If I were as avid a bird-watcher as some, I would be resetting my year list and starting a new one for 2010. I don’t do yearly lists any more, but nevertheless just for the record I decided to go for a bimble to see what I could see on this third day of the New Year.
I started out in Poor park woods and then made my way across the fields at the back of my house. What I saw nearly made me start up my birding lists again.
Apart from the normal great tits, blue tits, starlings, fieldfares, blackbirds, robins, wrens and redwings I saw a coal tit and tree-creeper.
As I walked along one of the fences, I stood with mouth wide open as a barn owl (this was at 12 mid-day) fly along the fence line and then turn north out of sight. Alas no photo.
Before I left the woods I spotted this fallow deer being swallowed by a tree…
…and this fox sunning himself by the edge of the field.
The temperature in the woods didn’t rise above -2C which made the mutjac and badger prints stand out well as they were incased in ice. In fact, I followed some badger tracks back to an old sett which I thought was disused. There was obvious recent activity which was pleasing to note.
On the way back I glimpsed in a nearby field and saw not one, not two but three herons.
Amazingly, a buzzard flew down from a tree but, after a short staring match with one of the herons, it wandered off out of sight.
All in all I thought that my sightings deserved some form of praise and recognition so I phoned up my birding mate Big Dave, only to remember he was in Morocco – bird watching!
Thanks for the visit.
Pablo.
Welcome.
This is the home of Woodlife. You will find links to Pablos Woodlife (blog) the Woodlife Social Network (forum) and Woodlife Trails (courses) all on this page.
Blimey, that was a good day!
Good post, good pics. Interestingly we have a tree creeper very similar here, but with a darker gray breast.
Le Loup.
A belated happy new year Pablo and the team behind the scenes of woodlife keep up the good work on this brilliant forum — Many thanks John Scrivy
What a great day out! It must make it worthwhile to get out and about in the cold weather. Any one of these sightings would be well worth seeing.
Here’s to many more of them – happy New Year!
BWM
Love you photos and hearing about a swell day out in nature. I can’t believe how much that Coal Tit looks like our Black-capped Chickadee! I’ll have to see a little research to see if the tits and chicadees are related. Out tits take the version of titmouse, and look very different–they tend to be very drab-colored birds and have a crest.
Sure enough–the tits and chickadees are in the same family, Paridee!
Nice one Pablo….love the topical snowy background too…
Linda- Thanks for the research. It’s nice to know.
Thanks Stu and everyone else for the comments.
Hi pablo
Nice days birding, I keep just a life list now I have friends who keep day, week, month and year lists… I wonder why sometimes still it works for them.
I was driving down the M11 last week and just before the M25 jnc I had an eagle fly low over the car, not sure which eagle as I could not stop on the motorway, well i could have but the old bill would not have been very happy with me, so i kept going only to see a buzzard in a field along the M2, I normally see these in the winter in Kent but they seem to be on the up.
I saw another on my retrun trip next to the M20 all in all some nice birds.
But is always a joy just to sit and watch all the birds as I often have amazing encounters with them.
Aye
Geoffrey