THE FINANCIAL BIRDER 2: Both Woodpeckers in the Cemy.

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Both Woodpeckers in the Cemy.

Wednesday 7th December 2022.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker was a nice surprise and possibly two birds were here today too.

Scruff got a well-earned walk this morning around Highland Road Cemetery and though he is near blind now, he coped much better than I thought he would. We completed a whole circuit around the Cemetery, taking in the very cold yet bright Winters morning. It was around 4 degrees Fahrenheit when I was walking around the Cemetery and with 21 species present too, that included two Woodpecker species.

Above, Scruff braved the cold and his near blindness as we took a slow stroll around the Cemy. Below, always good to see House Sparrows within the Cemy.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen first over on the east side of the Cemetery, perched up within a small tree and then seen again over on the west side, where one, possibly two birds were seen. While watching the Green Woodpecker high up in one of the Lime Trees over on the west side, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over the bird and headed off north. Whereas, possibly a second bird was seen in the neighbouring tree to the Green Woodpecker.

Above, Long-tailed Tits were present again today and below, at least three Starlings were seen including this singing individual.

It was good to see the Long-tailed Tits back again within the Cemy, though only four birds were seen, though possibly they had split up as I found more birds over near the Holm Oak clump. The Song Thrush seen today remained quite high within the trees, leading me to think that this was a migrant bird. There were no winter thrushes seen again, though I did see a Redwing fly off from the back of my garden this morning and a Grey Wagtail flew over the rooftops.

Above, four Collared Doves were seen in exactly the same trees as last week, including a pair of birds huddling up together! Below, most likely a migrant bird, this Song Thrush remained at the top of a tree before flying off.

Back in the Cemy this morning, Goldfinch numbers remained reasonably good with 12 birds noted in one flock and at least one Jay was seen today, this time seen drinking from one of the concrete urns. Though I kept an eye out for insects, I could not find any, bar a few House Flies, around the favoured bushes.

A splash of colour for Winter: above, Sycamore leaves and below, a Jay after taking a drink.

The trio of Grey Phalarope, Black Brant and White-fronted Geese were still present on Farlington Marshes this morning along with a good total of 65 Avocets on the main Lake. Yesterday, Blashford Lakes hosted 2 Caspian Gulls and up to 11 Yellow-legged Gulls and the Snow Bunting is still on the Pagham Spit, in West Sussex.

Above, the Green Woodpecker flew up after getting flushed and landed in this Lime Tree over the east side and below, can you spot the two Woodpeckers in this photo?

Of concern is the Bird Flu epidemic still raging throughout the UK. One of the ‘Lazee Birders’ reported a lot of Canada Geese carcasses on Farlington Marshes over the weekend and the Pink-footed Geese numbers are taking a hit also further north in the UK. Worrying times. Lets hope our Brent Geese go through the same issues.