Droitwich

19 Jan - A winter visit to the hides, a crisp winter day but unfortunately the Green Woodpecker did not cooperate - the Kingfisher did however and perched obligingly in the low sunlight. Also a large mixed flock of Fieldfares and Redwings feeding in the fields.

Forest of Dean

18 Jan - A morning visit to FoD in sunny but breezy conditions. First stop the Hawfinch spot at Parkend - I managed to persuade several birders standing around to get back into their cars, with the result that the Hawfinches cautiously came down onto the ground to feed, at 1 point a male was within 3 metres of the car! They are very nervous, landing in the Yews for a wary look around before they descend to the floor - and a passing walker or lorry immediately spooks then up into the trees and they take a while to return. Some reasonable photographic opportunities though. I also had a walk at Crabtree and was rewarded with good but fairly distant views of the Great Grey Shrike - also Stonechats in evidence, and flyover Crossbills, Redpolls and Siskins. Altogether a successful morning. Winter and early spring is one of the best times for the Forest, before the leaf cover makes birds much harder to find.

Local bits and pieces

14 Jan - A couple of Brambling at Marshfield, and 2 Hawfinch at Corsham Court. Then the Ring-necked Duck showing quite well at Keynes Park at CWP, so a good couple of hours.....

Lakes

11-13 Jan - A brief winter foray to the Lakes courtesy of a fast train ride with Virgin - much more restful than battling the M6 in a car. Limited daylight at this time of the year, but we were fairly fortunate with the weather, with dry slightly misty conditions, and even a bit of elusive sunshine making for a dramatic red sunset on the first evening. Birding was limited, but I kept my eyes open as we walked, and saw a couple of Dippers at close quarters, both near to stone bridges which presumably provide good nesting sites. One bird was singing which seemed optimistic for spring......... Lake Windermere held wintering Goosander and Goldeneye, I also logged a single flyover Whooper Swan and a flock of Pinkfeet, both heading south, possibly to Martin Mere WWT in Lancs ? It would be good to be able to revisit later in the year with more daylight and with summer visitors present.

WWT

8 Jan - The highlight of a couple of New Year visits to Slimbridge have been the elegant wintering Swans, the less-elegant Whitefronts, and a good selection of waders - including wheeling Golden Plovers, Little Stint and Spotted Redshank - but especially the outstanding views of Snipe from Hogarth hide, and the bobbing (but almost invisible) Jack Snipe outside Zeiss hide. Always an impressive place in the winter months.

Local Great White Egret ..........

7 Jan - Driving past North Meadow, I thought that the Egret feeding looked fairly large ..... so I stopped and checked, and it was a Great White! Good views, yellow bill, very long sinuous neck. My first self-found at CWP.

Poole harbour

6 Jan - A bright but cold day with NE wind for the boat trip from Poole Quay including Brownsea. The harbour was busy with a good selection of wintering birds - mainly Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes, but including 3 Great Northern Divers and 8 dapper Black-necked Grebes, Common and Velvet Scoter and Goldeneye. 20 or so Spoonbills were hunkered down in the wind near Arne, where several Sika Deer were grazing. A lone Sandwich Tern probably wished it had joined its compatriots in migrating to West Africa! Unfortunately the lagoon on Brownsea was much fuller than usual as the pump was broken, so photo opportunities very limited .......... but Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover were all roosting in numbers, as was a dense pack of Avocets, along with the 2 specialities, Greenshank and Spotted Redshank. A bonus was nice views of a Kingfisher perched along the boardwalk, and a Red Squirrel building a drey nearer the main buildings. An enjoyable but bracing trip, the finale being the usual very active flock of Sanderlings on the beach by the chain ferry at Studland. An hour in the morning, pre-trip, gave me views of a male Bearded Tit, a male Marsh Harrier and an adult Med Gull at Radipole. So a busy but successful day.

Glos runaround

5 Jan - An early Jan runaround on a slightly showery day - reasonable views of the Great Northern Diver still resident at pit 125 in eastern CWP - then Plock Court at Gloucester where I had much better views of the Penduline Tit, feeding on Bullrush heads, a tiny bird like a miniature Red-backed Shrike. Seen on arrival so no waiting required. Then a productive couple of hours at Slimbridge - both Spotted Redshank and Little Stint present on the Rushy (with Bewick's of course) alongside Redshank and good numbers of Ruff - with impressively large numbers of Golden Plover and Lapwing on the Tack Piece, alongside Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew. Excellent views of Snipe from Hogarth hide at the top end of South Lake. Finally, 3 Short-eared Owls in the Cotswolds emerged in reasonable light, with a Barn Owl later on. A good, fairly local day!

New Year 2018

Jan 1 - I managed to get out for part of the day to get my 2018 list off to a start, although the best bird of the day was on our regular walk in Cirencester Park - the 2 Hawfinches I saw in October surfaced again, this time they landed in view and I saw them perched at reasonable distance - alas, without the camera. Marsh Tit, Grey Wagtail and Jay also seen in the park. A quick look round CWP gave a lot of expected ticks for 2018 - Shorncote was productive as usual, highlights being 9 Little Egrets on the floods, 4 Water Rails and 3 Cetti's Warblers calling, Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch and Meadow Pipit. Also a Fox carrying prey in broad daylight! Surprisingly, all the Shovelers present last week had vanished, probably as there is a lot more floodwater around at the moment. An Avocet at Eysey would be an excellent bird, but may be an escape from Bristol Zoo - I am awaiting a response from them as to the red ring on the birds right leg. Finally, late afternoon a few miles north in the Cotswolds produced 2 Red Kites, and views of Barn Owl and Short-eared Owl, but not til it was almost dark. 79 species logged in total.