One of the two resident Common Buzzards
There were several anglers around the lake but fortunately my favourite swim was vacant. So on with the sprat and a good cast out into the lake and just enough line between bait and float to hold it steady in the south westerly breeze shooting across the water. It was a good couple of hours before I had a run and when I connected there was a nice 9 lb Pike to land. It was weighed and released straight back into the water.
9lb Pike caught on a sprat
Whilst I was waiting for that first and as it turned the one and only fish of the day, it was binoculars and camera at the ready for any wildlife to be spotted and photographed.
I wasn't to be disappointed as the warm weather was attracting a lot of birds to the water and the surrounding trees. Apart from the 150+ Black-headed Gulls on the water the most notable species was Goldfinches. they were everywhere, singing away in the tree tops. Every now and then a few Siskins joined them and later in the day it was Greenfinches. Definitely a finch day as a pair of Bullfinches could be heard in the bushes just beyond the dam and male Chaffinches were singing their hearts out.
As the temperature rose, I think it got to about 13C, thermals started to appear and apart from the resident Buzzards, the Black-headed Gulls took off en-mass and joined 50+ Lesser Blackbacked Gulls and Herring Gulls high up over the woods.
Gulls enjoying the thermals around 2pm
At 3:00pm a lone Lapwing heading SW was an unexpected surprise and another bird, which I haven't ticked off my Year List, was a Green Woodpecker which could be heard "yaffling" from the edge of Stanton Wood. Click here for a snippet of his call.
A lone Lapwing
A total of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen and as the evening drew in, it seemed to draw in even more birds to the lake. At 5:40pm four Goosanders flew over, at 5:45pm a Water Rail squealed, at 5:46pm a Kingfisher appeared on the lake and the next 10 minutes saw several pairs of Pied Wagtails heading SW over the lake, presumably to roost somewhere local and at 6:00pm a Yellowhammer called as it passed overhead.
Here are a few images from the afternoon:
Coot walking on water
Long-tailed Tit
Birds recorded with numbers seen were,
2 Grey Heron, 2 Mute Swan, 9 (7 drakes) Mallard, 4 Goosander, 2 Buzzard, 1 female Sparrowhawk, 4 Moorhen, 5 Coot, 1 Water Rail, 1 Lapwing, 150+ Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Blackbacked Gull, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, 1 Kingfisher, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 6 Pied Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails, 4 Starlings, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tits, Nuthatch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Siskin and Yellowhammer. (Total of 42 Species Recorded)