Tuesday 19 March 2013

Saturday Minus the "Sedgedunum Warbler"

Saturday morning and not having to pick up The Warbler I felt a bit strange and with nobody to buy my Latte I was forced to use one of my freebie vouchers.  Off down to the Dark Side and first a visit to Thornley where it was very quiet till I put a bit of seed down and out came 3 Grey Squirrels, a couple of Blackbirds and Tits Galore.  I sat and watched a Grey Heron for a good 10 mins in the mist whilst it did a bit of stalking and had a couple of smallish successes.


Off to Far Pastures for a quick visit to the Car Park.  A couple of Nuthatches were quick to the seed I put out but no sign of Willow Tits.  At least 4 Goldcrest were around but its still hard to get a steady lens on them especially in the mist and drizzle.


Down to the Derwent to look for Dippers and they didn't take long to find, also a few glimpses of Grey Wagtail .  The Dippers seemed to be setting up home or at least one them was with the other just standing around watching (bit like me watching the beloved hoover, wash, iron, cook etc)








Then a quick trip to Big Waters as I couldn't make it on Sunday.  Good views of one of the Deer as soon as I arrived and it stayed in the same field for a good 15 mins but was still watching me intently.


Quite a lot of the usual stuff on the pond although the Whooper and Goosander were not seen so it looks like they have moved on.  The Cormorants were relaxing on the island with every so often 1 or 2 flying in then 2 flying off.


I then decided to head back South and found myself missing Sled Lane and ending up in Clara Vale where a pleasant 30mins passed catching sight of Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, Bullfinches, Woodpecker, and the usual Tits and Finches.



I then headed to Sled Lane for my final stop of the day.  The 13 Goosander were all on the far bank and stayed there throughout  There was quite a few Tufted Ducks and 3 Goldeneye on the pond with quite a lot of  farmyard ducks and geese and a single Mute Swan



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A canny day out but spoilt by the lack of banter with The Warbler

ps.  I did go out a bit later to the Rising Sun but only caught 2 glimpses of SEOs.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aye, he's a miss when he's not there. A cracking bloke.

Johnnykinson said...

Some nice Dipper images there John.
How do you get Tufties to line up for a piccy like that ??
When i ask them they tell me to "Quack off!"

HowdonBlogger said...

Dear Anonymous,

you must know him well ??????

Dear John,

Steps back in amazement, nice comments on my pics. The Ducks were easy to sort, just used my Sergeant Major voice and the words "Orange Sauce" and its amazing what they will do.

John

ps be careful about that anonymous guy, he sounds a bit of a stalker