March 2 - Some patch gold

It has been quite a morning. There was more snowfall overnight but it had stopped by dawn. The morning was cloudy and cold with a stiff easterly breeze, strong enough to upset our empty bin and blow it several yards.

I chucked more apples on the lawn after noticing that the Fieldfare outside the front door had eaten his apple and seemed to be wondering what was for afters.

I was determined to see some hard weather movement, and eventually I was rewarded with first three, and then one more, Lapwings heading west. At around 09.30 I spotted a familiar dumpy shape fly into the top of an oak on the opposite side of our road. It was annoyingly hidden by branches but soon flew out confirming it was a Hawfinch.

So by 10.30 I decided it was time I went birding. Arrow Valley lake was the obvious choice of venue and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the car park wasn't too snowbound, and the lake itself was largely unfrozen.

Initially it seemed that there had been increases in numbers of some species; 21 Cormorants, five Goosanders, 163 Black-headed Gulls, and 23 Shovelers. A single male Tufted Duck and a Little Egret were also familiar residents.

Cormorant - sinensis race

The bitingly cold easterly was having the effect that many birds were sheltering against the eastern bank of the lake, and also on the eastern side of the island. It was here that I spotted a pair of Teal sleeping among the vegetation.

Teal

I have recorded Teal here before, but didn't see any last year. Not all the birds on the lake looked concerned about the weather. A pair of Great Crested Grebes did an impressive mating ritual, both carrying weed as they rushed together. Although I was reasonably quick with the camera I was dismayed to note that in the frame neither was still carrying the weed.

Next came one of those moments that birders sometimes have (well I do anyway), a possibly really good bird that you just can't nail. A passerine was flying hesitantly across the lake, occasionally looking as though it was trying to land on the water. It looked like a dark grey-brown pipit. Perhaps a Rock Pipit, there was only the tiniest hint of white in the outer tail. It kept on flying and I lost sight of it behind bankside vegetation. I thought it had been heading towards the visitors centre (closed for the day) so I couldn't get access to where it may have ended up.

I met Mark Islip coming the other way, and told him about the bird. All we could see were Dunnocks searching desperately for food, and I was sure it hadn't been one of them. As it turned out, the search for the mystery bird was to have an unexpectedly good outcome. From the opposite bank I could see a few small passerines on fishing platforms, and although I suspected they too were Dunnocks, I was curious enough to retrace my steps. Just past the duck-feeding platform I met a guy with a long lens. He was another Mark, and while we were chatting I spotted a small wader in among a flurry of Black-headed Gulls. I got on it, shouting "wader!" and then "Dunlin", as that was what it was, to the bemused photographer. The bird made a sharp exit and I watched as it disappeared behind trees, heading north-west.

This was obviously a patch tick for me, but I soon discovered it would have been a patch-tick for Mark I, who has been coming here regularly for a lot longer than I had. He took it well, but I felt rather gutted for him. By then we had another good bird to look at. A first-winter Common Gull had flown in, and had had the decency to stick around.

Common Gull

Finally, having watched Dunnocks, Robins, and a Moorhen at close quarters due to their need to find food over-riding their fear of me, it was a relief to discover a bird which had just found his dinner.

Song Thrush with Garden Snail

I got home just before the next bout of snow set in. So its back to watching the garden for the rest of the day.