PBC Nestbox Success

This is a testament to the excellent products of PBC's conservation officer Tony Parker. I bought this box at the PBC nestbox day on 13 Feb and in less than four weeks it is occupied (haven't seen by what yet but I guess its a Robin).


Nikon CP995

Mossy Macro Moment

A fine sunny day: a rarity this winter. These late winter scenes were taken at the old stone railway bridge in Great Moreton Sale near Nassington.

Various mosses






Lichen on Oak (Quercus)


Hazel Catkins


Nikon CP995

A couple of hunters

Another visit to my favourite lunchtime patch. This time more lucky with the Tawny Owl and again had great views of a Weasel hunting the holes along the banks of the drain near the sewage works. Even managed a digiscoped photo although they are active little critters so its a bit blurred.

Tawny Owl Strix aluco


Weasel Mustela nivalis


Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Grey Herons at Ferry Meadows

National Nest Box week kicks off and Peterborough Bird Club were selling boxes at Ferry Meadows. I was due to lead a walk around the lakes so headed off to check out what was around and ended up practicing some digiscoping at the reserve, where several Grey Herons were active.

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea




Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Pale Brindled Beauty

Including the melanistic form.

Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria



f. monacharia


Nikon CP995

Bogie Birds

Bogart's strikes again. To my knowledge this is the third time in the past 10 years or so that the same Rowan tree just outside Bogart's Bar on North Street by the Westgate car park has attracted Waxwings. Thanks to Dick and Peter for finding and reporting the birds.

Waxwings Bombycilla garrulus



Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

North Bank sewage works

One of my favourite lunchtime outings is a cycle ride along the North Bank of the River Nene past both the old and new sewage works. Cold clear conditions are best so today was perfect and made better by having the good company of fellow biking birder Chaz Shaw.

The Tawny Owl Chaz had seen earlier at the old sewage works had gone into hiding but at the new works we saw two Chiffchaff, two Goldcrest, a Long-tailed Tit, Wrens, a Green Sandpiper and plenty of Redshank all feeding in the sunshine along the drain.

Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita


Wren Troglodytes troglodytes



Redshank Tringa totanus


Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Red-breasted Merganser pair

A bit of news came in this morning about a male Red-breasted Merganser on the River Welland (Merganser Central) yesterday so with lunchtime beckoning I picked up Weedon's World of Nature and headed off. Would it still be there?

Not far along from Crowland Bridge we both noticed a duck with outrageous wispy tufts on the head: a Red-breasted Merganser certainly but this was a female! The male wasn't far away and they both showed extremely well.

This was only my second experience of this species locally, the first being a male on the Nene many years ago. The River Welland has attracted one or two every year for the past few years but they often do not stay long.

Photography was difficult as we did not want to spook the birds and it was blowing a gale from the north but I managed a few shaky shots from the car.

Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator - Male





Female


Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Bedford Purlieus

Probably the best bit of old woodland in the area and one of my favourite retreats. A visit looking for the elusive Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and the probably extinct Willow Tit. A female Lesser Spot showed very nicely in the northeast block of Pebblegate Sale but as expected there were no Willow Tits anywhere. Marsh Tits on the other hand popped up all over the place and birds were generally very active.

The relatively mild conditions and warm sun had encouraged an overwintering adult moth out and a Primrose to flower.

Acleris ferrugana/notana (most likely ferrugana based on habitat)


Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Its back!

Ferry Meadows seems to be the place at the moment. As well as this Red-necked Grebe a Mediterranean Gull and Hawfinch are showing occasionally at the moment.

This Grebe was present from 28-30 Dec last year but to the dismay of local year listers vanished in 2005 only to return today. Where has it been in the meantime? Presumably not far away. It is behaving exactly as before tending to stick close to the banks on the southeast side of Overton Lake.

Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena), first-winter

Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Hawfinch, Ham Lane

These days a rare sight indeed around here. With only a couple of exceptions all recent records have come from here, the Ham Lane area of Ferry Meadows: and then only one or two, usually in the middle of winter. Is this a species on the edge of extinction around Peterborough?

Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), female



Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Confused Dove

What on earth is schizochroism? I'm certainly not sure - after all, there is enough argument about the definition of alibinism and leucism. It appears to be a plumage abnormality that leads to very pale brown, almost whitish, feathering. It may apply to this Collared Dove, first noticed in my garden on 24 December, although some feathers appear to be two-toned, some normal and some whitish. The overall effect is a strikingly pale bird. Unfortunately it is an irregular visitor but I managed some better pics this morning. Comments welcome.

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)




A regular plumaged bird for comparison:

All digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Red-necked Grebe, Ferry Meadows

Another fearless scarce Grebe at Ferry Meadows, hot on the heals of the Slavonian Grebe there from 14-17 Dec, and continuing a very good run of records for one Peterborough's best birding locations. It tended to keep close to the banks of the southeast side of Overton Lake allowing very close views. The all dark eye makes this likely to be an adult winter rather than a first-winter bird. This was only my second in the area and the first in winter plumage. A great find by Kevin Wick's especially as he was without any optical aids at the time.

The last one in the PBC area was back in 1998 so this was an eagerly awaited bird for many local listers. It also means all five of the area's grebes have appeared this year and 1998 was the last time that happened too.

Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)


Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Boxing Day

A couple of frosty Boxing Day scenes from the bridleway across the grounds of Elton Hall.



Nikon CP995

Frosty Fungi

These were among some fungi that caught our eye while out on a post-prandial Christmas Day walk. I particularly liked the frosty effect, for once perhaps enhanced by the need for flash.

Many-zoned Bracket (Coliolus versicolor)


Nikon CP995 with flash.

Dad's first Waxwings

A pre-Christmas family gathering at my sister's place in Suffolk provided the ideal opportunity to show my Dad (who got me interested in birds many, many years ago) his first Waxwings. The flock was using the carpark of the main hospital in Ipswich and performed very nicely as they stripped the rowan berries and came down to the kerbside to drink. I counted 125 but may have doubled up a bit as other counts for the flock were no more than 115.

Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus)


Nikon CP995.

Short-eared Owl, Prior's Fen

A cracking lunchtime outing to Prior's Fen, which has been a bit slow for me on recent visits. Started off by clocking the Bean Geese again, but better weather didn't give any better views as they were spooked just by the car stopping. They flew off but appeared to double back to the same field very soon.

At Prior's Fen a Long-tailed Tit flock caught my attention (always check these) and a rather dull, brownish Chiffchaff was feeding silently among them. I was then distracted by a Short-eared Owl that launched itself up before dropping onto a bank not far away. Unfortunately the brief bright spell had passed so the light was very poor but I wasn't going to pass up the first chance I have ever had to photograph my favourite bird. The pics below aren't too bad considering the shutter was on about 1/8sec!

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)


Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.

Three Bewick's Swans passed over a couple of times and a Stonechat lingered at the causeway. A Pintail, a couple of Snipe and a surprise visit by 13 Ruff, no doubt displaced from the Nene Washes - where they headed back to when disturbed by a low jet, all added interest. Finally a Kingfisher belted off down one of the drains on the way back to Stonebridge Corner. Not a bad haul for a lunchtime.

Grey Geese on a Grey Day

A party of 9 grey geese have been seen off and on in the Nene Washes area since 4 Dec at least. By now they had settled down to feed on beet tops on a field at Bassenhally Moor (the farmland between the North Bank and Thorney Dyke Road).

Although these had been reported as Tundra Bean Geese up to now, longer views today showed one to be a large adult Pink-footed Goose. This just goes to show how closely related some of these 'species' are, since there is not much more difference between the Pink-foot and Tundra as between the Tundra and Taiga. In this case the Pink-foot may originate from the population breeding in Svalbard (rather than the bulk of East Anglian winterers, which come from Iceland/Greenland), which is more likely to come into contact with Tundra Beans. In total there were 5 adult and 3 juvenile Tundra Bean Geese and one adult Pink-footed Goose.

I have only seen Bean Geese once before locally and that was in exactly the same field - although on that occasion they were with White-fronted Goose and Bewick's Swans.

They were fairly distant and the conditions on this very dull and cold day made viewing difficult and photography even harder. The following shot of the 5 adult Beans (including one with an extensive orange bill and white base) and the Pink-foot is certainly what is usually described as a "record shot".

Tundra Bean Geese (Anser fabalis rossicus) and Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) (third from left)

Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 32x eyepiece.