Green Woody & Lesser Black-backed Gull added to my year list.

Tuesday 9th January 2024.

This female Blackbird allowed me a close approach as she fed on the Ivy berries in Highland Road Cemetery this morning.

Well, the temperature has most certainly dropped this week. It was much brighter today than yesterday where we had several sleet showers during the day as temperatures plummeted down to around 3 degrees and with the wind chill coming from the north-east, it was easily around -2 degrees! This morning was ACTUALLY colder, with a bitter north-easterly blowing, it felt like minus 5 degrees! I was frozen after my first shift! Despite the cold weather, I notched up 17 species yesterday during my two spells at Pembroke Road, that included a small flock of 7 Brent Geese settling early morning on Governor’s Green!

Above, a record photo (taken from my mobile phone) of the 7 Brent Geese on Governor's Green this morning at 8am. Below, a couple of Starlings on a Chimney Pot at the southern end of the Cemy.

Above, a flock of Goldfinches flying over the Cemetery and below, my first sighting of the Green Woodpecker this year. This species took several months to be seen in the Cemetery at the beginning of last year, so I was very pleased they were here today.

Today, the Brent Geese were back there again and probably the same 7 birds as yesterday. I only managed 15 species this morning, though the Jay showed well briefly. When I got home, I was a bit hesitant at first as I needed to really thaw out, but I did take the dogs for their walk around Highland Road Cemetery, which actually paid off with two new species added to my year list; a Green Woodpecker and a Lesser Black-backed Gull, which currently puts me on 99 species for the year. What will be the 100th?

Above, the female Blackbird listening out for anything tasty and below, the male Blackbird turning over the leaf litter on a grave.

Above and below, this Wren was rather showy this morning for such a skulking bird.

19 species were recorded in Highland Road Cemetery this morning, despite the freezing temperatures and I was well pleased in seeing my first Green Woodpecker of the year fly south across the Cemetery and land up in one of the Chestnut trees. It called a couple of times as I soon carried on with my walk. Seconds later, I clocked a Lesser Black-backed Gull flying low over the Cemy heading south towards the houses. It got close enough for me to ID the bird comfortably and also add to my year list. Excellent. However, I think the best sighting of the trip here was the female Blackbird eating Ivy berries just several feet away from me (see photo above). I had raised my camera very slowly to not flush the bird, then it allowed me to take some nice photos of it in the sunshine. A 'charm' of Goldfinch, numbering around a dozen birds, flew over the Cemy and landed in nearby trees and a pair of Chaffinches also flew overhead, heading northbound. There were a few hardy plants still in flower, notably Smooth Sow-thistle and a few Daisies, but, as expected, no insects at all on the wing.  

The birds recorded this morning within the Cemetery included the following:

• Herring Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon
• Collared Dove
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit 
• Goldcrest
• Blackbird
• Starling
• Wren
• Robin
• Green Woodpecker
• Goldfinch
• Greenfinch
• Chaffinch
• Magpie
• Carrion Crow 

The Northern Waterthrush at Heybridge in Essex. Photo by Steve Arlow with more photos at  http://www.facebook.com/steve.arlow.71

Last week, arguably the UK’s rarest bird turned up in someone’s back garden in Heybridge, Essex. It turned out to be a Northern Waterthrush, an American species that has since attracted some large crowds to see this superb little bird. These really are very rare in the UK and had a couple of ‘Lazee’s’ going down there to grab a ‘lifer’ on their life list. It is still present today and yes, I am really tempted to go for it this weekend if it is still around, but with this cold weather settling in, I wouldn't be surprised for it to depart to a warmer area. Anyway, there have been some lovely photos of the bird and some good film footage of it too. Many thanks to Steve Arlow for allowing me to put his superb photo of the bird on my blog.