Sunday January 22

High cloud and frost on the ground with very little breeze, much better conditions for birding.

The first tick of the day was a Peregrine on a distant pylon. Dave and I decided to walk to the road, finding a pair of Stonechats and a Nuthatch before we even reached the end of the access road.

Stonechat

As we reached Bannams Wood we were greeted with the sound of a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, a reminder that spring isn't too far away, and also the yaffle of a Green Woodpecker.

Heading down the slope towards the pool we checked out the Tawny Owl tree and were surprised to see not one, but two Tawny Owls at the entrance of their hole.

The Tawny Owls

Unfortunately by the time we got a bit closer, both birds had scuttled down the hole and out of view.

As expected, the pools were all frozen solid, but we still flushed a Grey Heron, and later spotted a Pied Wagtail, strangely absent from the list on the previous two visits.

The hedgerow and stubble field behind the pool contained about 20 Yellowhammers, 15 Reed Buntings, and 11 Skylarks. We decided to walk through the marsh in front of the pool, flushing about 23 Snipe and two Jack Snipe as hoped.

At the flash field the frozen water suggested we would see nothing, but a flock of 15 Wigeon and seven Teal unexpectedly flew in and circled before returning, probably to the Morton Springs angling lake which is just outside my patch boundary. A little further on we spotted some geese in a small field to the west, and closer inspection revealed about 70 Greylag Geese and 16 Canada Geese. Around 15 Siskins were mixed in with Goldfinches and Chaffinches, but one at least posed for a distant record shot. Feral Pigeon flew by to sneak onto my Patchwork Challenge list.

Siskin

Scanning the distance produced three Cormorants, and two Herring Gulls for the year list.

The final throw of the dice was to check out a small shed at Netherstead which has form as far as roosting Barn Owls is concerned. We didn't find it occupied today, but Dave spotted a recent pellet which we extracted for examination.

What did the Barn Owl have for dinner?

Yummy

A single Redpoll flew over. Thanks to the birding authorities we no longer have to care how pale it was, because Lesser and Mealy Redpoll have been lumped together, and they are all now just Redpoll. So I've lost a Morton Bagot tick at the stroke of a pen, but at least they'll be no more headaches over their identification.