Who needs the coast when i have the Patch !

Ok, so i would really have loved to have gone to the coast to witness all the super birds that are on offer(i havent got there since july!) but work was calling so a trip to the patch it was and it meant dodging the rain and hale too!
I Heard just the one Cettis as I approached the marshes and soon picked up the meadow pipit flock of 6/7 . 40+ teal were on the flooded marsh and a single common snipe & a kestrel over head. The broad was a bit better then mid week with wildfowl numbers  starting to climb ( probably from  whitlingham ):
7x gadwall ,
10 x teal
and 5x Pochards .
As I walked back 80+ redwings over was nice. 
I nipped into Careys Meadow and  all was quiet until a kestrel on the ground caught my eye. As the rain started again and as a cracking rainbow appeared, my favourite bird ,a male bullfinch took to the sky and then dropping only a couple of feet away. I was rewarded with sticking it out in the horrid weather with some cracking views. 

Rainbow over Careys Meadows (& if you look really hard theres Bullfinch flying over)

A super ending to a wet but pleasing day.
 Happy birding,
 Shaky

Work sightings & patch visit.....

  Lets start with what i saw while at work on Tuesday at Keswick. First interesting thing of note was a massive amount of Ladybirds in the air and all over the windows i was about to clean! These were the black ones with orange spots on.They were every where in there hundreds among the mist & fog. This was confusion as i thought these were usual active in the summer? What was also really unusual was the Gulls and Corvids catching them out of the air for a quick snack (not much of one though i guess).Plenty of Redwings and Fieldfare over head which confirmed Autumn was here and migration was under way. Also some nice moths which were hiding away in the door ways-i took a picture of one of them but hope that someone can tell me what it is?! Also a beautiful little butterfly which i was told by James and Jim is a Small Copper.


Small Copper



any ideas what this is ?

Later on that day i popped to the patch(finally!).
  I noticed how overgrown it had become since i last was here in August.I immediately headed for the Marsh and picked up 2x Cettis on the way. I picked up 6x Tufted Ducks which soon took off and set the scope up to take a better look.I soon picked up 5x Snipe resting up on the waters edge. I also saw a nice little flock of 5x Meadow pipits which beat my highest count here of 3.


Resting Common Snipe

 

 

As i made my way to the hide via the marsh to the east i flushed 2 more Common Snipe up as I made a totally of 7( very nice).
A single Pied Wagtail flew over as I scanned the broad.It was very quiet with just a couple of Mute Swans and a Great Crested Grebe of mention. I scanned the shingle and it was also bird-less but I did find this chap which wouldn't have helped matters!


Mr Fox

As I walked back another 2x Cettis was heard bringing my total to 4 and a nice flock of 23x Fieldfare over head as I reached the bridge, which brought some evidence to Norwich that migration is happening. As I pulled up at home a mixed flock of around 50+ Redwings and Fieldfare went over and a nice end to my day.
Happy birding,
Shaky

Shakys back... Back again.... Shakys back tell er friend...

So where have i been? With the euros, tour de France , Olympics and the start of the premier league( yes I'm watching now my beloved west ham are back !) I've been some what preoccupied , but have been making a few visits out. Mostly with Jim who often lets me jump in if I'm able to. A super trip out to Cantley in August produce some rather smart waders , most enjoyable was a close in counter with a Wood Sandpiper. A trip to Buckenham gave me a lifer with a nice view of a Honey Buzzard along with the ever regular Common Buzzards . While at work near poringland I had a pair  of hobbies fly over along with a another hobby in catton both in august . 

The garden list has gone up by two with pair of Grey herons Flying over and too a rather delightful little bird which has now become a regular to the feeders, a Coal tit.

This last sighting brings me to one of my most special moments :

A morning to remember-

Just wanted to share my experience from a saturday morning in September.

Little George(11 months old at the time) woke us up at 6.15 am and i made our way downstairs and immediately heard alot of noise coming from outside the front of house. Me and George pulled the blinds to see a full on feeding frenzy was taking place. We both sat and watched as 9 x gold finches ( 7 of which were young) , 2x great tits, 3x blue tits and a new garden tick in a very busy coal tit,  were all making there way through our selection of feeders ( not bad for a terrace house in the busy city street with only a few nearby trees for company) 

The joy of seeing my little sons face  light up with excitement has left me with a huge beaming smile and a moment to cherish forever. 

It shows that persevering with feeders pays off as I've been waiting for them to come to our small front hedge all year ( since i placed the feeders up last October) and now look forward to waking up every morning and coming downstairs with George to see whats tucking into our array of feeders next , something that I hope will be the start of a very enjoyable hobby for the both of us to share for many years to come . What's more his first word ,after mum and dad was Bird... So it's looking good!
Happy birding,
 Shaky