A day's birding in Bedfordshire with fellow East Yorks migration lover and local patch worker Mark (Thomas), at various sites across the county, with canine companions Norman and Higby in tow. Many sites visited, beginning (in thick fog) at
Stratton balancing lake, where N & H assisted admirably in flushing no less than six
Jack Snipe and four
Common Snipe.
A look at
Broom GP's was curtailed by the fog, but all the common woodland species (including c25
Siskins) were on show at the
Swiss Gardens, and the sun finally broke through as we arrived at
Cardington Hangars. A surreal, beguiling site dominated by two huge former WWI airship hangars set in flat agricultural surrounds, the word
Quatermass sprang instantly to mind; also home to a pair of
Peregrines, thanks to Mark and the RSPB fixing a nest box to the more run-down of the two buildings.
(The other is home to the Warner Bros film set, and has recently been transformed into both Gotham City and a certain Chocolate Factory...)
A drive to
Woburn village in search of a reported small flock of
Waxwings was the runaway highlight of the day, after a joy of a half-hour spent in their company. Ridiculously tame and completely unfazed by us (and indeed the constant noise from traffic, people, vans unloading a few metres away etc), seven birds picked berries, preened, called, sang, snoozed and even courtship-fed at point-blank range until eventually leaving en masse to the west.
Willington GP's (reed-fringed gravel pits, grazing marsh, scrub and a small woodland) held another
Jack Snipe (thanks Norm), single
Oystercatcher and
Green Sandpiper, three
Redshank, a pair of
Shelduck, plenty of
Teal and
Wigeon, and the locally ubiquitous
Little Egrets and
Common Buzzards.
A second look at
Broom GP's yielded plenty of common wildlfowl, while a drive along a nearby farm-track in search of
Barn Owls was instantly successful, with one of the birds within a few metres of us. The same area held mixed flocks of
Yellowhammers and
Corn Buntings.
