Today was quiet, a bit cloudy with a cool north easterly. No sign of any Wheatear. There is still a large flock of Fieldfare in the area-about twenty birds seen. There were also a number of Blackbirds, I looked carefully but none were Ring Ousels. As I left I flushed two Grey Partridge.
The rest of the morning was spent at the Lodge at RSPB Sandy. A female Two Barred Crossbill has been around for a couple of weeks now. The new heath has several stands of conifers, and it wasn't long before a large flock of Crossbills flew in. Unfortunately, once in the trees views were very hard, only a few birds could be seen at any time. Every now and again, one or two parties would fly out and others in (there are about seventy birds present) and some were seen in trees a long way off. I reckon that over the two hours or so, I must have encountered all the Crossbills, but the only one showing a wing bar was a first summer male bird.
Among the Crossbills, there were several Redpolls, Coal Tits and both Green and Goldfinches. Three Buzzards were soaring to the north, and a total of six Swallows flew through.
Had I not called in at Norton, I would have seen the Two Barred as it showed briefly to one birder about twenty minutes before I arrived.
1 comment:
Too bad you missed the two barred, but at least you had a good day :)
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