Great White Egret

Great White Egret, Harrold and Odell CP, 24th December 2017 by Owain Williams

Great White Egret

Great White Egret, Stewartby Lake, 23rd December 2017

Penduline Tit DSTW

Just a few record shots of the (male) Penduline Tit that was discovered at the sewage works yesterday by John Lynch. Unfortunately the light was really poor and it was at quite a distance from the hide favouring the bull rush on the LH side of the scrape beyond the elderberry tree on the bank about 3/4 of the way down the scrape, however it is reasonably easy to identify one of these rare visitors to Beds.

Hopefully it will stay on site for a while so that as many Beds birders can get an opportunity to get in and see it, but this will be dependant on Anglian Water allowing us to open and man the gates for a limited and controlled public access to the hide. Hopefully this will be the case, keep an eye on the beds birds group site for details.

Unfortunately the Penduline only stayed on site for another day and has not been recorded or reported after the 21-12-2017 so that was a bit disappointing. I was at the works on the 22nd and there was quite an active Sparrowhawk on the scrape as per the picture enclosed, hopefully this was not the fate of the Penduline and it is just flitting around somewhere else in the county.

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge RSPB, 16th December 2017

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge RSPB, 15th December 2017

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge RSPB, 12th December 2017 by Graham Goodall

Visit to The Lodge RSPB Sandy 09-12-2017

I popped into The Lodge Sandy for a couple of hours yesterday to see what was about, apart from the usual suspects I had pretty good views of Brambling, Mistle Thrush but no Hawfinch on view while I was on site.
It is always a treat to see the great variety of species at this lovely site, all no doubt made possible by the hard work of all the volunteers who were hard at work clearing the heath area opposite the entrance.

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge RSPB, 9th December by Roy McDonald

Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge, The Lodge RSPB, 9th December by Roy McDonald

Brambling

Brambling, The Lodge RSPB, 9th December by Roy McDonald

Great Tit

Leucistic Great Tit, The Lodge RSPB, 9th December by Roy McDonald

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge, 5th December 2017, Tim Mason

Cetti's Warbler DSTW

I have been down to the works a couple of times recently and heard a Cetti's Warbler but never managed to catch up with it with the bins. Anyway this afternoon I was sitting quietly in the hide and managed a brief glimpse and also managed some very grainy pictures, but great to see such a lovely bird on site, lets hope it stays and finds a mate.

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge RSPB, 2nd December 2017 by Roy McDonald Lakes4life

Great White Egret

Great White Egret, Harrold and Odell CP, 29th November 2017 by Terry and Judy Wood

Woburn Hawfinch

I popped in to Woburn today to see if I could catch up with the Hawfinch that have been reported recently. There were at least 3 around the Garden area mainly at the back end of the Yews near the Cafe but they kept their distance at all times so sadly no decent photo opportunities, however I did get the enclosed record shots which have been heavily cropped, but it was nice to see my first Bedfordshire Hawfinches of the year.

Also in and around the Yews and surrounding trees and bushes today were largish numbers of Redwing, Greenfinch, the odd Chaffinch, Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed tits, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Crow, Jackdaw, Buzzard, Red Kite and a very active female Kestrel. It was quite nice just sitting down for a couple of hours having a coffee with all the above going on in front of you, if it wasn't for the feral children running around it would have been perfect.

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, The Lodge, 24th November 2017 by Ray Piercy

Hawfinches

Hawfinches, Ampthill Park, 22nd October 2017

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, Hawkesbury Meadows, Sandy 21st October 2017 by Martin Palmer

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, Hawkesbury Meadows, 21st October 2017 by Jim Porter

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, Hawkesbury Meadows, Sandy, 21st October 2017

Out and About in Bedfordshire 30-09-2017

I popped into Stockgrove CP this morning to find quite a gang of Mandarins on the Lake easily 12+ all posturing and arguing over the ladies, Sept/Oct seems to be the time they pair up, I then popped into the Sewage Works (Open Morning Tomorrow 08.00-12.00) for a couple of hours and got quite a good list of birds just sitting in the Hide for a couple of hours;

Buzzard, Red Kite, Kestrel, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Great-Crested & Little Grebe, Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Moorhen, Water Rail, Grey and Pied Wagtail, Kingfisher, BH Gull, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Blue, Long-Tailed and Great Tit, Wren, Jay, Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw.

The male Kinfisher put in a few visits which was a real treat.