Feb/March Locals

31^st January 2026 produced plenty of geese (but of the ‘wrong’ kind) and two very nice Grey Partridge which posed for the camera close to the road. (It’s not often I find a confiding bird like these ones, so I felt I needed to make the most of the chance.) February and March were spent chasing round after scarce geese and a female Smew, and checking up on the status of Willow Tit. Russian White-fronted Geese continued to hit the headlines across the county with a late-winter influx: parties of single-figure birds were soon forgotten as flocks as large as 200+ became the norm. (They were also regularly seen in front of the house.) Another star of the show spotted from the conservatory window was Great Egret on a rather chilly Valentine’s Day, species number 118 for the house list! Sadly, it had disappeared by the time I’d got my camera. The 16^th February saw the return of the semi-resident Spoonbill allowing me to get some pretty satisfying shots, some of my best of this species in fact.

The following day (17^th) began with a lovely Stonechat, and I also caught up with a huge mixed flock of geese that sadly landed out of site in an inaccessible field. Patience may not have yielded the shots of geese I had hoped for; instead, I stumbled across a stunning Barn Owl, which I enjoyed watching for some time as it hunted along the hedgerows.

On the 28^th February, I made a trip a little further afield and managed to locate, after a bit of a struggle, a long-staying (but elusive) female Smew. Hard enough to spot but even harder to photograph, this little gem kept its distance most of the time, but I did eventually manage to get close enough for a photo. It also gave good views whenever it took flight and circled the pools before landing again.

On 3^rd March, I eventually caught up with another local rarity and a new county tick for me. The bird(s) in question was/were proving elusive, with singles being spotted at random locations, never to be seen in the same spot again. Anyway, my persistence paid off when a return visit at last produced the goods. And I was especially chuffed to re-locate it myself – amongst 1000s of other geese. When I latched onto it, it stood out like a sore thumb: larger than the surrounding Pink-feet, with bright orange legs and, crucially, a distinctive orange lower mandible: this had to be the elusive bird I was looking for, not the Tundra Bean Goose I had already seen this winter but Taiga Bean Goose!

Annoyingly, the heat haze made photography difficult, and all of my shots suffered as a consequence. Still, some careful editing enabled me to produce some decent record shots – my first of this species outside central Scotland. The 14^th March was one of the few bright days over this period, and I made the most of it by paying my first visit of the year to a local reserve, and this turned out to be a rather successful trip. I arrived at about 9.30am and set up my feeders in the usual spot. The typical species soon arrived as anticipated including Treecreeper, which posed brilliantly for the camera – in fact, I got some of my best shots ever of this species.

I also enjoyed more common species (the usual tits) and got some nice images of these too. But then came the icing on the cake: amongst the usual bird calls, I heard the distinctive buzzing I had longed for: there was no doubt about it – Willow Tit! And before long, I had stunning views of this delightful little creature, albeit the same individual I had seen in previous years. (I am guessing this is the only bird left at this site these days, sadly.)

The light was perfect, and once it had got used to my presence and got a taste for the sunflower hearts, it returned repeatedly and showed very well, allowing me to take some of my best shots of this species. A perfect end to the morning!