Thursday 1 December 2011

Prestwick Carr

1st Dec. I spent a short time on the ‘carr’ this afternoon with a friend from the local group who had never seen Short Eared Owls before! I thought there would be a good chance that this duck would be broken and so it was. Enjoyed a chat with both PCW and Sedgedunum Warbler and one or two other folk I couldn’t put a name to.


The short light showers I was expecting turned out to be quite heavy ones, but at least four Short Eared Owls put on a good display between the bouts of rain. My friend went home very happy and had been treated to some close up views of the owls. Some wow moments for her I think.


I had no time to track down the Bean Geese or Great grey Shrike. Just enjoyed the atmosphere of the area, with Kestrel and Willow Tit calling, four Common Snipe overhead and the flock of Fieldfare moving between the roadway and trees just to the south. A pleasant way to kick off December even if I did get wet during my short visit! The skies to the north were clear of rain cloud, but I couldn’t capture the colour with my camera.


I remembered that until I visited to see the Ruddy Shelduck at Prestwick Carr a few years ago I barely knew of the area's existence or importance for wildlife. I’m sure most people pass by the area without giving it a second thought. However, judging by the number of cars up there today, there are certainly more minds tuned into the area these days. I’ll have to try and get back up there soon.

6 comments:

  1. I'm pleased the SEO's played ball for your friend Brian. They had been up for more than an hour when Peter and i bumped into your good self so i was hoping for you's. You must have gotten quite wet as we got rather drenched within 10 minutes of leaving you. The Geese were in the field to the left as you come in off the main road but were almost as distant as was possible and hardly distinguishable as birds never mind geese through the murk.
    I always enjoy visiting Prestwick Carr. Not that many birders normally but obviously SEO's and GGS pulling them in along with the dreaded big lens boys. It's a nice walk straight on at the cottage at the crossroads which takes you up to the top road eventually passing the sentry boxes that you may have read about. Anyway, nice bumping into you again but didn't want to rabbit on too much as i wanted your friend to get along for her owls asap.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Quite wet is one way of putting it John.:-) I was so intent on watching the SEOs I didn't really notice how soaked I was until I got home.

    I know the sentry box as I've been up that way a few times. In fact it was up there that I saw my first Prestwick Carr SEOs. I'm going to have to get back up and spend a few hours wandering. It was good speaking to you and Peter, who we bumped into again later.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know if you follow this guy but i had heard that someone had seen and had good views of the Shrike earlier in the day. This was the man. Some nice images...........and i feel a bit jealous of the views he must have had. I actually dropped the missus off at work then headed up to Killy Lake then Big Waters before Prestwick. What could have been...........
    But i'm not bitter. lol.
    http://colsdigiscope.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I knew someone had been up there at sunrise and had stunning views of the said bird near the roadway. This may be the guy. Thanks for the link.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah it's a reknowned area for owls there, but most non-birders don't seem to think of it as anything special unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ha. There's maybe a few birders hadn't given it much of a look either until recent weeks Mark! :-)

    ReplyDelete