Paul's Birding Diary

Saturday 23rd - Sunday 24th March 2013 Yes it's the Hawfinch again The bitterly cold weather continues but at least some of the bird arrivals remind me that it is spring. A trip to WWT Slimbridge this morning provided year ticks for Little Ringed Plover , with two on the Holden scrape, and an adult Spoonbill , feeding on the Tack Piece. A Common Scoter was distant on the river, one of two seen this morning, while 14 White-fronted Geese were on The Dumbles, and a Water Rail was showing well at Willow Hide. A drake Garganey seen briefly on the Top New Piece, however, eluded me. Spoonbill Water Rail In the garden, the male Hawfinch continues to visit, and I saw four, including at least two males, perched in trees beyond the bottom of my garden yesterday morning. These trees are at the edge of Dimore playing field. The general finch-feast continues in the garden, and a female Blackcap has also been seen recently feeding on the Mahonia flowers. Three Ravens flew over...

Friday 22nd March 2013 On the bird table at 7.20am today The male Hawfinch has continued to visit the garden throughout the week, much to my delight. Some more photos here from this morning and also photos of some other recent regulars. Head-on view of that massive bill Chomping the sunflower seed A composite image showing the size difference between Hawfinch and Chaffinch Female Brambling A particularly striking male Brambling - one of three males visiting the garden A different male Brambling - breeding hood not as advanced as the bird above Male Bullfinch Male Lesser Redpoll Female Siskin Tree Bumblebee nectaring on Winter-flowering Honeysuckle

Thursday 14th March 2013 Male Hawfinch! (deserves an exclamation mark, or two!) One of the Dimore Hawfinches finally ventured into my garden this morning. At just after 7.30am I glanced out of my kitchen window, and did a double take. A male Hawfinch was perched just above the seed feeder and soon alighted on it and began feeding. It then moved on to the bird table, which it vigourously defended, seeing off the much smaller Greenfinches and Chaffinches. There was quite a hard frost this morning, maybe this made the cherry stones harder to find under the Wild Cherry trees around the playing field. Or maybe the food supply is drying up. Either way, it was very nice to see it it taking advantage of the facilities in my garden. I got a few photos before having to leave for work.

Saturday 2nd - Sunday 3rd March 2013 A male Hawfinch - surely one of the most impressive British birds The Hawfinches remain at Dimore playing field, with occasional views in the trees beyond the rear of my garden. At least one of the birds, a female, is colour-ringed, with a red ring on the right leg and a black (I think) ring on the left. This is the bird in the top photo on my previous post. If anyone manages to note any colour rings on the birds I would be interested as this could confirm their origin. The most likely scenario is that these are Dean birds. The Forest seems very quiet in terms of finches lately, having made a couple of visits recently, and I understand that Beech mast crop failed, forcing birds such as Hawfinches, to seek alternative food sources elsewhere. The garden was certainly teeming with birds over the weekend. On Saturday, four Lesser Redpolls added to the usual selection of late. The full list for Saturday was: Lesser Redpoll 4 Siskin 4 (3 males)...

Saturday 23rd - Sunday 24th  February 2013 A dull and cold weekend brightened up by excellent birding. On Saturday six Hawfinches were present at 12.25pm around Dimore playing field, Quedgeley. Even in gloomy conditions they still look fantastic (photos above and below). I saw at least six again this morning at 9.00am in a quick search. Earlier, me and Mark had been to see the PIE-BILLED GREBE in Somerset at RSPB Ham Wall. This was an easy tick, although it remained a little distant, but a smart bird in summer livery and a lifer for us both. Great White Egrets and Marsh Harriers were also nice to see here. Pie-billed Grebe, RSPB Ham Wall On the way back we stopped off at Aust Warth for the two Twite , which very obligingly flew into a nearby tree, where they sat for several minutes (below) . Twite, Aust Warth Meanwhile in the garden two Bramblings continue to visit regularly, as do four Siskins , a pair of Bullfinches , a female Blackcap , a male Great Sp...

Friday 8th - Sunday 17th February 2013 One of the four Hawfinches at Quedgeley on 10th February I have been lucky to see a great range of birds in and around the garden lately. These have included up to five Siskins , three Bramblings , three Bullfinches , two Goldfinches , 25 Chaffinches (including a half-albino reminiscent of a Snow Bunting!), 15 Greenfinches , a female Blackcap , and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker . But a most remarkable event brought back memories of late winter 2009 . On Saturday 9th February two HAWFINCHES were seen by Jonathan Connor in trees at the edge of Dimore playing field, to the rear of my garden in Quedgeley. The next morning I checked the field to find FOUR HAWFINCHES perched in tall trees at the west end of the field nearest the canal. Since then I have since at least one on two occasions from my conservatory in the trees just beyond my back fence, including yesterday, when I also saw one one the other side of the field near the entrance. With...

Sunday 20th January - Sunday 3rd February 2013 The adult Great Northern Diver - a smart bird acquiring breeding plumage I started the morning's birding off, with Mark H, at Pitville Park in Chemltenham, where the GREAT NORTHERN DIVER ,  was thankfully still present for its fourth day on the boating lake. We stopped briefly at Hester's Way, where 33 Waxwings , were present atop a tree in Hester's Way Road. After the diver, we pressed on to the Cotswold Water Park. Here at Shorncote, the SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF showed well briefly for us, in the company of two common Chiffchaffs . The 'Sibe' also called a couple of times putting the ID beyond doubt. Also here, two Cetti's Warblers , a Goldcrest , a Water Rail , and two Snipe . I returned to Pitville Park this afternoon hoping for better light, and better photos, but it was still pretty dull; still this is a super bird even in poor light. With a tasty Perch This beautiful photo taken by Ma...