Norton Green

Paid my first visit of the year to Norton Green this morning before work-rather late as I usually start much earlier in March. Tony Hukin had a Wheatear a week or so back but despite regular coverage there has been little else of note.
Although bright and sunny there was a brisk northerly breeze, and I only had time for one quick circuit. One or two Song Thrushes singing in the lane, a few Linnets and Yellowhammers went over and I flushed two Red Legged Partridge as I reached the raised bank. Three Redwings went north, and I found a couple more in a small flock of 25 Fieldfare, so maybe five in total. At least one was singing in a willow bush. No Meadow Pipits, which was a bit odd, but several Skylarks a usual.
On the way back along the eastern edge, two Grey Partridge went up but I found nothing else.

Sitting in the car and lunchtime, a falcon went over the car park at work. Rather long winged and tailed, it came back low over the car. A Kestrel, rather than the hoped for Peregrine, but nice to see, and rather unusual for the industrial area of Stevenage.

Woodcock and Sand Martins

Following on from the rather disappointing eclipse on Friday, I took Mum up to see Sarah and Ed's new place. After the chaos of the move they have made a good start on sorting things out so we spent a bit of time looking over the garden. Constant visits by Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Robins plus a variety of tits were nice. Took molly for a walk in the fields just up the lane, with wildlife conservation edges, encountering Red Kite, Buzzard, Yellowhammer and Meadow Pipits. They have also seen Barn and Tawny Owl, Grey Partridge, Woodpeckers plus a few brown jobs.
Saturday was rather cloudy chilly, and I spent part of the morning working in the garden. Not much in the way of birds while I was out there, but the frogs are still very active in the pond. Noticed a few Pond Skaters-have not really been looking too closely recently.
Sunday morning was yet another visit to Amwell. Seemed to be very busy with most of the regulars putting in an appearance all hoping for a few migrants dropping in. Wheatear and Little Ring Plovers have turned up in the county, and Redshank and Oystercatcher have been seen at Amwell, but the rather cold northeasterly is still making things a bit unpleasant and seems to be holding things up. Still reasonable numbers of Shoveller and Teal, and at least one pair of Goldeneye remain. A Grey Wagtail was flying around for a bit, and a Pied Wagtail dropped in briefly. A mustelid seen by a few running under the bridge railings caused some discussion. I only got a very brief glimpse and it seemed a bit too small to be the regular Stoat, and one or two others thought it was a Weasel .
A few Redwings flew out over from the walkway as I made my way down to the Bittern Pool with one of the photographers. A yell from Trevor et al alerted us to a Woodcock which flew past in front of us and up towards the level crossing. Apparently flushed by a dog (?) near the Buddleja patch, it may be one that has been seen occasionally near the railway line.
Had a Bullfinch, some Long Tailed Tits and a rather tame Robin on the bridge, but there was very little to see on the Hollycross feeders.

Walked back with Richard Pople and Tony Hukin in the hope of picking up Treecreeper, Redpoll or Siskin before arriving at the viewpoint again. Everyone was looking intently south-six Sand Martins were at the south end of the lake. They stuck around for a while, with a few of them moving up to the north end. Bill picked up a very distant flock of Golden Plovers-Simon reckoned on around 400, which remained on view for some time just milling around in the sky.
Only heard two singing Chiffchaffs this morning, and there was no sign of the Blackcap I heard last week.

Eclipse of the Sun

This post won't take long.........
Dusted of the 4.5 inch refractor yesterday, cleaned the solar filters and set up the equatorial mount in readiness for todays eclipse. Woke up to solid cloud and the BBC forecast did not look good at all. Running for about two hours, with maximum at 0930 I hoped that there would be a few breaks from time to time, but it seemed to get worse as the morning progressed. There was a noticeable drop in light levels about twenty minutes before maximum with an interesting ominous feeling-something I last experienced at the total eclipse in Penzance in 1999. Spent most of the time watching the tv coverage, popping out from time to time into the garden, and just after 0930, I was sitting there and noticed it brighten a bit outside-the cloud had thinned sufficiently to see the narrow crescent. Grabbed the camera gear and got a few shots before the cloud thickened up again.

The clouds finally started to break up about half an hour later, though by then the Moon had pretty much cleared the Sun, but it looked nice in the special eclipse glasses.
Took Mum up to Sarah's new place for lunch and it was bright sunshine for the rest of the day......

Singing Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap

Popped down to Amwell this morning. Very cold and no sign of Sun so rather unpleasant at the viewpoint. The water levels have been lowered, leaving lots of edges for passage waders-Redshank has been seen but today all i had were the usual Lapwing and a few Snipe. Still good numbers of Teal, Shoveller and Goldeneye but otherwise it looks like duck numbers are decreasing.
Had a walk round to the White Hide, stopping off around the James Hide feeders. Apart from the expected tits and Reed Buntings there was a frustratingly quiet and elusive Blackcap in sub-song. Spent a bit of time in the White Hide. A Kingfisher is using the large branch over towards the main island as a perch, a bit too distant for the 300mm lens.

Also photographed a 1w gull flying through. I can't make my mind up, I thought it was Yellow Legged, checked a few books called it Herring, then checked a few gull blogs and now I can't make my mind up.

Walked down to Hollycross but the feeders were quiet, however got decent views of a Chiffchaff-at least three singing birds and another two at least were calling. Everyone but me managed to see a Treecreeper either here or in the woods and I also failed to see an oddly plumaged Redwing that has been present most of the winter.
Bumped into Simon as I was leaving-another year tick. Saw some images later of his Mistletoe flowering on Hawthorn-rather unusual.

Brent Goose

Yesterday was a lovely Spring day. Birds were singing, bees were flying etc. Unfortunately I spent the day helping Sarah and Ed move, so I did not get much chance to enjoy it. However their new place had some nice birds in and around the garden, and being in the country has a lot of potential. Best bird was a calling Tawny Owl around 1pm-hearing them during the daytime seems tocomming more common.
Having been busy over the last few days, I missed the news of a Brent Goose in Fairlands Valley, so despite the aches and pains I popped down this morning. Its on the main lake and just about the closest bird to the car park. Spent a lot of time on the water, courtesy of the dog walkers, but ventured out to graze from time to time.  Couple of Cormorants, a small flock of Common and Black headed Gulls, and calling Great and Green Woodpeckers in the 15 minutes I was there. Did not take my camera gear, but this image was with the RX100 point and shoot.

Frogspawn

After a week of amorous activity, the frogs have been extremely busy today with the first patches of spawn appearing this afternoon in the pond. Perhaps a bit late this year-in milder winters like this one they have started in mid February. Just hope we don't have a late cold snap.

Sunday Butterflies.

A nice warm spring morning, with much lighter winds, so it was rather pleasant walking around Aston End and up the river Beane.
Lots of birdsong in the plantation and hedges again, with several Greenfinch a nice surprise-three or four birds were heard. Also a lot of Skylarks in the air. Three Buzzards over High Wood, with a Red Kite, and more Buzzards and Kites seen up towards Walkern. No sign of the Little Owls this time, and there were no winter thrushes anywhere, just one singing Song Thrush and the usual Blackbirds.
One rather tatty Red Admiral flew past near the river, and a bit later on I found a Small Tortoiseshell, bringing the butterfly year list up to four.