A Second Session at the Feeding Station

 Today was a beautiful day with cloudless skies and fabulous light.  Judging by looks it should have been a lovely warm day, but temperatures had plummeted and there was a searing north westerly wind blowing.  The maximum all day up on the Wolds was a mere 2C and it felt much colder.  Driving to the feeding station I spotted the usual couple of kestrels and a buzzard with the local one drifting over the wood which glided in to settle as I parked the car.  I was soon set up and settled in the hide where, over the next three hours, I became more and more cold.  When I arrived home it took me another two hours to warm up.  I pleased that I stayed the course, however, as a male great spotted woodpecker turned up right at the end of the session.  Things were much busier today, no doubt because the temperature had dropped.

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Blackbird

Blackbird

Blackbird

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Chaffinch (male)

Chaffinch (female)

Chaffinch (female)

Coal Tit

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Long-Tailed Tit

Long-Tailed Tit

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Walk Around Wold Newton

 When I attempted to open the car door I thought that it was locked.  As it happened, it was windy blowing from the west onto that side of the car I struggled to push against it.  We had met up with Nigel, Jackie and Anne for a walk based on Wold Newton but opted to park up on the Click'em road to avoid clogging up the village on Bank Holiday Monday.  Our spot was on to Wold Top in the full force of the wind.  We were soon kitted up and set off along the lane to the farm at Cold Harbour where we turned off onto the fields to drop down into the valley.  There wasn't much doing in the way of bird life, perhaps because of the wind.  There was more about down in the valley though, but even so only 11 species all told.  A buzzard on territory in the churchyard and a couple of noisy flocks of fieldfare being the highlights.  Having walked through the village we enjoyed soup and cake lunch in the church porch before heading back up the fields to return to our starting point.  A very pleasant 4 mile walk on a beautiful day.

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Along the Wold Top Near Cold Harbour.

Wold Newton Church

Wold Newton Church

Looking Back Towards Wold Newton.

The Year's First Walk Around the Local Patch

As it was such a beautiful day and walk around the local patch was in order.  Although bright and sunny it was cooler than of late at only 9C with a brisk SW breeze.  I followed the regular route: round the cemetery and woodland burial ground leaving via the crematorium.  Cross the road and follow farm tracks round to Peak's Tunnel where I crossed over the road then round the Horsefield, into Scartho and home.  Things were fairly quiet on the bird front with only 17 species, the highlight being the excellent views of a buzzard in fabulous light being moved on by a group of crows.  I also enjoyed the goldfinches feeding on the alder cones; perhaps this year we shall also get siskin and redpoll on them.  In the woodland burial ground, I was interested to see that last year was still hanging in there with spindle still showing bright pink fruits, the orange seeds long gone, though.  At the same time both hazel and alder catkins were already showing well.  On the Horsefield I had some fun photographing the two burnt out cars.  Everywhere is very wet now with the sodden and muddy ground making for tiring walking.

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Alder catkins

Grey Squirrel

Hazel Catkins

 

The Horsefield

Microlandscape

Microlandscape

Red Belted Bracket

Red Belted Bracket

Spindle Fruits

First Session of the Year and the Winter at the Feeding Station.

 Although I set the feeding station up a few weeks ago and have been going regularly to top up the feeders, I had not had a chance to photograph.  As it was forecast to be a reasonable day, I set off full of anticipation for my first session.  It didn't take long to find and set up a suitable perch and get myself established in the hide.  Again, the weather was very mild, and, as I expected, things were a bit slow and sporadic.  Nonetheless, one of the first birds down was a nuthatch, although I missed it on this first visit.  Blue, great and coal tits were the most numerous with occasional visits from the nuthatch.  A robin popped in now and then but didn't stop to be photographed.  I had several visits from pheasants: four magnificent cock birds and three beautifully subtly marked females.  It was quite a breezy day and there was a constant sound of the wind in the tree tops, reminiscent of the surf roaring on the beach.  It was good to hear the buzzard overhead along with the ravens and just as I was leaving a great spotted woodpecker put in an appearance.

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Blue tit

Blue tit

Blue tit

Blue tit

Coal Tit

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Cock Pheasant

Cock Pheasant

Hen Pheasant

Hen Pheasant

Hen Pheasant