Another nice crisp, clear day; found a small flock of winter Thrushes feeding on the far side of the field behind the house, a tight bunch of 17 Starlings which seem to be constantly on the move, flying a few yards to new feeding spots every few moments, where as the 4 Fieldfares & 3 Redwings were happy to slowly walk, very rarely taking flight by comparison & the 2 Mistle Thrushes spent much of the time just standing around.
It seemed such a nice day that I decided to make a quick visit to College Lake to see if the Jack Snipe was about, having never seen one before. As I sat in Graham's Hide Stewart turned up, as a chorus of whistling Wigeon & calling Lapwings filled the air we spotted good numbers of the former, plus Teal, Shoveller, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Heron, Snipe & another birder spotted a Song Thrush out on one of the islands.
Moving on to the Octagon hide a raft of 21 Pochard were on the big lake, with 6 more Snipe on the islands, bringing the total to 11. Eventually found the Jack Snipe blending in perfectly with the stones on the small island, if it didn't move it was practically invisible.
One subject, two photographers. Jack Snipe on the left, Snipe on the right.
Jack Snipe in the fore ground in front of the Lapwing along with a pair of Wigeon.
The head on the Jack Snipe looks like a piece of art work, with the pale lines extending down onto the bill, amazing.
As the sky clouded over it was noticeable that the Wigeon & Lapwings turned off the back ground chorus, & with the weather prophet predicting snow it was time to leave, arriving home just as the snow set in.
Don.
All images copyright : Don Stone/Stewart Dennis.
Moving on to the Octagon hide a raft of 21 Pochard were on the big lake, with 6 more Snipe on the islands, bringing the total to 11. Eventually found the Jack Snipe blending in perfectly with the stones on the small island, if it didn't move it was practically invisible.
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