I arrived at the new feeding station / photography screen... WOW! This was my first visit to the reserve since 6th June so I was incredibly impressed by the progress made on the reserve, this is an absolutely fantastic area which im sure many will enjoy for years to come, well done to all involved.
I settled down on one of the benches and watched close encounters with 15 Great Tits, 5 Blue Tits and 5 Redpoll - some absolute beauties! Also at the feeders were 3 Bullfinch & 2 Goldfinch.
To my amusement a Great Tit was hammering on one of the feeders as the hole was a bit too small for its beak! At first I thought it was a woodpecker and just after that, guess what flew in... A Great Spotted Woodpecker breifly appeared on one of the trees behind the feeders but alas it was off before I could reach for my camera.
A solitary Siskin arrived which I was very pleased with, a first time i've seen one from close range which was lovely. Two flocks of Long-Tailed Tits passed through having a great time on the fat balls.
Other species around the feeders were Robin (heard singing), Blackbird & 3 Magpie.
As I walked off and arrived back on the riverside (by the wier) I heard a commotion from 3 Jays, 2 of which were very showy & I got fantastic views in the binoculars, unfortunately they were not so showy when I reached for the camera!
A fantastic hour at Cromwell Bottom, if you haven't been for a while (or ever), get yourself down!!
Species List:
5 Lesser Redpoll
2 Chaffinch
5 Blue Tit
15 Great Tit
Blackbird
3 Bullfinch
Wren
Robin
25? Golfinch
Siskin
Great Spotted Woodpecker
3 Jay
20 Long Tailed Tit
3 Magpie
4 Carrion Crow
3 Black Headed Gull
Jackdaw
7 comments:
Brilliant post Andy and cracking pictures. Someday our paths may cross again!
is that a Mealy redpoll or just a trick of the light...::?
Thanks Bruce hopefully bumP into you on the reserve sometime!
Andy - do you mean the first pic? I can see if I have any others tomorrow
Photo number 4 looks very pale ,,but now Ive got my glasses on I not sure if its just the photo.??
Unfortunately no Mealy's yet?
for id purposes:
http://cromwellbottom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/making-mealy-out-of-it.html
A few pics from last winter to refresh the memory.
They are slightly bigger than lesser if sharing a feeder - but would appear very pale with much more white. Arctic would have thick white edges to primaries & tail feathers.
Sure we will get a couple soon.
Ok - time to let you all in on my information source, If you have 20-30 secs to study the pale birds after reading this:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/75552587/Redpoll-Identification
The only one that should be confusing would be the Arctic, but if you can remember all the fine details from the above even those should be a little easier.
This is the best information source for Redpoll ID I have seen.
The point was, unfortunately - That the pics didn't contain a Mealy. But please all have a good read of the above. Next will be "yellowPoll's" mealies or not? lol
Thanks B.Neild that source is a fantastic guide, im not versed in Redpolls myself but eager to learn. I've posted some more pics of the same one (i dont think its mealy now i've looked at that page)Will have a look at the other links too - thanks Andy C
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