Last visit here produced a good haul of birds so was looking forward to this visit.  How disapointed I was to be.  The walk up to the first pool yeilded Black Headed Gull and Carrion Crow.  I got to the pool and it was all but empty of water, some thirty foot of water had been drained and there was not nearly as many birds on there as the last visit.  Lapwing, Great Crested Grebe with two quite young chicks, Teal, Pied Wagtail, and Little Grebe.  These little birds are quite common around the area and, apart from Conwy RSPB, I have never seen so many in one group.  There was about 15 all together on a small patch of water and, not far away, around the pool there were loads more.  Other birds with them were:- Canada Geese, Coot, Starling and Snipe. Off down the track, past the only pool in the UK which never has any life on it, and down to the pool which always holds some good stuff.  On the way I got Blackbird, Cormorant, Fieldfare, Robin, and Wren.  Oh and also lots of people with guns. there is a small wood, no bigger than three acres.  Now, I am not anti-hunting in anyway - I have dabbled in the odd shoot _ but when there are about fifteen guns surrounding the wood and then about twenty beaters and dogs running through then the shoot becomes a massacre.  That, I don't think, is sport.  Anyway it was right near to the lake which is half silted up and usually holds the birds.  I walked over to where I usually sit and flushed every bird on the pool.  Usually they stay and you can settle down and see what is about.  They must have been scared of the guns and unsettled when they saw my vast frame.  I did pick up Golden Plover and Lesser-Black-backed Gull.  I will apologise now if anyone arrived after me and saw nothing.  Walking back to the car, rather disgruntled, I did see a Green Sandpiper on the first, three quarter empty, lake.   

Due to a bad back I haven't been able to do any birding after work.  the dog has been fed up that she hasn't had any evening walks.  Now I am writing this the day after and the clocks have just gone bcak so that will put to an end any evening birding.  I did another early wildfowl count this morning  and this is what I got.  Mallard - 162, Canada Geese - 1, Tufted Duck - 22, Moorhen - 5, Coot - 8, Mute Swan - 2, Great Crested Grebe - 3, Teal - 43, Pochard - 16, Goldeneye - 1, Little Grebe - 2, Grey Heron - 5.  This was the first report of a Goldeneye this winter.  Usually we have quite a few so it will be interesting to see the numbers slowly rise now.  Canada Geese and Mute Swan numbers can vary greatly.  This will proberbly be down to the fact that Whitemoor Haye holds a lot of geese and swans and unless there is any disturbance my the miserable farmer or by the quarry machinery they will stay feeding there.  Any disturbance and it is a short hop to Croxall.  The other numbers seem to be about the same.  The two Little Grebes were present again however i am not sure if they were the same ones as one was on the main pool by the island and the second one was at the nearest point to the East Hide, and gave me some very good views.  There is a great possibility that I missed some and we might be having more for the winter.  This proberbly goes for all of the counted species too, I am sure i have missed some but these numbers just give an idea.  Anyway, enough prophecising (sorry about the spelling), and back to the birding.  The other birds were as follows.  Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Chaffinch, and Robin from around the car park, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Black Headed Gull (of which I counted 73 on the far bank from the Main Hide), Pied Wagtail, Lapwing (I counted 123 in with the gulls and another 41 dropped in as I was leaving), 3 Redshank, and Goldfinch.  Through the tuinnel and I saw Carrion Crow, Kestrel, lots of Fieldfare, Wren, Treecreeper, Skylark, Long-tailed Tit, and a possible Sparrowhawk flying along the hedgerow ( I only got a glimpse but process of elimination told me).  Back towards the car park and I added Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Herring Gull and a female Bullfinch.  Croxall is such a better place early on with generally a lot more birds and a lot less people.  Now I have said that it will be rammed at eight o'clock next week and that wiil teach me to keep my gob shut. 

