Sunday 17 January 2010

Pants!

Today's my birthday......37 since you ask.

I normally like to be somewhere warm for my birthday, but today I was not only in the UK but also had to go to work! It wasn't too bad though as work today was assisting on a press trip for a journo from 'Birdwatch' magazine to the Druridge area.

I met Dave and Martin Kitchen at Druridge at 11.00 am, it was a nice sunny morning, in total contrast to yesterday. There was a light westerly wind and a bit cold, but generally very nice. As we walked to the Oddie hide, we spotted this rather skimpy pair of red pants hanging in the tree by the little hide - welcome to Druridge Pools!



You would have thought has been far to cold for any of that carry-on!

There was lots of wildfowl back on the pool after the big freeze, including seven goldeneye and ten pochar, offshore there were at least 15 red-throated divers, a guillie, a couple of razorbills and 60 or so common scoter further north. These feathers were on the path to the oddie hide, they look like they've come of a game bird, pheasant was my guess, but I'm not good at feather ID - any thoughts?


We took David for lunch at the Country Barn at Widdrington, stopping to see this family of the whooper swans on the way, then to Cresswell Pond where a nice barn owl was showing off and a skein of 800 or so pink-feeted geese came over. At the north end there was a covey of 16 grey partridge, good to see they, and two stonechats, survived the freeze.



Then it was back to Druridge for me to the WeBS count, hightlights were 281 teal, 124 wigeon, 2 shoveler, 81 tufted ducks, 35 curlew and 27 redshank.

A few more year ticks today too.

51 grey partridge
52 whooper swan
53 mute swan
54 stonechat
55 twite
56 coal tit
57 chaffinch
58 woodpigeon
59 guilliemot
60 razorbill
61 starling
62 shoveler
63 little grebe

4 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Feather looks like a red legged partridge, not sure about the pants though!

The Liverbirder said...

The red pants? An ideal accompaniment for BB's camo tu-tu?

Steve Lowe said...

There's a tree at QE2 which has a different bra on it everytime I visit! Perhaps this is a hybrid.

Ipin said...

I have it on good advice that the feathers are from a pheasant...the pants are probably from a pro!