Thacka flood & Bright Tarn

A cracking morning, a fair amount of blue sky and warm sun, my kind of birding day. 12 Snipe on the flood this morning possibly more in the sedge, this one not quite got the camouflage thing. I did an initial count of 38 Lapwings but there was more cumming in all the time. Also c.50 Black-headed gulls and a few Common gulls, close by perched in a tree there was a Kestrel till disturbed by a dog walker.
Next I moved on to Bright Tarn near Greystoke moor, here there was 16 Greylags, good numbers of Teal, a female Wigeon, Mallard, and Pheasants in nearby fields. there was also Jays about and a Buzzard calling. quite an enjoyable morning.

Thacka flood & Soddy Gap 18th

I arrived at the flood to find it very quiet indeed and the only thing visible with the naked eye was a Common gull . I had just located 3 snipe with the scope, they were in the usual place in the sedge when John turned up, another local birder. The crack was good and He was telling me about the things He has seen on there lately, such as another Black-tailed Godwit, or even more amazing the 6 Whooper swans that turned up the other day. While we chatted a Great spotted woodpecker flew over.
At about 10am I left to make my way over to Soddy Gap in the west of the county. On my way over I saw 2 Buzzards one flew over the car near Threlkeld and the second flew along the road in front of the car near Gt. Broughton. I could hear the geese before I saw them , then when I reached the water there they were about 200 of them Greylags. apart from them there was some Teal, Mallard, Tufted, Coot, Moorhen, about 20 Black-headed gulls and 1 Med. gull. not a bad day apart from the weather which wasn't too great , dull with drizzle.

Pheasants feeding on winter wheat.

Mid morning round Thacka

There was a very fine drizzle settling everywhere and it showed up all the cobwebs on the local muck- heap, no idea what species of spider they could be but the webs were a couple of feet square and there was lots of them.

           The colours are begining to show on some of the trees, and it looks as though we are going to get a good show towards the end of the month and into November, providing the weather stays calm.

            The hedges were teeming with Blackbirds this morning , there was dozens of them everywhere. Also saw 3 Hedge sparrows ,2 robins , There was also a few Goldfinches about but only in ones and twos not the usual small flocks one usually sees them in.

           On the flood there was good numbers of gulls Black-headed and a few Common, but nothing like the numbers of Lapwings.  There was however 3 snipe visible and could have been more hidden in the rushes.

Pic. Mr. W overlooking his favorite lake.

Been up to the Thacka flood a few times over the last few days and there has been nothing out of the ordinary, always a good roost of Black-headed gulls and usually a few Common gulls mixed in with them. Also nearly always a large flock of Lapwings usually about 200.

The water level has risen again slightly, making it less likely that we will see any Snipe or other waders. There has been a Kestrel hunting the area , not seen one up there for a while, and also a flock of mixed finches, mainly Chaffinches . Still no sign of the usual large flocks of Redwings or Fieldfares , something strange going on this Autumn, all I can think is that the food supply in the Scandinavian countries must be very good this year , so no need to rush over here.

All for GW.

Sunday the 4th & Monday the 5th

A bit of a sad day on Sunday as we took our Daughter back to uni. As can be seen the Westies are very enthusiastic about helping with the packing. It was an early start to the day setting off soon after 6-30 am . Also a long day as it had turned 5pm by the time we got home , this was due to an accident on the M40 and we were held up in traffic for an our then turned off the motorway South of Warwick.

However once a birder always a birder and as we travelled South on the M40 we saw a Red Kite in the Cherwell area and then leaving Oxford on the A34 we saw another one. Also quite a few Kestrels as we travelled up and down the various motorways.

This morning I went up to the Thacka flood , where there was , 3 Common Gulls , 27 Black-Headed Gulls c.300 Lapwings, a pair of Mallard, and 3 Snipe . It was a bit on the cool side but the sun has shone all day , great.

Thacka flood & Beacon

The fungi is Shaggy cap.
Went up to the flood this morning , the sun was really warm again just a chilly wind keeping temps. down. There was 20 Common gulls , about 15 Black-headed gulls , 150 to 200 Lapwing, 1 Lesser black back gull & 2 immature. There was 1 moorhen and a few Starling feeding at the side of the flood , also 3 Snipe but could have been more hiding behind the rocks. Over the A6 over in the East 2 Buzzard showed briefly.
In the afternoon I took the Westies for a walk on the Beacon but as usual it was quiet up there apart from hearing a buzzard call , but it was an enjoyable walk and warmer than the morning as the wind had dropt quite a bit, not bad for the 1st of October.