Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Ogden - On the hunt for a pic. of the common sand.

10:00
A trip around Ogden in thick mist looked decidedly a waste of time. However the weather improved but no sigh of the common sand mentioned in B.S’s blog yesterday.
A Heron was hiding on the west shoreline only just visible from t'other side.
3 Grey Wagtails hightailed it from their feeding area beneath the prom.
Going around the circuit Chiffchaff were in good supply and a Willow Warbler piped up every 10 yards. A greedy Magpie was devouring all the seed in the feeding area. 7 Swallow and the usual small birds about.

A Blackcap made a welcome appearance near the ‘Nuthatch’ tree where the Rhododendrons have been  cut back.

On the water 2 LBBG, 2 Canadas and a great number of Mallard ducklings. Some ducklings look to be beyond bite sized for the Heron now.
A Green Woodpecker , later heard calling,  flew into the trees below the prom.
The mist lifted and the sun tried (but failed) to come out.
With no sigh of the Common Sand. I tried my look with NK’s Whinchat – so I headed towards the  golf course.
The small bushes and heather were alive with song with lots of Skylark and Meadow Pipit and 2 Tree Pipit about.
2 Reed Bunting near the Golf Course and a Linnet on the power line helped to brighten the day.
Also spotted a Male Pheasant and Jay but no Whinchat.
A Whitethroat seemed to know when to move to the next perch – failed to get a pic.

All in all not a bad morning after a poor start.

A few misty snaps:-










xx



A very elusive Jay.


A Tree Pipit (Thanks NK & BS)



4 comments:

  1. I won't put my head completely on the block, but pic no.5 caught my eye immediately as a good contender for Tree Pipit. The strong streaking and that rich buff on the throat and chest, plus the bolder supercilium.

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  2. I,ll second that Nigel, I was moving down the photos and stopped dead when I got to that. I,ve yet to get a Blackcap this year and a Tree Pipit although I have,nt been looking in the known sites yet.

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  3. Thanks Nigel & Brian.

    A lifer for me - Tree Pipit!

    John

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  4. A somewhat better picture - well done.

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