Kelshall - Barn Owl

On our way home from Thetford we drove around the lanes between Kelshall and Wallington. We saw a few Red-legged Partridges (our first of the year) and Kestrels but a Barn Owl stole the show, flying over the road and fields in front of us before flying towards us and past the car at a distance of about five metres away! What a day!

Thetford - Otters

On one side of the river was the rarest bird we'd ever seen, and on the other side were two otters, the first we'd ever seen. Not a bad visit. One otter was sleeping on the opposite side of the bank and the other was swimming downstream, constantly switching between land and water. Along with several other photographers, we followed the otter for about a mile, running to make up ground and find a good position before the otter came up again. At times the otter seemed as intrigued by us as we were with him! After eventually losing him, we then walked back to the other otter to find that it had taken to the water. This otter proved to be easier to photograph and I got my best photos at this point. Absolutely incredible.

Egyptian Goose

Thetford - Black-bellied Dipper

After several weeks of desperately wanting to get to Thetford to see the constantly reported Black-bellied Dipper, we were finally able to today. Black-bellied Dippers usually migrate from northern Scandanavia to Finland, Sweden and Germany in the winter, but occasionally occur in Britain. The bird didn't disappoint. I sat photographing the bird from the other side of the river, not bothering it in the slightest. It even began singing quietly to itself at one point! Brilliant bird.

Film - apologies for the poor quality of the upload. The actual video is very clear.

Knebworth

Probably the best walk we've ever had at Knebworth. It felt like Spring when the sun came out for about half an hour.

Yellowhammer, Linnet (first of the year), Skylark, Nuthatch, Red Kite, Buzzard, Jay and Green Woodpecker (first of the year).

Sika Deer

Hyde Park

No Tawny Owls showing today but we added a new species to our list for the park - Mistle Thrush. There were two of them close to the Serpentine Kitchen.

Hunstanton

Barn Owl

2 Sanderling

50+ Fulmar

c20 Knot

c30 Brent Geese

c10 Bar-tailed Godwit

2 Redshank

c10 Oystercatcher

c10 Turnstone

Garden

Song Thrush

Song Thrush














Dunnock














Robin



















Elsewhere, there was some great news in the Bearded Tit saga this morning. The two females which had spent a number of weeks at Hyde Park before moving to Regents Park recently, have been seen back at Amwell this morning. Hopefully they'll be off again soon towards the east coast to find mates.

Pegsdon Hills

At least 50 Fieldfare, 7 Yellowhammer, Skylarks, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Fieldfare

RSPB The Lodge

A first! A Mealy Redpoll was the highlight of our visit the The Lodge. It was under the feeders with Lesser Redpolls, Siskins, a Nuthatch and Brambling.

Mealy Redpoll

 Mealy (left) & Lesser (right)







Mealy Redpoll

Mealy Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll









Siskin

Siskin

My Dad saw and took this photo of a female Siskin in our garden. It's only the third Siskin we've ever seen in our garden and the first for two years.

Snowdrops

Snowdrops in the garden