Sunday January 27

After a late start I found myself playing catch-up, literally, as I marched from the car to reach Dave at the Flash field.

He had kicked up a Jack Snipe and a Snipe from the sedges in front of the former pool, and greeted me with the news that a year-tick was available. As it turned out it took me two scans of the nearest flash to see the Coot, which promptly disappeared as soon as I got my camera out.

The weather was less than ideal, a strong north-westerly and occasional showers conspired to keep most of the birds sheltering behind the sedges. Presumably that was where the Coot had gone, and probably also accounted for an apparent lack of Teal. The only birds showing were a Shelduck, about 20 Mallard, a Little Egret, two Grey Herons, and 75 Canada Geese.

The south end was more productive for passerines. We saw the bulk of the finches and buntings down there; 155 Linnets, 80 Chaffinches, and 14 Reed Buntings.

Linnets

Meanwhile, the horse pastures played host to 78 Starlings, and on the drive out I came across a field containing another 100, plus 100 Redwings and 20 Fieldfares.

Redwings

It all felt a bit rushed though. I'll try and get up earlier next time.

Wednesday January 23

These are tricky times, and I don't even mean Brexit. I am currently at home and not at work because Lyn is finding the morning transfers challenging (and at times impossible). My employer is allowing me to take unpaid leave, but its patience is likely to be tested if the situation remains the same for weeks on end.

I managed to get an hour on the patch just before lunch today, hoping the sunshine would cheer me up. The pool remains dry, and the flashes were frozen so no waterfowl were present, although 20 Mallard and a Gadwall were flying around in the distance. I imagine they had been flushed from the fishing pool just beyond my patch boundary.

I met a couple of dog-walkers, one of whom was the owner of Netherstead Hall. She was very nice and we chatted about birds and stuff. By the time I got back to the car I had still seen no birds of note. Then I decided to wander up to the church, searching for inspiration perhaps. What I found was a decent bird.

Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail is a species I expect to see here during the year, but its usually an autumn speciality. This bird is no doubt taking advantage of the mild winter, so far, and is trying to overwinter.

The church is nice too.

Sunday January 20

With Lyn safely back home since Wednesday I felt able to venture out for a couple of hours on the patch with Dave.

It was quiet; the weather (grey and still), and the birds (not much to report). Picking through the notes, the most notable sightings were two pairs of Stonechat, 153 Canada Geese, the Shelduck, 12 Teal, the drake Gadwall, and the pair of Shovelers all still present.

House Sparrow

A couple of Marsh Tits eluded the camera, but the light wasn't great so I only added a few species to the year list photographs.

It was left to the goats to amuse us as they stripped what they could from the site's precious saplings.

Sunday January 13

Another grey morning, this time with a light north-westerly.

Things remain pretty static, a Sparrowhawk being the only year-tick. The flash field contained a Shelduck, 14 Teal, two Gadwall, a Wigeon, and about 30 Mallard. One or two gulls flew over, including four Herring Gulls.

Herring Gulls

The pair of Stonechats are still present, as are 125 Linnets, about 20 Chaffinches, and a similar number of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails. The horse paddocks now being utilised to the south of Netherstead are proving quite a draw for pipits and wagtails.

Friday January 11

The first morning with a bit of sunshine coincided with an early start and resulted in an impressive haul of 61 species. There was also plenty of opportunity to photograph stuff.

The first year-tick was a party of seven Long-tailed Tits at the edge of Bannams Wood before the sun rose above the horizon. I had decided to park at the church for a change and walk along the road to the southern boundary before walking back across the fields past the flash field.

The wood produced several more little birds, the best being a Marsh Tit, before I was able to get an acceptable record shot of a Goldcrest in the hedgerow just beyond the hamlet.

Goldcrest

I have never managed a decent photograph of one of these speedy little birds, and I was pleased to get a recognisable image. Ravens seemed to be particularly common today, and I counted at least six (five together over Bannams), which was a good count for mid-winter.

Once I was off the road the emphasis switched from woodland birds to meadow specialists, and included a flock of at least 45 Meadow Pipits. Chaffinches and Linnets were still present in good numbers and I accumulated 18 Reed Buntings.

Reed Bunting

On the other hand Yellowhammers and Skylarks remain in short supply, with just two of each seen. At Netherstead six Herring Gulls flew north, and three Lesser Redpolls posed in some birches.

Lesser Redpoll

I reached the field containing the ex-pool and decided to try to find and photograph a Jack Snipe. To my delight the effort was successful and I managed several images before I got too close and it flushed.

Jack Snipe

I also flushed three Common Snipe, while calling birds above Bannams Wood proved to be a pair of Peregrines.

Peregrines

My final year-tick of the day was at the Flash field, where a Little Owl had opted to sit out in the sun in its favourite oak tree.

