Tale of the lost Pork pie

Wednesday 27th January 2016

It's that time of the year for looking for a new angle on an old theme. At least that's my excuse for being a little flippant with my daily birding report. Actually the story of the missing Pork pie is downright silly.
 I often pop in to Morrisons on my way back from Draycote and/or Brandon Marsh for a coffee and to stock up on Kippers. Yesterday I managed to leave my waterproof decorating a chair in the Cafe but worse than that my proposed lunch, an individual hand crafted Pork pie was in one of the pockets. It was only when I got home that I realised the error of my ways. I phoned Morrisons and spoke to a rather nice lady called Michelle who went off immediately in search of the pie.After a short wait she returned with the news I'd been hoping for. The pie was safe still in the pocket of my coat. What a relief.
Clearly an earlyish visit to Morrisons next morning was the order of the day followed by a visit to Brandon Marsh where I saw my first returning Oystercatcher of the year.

Siskin, Brandon Marsh

Siskin

Also had some close views of Siskin before moving on to Draycote Water. I was keen to see the 'regulars' I'd missed the previous day and fortunately it wasn't too long before they were in the bag and I was back to the car for lunch - Pork pie.

'Surfin' Smew, Draycote Water

Smew

Scaup

White fronted Geese at Draycote Water

Tuesday 26th January 2016

A couple of local walks over the weekend and a brief trip to Ladywalk. Ladywalk produced a small flock of Siskin and and a few Chiffchaffs while a walk along the river Anker from Woodford lane to Mancetter produced 4 Chiffchaffs, so not much to Blog about really. Today I took a drive to Draycote; a good place to be if you enjoy falling off your Windsurfing board at regular intervals in the blustry wind. Managed to miss seeing most of the regulars(birds) but the regular (birders) were more obvious in there Polar gear. No sign of the White fronted geese on my first mini search but luck was with me as I didn't have to wait too long before they flew in with Greylags and landed quite close.

White fronted Geese, Draycote Water

White fronted goose

4 of the 6 White fronted geese

White fronted goose

White fronted goose

Nondescript Birding

Thursday 21st January 2016

Another rather nondescript day's birding report to match the weather but at least there aren't any nondescript photos to go with it today. Did the Caldecote patchwalk. Very few small birds about at all. just a few Skylarks. Plenty of Corvids, a mixed flock of just over 200 Fieldfare and Redwing on the Hall meadow, several Grey Herons and several Buzzards loafing about. The most interesting birds were probably the pair of Stonechats which have been around for some time now and a single Snipe which is only the second one I can recall seeing on the walk. Back at home the female Blackcap is still coming to the garden feeder but the finches seem to have disappeared.

Plodding along slowly

Wednesday 20th January 2016

Back to basics today, with a short tour of N.Warks. Making the most of some decent weather but also trying

Little Owl

to pick up a few new species for the year.3 Jack Snipe, a Great Black Backed Gull near Alvecote and a Little Owl near Dordon was a good start but after that things slowed down a bit. There was a probable Siberian Chiffchaff along the riverside track near the car park at Ladywalk but nothing else of note except a fox on the far river bank near Bittern hide.

Probable Siberian Chiffchaff

Penduline Tits in Gloucestershire

Tuesday 19th January 2016

Found myself heading South West via Stratford and Tewksbury to Gloucester. Eventually found the site in Barnwell where a couple  of male Penduline Tits had taken up residence.It was a short walk to the area of Bulrushes in a flood relief pool. There were about 30 birders spread along the fenced off track. After a 1/2 hour wait the birds came in to the closest rushes. They showed really well when they got up high in the rushes to feed. A good deal better views than my previous encounter in Kent many moons ago.

Penduline Tit, Gloucester

Penduline Tit

Penduline Tit

Penduline Tit

Penduline Tit

Penduline Tit

Penduline Tit

Lazy weekend

17th January 2016

Quiet weekend Birding wise for various reasons. Had a look round Alvecote but not a lot doing. At least one Stonechat is still on Mill pool though. Also had a short walk round Middleton Lakes - a couple of Lesser Redpoll on the feeders were new for the year but that was it. Good to see my first Blackcap arrive in the garden with the snow on Sunday also a couple of Long tailed Tits which are quite unusual in my garden.

Blackcap, garden, Nuneaton

Long tailed Tits, garden

A day at Brandon Marsh

12th January 2016

Any day you see a Bittern is a good day, and today I saw 2, not much else but 2 Bitterns will do me. After a long wait in East Marsh hide I moved round to Carlton hide for a better view of the Newlands Reedbed. After about 20 minutes or so a Bittern  flew in and dropped just beyond the pool giving excellent flight views. After a further half hour it was joined by a second Bittern, flying in from the far side of the reedbed.

Bittern 1, Brandon Marsh

Bittern 1

Bittern 1

Bittern 1

Bittern 1

Bittern 2