North Cave Wetlands

 The weather was bright, cold and windy so I decided to visit North Cave Wetlands. I arrived about 1030 to find lots of cars already there. When I see lots of cars here, two thoughts come to mind. 1, is there a special,bird about? 2. Have people come for a bacon butty? The answer today was neither, just a lot of birders.

I started in South hide and joined 3 local,birders, who were looking at the first recorded goldeneye of the year. As I scanned through all the ducks on the water, I found a second female goldeneye amongst the gadwall. The male pochards were looking smart in the sunshine and lots of little grebes were busily swimming about.

I left the hide and walked towards Crosslands hide. On the way I saw 2 male bullfinches.

Always a twig in the way of a clean shot.

As I looked out from Crosslands hide I could see lots of wigeon and teal, a few shoveler and gadwall. The angle of the sun made viewing a bit difficult. A ruff flew in and landed towards the back of the lagoon.

I then set off and walked along the western edge of the reserve. A lady was taking pictures of two robins.

they came so close it was almost impossible to get a shot. A female blackbird also came close

Lots of blue tits, great tits, chaffinches and siskins in the trees and bushes, but none of them were close enough for a photo, unlike the robin and blackbird. At the corner of the reserve I joined other birders looking at a tawny owl in a tree.

The bird was too far away for my camera, but you just might be abe to make out the bird if you look at the bottom of the hollow part of the trunk.

As I walked along the north path there were more siskins and goldfinches in the bushes and a female reed bunting just in the reeds. On the lake were several lapwings and some sleeping shelduck and another ruff. The feeders near the maize field were busy, with greenfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, blckbird, robin, blue tit, great tit and tree sparrows. The birds did not stay on the feeders very long and each time that they landed the feeders would swing to and fro, making photography difficult.

From the turret hide I saw more teal, lapwing, shelducks and black headed gulls. Quite a few birders were in the hide, hoping to see the bittern, so I did not stay long. From east hide I saw more lapwing, teal and a black tailed godwit. As I walked back down the lane towards my car I passed more feeders. Blue, great and long tailed tits and goldfinches were busily feeding. 

A pleasant visit with 46 species on my day list.