Buzzards over the garden

26 Feb - Sunny weather, perfect for Buzzards to display and set up their territories, and I took this from the garden at lunchtime. A feel of early spring in the air.

Shapwick Heath

25 Feb - An afternoon trip with my friend Julia to Ashcott and Shapwick, on the Somerset levels, in superb weather - a Bittern heard booming, and another seen in flight (4) - 2 Bearded Tits (5) heard calling - and many Cetti's Warblers and Water Rails also heard in the extensive reedbeds. Male Marsh Harrier displaying, and a female (3) also seen - a Great White Egret seen in flight, Shoveler (8) and Gadwall (7) also present, and a confiding Great Crested Grebe (6) was close to the Noah's Lake hide. At dusk a few Starlings started to gather for the large roost. Photos JM.

Shorncote local patch

19 Feb - Shorncote back to normal after the snow last week, lots of activity in the reedbed - 3+ Water Rails calling and a Little Egret (10) flew over. 50+ Teal (5-7) with 3 pairs of Shoveler (3) (the first for several months),also a few Gadwall and Wigeon (4), Tufted Duck and Pochard. 2 Snipe were concealed in the vegetation, and a Green Sandpiper (8-9) was present in the quarry. 6 Reed Buntings, 15 Linnets, a Grey Wagtail, a Mistle Thrush and 50+ Fieldfares were also around.
En route, pit 301, right by the A419, held 2 Little Egrets, and 10 Golden Plover (2) and 35 Lapwings flew over there. The redhead Smew was still on pit 29 and a male Goosander on pit 30.

Common Yellowthroat at Rhiwderin.....

17 Feb - The first major twitch I have been on for a long time, a Common Yellowthroat just over the bridge in South Wales, only 60 miles from home. I saw the bird briefly immediately on arrival, and once everyone had had a good view the crowd stopped charging around and the bird then fed in the open - quite skulking, but excellent views through the scope - olive-green upperparts, bright yellow underparts and a blackish mask as it has been aged as a first-winter male. The 8th UK record, and the second I have seen in Britain. The first 2 photos are courtesy of the Gwent Birding website, the last 3 are mine including the distant record shot (5).

Waterhay

16 Feb - A sunny spring-like morning, and a quick walk at Waterhay produced a singing Cetti's Warbler in the pit 68 reedbed, with at least 3 singing male Reed Buntings (2) enjoying the sun. A Water Rail and a Green Woodpecker were calling. A pair a Smew were displaying to each other on pit 29.

CWP still frozen....

12 Feb - A quick look at CWP today, some lying snow (1,3,4) but melting in +4 temperatures. Pit 30 held 2 male and 2 redhead Smew (photo 2, taken earlier in the week), pit 29 being largely frozen. A few Goosander and Goldeneye scattered around the unfrozen areas, and being milder quite a bit of bird song - Chaffinches, Wrens, Great Tits etc. Shorncote late afternoon produced 3 Snipe flushed, 3 Water Rails out in the open on the path with 3 more calling in the reeds, a Little Egret flying to roost, and the usual collection of Teal (6), Wigeon (5), Gadwall (7), Tufted Duck and a solitary Little Grebe on the unfrozen pool. Buzzards (9) flew to roost against a wintry backdrop. A dramatic evening sky, as the weather turns westerly once again. Photos JM.

Snowy Cotswolds

11 Feb - A deep frozen (-11 at dawn) sunny morning with snow on the ground. Crickley Hill (2,3) still had snow cover, and I saw about 10 Bramblings (4) with 20 or so Chaffinches - elusive for the camera but I photographed a male. Small flocks of Redwings (5-9) fed in the paddocks. Next stop the 2 Whooper Swans were still viewable by the Severn at Leigh Meadows from Wainlode Hill with the Mute Swans. Finally a quick stop at Great Barrington produced at least 5 Red Kites (10), 10+ Buzzards and a Raven but no Short-eared Owls. Flocks of Fieldfares (11) Redwings and a few Skylarks were overhead. A real crisp winter's day. Photos JM.

Garden visitors....in the snow.....

10 Feb - An overnight snowfall of a couple of inches produced an influx of birds into the garden - in a couple of hours in the afternoon I saw 2 pairs of Bullfinches (1,2), 3 Long-tailed Tits on the feeder (3,4,) 3 Song Thrushes (5), a Redwing (6) and, best of all, a flyover Snipe! My 80th species for the garden list.....Photos JM.