Well today started rather well. I had an appointment at the latter end of the morning so was able to spot, when walking into the sitting room, a Reed Bunting perched in the bush waiting for the feeders. Woo hoo.... this is only the 2nd time I've seen one in the garden and it brought the total number of species up to 20 for 2011!
The Garden Year List so far:
Long-tailed Tit
Jackdaw
Great Spotted WoodpeckerJay
Robin (3 at one time!!)
Chaffinch
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Goldfinch
Starling
Feral Pigeon
Ring necked Parakaeet
House Sparrow (this is great news - hopefully they are returning after a considerable absence)
Blackbird
Greenfinch
Jay
Crow
Blackcap (female)
Grey Heron (flew over)
Reed Bunting.
On a previous post, Graham Mc had mentioned about the hide at RHS Wisley having re-opened. Thanks for the reminder Graham (and if you read this, could you drop me an email please? I'm not sure which Graham you are) and having had to re-arrange today's outing I decided that, given I'd a couple of hours to spare this afternoon, I would pop down to Wisley.
I'm glad I did. Initially (from the hide) 2 x crows and 4 x mallards were the most I'd seen until I heard that all too familiar call of a Kingfisher!! I waited and finally it flashed past and landed on a branch opposite in the distance. Yet another record shot but, to date, the best record shot of a Kingfisher so far!!
The light was beginning to fade as I headed back to the car park, but the Mallards came up trumps as usual.
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9 comments:
the mallard at the end made me chuckle!
Beautiful shots especially the Mallards Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River.
Good garden list so far Tricia.
And yea, agree with Pete, that last one made me smile too :)
Nice list Tricia and beautiful shot of the kingfisher. I would love to get one ;-)
That's quite the list for only 10 days! Congratulations on the Kingfisher sighting and photo...and I too had a chuckle at the ducks ;)
Very nice to see the Kingfisher Tricia, I am sure this winter has taken its toll already.
Well done on the reed bunting visit and hope the house sparrows continue to visit. I would be very pleased with a kingfisher photo like that. Love the mallard pictures too.
Love the shots of the mallards. Of course they're all gorgeous photos as always.
and again, my apologies for not responding to your kind comments sooner.
Pete: glad it made you chuckle...
Gary: the Mallards always seem to come up trumps for pictures
Keith: thanks and hopefully I will add to it. Pity I haven't seen Siskins here for a couple of years now.
Chris: thanks. It's my best shot to date and I shall keep trying. It's a regular visitor so hopefully when there is some better light!
Glo: thank you. I'm lucky to have so many mature and large trees around where I am - I'm sure this contributes to the number of visitors I get.
Roy - you may well be right... it's not been a good winter for anyone.
RR - the Reed Bunting always surprises; it only ever stays for 1 or 2 days then disappears again - so it's just luck if I see it.
OC - thank you....well done the Mallards for posing for me :D
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