Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Brown Trout? and Green Woodpecker bathing.

I spend quite a lot of time at Clare Park lake, so its official, Im calling Clare Park my 2nd patch! I have been visiting this quiet little lake for many many years, but its only this last year that I have looked closer at the wildlife that it has to offer, and I have(on many occasion) been pleasantly surprised.
So I dropped in(on my lunch break) to Clare Park lake on the 3rd of February, the sun was out, so all the signs were good.
The 1st thing to catch my eye, were a high number of Redwing(at least 15) there were also both Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbirds sharing the field. Also Jay, Crow, Magpie and many Black headed Gulls. House Sparrow, Wren, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit And Green Woodpecker were seen closer to the lake. Swan, Coot,  Little Grebe, Moorhen, Mallard, Tufted were all seen on the lake, as were more Black headed Gulls!
Its been a long time since Ive seen a Trout in the stream that runs into the lake, although several days before this, I did see 3 Trout, but the water was not too clear and the photos suffered.
But the sun was bright, the water was calmer, and I hoped that that Brown Trout? showed up again. It didnt take too long for it to show, if you look at the photo, the Trout has a dark marking to one side of its head.
I also saw 3 Jays, and I actually saw a Green Woodpecker taking a long bath too.

Some photos then, and as normal, if you click on a photo it will enlarge.

I think this is a Brown Trout? but I have to say that the other 2 fish looked more like Rainbow?


One of 3 Jays seen.


A couple of the Redwing.


The Green Woodpecker(female I think?) spent some time bathing, it was very wary, and kept looking around, and jumping in and out of the water onto a rock, this it repeated several times. I was over the other side of the lake, hiding behind a tree, and it has to be said that I missed the focus on several shots, but its the 1st time Ive seen a Woodpecker bath, so I was more than happy.





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6 comments:

  1. Phil10 February 2011 at 07:58

    Hi Paul.
    Brown Trout it is. As a youngster I used to go and watch the trout in the millpond behind the mill at Mill St(now an apartment block)which the stream used to run into I think.There used to be loads of trout in the pond, not sure if it's still there but it probably is. Nice woodpecker shots.

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  2. Warren Baker10 February 2011 at 09:13

    Good luck with the ''patch 2'' Paul, keep a list of species and keep us posted on it's growth :-)

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  3. Paul11 February 2011 at 15:10

    Hi Phil, cheers for that, I thought it was a Brown Trout, I wonder if the other 2 were Rainbows? Things have changed a lot since those days back then, but I was just glad to see that they are still about. I will take a look up by the old mill site, when Im next over that way.

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  4. Paul11 February 2011 at 15:13

    Hi Warren, thanks mate, I do spend a fair amount of time there, so its only right that I call it my 2nd patch. Whilst Im guilty of not keeping numbers, I will make the effort to keep a check on the species that turn up there.

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  5. Simon12 February 2011 at 10:30

    Wonderful to be able to see the Green Woodpecker bathing - and even better to photograph it!!

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  6. Paul16 February 2011 at 13:34

    Hi Simon, it was great to witness this sight, and to get photos was a big bonus too, I hope to see this sort of Woodpecker behaviour again sometime.

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