Little Grebe

A Little Grebe in the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge. The first I’ve seen there and presumably a cold weather movement. Crappy camera shot below…

Fowlmere

A lovely crisp morning with no wind. Usual array of birds: Tits, Goldcrests, Thrushes (including a partially leucistic Blackbird with a blotchy white head, and a good number of Redwings), Finches etc.. Also a Cetti’s Warbler heard.

Snapped this Grey Heron feeding on the mere…

Purple Sandpipers

Took a break from my niece’s birthday party in Beccles to pop down to Lowestoft with Tom. It had held a few good birds, including three Northern Long-tailed Tits and a Pallas’s Warbler in recent days. Unfortunately, in heavy rain, there was no sign of these birds today but we did have a reasonable attempt for an hour or so, finding a few large flocks of Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests.

Five Purple Sandpipers on the rocks at Ness Point were new birds for Tom.

Between Foxton and Fowlmere, a Barn Owl was seen.

Yank Herons

Top day in Cornwall with Tom, Cris, and John. Listened to Queens Park Rangers beat Reading (Cris’s team) on the way home and back in time for Cambridge Utd live on TV.

American Bittern at  Walmsey (lifer!)
Green Heron at the beautiful Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Also a Whooper Swan, three Greenshanks, and several Bar-tailed Godwits at Walmsey and a few Goldcrests and a Blackcap at the gardens.

A few quick phone snaps and hand-held digiscope’s…

Nuthatch

A Nuthatch heard in the Botanic Gardens at lunchtime (with Great Tits and Blue Tits) was a surprise.

Fowlmere

Extremely quiet today first thing. Only spent an hour there but saw hardly anything (six Siskins.) Was going to walk the Guilden Brook hedge but a male Sparrowhawk (one of three Sparrowhawks seen) saved me the bother when it flew the whole length of it. Only one bird (a Reed Bunting?) came out.

Fowlmere

A quick hour walk at dawn: Seven Goldcrests (there has been a big increase lately) was about it. Also a flock of distant waders that didn’t look like Golden Plover (but may have been.)