They Do Exist!

With the temperature forecast to reach the heady heights of two degrees I left the house looking like a green Michelin man under my many layers of clothing. I had a day off because my work night out was yesterday and I had to cover all possibilities. Happily for my birding prospects moderation won out and so I was able to take a trip down to East Carlton Park.

Sunrise near Cottingham.

Walking through the town I noticed a lot of thrushes on the move while at a partially frozen boating lake a Cormorant was fishing. Many common birds were seen between the town and East Carlton and they included several parties of Bullfinches. A Kestrel greeted me on my arrival at the park and I headed off in the direction of the hall.

Oh yes, worth the wait.

There was a large flock of tits feeding in the trees as well as Redwings and Song Thrushes as I checked everything that moved. Having nearly completed a circuit of the building I reached the entrance where a loud tick alerted me to the presence of a Hawfinch. It and another were calling constantly and one at least provided some good views albeit not in the best of light. Another large billed finch has stolen the headlines over the last week or so but I was delighted to finally lose my membership of the HDS! In recent weeks when thinking about this species I had begun to use a different spelling of its name but am now more than happy to go back to H A and W. Having spent several minutes ripping buds off of a tree the bird and its companion flew off into cover.

Song Thrush and Redwings.

The park had a good selection of species but I couldn't find any Bramblings, even numbers of Chaffinches are low here at the moment. From here it was on to the Welland Valley which proved to be rather quiet in birding terms but noisy in other respects. Saturday is a shooting day and at least three shoots appeared to be going about their deadly business which may in part explain why birdlife seemed so scarce. At one point I waited for a while rather than have to exchange pleasantries with people whose pastime I find abhorrent.

Another finch well worth looking at.

Brookfield turned out to be interesting and I had a Raven almost as soon as I arrived. Small flocks of Siskins were moving around the alders though the highlight was a pair of Willow Tits calling as they fed in the same area. I had at least one here earlier in the the year so this sighting is encouraging. I always keep an eye out for Crossbills whenever I'm walking through the plantation but I was more rigorous in my search today though with the usual negative results. An appearance by a Sparrowhawk provoked a burst of various alarm calls which revealed that many more birds were in the wood than I'd realised. Several Fallow Deer were disturbed and were the only other wildlife of note seen today.

Willow Tit (heard) and Siskin.

I finished the day on a little high as I found a Peregrine while walking through the Willowbrook industrial estate, always a nice sight on a cold winter afternoon.

These cows may have the best view in Northants.