Wednesday, 3 January 2018

1st and 2nd January 2018


A walk along the river from Buildwas first thing was quiet on the 1st (especially as heavy rain moved in part-way through) with just a Little Egret – my first in Shropshire for a long while and three Mandarin of note.   Venus Pool then had some good duck counts including 58 Shoveler (a record count for me here!), 27 Gadwall, 105 Teal and 12 Pochard with the usual birds in the top field including three Lesser Redpolls but no Corn Buntings..   I then drove down to Leintwardine where a walk before it got dark produced a Great White Egret along the Teme, just downstream of the village, a Green Sandpiper and a Grey Wagtail in the drizzle conditions.

                Persistent rain delayed things on the 2nd until lunchtime when a look round Whitcliff, above Ludlow produced at least 30 Hawfinches flying around and sticking to the tops of the trees, not giving great views in the dull, damp conditions, there were also the common woodland birds throughout including Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Nuthatch etc.   A look then at Bodenham Lake was also productive with another 3 Hawfinches seen well and great views of an Otter in the main lake the highlights along with several Green Woodpeckers, a couple of flocks of Redpolls and Siskins, two Goldeneye and 20+ Mandarins.



Great White Egret at Leintwardine




Terrible Hawfinch pictures



Otter

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