Draycote and a borrowed photograph

Impending fatherhood has left me less and less time for birding, so a quick Monday morning out and about on the local patch was most welcome. A beautiful still morning found me at Napton Reservoir first (looking for Bearded Tit) and then Draycote (hoping for Hawfinch photo opportunities).

At Napton I found mostly usual suspects - a Kingfisher gave particularly nice views. Later that day I read that the Bearded Tit had been found in the reedbeds there, but sadly not by me.

At Draycote I got the briefest views of a pale Hawfinch (not enough to get the photo I sought), plus yet another Great Northern Diver, a female Sparrowhawk (killing a Blackbird and making everything else decidedly jittery) and a few other odds and sods.



So no photo of a Hawfinch then, but to make up for that, here is a splendid shot taken a couple of weeks ago at Draycote by my colleague James.