Monday 1 February 2010

January 2010

As its february now, i thought i'd just wrap up what happened in january in one big post, as there's too much to go back on and do single entries for each day.

January turned out to be a good month for birding and i managed to get out about twice a week, which was nice. The weather has been very cold and there's been a lot of snow and ice, though in the later stages of the month, this gave way to grey and dull weather with lots of rain. lovely.

On the 4th i ventured out for a walk with my dad in sleaford, down the river slea heading out towards evedon. we had a good walk with some excellent views of some Kingfishers which shone beautifully in the sun. also saw a flock of around 5o Greenfinch, some Lapwing, plenty of Fieldfares and Redwings and a brief glimpse of a Common Buzzard.

Went back to nottingham on tuesday the 5th and had a wander around Attenborough NR. It was very cold and the lakes had all frozen over, apart from little areas where waterfowl were congregating. Despite the cold weather there was still lots of wildlife about, including many gulls, including greater and lesser black backed, common and one sighting of a mediterranean gull on the works pond. Managed to get some cracking shots of a robin which was coming within inches of me down the path to the delta wood. There wasn't anything to see at the delta hide, but on the trent there were some waterfowl including 5 goosander, 2 teal and 12 common pochard. A Bittern was observed from the tower hide in the reed bed on clifton pond, showing well on the ice for a few minutes. A red fox was seen running over the ice on clifton pond, chasing the wildfowl.








































Visited Arnot Hill Park in Arnold on the 8th, and enjoyed looking at the wildfowl collection there, including black swans and red crested pochards. I took some seed which was well received by the birds, especially some feral pigeons which literally ate out of my hand. Fed some to some redwings and blackbirds back in town on mansfield road too.















































Went to Brackenhurst on the 13th, another very cold an bleak day with much snow underfoot. Didn't expect much, but ended up having a good day, seeing the 1st ever Bittern recorded at the site, loads of yellowhammer, a fox and a hare, along with many other birds. 18 species in total with c225 birds :)

Made my first visit to Clifton Grove this year on the 18th. Saw all my usual birds for this area, including two of the many Common Buzzards that reside there. also saw 7 Kestrel, all seperate birds, which is quite a good tally for such a small area. A female sparrowhawk has seen briefly on the fence near holme pit, and 2 others were heard calling. A short eared owl was also heard. other species of note were a single female Goosander on holme pit, 3 greater spotted woodpeckers heard drumming around the grove and 6 Jays, making a racket as they flew through the trees in clifton wood. I also found a dead fox slung under a fence with its head split open, very nasty, though i did see one alive and well, hopefully it won't meet the same end.

Visited Arnot Hill again on a hungover saturday afternoon (23rd), and there were many song thrushes singing from the treetops, staking their territories for spring. The usual wildfowl were there too and i also saw a nice pair of female blackbirds, and my first House Sparrows of the year, which i don't often see around nottingham.

































My last trip of january took me to Colwick Park on the 28th, which i hadn't visited since september. It was a great day, and i saw 40 different bird species, along with my first flowers of the year and a bit of fungi. Bird highlights were a group of shovelers on the loop lake, a flock of around 40 lapwing, around 45 Wigeon and a very vocal Greater spotted woodpecker, shouting from the treetops near the loop. Found some 'Split gill' fungi (Schizophyllum commune) growing on a log, which i haven't seen before, which was very nice to see. Saw my first ever Mandarin Duck as well as the first greenfinch i've seen in nottingham since last summer. Also of note were a lot of gulls, 5 species being recorded, and i found a dead Canada Goose, which seemed to have drowned, perhaps getting its head stuck under some weeds.











































































And thats your lot for January, a good productive month with plenty of birds and mammals seen. The fungi are still about and i'm now just beginning to see wildflowers popping up, spring is just round the corner :)

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