Christmas Birding at Salford Priors GP

 Pophills Field

Sunrise on 28th December 

Pophills Pit taken from hedgerow side

 Common Buzzard on Old Barn

 Scaup

 Kestrel

 Yellowhammer

Goldeneye

The Christmas break enabled me to head down to the Gravel Pits for a number of visits. Thankfully the weather was very good even though it was extremely cold. 

Chris & Jon had reported a pair of Shelduck, Caspian Gull whilst @babblingbirder spotted a Barn Owl on the 19th so I was keen to try and find this beauty.

On Christmas Eve I spent a good deal of time on the Pophills Pit side of the site where it was great to see the Yellowhammers at close quarters. There was a number of Sky Larks, Meadow Pipits, Fieldfare and Redwing.

On the main pit there was the second Scaup of the month. Other notable sightings included 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, 30 Gadwell, 2 Shoveller, Kestrel and a Grey Wagtail.

On the 27th I headed down for the last hour of day light and the hope of finding the Barn Owl. After scanning all the pits from the bridge I had a slow drive around the perimeter where I flushed the Owl and followed it down the lane before it went out of sight. Really pleasing to find this beauty. I will certainly be hoping to watch him hunting very soon.

An early start on the following morning was rewarded with beautiful sunshine and some new arrivals on the main pit. A female Goldeneye and 9 Wigeon had joined the Scaup who was with the normal Mallard, Teal, Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Little Grebe and the long staying Green Sandpiper.

The Little Owl was being hounded by a selection of birds so remained out of range of the camera. 7 Greylags flew over with 20 Lapwings.

Just above the road a Kestrel was hunting for an early breakfast whilst the Pophills Buzzard looked on with hope he might get the left overs. 

Sightings around the plantation included Green Woodpecker, Coal Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Great & Blue Tits, Mistle Thursh, Fielfare, Redwing and of course large number of Red-legged Partridges (which still give me a near heart attack every visit).

To the north of the pits I spotted my first site Jay which was a bonus and I also noted Jackdaws, House Sparrow and Collared Doves in the village.

(All images digiscoped as always)

Rough-legged Buzzard & Barn Owls close day

Pink-feet flying over Burnham Ovary 

Holme

Holme

Next stop of the weekend was Burnham Overy where I quickly located one of the long staying Rough-legged Buzzards. Most of time it was sat on the same fence post however I did get one good flight view through the scope. The area also had a number of Common Buzzards, clearly food supply must be ideal for this species.

Rather than walk towards Gun Hill we opted to head to Holme (never easy to drive past Titchwell). On the coastline there were Oystercatchers, Knot and a couple of Sanderlings.

With the light fading I picked up a pair of Barn Owls hunting the fields at the back of village. I never get enough of watching these amazing birds. A handful of other birders were also present hoping for a Short-eared Owl but sadly no luck on this occasion.I've added a super video produced by the BBC to remind us how great Barn Owl's are.

Return to Hawling

Digiscoped images

Photographers waiting for show time

I couldn't resist a return to Hawling in Gloucestershire on Saturday. A nice day with no wind was the deciding factor before making the hour long journey into the heart of the Cotswolds. Arriving just after 1pm there were plenty of spectators all hoping for a good showing from the Owls.  

I set up my tripod next to Birmingham based photographer Pete Walkden who I hadn't seen for quite some time so we had a good rattle. There was a nice selection of birds to watch whilst we waited which included 2 Red Kites, Buzzard, Raven, Kestrel, 30 Golden Plover, 50 Lapwing and large flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares.

There was no early show from the Short-eared Owls the first one didn't show until gone 3.15pm appearing sat on top of the field wall before starting to hunt. He was quickly joined by another Owl which then increased to a maximum 5 Owls all hunting at the same time. A brilliant session of birding. One of the Owls perched up to enable the photographers to get some great shots. 

As the final rays of light faded I headed off down the lane. As I reached the cross roads and turned right a Barn Owl took flight and flew along the road before crossing in front of me into the farm. Another top afternoon. 

Many thanks to Pete who kindly forwarded the above images he took.