did as well, making that 4 for the evening! Above: Redwing Below: Common Snipe Below: Woodcock We then had the Barn Owl come into view, before being fended off by a Crow and eventually it went and hid until the crow left it alone! (Pictured Poorly Below). Over the next 40 minutes it hunted on and off providing spectacular views as it hunted silently on the wing looking for any rodent that dared to make a noise! Below: Nicola's Photos of the Barn Owl! We then headed back to Woodridge to see if we could hear or see any other owls, however with only another Woodcock and a crying Muntjac, we left empty handed! What a night!
The last few days have been amazingly Spring like so I have decided to enjoy them before the weekends Beast From The East Part 2 arrives! The Garden yesterday was buzzing with all the regulars however I fear the Blackcap might have departed for his homeland just a bit too soon! Finches are becoming an increasingly dominant force on the feeders and the Parakeets are still lumbering around too with a few active nests that I know of in the area! Above: Male Ring-necked Parakeet Below: Chaffinch Moving onto this afternoon! I decided to head out at around 1430 to the Totteridge Valley since it was a nice sunny day. I had already had 2 Common Buzzard Drifting over my school earlier in the day as well as a Kestrel perched on St Vincent's church. The first part of my walk was just an average day with all 4 common Tit Species around me and also a Nuthatch for company. Finchley golf course had a Mistle Thrush and it was just great to be able to relax listening to the peaceful tunes of Blackbirds, Robins, and Song Thrushes! Above: Long-tailed Tit Below: Mistle Thrush I then continued walking and eventually made it to the top of Burtonhole lane where 3 of the people who work at the local riding stables were trying to dig one of the horses out of the mud! Unfortunately due to their shenanigans they kept this area relatively bird free! The usual Tit Species were present and so to were a few Redwing. I proceeded a little further down when my attention was diverted to a nest building Nuthatch. As I got closer to the bird I saw something fly from the top of the trees and boy was it big! Yep, you guessed it, it was a Hawfinch and it gave little call is it flew off towards Partingdale Lane! I moved swiftly on and eventually I found my self almost having a heart attack at the sight of a Lapwing bombing over the footpath! After some light running and squelching through the mud I eventually got to old gropper warbler field where I had a good view over the adjacent farmland! Here I was now able to see and hear 2 displaying Lapwings alongside 3 presumably females feeding in the field below! A pair of Bullfinch called from the bushed around me as I watched the Lapwings 'peewit' display! (Pictured Below) I then proceed to have a brief look in John's Field and I was surprised to find that there had been some clearing of the vegetation and habitat work in here! I was also surprised to find a healthy flock of Redwing alongside yet another pair of Bullfinch! Next on my agenda was Darlands Lake. A Pair of Mandarin Duck dropped in and 14 Teal were present. That 'odd looking' Teal was present again and I don't know if you can remember the poor images from the 7th March or the dismal description from the 20th Feb, but this bird was showing better than I could ever have imagined and confirmed for me my suspicion! It was a Female Garganey! I couldn't believe my luck and it is a first for London this year! It is also the first in the Totteridge Valley since 1974 and also the first time I have ever seen a Garganey! They are amazing birds and I have to admit I kind of like the face pattern on the female even despite how drab they are compared to the Males! I visited the bird several times through the afternoon and I was pleased to be able to show it to Simon in the falling light! Above: Female Garganey Below: Drake Mandarin Duck In between my visits to Darlands Lake I managed a trip round the Southern side of the lake which held a pair of Treecreeper, Goldcrests, more Coal Tits, and 4 noisy Rooks! Below: Treecreeper And so finally I headed with Simon up to the top of Owl Field where a pair of Bullfinch had appeared and the Barn Owl was hunting again and this time it did manage to catch something, which I can only presume was a vole! I then left Simon and decided to do one last ditch effort to bird in almost complete darkness in cow field and I was soon rewarded with a record equalling 3 Woodcock in the field! It was really odd to hear them grunting as they flew off into the distance! I then decided to call it a night and headed for home!
