Above zero

A Black Necked Grebe at Shikabe this afternoon. The temperature climbed above zero (just) after a bitterly cold week. Last week was a bit of a write off birdwise. Merlin and Great Egret were the only noteworthy species in my brief forays out.

Today we headed out to Sawara to check second-hand reports of a Gyrfalcon there. There used to be a regular adult in winter here (before we got our car though.........I've never seen one). Things looked promising as soon as we arrived, a falcon flashed in front of the car (it was just a Peregrine I think). Things took a turn for the worse when we got stuck in the snow on a dirt track. The only car we saw all afternoon in the area pulled us out, how lucky was that?

Not only was there no Gyrfalcon there was nothing at all except for lots and lots of Black Kites.

In the nearby fishing harbours there were a few of the above Black Necked Grebes as well as the usual common wildfowl including Harlequin Duck.

We also saw several White Tailed Eagles but they were high up in a grey grey sky.

Back at Onuma the tame Tits and Nuthatches have survived the cold snap.

There were a couple of White Tailed Eagle here too as well as Black Woodpecker.

Liverpool have quietly crept up to 4th, some good results last night...........