A cloudy morning with several drizzly showers and a very light north-easterly saw me return to the Alne for one last winter wander. I started at Great Alne and then walked through Aston Cantlow as far as Little Alne before completing the circle. A pair of Teal on the river at Great Alne was a good start.
Spring is underway as far as the Rooks are concerned, and I counted two rookeries in Great Alne; 33 and 11 active nests respectively. For everything else winter is still an issue. There were plenty of Redwings for much of the route, and an equal number of Fieldfares just south of Aston Cantlow, but only about 30 - 40 of each.
The most productive area was between Haselor New Grounds and Great Alne. Three Shoveler were seen in flight, almost certainly disturbed from Haselor scrape (which I didn't visit), and then 30 Golden Plovers circled downward in much the same area (a year-tick would you believe). An area of rough ground was full of Wrens and Blackbirds, but the highlight was a party of 13 Lesser Redpolls. I photographed a male, which I've just noticed is ringed.
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| A male Lesser Redpoll |
The river valley produced at least four singing Treecreepers, and at Aston Cantlow the sun peeped out for long enough to encourage a Buff-tailed Bumblebee to start buzzing about. A couple of Mistle Thrushes were with Redwings in some horse paddocks, and I got the camera out to record my first flowering Primrose of the season.
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| Primrose |
Pretty soon the rain returned, and the last hour reminded me that meteorological winter isn't over until tomorrow.
And the weathermen say colder weather is ahead.
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