Monthly Archives: August 2012

Another visit to Coate this afternoon. As I got out of the car I was greeted by a few low flying Swallows still feeding themselves up for the long journey south. As on previous visits there were a lot of Pied Wagtails around the horses along with a single Yellow. Also here and not a common bird at Coate were a couple of Wheatear. On the floodwater were a few Mallard, Gadwall and Teal, half-a-dozen Black-headed Gulls and ten Lapwing. A Greater Spotted Woodpecker was in it’s usual tree and more Swallows were overhead. A flock of twenty-three Lapwing came over, circled a couple of times and then drifted off to the west.                    Later on I decided on a walk at Liddington Hill thinking that as there were Wheatear at Coate there may be more migrants around. I was again greeted by Swallows as I got out of the car along with a few House Martins. There were plenty of Goldfinch feeding on the thistledown  but very little else. A couple of Buzzards were heard and then seen as were two Kestrels. Heading back towards the track I heard a Redstart calling from some Hawthorn scrub. A few minutes of waiting and stalking was rewarded with views of first a female and then a male. Another good bird to finish off the walk.

I am hoping to get out for a days birding on Sunday. Probably at Keyhaven / Pennington on the South Coast. I will have space for a couple of people if anyone fancies joining me. Early thoughts are to leave home between half six and seven and it will be a full day out.malc2394@hotmail.com or 07739 986602 if you are interested.

Just some local birding after work today with two visits to Coate Water. The first on my way home from work was to the flood water where there were 10 Lapwing, Common and Green Sandpiper and a few Teal and Gadwall. Later on a walk around the lake it was pretty quiet with just the regular stuff around. Green and Greater Spotted Woodpecker were heard as was Chiffchaff. Best bird seen was also the last, a Kingfisher down by the second hide.

It was an after work drive to London or me today with a stop at Farmoor on the way. Just before four another heavy rainstorm arrived over Swindon and heading east. Leaving work the rain had stopped and as I headed towards Oxford the sun appeared creating a fabulous double rainbow. I followed the tail end of the rain all the way but when I arrived at Farmoor the sun was out. Just in case I kitted myself up in full waterproofs and headed off towards the causeway. I met up with a local birder (whose name I didn’t get) and we headed off across the reservoir. There were masses of Hirundines feeding low over the water with all four of the common species seen. As always there were plenty of Pied Wagtails and also a couple of White. First wader seen was a confiding juvenile Ringed Plover follwed by a Common Sandpiper. Further on was a single Dunlin and then a group of four more, along with the Little Stint that has been around for a few days. This was a year tick for me.  An Eygptian Goose was found amongst the flock of Canada’s. Finally a chance to try out the new scope with which I successfully found the juvenile Little Gull that we had been told was there. Also seen were the local Insomniac and Paranoid birders and best of the day, a visiting birder who turned out to be visiting from Barbados! So a very successful visit which was all the better for managing to dodge the rain. Then it was off to London and then back home, arriving just before ten.

A pleasant walk to the top of a windy Liddington Hill after work. Not many birds around with Skylark and Goldfinch the only small ones seen along with Buzzard, Kestrel and two Sparrowhawks.

My planned walk at Stanton Park was postponed as I needed to work late, so instead I stopped in at Coate Water for a quick look at the floodwater. A reasonable tally with nine Lapwing, four Teal, 2 Common and 1 Green Sandpiper plus several Mallard and around thirty Canada Geese. Also several Pied Wagtails. In the trees were Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff and Long-tailed Tits. In and over the horse fields were several more Pied Wagtails, four Yellow Wagtails and a few Swallows, Starling and House Sparrows. Later on a walk with the dog was almost devoid of birds with only a handful each of LBB Gulls, Wood Pigeons and Corvids seen.