Adding to the list

This post will be fairly picture heavy as I go about recapping various birds that have been added to my year list so far.

Before I get started with bird watching though, I'll start with a lifer bird for me in regards of bird ringing.

Any guesses?

If any of you have managed to guess what they are based on the above pictures then I am remarkably impressed and you may need to consider spending less time knee deep in rivers wading around under bridges. That clue should have really given it away - they are Dipper chicks. 

We'd previously visited them a few days earlier and they were too small to ring but we judged the days and size they would get too accurately and came back when they were more the correct size. Only one had been lost over the 5 days that passed and if a healthy brood of four fledges then it will be judged a pretty good success. Fingers crossed they all make it!

Now, back to the bird watching.

A visit to Lound Gravel Pits a couple of weeks ago turned up the first House Martins of the year as well as Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Oystercatcher and Ruff making it a very worthwhile trip. It was probably a bit early for Turtle Doves (although I didn't really have a good look) but I was able to spot the other specialty of the site that remains present all year round; Red Crested Pochard. I didn't realise until recently that the majority of the UK population are escapes, I just thought they were native but only very localised. As this population is fairly large and present all year round then I assume it must have been founded by captive birds some years ago.

Finally I visited the RSPB's Old Moor a couple of days ago with my grandparents where we decided to take the track that skirts round the edge of the reserve rather than visit the hides as we usually do. It proved a very nice walk and with sightings of two Black Necked Grebe on Bolton Ings, I can't complain at all. After finishing the walk me and my Grandad decided to head into the reserve to do an hours quick blitz to target some new species for the year. We chose to go for the main path on the reserve to aim for Mediterranean Gull and Gargeny over the path that possibly offered Green Sandpiper and Bittern and, although we missed the Gargeny, we were successful in our hunt for the Mediterranean Gull as well as hearing our first Cuckoo of the year.

Can you see it?

There were hundreds of Black Headed Gulls screaming and wheeling round as well as the countless birds nesting on all the islands, making the search for the Med. Gull a needle in a haystack job where the needle is also straw coloured. A site like Old Moor is really a site where telescopes come into their own and after a scan across the colony the Med Gull was located. You can tell the difference as they have a darker head that is black rather than chocolate brown of the Black Headed Gull and the black covers much more of the head on the Med Gull. It's bill is also thicker and a much more vibrant red. Still, a pretty pleasing spot if I do say so myself!

Not a brilliant picture, but you can see the jet black head.