An Exciting Tick

We've had a couple of hot sunny days this week, it's meant i've been able to sit out in the garden after work and watch the birds, bees and butterflies. 

Sat on the bench yesterday evening I noticed a bird  flying over and almost dismissed it as a possible juvenile gull (which i'd never be able to identify!) but luckily I grabbed my camera and took a few distant shots and had a closer look. Then got a little bit excited but posted a few of the photos to twitter for confirmation first as I pretty much talked myself out of what I thought it would be - an Osprey!! What a patch tick and what a 'garden' tick too, a first for the patch and only my second sighting of one ever...........and from my garden bench.

Ok the photos aren't the best and are heavily cropped but who cares, it's an Osprey!!

So I have to say I am very happy this week!

There's also been Chiffchaffs in the garden too, the odd Butterfly when it was warm, gutter Starling is trying hard still to attract a mate, the Sparrows are gathering nest materials, i've been down to the woods a couple of times and it's just been a lovely week all round really.

Chiffchaff

Peacock Butterfly

Gutter Starling!

The other Starlings are busy splashing the water out of the bird bath as soon as I fill it.

A pair of Greenfinch briefly visited the feeders

We get Collared Doves, Feral Pigeons and Woodpigeons on a regular basis, one day maybe we'll get a Stock Dove

In the woods we've heard Chiffchaff and saw three Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other around. After thinking that the Jays had disappeared from the woods someone posted a picture of one a few weeks back and another couple found a Meadow Pipit on the Pit Hills, birds to look out for! 

The temperature has dropped down again now, the two days of sun were brief, we're looking a minus 1 and possible snow over Easter weekend. Not ideal for sitting in the garden on Osprey watch........

Bolton Abbey

Our traditional Easter visit to Bolton Abbey took place on the wettest day of the Easter weekend - great planning there!

I spotted my first Swallow of the year though as we turned onto the estate.

I thought we'd be a little early for some of the stars of the woods there - the Flycatchers, Redstarts and Wood Warblers although a gentleman we spoke to had seen one Pied Flychatcher and a couple of Redstarts. We thought we saw a Redstart but didn't see it for long enough to be sure, no Flycatcher though, it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack I think!

Not that it matters it's always a great walk around, even in the rain. Off the bat we spotted a Treecreeper by the river and there were lots of Tits around too. Pied and Grey Wagtails flitted about the rocks up and down the river, we saw plenty up to the Strid. A Mandarin sat on a rock and a Goosander and Cormorant flew past.

Once past there we saw Nuthatch, Song Thrush, heard Chiffchaff and saw a couple of Common Sandpiper. Nearer Barden Bridge we finally saw our first Dippers of the day, followed by a pair of Goosander. On the fields we saw Oystercatchers and Redshank. A few Sand Martins were flying about the banking.

The sun came out a little and it warmed up. The walk up the side of the river to the little hut was positively summer like! Though everything is still very wet.

Spot the birds!

We stopped at the hut for lunch with the birds who were out in abundance, along with a couple of mice who were running around the bricks. A lovely moment when we were joined by a GS Woodpecker that hung around for a while. We ended up sitting there almost an hour just enjoying the view and the birds.

We took a little detour up towards the Valley of Desolation but my back was screaming a little by this point so we ended up turning back before we got there. We did see some black rabbits around the edges of the fields and heard a couple of Chiffchaffs.  Of course the lambs caught our eye, you can't miss them!

I spotted a large bird of prey high up over the hillside, actually two but I only got a decent look at one of them, first thought Buzzard because of the size, then I realised it was not Buzzard like, too much white underneath, the wings were mostly bent, It stayed pretty far away and went behind the hill a couple of times, I snapped few really bad photos, I had an idea what it was but wanted to double check first, managed to tidy up the photos just enough to get confirmation on the bird ID group on Facebook - Osprey!! My first one ever! To say i'm pleased is an understatement!

What a great end to our walk!!

That and my 11yr old constantly talking about how amazing it was that she got such close views of the Woodpecker made my day!