Last-gasp year ticks!

Spent the last hour or so of the year (decade?) at Amwell adding Smew (male) and Red-crested Pochard (three) for the year. Four or five Yellow-legged Gulls were in the roost and four Little Egrets flew in at dusk.

Last bird to be seen: A Little Owl, along Fowlmere Road in Foxton.

 

In the evening, a partial eclipse of the moon occurred…

Fowlmere

After the rain died down I spent the last part of the day at Fowlmere in an attempt to find something new for the year and beat last year’s total of 95. I failed of course. Virtually bird-less apart from a couple of Water Rails (one flushed and the other on the still frozen mere with the only other bird on there being a Moorhen.)

Fowlmere

A quick dusk walk in the heavy rain. Surprisingly the mere was still partly frozen. As expected, no birds.

Minsmere

Spent the whole of a sunny afternoon at Minsmere, staying until dusk:

Cetti's Warbler – several heard.
Marsh Tit x 2
Bearded Tit – several heard.
Red-throated Diver x 13
Barnacle Goose x c.50
Stonechat – pair.
Marsh Harrier x 4
Bewick's Swan x 15
Tawny Owl – heard.

Fowlmere and Shepreth L-moor

No birds at Fowlmere. Seven Grey Partridges at Shepreth and also interesting and close views of a male Kestrel chasing a large male Sparrowhawk in a presumed attempt to get the Great Tit that was held in his talons.

Wicken Fen

A walk with the family during the last hour or so of daylight. Nothing until an Egret flew over. Convinced it was a Great White (we were struggling for a while to eliminate Grey Heron as it was silhouetted) rather than Little. Long trailing legs and general size and structure all suggested Great. One that got away.

Fowlmere

No birds! …but did take a nice photo of a Christmas Robin.

Peacock Butterfly

One was disturbed from a cupboard and put back accordingly this evening! Latest ever date of a flying one for me!

Partridges

No birding, but whilst driving to London to watch QPR, over thirty Partridges (mostly, if not all, Grey Partridges) were seen in the fields between Foxton and Stevenage. Presumably they are always present, but were just easy to make out in the snow.

Snow

Heavy snowfall overnight, so couldn’t get in to Cambridge. Worked at home in the morning but set up the camera for Tom who took several images of Blackbirds, this one being our best shot in my opinion:

Later we both went to Fowlmere to to look for footprints. However, it started snowing again and so most were covered. We did find a few of both Fallow Deer and Muntjac, as well as this mustalid track.

Bird-wise it was better than normal: Three Snipe flying around looking for unfrozen water, a Barn Owl (poor record shot in dim light below!), a Chiffchaff calling, and seventeen Grey Partridges, as well as seven Teal and a male Gadwall.

Fowlmere

A crisp sunny day, so took my lunch to Fowlmere where I saw nothing but a Water Rail and a Sparrowhawk; lunch was good though.

Fowlmere

Back to the usual dross. A pair of Teal and the male Gadwall being the highlights!

Fowlmere

Better than usual today on a crisp sunny morning: A Gadwall, and three pairs of Teal, as well as two Snipe, before a female-type Marsh Harrier flew over the mere being mobbed by Crows. This is a rare bird for Fowlmere in winter so I managed to get a record shot…

Fowlmere

No interesting birds whatsoever. Nice winter colours though as shown in this camera phone photo, where a Mute Swan has just sneaked into the corner to prove that there were  a few birds actually there!

Buzzard and Partridges

From the train to Cambridge, a Buzzard and several each of both Red-legged Partridges and Grey Partridges. More than I’ve seen on visits in recent days to both Fowlmere and Shepreth L-moor.

Botanic Gardens

A (probable) White-tailed Bumblebee was flying around the very cold Botanic Gardens.

Buzzard

One Buzzard on the way to Cambridge early morning.

Partridges

From the train into Cambridge: Four Red-legged Partridges on the way to, and a bevy of around ten Grey Partridges on the return from.

Davey Crocket Lodge

A dawn walk around the Davey Crocket Lodge near Disney produced several Marsh Tits calling, several Nuthatches, and a Short-toed Treecreeper.

Paris

Amazingly, the second Goshawk in as many days flew over the River Seine near Notre Dame.

Disney

A female Goshawk flew over Disney Studios being mobbed by Black-headed Gulls.

Dover to Calais

Gale force eight, but not a lot to see on the delayed early morning ferry crossing, just a couple of Gannets. Four Buzzards were seen on the drive to Paris.

Fowlmere

An hour and a half in the sun produced an unseen flyover Redpoll and a couple of Teal. There were also about a thousand Black-headed Gulls (with several Common Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and Herring Gulls) in the field between the reserve and the airfield.

Local stuff

On the train in the morning, eleven Red-legged Partridges were seen on the way to Cambridge, and on the way back, another six. Whilst leaving Cambridge late afternoon, sixteen Golden Plovers flew over the station southwards; a small flock of about fifty Starlings were also gathering in a pre-roost flight. About the same number were also seen at Fowlmere in a ten minute look, whilst six Grey Partridges were in the fields.

This Feathered Thorn was on the front door (one was also in my parent’s house in Suffolk last weekend.)

Fowlmere

A foggy day with high pressure. Little wind; few birds. Did see or hear good numbers of Skylarks, Redwings (with a few Fieldfare) and Yellowhammer, and on the field opposite the reserve there were ten Grey Partridge, around three-hundred Golden Plover, and about fifty Lapwing.

