Gloom and gloom

Wednesday 12th January 2011

Had a look around Mancetter and Witherley for the Great White Egret yesterday but only found a Little Egret. Some nice walks along the river which might be more productive in the Spring but very little along the banks and hedgerows at the moment, except for a single Tree Sparrow.
Today I mostly visited Ladywalk N.R. and Hams Hall. It was damp and gloomy but managed to see a few good birds before the rains set in during the afternoon. The main feeding station was doing a roaring trade with a couple of Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, and male Brambling as well as the regular clients but no sign of the Mealy Redpoll recorded yesterday. Elsewhere on the reserve I was lucky to see Woodcock and Tawny Owl. Driving out of Hams Hall a Peregrine was perched half way up a small pylon next to a factory car park. I pulled up in the car park and had the closest view of Peregrine I can remember - and where was my camera? Back home. To be honest the light was so bad by now it wouldn't have been a great image.