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| Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella |
What a week to choose to return to Lincolnshire! The idea was to undertake some exterior repairs at home but the weather was never going to permit that to happen so the chance to do some serious birding, no distractions, the possibility of four whole days and a choice of habitats with nobody to worry about apart from myself. Well that was the theory anyway.
Arriving in Stansted on 5 February the sun was shining and it felt reasonably warm. An hour later as I drove my rental car away the sky had clouded over and by the time i reached the A1 (M) there was blustery snow in the air. On the other hand, at least it was clear when I got back to Stamford but the scene had been set for the coming week; it was going to be very cold and windy and, yes, I was to experience a fall of the white stuff.
Wednesday:
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| Wigeon Anas penelope |
A chance to pay a first visit to the RSPB reserve at
Frampton Marshes as recommended by Chris bell. By jove it was bitterly cold when I arrived and found everything closed and the wind blowing in the Arctic air. I was early as I had travelled via Bourne to see if I could locate some Waxwing, I could not, but did at least come across a
Goldcrest as well as a handful of
House Sparrows in the far corner of the supermarket's car park. Strange this as on previous two visits I had not seen a single House Sparrow in either Bourne or Stamford. Similarly, no matter how much I tried I still did nor manage to track down one of the millions of Waxwings which have irrupted over from Scandinavia this winter. But I was at Frampton before 9.30.
Whilst birds were trying to find some shelter I immediately had views of the thousands of
Wigeon that I was to see in the area along with
Mallard,
Teal,
Tufted Duck and a few
Shelduck.
Mute Swans were everywhere in small numbers and a trio of
Curlew took off from a field to my right as I drove slowly past. Lapwing were also present in very large numbers and on the water nearer the sea bank I had a few
Greylag Geese and a very small number of
Brent Geese. A
Redshank patrolled the water's edge in search of food but no other waders were to be seen until I started off back to the Reception hut and came across a large flock of
Golden Plover in with more
Lapwings.
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| Part of the large flock of Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria |
Neighbouring lagoons produced a few
Canada Geese and
Gadwall plus two pairs of
Pintail. No sooner had I come across the few
Pochard than a
Cormorant sailed across the water. Then it was back to the abive Reception centre where the hanging food holders were enticing in some smaller birds. A couple of
Goldcrest and then the small flock of
Greenfinches. No sooner had I got my camera out than I realised that there was a handful of
Brambling in with the other finches plus a couple of
Tree Sparrows feeding from the holder. Again, closer inspection also revealed a few
Reed Bunting and then two beautiful
Yellowhammers shining like gold on this dull day.
My final call was to the
360 Hide where I managed to record
Coot,
Moorhen and immediately in front of me a half-dozen feeding
Meadow Pipits. Add on both
Blackbird and
Collared Dove and I had recorded
29 species before moving over to the neighbouring reserve of
Frieston on the other side of Boston.
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| Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis |
This was relatively quiet with a selection of birds on the inshore lagoon, it not yet being high tide, including more
Wigeon,
Teal,
Coot,
Moorhen,
Tufted Duck,
Mallard, Gadwall,
Mute Swan,
Canada Goose and around the edges
Jackdaw,
Magpie,
Rock Dove, Common Starling and
Crow. Only a few
Black-headed Gulls to make up the
18 species recorded.
Too early to go straight home so I made a quick call to the
Deeping St James Fish lakes Reserve which did at least add both
Robin and
Fieldfares.
Thursday:
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| Robin Erithacus rubecula |
Off to the
Nene Washes and what a wash out that was in every sense of the word, both literally and figuratively. The plain was rally flooded with the tracks and paths underwater and very little on the water. Yes there were
Coots and the occasional
Cormorant and a small number
Black-headed Gulls but very little else. A bitterly cold walk westwards along the exposed raised footpath enable me o record
Wigeon and
Tufted Duck plus a pair of
Greylag Geese quickly followed by a couple of
Mallards.
Wood Pigeons few about over the trees on both sides of the footpath and a number of
Starings found something to feed on. Again, there were
Moorhens and
Magpies plus a number of
Carrion Crows.
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| Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus |
Ignoring the sign indicating that the road from Whittelsey to Thorney was closed due to flooding, I drove along just to take a look and discovered that the water's had receded sufficiently to allow cars to drive over to the Dog and Doublet public house on the far side where, often, sea ducks and seals can be seen. The flooded water on the right held a solitary
Great Crested Grebe and then, on the fields just past the D&D pub, a large flock of about 150 sans in two distinct groups. Whilst the first contained almost exclusively
Mute Swans there were four
Bewicks Swans. the second, slightly smaller spread flock, again held mainly
Mute Swans but this time there were a number of
Whooper Swans feeding happily in family groups.
