2 velvet scoters, showing very well when I first arrived down to about 30 yards. they later flew around to the south of the south lake a stayed a little further away 2 red-crested pochard gadwall goldeneye pochard shoveler wigeon great crested grebe 23 lapwing 1 black swan 1 green woodpecker 1 great spotted woodpecker 2 chiffchaff, 1 singing 3 buzzards.
A Little Egret flying past Milton Keynes coach station was a surprise sighting on my journey home from London last Sunday.
David Walsh said
Fri May 16 12:09 AM, 2014
Approaching the end of a very relaxing week in the Chilterns, on the Bucks / Herts border. Couldn't find a dedicated Bucks thread, despite much searching, so had to start a new one.
We are based in the village of Ivinghoe, and have spent much of our time outdoors charging around (the dogs, not me) the chalk hillside known as Ivinghoe Beacon, which overlooks stunning countryside, in increasingly ambient temperatures, to the extent that if anyone is wandering Wild Bank in Stalybridge on Saturday morning, I will be the one with the scarlet face - forgot to pack the sunscreen!!
Highlights here have been as follows:
Yellowhammer Whitethroat, in abundance Chiffchaff Willow Warbler Linnet Corn Bunting Skylark Green Woodpecker
Oh, and Red Kites - everywhere!
The highlight for me, from a birding point of view is the College Lake nature reserve, on the northern outskirts of Tring, just in Bucks. Situated on the site of a former chalk quarry, it has been transformed over the past 20 odd years into a thriving nature reserve, comprising wetlands mixed with woodland and scrub. There are 11 hides overlooking the lakes, and in two brief, one hour sessions this week I have seen the following:
Lapwings with young Redshank with young Oystercatcher sitting Common Terns feeding young Reed Bunting with young Shelduck (thought to be breeding) Tufted Duck Garden Warbler Blackcap Whitethroat Chiffchaff Willow Warbler Reed Warblers heard Green Woodpecker Cuckoo heard Plus Muntjac Deer
All of the above breeding information is published on the reserve website, and therefore already in the public domain.
Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat, and Spotted Flycatchers are also present, but not seen by myself
For anyone visiting the area, I would thoroughly recommend a visit. It is also accessible by a mile and a half walk along the canal towpath from Tring railway station (35 mins from Euston, to where my offspring have departed this evening).
-- Edited by David Walsh on Friday 16th of May 2014 12:28:06 AM
2 velvet scoters, showing very well when I first arrived down to about 30 yards. they later flew around to the south of the south lake a stayed a little further away
2 red-crested pochard
gadwall
goldeneye
pochard
shoveler
wigeon
great crested grebe
23 lapwing
1 black swan
1 green woodpecker
1 great spotted woodpecker
2 chiffchaff, 1 singing
3 buzzards.
We are based in the village of Ivinghoe, and have spent much of our time outdoors charging around (the dogs, not me) the chalk hillside known as Ivinghoe Beacon, which overlooks stunning countryside, in increasingly ambient temperatures, to the extent that if anyone is wandering Wild Bank in Stalybridge on Saturday morning, I will be the one with the scarlet face - forgot to pack the sunscreen!!
Highlights here have been as follows:
Yellowhammer
Whitethroat, in abundance
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Linnet
Corn Bunting
Skylark
Green Woodpecker
Oh, and Red Kites - everywhere!
The highlight for me, from a birding point of view is the College Lake nature reserve, on the northern outskirts of Tring, just in Bucks. Situated on the site of a former chalk quarry, it has been transformed over the past 20 odd years into a thriving nature reserve, comprising wetlands mixed with woodland and scrub. There are 11 hides overlooking the lakes, and in two brief, one hour sessions this week I have seen the following:
Lapwings with young
Redshank with young
Oystercatcher sitting
Common Terns feeding young
Reed Bunting with young
Shelduck (thought to be breeding)
Tufted Duck
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Whitethroat
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Reed Warblers heard
Green Woodpecker
Cuckoo heard
Plus Muntjac Deer
All of the above breeding information is published on the reserve website, and therefore already in the public domain.
Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat, and Spotted Flycatchers are also present, but not seen by myself
For anyone visiting the area, I would thoroughly recommend a visit. It is also accessible by a mile and a half walk along the canal towpath from Tring railway station (35 mins from Euston, to where my offspring have departed this evening).
-- Edited by David Walsh on Friday 16th of May 2014 12:28:06 AM