Ian Crutchley has sent me a list for this afternoon and I’m pleased to see that the male Pintail is still present. Ian’s full list is as follows: 15 Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Kestrel, 25 Yellowhammer, Yaffle, Sparrowhawk, 10 Fieldfare, 2 Gadwall, drake Pintail, 106 Wigeon, 9 Pochard, 37 Tufted Duck, 13 Mute Swan, 41 Teal, 5 Little Grebe, 60 Mallard, 35 Coot, Buzzard, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Lesser Black Backed Gull, 150 Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Bullfinch, Raven, 2 Moorhen, 5 Chaffinch, 35 Skylark, 900+ Wood Pigeon, Linnet and 40 Jackdaw.

Thanks Ian.

Tom Cattell battled the Siberian weather, (pictures below) to heroically send the following list, and a pretty good list it is too: Black headed Gull c200, Mute Swan 14, Mallard 75, Teal 28, Coot 28, Tufted 26, Little Grebe 3, Pochard 4, Wigeon 104, Lapwing 2, Fieldfare 68, Pintail 1 drake again, Peregrine 1, Robin 1, Lesser Black Backed Gull 1, Pied Wagtail 1, Yellowhammer 25, Dunnock 1, Wren 1, Wood Pigeon 4.

When Tom sent the pictures he said that if you squint at them really hard you can see the male Pintail!!

Thanks Tom.

(Pictures courtesy of Tom Cattell)

No news from the pool today, but I’ve been watching a flock of 25+ Brambling flying over and around the gardens of Prestwood Road West/Amos Lane for half an hour or so. The flock flew over my house at around 16.25pm and landed in some tall trees on Amos Lane. I set up my ‘scope in a bedroom and they looked magnificent in the late afternoon sunlight. Last seen at 17.05pm flying towards Cedar Way and Woden Avenue.

Tom Cattell visited the pool this afternoon and sent the following: Buzzard 1, Black Headed Gull 233, Blue tit 4, Crow 2, Magpie 4, Wigeon 105, Coot 22, Mute Swan 11, Mallard 10, Tufted Duck 46, Little Grebe 2, Teal 27, Pochard 6, Pintail 1 Male, Pied Wagtail 3, Wren 3, Sparrowhawk 1, Blackbird 4, Lesser black backed Gull 1, Yellowhammer 12, Goldfinch 3, Song Thrush 1, Fieldfare 61, Chaffinch 2, Moorhen 9, Redwing 16, Snipe 2, Great Tit 3, Long tailed Tit 3, and Grey Wagtail 1. It’s particularly nice to have a Pintail in; Belvide seem to have had a fair few recently and two Snipe is quite unusual for our little puddle!

Thanks Tom.

Ian Crutchley sent the following after an afternoon’s visit to the pool earlier today: 3 Redpoll, 3 Herring Gull, 3 Lesser Black Backed Gull, 150 Black Headed Gull, 5 Little Grebe, 5 Moorhen, 18 Teal, 20 Wigeon, 5 Greenfinch, Yaffle, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 11 Tufted Duck, 6 Mallard, 48 Coot, 5 Mute Swan, 10 Yellowhammer, Bullfinch and Kestrel. That’s not a bad little group of Teal and it’s nice to hear Redpoll are about.

Thanks Ian.

Tom Cattell visited the pool today and sent the following list: Great Tit 4, Starling 10, Crow 5, Blue Tit 4, Black headed Gull 219, Chaffinch 4, Wren 4, Magpie 2, Golden Plover 78 on field below south end of pool, Fieldfare 100+ inc a few Redwings ,Blackbird 3, Mute Swan 12, Coot 32, Little Grebe 3, Pied Wagtail 1, Wigeon 8, Tufted Duck 10, Wood Pigeon c1,000, Greylag Goose 11, Yellowhammer 2, Robin 3, Teal 4, Jackdaw 1 and Sparrowhawk 1. He also mentioned that the pool was about a third frozen with a lot of birds sitting on ice.