What a day it was today with such an amazing bird. It might possibly end up being the highlight of my birding year! And so my patch year list steadily ticks onto 74 species, my UK Year List to 113, my London List to 175, and finally my UK life list to 208! What a day! Contrasting Visits - Greenwich Peninsular and Totteridge Valley - 2nd March and 7th March 20187/3/2018 My last visit to the Totteridge Valley was one of a wintery theme with everywhere looking like it had been turned into a ski resort with powdery snow being blown across the fields. My main aim for the visit on the 28th of Feb was to do a sky watch and sure enough it did not fail with Lapwing, Fieldfare, Kestrels, Bullfinches, Skylarks, and eventually even a Woodcock joined the party before it was way too cold to stay out any longer and I headed home! Below: Lapwing Above: Kestrel Below: Bullfinch On Friday my school finally gave into the wintry weather and so a day off school was greeted with a great sigh of relief. I decided to head up to the Greenwich peninsular to meet Dante and see what was around. The Tubes unfortunately had other ideas and thus I ended up getting to the emirates air line a little bit late. Honestly there wasn't too much at first bar a flock of Teal on the river and 6 Honking Canada Geese flying around the high rise flats that over look the river. A Snipe was seen briefly near Greenwhich Ecology Park and Dante thought he had a Lapwing as well. After a while we had clocked up 3 Dunlin including one that was missing an eye. We then moved to a sheltered area of the peninsular and found 40 Cormorants sheltering from the harsh conditions as well as 30 Mallard, 12 Gadwall, 5 Wigeon, 2 Teal, and a female Shoveler which is apparently a very rare record for this part of the Thames. Also sheltering here were 3 Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting! Below: Female Shoveler We then decided to head back out into the more open areas to see if there was anything roosting on the last available bits of mud at high tide! I have to admit that some of the snow drifts near the o2 were amazing and must have been at least 20cm deep in places! Fieldfare scattered the bushes closest to the river and eventually we found a Rock Pipit and a Common Sandpiper on the mud near the o2. Above: Rock Pipit Below: Common Sandpiper We then headed back towards the sheltered areas for it had become quite chilly in the strong Easterly Breeze that had developed. Again 2 more Dunlin were present in this area and were both different to the ones seen before. Another Rock Pipit was a bonus as well. Just when we were walking I spotted 3 Ducks cutting across the peninsular and heading up river. To mine and Dante's surprise they were Shelduck which is again quite a rare sight for this part of London! Above: Dunlin Below: Dunlin and Rock Pipit It was amazing to see the Dunlins so close to us as they are normally quite tricky to see at such a close range, however due to the weather conditions you have to feel for these birds. I have seen reports from areas such as Dorset over the last week with waders having ice cubes on their feet. 100's of 1000's of Lapwing have all flooded west to only find that it is equally as cold in Cornwall as it was where they came from and unfortunately large numbers of them will have unfortunately perished, they aren't alone though as Fieldfares, Redwings, and even rather bizarrely Woodcock have all been flooding in to try and find some food and often finding them in our gardens. Sea birds have been washing up dead as they couldn't find enough food during the Beast from the East and there is even a photo of a Kingfisher frozen in the water of a lake mid dive! This shows just how deadly this sort of weather can be at the wrong time of year, and to be honest we might not be quite out of the woods yet! After I while Dante and I noticed that the railings were frozen solid and so too were the parked cars. We then looked at each other and we both had a covering of Ice on our coats. Even my camera and note book had a nice thin layer of ice and so too did some of the snow covered footpaths!!! There had been some freezing rain and we hadn't really noticed it! It was at that moment that I decided to leave Dante and head for home since I couldn't feel my fingers anymore and to be honest until I got to the station I had no clue if I had lost them or not! When I got home not only was I greeted to the 3rd or 4th Blizzard of the week I was also met by a group of Redwings and Fieldfares feeding in the garden along with a flock of at least 15 Greenfinch and 20 Chaffinches! Below: Fieldfare Moving onto today and it was a much warmer picture to be painted. In fact the sun was out and it was just about double figures when I left the house. I headed up to Burtonhole Lane and had a look round the substation. A rather large finch flew past but as it was just silhouette I wasn't quite sure what it was, although I do have a good idea. A large flock of Redwings were in the trees about half way down the path and at this time of year their usual chatter was heard from the tops of the trees! I then headed down to the field that I like to call Rabbit field and sure enough, there in the field were 2 Rabbits enjoying the last few rays of sun! I then headed to old Gropper field to have a look at what was on the adjacent farm land. To my surprise when I got there, there wasn't just one, but a pair of Peregrines flying over the area! Some Common Gulls flew through, but the usual large amounts were probably somewhat put off by the Falcons. (Peregrine Below!) I then headed down to the bottom of the field where to my surprise I flushed yet another large finch from the bushes. This time I was able to see what I needed, and the sheer size of the bird alone should have been enough to confirm it, as it flew towards Darlands calling loudly as it went. Yep it was yet another Hawfinch in the valley! Perhaps this year they will stay and breed? I then headed to check the little pond in John's field and to my surprise there were 3 Teal including that well marked Female! Above: Drake Teal Below: The best shots I could manage of the well marked Teal My mind I have to admit is still playing a bit with what that Teal could potentially be, but those photo's don't really help. I then headed onto Darlands Lake where 11 more Teal were in the middle of their courtship displays and a pair of Mallards dozed on the side of the Lake. Below: Teal I then had a quick walk the lake listening to singing Goldcrests as I went a cacophony of noise was coming from the tree tops and it turns out there were a number of rowdy Rooks nest making at the tops of the trees with at least 13 Present. One of the local Farmyard Geese flew over Darlands hooting loudly as it went in its rather oddly pitch call! I then moved onto Owl field where only one Meadow Pipit had come into roost this evening! A male pheasant was a nice addition however the best was still yet to come. I was about mid way through the field when I noticed something white in the corner of my eye. I was surprised to find out that it wasn't a plastic carrier bag and was in fact the ghostly figure of a Barn Owl! I must have watched it for nearly 10 minutes as it hunted over the field giving amazing views the likes I have never had the privilege of before! The Barn Owl eventually headed off towards Lapwing field, but I could not subsequently find it! I did however find both a roosting Kestrel and also a pair of Buzzard in my quest. Above: Kestrel Below: Buzzards And so apart from a stream of Canada Geese and a pair of Mandarins heading into roost that was it for the day! A 35 minute wait for the bus almost meant that I missed my dinner, however the sunset was superb!
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AuthorI have been a birder since i was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 17. ArchivesCategories |