Grebes, grebes and more grebes

Grey Heron, HGF

Pair of Cormorants at HGF - adult left and juvenile (browner with whitish belly) right. The moulting drake Wigeon is in the background.

Cormorants drying out

Juvenile Black-necked Grebe, HGF

Juvenile Common Sandpiper, HGF

Buzzard, Rixton Moss

xxxx

The story of HGF the last few days has been the grebes. This morning I recorded 17 Great Crested Grebes on the pool - the most I have recorded here. The Little Grebes seem to flit in and out with 3 or 4 birds present each day but the mix between adults and juveniles different. The Black-necked Grebes are also flitting in and out with a maximum of seven birds present on Monday - 4 adults and 3 juveniles - only five birds present today.

xxx

Yesterday an adult Little Ringed Plover was present with two juveniles - this morning both adults present with three juveniles. Looks like they have bred successfully in the area - superb! A juvenile Common Sandpiper seems to be resident at the moment. Elsewhere pretty much as was with a couple of Cormorants dropping in now and then to make a change, nine Stock Doves incuding a few juveniles were in the bare field nr Midhops yesterday. Perhaps the juvs have come from the Barn Owl box in the dutch barn east of Highfield Lane - I noticed a few weeks ago that Stock Doves had occupied it. Not a chance of Barn Owls in the box - there being no suitable hunting habitat locally.

xxx

Rixton mosses on Monday was very quiet - even gulls seem to be missing from the tip. Two singing Corn Buntings and a Buzzard perched on the stay wire for a telegraph pole were the only birds of note. Yesterday evening the female Great Spotted Woodpecker was present in the garden, as was a gang of Long-tailed Tits. And that's all folks!