Saturday 25th February

Got over early this morning, and it was a bright spring like day. There were a few wildfowl for once with three Shoveler, nine Gadwall, c.30 Pochard and 18 Wigeon. The resident passerines were getting frisky with lots of birds singing with several Song Thrush amongst them. The drainage ditch from the Water Treatment Site to the river was proving attractive to thrushes with lots of Redwing and Blackbirds.

At the other end of the site there was a noisy dispute between two pairs of Mistle Thrush. Warbler corner is a lot brighter now with the largest of the trees gone and there were a pair of Nuthatch and Treecreeper seen. Hopefully with the lighter nights I might get over a bit more often.

Sunday 19th February

A quick walk around Shustoke yielded nothing of note, I then walked down Castle Lane, up to Coleshill and back via the Golf Course. There was a dead Raven on Castle Lane which looked like a RTC, but we did see a live one. There were a couple of pairs of Skylark displaying and also a couple of pairs of Yellowhammer but on the whole it was rather quiet. I checked out a couple of areas that have been good for Tree Sparrow but saw none. I still haven’t had any in the garden this winter for the first time ever.

Later on I checked my top sites for Little Owl and again drew a blank.

It’s so QUIET!!!

Came down to earth with a bump today, I thought the rain had stopped and it hadn’t. So I got soaked into the bargain. But bird wise it was really quiet. Nothing on the main pool apart from Coot and a few Great Crested Grebe. The small pool held the rest of the wildfowl but there were only 21 Wigeon and c.50 Pochard.

Passerine wise there was little to write home about but there were a few thrushes in the Paddocks with six Redwing, four Song Thrush and 12 Backbirds. Did well for Buzzard with seven seen. There appears to have been a bit of work done with the hedgerows trimmed and a few trees either taken out, or blown over.

It shouldn’t be long now before the first of the Spring migrants start to appear. For now, my head is still in Goa I saw twice as many species in two week than I have managed at Shustoke in twelve years! But at least the curries are better here!

I’m Back

Having just returned from Goa for a fortnight I am still catching up at home and work, but I will get over the Reservoir soon I promise.

While I was away I had a text from Steve Haynes at an ungodly hour to say that there was an adult Med Gull at the reservoir, I see there was also a Smew on and off.

I have enclosed a few photographs of some of the birds that I saw. We had 276 species in 14 days which is good in anyones language.

Oriental Skylark, Donna Paula Plateau, Goa

Indian Roller, Donna Paula Plateau, Goa

 

Jungle Owlet,  Carambolim Lakes, Goa

 

Blue-faced Malkoha, Carambolim Lakes, Goa

Spotted Owlet,  Carambolim Lakes, Goa

Bay-breasted Shrike, Morjim Beach, Goa

Lesser Sandplover, Morjim Beach, Goa

Grey Nightjar, Mayam Lake, Goa

White-throated Kingfisher, Chorao Island, Goa

Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Saligaor Zor, Goa

Red-wattled Lapwing, Carambolim Lakes, Goa

Asian Openbill, Carambolim Lakes

Black Kite, Baga Hill, Goa

Sri Lankan Frogmouth, Backwoods Camp, Goa

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Bhagwan Mahaeer, Goa

Ashy Woodswallow, Bhagwan Mahaeer, Goa

Orange-headed Thrush, Apora Woods, Goa

Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Bhagwan Mahaeer, Goa

Malabar Pied Hornbill, Bondla, Goa