A Trip to Brandon Marsh.

As soon as I saw that it was dry and not too dull on Monday morning I decided to go over to Brandon Marsh hoping that the ice had melted and there were some birds about to point the camera at.

A quick visit to all the hides soon showed that the ice had not melted and everywhere was still frozen over.Luckily I found a few friends in the Carlton hide so the chat was good but in an hours stay no one had cause to use his camera.There were no birds about at all.

As I walked back to the centre I got a text which told me "A Bittern from the CP hide at Marsh lane". As it was only a short detour on the way home and I'd never seen a Bittern at Marsh Lane off I trundled.

Got there just after 1.00PM and joined a couple of friends in the hide.The good news was that they thought it was still here but the bad news was that it was in the reeds that were the furthest from the hide.30 minutes later after one birder had given up it showed walking for a short period on the ice before hiding back in the reeds.

I left 30 minutes later by which time the hide was full.Took a very record poor shot but don't laugh too loud as it was several miles away and it was very gloomy but I was pleased as it was a Marsh Lane tick for me.

A Warwickshire List.

Lots of my friends each year do a Warwickshire List and I thought that this year I would have a go.A few of them seem to get around 180 ticks but that is going to be way beyond me.

I have cheated a bit and have used the old Warwickshire boundaries to include Knowle because that's where I live and to include Marsh Lane which is my nearest local patch.

My start has been poor with only 35 ticks so far but it began well with a lesser Redpoll visiting the garden on Saturday morning.

A visit to Marsh Lane on Sunday morning was also a bit disappointing with the pools still frozen over but I did get a Tree Sparrow on the Oak Hide feeders.

There were several Gulls on the ice some of them immature which gave me a problem with ID so if you can help please do so.One of the immature Gulls was bigger than a nearby LBB Gull so a GBB Gull? Is that a Herring Gull at the back of one of the shots?

Still struggling to get some decent shots.

As soon as the snow had gone I thought it would be OK to go out with the camera and get some decent shots.Wrong.What we then had round here was very damp,dull and misty weather definitely no good for taking pics.

In my back garden the flock of Lesser Redpolls has still been making regular visits but they can sense when my camera focusses on them because the miserable so and so's clear off.The only shots I've got recently in the garden have been of a couple of Redwings.

On Thursday afternoon realising I had not been out with the camera for a fortnight and suffering badly with cabin fever I thought sod the weather I must go out so I went down to Marsh Lane which is my nearest local patch.

It was very damp and misty but not too cold when I got there.I was surprised to see that the car park pool was still completely frozen over and a 10 minute stay in the hide produced a lone Crow and absolutely nothing else.

From the Oak hide there were some small areas of open water but not much.There were some BH Gulls,a couple of Common Gulls,a few Lapwings,several Teal,a group of Shovelers and the odd Mallard and that was it.It was pretty miserable stuff so roll on Spring.

Still trapped at home.

Still unable to venture out birding in the car because of the snow that keeps on falling in Knowle and because my car is very poor when the road is slippery I have been limited to garden watching.

I did have to venture out on Wednesday morning as was I was running out of food.I set off on foot to Knowle very early well wrapped up as the temperature was -8 degrees c. and was pleased to do all the shopping without getting too cold or slipping over but my arms were in agony carrying the two bags of shopping.What a wimp.My arms are a good 100mm longer now !!!!!

My small suburban back garden has been very lively with birds the last few days (my neighbour is a keen bird feeder and I'm no slouch).At one time this morning I counted :-

8 Blackbirds

6 Chaffinches

3 Greenfinches

16 Starlings

3 Fieldfares

12 Redwings

The odd Robin,Woodpigeon,Dunnock and House Sparrow.

A Fieldfare in the garden.

Trapped in doors by the heavy snowfall that kept falling all day on Saturday (we've had about 15cms in Knowle) I was pleased to see the back garden was quite lively with birds on Sunday morning.

It was a bit gloomy for decent pics but it was good to be able to point the camera at something even if I had to hang out of a bedroom window.

Couldn't get a shot at all of a couple of Redwings that showed briefly or of a small flock of Lesser Redpolls that were too lively for me.I did rattle off a few shots of a Fieldfare who turned out to be a messier eater than me and kept dropping the berries he had picked.

A Grim Day's Birding.

Well I know you can't win them all but yesterday's birding was particularly grim.Having done no birding for a few days and seeing that the weather was going to go downhill again I thought I'd better go out so on Wednesday morning I went to Brandon Marsh.

I knew I was not going to have a good day with the camera because as soon as I walked down the main path it started to drizzle (the weather man said it would be dull but dry - idiot!!!!).My mood didn't improve when I chatted to a couple of birders the first said he'd been here since dawn and had seen buggerall and the second said the same and he was so depressed I think he was crying.

It was damp,very dull and very chilly all the time I was there (3+ hours) so I spent most of the time in the various hides but there was absolutely nothing to see of note and everyone I bumped into said the same.

The highlight of the day was having a nice cup of tea in the cafe and being served by a very pretty waitress.You can tell how bad it was as these are the only two shots I took all day.

Went to the wrong hide.

Had one of the moments birders loathe this morning at Brandon Marsh.When you enter a hide you are greeted with the dreaded words " You've just missed a ********** " In this case it was a Bittern " Right in front of the hide " and " Flying around right in front of us ".

For some reason when I arrived this morning I went straight to the Steetly hide and stayed for 30 minutes when there was absolutely nothing on show and I knew some friends were in the Carlton hide.What a burk!!!!!

Then to make matters worse I stopped at the East Marsh hide which was empty and again absolutely nothing on show.It was then the text came through " Bittern showing well at Carlton ". I raced up the path to the hide to be greeted with those dreaded words by at least a dozen people.

Of course they all showed me their shots which were stunning including some cracking flight shots.The internet will be full of Bittern shots tonight.It was still there but a long way off by now.Here are my best shots which are very poor compared to what others had taken.Why didn't I go straight to the Carlton hide!!!!