Luckily we had none of the very low temperatures and freezing fog that were forecasted though it was still cold with a fresh easterly wind. No Barn Owls seen till we arrived at Calcutt where we managed 2 just after dawn and we had a very interesting chat with the local farmer who keeps an eye on them. Our local council in there wisdom have demolished the nearby bridge they were roosting in and he reckons that this has reduced sightings by 50% this year. Certainly more difficult than ever and the wet summer reducing vole numbers has not helped. He saw a Red Kite here last week and has seen the odd Stonechat in the plantation. We also saw Raven and Green Woodpecker.
Surprisingly Draycote Water was void of birders as we watched 3 Great-northern Divers, Red-necked Grebe and male Smew from farborough bank before walking to valve tower. The Red-throated Diver was showing well near the inlet but became more difficult appearing near the valve tower, hensborough bank and out in the center. It’s feeding well and can spend well over a minute underwater resurfacing miles from its original position.
Red-throated Diver
The 4th Great-northern Diver was by the valve tower and off inlet we had 2 Shoveler and amongst the finch flock we had a Linnet and Corn Bunting.
Lawford Heath had 2 Buzzards, Great-spotted Woodpecker and 8 Yellowhammers but little else except for a Buzzard following the plough and another search around Addison Rd, Rugby failed to find any Waxwing.
After dinner went out to road tested Trog and searched the Addison Rd / May Lane junction with no luck and was cycling up Hillfield Rd towards Plexfield Rd when a flock of 8 flew over heading north. Dave had 5-10 in trees back of Bernards Court as he drove past while out shopping.
The roost at Draycote was a lot more productive than of late with 3 Yellow-legged Gulls and first winter Med Gull.
"Blue Lobster" informs me of a Ring-necked Parakeet in valley at Willoughby recently. See comments 28th Dec.
Dave found this in Bloom's Garden Center yesterday
Mottled Umber
Richard
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