Snovember

Dan here.


Of course the blog title refers not to the type of precipitation (it was drizzle) but to that time of year when I wonder about the provenance of snow geese.

I spied one over on Colloway Marsh this afternoon. Mostly feeding on its Todd (goose joke!) it was joined by a single Greylag for a while. The white-morph appeared to have a damaged wing.

There was a fair bit of goose activity in general, with a good few hundred pinkfeet flying around at high tide. Some appeared to land over the river at Oxcliffe. Many feral geese were mobile on the Aldcliffe side.

A brown Merlin in hunting mode was my first of the season here. A late (or wintering) Greenshank was a pleasing sight.

Highlights at Freeman's Pools were a Kingfisher, Water Rail (sounds), 19 Gadwall, 30 Teals, two Wigeon and a Goldeneye. A Rock Pipit flew overhead, as did two Golden Plovers and a rather late male Common Darter dragonfly.

Goldcrests numbered three at Freeman's Wood and three at Stodday. A Chiffchaff (pictured below) was near the sewage works where four Grey Wagtails, twenty Redshank and a Raven were present.

Around fifteen Fieldfares were moving to and fro (often harried by Sparrowhawks) and two Redwings, two Song Thrushes and 20 Blackbirds were in evidence.

DH.