Friday 23rd January: Peregrine & Ring-necked Duck
This morning rainy, brightening up at lunch-time though with a strong northerly wind
A lunch-time visit to the Meadow (bins only) found a juvenile PEREGRINE making rather inept passes over the ducks and gulls that were on the floods. It soon gave up and landed beyond the north shore to think about things a little. The usual ducks were present including gadwall and some PINTAIL. The four BLACK-TAILED GODWITS were along the west shore together with a couple of DUNLIN. No other waders were seen but I could well have missed them in difficult viewing conditions. There were a couple of canada geese close to the river (the first of the year for the Meadow). The female RING-NECKED DUCK, a presumed escapee that has been around for some time, was lurking amongst the moored boats. It's good to know that it's still around.
In Burgess Field, a flock of about a dozen SISKINS flew over and a single snipe was flushed from the north-east corner. There were also a pair of foxes in the wood within the Trap Grounds.
A stock photo of the female ring-necked duck, taken a bit more than a year ago (though it still looks the same) © Pete Styles
A lunch-time visit to the Meadow (bins only) found a juvenile PEREGRINE making rather inept passes over the ducks and gulls that were on the floods. It soon gave up and landed beyond the north shore to think about things a little. The usual ducks were present including gadwall and some PINTAIL. The four BLACK-TAILED GODWITS were along the west shore together with a couple of DUNLIN. No other waders were seen but I could well have missed them in difficult viewing conditions. There were a couple of canada geese close to the river (the first of the year for the Meadow). The female RING-NECKED DUCK, a presumed escapee that has been around for some time, was lurking amongst the moored boats. It's good to know that it's still around.
In Burgess Field, a flock of about a dozen SISKINS flew over and a single snipe was flushed from the north-east corner. There were also a pair of foxes in the wood within the Trap Grounds.
A stock photo of the female ring-necked duck, taken a bit more than a year ago (though it still looks the same) © Pete Styles