A Bit Of A Mixed Day

A female Blackbird in the garden this morning feeding on apples I put out two weeks ago. Its taken until now for the apples to "mature" to be appetising enough for them to eat it.

Its taken two weeks for the apples to "break down"...

.......to appetising enough for this female Blackbird to eat.

She is definitely enjoying it........

And even called out to thank me!

A little later a Red Kite came over the estate for the 2nd time this week. That I've seen that is.

This one seems to have one possibly two primary feathers missing or just misaligned!

A Red Kite over the estate which didn't go unnoticed...........

...........by the local Carrion Crow that mobbed it until the Crow was happy it was leaving.

The Kite then carried on heading off..........

towards Covingham.......

And hoping that it would find something below to scavenge....

Unfortunately another Carrion Crow was on his case, and seemed to be enjoying a bit of synchronised flying, before it had enough and started mobbing the Kite.

The sad news today was that opposite Wickes on the waste ground there (originally water/oil storage tanks. I'm not sure!), there used to be an excellent pool of water for the gulls to bathe in. That was until today, its all gone, buried under tons of shale. Such a shame, as potentially this would have been a wonderful place to see Yellow-legged Gulls.
Today I watched dozens of  gulls come down to bathe, only for them to realise that the water had gone. Not only will they have to find another bathing pool but I shall have to as well. To watch them bathing that is!

The images below were taken on 11 Jan 15 before it was filled in.

The Pool as it was on 11 Jan 15

A great place to watch Lesser Black-backed Gulls close up............

...........and Herring Gulls as they........

cleaned and preened themselves.....

and then got themselves ready to.............

.................fly off before the next..........

.....pair came in, followed.......

..........by other adults including 1st winters.

This one was quite at home in amongst............

............the adults.

Not a Herring Gull but a juvenile.........

Black-headed Gull moulting into 1st winter.

This however is an adult Black-headed Gull, which is was just starting to get his summer plumage. The amount of *black on the head would normally be a lot less than this in winter.

* Note: The head colouring is actual dark brown, but as there is already a  Brown-headed Gull I guess it would have been confusing.

More Ducks

Having seen a Little Egret fly over the house yesterday evening, from the direction of Nythe Pool, I thought I'd have a quick look at the Pool this afternoon just in case it came back. Unfortunately not, but there was plenty of activity on the pool, with an additional 7 Mallards upsetting the resident pair. The additions were 4 drakes chasing the 3 ducks in an attempt to court them. Unfortunately the resident pair got caught up in the melee which by the looks of it could last quite awhile.

The resident Moorhens are back, having been washed off the pool when it flooded and also a Grey Heron was stalking along the fringes of the now flattened reed bed.

Six of the nine Mallard on the pool.

A Grey Heron in amongst the reeds looking for a meal. 

The resident pair of Moorhens are back having been washed off the pool in the recent floods.

One of many Robins singing around the Pool.

Birds Recorded: 1 Grey Heron, 9 Mallard (resident pair Plus 4 drakes & 3 ducks), 2 Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Goldfinch.

An Excellent Day For Ducks

With news in that a drake Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) had arrived late yesterday afternoon at Liden Lagoon, I kept my fingers crossed that it would still be there today. Fortunately I had an hour to spare around midday and managed to have a look. Its presence was certainly not evident as I walked around, and it wasn't until I was on the home straight that I located it up against the boom that joins the 2 islands.

A drake Pintail between the two islands

and sticking close to the boon that separates them.

Here the drake is calling, though with the noise of the traffic on the A419 it was difficult to hear him.

Here is a short Audio of what he would have been calling had I been able to hear him.

A drake Pintail calling courtesy of xeno-canto

Seems quite content to be in the centre of the Lagoon away from all the other wildfowl.

Feeding time, with Tufted Ducks, Mallard, Coots, Black-headed Gulls and can you spot the Herring Gull. Clue pink legs!

Not for the first time in the past week or so a Common Gull favouring this post in the pool. all together there were 4 Common Gulls present this lunchtime.

One of the 2 drake Pochard present today.

Good to see a Little Grebe back at the lagoon. Its been awhile since I saw one here last.

Some really good numbers of Tufted Duck at the Lagoon. This is just about half or slightly less than what was on the rest of the water.

Yep another Herring Gull.

