Sunday 26th March, 2017

Blackcap singing at Washout Pit. 2 Avocets in private quarry (no access, sorry) (GR)
Great spotted woodpecker on feeder at Hayden Hide (D Stewart)

Blackcap (RSPB)

Saturday 25th March 2017

Chiff-chaff, marsh harrier, gadwall, heron, gt.crested grebe.
Muntjac, peacock butterfly and brimstone. (RSPB Group)

Great Crested Grebes (PK Smith)

Friday 24th March 2017

Goosander, kingfisher and drumming woodpeckers at the River Viewpoint. (JWS)
6 Scaup (3 m + 3 fm) from Kingfisher Hide. Chiff-chaffs singing. (RSB)

Chiff-chaff (PK Smith)

Thursday 23rd March 2017

Goldeneye pair. (PK Smith)

Tortoiseshell, brimstone, white-tailed, red-tailed and buff tailed bumble bees, honey bees and many solitary bees. (GFF)

Scaup, chiff-chaff, goldeneyes.

19th March 2017

7 + Sandmartins on the Meadow Trail. (A Harrold)
8 Pochard, buzzard, 8 goldeneyes, Cetti's warbler, water rail, 5 teal, 8 yellowhammer, jay, 7 scaup, 7 bullfinch, 3 kingfisher, 12 chiff-chaff, 53 widgeon 158 tufted duck. (Anon)


Buzzard by Phil PK Smith.

18th March 2017

Jay and male siskin near Rory's Wood/ Parish Boundary Wood. (Phil PK Smith)

Siskin by Phil Smith

Jay by Phil Smith

16th March 2017

Spring migrants are arriving! First chiff chaff reported by Phil Smith. Have you seen a sand martin yet?

Chiff chaff (Phil PK Smith)

The Third Thursday Walk produced a good list that included five scaup on the Heronry Lakes (8 earlier).   Some female tufted ducks have a scaup-like face and some female pochards can be very pale too, but when you get a group like this there's no argument.

Scaup at Grafham Water (Ian Dawson, Cambridge Bird Club)

15th March 2017

The Great Grey shrike was seen again, this time near the beach on the Ouse Valley Way. It's definitely worth a walk to see it.

11th March 2017

South Heronry Lake: 3 Goldeneye (1f 2m), Marsh tit, 4 Scaup (1f 3m)

Moorings: Goosander (m)

Farmland (SE): Red Kite (Eduardo Lopez Salas)

Marsh tit (Phil PK Smith)

 

10th March 2017

Great grey shrike  at the moorings today, photographed by Phil (PK) Smith. It flew over the river towards Great Paxton. This is not a first sighting for Paxton Pits, but extremely unusual. There are at least two others in the county.

Great grey shrike. (Phil PK Smith)

28th February 2017

Heronry South: Post 17, possible ring-billed gull. These American birds are hard to tell from common gulls but not impossible. Keep looking! (C Bailey)

Ring billed gull, New Hampshire (Jim Stevenson)

26th February 2017

Heronry Lakes: 12 shovellers in a "feeding wheel." 36 cormorant nests occupied. It looks like some have been wrecked by storm Doris. (Trevor Gunton)

Shovellers by Phil (PK) Smith.