Duck's Ditty - Kenneth Graham

Drawing more or less a total blank on home turf yesterday and with c3 'scarce' or maybe even 'rare' birds to some across Longham Lakes it was thought time to try and cut our losses.

CASPIAN GULL

which proved ellusive on a previous search,

CATTLE EGRET
which has already been seen on a number of visits this year and

SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF

were all certainly worthy of a try!
We will end the suspence here - we didn't find one of them!!
With other fair which either never enter our home air-space, along with others that are infrequent visitors we didn't return to base empty handed.

Not the start we would have wished for as the Lumberjacks were already in action
sawing down the remaining Sallow trees, having already put the large Gull flock to flight.

The elegant

GREAT-CRESTED GREBE

isn't even on our "might appear one day list"

our tiny puddles being totally inadequate for

such a hunter.
(now hoping for Sod's Law to happen in reverse)
A common and often numerous resident on our patch is the

STONECHAT
which for whatever reason somehow seems somewhat out of place at this location.
All to infrequent also are a combination of

POCHARD 

“All along the backwater,
through the rushes tall.
Ducks are a-dabbling,
up tails all!
by no means annual, the magical

MEDITERRANEAN GULL

which is an occassional passage bird (already having graced our Patch this year)

and also attracted in numbers to the plough.

While regular readers will recall the appearance of half-a-dozen
Female SHOVELLER

this year

male's still remain
Mighty Ellusive 

Ducks' tails, drakes' tails,
yellow feet a-quiver.
Yellow bills all out of sight,
Busy in the river!”

and finally the equally dapper

but even more infrequent, in both sexes, the

WIGEON

On the Brink of Breeding

 Thursday arrived with an unexpected

GROUND FROST
and a timely reminder of what Franklin and his 2 Oppo's

might have left in thier wake?
HOLM OAK

right outside of our window is the food plant of the fairly recent G.B. colonist the

OAK RUSTIC
which we now catch annually, in reasonable numbers, with hopes now turning to no damage having been done to change things? Down south kicked of with a second

SKYLARK

with very brief

and uncaptured

short bouts of rutting from the local

ROE DEER
but taking pride of place

some interest already being shown

by a predicted
HOUSE SPARROW

but not to the liking of a marauding
STARLING
(centre)

Up north the
COLLARED DOVEs

continue busying themselves with nest building activities with, as yet
not catching sight of the construction.
At the Irrigation Pond there was something of a surprise as a

COOT

was found there with nothing strange in that but initially thought to be the male which has spent the whole of the winter with u on the Gravel Pit. It was only when realising that this was a female that it was considered another individual before a second, a

male,

chugged out of the reed-bed.
On the way round to check if the long-stayer was still there, we encountered a singing and mobile

DUNNOCK

worthy of

click 'n' clip
before finding the original

maintaining station.
Let Breeding Commence!

The Only Way is Up - Yazz and the Plastic Population

 Absent for a number of days now we thought we might have seen the last of the Northern Thrushes, but maybe not so the Starlings just yet!

Commuting from Tree to Turf

the least numerous of the trio

FIELDFARE

were certainly 'bunkering' (a naval expression for taking on fuel)

between the vocals.
Far more numerous,

maybe in the regeon of 2 to 300 the

STARLINGs

were certainly keeping up with the others even though they may not have

quite the distance to go?

Lastly and holding the middle-ground as far as numbers go the

REDWING
were employing thier tried and tested tactic of fistly 'Looking' as above,

Listening
and then

Striking
when the time was right.
With seemingly little else to keep us in the southern reaches we made to go, but quickly with
Anchor's Away,
we stopped to make the most of a
WORLD 'LIFER'....

Occassionally seen on Channel 4 News, along with attendant moans, it was refreshing to think back to how GOOD we all were during our generation of childhood - Yeah, Alright!
Arriving at the Ponds up north it was as though someone had switched the lights off as as across both watercourse the c8 species of Waterfowl had reduced to just c2 the

LITTLE GREBE
and

COOT
but in the knowledge that "the only way is up"!
Lastly, at least until tomorrow a bit of a barrier as the track to the northern paddocks is now

Blocked by This
cum-on, which one of you is guilty??

Every Cloud Has One

 It is doubtful any of us across the UK have dodged the wrath of the 3 Musketeers, 

Dudley, Eunice and currently Franklin but it does make things a little easier when a Silver Lining from each brings a New Speices of Bird for the Year. The first, as part of a small northerly movement of Gulls on Saturday, at least c2 vocal

 MEDITERRANEAN GULLs,

without photographic evidence, followed on Sunday

at great distance, at full zoom

and also recently  predicted,

PEREGRINE

with white face markings discernable and

a couple from the locker

for more clarity.
Yesterday, and on no more than a whim, we returned to the largest of the

Stubble Fields,

found 'blank' in the first instance, to find just a single

LAPWING

tucked into the

Grassy Margins

On our return the tack was filled with

CHAFFINCH

with some bathing and others feeding but what also maybe heard on the clip the
Wind Speed was also Increasing, so a farewell to the

Prancing Ponies
or maybe

Phriskie Phillies?
and a quick diversion across the road to the Airport it looked as though the

ROOKERY
had not lost a twig - well built ay?

PS - pity Franklin could not have sent one of his GULLS 

FRANKLIN'S GULL
a rare visitor from the America's!!