Patchwork Challenge - Visit 4

This was my final visit for the month and I was accompanied by my wife and youngest daughter.

The company meant I wasn't able to lug around my big lens, and I didn't really have much opportunity to use my powershot. As a result the pictures aren't of a very high quality.

It started off as usual with Magpie, Carrion Crows and Rooks in the field next to the main car park. I scanned the car park too, but didn't really see anything, which was rather disappointing.

As I didn't have time to walk both lakes, we went up the causeway and decided to circle the south lake, so we only saw one side of the north lake. While we didn't see any Pochards, we did spot Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Black-Headed Gulls and plenty of coots.

Stopping halfway up the causeway allowed us to view the island on the south lake. Here we saw Gadwell, Mallard, Cormorant, Canada Geese, Teal and a lone Little Grebe.

A pair of Mallards, the drake is on the left.

As we reached the end of the causeway we saw the first Little Egret of the year, which continually flew from one side of the lake throughout the rest of our walk.

Checking out the fields, we spotted plenty of Mallards and Mute Swans, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were lots of gulls, but they were too far out to get a good id (my binoculars aren't the best), the Greylags and Canada Geese were nowhere to be seen either.

There was a lot more action in the wood that runs along the back of the south lake however and we saw a small flock of Long Tailed Tits. We also spotted a lone Goldcrest, as well as a lone female Bullfinch, the first I've seen on the patch since I've started visiting it over a year and a half ago. It just highlights what you start spotting when you continually visit the same locations.

A Long-Tailed Tit with the Powershot.

Following the lake we saw more of the usual birds, as well as a lone Pochard and a pair of Wigeon. It was otherwise pretty uneventful until we reached the main car park and I decided to look over one of the nearby fields where I saw a singing Chaffinch. Perched in the distance was a lone Kestrel. As I took out my powershot I heard a screech and it had been replaced by a Buzzard, which it then proceeded to mob. It just highlights that you'll never know what you see, so it's always worth stopping for one more look.

So at the end of the month I spotted a grand total of 43 new birds, which is a good 7 short of the target I'd set myself. It's only going to get harder in the coming months, so we'll see how it goes :)

Birds seen
Black-Headed Gull
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Canada Geese
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Cormorant
Coot
Gadwell
Goldcrest
Great Crested Grebe
Jackdaw
Kestrel
Little Egret
Little Grebe
Long-Tailed Tit
Magpie
Mallard
Mute Swan
Pochard
Teal
Tufted Duck
Wigeon