Please note that this is my own personal blog and therefore the views and opinions expressed, although in no way intended to be controversial, are not necessarily those shared by my employers Abbotsbury Tourism Ltd. and Ilchester Estates . All photos are © Steve Groves unless otherwise credited.



Sunday 2 February 2014

Into February

Swannery Birding Highlights Of The Week...

Monday 27th January to Sunday 2nd February 2014...  


Yet another pretty uneventful week...
 

Wildfowl...

A Greylag Goose on Wednesday was at first presumed to be the regular returning bird but it failed to come in for either of the feeds and was gone the next day, so probably not. A single Dark-bellied Brent Goose on Friday was an even briefer visitor but a Muscovy Duck lingered for two days on the beach opposite and bizarrely showed no interest in joining the other ducks to take advantage of the swan feeds. Despite being resident on the nearby village pond this is only the second time I have recorded this domesticated species at The Swannery. Most of the regular commoner wild ducks were present in varying numbers and the best of these were again the eight Scaup...
 

Adult drake (Greater) Scaup. One of the eight over-wintering.
 


Waders & Gulls...


A Bar-tailed Godwit was an unusual winter visitor to The Swannery but more expected were a hundred plus Lapwing along with a few Redshank and Snipe. As for gulls there were no surprises, with all the regular commoner species noted in varying numbers.


Raptors...

The male Marsh Harrier and the escaped Harris's Hawk were the only noteworthy sightings.


Passerines...

There is nothing of note to report in this category either but hopefully things will improve shortly with spring just around the corner! 


Grey Wagtail on the Mill Stream by Grove Lane Bridge (a former nesting site).


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