Nipped out to see if the Waxwings were still around the Aldi area this morning with plans to then go onto see what Red Kites were about scavenging in the cold at Stainby tip. First port of call was a dip out, no Waxwings, never mind will call back on me way home from Stainby then 🙂
Upon arriving at Stainby tip I parked in the track directly opposite the main works entrance to the tip and was startled to see several hundred mixed Gulls and Corvids that were spooked into the air by the half a dozen Kites swooping down to see what was being turned over by the masses, there must have been at least 400 Starlings around too.
Very soon I was snapping away at some very low Red Kite passes over the road as they repositioned themselves to make another raid into the tip. It was pretty cold when the wind kicked in but the pleasure of the many aerial displays I was witnessing was compensating for that no problem! Some Red Kite images taken below….
I eventually made my way back to the car to see down the track a good number of Fieldfare’s and so I thought it would be a good idea to use my car as a hide to see how close I could get to take a few shots of the notoriously nervy bird. It was a good decision as my white car blended in well with the surroundings, so a few photos of the berry eating Fieldfares was taken.
Right onto the next port of call, I had seen Dave R the other day when I last saw the Aldi Waxwings and he told me of a dead Deer at Stainby maybe a good opportunity to catch a bird of prey feeding on the carrion? I got to the spot and saw the Deer with clearly some evidence of past feeding on it, maybe a Fox? There were some tracks in the snow leading to or from the prey, under the roadside hedge leading to the road. I waited for around 30 minutes to no avail, a couple of Red Kites flew directly over the prey but did not change their courses at all, and then a Buzzard landed some 800 yards down the field, I thought “Oooooh here we go” the Buzzard then flew a little closer landing on the hedgerow next to the roadside, “come on mate” I said to myself, but then a farm vehicle came around the corner and off went the Buzzard, “Bugger!”
I went back to the track opposite the tip entrance for a few minutes and to my surprise a couple of Treecreepers came along the hedgerow, nice! I tried my best to get a shot off but they were in the middle of the hedgerow and out of the 40 odd shots I took I got a couple of OKish ones, one of which is below…
I got a text from good mate Steve Godson to say he was at Aldi and still no Waxwings, “On my way” was my reply and off I went, now this is my type of interaction with shops, on the outside of them, money in my pocket not theirs and birding, sweet! We had a chat and the only thing kicking around was a dozen or so Blackbirds, Fieldfares and a lone Redwing, so I again used my car as a mobile hide to grab the chance of a shot or two. Steve and his wife then moved onto Stainby to see what he could see.
It was also good to catch up with another birder Graham Welch, we had a chat about what was around locally and as Graham’s Sunday lunch was ‘imminent ‘ I decided to give it a couple of minutes to see if the Waxwings came back, they never and so off I popped for my sunday dinner too!
That was a entertaining couple of hours though, when can I get out next! 😉
lincsbirders 