Trip reports
Stockgrove Country Park by Brian Lloyd
Monday, 1 January 2007
Heavy rain over the previous couple of days had made some of the paths a bit soggy, so we started by walking up the road, seeing great spotted woodpeckers, mistle thrushes, and the delightful redpolls performing their acrobatics in the silver birches on the way.
Round the back of the park, the larch trees were carefully scrutinised in the hope that there might be some crossbills feeding on the seeds in the tree tops. Unfortunately, there weren't any, and in fact the wood seemed somewhat lacking in birdlife.
So it was on to the lake, where about 30 Mandarin ducks flew past us, and we wondered if this was to be our only sighting of them. No so! There were a few left on the island and amongst the logs on the far side: the speckled grey ducks with their white eye stripe, and the almost surreal drakes. As Grace said on looking at them through the telescope "Someone's painted them!"
Next, the bridge over the stream with the continuous flow of tits going back and forth, attracted by the copious amounts of seed and peanuts on the fence rails which people had put out for them. Nearby a couple of treecreepers spiralled up the tree trunks.
Finally, back near the car park another treecreeper, a goldcrest and a confiding nuthatch, first in the trees and then taking peanuts from the posts on the side of the path, not at all bothered by the continuous stream of people passing by.
A lovely way to spend the morning of New Year's Day!
Brian Lloyd