Friday 1 March 2013

Spring has sprung!

Another dry and mild day marks the official first day of spring, and it got off to an exciting start this lunchtime at Cromwell Bottom. 2 Herons passed over with nest building material and an attack on the car park feeders by a Sparrowhawk got the afternoon off to a good start!

                                                                 Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

I was heading for the feeding station to try get Redpoll on my yearlist after my last unsuccessful attempt. On the way I noted 2 Canada Geese on the riverbank. It didnt look good but there were 8 Blue Tits, 7 Great Tits, 3 Bullfinch (2 males 1 female), Chaffinch, 2 Robin, & 2 Blackbirds. After a good 20 minutes a single and very obliging redpoll showed at last! 


                                                        Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)
                                                               Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
                                                                Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
                                                             Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
                                                             Blackbird (Turdus merula)
                                                            Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)   

 I carried on around Tag Loop, picking up a singing Song Thrush and a few long tailed tits, 2 canada geese flying past the reserve and 6 carrion crow. Returning to the river a single domestic goose was by the weir. Another cracking hour at this ever changing reserve, I can see loads of changes and hard work paying off, well done to all the volunteers. 

                                                          Domestic Goose (Snow Goose!)

4 comments:

Bruce said...

Many thanks for your comments and excellent post Andy.

Hope to see you again soon

gwh said...

Hi Andy check out the lagoon next time swans greylag tufted coot little greeb and reed bunting. yours Graham

Andy Kiz said...

Wow that's excellent graham never seen more than a single coot there! Didn't have time to go across because of the wait for redpoll but will check it out next week.

Steve Blacksmith said...

Great shots Andy, and nice to see the full English names included, and scientific names for a bonus. Helps beginners and also birders from foreign continents who might be looking in.
Steve, Chair, Halifax Scientific Society.