I don't know why I like gulls so much, I guess I've been very fortunate to have seen lots of Yellow-legged Gulls and a few Caspian Gulls when I lived in Telford, Shropshire. So nowadays I'm checking every Herring Gull out. It was late last year when I had a Yellow-leg here, so there's always a chance it or another could show up again. I'm not sure why but the majority of gulls in Swindon seem to be Herring Gulls as opposed to Lesser Black-backs. In fact most Lessers I ever come across are those heading north to roost in the evening.

Here we go again another Herring Gull. Fortunately this is the same bird I saw here last week. This should really be a 2nd winter, but is in fact a 1st winter.

Birds recorded: 1 Little Grebe, 6 Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Mallard, 1 drake Pintail, Tufted Duck, 2 drake Pochard, Moorhen, Coot, 100+ Black-headed Gull, 6 Herring Gull, 4 Common Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch. Also seen Grey Squirrel

No Surprises

My WeBS count today at Nythe Pool was just a paltry pair of Mallards. And that's not a personal gripe at Mallards as they looked quite serene as they sat on a log in the afternoon sun. I had expected to see the resident Moorhens and maybe a Grey Heron, but the last few days of rain has meant that for the Moorhens at least, they have had to find high ground for awhile.

Mallards

Other species which were quite noticeable were at least 5 Robins singing and three tit species competing for mates. There were also a good 6 or more Blackbirds and good numbers of Wood Pigeons. On the mammal front two Grey Squirrels in the woods.

One of several Robins in good voice

And also several Blackbirds foraging in the leaf litter.

There must have been a good 20+ Wood Pigeons around the pool this afternoon.

The reason for the Title "No Surprises". Well nothing ever changes, the pool is absolutely filthy with empty bottles, tins, cans, rubbish bags, plastic bins and well you name it, it's in there. And have the Environmental Agency been back to tackle it, well no! I showed them the sorry state it was in before Christmas and it's still in a sorry state.

A fair bit of water flowing into the pool

Which has flooded the reed beds and consequently the Moorhens have found a safe haven elsewhere.

Rubbish

And more................

Bird Species Recorded: 2 Mallard, 20+ Wood Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, 5 Robin, 6 Blackbird, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Great Tit, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Wren, 5 Magpie, 4 Carrion Crow, 12+ House Sparrow, 2 Goldfinch. Also 2 Grey Squirrels.

More Commons

Another quick visit to Liden Lagoon to see if any of the 14 Common Gulls were still around from Wednesday's visit and I'm pleased to say there were 4 when I arrived and 6 when I left. I'm not sure where the last 2 came from, but it does prove that wherever they went they are happy to return to the lagoon.

An adult Common Gull

An adult Common Gull at the back, drake Tufted Duck on the left and a 1st winter Black-headed Gull on the bottom right.

Top to bottom: A female Tufted Duck, an adult Common Gull and a 1st winter Black-headed Gull.

Common Gull 

A bit of a bully this one. Seconds before a Black-headed Gull was on this post but this Common Gull was having none of it.

Mostly 1st winter Black-headed Gulls with their straw coloured legs. An adult winter calls out on the rocks to the far right.

For once an adult winter Black-headed Gull is bobbing about on the water and not squabbling with the other 50+ birds. Looks quite pretty when its quiet.

A drake Pochard was new in and there are still good numbers of Tufted Duck. The solitary cob Mute Swan has decided to leave, but the paired cob is still rounding up the resident pen and her 3 juveniles. It's a shame, but they will leave eventually and the pen will hopefully find a new mate. Unfortunately the cob was savagely killed by two local Pit Bull like Terriers last summer and she has looked after them ever since. The Great Crested Grebe wasn't seen, but could well have been behind the south island.

Other highlights were a pair of Lesser Redpolls overhead, 4 Goldfinches, a pair of Blue Tits chasing each other (signs of Spring around the corner) and 5 Herring Gulls which included 3 adults, 1 first winter and 1 2nd winter.

And I nearly forgot, as I was about to leave a Red Admiral flew across the lake. I don't think I've ever seen one so early in the year.

Birds Recorded: 6 Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Mallard, Tufted Duck, 1 drake Pochard, Moorhen, Coot, 60+ Black-headed Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 6 Common Gull, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Lesser Redpoll and Goldfinch. Also seen a Grey Squirrel and a Red Admiral butterfly.