News and Pictures - Gigrin Farm, Yorkshire, Warwickshire & Monmothshire - to 31^st January 2010

13^th January. With the "Big Freeze" continuing from before Christmas, a healthy dump of snow had cut off our village and fortunately(?) I was able to work from home for the three days we were surrounded by up to a foot of snow. Working from home is convenient but does have it's distractions. Especially when a bogey bird loiters around outside your window while you are trying to concentrate! With the garden full of Goldfinches, Blue & Great Tits, Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks & House Sparrows, with a few Chaffinches and Greenfinches, a pair of Bullfinch were very welcome visitors. While all the other species were taking advantage of the free feast laid on for them, the Bullfinch were more than happy to break open the early buds on the trees and eat the contents. Shooting through the kitchen windows in poor light I managed some reasonable if noisy shots of the female and bagged a foggy image of the male the following day. Hopefully they'll stick around for some improved light!

17^th January. I'd been watching the Internet avidly since early January when an unusual raptor had been seen in Mid Wales. Finally an opportunity arose to get out and I took it with both hands. I did a quick detour to Llandegfed Reservoir near Usk on the way, hoping to get two new photo species for the day. After driving through some heavily potholed roads due to the melting snow, I was soon hoping for my first Diver for the website. All the birds close to the dam were Great Crested Grebes, and only after scanning with the scope did I find the Great Northern Diver right at the far side of the reservoir, around a mile away! At least I'd finally seen one but there was no hope of a photo, even after a 5 mile detour to the other side to be confronted by locked gates. Such a shame as the bird had been seen well from the dam the previous day. Jumping back in the car I headed Northwest and before too long was in Kite country. I arrived at Gigrin Farm at 1:20, 40 minutes before the feeding started and wandered down to the hides. I fired off a few test shots, setting the camera on 800 ISO for a faster shutter speed to capture flight shots with the light being variable. As usual the Red Kite put on a spectacular display with birds talon grappling and gliding effortlessly overhead before the feeding started. Just before the frenzy started the light improved and the sun poked through the clouds and as the melee intensified a few calls of "Blackie" came up, and there was the juvenile Black Kite already with some meat in its talons. It put on an awesome display with it floating just 60 feet directly overhead at times. Once on the bird, it was distinctly different from the Reds with no forked tail, a much darker look and a less fluid flight to the beautifully languid style of the Red Kite. It went down for food several times and then proceeded to eat its meal on the wing, ripping small pieces from its talons and then seeming to toss them into the back of its mouth! The bird showed really well for at least 25 minutes, sometimes drifting over the trees but reappearing quickly after. With the fuss over the Black Kite, it was almost possible to ignore the superb spectacle of over 200 Red Kites, dozens of Buzzards, Rooks, Ravens and even Grey Herons looking for a meal. To anyone who is remotely interested in birding and hasn't been, I can't recommend it highly enough, it is a truly stunning sight. Around 40 minutes after the feeding started the light faded and even with dozens of Red Kites still close in I decided to head back home, safe in the knowledge that I'd got what I came for with some great views and images of some wonderful birds.

24^th January. We'd travelled north to a wedding in Selby he day before, and I'd hoped to make the journey further North while everyone was still sleeping to take in the Black-Throated Thrush at Newholm, but family commitments won the day and the vagrant remained a pipe dream. Still, after everyone had slept as we headed back home, I managed to persuade a slight detour to the Brandon Marshes reserve for a lunch break. With leaded skies and drizzle in the air, I yomped off in search of ducks while Em and the kids, hunted out the tea rooms. I walked to the Wright Hide, where a single Goldeneye was diving close to the hide, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Teal, Cormorant, Moorhen, Coot, Mute Swan and Canada Goose comprised the main species, but the detour reason was showing distantly with a drake Green-Winged Teal dabbling amongst a small collection of Common Teal. After chatting to the locals, I quickly made up my mind to risk the "flooded path" and walk to the East Marsh hide with a better view of the American visitor. I rolled up my trousers (having only walking boots not wellies) and started to wade through the water. Fortunately the levels had dropped significantly from the morning and I only got one slightly wet foot! I arrived at the Hide and was soon looking at the Green-Winged Teal, with it's distinctive vertical white wing bar, and with the birds close proximity to its European cousins, provided a good comparison. The Common Teal often chased the Green-Winged bird away but they soon rejoined each other, dabbling busily for food. The light was terrible and the bird pretty distant but still it was an improvement on the bird I saw at Minsmere last year. I spent five minutes looking for a well hidden Bittern in the reeds along with the others in the hide but my colour vision meant that I was the only one not to spot it! All too soon it was time to head back to the visitor centre to rejoin the family, and also polish off a lovely slice of Victoria sponge cake! A very nicely run reserve and I'll hopefully head back one day.

