On reflection

Grey Heron

Birds in the snow

A couple of weeks ago we had some snow, not a lot, but it lasted for about a week and consequently things got a bit hard for our feathered friends.

Birds such as the Waxwing are used to harsh weather, coming from the European Tundra, but they were struggling to find the now depleted berries on which they feast. A few weeks ago these birds were everywhere, but now the reports are getting fewer and it is thought that they have moved off to Europe.

Waxwing

Waxwing

The Grey Heron is a familiar sight, but the one below looked decidedly 'miffed' at all this white stuff, curtailing his fishing exploits somewhat.

Grey Heron

The gardeners friend, the Robin is adept at using us humans to find food, hanging around while we dig the borders and jumping down from his perch in order to grab a tasty morsel or two.

Robin

Times are hard for Owls at the moment, numbers of the Barn Owl are in freefall due to the wet summer and with snow on the ground they find it very hard to hunt.

Barn Owl

My wife's favourite, the badger bird comes into the garden with a couple of his mates, feeds on the fatballs and is gone in a few seconds. A lot of these small birds won't survive long periods of cold.

Long-tailed Tit

The snow has now gone and some spring like weather has arrived. The birds are starting to sing more and several are starting to check out the nest boxes, just in time for another cold snap at the end of the week.

New Year, new start

Another year of listing has ended and I am quite glad that it has. 2011 in the PBC area was good for some, there were some cracking birds seen, but not by me! A juvenile Night Heron was seen by 3 local birders, but by the time me and Chris Orders had arrived on site, the bird had vanished ; a Pied Flycatcher was found in a local garden and I was away ; a couple of Bean Geese were seen near Langtoft and a female Scaup on Deeping High Bank and again both had vanished by the time I had arrived on site! All in all, a pretty miserable year for my local list, a paltry 169 species were seen, but some goodies were in there, including Raven, Wood Warbler and White-fronted Goose. Maybe this year will be better?

January 1st is traditionally a day when birders are out and about starting their lists. Not for me, as it is Lisa`s birthday and so she, quite rightly, comes first. We went out locally on the 2nd and got a few birds, the White-fronted Goose is still at Ferry Meadows CP and a lovely Kingfisher was seen, but my year list will start with a vengeance at the weekend.