I was away from home for a week, and on the first day of my absence a Red-necked Grebe was found on Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park, Leeds. This is a bird I have only seen in the UK on a seawatch, and so even though my twitching days are pretty much behind me, I knew that this bird would have tempted me had I been in the UK when it was found. Alas, I was not and so I forgot about it. But as my return date drew nearer, and the bird remained in situ, it began to garner more of my attention until I finally got back.
Once I got home
early afternoon I immediately grabbed my optics and headed over to see the
bird. The bird had already been reported in the morning and I was certain it
would still be present during the afternoon. It did not take long to locate, and
spent the next hour showing very nicely close to the footpath around the lake. The
light conditions were challenging with quite a lot of glare on the surface for
photos, and at times even making it a challenge to pick out the bird when it
emerged from diving.
Given how poor my
last views of this species were in the UK, this was at the complete opposite
end of the spectrum. A fantastic bird to see!
On my drive back,
since I already had the car out, I decided to call in at Jay House Lane to pick
up Tree Sparrow for my Halifax year list. Having already dipped them twice this year,
I wanted to get them seen. So I was extremely relieved when I rocked
up to see a bird on the feeders there. It only had one eye which was a bit off,
but otherwise it was good to get them seen.
Roundhay Park: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Red-necked Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, European Robin,
Jay House Lane: Common Wood Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Common Blackbird, European Robin, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow,
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