5-1-14

Alas, nowt much on and the weather not bad so I was out of the house at dawn.  I was thinking of doing Belvide and Gailey before heading around the chase in the hope of finding first a Two-barred then a proper Parrot Crossbill.  So it was the local pits then!!!!

Alrewas GP.
61 Tufted Duck, 5 Mallard, 10 Coot, 17 Lapwing over, 26 Wigeon over, 7 Goldeneye, 2 Pochard, 3 Bullfinch (the first of quite a few today) and three Chiffchaffs.  I saw two to begin with and the light was very bright and they were not brilliant views.  What were the chances of these being tristis?  Slim to be honest but you never know.  The third was definitely collybita.

National Arboretum.
A Snipe along the river bank was as good as it got, oh yeah, several Bullfinch too.

Junction Pit.
Not a lot but a Chiffchaff on the fence and a couple of Bullfinch in the willows.

Whitemoor Haye.
142 Wigeon, 73 Teal, 35 Tufted Duck, 5 Redshank, 600+ Lapwing, 30 Coot, 2 Little Owl and you guessed it, a pair of Bullfinch.  The downside of this visit was watching, at close hand, a stout chase down and finally kill a rabbit.  Pretty gruesome really but its nature, nature aint nice.

Field opposite National Arboretum entrance.
This field was quite good last year but a bit too overgrown this year however there was the odd Mipit and a bird with a white rump and a..... okay it was a bloody Bullfinch.

Cracking stuff Grommit.