Rubber Duckies, Being Bambouzeled, and Wild Cuckoo Chasing.

Saturday was quite a lot of fun. Even though I got really hailed on. 


Started off with an early start at Yarner - ah, Yarner in the springtime... - two nice Tripits on the heath on the way in, and then a pond full of duckies! Seven, count 'em, seven Mandarin, plus a very pretty drake Wood Duck. This is just taking the piss, you realise? 26 smegging years....


Anyway. The new hide has three windows - one too low and two too high, so clearly a well thought-out project. The feeders were pulling in a lot of birds - Siskin, Marsh Tits and Nuthatches stood out, but also drew the ducks in to munch the spilt seed. Point blank Mandarin. Definitely taking the piss. I even tried photos [you have been warned...]. That Wood Duck, though dubious to say the least in a listing context, was very nice to look at. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the one from Abbotsbury, you know.


Into the Wood proper, and a single Wood Warbler was zipping away merrily. I went to the usual spot and he showed wonderfully. :D  The Pied Flycatchers were a little less showy, the Redstarts even more bashful [there's a surprise]. Everything's getting wonderfully green again...


I decided against spending the whole day wandering around there and moved on to the Moor - doing a loop around Vitifer, Headland, and Challacombe in search of Ring Ouzels, Cuckoos, Wheatears, and maybe even a very early Whinchat? The sun was very shiny, but that was in the gaps between the great big lumps of rain and hail. Well, that's what waterproofs and ear protection are for. One such hail flurry cost me, as with my head down against the weather, an Ouzel at Headland saw me first. I got the Chuck!s and a view of it vanishing behind some scenery. Where it really did vanish, as try as I might I couldn't even get its abuse again... Drat. Saying that, a couple with two big loose dogs were coming along, so even if I'd seen it first and tried a stalk for a photo, I'd have been thwarted.


Crossing into Vitifer, I staked out for Cuckoo, but got nowt. No Whinchats waiting around for the whin to grow, not even a Wheatear! I did meet [Devon Birder], who told of a pair of Ouzels there earlier and a Cuckoo at Challacombe. As I was heading that way anyway...


Not a sign. Not even one call. I waited a very long time, through showers and sun, but to no avail. I even stopped off on the way home, parked up and listened, but nothing. Bloody Cuckoos....




And now for a round-up of Other News.


Sunday - morning about the Patch, with 9 Whimbrel and 2 Whitethroat at Hope's Nose. Contrast with last year when on this day there were 12 Whitethroat and a Lesser... Interestingly, Blackcaps outnumbered Chiffchaffs and only 2 Willow Warblers were to be found. 
Afternoon and a stroll with the Folks around Parke [not been there for a while] brought about a Dipper, which was very confiding and appreciated by all.


Last week at work, a Speckled Wood got into the canteen - fortunately I was able to rescue it before it got shut in.


Last Sunday - wander about Fernworthy - hordes of Siskin singing and displaying everywhere. Only one group of Crossbills and those a bit distant, though nice in the sun. Willow Warblers outnumbered Chiffchaffs 3 to 2. 55+ Swallow and 2+ House Martin feeding over the reservoir. The clearance of the magnolias below the dam [though welcome - even if its rough on the birds and dragonflies] makes it look like someone's been playing with napalm... 




I'm sure there's more, but I think that'll do for now.




Testing.