Boxing Day - Bolton Abbey

For our boxing day walk we decided to head over to Bolton Abbey. I expected nothing outside of the but that there would be some nice species. There were a lot of the usual suspects, but also some less familiar species, such as Bullfinch which I caught briefly flying into the shrubbery, and also a Kingfisher at the end of the walk which was also a brief view but still an excellent species to see. I also had 3 Common Buzzards, which we heard calling first. There were an awful lot of Goosanders along the river, possibly up to 20 birds but it was difficult to tell. Either way its the most I have seen of them at this site before. I was lucky enough to get outstanding views of one as it came to the same side of the river as me. Sadly my photos did not match the quality of the view but I still got one that was half decent.

-Goosander

The undoubted highlight of the day and the first time I have seen the species here was a Woodcock that flew past me when I was scanning a field. I was amazed to have seen one, given that I only saw my first for the year a couple of weeks earlier. At least this one was less of a silhouette but the amount of detail I could make out as it whizzed past was sadly minimal. Either way though, it was a great bird to see and one of the best species I have ever seen at this site.

I also tried to get photos of some other commoner species to put the camera through a bit more testing. The light was very poor sadly and as such I failed with most of my attempted species (Coal Tit, Jackdaw, Nuthatch etc.) but I got a nice close up of some of the Mallard females which I can add to my library.

-Mallard

It was one of the best days birding I have ever had at this site, with some cracking species seen, the Woodcock being the undoubted highlight. Always a pleasure to see, that's for sure!

Species List:
Bolton Abbey: Bullfinch, Common Buzzard, Goosander, Mistle Thrush, Grey Heron, Goldcrest, Woodcock, Blue Tit. Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Black-Headed Gull, Nuthatch, Mallard, Kestrel, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Rook, Jackdaw, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Kingfisher, Magpie, Common Gull, Moorhen, Pheasant,