Thanks Tom

Ian Crutchley also visited the pool and sent the following: Fieldfare 250+, Redwing, Song Thrush, Starling, Gadwall 4, Teal 6, Wigeon 86, Little Grebe 12, Lapwing 36, Tufted Duck 6, Little Owl and Wood Pigeon 356.

Thanks Ian.

15/01/2012

Roger Clay spent Monday ringing near the orchard and managed to ring 8 Blackbird, 6 Robin, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Goldcrest and 2 Redwing (picture below).  Not a bad haul.

Roger also noted the following: 1 Kestrel, 16 Lapwings,3 Mistle Thrush, 7 Redwing, 40+ Fieldfare, 1 Sparrow Hawk, 50+ Golden Plover in the horse paddock, 1 Peregrine (which had a go at the Plover), 61+ Yellowhammer, 2 Whooper Swan flew over at 8.45am. 1 Little Owl in the usual tree hole.

Thanks Roger.

Photo courtesy Roger Clay

Roger Clay spent several hours ringing in the orchard this afternoon and caught 3 Blackbirds and a Kestrel (photo below). Roger also noted in the paddock: 1 Yaffle , 3 Yellowhammer, 5 Linnet, 10+ Goldfinch and 4 Collard Dove and in the orchard 6+ Redwing, 8+ Fieldfare and 10+ Blackbirds. The Little Owls came out at dusk and 5 Pied Wagtails flew overhead at dusk.

Thanks Roger.

Tom Cattell spent part of this afternoon at the pool and sent the following list: Raven 1, Buzzard 2, Black Headed Gull 168, Great Tit 2, Mute Swan 14, Tufted Duck 8, Coot 36, Gadwall 2, Wigeon 2, Moorhen 3, Little Grebe 3, Wren 5, Crow 8, Jackdaw 1, Fieldfare 24, Yellowhammer 1, Blackbird 3, Pied Wagtail 1, Kestrel 1, Blue Tit 4, Magpie 3, Pheasant 1, Bullfinch 1, Song Thrush 1 and Jay 1.

Thanks Tom.

Jason Oliver had a good tramp around the patch this morning and I visited the pool quite late on in the afternoon. Jason’s list first: 7 Dunnock, 9 Robin, 50+ Starling, 26 Blackbird, 7 Wren, 30+ House Sparrow, 30+Great Tit, 40+Blue Tit, 16 Long Tailed Tit, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Nutchatch, 12 Goldfinch, 5 Greenfinch, 12 Chaffinch, 60+Linnet, 1 Song Thrush, 4 Mistle Thrush, 30+ Redwing, 20+Fieldfare, 1 Meadow Pipit, 38 Coot, 12 Tufted Duck, 1 Wigeon, 16 Mute Swan, 4 Little Grebe, 8 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 30+Jackdaw, 100+Carrion Crow, 6 Rook, 60+Black Headed Gull, 5 Lesser Black Backed Gull, 800+Woodpigeon, 6 Stock Dove, 7 Collard Dove and 2 Pheasent. Nice going; thanks Jason.

My list was very much shorter: Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, 20+Carrion Crow , Grey Heron, 14 Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, 100+ Wood Pigeon, 2 Stock Dove, 38 Coot, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Tufted Duck, 3 Wigeon, 1 Mallard, 1 Teal, 3 Wren, 20+ Magpie, Great Tit and finally a male Blackbird singing; does he not know it’s still early January?

Tom Cattell visited the pool this afternoon and sent the following: Treecreeper 1, Blue Tit 5, Wren 3, Long Tailed Tit 1, Carrion Crow 6, Starling 23, Tufted Duck 12, Little Grebe 3, Grey Heron 1, Wigeon 5, Black Headed Gull 95, Mute Swan 12, Coot 53, Fieldfare 24, Greylag Goose 8, Buzzard 1, Blackbird 4, Chaffinch 2, Redwing 6, Yellowhammer 3, Pied Wagtail 1, Teal 5, Wood Pigeon 100+ , Golden Plover c200 birds circled the pool area several times looking to land, but were put off by dog walkers and the sound of shooting nearby.

Thanks Tom.