I arrived about 8 o'clock hoping to do a wildfowl count but due to the fog I couldn't see the lake so I had a quick walk around to see if there was any litter on site and in the hides.  When I got to the East Hide, there was a suprise waiting in the form of a pile of poo.  Someone used the hide has a toilet and used Octobers notes for cleaning purposes.  What a pleasant start to the day.  By the time I had gone home, fetched some cleaning gear, gone back to Croxall and cleaned up, the fog had lifted and I could do my count.  Due to the very nice day, there was quite a few walkers around and counting nervous Mallards was very difficult but here is what I got.  Mallard - 164, Pochard - 15, Little Grebe - 2, Mute Swan - 7, Canada Geese - 513, Tufted Duck - 17, Grey Heron - 5, Moorhen - 1, Great Crested Grebe - 7.  Other birds were pretty scarse today.  Chaffinch, Wren, Dunnock were around the car park, Willow Tit, Great Tit, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, on the West side.  Over to the east meadows and the East Hide I saw Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull, Snipe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Kestrel, Lapwing, Blackbird, and Robin.

 

Final day and I decided to go back to Titchwell.  This is now my second favorite reserve (after Conwy), so a second visit was a must.  I saw:-  Robin, Wood Pigeon, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Wren, Starling, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Pheasant, Skylark, Curlew, Coot, Shoveler, Little Grebe, Teal, Mute Swan, Gadwall, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Brent Geese, Gadwall, Little Egret, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Shelduck, Meadow Pipit, Black-tailed Godwit, Knot, Grey Heron, Avocet, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Kestrel, Linnet, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, reed Bunting, Redshank, Dunlin, Wigeon, Pied Wagtail, Oystercatcher, Spotted Redshank, Sanderling, Great Crested Grebe, Red-throated Diver, Eider, Cormorant, Common Scoter, Razorbill, Gannet, Guillemot, Little Tern, Dunnock, Stonechat, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Water Rail, Redwing, Cetti's Warbler, Goldcrest and Fieldfare.  Another impressiove list for me  and I had left by midday.I am sure I could have got a few more.  In fact an hour after I left the reserve a Little Bittern was found a Titchwell and showed well all afternoon and a Great White Egret was at Holkham Marsh.  Typical but thats birding.  I had a brilliant week, over one hundred birds, lots of sites, five life birds and lots more year birds.  Can't wait till next year.  

 

Another walk around Wells got me Chaffinch, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Starling, Redshank, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Wood Pigeon, Little Egret, Mallard, Pink-footed Geese, and Buzzard. 

 

 

I timed my visit to this RSPB reserve to the high tide.  Parking at Snettisham, it was along walk past lakes untill I got to the sea.  There you can see the tide coming in and seeing the birds in the roosts.  In winter it is a spectacular sight as thousands of waders follow the water up and then back again to start feeding.  I saw :- Mallard, Robin, Goldfinch, Black Headed Gull, Moorhen, Greylag Geese, Blackbird, Magpie, Little Egret, Skylark, Dunnock, Starling, Pheasant, Redshank, Herring Gull, Wren, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Knot, Shelduck, Turnstone, Curlew, Canada Geese, Teal, Pintail, Cormorant, Dunlin, Lesser Black-back Gull, Greenfinch, Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow and Lapwing.

 

 

This is a reserve situated in the dunes by Holme.  There are a few pools and clumps of trees but mainly sand dunes.  The reason I came here was the pager went off after I left Snettisham RSPB saying Barred Warbler at Holme Dunes NNR.  I was near so I arrived.  It was reported at the entrance so, on parking, I got my stuff out, walked over too a group of people, and spotted the BARRED WARBLER in a hedge about forty feet away.  There was also a Robin nearby.  I then went and parked in the proper car park and had a walk around the reserve.  My list was :-  Blackbird, Brent Geese, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Knot, Herring Gull, Ringed Plover, Black Headed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Eider, Razorbill, Sanderling, Goldfinch, Shoveler, Snipe, Magpie, Coot, Mute Swan, Teal, Mallard, Wigeon, Grey Heron, Greylag Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Wood Pigeon, Kestrel, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Pink-footed Geese, Redshank, Carrion Crow, Stonechat, Curlew, Pied Wagtail, Greenfinch and Egyptian Geese.  On the way out there was a couple of cars parked up with some people rushing around with bins.  I parked up (being the nosy kind of bloke that I am), and asked what was about.  There was six Waxwings in a tree, fantastic.  What a great way to end the birding at this great site.

