Birding Group Visit to Pennington Flash 24th January 2012

Birding Group Visit to Pennington Flash 24th January 2012

Today the birding group was due to go to Redesmere but a poor weather forecast put a lot of people off given that there is no cover there, so instead we followed the usual standby plan which was to go to Pennington Flash where there are at least a few hides to, well, hide in ! Fortunately there are plenty of birds there for whom the weather is just water off a duck’s back. So we still had some good sightings despite the weather. There were even some songbirds around

with a flock of Goldfinches in the car park as well as a Robin in every tree, all singing loudly. We also saw a Pied Wagtail. Horrocks Hide had some Goosander, The Tom Edmonson hide had a very odd goose that was coloured more like a Pink-footed Goose but had the size and bill shape of a Greylag goose. It may have been a juvenile Greylag or a cross breed but, in any case, it was all on it’s own. There was also a Snipe there. The Ramsdale hide also had Goosander and Little Grebes and a small flock of Pochard. In the woods near the canal we saw a Kestrel and at the Teal hide we saw Gadwall. The Bunting hide was a little subdued in terms of numbers – possibly because of the heavy drizzle – but had all the usual birds including a Willow Tit. It was only after we had finished that I thought how unusual it was to have not seen a single Lapwing !

Bird Sightings : Horrocks Hide

Bird Sightings : Tom Edmonson Hide

Bird Sightings : Ramsdale Hide

Bird Sightings : Teal Hide

Bird Sightings : Bunting Hide