Coming and Going

An early afternoon visit to Hauxley coincided with a nice flock of Knot which on their brief landing were quickly into taking a bath. They were very flighty and each stop lasted no more than a couple of minutes

While we were there I bumped into an old workmate who told me that they had been watching the Avocet pair at Cresswell, so we called in there for a few minutes late afternoon on the way home

Nice to see some winter and summer visitors at the same time

Sparrowhawk

Teatime, and another garden visit by a male Sparrowhawk which sat for almost thirty minutes on the fence looking for a meal

The strange thing about this visit is that there were two Wood Pigeon sitting on the fence no more than six feet away from the Sparrowhawk and no conflict.

Shibdon Snipe

This evening's visit to Shibdon produced the chance to watch one of my favourite birds, Snipe.
There were nine of them in the shallows in front of the hide. The water levels are as high as I have seen them for some time so I'm presuming the levels are managed.
Their colours seem very distinct at this time of year

Seaton Sluice, Cambois & home

I think I heard someone say it was still March. That's a bit hard to believe when you can see loads of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterfly fluttering about.

 Large bumblebees everywhere. The Tawny Mining Bees ,  Andrena Fulva, which normally appear in the front garden mid April are here already

Have just established that this one below is the male bee

and a green Common Lizard scampered across in front of us in the dunes opposite the Astley Arms.
Its all gone mad!

Weetslade

Its been some  time since  I visited Weetslade so with just over an hour of daylight left I went over there this evening. A pair of Gadwall, Canada Geese, nesting Mute swans, Wigeon, Mallard, Coot showed on the water.
It was good to hear a Chiffchaff, the first for me this year.
A Buzzard called loudly from a perch in a tall tree and soon another arrived and they both flew off to another nearby perch. More Canada Geese in nearby fields and Reed Bunting in pairs.
There were many Bats out hunting as the light faded.
A very pleasant wander.

Wallington

This morning's sunshine tempted us to have a look into Wallington to see how the gardens are progressing. This has always been a bit of a hotspot for Nuthatch but over the last couple of years the numbers seem to be down. We did catch two or three brief sightings nevertheless.

Alongside the lake above the walled garden was this Robin

 and which seemed to insist on having its photo taken.

Once inside the walled garden we soon saw a Grey Wagtail although difficult to get near which is much easier later in the year

There were at least three GS Woodpecker drumming away in nearby woodland and good numbers of Chaffinch in every area we visited

 As you will expect the gardens are looking good with the spring bulb  well on

and the woodland carpet is just starting to be formed by flowering Wood Anemone. Another week and they should be in full flood.

On the way out a couple of Buzzard were to be seen close to the road

Trip Home

Time to travel home from the Mull of Galloway and at the south end of Loch Ryan were many Scaup

and just north of the airfield about a dozen Whooper Swans with Pink-footed Geese further over the field

The plan was to call into Wigtown to see an old friend, visit a couple of bookshops and have a look down to the harbour wildlife hide.

Having, completed the first two objectives, we drove down to the harbour and I was just out of the car when Barnacle Geese started flying over from one side of the river to the other. I was beginning to think that I had missed them but they just kept coming and coming.

They were still moving by the time I reached the nearby hide. 

 It was impossible to capture the size of the movement with the camera but here is a try

Driving back along the A75 there were large numbers of goose flocks in the air