Nethergong Birding

After recording a few times during the week at Nethergong where Tawny Owl, Barn Owl, Teal and Gadwall (59) were all heard, I made sure I put a few mealworms down in the area the Water Rail has been seen in hoping that this weekend I could fit in a hide session. As it happens, the forecast for Saturday morning was sunny and a frost so I arrived just as it was getting light and put up the hide and placed a few mealworms out. It was a lovely morning with birds already singing but I had to wait over an hour until the Water Rail turned up. As skittish as ever, it made brief visits on to the path to pick up the worms before running back into cover. It was a pleasure just to watch this secretive bird up close and a few pleasing photos were obtained. As is often the case, just as it was starting to venture out into the open, my time was up and had to return home. With cloud forecast for this morning I had a walk around the area and surrounding fields where I managed to see or hear 1 Woodcock, 3 Tawny Owl, 2 Grey Heron, 5 Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe (60) flushed from a flooded field, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Stonechat, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Yellowhammer, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Mistle thrush, 1 Reed Bunting (61), 1 Raven (62) on pylons eventually chased off by a Peregrine, 3 Bullfinch and 1 Greenfinch (63). I unfortunately also found a dead Common Snipe under the pylons. Hopefully the night recording will pick up soon as in the next few weeks the birds will start to move. With my knee operation in less than two weeks time, I won't be getting out much on foot during February so am relying on the night time recording to deliver something good. 

Water Rail