Sunday 31 December 2017

Happy new Year to all.

Happy new Year to all the people that I & the boys have met on our travels around the U K this year.
And the same to all the birders that we have yet to meet, looking forward to seeing loads of birds & seeing some new places & seeing old & new faces in the new year.
So I wish you all the very best of health & happiness & may all your wishes come true for 2018.

Saturday 23 December 2017

Local Little Owl moves home.

On walking my dog over my local field no more than a hundred yards from my house near the Roding Valley lake. I happen to look up at the large tree by the cricket pavilion & looking back at me is the Little Owl that has been missing from the playground tree after the council cut his home down on safety reason's.
This is the tree that we first found the Owl a few years ago before all the Ring- neck Parakeets forced it to relocate by the play ground after they took over the Owl's tree.
So out comes the camera to get a couple of shots  of the Owl. So nice to have it back.

                                                       
Today's Little Owl


                                         
                                                                             

Sunday 17 December 2017

At last Parrot Crossbill at Hollesley

Having spent a very long day at Santon Downham only to dip on the Parrot Crossbills a couple of weeks ago,I had given up on seeing any for this year.
But the three of us set off to see if we could find any at Upper Hollesley Common after Brian had seen some of J'Rs photos.
We arrive around 8.30 where we find the car park & head down to find the puddle where the photos had been taken yesterday in a small clearing.
Only 3 other birders here & there had been no sign up till now. On the track down Dartford Warbler & Goldcrest are seen, we wait at least 2 hours before 6 birds fly in to feed on the top of some distant trees & we are pleased to get great scope views & a good year tick.
A few more people have now turned up & things get better when 6 Parrot Crossbill fly down to the puddle right in front of us , they only hang about for a short time but everybody got really great views of them.

We are only about 10 miles away from the Arctic Redpoll that we all need for a year tick so we shoot off & find a small car park & can see a few birders not far down the field & on joining them it's only minutes before we have our year tick as the Redpoll flies back over the road with a small flock to feed in the field that we are standing in, a nice looking little bird.