0353 : Snapshot From Home (18/12/16)

So far this December I haven't done any birding. There are reasons for this that I won't go into here, but it has meant that once again my year-list has fizzled out rather than gone out with a bang. There are some really good birds around, but they just aren't really feasible using public transport when daylight is limited. The Eastern Black Redstart in Lothian is probably the best of these birds but there are other less spectacular species around.

Herring Gull

I had some things to drop off at the nearby recycling bins today so on one of my rare forays outside this month (other than for work), I unintentionally found myself birding. I'd seen a Woodpigeon fly over on my way to the bins and the local Herring Gulls were calling to each other from rooftops opposite each other. The local Feral Pigeon flock had circled round a few times as well. However, when I crossed back over the road from the bins, I heard an unmistakable bird call, and looked up and behind me, just in time to see a large-ish flock (maybe between 50-100, but possibly more) of Waxwings flyover at rooftop height. I was able to see roughly where they were headed (southwest towards Dens Road) but quickly lost sight of them as they passed over some nearby flats. I had a quick search in nearby trees laden with berries but the birds had overflown these. I did however pick up a pair of Chaffinches in trees near Gussie Park.

Once home I decided to see if there was anything else of interest from my window. It was more of the same however - Feral Pigeons and Herring Gulls mostly. A rather chubby looking Woodpigeon was perched atop a nearby TV aerial. I could hear some of the local House Sparrows chirping away, but couldn't see them. A Goldfinch flew over on its own. A few minutes later I picked up another distinctive winter call - Redwings. A small group of 5 flew south. The alarm call of a Blackbird rang out but there was no sign of it otherwise. Gulls and pigeons milled around as if spooked by something but again my limited view meant it went unseen.

A few more Goldfinches passed over, and another larger group of 8-10 Redwings passed by. A Woodpigeon flew in to land on a roof further north and when I had a quick look through binoculars I added Carrion Crow to the rather short list. I took a few photos of a Herring Gull on a chimney stack so I had something to illustrate this short blog post and just as I was checking the photos I heard Waxwings and saw a smaller flock of around 20 or so heading east over some nearby tenements. A few minutes later, something spooked the local Carrion Crows and a trio of them departed in three different directions. A Starling landed on the chimney vacated by the Herring Gull I had been photographing and I took a couple of photos before once again, being alerted by Waxwing calls. The larger flock seen earlier (I assume) headed back eastwards towards Court Street/Mains Loan but as the P900 struggles with flight shots in good conditions the resultant grab shot showed some vaguely Waxwing coloured/shaped blurred shapes.

A pretty decent 20 minutes or so of lazy birding from my window on a rather mild winter's day produced a list of only 9 species but Waxwings, and slightly less so, Redwings are always a welcome sight. Waxwings were already on my house list but today's flock is the biggest group I've seen so close to home.

Herring Gull

Starling

Waxwings (honest!)

The 9 species seen - Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Waxwing, Woodpigeon. 2 heard only - Blackbird and House Sparrow.