 

 

This is the next village from Cley.  It is basically pools in the marshes and then a large shingle bank which extends past Cley Marshes.   Anything can turn up here and so I decided to end the day here walking around.  As I got there the pager went off saying Lapland Bunting at Salthouse car park.  There was a few birders around but none had seen the birds.  I hung around for about an hour before going off for a walk.  I saw Black Headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Linnet, Rock Pipit, Lesser Black-back Gull, Little Egret, Eider, Cormorant, Short-eared Owl, Razorbill, Sanderling, and Mute Swan.  I returned to the carpark, looking for the Lapland Buntings but they were not to show up.  Other birds that did were Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Turnstone, Brent Geese, and Egyptian Geese.  By dusk the winds had got stronger and it had got very cold.  I was looking forward to a nice Indian meal at the restuarant in Wells-next-the-Sea.  Well deserved.

 

Another quick walk around the pine trees produced Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Little Grebe, Magpie, mallard, Coal Tit, Black Headed Gull, Wren, Great Tit, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Herring Gull, Pied Wagtail, and Blackbird.

 

 

A trip to Norfolk would be nothing without a visit to Cley.  This place is steeped in history.  If I am not mistaken it has had the highest number of bird species anywhere in the UK (please correct me if this is not the case, I think I read it somewhere but it could have been in my dreams).  It consist of a few pools, reedbed, and sea watching from the shingle bank.  Here is what I saw.  Coot, Moorhen, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wood Pigeon, Little Egret, Avocet, Starling, Brent Geese, Little Grebe, Rook, Wren, Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Cetti's Warbler, Mallard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Lapwing, Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Snipe, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Great Black-back Gull, Rock Pipit, Marsh Harrier, Egyptian Geese, Skylark, Ringed Plover, Herring Gull, Bearded Tit, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Golden Plover, Jackdaw, Razorbill, Little Gull, Pintail, Lesser Black-back Gull, Curlew, Knot, Linnet, Red-throated Diver and Turnstone.  Since I visited here last year, they have had a posh reception building built.  Instead of a drain pipe it had chain, most of the inside was taken up with a cafe, the prices in the cafe were sky high, and the building looked horrible (these are my views and my views only, although these views were repeated by several people).  The hides were weird too.  I am six foot two inches.  I have a forty five degree angled scope.  When I sat in the hides, when the scope was on the bech clamp, I struggled to see because the shutters were too high.  There were blocks of wood to sit on but then I had to bend down or stand up because the shutters were in halves.  The floors were also concrete, ideal when you accidentaly drop your bins.  These were commented on by a few people not just my whinging self.

 

 

After a nice morning at Cley, I decided to visit Holkham Pines.  This is part of the pine tree belt which Wells Wood is conected to.  This area can be good for birds looking for shelter and throughout the Autumn there are entries on the pager.  There are also a couple of hides which over look field swere geese come in.  This is my list.  Pink-footed Geese, Brent Geese, Wood Pigeon, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Wren, Great Tit, Mallard, Little Grebe, Robin, Magpie, Curlew, Tufted Duck, Teal, Pheasant, Moorhen, Blackbird, Great Black-back Gull, Wigeon, Kestrel, Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier which was tucking into a freshly killed Wigeon and being harassed by Magpies, Starling, Chaffinch and Shelduck.  After being in the hide for some time listening to people talking utter rubbish, my pager went off with Yellow-browed Warbler at Holkham Pines.   My excuse to leave.  off I went, ask a few others were the place was and I arrived were about six others were watching.  It took some finding but it was in the trees, a YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER. Brilliant.  I have been after one of these for ages.  Other birds were Mistle Thrush, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Jay, Green Woodpecker and a Ross's Goose.  Now this has been reported on the pager and on the internet but not reported as an escapee.  Most are but if there is no rings then who knows.  

 

This is the harbour in Wells-next-the-Sea.  The birds I put on this were seen or heard from the B&B to the harbour and walking around it before breakfast.  Wood Pigeon, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Lapwing, Curlew, Pied Wagtail, Brent Geese, Mallard, Rock Pipit, Redshank, Pink-footed Geese in their thousands as the are heading for a days feeding, Turnstone, Collared Dove, Robin, Starling, Carrion Crow, Wren, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Pheasant.

 

 

The forecast for today was wet and miserable.  I decided to take a drive over to Hornsey and, in between the showers, have a walk and look for Common Crane.  When I arrived, the weather was not bad so I set off on a circular walk and saw Kestrel, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Skylark, Varrion Crow, Magpie, Brent Geese, Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Mallard, Wren, Redwing, Pink-footed Geese, Kingfisher, Cormorant, Coot, Gadwall, Shoveler, Chaffinch, Wood Pigeon, and Lesser Black-back Gull.

