A Walk Along the Lincolnshire Coast.

We picked the best day of the weekend yesterday for our walk along the coast at Anderby Creek.  It was blustery and cold with some stormy showers around providing for dramatic skies at times.  Plenty of gulls about with quite a few single sanderling along the tide line.  We saw an egret feeding on the marsh later, a siting that not so many years ago would have excited , but which is now commonplace.

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Winter Feeding Station and Dog Walking Along the Viking Way.

Yesterday I needed to check on the feeders at both feeding stations so decided to have an hour in the hide at Scallows.  I had sat in during the real cold a few days ago and surprisingly there was little activity.  We have noticed this before: when the weather is really cold the birds tend to stay tucked up somewhere, presumably conserving energy and living off fat reserves,  Once it warms up slightly they immediately beginning feeding again to top up on lost reserves.  This was certainly the case yesterday with plenty of birds back and forth.  It was good to see a group of long tailed tits make a couple of visits, but I din't manage any pictures.  Snow drops are just beginning to come into flower at Scallows, but there is no sign of the aconites as yet.  Strange as in other places both are well in flower.  Perhaps they are slightly later with being high on the Wolds.  I look forward to the magnificent display in a few weeks time, however.

Later in the afternoon we took Jet for a walk along the Viking Way long distance footpath at Walesby, which here follows the edge of the scarp slope of the Wolds with wonderful views across the valley to Lincoln.  We had hoped for a good sunset, but sadly the cloud persisted.

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Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Chaffinch, Female

Chaffinch, Female

Chaffinch, Male

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Nuthatch

Pheasant stealing the blackbird's apples.

Who Me??

Pheasant

Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Male

Walesby Ramblers Church

Pond, Risby

Derelict Farm Machinery

Castle Farm

Scots Pine

Frosty Walk in Irby Dale

We enjoyed a crisp winter walk with Jet in Irby Dale yesterday, parking and entering from the A18.  It was good to watch the usual pair of buzzards drifting over the woods.  I was keen to pick the last of the rosehips to have a go at making syrup.  A good winter's day.

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A First Session at the Woodyard Hide

It was a good weather forecast this morning so I decided to have a first session at the woodyard feeding station.  As I parked up on the frost yard, I could see that there was plenty of activity on the feeders.  It wasn't long before I was set up and settled in the hide.  As last year, blackbirds were plentiful and I suspect that they are the culprits who have been laying waste to the fat blocks.  There were at least three robins vying for feeding space and chasing rivals off and blue and great tits were active.  Dunnock and chaffinches were coming in but tended to feed on the ground rather than go onto the perches I have set up.  Most noticeable were the dozen or so green and goldfinches which were favouring the sunflower hearts over the niger seed and making a great deal of noise as they squabbled for position.  An odd woodpigeon came down and at one time a large flock of collared doves were feeding on the floor of the plantation.  Hazel catkins were in their prime and the lichen on the log piles was colourful in the sum.

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Blackbird, male

Blackbird, female

Chaffinch, female

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

Great Tit

Greenfinch

Greenfinch

Greenfinch

Hazel Catkins

Ice Patterns

Ice Patterns

Ice Patterns

Ice Patterns

Lichen

Lichen

Lichen

Lichen

Robin

Robin

Robin