At last we have managed to get out to look for some birds! Belvide is our local patch in England and usually holds a good variety of birds on the lake, in the woods and in the surrounding fields. Our first stop was at the Scott hide where a fellow birder pointed out a Willow Warbler in some bushes just outside the hide. A scan of the lake found plenty of Tufted Duck, Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe. I sensed some movement below the hide and when I looked down there were loads of frogs moving about in the water. On to the next hide where a nice Gadwall swam past and a Dunnock showed well on top of a low bush, singing well. From here we could see severalCanada Geese and 3 Mute Swans took off and flew in front of us. We moved to the Gazebo hide which overlooks several feeding stations as well as giving a veiw over the lake. The feeders and bird table were very busy, withBlue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Blackbird, Dunnock and a Nuthatch all visiting the area. We stayed there being entertained well for a while before we set off back towards the exit. On the way back we had great views of a Wren singing from a low perch before it disappeared into deep cover. We met our birder friend again and he told us there were Fieldfare and Redwing on the nearby fields so we scrambled through the bushes to have a look at them. It was strange that we had not seen any of these birds during our visits in January or February, so I was pleased to add them to this year’s list. We stopped at the excellent woodland feeding area which always holds good numbers of birds. The usual feeder visitors were in evidence along with a few others, namely Marsh/Willow tit, Coal tit and a Brambling. It had been a good morning and we both felt better for having had a bit of ‘birding therapy’!
Species list – Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Buzzard, Coot, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Willow Warbler, Long tailed Tit, Marsh/Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Crow, Tree sparrow, Brambling, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.