A Successful Morning at Pennington Flash

Yesterday I went out to Pennington Flash with my new hide clamp for my spotting scope and camera. It was a revelation to see how much better the clamp made my scope - I could now see clearly without my eyelashes getting in the way and without needing to hold the scope still on a flimsy tripod. I would thoroughly recommend a decent hide clamp to everyone - it makes your other equipment seem much better.

At Horrocks Hide I spotted and positvely identified the following ducks and birds:

• Teal (two Male and Female pairs)
• Goosander
• Goldenye (two Male and Female pairs)
• Tufted Duck (Male and Female)
• Great Crested Grebe
• Grey Heron
• Mallard (Male and Female pairs)
• Canada Goose
• Moorhen
• Coot
• Redshank (a single Male and Female pair)
• Cormorant
• Lapwing (Peewit)
• Black Headed Gull
• Mute Swan

From Pengy's Hide I spotted:

• Shoveler (Male and Female)
• Gadwall
• Coot
• Moorhen
• Tufted Duck (Male and Female)

From Lapwing Hide I saw:

• Tufted Duck
• Gadwall
• Coot

And from Bunting Hide (the Feeding Station) I saw:

• Bullfinch
• Robin
• Blackbird
• Blue Tit
• Coal Tit
• Willow Tit
• Long Tailed Tit
• Corn Bunting
• Greenfinch
• Chaffinch
• Dunnock
• Magpie
• Stock Dove
• Moorhen

... and a lone rat!

Thanks to all those anonymous birdwatchers who helped me spot and identify the Redshank, Goldeneye and Gadwall which I'd not previously seen here before.

Two Skylarks

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Here's an action picture of two skylarks 'larking about'! I took this while geocaching at Cow Hill just of Plodder Lane in Farnworth, Bolton. First of all I could hear the birds way up in the sky singing their characteristic song, but I couldn't see them. Then I saw them diving to the ground, before eventually landing and walking about in the grass.

After a while they'd ascend almost vertically (the Lark ascending) way up high to become almost invisible again before repeating the dive again. It was a great sight on a beautifully sunny February day.

Species: Skylark
Date: February 2010
Location: Cow Hill, Bolton, Lancashire

Collared Doves

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Collared doves always seems to go around all 'lovey dovey' in pairs - ah, ain't that sweet?

Species: Collared Dove

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Pheasant

Double-click the picture to enlarge it

 
It was quite a surprise to see this pheasant turn up in the Bunting Hide.

Species: Pheasant

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Greenfinch

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Looks more yellow than green to me!

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Species: Greenfinch

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Chaffinch

This is a male chaffinch:

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

But are these females ?

Species: Chaffinch
Date: 30 January 2010
Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Great Spotted Woodpecker

I really wasn't expecting to see a Greater Spotted Woodpecker here.

Species: Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

.

Blue Tit

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Species: Blue Tit

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Dunnock

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

The Dunnock used to be called the Hedge Sparrow and it's easy to see why. They can easily be mistaken for sparrows.

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Species: Dunnock

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Bullfinch

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

I can't believe how colourful the male Bullfinches are.

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Species: Bullfinch

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Song Thrush or Mistle Thrush?

Species: Thrush

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Wren

This brave little wren flew right next to me inside the hide and started fluttering away in the top corners of the roof. Although I knew it was inside the hide it was so dark that I couldn't see it, so I just fired a few shots off with my camera. I was really pleased to get a few great results like these shown here.

It turns out that the wren eats mainly insects and it was searching for spiders in the webs in the top corners of the hide.

Species: Wren
Date: December 2009
Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Robin

I have never seen so many robins in one place as there are at Bunting Hide. There must be at least ten of them here.

Species: Robin

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Long Tailed Tit

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

I didn't realise how pinkish these little birds were until I took these photographs today. I really like the symmetrical three-pointed shape the birds shown below are making.

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Species: Long Tailed Tit

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Great Tit

Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

Here's a wonderful picture of a Great Tit taken from the Bunting Hide at Pennington Flash. It's just about the closest photo I've managed to take so far.

Species: Great Tit

Date: 30 January 2010

Location: Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire

Brambling

This LBJ (little brown job) looks quite like a chaffinch but when it appeared at the Bunting Hide the other birders went mad trying to photograph it. Apparently it's a visitor from Scandinavia and this was its first appearance this year.

Welcome

Hi, this is just a place where I'll be posting some occasional photos and comments about my amateur bird-watching exploits. I'll do my best to identify the birds but I'd appreciate any corrections or comments you'd care to make about them. I'll be starting with a series of pictures taken at Pennington Flash in Leigh, Lancashire, north-west England.