Ducking and Diving

For a third day in a row I found myself at Hanging Houghton and once again with Alan. Having heard what was probably the Lapland Bunting yesterday we returned hoping to confirm our suspicions. What we hadn't anticipated was the howling gale which kept most of the passerines grounded and meant that any bird calls were extremely difficult to hear.  The shrike did show at a distance though the wind was keeping it close to the ground and it was out of sight for long periods.

A windy Hanging Houghton, Goldfinches and another rubbish shrike shot.

We managed to see plenty of Yellowhammers and also a few Tree Sparrows but could not find any of the other goodies so accepting that things were not going to improve headed back to the car. A single Brambling made several trips down to the seed in front of the barn but never for any length of time. From here we made our way over to Brixworth Country Park where a pit stop was made at the busy café there. Suitably fortified we once more braved the conditions and set out to have a look at Pitsford reservoir.

Pitsford Res, Pochard with Dabchick.

There was a large flock of Tufted Ducks and Pochards in Pintail Bay and these were searched through in case the reported Ring-necked Duck was amongst them. The bird was eventually found sleeping close to the other side of the bay and so we made our way around hoping for better views.  Happily the bird showed well from here and we watched it on and off for over an hour. A scan across the res also produced distant views of one of the Great Northern Divers which turned out to be a nice way to finish the day.

Drake Ring-necked Duck.