Saturday 8 December 2012

A sunny winter's day's birding

Today I enjoyed a productive day out in beautiful sunshine with Liam Langley. We planned to look for the Velvet Scoters at Island Barn but couldn't find a good viewing spot, so left for Gosport after seeing a Green Sandpiper drop in. In Walpole Park, Gosport, the Ring-billed Gull showed spectacularly; this was a first for Liam and the second individual I've seen. On the way back to the Banstead area we called in for the Great Grey Shrike which showed, albeit distantly, without much of a wait at Thursley Common (my first attempt for one in Surrey). After this we had another look for the Velvet Scoters, finding a viewing point but only seeing two Green Sandpipers, a Lesser Redpoll and a few Wigeons of any note (plus a heard-only Water Rail).






all above: Ring-billed Gull, Gosport

Great Grey Shrike, Thursley