As I stated in my previous post (see below, probably), last weekend (13-14.11.04) was another busy birding time. On Saturday morning, I had my usual early morning visit to Prior's Fen. The freezing conditions seemed to promise some goodies. However, things were not exactly kicking as I reached the 'best' pit. There were a few scaredy-cat Redshanks there and a couple of Dunlin huddled together under a bank resting.
While I was photographing these beauties (see below or click on Weedon) something flushed the mass of geese, gulls and Golden Plovers to the south. I continued snapping, and then a little rattling trill caught my attention, I looked up and a Turnstone was bombing through with a handful of Redshanks. Unfortunately this scarce wader (in these parts, especially in autumn) was stopping for no one.
There was nothing special in the Golden Plover flock of more than 2,000 birds, but I felt they needed a bit of digiscoping treatment all the same.
Later that day, my friend Kevin Du Rose found 10 Short-eared Owls roosting at the site – probably displaced from their usual home by a Pheasant shoot at Eldernell (a couple of miles further east).
The next day, I returned to Prior's. The only reportable action there (on an even colder, clear, beautiful morning) was a Bearded Tit in the same reed fringe as the previous weekend. This bird had the pale undertail coverts and general appearance of an adult female, however (last weekend's bird had dark undertail coverts and was a first-winter male). Interestingly, there were four Bearded Tits further north in the PBC area at Baston Fen (Lincs) that day. Perhaps the cold snap produced some movement?
My only other birding action of the weekend took me up to see and digiscope the Long-tailed Duck (as shown in the pix below and of course at: Weedon). If you look carefully at the photos, you can see it has white scapular feathers and a hint of black bands in the bill. Hence, I reckon it's a first-winter male. It is yet to grow a decent tail, though...
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