Two weeks without birding and getting out is like chopping your arms off, I do struggle with my health during the winter months, I had to force myself to do it, it was Old Moor again, a safe place to be.
Plan of attack, after going thru the hub, was the Sparrow Farm first, due to a reported Brambling, thrn onto Reedbed Hide area for reported Bearded Tit, then dinner, then Wath Ings and finally Wader Scrape.
So Tree Sparrow Farm, alas no Tree Sparrows’ anymore, but there were Pheasants, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting ♂♀, Woodpigeon and Green Woodpecker, alas no Brambling.
So then it was on to Reedbed Hide with reports of Bearded Tit, still about and showing, but on approach, there was a good number of people about hanging around the reported area, too near I think, the birds weren’t showing, I hung back and settled on the nearby benches and waited, the people moved away and I waited more, unfortunately the birds didn’t show. I walked on down to the hide, were Gadwall, Wigeon, Shoveler, Coot, Little Grebe, Mute Swan were all viewable, also a distant Marsh Harrier and Sparrowhawk.
On my return walk, I saw that there were no people around the Bearded Tit site, so I had another go, it was a little windy now, so I concentrated on the reed bottoms, has I thought the birds would be remaining low due to the wind, the Bearded Tits, showed themselves eventually low down in the reeds, scurrying around the reed base.
After dinner, I moved onto the wader scrape hide, on my approach I saw a bird of prey going over the pathway on approach to the hide, I only saw the underside of the bird, I guessed at Sparrowhawk, however a guy in the hide said it was a Peregrine. From the hide the usual wildfowl were about, I’d already seen Shelduck, other species were Great Black backed Gull, Cormorant, and Teal.
Down at the Wath Ings Hide, highlights were a Green Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail, Lapwing with six Grey Herons
Bird List : Bearded Tit, Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black backed Gull, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Teal, Wigeon (40)
Blue Tit
Dunnock
Reed Bunting
Green Sandpiper
Huddsbirder 