Redpolls at Little Marlow GP

 Seen on a walk around the lake.  At least five were present with one or two Siskins and feeding in Alders.  This is best described as an uncommon visitor to the lake area, so nice to see them.

Redpoll - One of the five or so present.

Red-necked Grebe at Harefield GP

It has been many years since I saw a Red-necked Grebe in my home county of Buckinghamshire and rather annoyingly this individual was 100 metres or so the wrong side of the border (in the Greater London area)!  It had been present at Harefield No 4 Lake  since 6th January.

I parked in Denham Country Park and walked from the park, along the Grand Union Canal and over a bridge to No 4 Lake.  The bird was regularly diving in a fairly small area of the lake.  I managed to get some video of it sat on the surface and diving.

Red-necked Grebe - Between dives and about 50 metres distant.

Cattle Egret at Dorney Common

 This Cattle Egret has been present in the area since 30th October but easily overlooked as it likes to frequent the calving field at the back of the farm.  It was initially timid as it was feeding but when it perched on this wooden frame it allowed a closer approach.

A short video clip of the Cattle Egret

Whooper Swan at Little Marlow

 This single Whooper Swan was found at Little Marlow Gravel Pit on 12th November.  This is a good date as other birds have been seen elsewhere over the past few days as they arrive from their breeding grounds.  The bird was just sat on the water, calling from time to time.  It flew to the other side of the lake when a rather aggressive looking Mute Swan approached it.

Whooper Swan 

This is my first record of this species at the site since 1973!!

A short video clip of the Swan, flying away a short distance after it was 

approached by a Mute Swan

Pintail at Little Marlow

 This Pintail was found feeding in the NW arm of the gravel pit.  This is an uncommon visitor to the site.

Lapland Bunting at Staines Reservoir

With a Lapland Bunting showing at extremely close range for a second day at Staines Reservoir,it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.  The bird had been seen towards the eastern end of the causeway, so I approached from that direction and soon met a number of birders who were watching the bird at a range down to 5 metres!

Lapland Bunting - Presumably feeding on unseen seeds.

From time to time the bird would flush and often appear in between the fence uprights
before returning to feed.

A short video clip of the Lapland Bunting

Staines Reservoir is a good place to see Black-necked Grebes during the Autumn and Winter.  I soon saw one about 50 metres from the Bunting and started taking photos.  I was then told that there were three towards the west end of the causeway, so I wandered along and soon found six more, all fairly close together.  Unfortunately I could only get photos of three together.

Black-necked Grebes - They were constantly moving about and diving,

A short video clip of the Black-necked Grebes

Whale Watching - Tenerife

A couple of days after my visit to the Laurel Forest, the whole family (eight of us) hired a yacht and skipper for a trip out of Player de las Americas in search of the Pilot Whales that are resident there.  The depth of the sea between Tenerife and La Gomera goes down to over 2000 metres and the Pilot Whales hunt for Squid in the deeper waters.

We reached the area for the Whales after an hours trip and soon picked up a fin in the water.  We moved closer and had some good views.  After a while we were about to leave the area when Tai, our skipper, saw some more nearby, so we headed towards these and had some fantastic close views.

A video clip of the Pilot Whales.  Towards the end there is a larger group swimming past.

Apart from the Whales I was also looking for seabirds.  I managed to find a few Cory's Shearwaters but all were fairly distant and sat on the water.

Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull - These were very common around the coast and are clearly very similar to the Yellow-legged Gulls that occur from time to time at my local gravel pit.

We had good opportunities for some flight shots after the Whale watching when we moored in a bay for swimming.  The Gulls approached very closely for food and would even snatch tit-bits from the hand.