Barton Hills NNR

Fairly quiet after dawn in a two hour walk around this great reserve near Barton. A Red Kite flew in from the east joining a Common Raven.
No visible migration was apparent and the only ground migrants were two singing Chiffchaff and a male Blackcap.



Song Thrush



Barton Hills NNR, looking north-west.

Local Patch - 30/03/09

New arrivals included another Little Ringed Plover - this one spending much of the day feeding and loafing on the scrape. The first Red Kite for the site this year 'appeared' above the scrape quite low before drifting off east. JL picked out a House Martin as the Hirundine numbers increased in the afternoon - certainly my earliest record in the UK ! Four new Mute swans joined the three 'residents' - one adult and three immature birds.

Todays shots were always going to be a bit rough as i'd left on the 1.4x converter, this only performs well with lashings of sunlight - which didn't happen.

Waders

A Ringed Plover replaced yesterdays Little Ringed Plover at Octagon farm, and there was a Green Sandpiper along a brook near junction 13 of the M1.





A male Reed Bunting singing at Octagon farm.



A flock of 145 Barnacle Geese were back at Willington, some of them sporting red darvic rings.

Local patch - 27/03/09

My first Barn Swallow of the season (well, two actually !) was nice to see. It landed on some wires where it gave a few minutes of its 'twittering' song - a taste of the summer to come. A Grey Heron drifted past.

Wheatear @ Blow's Downs

An early drive up to the paddocks at Blow's downs, Dunstable to see a Northern Wheatear. A nice male that kept its distance - not helped by frisky horses galloping around its favoured area ! Peach, blue/grey and black - a great colour combination, methinks.



The weather continues to stay fair, but change is, apparently, on the way. At Dstw, new arrivals included a fly-over calling Little-ringed Plover ( a week late) and a few more Sand Martin (never lingering). A pair of Grey Wagtail hunted on the wader scrape.

Local patch - 21/03/09

At Dunstable STW the fine weather continued, new arrivals included a Greylag Goose, an Egyptian Goose (a site tick for me), a Great-crested Grebe, and two Sand Martin.



On Nina's pond, the pair of Whooper Swan (of Wardown park origin) posed for the camera.

Waxwing

A minor detour between birding spots brought me through Woburn, and a quick check around Duck Lane proved fruitful as the Waxwing were still present. They were feeding on the few remaining shrivelled berries.

Local Patch - 06/03/09: Sand Martin

A single Sand Martin at Dunstable STW again - or another ?

Local Patch - 04/03/09: First African migrant arrives !

At Dunstable STW, my earliest ever Sand Martin - by all accounts, the third earliest for Bedfordshire! A Brambling was hanging around the feeders, and four Little Egret were disturbed by contractors. During the afternoon, a pair of Mandarin were found by JL.
So, please forgive the postage-sized record shot, for it's the symbolism behind the image that counts: SPRING has arrived !

Local Patch 20/02/09: Little Egret record count !

A site record of five Little Egret today at Dunstable STW.

Waxwings

Four of the seven Woburn Waxwing found yesterday.

Roll on Spring ...

Ducks, geese, swans and gulls seem to predominate our winter scene. Ok, an over simplification, but spring brings those passerines that really sets my boat afloat. So today ? Grim light, rain, and I missed the 11th Green-winged Teal for Bedfordshire due to inaccesibility.

A distant pair of Goosander at Grovebury Quarry.



Five of the eight Pintail at Radwell.



Greylag Geese

Stockgrove CP

After a treacherous wobbly walk along an icy footpath, I reached the lake where the local avifauna posed in anticipation of free food. Alas, I forgot to bring any along, thus one could say today's outing was a guilt trip ...

Isle of Sheppey, Kent

A winter visit to Harty marshes, Sheppey, often results in distant views of Rough-legged Buzzard - but sadly not today.

Up to fifteen Marsh Harrier were seen, and a single immature Hen Harrier came quite close.



A Barn Owl hunting over the fields



A view West across the marsh. A Bittern appeared in the sedge, too briefly for the camera.



Roosting waders at Minster - including a few Purple Sandpiper.

Red Kite

Fantastic light this afternoon and a fly-over Red Kite.



Despite the snow, this Wren managed to find a few flying insects to eat.

Winter Wanderings

Like everyone else, I suppose, the continuing hard weather has pushed otherwise shy species into the garden. So, this morning, our first ever Fieldfare in twenty odd years appeared in the garden !

The only down-side to photographing our garden birds is that all shots will be through double glazing...





This shot, taken near Woburn, reminds me how Redwing can blend in well with their surroundings



A pair of Goosander sleep on the ice



This Goldcrest has managed to survive the 'arctic' conditions

Stewartby/MVCP

A female Red-crested Pochard resting by the sailing club lawn

A male Common Stonechat wintering behind the sewage works

An immature Mute Swan against a snowy backdrop

Sailing on Stewartby Lake

Snow Bunting revisited

A second visit to see the male Snow Bunting at Brogborough Tip was in order, if for no other reason but to improve on the previous images :~)

Plenty of sunshine, but where was the bird ? Well, suddenly I saw it - ten feet away !

Snow Bunting, Beans & Chats

Early frost followed by a sunny day and a chance to catch up with some notable Bedfordshire birds. This male Snow Bunting at Brogborough Tip was another excellent find by our county recorder Steve Blain.







After a few unsuccessful attempts last year, the wary Tundra Bean Goose family group showed well at Cainhoe, although distant.





A pair of Common Stonechat frequented a rough patch of ground adjacent to the Cainhoe lakes.