Small Mammal Trapping

With Tom, I went first thing to a small mammal trapping event at Commons Wood, organised by Mark Hows and led by Peter Oakenfull. Our target was Harvest Mouse and was very successful, seeing about ten individuals. Also seen were a large number of Wood Mouse (20+), three each of Common Shrew and Pygmy Shrew, and eight Golden Plover flew over.

Late afternoon I went to a quiet Fowlmere were four Redpolls went over.

Minsmere

Visiting parents, so spent a sunny afternoon at Minsmere. Turned up a fair amount:

Cetti’s Warbler – many heard, but none seen.
Water Pipit – found one on the scrape.
Bewick’s Swan – seven including two juveniles; mobile and seen at several places in the reserve.
Moorhen – a leucistic individual; lower parts white, upper a fawn colour.
Bearded Tit – several heard, but a single male seen extremely well (too close to focus bin’s on!)
Redpoll x 14
Red Deer

Botanic Gardens

Exactly two weeks since my last visit and things have changed dramatically. The red-leaved trees are bare, and the dragonflies are finished. Mistletoe now obvious in the taller trees, in one of which a Mistle Thrush was perched. About thirty Redwings went over as well as a female Sparrowhawk.

From the train, a pale Buzzard was seen perched on a fencepost near Hauxton.

Fowlmere

As expected, very little in a short walk with Tom before dusk. A couple of Fieldfare and a Teal, though three Sparrowhawks livened things up a touch.

Dublin to Holyhead

Rough weather was predicted (a westerly with heavy rain.) In the end it wasn’t that bumpy. From the ferry we had the following:

Red-throated Diver – one in the harbour mouth at Dublin.
Guillemot x 200+
Razorbill x 4 (plus many possibles.)
Puffin?
Cory’s Shearwater – very good views of a bird close to the boat. New for Tom.
Bonxie – good views but missed by Tom as he went inside!
Fulmar x 3
Gannet, Kittiwate and other Gulls – constant except when in the middle of the crossing.

We popped in to South Stack but the wind had really picked up and it was difficult to stand still at times. A brief visit to the Conwy river mouth was also made, seeing the usual stuff but the wind made it impossible.

Dingle Peninsula

Birded Dingle with Tom. Usual result. Three Mediterranean Gulls in total (1st winter and two adults.) Also three Teal  and a couple each of Chiffchaffs and Choughs. We then began the slow drive back, beginning by going over the spectacular Connor Pass: It was covered in cloud. We then stopped at Brandon Point, the main seawatching point on the peninsula: It was calm; a few Gannets and Fulmars were seen, but that was about it. If I’d know how quickly I could have got there from Dingle I would have tried on better days rather than slogging around in the wind and rain.

Arrived in Dublin early evening (some House Mice were found – by the children – in the underground carpark of the “Premier Inn” hotel.) All over. No decent birds found at all. There must have been good yank birds on the peninsula, the weather conditions were reasonably favourable. Fair enough, it wasn’t a full-out birding trip, but I did average about four hours a day. There is just too much habitat to cover and I didn’t meet another birder all week apart from at the Mourning Dove twitch. Rare birds are rare and therefore difficult to find. I’m pretty sure I identified every passerine I saw - there weren’t that many; but being in the right place at the right time does involve a degree of luck! I will return!

No Birds!

Still no birds so gave up to take the kids surfing. Tried again later. Same result. Did see:

Mediterranean Gull – adult in Dingle and two first winters at Ballyferriter.
Chiffchaff – Slea Head.
Wigeon and Red-breasted Merganser – several  at Burnham Lagoon.
Irish Hare – a couple in Dingle

 

Killarney

Spent an hour birding with Tom at first light before heading with the family to Killarney. Not too much, several Red-breasted Mergansers, a Chiffchaff, and an adult Mediterranean Gull in the harbour. In Killarney, myself and Tom drove the Dunloe Pass. As well as several Ravens, we also had an immature White-tailed Eagle (probably third calendar year), part of the re-introduced birds to the national park. We also added Collared Dove as neither of us could remember seeing them before!

Barryferriter and Dingle

Not much birding today, mainly family stuff. I went out early on my own to Ballyferriter, but only got a pair of Chough and what must have been good candidates for wild Rock Doves. We then went on a successful boat trip to see Fungie the Bottle-nosed Dolphin. Three Black Guillemots were also seen on the trip, a new bird for Tom. The rest of the day was spent on Inch beach where the kids went surfing, and a walk into Dingle around the harbour, where we saw the dolphin again.

Wind and Rain!

Went out with Tom at first light but a strong south-westerly with squally showers made birding very difficult. We gave up mid-morning having seen little: Chiffchaff, Red-breasted Merganser, and hibernicus Coal Tit. I also probably saw "Fungie" the Bottle-nosed Dolphin in Dingle harbour.

By mid-afternoon the wind dropped and the rain stopped, so I went back out again, with a walk a around Ballyferriter (Tom had understandably had enough and went to Dingle aquarium with Michelle and Sam.) Saw little; a Snipe was flushed on the coastal path, a couple of Choughs were seen, and a Twite was found in a hedge; it's proving hard going!

No rare birds, so some Herring Gull pictures and nice views of Ballyferriter!