30^th January. With the ladies of the family feeling a little under the weather, the "boys" headed out to enjoy the winter sunshine. We headed over to the Forest of Dean for a quick visit to feed the ducks. A quick visit to Boys Grave first to hopefully find some Crossbill only resulted in a few flyover birds, calling as they went along with a few Siskin and a Buzzard. It was then back down the hill to Cannop Ponds where there was a cold wind and ground ice but the water remained unfrozen. We had bread for the plastics and I remained vigilant, both for James with the waters edge and any sign of anything special. A few Little Grebe were present along with two drake Tufted Duck but as another family fed the massed Mallards and Mute Swan Pair, two drake Mandarin Ducks along with a single female swam majestically into view in the perfect winter light. I often wonder which is my favourite duck species but seeing these is always special. They didn't associate with the plastics at all and just swam with the safety and cover that the Mallards numbers provided. They moved on within 90 seconds but that allowed me to get some wonderful shots of these stunning creatures. Once they had moved on, I brought myself back to earth with a few mug shots of Mallard and Coot! James had great fun feeding the birds too, even if he did have a very runny nose afterwards!

31^st January. With the missed opportunity of the previous weekend still irking me, I decided on doing a crazy thing with the knowledge that I had until dinner time to do some birding on the Sunday. I woke 21 minutes before my alarm was due to go off and as a result I left home at 3:45am! Heading North and East, after 4 hours of driving and some loud music to keep the concentration up I arrived in the snowy hamlet of Newholm, 2 miles west of Whitby in North Yorkshire. That in itself was a result as Google had informed me that it would take 45 minutes longer. After donning all my extra layers and seeing a fellow birder arrive, we walked the short distance from the village hall car park to Glen View over sheet ice, where a Siberian visitor had taken up residence. With the low sun behind the houses, the light was poor but we didn't have to wait long for our first view of the female Black-Throated Thrush. It was very active and consistently chased off the half dozen resident Blackbirds, proving its status at the top of the pecking order. Over the next few hours it provided myself and the various assembled birders there (amongst whom there was some great banter) great views and allowed me to get some excellent shots of it, although none in direct sunlight. The residents of number 5 came out and fed the birds which caused them to fly away briefly. On a hunch I moved down the road and towards a group of Hawthorn trees in a "What if?" moment. Surely enough, there was the bird sat in one of the Hawthorns and I managed to get a shot of the bird in the crystal clear light, along with a Song Thrush posing nicely in the same tree. Soon the bird relocated back to the garden and I followed it back adding to my collection of images of the bird. It was a well stocked and frequented garden with huge numbers of House Sparrow, Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh Tits, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Starling, with flyover Kestrel, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Redwing, Fieldfare, Corvids etc. After three hours or so of standing still, I couldn't feel my feet so I decided on taking a little walk to get the circulation going. I headed down a footpath and across snowy fields (with Llamas!) down to a pool where Goldeneye had been seen recently. No ducks on the frozen pond unfortunately, just a pair of Mute Swans and a single Moorhen, but a lovely walk through picture postcard snow laden woodlands. On the way back I watched a pair of Bullfinches for 10 minutes as they fed on tree buds, longing for a clear view of the brightly coloured male. I managed a few reasonable shots but it's still a species to work on. I then headed back to Glen View and watched the Thrush a few more times (with many more birders than before) before reacquainting myself with the car for the long drive back. With more traffic it took longer but it wasn't too bad, helped by a flyover Red Kite as I joined the A1(M)! Needless to say I slept quite well that night but it was totally worth it with some great memories of the birding, the picturesque snowy scene, the friendly locals and happy birders rather than the 500 mile round trip!