Yahoo Friday again play time the forcast was good and there was still some good birds about an early finish at work I was off next stop Pugneys CP. The main reason I was off to Pugneys was for a certain grebe it had been around for a while now visiting other reserves in the area and had now spent the last few days here so I was hoping to see it I hadn’t seen this species of grebe since 2004.
Anyway I was soon walking around the lake with the many joggers, cylists and dog walkers seeing Pied Wagtail, Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot and Great Crested Grebe but not the grebe I was looking there was compensation in a nice male Stonechat which gave spledid views . Onto the reserve part and into the hide more ducks and gulls Goldeneye, Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon, Cormorant but you guessed it not the grebe I was looking for.
Okay over to Calder Wetlands to see if it had gone over there more Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Goosander ♂♀, Redshank, Sparrowhawk, and about 20 Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, and Red Breasted Merganser no grebe and no Smew either time had run out I had to be else where, I got reports later that night that the grebe had shown up later on the boating lake with the Smew on Millfield Pond, okay so it was a early start to Saturday.
Saturday morning and I was at Pugneys for 6:45am and stood by the main lake the lake was clam and flat unlike yesterday so things should be easier to pick up this morning. I scanned the lake Great Crested Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Great Crested Grebe ah there you are the grebe I was looking for and very near to my bank of the lake the name Red Necked Grebe, the bird very similiar to Great Crested, in winter plumage, however slightly smaller in neck length with a dark/dusky collar on the foreneck with a yellow base to the lower bill it’s mainly a late summer to winter visitor and never common. I did manage to get some video footage, okay not good I was hoping for better after I had watched it for a while but it was soon scared off by a barking dog running straight for me, i’m sure that sign over there says “keep your dogs under control at all times or on a lead at all times” strange how dog owners go blind when you put a sign in front of them and no it does not compensate for saying sorry when the bird has flown to the other side of the lake, thats it rant over and viweing over I didn’t have time to relocate to the other side I was lucky to get out again early doors here’s to next week 🙂
Huddsbirder 