After a late night I found that I had slept until 1250, but it was another hour or so before I decided to leave my warm bed. As Iceland Gulls and Glaucous Gulls have been showing almost everywhere, I decided to have a walk up to Swannie Ponds in the hope that one or more had decided to pop in. However, it was rather later than usual when I headed out, at around 1525. There was a chance that the gulls would already have gone to roost when I arrived, but a wee stretch of the legs was reason enough to head out.
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| Long Tailed Tit |
There were a few Herring Gulls around perched on the chimney pots nearby. A Dunnock was feeding below a bush in a garden, and a Black Headed Gull left its perch to fly off west. A Woodpigeon flew across the road in Court Street. A Carrion Crow was seen on Clepington Road, as were a few Feral Pigeons. Arriving at Swannie Ponds, I could hear Long Tailed Tits calling in the trees by the road. I first spotted a Blue Tit, before finding the 2 Long Tailed Tits that were calling.
On the mostly frozen pond were a number of Black Headed Gulls, a few Common Gulls and surprisingly fewer Herring Gulls than expected. On a small patch of unfrozen water, there were a small group of Mallards, a quartet of Moorhens, a single Goosander and a Coot. I scanned through the gulls looking for ringed birds. My attention was diverted by an alarm calling Blackbird which shot low across the grassy bank behind me and landed below a bush.
I did succeed in finding 4 ringed Black Headed Gulls - 2 Norwegian ringed regulars (Green JN69 and White J4U2) and 2 metal ringed birds which were too far away, and the light too low by now to be able to read anything from them. The Mute Swans were on a very small unfrozen patch of water at the corner of the lower pond and there was an interesting looking Common Gull with quite a dark collar on the ice. With the sun getting even lower in the sky, I decided to head for home, picking up a few flyover Redwings as I left the park, though I did grab a few Long Tailed Tit photos.
I chose a different route home and added Starlings and a few more Redwings as I passed the Morgan Academy. There were gulls streaming over, heading to roost as the sky grew more colourful, but only a possible Mistle Thrush flyover was seen before I made it home after roughly 45 minutes out.
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| Black Headed Gulls |
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| Black Headed Gulls |
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| Black Headed Gulls (incl. J4U2), Common Gull & Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gulls (2 ringed), Moorhen, Common Gull, Herring Gull & Mallard |
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| Black Headed Gulls, Mallard & Goosander |
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| Mallards & Coot |
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| Black Headed Gulls (incl. JN69) & Mallard |
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| Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls, Common Gull & Moorhen |
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| Common Gull |
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| Mute Swan & Mallard |
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| Common Gul |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gulls, Common Gull & Moorhen |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
17 species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Goosander, Herring Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Woodpigeon.
