Target bird at last, Ogden

 

                                        Short lived sunrise.

                                    Target bird, 9 Redpoll

                                    4 Bullfinch present

                                        Poor pics in the early morn half light.

A very dark, damp morning at Ogden with a blustery SW>4 but sheltered in the trees. Light rain throughout with full dark cloud cover at 5 degrees.

     After a lot of weeks searching I finally came across a nice little group of 9 Lesser Redpoll in one of the Alder trees along with 4 Siskin, which were more hidden in a thicker Alder tree. The Redpolls shared their tree with 3 female and 1 male Bullfinch and a few Coal Tits.

      Very quiet on the water with 8 Black Headed and 2 LBB gull whilst a Kingfisher flew over the water from east to west.

   Next target birds now has to be winter wildfowl though the weather is nothing near cold enough at the moment to move birds around. A Firecrest would be nice but, going on the low count of Goldcrest so far this winter, chances are slim.

     Tomorrow showing as a dry but cloudy morning turning wet after midday on a light SW at 7 degrees.

BS

All about gulls, Ogden.

 

                                    Good count of Herring gulls

                                    Several Common gull

                                    as well as Black Headed

A dry morning at Ogden but still poor light with full cloud at 4 degrees on a light NW>2.

    The waterside trees along the west and north banks were completely void of bird life this morning with no sign of  Siskin or Bullfinch with just a couple of Robins showing and several Crows. The Crows are now spoiling the west bank Alders due to the new craze of Crow feeding where several people are now bringing food for the Crows and spreading it along the west bank, encouraging Crows in, which in turn clears the area of small passerines.

    Gulls saved the morning with a decent count of 21 Herring, 4LBB and 18 Common gulls as well as around 40 Black Headed, all carefully checked for Mediterranean's. 

    A flock of around 12 Long Tailed Tits were moving around the car park area, even though most of their favourite trees have been cut down along the car park entrance.

  Another couple of weeks and the first trans Pennine Pink Footed Geese should be coming over.

   Back to rain tomorrow on a strong SW at 4 degrees.

BS

   

A dark wet Ogden.

 

                                    Siskins in the dark

                                    3 Bullfinch present.

A very dark and wet morning at Ogden but not as bad as I expected, going by the forecast, with light rain throughout and very dark full cloud cover on a light SW>2 at 7 degrees. The weather deteriorated by 1000 hrs with heavier rain and mist rolling in, Thick fog back at Queensbury.

    Around 12 Siskin were present in the same Alder as yesterday though very hard to pick out in the darkness and still no Redpolls in with them whilst 2 female and 1 male Bullfinch were in a slightly lighter area.

    The Kingfisher was moving up and down the west bank whilst the Dipper was down in the sluice gate area along with 25 Woodpigeon down the steep grass banking.

   The water held the usual female Goosander as well as 2 Herring, 1 LBB and a handful of small gulls.

Showing tomorrow as dry with cloudy sunshine at a cooler 4 degrees on a light NW.

BS.

A better morning at Ogden.

 

                                       8 Siskin present

                                        Single Goldcrest

A very breezy damp morning at Ogden with a SW>5 bringing drizzle and full cloud at 6 degrees.

    Another late start waiting for something like daylight which doesn't show until around 0830 hrs and even after that it was very dark in the trees making it impossible to get any decent images.

     Despite the late start I achieved one of my targets by pinning down a small flock of 8 Siskin which were nearly missed in the dense trees and poor light but unfortunately still no sign of Redpoll. After a lot of standing and waiting I managed a few shots as the Siskin moved around busily feeding. A single Goldcrest was in the same area but little else other than 2 Bullfinch.

   The water held around 30 small gulls along with 2 Herring and one Lesser Black Backed.

 Tomorrows forecast is looking grim with a day of heavy rain and a strong sou'wester at 7 degrees.

BS

    

Back to Ogden

 

                            Drake Goosander disappearing >W

                                    Around 30 Black Headed

                                    Plenty Blue Tits

A bright start to the morning then full cloud by 0930hrs on a light SW>3 at 4 degrees.

   Just a check of the west bank this morning with  forced into a late start at the moment with lack of daylight.

   As I walked down to the promenade a brilliant white bird on the water stood out at the north end which was a drake Goosander alongside the female. Before I even got to the promenade it took flight and headed >W over the plantation whilst the long staying female remained on the water.

     The west bank was void of birds other than several Blue Tits whilst a single Siskin flew from the top of an Alder and disappeared into the plantation.

   The Kingfisher flew from a waterside tree heading to the north end and otherwise it was just down to around 30 Black Headed and 5 Common gulls on the water.

    A mix of cloud and showers for tomorrow on a strong sou'wester.

BS