Birding Group Visit To Dunham Massey 11th December 2012

Birding Group Visit To Dunham Massey 11  December 2012

The last day of the birding group “term” was to Dunham Massey where we had a long walk and then everyone stopped over for lunch and a planning session for the next term. It was a very cold but beautifully bright morning with clear blue skies and frost underfoot. We met at the car park from where we started off with a Buzzard on a tree in the near distance and then set off down Farm Walk to the end then turned left on the path and crossed over Main Drive on to the end of Charcoal Drive. We then came main down Charcoal Drive to the main building complex.

As we came down Farm Walk we came across a small flock of Redwing and then a little further along a few Long-tailed Tits with several – or at least two – Goldcrests amongst them, showing very well and, apart from flitting from branch to branch, staying pretty much in the same place long enough to get really good views. Corvids were well represented with Carrion Crow and Jackdaws in abundance. There were also plenty of Jays and Magpies. There were  the usual woodland birds, Robin, Great and Blue Tits, Wren and Chaffinch but there were also lots of Nuthatches and a few Treecreepers.

We could hear several Mistle Thrushes and we saw probably three or four as well as one Song Thrush – there were probably many more.As we turned left at the end of Farm Walk we saw a female Kestrels and at the end of the perimeter path where it meets Charrcoal Drive we encountered another – different – female. On Charcoal Drive there were more Redwings, Nuthatches and Treecreepers.

As we passed near the small lake on the right side of Charcoal Drive we encountered two Mute Swans that were walking slowly but surely in the direction of the pool – presumably they had come from the larger lake to the left side in search of some open water. Flying would probably be too energetic because the air was completely still and they may not have even been able to take off. Anyway, they were probably going to be disappointed because most of the water was frozen and only the constant moving around of Coots, Mallards and Black-headed Gulls kept a small area right in the centre of the lakes unfrozen. It’s a tough life for them but for us, we could go straight to the cafe for lunch and the planning meeting for the next term.

Bird Sightings : Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey