Birding this last weekend was a somewhat mixed bag. An unseasonal Bluethroat had been performing very well at a local Nature Reserve near Spalding in Lincolnshire for the past week and despite the many Waxwings around this winter, I had not really caught up with any. A brief view of a single bird in Norfolk was all I had seen this year. So it was a case of trying to pull everything in and on Saturday 18th February, a visit to Hoveringham Gravel Pits in Notts, for a Black-throated Diver, allowed for a trip round Nottinghamshire looking for flocks of Waxwings. We found a flock of 30 in Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire and another flock in Codnor, Derbyshire. On Sunday 19th February, I nipped over to Willowtree Fen, near Spalding for the Bluethroat. A little belter of a bird, that would have performed much better, during the time I was there, if it wasn’t for the noise that was being generated from a minority of the assembled crowd of birders. That’s all I’m going to say on that subject.
So a few images follow from the weekend. The year list moves on to 145
Bluethroat – Above 4 images – 1st winter male, possibly of the White-spotted race – Willowtree Fen, Spalding, Lincolnshire – Tony Davison©
Waxwing – adult female
Waxwing – 1st winter – probably a male
Waxwing – 1st winter
Waxwing – 1st winter
Waxwing – 1st winter
Waxwing – 1st winter
Waxwing – 1st winter
Above image – adult female – note the diffuse edge to the black chin patch and the narrow white tips to primaries
Waxwing – Above 9 images – Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire – Tony Davison© – above image – adult male
Black-throated Diver – Hoveringham Gravel Pits, Nottinghamshire – Tony Davison©
Goldeneye – A group of males displaying to three females – Hoveringham Gravel Pits, Nottinghamshire – Tony Davison©
Egyptian Geese – Hoveringham Gravel Pits, Nottinghamshire – Tony Davison©
