BIRD NEWS:592

 

The heron stayed around for some time - so we kept glancing back to it as we viewed other birds while in that hide. It then began to hunt...

...til it disappeared from view.

We wandered about some more, the next birds to take my camera's aim being....

....the Bewick duo - Orange tag and Silver tag!

They were in their usual lake - along with barrows goldeneye and eurasian widgeon. I think the Bewicks might just have remembered me!! Maybe they thought me seasonal and that I had migrated elsewhere for a few months!!

Or perhaps they were wondering who Liz was!

I took a bunch of pictures, having not seen them for what seems to me to be ages - though is only about a half year.

Included was a shot of the birds with their ID boards.

BIRD NEWS:591

 

The answer is Arundel WWT - where the first hide Liz and I visited gave us sightings of several gadwell. When Liz mentioned having seen a heron fly down - I got a better view than she, as she sat too close to see it around the window frame.

We got a good close-up view - well, I did....

Alas, Liz was sitting too far along to see it properly - until she bent round the bar on the window.

Meanwhile - I got a lot of good shots.

Definitely a good sighting to begin our day out with - even if Liz had to bend forward to see properly.

Of course there were other birds to see - gulls, gadwell, geese, even a cormorant...

...but the grey heron was up close, so I took a lot of pictures of it while I had the opportunity. It has been 6 months since I last visited the WWT due to Covid restrictions and the lack of safety on public transport.

BIRD NEWS:590

 

You can just spot the bird perched on the path perhaps? I am still not sure what they were - but there were around a dozen of them, along with a pair of chaffinches and a goldfinch, and they seemed to have a lot of yellow on them when flying.

 

Yellowhammers - but too small. Greenfinch - but not the right shaped head. So I really don't know. In the second picture it came out clearer - but the face confused me. You can maybe spot the magpie on the other side of the picture though - they are easier to identify.

This is the best shot of it  that I got...

Back home middle of the month, and I spotted a bird investigating the recently relined pond. 'Ooh... what are you?' I wondered - and ran for the camera. It was wobbling its tail - so grey/yellow wagtail was my first guess, but it may have been a chiffchaff, or warbler, or....anything really.

It was welcome anyways - and after consulting an ID guide, I am assuming it to have been a juvenile yellow wagtail.

Can you guess who was standing on the windowsill by the shadow they gave on my wall?

It was Pidge! Can you guess where I was visiting next from the following picture?

BIRD NEWS:589

 

 

 

Here is the current situation of the back yard from a birds-point-of-view. A cafe pole, filled with mixed seed, suet balls, peanuts, peanut pieces, nyger seed and sunflower hearts, along with several places to bathe and drink, and plenty of foliage.

Out front, looking across the street one day, I spotted a pair of seagulls and a trio of magpies sharing the same rooftop.

The sight of Goggles the farm-goose must alert regular readers to the fact that during the midst of October I took a hike towards or into local woodland passing the pond on Swillage Lane.

Goggles was hanging out with his duck mates in the pond, formerly titled Poachers Pond, yet currently unnamed and unfenced.

I think he got bored of me pointing my lil pink box at him!

On this occasion I wandered further along Swillage Lane, intending to take a 2 hour - or thereabouts - hike through the woodland. The next feathered being I caught sight of was this robin. He saw me too and had a good look in case I was a cat or other form of trouble.

 

Prior to reaching the turning down which I turned right, I passed the fields. In the fields were numerous large birds pecking at the ground - pheasant I assumed - but maybe partridge. I was not close enough to see.

Talking of unclear views, the above picture is of a blob in the sky. As usual it was a bird, but unfortunately unidentifiable. There were in fact a group of about a dozen small birds flittering about the tree and fields and I had hoped to capture them on camera do as to identify them. Alas, this picture did not suffice.

BIRD NEWS:588

 

Goggles flapping and preening means I must have taken another stroll down the local woodland.

Goggles is still there on my way home.

It was a fairly short walk as I had something else I wanted to do that day. As evidenced by picture, Goggles was still standing about preening.

I brought home a discarded pheasant feather as a souvenir of that walk.

Just to show that there are still birds in our garden, if I have yet to revisit some of my other usual haunts, here is a picture of some sparrow residents enjoying their cafe pole.

I did try to take a video, but it did not come out for longer than 4 seconds for some unknown reason. Before September ended,  I took another stroll up past Goggles's pond.

That brings us to the close of September 2020...

BIRD NEWS:587

 

You might not be able to see it very well as the photo is somewhat blurred, but there is a wren down there just below my kitchen window.

HERE is a link to an article about vultures...

Although it is also blurred, you should be able to see that recently we have had a family or two of sparrows munching at the feeder pole. They are not fussy and sample many of the options available to them - sunflower hearts, nyjer see, mixed seed, suet balls...

HERE is a link to an article about how drones affect birds.

My magpie pictures were likewise blurred.... This one came out a bit better, but....

Back to blurry for this magpie strolling along the path.

My final shot for the day is a bit clearer....

BIRD NEWS:586

 

My next solo hike was up Swillage Lane for a brief wander. I passed Goggles on his lake, hanging out with the mallard family and a bunch of other ducks sunbathing...

On my way home, there was Goggles again!

HERE is a link to an interesting article.

Oh, there is Goggles - I must have taken another woodland stroll. A young wood pigeon preens on top the telegraph pole....

...before I turn to return homeward - passing Goggles again.

HERE is a link to an article about swan behaviour. I found this interesting - as I have witnessed Bewick swans getting upset and a bit hissy when mute swans have been in the pond over the pathway from them... but then I have not met Bewick meets Bewick other than the 'partners' or partners with their kids.