The End of 2020 - Phew!!! - 10th to 31st December, 2020

The end of 2020 has come as a relief, it being the worst year that I (and many other people too) can remember. However, I am mindful that there are very many people out there for whom life has been horrific, even without the threat or event of Covid-19, and so I consider myself to be extremely lucky (so far!) and am very grateful for the support offered by so many people, not least of which are my wonderful wife, Lindsay, and daughter, Melanie. I hope that, when this is all over, I will be in a position to repay, or pass forward, all the kindness shown.

Because of restrictions imposed by virus and weather, I have not been out much at all in the past three weeks, so this will probably, once again, be a fairly short post.

Friday, 11th December

Having spotted a male Bullfinch visiting for the first time in a while on the Wednesday, we were delighted when a pair visited us on this day when the weather was a bit grim. I only managed a shot of the female which was outside my study window. This one was, unfortunately, exhibiting scaly feet.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (female) - garden on 11th December, 2020

Sunday, 13th December

A highlight on this day was a visit by a Carrion Crow. We see them regularly around our home, but they rarely drop into the garden. The following is not a good photo by any measure, but I can't resist posting it as the subject looks so very magnificent.

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - garden on 13th December, 2020

Monday, 14th December

This was a day that I managed to get out for a while. I started by parking at Oakthorpe Colliery, which is relatively close to my home and walking to Saltersford Valley, taking a route that I had not previously traversed. It turned out to be a bit muddy and slippery in places and, at one point, the path (designated a 'public footpath') seemed to split, with the southern fork heading over over a muddy field and the northern fork heading down a grassy ride. As I passed some farm buildings, a Peafowl (I think that it was a female) watched me from on top of some plastic covered bales. That morning, anti-avian flu regulations had come into force, and I did wonder why it was out in the open, but it seems that the regulations don't embrace Peafowl. Unfortunately I was shooting straight into the light.

Peafowl - Lowlands Farm, Oakthorpe

After about 400 metres I found myself at a dead-end and was starting to think that I'd have to set off back to the fork, and was not relishing the muddy field alternative. Trying to cross the barbed wire boundary meant risking tearing my trousers and I did not want to take that risk. I then noticed that there was a very short section without barbed wire, and made my escape, coming out directly opposite the entrance to Saltersford Valley.

It seems that I can fully rely on Coot to be present when I visit this place.

Coot (Fulica atra) - Saltersford Valley

Further on, I found a few birds to watch. There can never be too many Long-tailed Tits!

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - Saltersford Valley

The heavy rains of the past weeks had caused considerable flooding of the pathway at one point, and so I turned back to where the photo, above, had been taken. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker were in the distance, which was quiote exciting for me as I rarely see a pair of these birds. They came a little closer at one point in time, but I only managed a vaguely usable shot of the male.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (male) - Saltersford Valley

I waited for some time and was on the verge of giving up as the female had moved even further away, when the male moved to a nearer uncluttered position.

 

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (male) - Saltersford Valley

It was now time to head back to my car via the old route, with little seen on the way.

Tuesday, 15th December

Prompted by reports of Russian White-fronted Geese and a potential Ferruginous Duck at Longmoor Lake, which is quite close to my home, I set off to take a look. I was a little disappointed at the number of cars in the car park, but my walk down to the lake didn't reveal too many people. As I got near the hide, a person was just leaving and informed me that there was no one else in the hide, so I decided to take a chance.

There were few geese on the water, and no white-fronts could be seen. However, there were good numbers of Greylags and Canadas in the tall vegetation beside the lake. 

Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Longmoor Lake

I had the occasional very brief glimpse of the bill of a white-front but never enough for a photo. After a while, there was some movement and the geese started making their way towards the water. Unfortunately two more people then entered the hide and did not seem over-concerned about keeping a safe distance. I stayed for a while and took a few shots of some Greylags that came a little nearer to the hide, but then felt a bit insecure and so left.

Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Longmoor Lake

The hide is at the south end of the lake and I took a walk to the north end, and a bit beyond. The light was fading fast, and I took very few photos. Here's one of a pair of Wigeon.

Wigeon (Mareca penelope) (male + female) - Longmoor Lake

On my way back, I found the couple from the hide had moved round to the lakeside path, having had good sightings of the white-fronts from the hide. There were five of them now, swimming alog beside the far bank of the lake at a distance of about 120 metres. With the light now being very poor, I only got record shots. However, these birds were a 'lifer' for me.