Little Owl

This is the first time I have seen the species here in January. They normally hide away until spring.

The flash pool themselves were well stocked with birds; a Shelduck, four Wigeon, three Gadwall, nine Teal, 81 Mallard, a Lapwing, three Grey Herons, and a Little Egret.

Little Egret

Continuing the walk, I found a flock of corvids which included Rooks which were actually perched. The normal view of them here is a black shape flapping overhead.

Rook

A second visit to Netherstead confirmed the continued presence of at least a female Stonechat, and also gave me the chance to photograph another species which is usually only seen in flight here, if at all.

Starling

So all in all, a very good visit.

Thursday January 10

I originally planned a full morning's birding, but with the light deteriorating I decided to defer it and go shopping.

But obviously a short walk along the road past Bannam's Wood could be fitted in on the way back. This yielded one of my easy year-ticks in the form of a Nuthatch, plus three or four Goldcrests, Treecreeper, a pair of Ravens and a few Coal Tits.

Blue Tit

None of them got photographed, so I had to settle for a Blue Tit.

Lyn is still in hospital, now in a side ward. She has been adjudged free of flu, and they have now identified the bug that caused the original problem and are treating it with antibiotics.

Sunday January 6

A cloudy morning, with sunshine from midday. Quite mild.

Dave joined me for our first visit together of the new year. A single Stonechat was at Netherstead, while finch numbers at the south end were slightly down. On the other hand there was a flock of about 50 Linnets in the dry pool field.

It was down to the flash field to provide the only new bird of the year in the form of a Little Egret, presumably the bird seen in late December.

Little Egret

The flash pools were unfrozen, and the wildfowl had responded by returning. A Shelduck, eight Wigeon, and a pair of Shovelers had joined 28 Mallard and at least 12 Teal on the nearest flash.

Shoveler

Teal and Wigeon

We left at around 11.30, but as the sun was starting to emerge I returned for an hour later to try to fill in some gaps in my photo year list (see 2019 year-list tab).

Friday January 4

A sunny morning at last, but I was rather busy and so only had time to nip down to see if the Tawny Owl was showing, which it was.

Tawny Owl

In the short time available I established that the Flashes were frozen, so only a pair of Teal and a Grey Heron were in residence.

I did manage to see and hear a Skylark though, new for the year.

A quick update on Lyn. She is still in the Alex, and has now been diagnosed with flu. So much for the flu jab! So my routine of morning birding or working and afternoon hospital visiting seems set to continue.

Thursday January 3

I suppose its not surprising that with near identical conditions (but colder) today's crop of birds would be very similar to those found two days ago.

The nearest flash pool continues to look good, the sedges at the back hiding at least 20 Teal, while the Shelduck, a pair of Wigeon, and a pair of Gadwall remain settled.

Gadwall

I still enjoyed the morning. The new species for the year were Jay and Kestrel, while several you would expect seem to be completely absent. Where are all the Skylarks?

Kestrel

I also photographed my first mammal of the year, as a Roe Deer posed at the top of the weedy strip.

Roe Deer

Some sunshine would be good.

Tuesday January 1

Happy New Year everyone.

With Lyn currently in hospital, birding has to be timed around visiting hours. So it was that I was approaching Bannam's Wood at 07.28 when a Barn Owl flew across the road, illuminated in the car headlights. That cheered me up.

My plan for this year is to pay more attention to Morton Bagot, and in particular to compile a photo year list of various groups of creatures. The lead grey skies and terrible light this morning did its best to make this difficult, while early afternoon saw light drizzle before the skies lightened a little.

So the camera initially stayed in the bag while I quietly amassed a list of birds. There is no sign that the main pool will be allowed to fill up this year, but the muddy field it has become at least retains some smaller pools and sedge-based marsh. A tramp around it kicked up nine Common Snipe and a Jack Snipe.

The flash field was looking good, and there were plenty of ducks to see. In fact I recorded all the dabbling ducks which are likely in a year. These included three Gadwall, a Shelduck, a pair of Shoveler, and two pairs of Wigeon, as well as the usual Teal, Mallard, and Canada Geese.

Shelduck

Wigeon

By the time I had returned to my car I was on 52 species of bird, and four species of mammal.

Following a short break back home I returned and decided to check out the "Redpoll Field" at the south end. This was very productive, containing flocks of 100 Linnets, and 80 Chaffinches as well as a pair of Stonechats, a Yellowhammer, and a few Reed Buntings, Greenfinch, and Goldfinch. The pasture field just north of it hosted at least 25 Meadow Pipits.

Back at Netherstead I found a second pair of Stonechats.

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

A quick return to the flash field added Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, and a flock of 93 Lapwings.

Lapwings

The future is now uncertain. When Lyn comes out she is likely to need full-time care for a while. So the timing of my next post will be dictated by her needs.

Hopefully I'll be blogging again before too long.