Waxwings Poole

Great to finally see some of these birds in Dorset. Was actually in Bournemouth and had just seen a party of 6 fly over as I was driving. Then got the call there were 2 at Sainsburys Poole.

Drove around the car park to no avail, then spotted them in a tall tree across the road. However there were now over 30. Legged it over there to see around 35 birds preening in the top of the tree. They were very vocal and there was a constant trill the whole time I was there.

Rather frustratingly time was getting on and the berries they were dropping down to feed on were in the shade and when they were in the tall tree they were a bit high up. A few opportunities did arise though as they briefly dropped into the 'middle' not so tall tree on their way to the berry tree.

Sorry all that was a bit boring but I didnt get reams and reams of point blank stunning shots so thought I would get my excuses in first.

One did stay in the 'middle' tree long enough to have a scratch and a preen

Bewick's at Hinkley

7 wild Swans flew in from behind me this morning. Rather frustratingly only caught the back end of them but luckily they decided to drop down, albeit a long way off.

Glastonbury Tor in background

Managed to negotiate my way across some fields to get a bit closer.

Redpoll back again

Been checking the photos and does look to be the same bird as the other day

Red-breasted Goose at Hinkley!

With fog all day, not a great day to be surveying. Although was able to see about 300 metres so did get data but all thoughts of seeing anything interesting had long gone.

A fisherman came over and asked if there was anything interesting about and I was just in the middle of explaining how dire it was when I heard this rather high pitched honking! Hold on a minute I said I can hear a goose. Then out of the gloom appeared this shape. I must admit by now I had already ruled out a fair few geese on the pitch of the call alone as was already rather excited.

Luckily the bird went straight over our heads and was able to reveal itself as a Red-breasted Goose!

The bloke could see how excited I was. "Is it a good one" he asked. Well I said, it could be very very good or alternatively it could be crap! He was a bit confused until I explained the escape bird possibility. I said it probably is of captive origin but hey its a great bird to see.

To my surprise the bird then started heading back towards us. I ran for my camera and managed to get a few shots as it did a circuit then heading back off into the gloom

Cant see anything on its legs

You can just about make out a very thin extra covert bar on the wing. As it is so feint and some adults can show this it is probably an adult.

On this shot it also looks to have a foreshortened outer primary. It does look rather blunt I must say, perhaps it is damage or maybe its just in the middle of growing a new one. Or maybe that is normal, maybe they do have shorter outer primaries anyway? If you look at the top photo again it does looks more normal there so maybe their outer primaries are a bit shorter.

Also later had 3 more Snow Buntings over.

Hinkley

Snow Bunt still about. Even though it was sunny it just wouldnt come out of the shadows. Even when persuaded to go that way, when it reached the sunlit area it either quickly came back in or took flight as if reaching some sort of barrier. I am assuming it must feel too exposed to predators in the bright sunshine?

Obviously I didnt persist and was more than happy to take these shots in the shade

Did get this flight shot as it did a circuit before returning to exactly the same spot. It was quite interesting also watching its descent. If flew around calling then stopped calling and literally plummeted to the ground to lessen the chance of its landing place being located.

In the pic you can see that it does indeed have all dark primary coverts thus confirming its sex as a female.

Snow gone, birds still here

First Redpoll

More garden arrivals inc 'stockamsel' Blackbird

A fairly heavy overnight snowfall brought a sharp increase in garden bird activity this morning.

At first light the feeders were very busy. Took the first pics with a flash which seems to capture the moment ok

Bit more daylight now

With feeding perches at a premium many birds were forced to feed on the dropped seeds

No winter scene is complete without a Robin

Up to 6 Blackbirds feeding on the lawn. We all know that we get many continental Blackbirds for the winter but it is nice to actually identify one.

This bird shows some pale edged 'chevrons' on the lower belly which is a feature of the variation stockamsel which I am led to believe is a German word for these birds. Coined by Naumann of thrush fame. This isnt a particularly classic bird, but beggars cant be choosers