Driving down the Chess valley on Monday the sight of yet another little egret started me thinking that they were becoming more ubiquitous that herons. That seemed to be the key to several unusual sightings.
On Monday I saw a juvenile heron standing in the middle of the tarmac path between Bury and Stockers Lakes. Then on Tuesday I went to Thame by public transport. Walking down White Hill in Chesham one flew low overhead and landed on top of a tree in one of the gardens between White Hill and Esksdale Avenue. The branch was barely strong enough leading to the huge bird gently bouncing up and down. Later on the bus from Aylesbury to Thame there was another standing in the middle of a ploughed field near Dinton.
This morning walking along Botley Road a redwing landed on the path in front of me as if it was posing for a picture in a field guide. I was able to have by best ever look at the the colour and markings before it finally flew into Codmore Field.
On Monday the cold snap finally broke and the day was remarkably warm encouraging me to take a trip to Stockers Lake where these catkins made me feel that spring was finally on the way.
As well as the heron mentioned above there was a lot of nesting activity in the heronry with a lot of squabbling clearly audible. On the water there were lots of tufties and gadwall and a decent number of wigeon at the far end of the lake. I had a brief glimpse of what looked like a goldeneye but it dived before I could be 100% sure.
On Monday I saw a juvenile heron standing in the middle of the tarmac path between Bury and Stockers Lakes. Then on Tuesday I went to Thame by public transport. Walking down White Hill in Chesham one flew low overhead and landed on top of a tree in one of the gardens between White Hill and Esksdale Avenue. The branch was barely strong enough leading to the huge bird gently bouncing up and down. Later on the bus from Aylesbury to Thame there was another standing in the middle of a ploughed field near Dinton.
This morning walking along Botley Road a redwing landed on the path in front of me as if it was posing for a picture in a field guide. I was able to have by best ever look at the the colour and markings before it finally flew into Codmore Field.
As well as the heron mentioned above there was a lot of nesting activity in the heronry with a lot of squabbling clearly audible. On the water there were lots of tufties and gadwall and a decent number of wigeon at the far end of the lake. I had a brief glimpse of what looked like a goldeneye but it dived before I could be 100% sure.
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