Had a walk around the Blue and Red courses over the last couple of days. The weather has been good for photography with lots of sunshine, but freezing cold. Yesterday was the first time that I have seen a large finch flock on the estate this winter. There were around 100 birds, moving between the 3rd and 9th on the Blue course. The flock seemed to consist mostly of Siskins, but with some Goldfinches and Chaffinches mixed in.
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| Siskin [3rd Blue] |
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| Goldfinch [3rd Blue] |
This group of Roe Deer also wandered past as I was watching the Siskins.
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| Roe Deer [3rd Blue] |
I always check out the gulls that I see on the reservoir or on the fairways. This is usually a tedious and unproductive task, but today I found a single bird that looked slightly different from the norm. I'm pretty sure that this is a Yellow-legged Gull. It is a species that is common around the Mediterranean and North Africa, but has expanded range recently. It is very similar to a Herring Gull. Its main identifying feature is its yellow legs - Herring Gulls usually have pink legs. The Yellow-legged Gull used to be considered a sub-species of the Herring Gull, but has recently been separated into a separate species.
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| Yellow-legged Gull [Reservoir] |
