Last night there was a report of two good birds from the park. Both would be patch ticks for me. The first was of two Yellow Wagtail, and the second of a Little Owl. I set off early to try and relocate them before work. The first notable sighting came from near the Adventure Playground, where I could see a group of five Lesser Black-backed Gull flying high over Parkside Pasture/Broad Valley at approximately 6am.
On reaching the reported location there was no sign of any wagtail species, so I checked the nearby field too, before returning to the original location. I heard a wagtail flight call, and only just managed to locate it before it disappeared. I looked pale buff in the early morning light, but the call was similar to Pied Wagtail, so no luck there. As I approached the northern corner of the field, a small stocky bird flew up from the grass onto the fence post. It was the Little Owl.
I approached cautiously, and managed to get some record shots, before it flew up onto a nearby electricity pylon. This provided me with a much better view, and allowed me to get much closer. After watching me for several minutes, the bird flew over into a nearby Oak, allowing a nice flight view. When I left the area, I could see the bird return to the pylon to scour the ground for food again.
Before heading home, I had a quick look around Bestwood Quarry, seeing a few warblers, a Green Woodpecker, a pair of Bullfinch, a male Linnet, and a handful of photogenic butterflies. On leaving the area I picked up a single Black-headed Gull in summer plumage flying west over Broad Valley towards Mill Lakes. Now Yellow Wagtail takes the place of Little Owl on my list of patch bogey birds.
On reaching the reported location there was no sign of any wagtail species, so I checked the nearby field too, before returning to the original location. I heard a wagtail flight call, and only just managed to locate it before it disappeared. I looked pale buff in the early morning light, but the call was similar to Pied Wagtail, so no luck there. As I approached the northern corner of the field, a small stocky bird flew up from the grass onto the fence post. It was the Little Owl.
I approached cautiously, and managed to get some record shots, before it flew up onto a nearby electricity pylon. This provided me with a much better view, and allowed me to get much closer. After watching me for several minutes, the bird flew over into a nearby Oak, allowing a nice flight view. When I left the area, I could see the bird return to the pylon to scour the ground for food again.
Before heading home, I had a quick look around Bestwood Quarry, seeing a few warblers, a Green Woodpecker, a pair of Bullfinch, a male Linnet, and a handful of photogenic butterflies. On leaving the area I picked up a single Black-headed Gull in summer plumage flying west over Broad Valley towards Mill Lakes. Now Yellow Wagtail takes the place of Little Owl on my list of patch bogey birds.
No comments:
Post a Comment