The North (East) Wind Doth Blow

With the weather having remembered what this 'winter' thing is supposed to be about, what have I been up to in the schnow??

Well, Friday I took a little trip to see a little nephew of mine :D



Before that, I gave the Patch a mighty bash, but no trace of frickin' Waxwings could I find. Or indeed a great deal else. I did get three figures of Herring Gulls again - 105, plus 2 GBB and a LBB - in the Inner Harbour. Though the ravening wind was offshore [there], there was a big swell and I could only find 3 Sandpipers Purple on the Real Living Coast and 5 GC Grebes on the sea. My hopes of a Red-neck moving up to the sheltered waters off Torre Abbey were [predictably] dashed. There was a very smart mature adult Cormorant, though, which was some consolation. :)


Saturday, with a little less wind and more time to play, I went up on't Moor! Though the ambient temperature hovered around 0° all day, the lighter wind made it quite bearable. I was wearing proper winter kit, it must be pointed out, but sitting out of the wind when the sun tried to come out it was almost balmy.

En route a flock of 20 Redwing and 3 Fieldfare, plus a female Brambling flying along a lane in front of me, hinted at a good day. The roads were dry, so the only dodgy bits were caused by persistent runoff - and most of the ice sheets were narrow enough to slide over with no problems - so I arrived the usual way and found but two cars at Bennet's, despite my comparatively late start time. Odd, you'd think an icy day in February with constant light snow would be really popular..?? ;)  Anyway, I headed down into Vitifer and worked down then across into Sousson's. A superb Treeeeecreeeeeper in one of the swamp willows made the trip worthwhile by itself [I love Treeecreeepers] and looked to maybe be pretty much it, with birds being thin on the ground [or above it]. Again there was a paucity of small jobs - only singles of Mipit and Skylark in the whole day - this is rather odd, there's usually a few about...

You don't expect a lot from the winter Moor; maybe you'll get something great, but numbers? Not likely. This trip was not an exception. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Sousson's was quite quiet, with a small group of Siskin, a couple of Goldcrest parties, and 2 'wok'ing Ravens, outshone by two lovely male Bullfinches. They posed and everything. Then flew off sniggering when I started getting photographical ideas, the little gits.

After stopping early while I had shelter from the wind, I pressed onward towards and past the Warren House with no sign of anything Great at all, [well, it was worth a look!], I contoured Water Hill and had a look about the southern bit of Fernworthy. Very very quiet, with two Song Thrushes [in amongst the tall conifers] pretty much it. Back over Water Hill I headed.


It was actually a lot better than it sounds from this account - just being able to walk without sinking was such a treat! - with Assycombe Row bathed in utter utter silence....   Bliss.



Yesterday morning I gave the Marshies another go. En route to Occombe Reserve I took a not so small detour and yomped around the top end of Cockington - lots of nice fields and hedges, but only two had stubble still in and only one was accessible close up. I did strike gold, though!  My first singing Skylark of the year; on the Patch. :D
The Devonshire Red has dried out a lot and so I avoided getting orange to the knees, but perhaps as balance to that, I could only find a lone Yellowhammer to go with the Skylark and it wasn't singing. Occombe itself proved another bust - I do have to wonder if there ever really are Marsh Tits there, though the habitat is very good.... In other news, a GSW drummed [another year first], a small group of Redwing are hanging on, and one particular sheep had a bodyguard of no less than 10 Pied Wagtails in a tight ring around it! I have no idea why, no other sheep had wagtails escorting them...???

In the afternoon I went for a wander around Yarner with the Folks [we've not been out together for ages]. Tilbury Dog did her duty again and found a poor innocent Woodcock [though it was less than 8' from the track, so can hardly complain]. This one definitely by smell, as we'd been stood at the spot for a minute or so when she suddenly cocked her head and took a couple of steps downslope - WHOOSH!
There were 4 male and 2 female Mandarin on the pond when we arrived - though only 2 and 2 when we left - along with a Grey Wagtail. In the woods, Marsh Tits, Siskin, a couple of GSWs and a yaffling Green Woodpecker were the best of it.

Again, much less swampy underfoot, and so we were able to enjoy Yarner in winter. Not so busy with birds, true, but still full of atmosphere.




Annnd finally, today at work - 2 Redwing! Work Tick!! :)