29/04/2023 Iddrottswagen Förslöa, Sweden

Baltimore Oriole:  This was sat in my drafts and unpublished but with a busy few months birding, witching, weddings photography and survey work I've not had a chance o do the updates.

Say hello to Sweden's first Baltimore oriole, this longs staying bird arrived way back in December, back then there was snow on the ground and the bird was attracting large crowds and engaging the whole village. 

The bird hasn't left the garden since and is still guarding its bird feeder full of fermenting fruit and roosting in the adjacent pine tree.

The bird should be on the other side of the Atlantic in North America. They are found in the Canadian Prairies and eastern Montana in the northwest eastward through southern Ontario, southern Quebec, and New Brunswick, and south through the eastern United States to central Mississippi and Alabama, and northern Georgia. 

Baltimore oriole's migrate to winter in the Neotropics as far north as Mexico and sometimes the southern coast of the United States, but predominantly in Central America and northern South America. They prefer habitat in open deciduous woodlands but are also known do quite well in community parks and suburban backyards, which this bird can attest to as its made this small garden its home since December 2022.

During our time here I visited the garden three times and saw it each time I arrived, the bird didn't leave the pruned pine tree the feeder is attached to and regularly climbed on to the feeders to feed before melting away back into the pine tree.

It often poked its head through the branches of the pine tree and only one climbed to the top and even performed a short sub-song.

You may be thinking where it gets its name from, well the summer plumage male bird resembles the colour's to those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. It is the state bird of Maryland and is also the namesake and mascot for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

Fieldfare: The garden was also home to felidfare, blackbirds, blue tits and great tits, goldfinch, house and tree sparrows. The owner was very pleasant and urged me to stay and wait longer for better views of the bird.

Sparrowhawk: Unfortunately the owner of the house has recently installed a cage around the main feeder, probably because of this local sparrowhawk  that I witnessed whizzing right past the feeder before alighting up on the nearby greenhouse of the garden centre. 

Tree Sparrow: I didn't twitch this bird solely to see it, Dawn and I planned a short mini-break to Sweden and Denmark, visiting Copenhagen.

We had a great time with some great weather, great food and some really great real ales.

A bit late but I hope you enjoy the post. 

26/02/2022 WWT Martin Mere

Siberian Chiffchaff: Today seemed like a rare day, with light winds, blue skies and no rain! The last few weeks have been pretty awful weather wise so as soon as I saw those enticing blue skies I was off. 

I headed over to Martin Mere to try and see the overwintering Sibe chiffy, there has been up to an incredible seven Sibes here over the winter and last time I spoke to Damian who saw them a few weeks ago he said they were particularly showy birds too.,

He was right, I didn't have to wait too long before seeing one along the hedge close to the sewage works, a practically pale bird that stood out especially when it was next to a common chiffy as the Sibe variety omit the olive in the crown and mantle as well as the yellow in the underwing. 

I counted at least two birds amongst the commons but they were moving and feeding continuously and being chased by the commons. 

Brambling: The Janet Kear hide was still playing host to at least three brambling, two female and a male bird.  Interesting to note that the male bird was only ever seen feeding on the feeders while the female birds spent more of their time foraging on the ground. 

Male brambling are really nice birds with their darker tones around their heads and backs. The male was a little more elusive than the female birds and when it was on show it didn't spend as much time before flittering back into the undergrowth. 

 

Loved watching these birds, sitting in quiet reflection before enjoying the walk around the reedbeds with dozens of wildfowl and waders flying overhead. 

Tree Sparrow: There were also a couple of tree sparrow on the feeders amongst the usual stuff. 
 

26/12/2018 Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve

Tree Sparrow: Dawn and I blew away the cobwebs and burned off the mince pies and Christmas pudding on a Boxing Day birding walk.

Lunt meadows was our destiantion a smart little reserve were thousands of wintering ducks, geese, swans and waders use the flooded reedbeds. 

Short-eared Owl: We plenty of wigeon, teal, pintail, shoveler, mallards, lapwings, ruff, snipe and a handfull of whooper swans.

Besides the tree sparrows that gave us pretty good views we also had two short-eared owls that put on a good show.

Lunt is a tranquil wildlife oasis and a perfect getaway for a festive day out.

22/02/2014 Hope Carr Nature Reserve

House Sparrow: My first visit to this little Nature Reserve in Leigh, my first thoughts were not that great, the place was full of rubbish and a interpenetration board was laying on the ground!





Tree  Sparrow: However the circular walk was pleasant and I spotted a female Sparrowhawk and Goosander, I spotted a Kingfisher on the canal and could hear Water Rail squealing in the reeds.




It was also nice to stumble upon a half a dozen Tree Sparrow chirping away, my final thoughts for Hope Carr... there is plenty of hope! Its a nice little reserve and one I will be visit again.

07/03/2013 Old Moor RSPB

Yellowhammer: I decided to head up to Old Moor RSPB Nature Reserve on my way to Denby Dale for a job interview now I can drive.

Here they have a Tree Sparrow farm which is awesome, they have erected a number of nest boxes and have a funky screening with telephoto lens holes,  and it was here I saw this brilliantly bright yellow Yellowhammer.

Redwing: The Tree Sparrow farm was full of birds such as Green Finch, Chaffinch, Bullfinch and tits I was surprised though to see this Redwing fly out of nowhere and start foraging right in front of the screening!

A nice NEW year tick for my list.

Brambling: I read on Old Moor's sightings online that they had a regular Brambling showing here too and was pleased to see this male feeding off the ground with a bunch of mixed finches.

Tree Sparrow: The star bird though has to be the sparrows, they were all over the place, many building nests and feeding in the farm.

All in all this was another great trip to this brilliant RSPB reserve and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves on the other side of the Pennines.

See The RSPB: Dearne Valley - Old Moor website for more info

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dearne-oldmoor/

21/07/2012 Lancashire

Tree Sparrow: Another visit back up to Lancashire where we started at Martin Mere hoping to catch a glimpse of a Barn Owl or a Marsh Harrier, although lady luck was not on my side as all I got was some Reed Bunting, Sedge, Reed Warbler and Oystercatcher along the reed bed walk.





Common Darter Dragonfly: The one thing that was very interesting was the abundance and variety of Damselflies and Dragonflies, it was great just sitting and watching them dart and skim across the water and over the reeds.

Common Tern: The surprise bird of the day was a single Common Tern sitting far out on a pontoon on the main lake at Mere Sands Wood Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, It hung about in the sun for about 15 minutes before flying off over the tree line. Other birds included one female Tree Sparrow at the feeding station and a very distant and fast Kingfisher.