I'm just back from visiting my parents near Manchester. It was nice to see them of course and also to see their garden in its full spring glory. They have a good selection of birds in their garden, but this time I was particularly pleased to see two goldfinches (normally a rare visitor to the garden) flying around. Also pleasing to see more house sparrows than there have been recently, though nowhere near the numbers there used to be when I was young. Very few starlings and the song thrush was only heard not seen. Also blackbirds, collared doves, jackdaws, chaffinches, blue tits and greenfinches and the songs of willow warbler and blackcap (or possibly garden warbler, against a background of other birdsong its difficult to tell the difference).
We also had a trip to Pennington Flash, a small lake near where my parents live. There were plenty of birds on the water, including a female mallard with nine chicks, coots, Canada geese, moorhens and a great crested grebe. From the woodland hide we saw 6 bullfinches, a cheering sight, not just because they're so bright but they're also in decline and its good to see several of them together. We also saw a great spotted woodpecker, the best view I've ever had of one, as it spent about five minutes on a birdfeeder just in front of the hide.
8 comments:
I always learn so much 'ornithiology' from your blog! We were down on the marshes at the weekend; wish I had had you to help me distinguish the different warblers! Must post about the trip on my blog later ...
P.S. Not sure how that rogue 'i' crept in to 'ornithology'! Sorry ...
Fantastic sightings! When I went to visit my dad, I saw a Snowy Egret in the grass center divide and a Blue Heron outside the hospital.
What a delightful bird the great crested Grebe is!
A beautiful lake scene too.
You had some nice sightings over there.-House Sparrows are well liked over your way but despised by many in the US.-Not by me though-We brought them here so why should we take it out on the birds themselves?
I count 20 birds reported on .. a pretty good watch, I'ld say!
Wonderful trip! Such a great many birds. Yay!
So many birds! Speaking of which, I stopped by to look for those posts on vultures you mentioned on my blog the other day. But I'm not sure where to look. I'm very interested in reading them. Am particularly curious about the poem.
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