 

 

As you can see from the list above, no Common Crane.  I decided to visit this Norfolk Wildlife Trust site as it was not far away.  As I got there it started raining hard so I got my head down and had a wee nap.  When I woke it was sunny so I put on my boots and set off to the first hide.  Half way to the hide and guess what happened....it chucked it down.  I eventually got to the hide rather wet.  What did I see?  Nothing.  The weather for the next hour was stop and start heavy showers.  There were two more hides to get to.  The first one I got soaked getting to.  The second one the sun eventually got out.  From the first hide to the last hide I got Mallard, Pink-footed Geese, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Chaffinch, Moorhen, Water Rail, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Long-tailed Tit, Coot, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Great Crested Grebe.  The final hide is on legs and has a 360 degrees of view.  On one side is the broads and on the other side is marsh land.  When I arrived here it was overcast and damp.  I decided to wait here for a bit and within ten minutes the sun was out and so were the birds.  From this hide I got Cetti's Warbler right outside the hide in a bush, Greylag Geese, Teal, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Jackdaw, Marsh Harrier, Kingfisher, Jay, Snipe, and Meadow Pipit.  It was geeting late when I got back to the car, no Common Crane so I decided to head bach to Horsey to a lay-by from where they can be seen coming in to roost.

 

 

This lay-by is about one mile out of Hornsey and from here I got Barn Owl and Marsh Harrier.  No Common Crane on this visit, will have to wait for next year.

 

This is a pine wood, growing on the dunes starting  in Wells-next-the-Sea and continueing to Holkham.  Every morning I either walked here or in Wells harbour, before breakfast, to watch the geese coming in off the salt marshes onto the fields to feed.  A walk around the pines and onto the sea front got me:- Wren, Redshank, Pheasant, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Kingfisher, Curlew, Pinf-footed Geese, Robin, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Wood Pigeon, Brent Geese, Little Grebe, Mallard, Rock Pipit, Turnstone, Magpie, Jay and Chaffinch.

 

 

RSPB member/lover or not, this is one place you must visit in your birding life.  A simply quite stunning reserve.  Without trying it is easy to get fifty birds.  I went twice last year and had seventy two and seventy birds, and I am sure better birders could do the hundred.  It must be a huge reserve. Wrong.  It must have loads of hides.  Wrong  I don't know what it is but something attracts birds here.  There is a small visitor centre and cafe.  Then there is a straight footpath to the sea, around three quarters of a mile long.  there is also anothe footpath which winds through willows and rejoins the path.  This is not a long track but an oppurtunity to see the smaller, sulking birds, and Munjac deer.  There are only three hides and a viewing platform on the sea edge.  The pools range from freshwater to brackish and differing depths.  One reason why so many birds are present is because of the many differing habitats on one site.  Go for yourself and see.  About a three and a half hour drive to paradise.  This is my bird list.  Wood Pigeon, Green Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Robin, Long-tailed Tit, Collared Dove, Wren, Blackbird, Goldcrest, Starling, House Sparrow, Redwing, Magpie, Greylag Geese, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Curlew, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Coot, Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Stonechat, Skylark, Redshank, Meadow Pipit, Cormorant, Brent Geese, Lapwing, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Bearded Tit, Eider, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Razorbill, Sanderling, Great Crested Grebe, Gannet, Rock Pipit, Slavonian Grebe, Red Throated Diver, Common Scoter, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Turnstone, Carrion Crow, Snipe, Wigeon, Ringed Plover, Shelduck, Golden Plover, Moorhen, Spotted Redsahnk, Snow Bunting, Avocet, Knot, Twite, Reed Bunting, Little Stint, Ruff, Grey Heron, Pintail, Linnet, Great Tit, Little Tern, Little Grebe, Pied Wagtail, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Greenfinch, Cetti's Warbler and Pheasant.  Seventy three species and none of them really too hard to see.  A fantastic place.

