Thursday 3 February 2011

3rd February 2011 - Stanwick Lakes

Toady was spent birding around Stanwick Lakes. Spring is certainly in the air now and the slight raise in temperature has had the birds singing. From leaving the car next to the A6 and Robin could be seen and heard next to the road. In the field opposite the complex somebody has obviously thought it a good idea to drive a car round in it churning up all the mud, and evidently the Redwings seemed to agree with them as the field was full as they feed in amongst the ruts in the mud. Into the old Irthlingborough Station area had Lomg Tailed, Great and Blue Tits, Chaffinch and a Dunnock, and further up the path the lakes held numbers of Teal ( all starting to display to females), Mallard, Gadwall, Shovelor, Coot and Wigeon. 2 Grey Herons next to the large lake next to marsh lane and loads more Wigeon feeding on the meadows in between. The small lake next to the visitor centre had a few Black Headed Gulls along with a solitary Lesser Black Backed, and a look at the main lake produced lots more displaying Teal, a few more Wigeon, male and female Goldeneye, Lesser Black Backed Gulls, Herring Gull and at least 6 Common Gulls. The wooded section failed to produce any Woodcock, and the reedbed failed to produce anything too except a few Tits calling in the trees around it. A walk up towards the Raunds entrance got another Long Tailed Tit flock but the only other birds following were Great Tit. I decided to walk back towards the other reedbed but failing to locate the Bearded Reedling that have been seen here recently I started heading back towards the car. A Buzzard was being mobbed by Carrion Crows overhead and Fieldfare were feeing in the bushes on either side of the track. A nice surprise was a Goldcrest hovering in the Brambles and it put on quite a show in the sunshine, its incredible how such a tiny bird can have so much energy. The A45 layby pit had lots of Black Headed Gull with about a dozen Commons thrown in. That pretty much sums up the visit, again nothing out of the ordinary but its always good to see all the birds out in numbers with some already starting preparations for the breeding season to start. Where does the time go? I am sure time has gone a lot faster since I took up wildlife watching. I guess that's because there is always something to look forward to.

2 comments:

  1. Greetings from Southern California, USA

    I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.

    God Bless You, ~Ron

    ReplyDelete

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