Bolton Ings - Saturday 23rd January
News of a redhead Smew on Bolton on Friday saw me in the Bolton Hide at 08.00 hoping it would still be present. No ice this week in fact the temperature was more spring like than mid January. Despite spending a couple of hours looking there was no sign of the Smew, however a Bittern was present flying along the near edge and dropping into the reeds right in front of the hide. A Barn Owl was out hunting and birds on the open water included :- Great Crested Grebe 2, Goldeneye 5, Goosander 5, Tufted Duck 15, Pochard 9 drakes and 7 ducks.
Adwick Washland - Sunday 24th January
I arrived at Adwick at 10.30 in very pleasant conditions with a temperature of 13c. A Little Owl was settled in a hawthorne from the view point and a Buzzard was initially sat on top of a telegraph pole before hunting over the fields. Birds on the pools included :- Little Egret 2, Shelduck 5, Wigeon 62, Teal 84, Gadwall 40, Shoveler 8, Snipe 1.
Old Moor - Sunday 24th January
Following lunch in the cafe I went onto Old Moor, news that there were several Goldeneye on the main marsh meant I headed straight for the Wath Ings hide. The water level has risen since last week and the Goldeneye have responded, I counted 10 birds with 4 drakes and 6 redheads. From the Wader Scrape hide there were a further pair of Goldeneye on the mere and the Goosanders were gathering early with 19 present at 15.00. Back to the Wath Ings hide for the roost where final counts were an impressive 52 Cormorants and 7 Little Egrets. 11 Goldeneye were roosting on the main marsh 3 drakes and 8 redheads. The Goosander numbers continued to rise with a final count of 53 on the Wader Scrape. The pair of Goldeneye were still on the mere with a further redhead with the Goosanders.
The early morning counts at Old Moor were very similar to tonights with Little Egret 8, Cormorant 48 & Goosander 52 seen leaving the roost.
Other species recorded today included : Cetti's Warbler 3, Water Rail 3, Buzzard 2, Ruff 1 & male Brambling.
No comments:
Post a Comment