 

 

This is a small sit in between Wells and Cley.  A Wryneck had been seen in the morning so after Titchwell I rushed over in the hope of seeing.  Three tracks lead to dead ends and then from ther you walk to a place called the Whirlygig.  This is a round concrete track which they used to spin unmanned planes called drones around a centre point called a gibbett in order to get height so that they could fly.  A bit of history for you there.  Anyway the birds which were present were:- Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Grey Partridge, Long-tailed Tit, Curlew, Chaffinch, Linnet, Robin. Brent Geese, and WRYNECK. Unfortunately news came through on the pagers on Friday morning that this bird was found dead. 

 

 

I had a spare hour to waste so I thought I would go and watch the geese going out to roost.  Starling, Wood Pigeon, Redwing, Pheasant, Mallard, Wren, Carrion Crow, Pink-footed Geese, Goldcrest, Robin, Magpie, and Moorhen.   

 

 

I have booked myself a trip to Norfolk for a week, hopefully visiting loads of places and seeing lots of birds.  Because I have been to loads of sites I will give a desciption of the site and list the birds I saw.  Anything I can remember I will include it in the list. 

 

 

Ok this is not in Norfolk but I decided to split the trip up and so visit a site on the way.  This RSPB reserve is situated on the side of the River Ouse (I think), and there are loads of hides situated along the bank.  They are spread out over at least three miles so I only concentrated on one hide.  From the hide I saw Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail, Long-tailed Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Collared Dove, Skylark, Coot, Gadwall, Mallard, Moorhen, Cormorant, Wigeon, Great Crested Grebe, Teal, Black Headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Grey Heron, Wren, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker and Lapwing.  Ok for the first visit but there is one more bird to add,  PURPLE HERON.  I knew it had been seen there for a few weeks now so I took a gamble.  It was not showing when I arrived and slowly a hide full of people trickled out.  After about an hour there was a few of us in there and what made me look at this one bit of reed I don't know but as I was looking, a snaky head slowly appeared from the right hand side.  I called out and gave people directions but they didn't see it.  Was I seeing things?  No, it was there so I put my scope on it and showed a bloke next to me.  Once he saw it we both started giving out directions and eventually all had seen it.  Not bad for the first site.  

 

 

Kelling is a small village  on the north norfolk coast near Cley.  A Red-necked Phalarope had been seen for the last few days and, as I had never seen one of these, I just had to go.

The site is a long track, lined by hedges, and leading down to a large, shallow pool.  The track then leads on to the sea.  These are the birds that I saw:- Chaffinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Wren, Starling, Lapwing, Teal, Redshank, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, Egyptian Geese, Stonechat, Goldfinch, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Pied Wagtail, Wood Pigeon, Cormorant, Razorbill, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Robin, Great Tit, Pheasant, Greenfinch, Jackdaw, Blackbird.

 

 

This is to be my base for the weekend, mainly because it is roughly in the middle of the coastline.  There was a Tawny Owl in the tree in the evening.  I havn't had one of these this year yet. 

 

Took the dog around the square at Whitemoor and saw these birds:- Canada Geese, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Linnet, Buzzard, Magpie, Wood pigeon, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Tree Sparrow, Grey Heron, Long-tailed Tit, possible Fieldfare over, Starling, Skylark and Moorhen. 

Waited till Queenie had gone from the Arboretum and then popped to Croxall for an evenings birding.  Again memory is rubbish so will only give you a list of what was seen.  Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Jay, Lapwing, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Magpie, Wren, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Goldcrest, Willow Tit, Great Crested Grebe, Black Headed Gull, Grey Heron, Teal, Canada Geese, Little Egret, Starling, Kestrel, Pied Wagtail, and Herring Gull up to the main Hide.  Rook, Chaffinch, Green Woodpecker, Kingfisher, and Great Spotted Woodpecker around the East Hide.

Before I went on holiday I had a morning at Belvide.  It was over a week since I went so i will give you a list of birds.  Chaffinch, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull, Mallard, Coot, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Ruddy Duck and loads of them....the RSPB guns have not visited here yet, Tufted Duck, Teal, Shoveler, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Lapwing, Snipe, Wigeon, Robin, Dunnock, Long-tailed Tit, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Canada Geese, Tree Sparrow, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Grey Plover, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Pochard, Greylag Geese, Willow Tit, Skylark, Red-legged Partridge, Starling, Jackdaw and Wood Pigeon.  Sorry it is only a list but a lot has happened in the last week. 

