Bird Lover

The rest of the week didn't quite live up to the delights of the urban park.  The problem on Wednesday was the horrendous wind, but despite this both groups saw the redhead Smew at Tophill Low.  The morning group got round the southern part of the reserve at a  terrific pace, and even had time to visit North Marsh.  They missed 2 Otters by 20 minutes, apparently!  Where have I heard that before!  The afternoon group even managed 40 species, just 3 fewer than the morning session, which is an excellent start to the term. Long-tailed Tits (c) 2017 Aileen Urquhart   Pheasant  (c) 2017 Aileen Urquhart   Buck Roe Deer (c) 2017 Tony Robinson   Ditto   Ditto   Ditto   Candlesnuff/Stagshorn Fungus  (c) 2017 Aileen Urquhart   Fungi  (c) 2017 Aileen Urquhart Fungi   (c) 2017 Aileen Urquhart   On Thursday sleet showers were forecast, so we had to abandon our unprotected venue for North Cave...

Tuesday was the first class of 2017, and it took place in the City of Culture.  Amazingly despite the urban traffic  everyone was ready 10 minutes before the start time.  The park was fairly quiet at first, but a Mistle Thrush sang and a Great Spotted Woodpecker called not too far from the entrance.  A few minutes later as we differentiated the 3 species of Gull present (Black-headed, Common & Herring) a Sparrowhawk landed in a tree quite close to where we were standing.  It was a male but despite the fact that there were no leaves on the Sycamore, it was tricky to point out to those who didn't see it land. It moved a couple of time before it flew off for good, and that was when everyone saw it.  Later, it was seen above the splash-boat. Drake Goosander Male Sparrowhawk We walked along the long straight, and were assaulted by the raucous calls of a pair of Jays.  They were hard to see in a thicket of twigs, but they remained still long enough for e...