Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and the first Chiffchaff of the year

Its been some time since I've written a blog post due to the mountain of work that I had to assail in order to to reach the pinnacle of that greatest peak in the University mountain range; Dissertation. I thought about writing a post while making camp about two thirds of the way up but when I sat down to write my post I realised I had nothing to write about. All I had seen for the most of February was the inside of a University computer room. 

But alas! The summit was reached last week and I've since had a safe descent. This meant I was able to get out last weekend where I went birding with my Grandad to see Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at the same place we went last year. It took a while to locate but we eventually found it, doing what I think was nest excavation.

We also saw a pair of Pink Footed Geese in the fields, as well as a nice pair of Mandarin and seeing and hearing my first Chiffchaff of the year. As there was last year, there was also a Canada/Greylag Goose with a white neck and head and orange beak. It was joined by another similar looking bird and I can only assume that they are hybrids between a wild bird and domesticated ones.

The hybrid geese. Either Canada or Greylag crossed with domestic geese.

The following day I helped run a bird ringing demonstration in the glorious sunshine of Creswell Crags. We didn't catch much, I think our tally finished on around 10, but everybody who came to watch seemed to really enjoy themselves and were most friendly. We caught our first Chiffchaff of the year though which was nice. 

First Chiffchaff ringed of the year

 However the main enjoyment for me came from the chocolate orange cake served in the gift shop which was absolutely superb!

Old Moor - Peregrine, ducks and a pale coloured Buzzard...

Juvenile Peregrine sat obligingly on an island mound

 So I'm in Leeds for the next term of my final year at university. Unfortunately due to all the time spent doing my final year dissertation, I haven't managed to get out birding over my first week back.

I hope to visit either St. Aidans/Swillington Ings very soon but I didn't want to leave it too long before making another blog post so I have some pictures I digiscoped at Old Moor a couple of weeks ago to show you.

There were plenty of Shoveler about

The juvenile Peregrine gave us fantastic views as it sat for ages on one of the islands in the middle of the main scrape after it had whizzed around the lake a few times being chased by screaming gulls.

The visit to Old Moor proved a welcome year boosting trip as many species were added to my fledging list. Unfortunately the heavy rain we have received meant that the scrapes contained too much water to have any waders about, but the plethora of wildfowl and the Peregrine made up for it. My list currently stands at around 65 species for the year so far and, with most of the common birds down, I expect it to grow slowly until the summer migrants arrive.

Teal, one of my favourite ducks we get in the UK

While at Old Moor we did spot a raptor flying over the trees far beyond the scope that I immediately took for being a Buzzard. I got it in the scope which revealed it had extensive light plumage on its breast and tail. Now I know that you get light colour morphs of Buzzard, and thats what I put it down as in the end, but it was a tantalizing prospect that this may be a Rough Legged Buzzard, an occasional winter visitor from Northern Europe. The first rule of birding; if you are undecided what it is, go for the commonest one! There were two other birders that saw it as well as me and my grandad and whilst one was happy to take it as a light Common Buzzard, the other was sure it's tail was too long and wasn't convinced.

Maybe, just maybe...