Waiting for Spring

Spring can’t come quickly enough at this time of year. But right now, it definitely feels a long way off.
A few walks around Bath recently have failed to produce a hoped-for Chiffchaff and the weather is definitely still very wintry.
It’s been a quiet winter here all-round bird-wise. A Yellow-browed Warbler reported online at Weston Recycling Centre early in the winter, just down the road, failed to show despite me putting in a decent amount of time searching for it and winter thrushes have been very thin on the ground – and winter finches non-existent. The main highlights here this winter have been my first sighting of Tawny Owl in Victoria Park, my first Rook and also a Kingfisher downriver at Green Park early on in the winter.
Best of all, has been enjoying the Pied Wagtail roost in Southgate Shopping Centre, sometimes containing several hundred birds, all silently sitting in the trees in the middle of the busy shopping centre.
A section of the Pied Wagtail roost outside of the Apple Store in Southgate Shopping Centre

Friday certainly offered a glimpse of nice weather!

I have noticed a lot more raptor activity in the valley in recent weeks with Buzzards and Kestrels presumably taking advantage of the (marginally) warmer weather recently. 
The Peregrine has returned to St John’s Church in the last few weeks, which is great news and since I’m living in the city this year, I hope to spend some time enjoying them this spring and summer.

Elsewhere in the UK, spring is taking its time too. So much so that the Penduline Tit at Lodmoor/Radipole Lake has been very tempting lately. I have never really been a twitcher, but this bird has long been a target of mine and Weymouth is an easy 2-hour direct train. 
As areas go, Weymouth has surely got to be one of the best areas to bird without your own transport, with buses regularly going to Southwell on Portland too. This is something I will certainly be taking advantage of later in the spring, provided the Penduline Tit doesn’t lure me there first, because few other places offer the variety of Lodmoor, Radipole, Ferrybridge and Portland, all within the reaches of public transport. I plan to do a day trip here after my Easter break and use it as part of my 5-day-list challenge. 
100 species should be possible in the Weymouth area in late April, so I’m looking forward to taking on that challenge once spring is finally here.

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