Country Parks

Out with Mark and Andy yesterday and we started the day at Clumber Park hoping for Hawfinch, got some close views of a couple of Buzzards on the approach road but although this used to be a prime winter site for Hawfinch they have become rather scarce in recent years and there was no sign of any this morning the best we had was a Green Woodpecker typically playing hide and seek. After a couple of hours we moved on to Rufford CP to search for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker with maybe another chance of seeing Hawfinch, we should have come here first as a pair apparently had showed well in the trees by the car park early morning and apart from Mark getting a brief view of one before it was chased off by a Great Spotted they didn’t show again while we were there. We gave up early afternoon and headed off to Blacktoft for the Raptor roost stopping off at Wroot on the way where Nine Bewick's and 50+ Whooper Swans were in fields near there, but no Geese with them today, Blacktoft was fairly quiet though and even the roost only produced seven Marsh and one ringtail Hen Harrier plus a single Barn Owl.

Winter Swans at Wroot

Big flock of Goldies in a field near Blacktoft

the light had all but gone by the time the Barn Owl came out