A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Friday 1 March 2013

Birdwatching

Hide at Langford Lowfields.


















Today I returned to my local RSPB reserve, Langford Lowfields, which I last visited four weeks ago. The weather was cold and the sky overcast. I thought it would be interesting to make another list of all the birds I saw and compare it with yesterday's; the habitats of woodland, farmland, lake and river were very similar. Twenty-nine different species were recorded, slightly fewer than yesterday. These birds were on both lists:
Wood pigeon, rook, crow, jackdaw, robin, dunnock, blackbird, cormorant, mallard, pochard, tufted duck, wigeon, coot, gadwall, goldeneye, shelduck, grey heron, great tit, blue tit, chaffinch, black-headed gull.
And these were the new sightings:
Magpie, greenfinch, goldfinch, yellowhammer, reed bunting, pintail, mute swan, little egret.
Finches, robins, dunnocks, great tits, yellowhammers and reed buntings were busy at the feeders near the hide. It was great to see a little egret, though these birds are becoming much more common now in the UK. But the highlight for me was a pair of pintails — such strikingly marked ducks, especially the males with their chocolate-brown heads, gleaming white breasts and long, black tail feathers.  

Daffodils emerging through last year's leaves at Langford Lowfields.

3 comments:

Gail said...

HI - beautiful pictures, a glorious day albeit chilly and cloudy - my kind of day for sure. Not a big fan of hot sun and heat. I love your adventures in nature. You take me places I can't get to any more.
Love Gail
peace...

The Solitary Walker said...

Thanks for your comment, Gail. I really appreciate it.

Laurel said...

Wow,that's an impressive list. I haven't seen much other than chickadees in months but a long and close encounter with a chilled out snowy owl last weekend kind of made up for the dearth of bird activity.

I am jealous of those daffs.