Winterlong

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6A8H8C7S90

The art of wintering has been on my mind, having read a thoughtful book of the same name pre-christmas I then had my wings clipped with a long bout of Achilles tendonitis which rendered me painfully immobile, followed by a daubing by the brush of Covid.  

So I have hunkered down, become one with the duvet with some frequency and searched for the restorative aspects from the confinement and restrictions imposed.  However I was out and about before Christmas taking a couple of trips to the coast and enjoying the winter fayre of seaduck, divers, larks, pipits, buntings and geese.  The Shorelarks at Holkham were particularly beguiling creeping closer towards us as we took a statue like vigil at the base of the dunes.  Watching them bathing in the pristine sand was a joy and a flurry of Snow Buntings were equally confiding.  The earlier trip in the month produced a great bonus in the form of a Raven pair kronking their way along the piney treeline before heading out Eastwards along the coast.

  

As Christmas approached we took ourselves up to Yorkshire to join the family on the coast at Sandsend near Whitby.  It was fantastic to step out onto the patio, following a stunning sunrise over tje thunderous surf, and set up the scope for a seawatch on Christmas Day with a strong NE wind blowing.  You'd have thought that an optimistic proposition however there was some local passage of  RT Divers, Scoter, Gannets and Fulmar but nothing to compare with the discovery of a Brown Booby heading south off  Flamborough some 40 miles down the coast.

Returning to the Fen I kept local over new year with daily visits to Ely Beet Pits as Teal numbers were swelling and diving duck were feasting on some flourishing food source at Roswell Pit.  A walk out at Welney seemed to trigger aches and pains in my foot which quickly became painful joint pain.  I had to rest up and in ceasing my daily check of the duck I was both over the moon but felt just a little hard done to when a smart drake Green-winged Teal was discovered amongst the dabblers at the Beet Pit.  It was a real cracker and remained for the Ely Wildspace bird race in early January where over 70 species were recorded cumulatively in 3 hours by 3 teams - not bad for an urban fringe.  Highlights included Crane, Mandarin, Green-winged Teal, Egyptian Goose amongst the more expected Marsh Harriers, Stonechat, Cetti's Warblers, Chiffchaff, Kingfisher and  Little Egret.  Tony Juniper, head honcho of Natural England joined the race, great to know that he enjoyed and values the Wildspace and it's SSSI's.

Covid came to our house through the smallest member of the family and whipped through us quickly leading to a week or so of houseboundness.  I escaped on Saturday and took in an hour or two watching Chfifchaffs at the sewage works with a candidate Siberian Chiffchaff showing too fleetingly to fully ascertain.  The gull roost at Witcham Gravel slowly drained the warmth from my body yielding just a couple of YL Gull and a Caspian type amongst a healthy mob of large gulls.  On the soggy fields of Byall Fen a ringtail Hen Harrier worked the bank but settled too ground too quickly to enjoy fully - it's small size and agility leaning towards a male but smaller ringtail harriers in winter always demand a decent grilling, yet this bird didn't re-appear either staying down to roost or perhaps slipping away quietly, unseen.

In the reeds.

As the Teal chirp and gather at the reed edge, other birds appear in the periphery. The frost melts on the reed heads and for the first time this year, Reed buntings show themselves. Down below, in the shade, a narrow grey thing eagerly slips along the edge. The Water Rail ducks into cover and moments later its shrill call squeals from the tangle. A Cetti's Warbler darts across the small channel, too quick to record.

 

The Ocean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJjg3A_wxc

Relieving the monotony of wintering by revisiting the summer adventures seems a reasonable way to spend a few hours.  I was lucky enough to have the time to spend a month of high summer in the south west enjoying seabirds and out on the waves (thanks to Scilly Pelagics).  Here's a little video of our Birdo weekender.

More Teal Vicar

Waiting for the Green Winged teal to drift across the clear water. Close by, sleeping among the tall reflections of reeds the locals settled down after a bout of courtship at dawn. By late afternoon, they were skimming the pink and peach, drifting into the shade, then back again, water droplets on bill tips. 

 

local rare

 

winterfare

The cold has crisped the grass white for
the past few mornings and now the thrushes gather under the apple trees, lunging and pecking at the ripe flesh. Blackbirds steadily increased after Christmas, and today I counted thirty at one time, mostly feeding on apples, but the whole garden is alive with them. Chacking down from the hawthorn come the Fieldfares, a dozen or so, and they soon puff out their chests in ownership of the juiciest fruit. A Redwing sticks to the periphery, rarely venturing among the apples, preferring to glean along the hedgerow, close to cover. Two Song thrushes bound across the garden, pausing under the bird feeders while above them Goldfinches and Tits spill seed on the ground. The feast lasts all day, from bright sunned dawn to isabelline dusk. The chinking Blackbirds call on the night.