Bike and Boots Birding again

Hi everyone, 

it's the 16th of Jan, so exactly a week after I last posted and time for an update on my Non-motorised Transport Bird List. 

I didn't do any big trips this week - just walks and a couple of short cycle rides in my local area, so I'll just list the new birds I added and tell you about them (with pictures if I've got them).

#58 - Eurasian Sparrowhawk (although birders just cal this Sparrowhawk as the nearest other species with Sparrowhawk as part of the name are a continent away) - I only got a glimpse of this one on a visit to my local patch. It was perched on the fence as I walked past it and it flew away giving only enough of a view to be sure of the species but not say anything about whether it was male or female or anything else. It's always nice to see a Sparrowhawk though.

#59  -  Little Grebe - This is a small waterbird, superficially a bit like a duck but not very closely related. The grebes (of which we have 5 that are regularly seen in Britain and Ireland), dive to catch their prey and don't like to come out of the water. If they are alarmed the will dive underwater and swim away rather than flying. Because their legs are set very far back on their bodies they are very good swimmers but terrible at walking on land (the Divers (known as Loons in North America) are very similar in this regard).

This one was an exciting bird for me as it was the first one that I have seen on my local patch (although I see them frequently at Saltholme RSPB reserve which is only a couple of miles away as the grebe flies)

The scientific name of Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis, means
'fast diver with the red neck' - which I think is s pretty good description

#60 - Common Linnet  -  This is a very common bird over nearly all of the UK and Ireland but the flock of about 20 that I saw today, were only the second time I have seen it on my local patch (North Ormesby Middle Marsh Nature Area). The light wasn't very good today so the photo here is of the pair I saw last summer. The ones I saw today were all in non-breeding plumage so they all looked pretty much like the female (on the left) in this picture.

#61 - Mistle Thrush  - This large thrush stays with us all year round but I've not seen very many since I moved to Middlesbrough in 2016 so I don't think they're very common around here. I saw two together today. The name comes from their fondness for Mistletoe berries

#62 - Red-breasted Merganser  - Mergansers are fish-eating ducks, in the group known as 'sawbills' because of the serrations on their beaks which help them to hold onto their slippery prey. Red-breasted Mergansers are very coastal birds but they do come up the River Tees as far as Middlesbrough, where I saw this one today. This is a female (with her reddish head - the male's head is dark green) and unfortuately I wasn't able to get a very good picture before it flew off, so you'll have to make do with some bad ones.

This would have been the best one if it had been in focus 
- however, you can still see the thin red bill and the punk hairstyle