A Cold Sunday Walk

I decided I would go and have a walk round campus yesterday just for something to do really- Sunday's can be pretty quiet days at university. 

After about 2 minutes of walking I realised I had somehow managed to forget to bring my pair of binoculars, which is never really a great thing to forget for birdwatching. And I really could have done with wearing another layer as the temperature really struggled to rise in the morning. So it wasn't the greatest start to the walk it has to be said. In the end I decided I would just walk round and use my camera to take a record shot of anything that was too far away to identify, which, as it turned out worked fine really. 

I was half expecting to see the Redwings near my halls as I had done for the couple of days previous to this walk, but they've literally all gone, which came as a bit of a surprise. With the cloudy conditions, I wasn't really going to be getting any better photos of them but it would have been nice to see them again. I wonder if the reason why they were feeding so frantically the day before was preparation for the migration back to the continent, although it is still a little early for this you might think.

So anyway I moved onwards to the other side of campus and started walking round the lake. The usual species were present, such as Canada Goose, Mallard, Mandarin, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhens, Coots and Black-headed Gulls, although no sign of the Egyptian Geese which usually patrol the edges of the lake. Didn't take many photos at all but a couple of the ones I managed are below. Firstly a couple of shots of a Canada Goose...

And a male Mallard... 

There was a reasonable amount of activity in the trees surrounding the lake, with flocks of tits and finches roaming around above my head. Towards the end of the walk around the lake I came across the flock of Siskins that have been hanging around campus for a while now. Their unique calls and busy nature are always good to watch. 

Fairly nearby to where I saw the flock of Siskins I managed to see the unmistakeable flash of blue and orange of a Kingfisher flying low over the water surface- the second sighting of one since Christmas. They're supposedly quite unusual visitors to the lake so it's been good to have two sightings in a relatively short period of time. 

I then wandered through the woodland area for a little while, keeping my eyes peeled for a sighting of the Firecrest but I didn't see it anywhere. I'm assuming it's still around but I could be wrong. I also didn't see the Treecreeper which I've seen on my last couple of visits to the woodland. There were however a few Goldcrests and lots of Wrens about. Also as per usual, 3 or 4 Nuthatch sightings throughout the woodland walk. Also came across a pair of Goldfinches and lots of Chaffinches. The Great Tits were very vocal as usual and lots were about. Not long after I started walking through the woodland, alarm calls sounded from all over the place and a male Sparrowhawk could be seen flying fast through the trees. Carrion crows and a couple of Red Kites could also be seen overhead. 

As I walked over to the Harris Garden area, I heard a very vocal Great Spotted Woodpecker, which I only actually saw after a couple of minutes of listening to it. The first two species I saw after walking through the gates to the Harris Garden were a few Magpies and Jays, birds which seem to like the open space of the gardens compared with the tree cover in the woodland. Lots of small birds were around too, including this badly photographed Robin: 

I decided to call it a day not long after taking the photo above as it was really quite chilly and I had pretty much looked around the whole area. I saw 29 species throughout the walk which isn't too bad as I wasn't out for too long. I do hope this weather improves a bit over the next week or so, this cold spell has been such an unwelcome change from the warm sunny weather we were having the week before. 

Anyway, thanks for reading my aimless ramblings and have a great week :D 

Waxwing Wednesday

This morning I decided to head out for a wander around the campus this morning to see what I could see. The weather is slightly better today (it's not raining), so I thought it would be a good opportunity to go out and take a few pictures. It was about 9:30 when I went out, and I stayed out for over two hours looking around. The campus is quite a large area, so it takes a little while to look around all of it. 

I started around the lake area, which I've not really checked out for a couple of weeks. The first sight that greeted me was this Mute Swan: 

I was then pleasantly surprised to come across this Egyptian goose family with goslings. Spring really must be on the way! 

Along with the Swans and Egyptian Geese were Mallards and Canada Geese. The photo below shows a few of those birds together...

Lots more water birds could be seen along the edges of the lake, including Coots and Moorhens. 

Robins, a few Wrens, Blue, Great and Long-Tailed Tits, Blackbirds and a Song Thrush were all seen as I wandered on the path around the lake. As I got nearer to the end of the lake path, I spotted a group of Chaffinches and Goldfinches flitting around in the trees. I watched them for a couple of minutes, and then watched as a group of Siskins joined them at the top of an Alder tree. I had been told that Siskins could be seen around the campus at the moment, so it was good to spot them. We don't usually get too many of them where I live so it was a bonus to see them here. A bad record shot of a Siskin that refused to face the camera is below: 

I saw a couple more Wrens around the last part of the lake path, and a cormorant flying overhead, and then I decided to head to the woodland area of the campus to see what I could see. Blue and Great Tits were the first birds I saw as I started my walk, but I was unable to get any decent photos. It wasn't long before I came across a group of about 5-6 birdwatchers looking at the Firecrest in a tree surrounded by ivy. It seemed as though the bird had already been there for a little while before I got there, and the only view I got of it was a very brief glimpse of the bird as it flew off. It was good to see that the bird is still around though. It was also very pleasing to see that so many people had an interest in this tiny bird. 

After a few minutes of trying and failing to see the Firecrest again in the area, I decided to head off further into the woodland to see what else was around. There was lots more activity to be seen, and I was thrilled to see a Treecreeper again which I've now seen on my last two visits to the woodland. I managed an average photo of the bird as it climbed a tree in its unique fashion. 

I decided to stick around the area which I saw the Treecreeper for a while, as there was lots of activity in this area. I saw another Wren, and lots of other common birds too. I was  very surprised to then see a Pheasant in the distance, a bird I've never seen on campus and didn't really expect to see on campus. I managed a record shot below: 

I came across two or three more people wandering round the woodland with binoculars around this area, including a woman who was watching a Goldcrest flitting through the brambles low to the ground. I was able to get really close to the bird but it just kept moving every time I had it in frame. In the end I only managed this record shot as it hung upside down off a little branch. 

A couple of minutes later, this Song Thrush was seen foraging around on the woodland floor looking for grubs: 

And this Blackbird a bit further on. Near to where I saw this Blackbird, I also saw a Nuthatch on the trunk of a tree in its characteristic pose, which was another good bird to see, and one which I've seen on nearly every outing on the campus.

After some time looking through the woods, I decided to make my way back to my halls. But I had one more bird to look for. Over the last week or so, Waxwings have been seen on campus, and there had been sightings both yesterday, and this morning. They had apparently been seen just outside the Chemistry building on campus, in a tree containing lots of berries. I headed over that way, although to be honest, I went there only on the off chance that I might see them. The fact that they had been seen earlier in the morning while I was looking around the rest of campus made me think that they might have disappeared by the time I got to the area they had been sighted. 

But I was in luck. I walked on the path alongside the Chemistry building and saw a small group of around 10 birds flying from the top of one tree to another. They were very vocal and almost immediately I could see that they were Waxwings, with their distinctive behaviour and appearance. It was fascinating to listen to them as they appeared to be chatting to one another. They are really such striking birds. I had never seen them before, so it was such a nice surprise to see them on the university campus. Whilst they were at the tops of the trees I got a few record shots: 

Even just seeing these birds was enough for me, but I had even more luck, as one or two of the birds flew down to a much smaller tree bearing lots of berries, and allowed me to get a few better photos. These birds seemed remarkably tame and allowed me to get pretty close to them. Only a few of these photos are any good, but I was so glad to get any kind of photo to be honest. The low light meant that I bumped the ISO up to 800 for some shots, and 1600 for others. So the images are a bit grainy but I'm still pleased with them.

The photo below was probably the best of the bunch and shows the bird most clearly:

The tuft on the top of the Waxwing's head is so exxagerated in the photo below, making an otherwise terrible photo of the bird facing away from the camera quite interesting.

The thing that amazed me most about these birds is how opportunistic these birds are. The Chemistry building is relatively close to the centre of campus, and lots of people wander along the paths beside that building, so seeing them there really was a surprise. From what I've been hearing, the Waxwings that have migrated here from Scandinavia have split up into smaller groups than usual, explaining why there were only 10 or so birds here on campus. It's great to think that some of the trees here on campus are supporting such a range of species.  

Overall today I saw a total of 31 species, which is really quite impressive for a couple of hours walking around. The Waxwings truly made my day, and fingers crossed they'll stay around for a little while get so I can get a couple more sightings of these gorgeous birds. 

I'll leave today's post at that I think. I need to make a quick trip into town and get some work done, so lots more stuff to be done today. Thanks for reading and have a great week :D