13 Nov - Greylake
9th Dec…..
A few observations from Greylake this morning.
1. Bittern standing on the pond dipping pontoon.
2. Probably Merlin overhead chasing after 3 snipe.
3. Cetti, Stonechats, Wren and Snipe close to hide.
4. Pale Buzzard
5. GWE
6. Very low number of ducks and apart from 1 distance Marsh Harrier, there was no raptor activity. Therefore the ducks did not have to move at all. In fact most stayed asleep for nearly fours hours after which I gave up
7. Car Park, Good selection of the usual birds (including a Male Bullfinch) around the feeders.
Please note: Looks like someone had tried to start a fire in the main hide. - Reported this to the RSPB.
Hard to tell at that distance - it could just be where the light catches, but the bill looks straight with a paler base, so I would go ruff.
Looks like a Dunlin, Peter
Thanks - would not have expected that.
Looks like a Dunlin, Peter
The bird in question is a Golden Plover of which there are large flocks on the moors in winter. They often associate with Lapwings.
errr…to the right of the gp -is that also a gp too then - it looks very different,
The bird in question is a Golden Plover of which there are large flocks on the moors in winter. They often associate with Lapwings.
King Sedge Moor (12/11/17) - Ive be struggling to retireve images from my SD card but here is one found today - what is the bird amongst the distant plovers - a sandpiper maybe? Thanks
http://wildlifewanderings.blogspot.co.uk/ Sunday, 26 November 2017
Very successful SOS walk at Greylake this morning. The highlight for many was a male Brambling by the car park but it didn’t stay long. Other good birds were Water Rail, Marsh Harrier, Bittern, Black-tailed Godwit, a solitary Dunlin, Peregrine on the pylon, Buzzard, both a usual brown plumaged bird and a very white one, the usual species of duck, a Snipe proved to be a challenge as very cryptic and large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover were seen in flight mainly from Kings Sedge Moor across the road. 42 species in all including calls of Bearded Tit which remained unseen.
17-Nov: Anyone at Greylake this morning would have had amazing views of the resident Peregrines. Judging by the size, I would say that it is a male and female. For the first attack on the ducks, I was near the pond and was able to watch the entire sequence of multiple stoops, fast turns, sweeping turns, time and time again. I was fairly sure that both birds were involved. A Marsh harrier was pushing the ducks towards the hide so the views were incredible.
30 mins later a sole Peregrine returned again. This time it flushed the ducks from the newish scrape near the hide and then repeated the succession of attacks right in front of the hides.
Both birds could be seen resting together on a Pylon.
Such a great site.
Also great to see Hares about.
A superb morning at Greylake, which was packed with visitors , a full car park and it was a Monday morning!!
Anyway wonderful views, of the the usual…..
Sparrowhawk - one large female landed in a tree a few feet away,
Buzzard,
Marsh Harriers,
Water Rail,
Stonechats, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Wrens, Kingfisher,
Snipe and a few squalling Black Tailed Godwits
GWE.
Large flock of Sparrows in Car Park.
Plenty of ducks (mainly Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and Shoveler, including one feeding female who kept spinning around in a clockwise manner)
Lapwings and Golden Plover in the blue sky above.
But the highlight was the very pale Buzzard that thought about Hare for breakfast. Seeing a Hare and Buzzard on the ground a few feet apart was just incredible. Pictures on my twitter feed here:
https://twitter.com/robinmmorrison/status/930084248450674693