20/366 Crispest

20 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, frost, Jay, nuthatch, Snipe

It was frosty white again this morning so, in the hope that the chilly temperatures might have lured the resident Snipe out of their hiding places in the reed beds, I headed to Forest Farm Nature Reserve for a meander. And I was lucky – though they were very distant, I managed to spot three Snipe. Full marks if you can actually see them in this photo.

200120 1 snipe

Of course, the cold temps also meant the birds were hungry and frantic to be fed. I took plenty of seed with me but many of the good folk who walk this reserve regularly had already covered fence post tops and feeding tables with food of various types. This Nuthatch was stocking up, taking away several seeds and nuts at a time to stash in nooks and crannies in nearby trees.

200120 3 nuthatch

Jays were also busy stashing. Birders were spraying the grass in front of the bird hide with peanuts, which at least two Jays were gathering and carting away to their local hiding places. Best to be prepared in case this chilly spell continues.

200120 2 jay

21/365 A Snipe or three

21 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, walks, winter

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Snipe, Snipe in reeds

When I headed to Forest Farm Nature Reserve today, I was hoping to add a Dipper to my year list (tick) and, as frosty mornings often lure them out from the reeds, I was also hoping to see some Snipe – these are they. Not as close as I’d have liked but still good to see as they are so well camouflaged they’re often difficult to spot. There were lots of other lovelies too: a Kingfisher, two Buzzards being harassed by Crows, three Great spotted woodpeckers, a ton of Mallards and Moorhens loudly staking out territories in preparation for breeding, four Grey herons like statues in a dead tree, and my first Snowdrops of the year. T’rrific!

190121 snipe

Birding at RSPB Lodmoor

31 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, Black-tailed godwit, British birds, Greenshank, Lapwing, Lesser yellowlegs, Little egret, Lodmoor, RSPB Lodmoor, Ruff, Snipe, Teal

Oh to have somewhere like RSPB Lodmoor as my local birding patch! Its 76 hectares of wetlands and grasslands, saltmarsh and reed beds are home to a huge variety of birds and often attract passing rarities, plus it’s a lovely place to walk and all within a mile of Weymouth town centre.

181031 birding Lodmoor (1)

This was our second stop on the way to Portland last Friday. Our target bird was the Lesser yellowlegs – amazingly, a Lesser yellowlegs was also at Lodmoor when we went to Portland in 2017 – but there were many other lovely birds to be seen, and, as I was able to get reasonably good photos, some of these birds will be getting their own blog posts in the coming days. So, here are some tasters of what you can expect to see at this outstanding reserve.

181031 birding Lodmoor (2) 181031 birding Lodmoor (3)

Most of my photos of the Black-tailed godwits are like this first one – heads down, bottoms up – but I did manage to get some head shots.

181031 birding Lodmoor (4)

Just a few years ago Little egrets would have been a rare sight in Britain but not any more. They’re now well settled, breeding and frequently seen.

I love the colours in the Lapwings’ plumage. They look plain black and white from a distance but are, in fact, adorned in rich sumptuous greens. Such elegant birds.

181031 birding Lodmoor (7)

We saw several Snipe poking about in the mud for food.

181031 birding Lodmoor (8)

After the Canada geese, probably the second most abundant species of bird we saw was Teal, many of which were sheltering from the freezing wind behind clumps of reeds. If you look carefully, you can just see a Ruff in the centre near the reeds.

181031 birding Lodmoor (9)

The star of the Lodmoor show, the Lesser yellowlegs, seen here behind a Black-tailed godwit and to the left of 2 lovely Greenshanks. All three of these birds will be getting their own blog posts.

Birding at RSPB Dungeness

31 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, British butterflies, Common tern, Egyptian Goose, Emperor dragonfly, RSPB Dungeness, Snipe, Wood sandpiper

I had never been to RSPB Dungeness until my visit with my friend Jill two weeks ago but, if you can get past the fact that there’s a nuclear power station buzzing away just down the road, then you should be able to appreciate what a wonderful place it is. (British people seem to take nuclear power stations for granted but, as a nuclear-free New Zealander, I still find them quite scary places and really rather menacing!)

180731 Dungeness nuclear power station 180731 RSPB Dungeness

This is a unique landscape of low rolling shingle banks, interspersed with patchy areas of low scrub and large shallow pools – it’s water bird heaven!

180731 Common terns (3)

Our first highlight was seeing the Common terns that breed at Dungeness. Terns are such agile flyers and to see their young fledglings was a real treat.

180731 Egyptian geese

Eqyptian geese have also bred here, and we saw a pair with two well-grown goslings.

180731 snipe

I had my best-ever views of a Snipe that decided to come out and poke around the muddy edges of one of the pools. These are normally such secretive birds so it was a real pleasure to watch this bird foraging.

180731 wood sandpiper

And the Snipe was joined by not one but two Wood sandpipers.

180731 water birds galore

Each of the six hides on the two-mile-long main trail offers different views, different birds, and, after motoring down to a cafe near the lighthouse (and that power station), we also stopped off on our return to check out the two shorter trails and hides on the opposite side of the road. Here we had good, though distant views of a Greenshank and a Bar-tailed godwit. Cracking!

As well as the birds, the wildflowers added lots of pretty colour to our wander, and we were entertained as we walked by large numbers of beautiful butterflies and debonaire dragonflies, though it wasn’t quite so pleasant watching an Emperor dragon biting the wings off a Gatekeeper.

180731 b emperor

Here’s my bird list for the day (not including a lot of smaller birds that were flitting about the bushes while I was marvelling at the butterflies): Teal, Lesser black-backed gull, Tufted duck, Mallard, Herring gull, Common tern (with young), Cormorant, Sandwich tern, Common sandpiper, Wood sandpiper (2), Snipe, Egyptian goose (and goslings), Ringed plover, Pochard, Little grebe, Great crested grebe, Lapwing,Coot, Dunlin, Goldeneye, Reed warbler, Redshank, Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher, Grey heron, Great white egret (2), Greylag goose, Mute swan, Black-headed gull, Shelduck, Shoveler, Carrion crow, Swallow, House martin, Greenshank, Bar-tailed godwit, Pied wagtail, Gadwall and Magpie.