Winter visitors

Well we are nearly at another year end and a year that I personally will be pleased to see the back of having spent the whole of the year disabled with Sciatica.  However there is light finally at the end of the tunnel and it does seem to be getting better and who knows by the time I finally get an appointment for a steroid injection it may have repaired itself and I can tell the Nhs where to stick its appointment!  So back to birding, we have been to seen two nationally very rare species recently an Ivory Gull at Patrington Haven and a small flock of Two-Barred Crossbills at Broomhead Reservoir in S Yorks which came within feet to drink constantly giving their nasally trumpet call.  Exceptionally good views were had of both species but in our new spirit of methodically studying the birds and forgetting about instantly grabbing the camera putting our blood pressure up we have no photos!  I have been studying birders at twitches this autumn and there is only a small percent that actually look through their scopes/bins and look at the bird most of them just spend the whole time frantically trying to get a photo and it had to be said on far too many occasions the noise of the camera shutters does scare the bird and don't get me started on some photographer's behavior.

On the garden front we are getting some good birds on the feeders with Nuthatches daily and a good mixed tit flock including Goldcrest and Treecreeper regularly passing through but the star of the winter has to be the daily bath time ritual of a Mistle Thrush at the pond.  It is a stunning bird and always brings its mate which curiously never plucks up the courage to come down to the pond but watches from the Yew Tree.  We regularly have Buzzards over the paddock and our resident Sparrowhawk chases birds around the garden but I suppose our most exciting Normanby visitor would have to be a Muntjac Deer which we have now seen twice at the bottom of the paddock.  With bulbs already poking their heads up spring is  just around the corner and weather permitting our Newts could be back in the pond in 5 or 6 weeks time.  It is only about a month ago that we had a pair of Great Diving Beetles mating in the pond which was fabulous to see but the ferocious larvae will not be good news for the Newts - life is just one never ending battle!