Russian White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons albifrons) - Longmoor Lake

I didn't see the Ferruginous Duck, but I'm not upset at this as it was later declared to be a hybrid!

 

Thursday, 17th December

 

With restrictions in place, I felt that I should continue to stay as close to home as possible for my walks. I therefore returned to Oakthorpe Colliery and Saltersford Valley. The exercise was much-appreciated, but it was not a very productive walk. Any help with the fungus ID would be appreciated.

Great Tit (Parus major) - Saltersford Valley

fungus - Saltersford Valley

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) - Oakthorpe Colliery

Wednesday, 23rd December

 

This was a reasonably good day for garden birds in spite of extremely dull weather, with fifteen species visiting. The absolute highlight, however, was a Goldcrest, but I only got a record shot.

 

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - garden on 23rd December, 2020

Friday, 25th December - Christmas Day

 

As always, we had our breakfast in the conservatory and, in my case, I didn't deviate from my usual fare of cornflakes with dried fruit either. Although our regular pair of Robins graced us with their presence (as all good Robins should do at Christmas) I did not take any photos of them, but I did take some of a Bullfinch (sorry, Marc!).

 

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - garden on 25th December, 2020

Since my mother, who used to come and stay with us at Christmas, died some fifteen years ago, it has been our custom to go out into the countryside for a picnic lunch on Christmas Day. This day we were confined to staying close to home, but we did have our lunch in the car park at Oakthorpe Colliery. The car park was all but empty and I was just trying for some shots of a Redwing when a car arrived and, instead of parking in one of the wide-open spaces, parked right beside us, blocking our view. We didn't stay long after that!

Redwing (Turdus iliacus) - Oakthorpe Colliery

Saturday, 26th December

While having a coffee in the conservatory, a Wren popped up out of a Hebe and onto the 'owl' in front of me. Unfortunately, a reflection in the glass has bleached out the head area somewhat.

 

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - garden on 26th December, 2020

Sunday, 27th December

In an effort to work off some of the excesses of Christmas, Lindsay and I went for a short walk at Saltersford Valley. My wanderings were a bit more extensive than Lindsay's and I came upon a lone Canada-type goose with a pair of Mute Swan. This goose seemed rather small and seemed to have a short neck, and I wondered if it was a goose of the Cackling, rather than Canada, group. However, an enquiry to a member of the records committee, brought back the verdict that it looked like a small Canada, with a note that there are a lot of variants and hybrids amongst our feral flocks.

 

Mute Swan and Canada Goose (?) - Saltersford Valley

Canada Goose ? - Saltersford Valley

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Saltersford Valley

Tuesday, 29th December

 

The most remarkable thing about this day, apart from the small amount of snow that fell (and is still with us as I write this), was the noisy arrival of at least 24 Starlings. I did, however, just about manage a shot of a Robin in the gloomy conditions.

 

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - garden on 29th December, 2020

Wednesday, 30th December

Another day with a reasonable tally of 16 species of bird visiting the garden. So far this winter it seems to be around 14 species most days, which is slightly disappointing as, in past winters, numbers have  usually been around the 18 mark.  For those that think these numbers are generally low, please bear in mind that I only record birds that actually put a foot down in the garden - even a Sparrowhawk skimming through less than 2 metres off the ground doesn't count!

 

Sorry, but I can't resist putting up this next shot as, although it is not particularly unusual to get two Bullfinch visiting the garden at one time, I don't think I have ever got two males in one shot before. So here we are - complete with bird-feeder clutter!

 

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - garden on 30th December, 2020

Just recently, the occasional visits by Carrion Crow have been getting a little more frequent. On this day we had two but, although one didn't stay for long, the other was more obliging.

 

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - garden on 30th December, 2020

This brings me to the end of this account.

If all goes according to plan, my next blog post will be totally different to anything that I have posted before! In the meantime, please take good care and stay safe - for your own sake, and for the sake of those around you.

 

It just remains for me to thank you for your past visits to this blog and your much-appreciated kind comments, and to wish you all a very much better year in 2021, with good health and plenty of wonderful wildlife to enjoy.

 

Thank you!