This afternoon I met up with local photographer & fellow local wildlife enthusiast Dave Williams (aka Spenells Pensioner) to go and view the ever increasing wintering Linnet flock at Stanklyn fields. The flock has steadily grown as autumn/winter progressed. Back on 24th November 2020 I recorded c.700 there and on this very morning Dave had recorded over a 1000. In a normal winter there are usually a couple of flocks of around 200-300 in the local area so this year is looking exceptional. This winter the fields they are favouring are full of a green manure called Fodder Radish which has gone to seed and has become like a magnet for the Linnets to feed on. Other mixed flocks other finches such as Chaffinch, Greenfinch and even a couple of Brambling have also been drawn to it. Anyway, back to our amble.
We started off by checking out the frozen Captains Pool. All that was present were 14 Black-headed Gulls and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull on the ice. At the rear of the a number of Mallards were swimming around keeping a small area of water open.
Black-headed Gull & Lesser Black-backed Gull on Captains Pool
Heading to the fields we were greeted by a huge flock of around c.1200 Linnets that were swirling around over the crops in an almost Starling murmuration-like fashion. The flock would then split for periods of time into 2-3 smaller flocks before merging again. As the afternoon drew on more and more parts of the flock broke off to in the nearby trees. It really was fascinating to watch. Check out the video below.
Linnet flock at Stanklyn Fields - 3rd January 2021
Also of note in the area were 5 Skylarks and a female Kestrel. Sadly this would be the last time I would catch up with Dave for a while for a walk as the country yet again entered lockdown restrictions due to the Covid pandemic. That said I will still be undertaking solo exercise walks around the local fields and lanes with my camera/binoculars in hand, so these blog posts will continue.
Great blog. Keep it up. Couldn't get the video to work
ReplyDeleteCheers John. The video doesnt seem to work if you are viewing it on a mobile device such as a phone or tablet but works fine in the desktop version of the blog which is a different layout (and the main one I use). Blogger creates the mobile version automatically and sometimes the photos etc are all over the place. Go to the bottom of the blog page on your mobile device and click on 'view desktop version' you should then be able to scroll up to see the video
DeleteI've now changed the settings so that the blog should now only show as desktop view on mobile devices. You should now be able to click on videos.
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