Still only early afternoon, so I decided to make a short stop at
Rutland Water on the way home to check out the reserve in readiness for a visit the following day. Greeted by both
Blackbirds and
Robins a stop at the feeding station produced
Dunnocks,
Great Tits,
Goldfinches and
Pheasants whilst
Jackdaws were all about me. In the field between car park and Reception a trio of
Fieldfares and a pair of
Redwing were feeding with many
Wood Pigeons in the neighbouring trees. A look at the water from the Reception produced
Tufted Duck,
Gadwall,
Shelduck,
Canada Goose,
Mute Swan,
Greylag Goose,
Pochard,
Coot and
Moorhen. Both feeding and resting on the water were
Cormorants and
Black-headed Gulls.
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| Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus gradually coming into breeding plumage |
To my left a single
Little Egret fed and then, immediately in front of me, A beautiful
Barn Owl arrived to rest on the old gate before heading off to my left. The far side of the water produced a
Red-breasted Merganser and then it was time to head off for the North Arm of the reserve before making my way home.
The water here contained mainly
Tufted Ducks and more
Wigeon but also the large flocks of
Canada and
Greylag Geese. Four
Little Egrets rested on the far bank along with a trio of
Grey Herons.
Friday:
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| Fieldfare Turdus pilaris |
Another cold day but at least not so windy. Arriving at
Rutland Water early I passed
Crows,
Jackdaws,
Magpies and
Wood Pigeons and I even had a
Robin sit patiently at my feet as I put my boots on; obviously this individual is used to receiving food from visitors. The neighbouring field seemed bust and on closer inspection contained a number of both
Fieldfares and
Redwings along with the many
Blackbirds and a single
Mistle Thrush. A check on the feeding station found more activity than yesterday, perhaps because I was one of the first visitors of the day, with both
Great and
Blue Tits on the nuts and
Dunnocks,
Robins and
Pheasants below. Before long a pair of
Long-tailed Tits joined the feeding frenzy and then a female
Great Spotted Woodpecker on the far feeder.
Lagoon 1 held
Coots,
Moorhens,
Tufted Duck,
Teal,
Mallard and
Cormorants along with a single
Shelduck but it was time to walk the reserve so off to deeper water of lagoons 3 and 4. Passing a pair of
Egyptian Geese, a stop at the
Redshank Hide disturbed a resting
Peregrine Falcon which then beat a hasty retreat to the nearby bushes. Then, leaving the
Grebe Hide, I stopped to check the small flock of birds that had landed on the entry path in front of me. Not only a small number of
Siskin but a handful of
Lesser Redpolls and a single inquisitive
Robin.
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| Egyptian Geese Alopochen aegyptiaca |
In addition to
Wigeons,
Lagoon 4 held a few
Mute Swans,
Greylag Geese,
Pochard and both
Black-headed and
Herring Gulls. However, it was at
Lagoon 3 that the ducks had really gathered in force along with many
Coots. Lots of
Wigeon but also
Goldeneye,
Tufted Duck and at least one male and three female
Smew. A single
Shelduck rested nearby and then a small number of
Great Crested Grebes made an appearance. On the far bank both a
Grey Heron and a
Little Egret followed by
Gadwall when looking at the water from the next hide. Indeed, the return journey produced a
Reed Bunting in the tree in front and a little later a pair of
Bullfinches were seen as I approached the
Badger Hide.
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| Male Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniculus |
A final visit to the feeding station produced a few
Chaffinches and a
Goldcrest was busy in the tree next to the hide. Tie to take a lst look at the
North Arm in the hope that the female Long-tailed Duck might be visible and, driving along the connecting road, first a
Pied Wagtail flew over the road in front of me and then, to my right, another large flock of feeding
Lapwing along with a small flock of
Starlings. The water itself produced many more
Wigeon and Tufted Duck plus a small number of
Little Grebes but no positively identified LTD. However, a female
Goosander did reward me with her presence. Time then to depart back to Stamford having recorded
52 species.
Sunday:
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| Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus |
At the time I was not to realise that there would be no birding on Monday following a good fall of snow on the Sunday evening and the need to spend time on the Internet trying to address problems relating to house damage back in Spain. Sunday itself was wet all day when I visited my son near Thatcham in Berkshire but they have a lovely house set in two acres of woodland and a large feeder in front of the lounge window. So, lots of
Coal Tits,
Grey and
Blue Tits plus a party of 10
Long-tailed Tits feeding on and off nearly all day till my departure in mid-afternoon.
Three cold but interesting birding days resulting in a final tally of
71 species.
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Birding Axarquia:
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