I decided to have a drive to Druridge to see if the 4 Spoonbills were still about as I've never managed to hook up with any Spoonbills before. When I arrived at the Budge screen nothing was to be seen on the water apart from a couple of ducks and a heron so I headed on towards the other two hides.
In the hide which over looks the wetlands I found Rick Thornton watching 4 Spoonbills! so I sat down had a bit chat with Rick as i'd not seen him for many years.
The weather wasn't good with the sun in our face which obviously doesn't help!
See below some record shots of these amazing birds.
After the spoonbills I headed off to Ingram where the wind was even stronger but the birds were not as far away. Several warblers were in the gorse, along with a few linnets and dozens of swallows flying along the river.
On the river I spotted a Grey Wagtail which was very tame unfortunately it was on the opposite bank so I couldn't get very close in for my pics.
There were chaffinch every where a some were so tame they were landing on the wing mirrors of my car waiting to be fed!
All in all I had a really enjoyable days birding even if the weather wasn't too kind. The only negative was the lack of Adders in the valley as that was the main subject of todays outing for me. I uppose you can't always get everything you want.
Next month i'll make sure |I choose a hot, calm, sunny day to visit Ingram for the snakes :-)
Really like some of these, Mark - ain't it just Sod's law that the one time I don't make it out, there are birds everywhere!
ReplyDeleteI'm particularly interested in the Spoonbill in flight with the branch in its beak - nest-building behaviour.
That'd be something!