Another reminder of the Starling group.  They have been increasing over the last few weeks and on 8-10-07 I watched about three hundred birds flying around and making weird shapes.  Keep an eye out over by the white house by the river an hour before dusk.

A quick tidy up and then a walk around produced Mallard, Moorhen, Teal and Chaffinch from the car park, Great Tit, Robin, Wren, Carrion Crow, Grey Heron, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Blackbird, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Black headed Gull, Mute Swan, Dunnock, Starling, Buzzard, Pheasant, and Goldfinch.  Over on the east side I saw Green Woodpecker and Rook.  Wildfowl numbers were very low and this is proberbly due to kids setting of large fireworks in the car park.  I picked up an empty case the other day.  Little birds were in high numbers.  I sat on the bench for twenty minutes and watch Tits and finches wandering through the hedges. 

A bird had been around this are for a couple of days and when it came on the pager as GREAT WHITE EGRET AT BASWICH MEADOWS I had to go.  Previous readers will remember I dipped on the last Great White Egret at Tamworth by three minutes, so this time I was going to get it.  WRONG.  It was last seen at lunch time and now it was nearly six o'clock.  Birds I did see were Wood Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Mallard, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Green Woodpecker, Collared Dove, Rook, Jackdaw, Buzzard, Grey Heron, and Wren.  I stayed untill darkness but it didn'y show.  Next time it will be war.

You guessed it, dog walking and birding.  Not a bad trip.  Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Wren, Magpie and Coot all from the car park.  Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Canada Geese, and Mute Swan up to the Main Hide.  Towards the East Hide and I saw Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Pied Wagtail, Teal, Greenshank (heard in one of the scrapes but not seen), Chaffinch, Pheasant, Linnet, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Rook, Skylark and Robin. Back towards the car and i also spotted Starling and Pochard. 

Watched Derby crumble to yet another defeat.  I will admiht i haven't been shouting about them on the blog lately.  We are struggling but you never know.  Come on you RAMS.  There, got it out of my system.  Sorry about the font changing, out of my hands, computer gone mad.  After the football I took the dog for a walk around Alrewas, along the river and up towards Wychnor.  Around Alrewas I saw Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Robin, B=Black Headed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Green Woodpecker, Mallard, Wren, Greenfinch, Pied Wagtail, Coot, Magpie, Swallow (ten flew over me heading in a southerly direction), Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Pheasant, and Starling.  From the village I wandered over to the scrapes in the fields behind the mill.  these were put in early this year.  Before they were dug you could walk along the River Trent upto the River Swarbourne, then along towards Wychnor before heading back to Alrewas.  There was lots of old hedges and trees before.  The diggers then moved in and they cut down all of trees and dug the scrapes.  Amongst the trees which were cut down were lots of Holly, Hawthorn and other fruit bearing trees with lots of fruit on them.  The cold weather had not arrived then, a valuable food source wasted.  Anyway, winge over.  Around the scrape i saw Wren, Mallard, Wood Pigeon, and Goldfinch.  Not a lot but I walked around here before and I saw Lapwing and Redshank. I carried on up the River Swarbourne and I came to Potter's Meadow, a recently planted area which used to be farmland.  I have been here before and watched two Short-eared Owls hunting.  Not so lucky this time but a few birds.  Magpie, Jay, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Wren, Carrion Crow, Moorhen, Green Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Pheasant, Great Tit, and Blue Tit.  A pleasant steady walk.  

I attended a guided walk around the new RSPB reserve near Tamworth.  Although many of us have proberbly birded here before (Drayton Bassett GP), this walk showed more areas and what was planned for the future.  Whilst walking around I had my eyes fixed on birds.  I saw Great Tit, Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, Mallard, Redwing, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Sandpiper, Long-tailed Tit, Jay, Goldcrest, Buzzard, Black Headed Gull, Cormorant, Canada geese, Mute Swan, Coot, Blue Tit, Gadwall, Wren, Lapwing, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Greylag Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Stock Dove, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Pheasant, Green Woodpecker, Great Crested Grebe, and Red-legged Partridge.  I know lots of birders have differing opinions about the RSPB.  I once heard a birder going on about the RSPB always wanting money and volunteers and blah blah blah.  When I told him we were sitting in an RSPB hide at Blacktoft Sand he shut up.   I personally can't wait for the reserve to open in 2009.  It is a large wetland site but there is also an ancient woodland on the site too.