Great White Egret at Coate

13 Dec - A quick visit to a frozen Coate Water before work, and good views of the Great White Egret close to the second hide - A photo on my iphone shows it very distantly (!), and the other photo is copyright Tony Martin. Also seen - a Kingfisher, 10 Siskins, 2 Redpolls and 2 drakes and a female Goosander very close to the dam.

Waxwings..... and Smew

8 Dec - I finally caught up with some Swindon Waxwings, arriving in Oakhurst just as the flock was perching on aerials after feeding - approximately 30 birds in total - I just had time to grab 2 or 3 photos before they flew off, and I just had one further view of the flock distantly in flight. Photo JM. In the late afternoon, 2 redhead Smew were on pit 29 in the CWP, and 7 Goosanders on the adjacent pit 30. Unfortunately some wildfowlers arrived, and disturbed all the birds, but happily appeared to be very poor shots. I didn't know the shooting rights were private here, which seems strange next to a busy road. A very quick look at pit 74 produced a pair of Pintail, 9 Curlew and a Little Egret in flight.

CWP

2 Dec - A frosty fine day, a quick look at the Water Park produced 9 Goosander (5 drakes and 4 redheads) on pit 30. Redhead Smews had been reported earlier on pit 28/29. Pit 74 from twitcher's gate was very productive - with high water levels thronged with wildfowl - 109 Shoveler was my highest ever count in the CWP - also 3 Pintail (2m,1f) c150 Teal, c300 Wigeon, drake Goldeneye, drake Pochard, 30 Tufted Duck, 6 Curlew, 10 Lapwings, a Little Egret, a flyover Redpoll, and Water Rail and Great Spotted Woodpecker heard.

Oxford and Farmoor.....

1 Dec - A cold sunny morning, first stop St Giles in central Oxford, where 28 Waxwings were feeding around the churchyard and perching in the treetops (1-3). Excellent views in the low sun. Also Mistle Thrush and Redwing looking for berries. Then Farmoor on the way home was excellent - a single Waxwing was with the thrush flock behind F1, also a male Brambling with the finches in the hedge there - and 3 female Scaup (4) and a Slavonian Grebe (5,6) on F1, also a pair of Goldeneye. Photos JM.

Scottish coast 22-25 Nov 2012

22-25 Nov - An excellent 3-day trip with Mark Finn to see the wintering birds on the Scottish east coast, primarily around the Moray Firth. The weather was excellent, with sunshine and little wind (athough the day prior to my arrival had been very wet). We started with Tarbet Ness and the Sutherland coast up as far as Loch Fleet and Embo - birds here included 1000s of Pink-footed (2,3) and Greylag Geese, and 100s of Whooper Swans (4,5), arrived from Iceland for the winter. A seawatch here produced all 3 species of Diver, Black Guillemots, and our first Long-tailed Ducks (14,15) and Scoters. Portmahomack harbour (6) held a nice flock of 20 or so wintering Purple Sandpipers (7,8). Tain and Loch Fleet held a good range of waders, including Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Sanderling and Redshank, with large numbers of dabbling duck especially Wigeon and Teal. A large finch flock, including 100 or so Twite, was flying around some adjacent stubble fields. Embo (1) and the adjacent coast gave close views of flocks of Common Scoter (11,12), together with a very close Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebes and Long-tailed Ducks. The second day was a calm, sunny day and a Dipper was on the river at Nairn early morning - later, Roseisle, Burghead (9) and Lossiemouth gave excellent views of rafts of several hundred Long-tailed Duck, a few smart Velvet Scoter (13), Red-breasted Mergansers and Eider (10), with a few Common Scoter and Goldeneye. Lossiemouth beach held the same species and an obliging Curlew (16), but we did not find any Snow Buntings due to the number of people enjoying the beach in the fine weather. The car park at Roseisle contained 2 confiding Crested Tits. On our last morning, the weather was dull, but Udale Bay gave great views of waders including both Godwits, more Knot and Redshank, and many Dunlin. Moving up towards the Cromarty Firth we found a large flock of Scaup, more Slavonian Grebes, Eiders and Long-tailed Duck. In Culbokie village we finally found a flock of 45 or so Waxwings (17) perched up in the treetops - and the finale was a Otter feeding under the Kessock Bridge, not far from the airport. Photos JM.

Shorncote

18 Nov - A sunny afternoon at Shorncote, and fairly productive - 4 Snipe and 2 Green Sandpipers, also Wigeon and Snipe (2), a drake Shoveler, 3 Redpolls with Linnets, Goldfinches, Chaffinches and a Reed Bunting. 2 Water Rails called from the reeds. Over 150 Fieldfares were present but flighty, with a few Redwings. 2 Grey Wagtails (3) were seen. Photos JM.

CWP 74..... and winter thrushes......

15 and 16 Nov - on 15th, a quick look at pit 74 from the gate produced 2 feeding Little Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Dunlin, 32 Shovelers , small flocks of Wigeon and Teal, and my first 4 Goldeneye of the autumn. On the morning of the 16th, 2 Fieldfares (3,4), a Redwing (1,2) and a Scandinavian-type Blackbird (5,6) fed on berries very close to the house, and I managed a few photos in rather dull light. Photos, JM.