Monday 20 December 2010

Brilliant Day!









What a day. I was happy to get a Beddington tick (now 209 for the site) when I saw two distant Waxwings flying away from me. I have waited a long time for them and just like London buses taking part in a some kind of invasion- within a few minutes another 35 appeared (pic 1 and 2).
Then I went for a walk and flushed 4 Jack Snipe and re found the superb juvenile Iceland Gull (pic 3 and 4)- a very well marked one. There were still good numbers of Skylarks (pic 5) about and the day vis mig count ended at 220+. Also 8 Yellowhammer (pic 6) still on the mound, 100+ Linnet (pic 7) and also 20+ Redwing, 10+ Fieldfare, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Chiffchaff, I missed 100+ Golden Plover but saw a few flocks of Lapwings (pic 8) on the move (50+ in total).

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Peter, was it possible to view the Iceland Gull from the public footpath or was it necessary to access the main body of the site? Cheers. All the best. Andrew Mackenzie

Peter Alfrey said...

Hi Andrew,
It has been on the lake - which is viewable from the main public path.
Gull numbers are higher in the afternoon so best time to check is then.

Mark James Pearson said...

fantastic Peter - if there's anything better than winter urban birding in a cold snap, I've forgotten it

Peter Alfrey said...

I want your Whitefronts 2moro!

Peter Alfrey said...

I said whitefronts, not y-fronts!