With the weather turned against me for the day, with rain and strong winds, I decided to avoid Soil Hill and instead do my various tasks in Halifax, and then continue along the Cromwell Bottom to have a look at the now three Scaups that have taken up winter residence on the Ski Lake.
When I arrived I first went to La Casa but couldn’t make out any Scaup on the water, although it was nice to see the Goldeneye still present, and count an impressive 21 Grey Herons dotted around the edge of the lake. With no sign there, I headed down to the canal path to see if they were sheltering on the far side of the lake, the near side from La Casa.
And that is indeed where I found them, with the three Scaups nestled into a small group of Tufted Ducks. The male Scaup is now looking much more dapper than when I first saw him at the end of the autumn last year, with his grey back now nearly completely moulted through. The females looked much the same. Always good to appreciate these birds locally when I can, especially given the decline in wintering Scaups in the UK.
Cromwell Bottom: Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Goosander, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, European Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Eurasian Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin,
No comments:
Post a Comment