Thursday 14 March 2013

What a Week its Been!

This week has seen the complete weather forecast, sunny cloudless blue skies with no wind to Howling gales and heavy snow in places. I managed to get out Tuesday (12th) to have a look at the sea from Reculver towers before work for 30 minutes in very strong north easterly winds which if it were not for the shelter of the towers, would have been near impossible to stand up in. A few birds were noted including 118 Brent Geese, 1 Gannet (114) east, 1 Dunlin, 1 Great crested Grebe, 1 Red throated Diver and 5 Sanderling. This evening in glorious sunshine with blue skies and little wind I made a trip over to Reculver after work to see if I could connect with the 2 Canada Geese that Chris Hindle had found earlier in the day. Although annual this can be a tricky bird to see in the area in most months and you have to take the chance when you can. After parking up I walked to the area and immediately saw the 2 Canada Geese (115) out in the field. Using some cover I was able to get a few pleasing shots of this species and while photographing them a Barn Owl appeared in the sunshine but soon caught some prey and took it off back to its roost site.

Canada Geese

I stayed in the area noting 2 Shoveler, 10 Mute Swan, 1 Marsh Harrier, 7 Tufted Duck, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Little Owl called a few times, 1 Pochard, 8 Gadwall, 13 Teal, 1 Little Egret and 2 Kestrel. Walking through to the sea produced 2 Grey Partridge, 6 Grey Plover, 3 Redshank, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Ringed Plover, c100 Lapwing took flight and the cause was soon seen in the form of a Peregrine. Walking back inland I saw the Barn Owl hunting briefly again but the Crows soon had it flying back into roost. The only other birds noted were 2 Jay and 1 Shelduck. I'm off to Old Trafford this Saturday to watch Man Utd v Reading with my eldest daughter. The weather looks pretty bad down here for the weekend so hopefully I will not miss that much!

6 comments:

  1. All the cracking bird species you see, and yet Canada Geese are hard to find.....all in the fun though :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely OK Canada Geese, love 'em.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice bonus of the Barn Owl dropping by Marc :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marc ,
    Like Warren I was amazed that Canada Geese are almost 'rare' at Reculver .
    Hope the two of you enjoy the game , but if either of you are a Reading supporter , I think it could be a long journey back .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankfully Greenie, both Red supporters so I'm expecting a few goals!!!!!!

      Delete