Sunday February 24

A cold grey day with occasional light snow flurries. News of a Shag yesterday afternoon at Marsh Lane GP looked likely to divert Dave's attention, and so it proved. I was birding alone and events later in the visit left me wishing he had been with me.

I decided to do the whole area, and started at Church Farm. The walk down to the main pool produced the Tawny Owl, which was showing well in its usual tree. Although the landscape seemed frozen, I was encouraged to see that the pool was almost entirely ice free. Amongst the Mallard and Teal I soon discovered the first Shelducks of the year.


The pair of Shelducks

 I was quite relieved to see them because although they have been annual since 2010, and bred in 2011, they left early last year due to unsuitable waterlevels, and I was wondering whether they would give the place another chance. Sharing the pool with them were six Coots. Inevitably the Shelducks flew off as soon as I tried to get past them, but fortunately I relocated them on the Flashes. The total number of Teal there was 45, while 75 Lapwings flew over to the pasture on the hill where they joined 290 Starlings. There was no sign of the Little Owl though.

I continued to Stapenhill Wood, flushing a Sparrowhawk en route, but the wood contained nothing better than a single Bullfinch. The plantation formerly known as the ridge field contained a handfull of Skylarks plus 80 Fieldfares and a few Redwings. After a quick look around Netherstead Farm I headed along the hedge-line towards the south end. Peering over a gate I found myself looking at an adult Peregrine perched on a fallen tree in the centre of the old Curlew field.


The Peregrine

I took a record shot of it as this was my first since a brief encounter on New Year's Day. By the time I got level to where it sat, the bird was nowhere to be seen. The remainder of the south end was disappointingly birdless, so I made my way back along the road to Netherstead Farm, where a Coal Tit on the feeders looked likely to be the only bird worth noting.

However, as I walked back to the road all hell broke loose from Spernal Wood as Jackdaws and Woodpigeons burst out in a chaotic melee. I quickly got onto the cause of the panic, an Accipiter sp. Quite a large Accipiter sp. The shape of the tail and protrusion of the head looked interesting, the bird itself looking brown above with a barred upper tail and noticably pale below. It swept upwards and flew along the top of the ridge and then away over the trees. Five minutes later more Jackdaw cacophony, and suddenly an Accipiter appeared in front of me before banking and heading back to the wood.

Was it a male Goshawk? I'm not sure. I am struggling to decide exactly how big it was. Definitely smaller than a Buzzard, possibly Crow sized. I could have done with seeing a bird of known size right next to it (but everything was trying to be as far away from it as possible), and I could have done with a second opinion.