Sunday 19 March 2017

Slavonian Grebe, 3 Black-necked Grebe, male Scaup
Not what I'd planned to be seeing this Spring, but makes a change from migrating eagles, I guess! All three were seen this afternoon at Staines Reservoir, just a 10min drive from Shepperton where we're currently staying. It was cool (13C), windy (waves big enough to completely obscure large ducks!) and very dull but these three species more than made up for that. Also seen were Goldeneye, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck, Great-crested Grebe, Redshank, Black-headed, Cormorant, Common and Herring Gull, Common Crow, Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail.
Some dodgy photos, I blame the poor light and strong wind....

Slavonian Grebe - size comparison with Goldeneye - I'd forgotten how small they are

Slavonian Grebe

Teal

Saturday 04 March 2017

A couple of sightings from last Tuesday, 28 Feb as we drove to Benalmadena...there was a Short-toed Eagle over the Utrera gorge at Manilva and a Eurasian Hoopoe flew over the N-340 at Calahonda. Also a Common Chiffchaff singing in the village up near the petrol station.

Well, Janys was finally given the go-ahead to travel and so here we are, in the UK where we'll be for the foreseeable future whilst she recuperates. Hopefully, others will continue to send me reports of Gaucin bird sightings that I can put on the blog.