Photos:
Spotted Redshanks, Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stint, Inner Marsh Farm
1st September
Waterworks Lane feeding station this morning had around 30 House Sparrows and 6 Tree Sparrows. I haven’t been putting much food out and there is still plenty of natural food to be had. Also I think the Tree Sparrow flock I’ve had here for the previous three years is possibly composed of birds from Barrow Lane. As Jonathan has set up a feeding station there I would expect to see a reduction in numbers at Waterworks Lane this year.
After work I had a very brief look at Moat Lane pools. In truth I gave up as soon as I arrived because a load of kids were messing around there. Interestingly the Mute Swan JP4 has gone. The other 2cy swan was still there. I looked for JP4 on the other local pools but not a sign. I did spot a Willow Tit around pool 2. This evening the Little Grebes at HGF had increased to five. Both Teals still present.
2nd September
This afternoon I made a visit to Inner Marsh Farm to see the Spotted Crake. It was not on show when I arrived, however there was a very showy Water Rail at the front of the reeds opposite and a good wader line up which included 5 Curlew Sandpipers, 7 Spotted Redshanks, a Little Stint, 10 Ruff and a sizeable flock of Black-tailed Godwits. Plus a Hobby gave a cracking display of catching dragonflies!
Eventually the Spotted Crake came out for a bath. I watched it for a minute or so and then the chap next to me started flapping a bit because he couldn’t see it and hadn’t seen one before. I let him look through my scope which he did for a minute or so – the bird then went back into the reeds and didn’t show again while I was there.
Jonathan then arrived. A distant Sparrowhawk flew over the marsh and then Jonathan found a distant Peregrine. A Yellow Wagtail and a Pintail flew over and at least 10 Little Egrets were on show.
Late evening I took Bill to HGF. The Teal is by itself again. Grebe numbers of both species are fluctuating daily. The Great Crested Grebe numbers over the last few weeks have been changing daily between around 18-28 birds. Although the Little Grebes are consistent at 4 or 5 birds, the adult/juvenile mix keeps changing suggesting they are also moving around. The best was when two juvenile Ruffs flew in at the north end at dusk. I almost dismissed them as probably Redshanks when I saw them at distance with naked eye, however I got the scope out to check. These two birds seemed to be clearly agitated and moved around the edge of the pool at speed. I wonder if they had been on the receiving end of a brush with a raptor and this was what had caused them to drop in? Anyway this is a patch tick for me – never seen them at HGF before!
Waterworks Lane feeding station this morning had around 30 House Sparrows and 6 Tree Sparrows. I haven’t been putting much food out and there is still plenty of natural food to be had. Also I think the Tree Sparrow flock I’ve had here for the previous three years is possibly composed of birds from Barrow Lane. As Jonathan has set up a feeding station there I would expect to see a reduction in numbers at Waterworks Lane this year.
After work I had a very brief look at Moat Lane pools. In truth I gave up as soon as I arrived because a load of kids were messing around there. Interestingly the Mute Swan JP4 has gone. The other 2cy swan was still there. I looked for JP4 on the other local pools but not a sign. I did spot a Willow Tit around pool 2. This evening the Little Grebes at HGF had increased to five. Both Teals still present.
2nd September
This afternoon I made a visit to Inner Marsh Farm to see the Spotted Crake. It was not on show when I arrived, however there was a very showy Water Rail at the front of the reeds opposite and a good wader line up which included 5 Curlew Sandpipers, 7 Spotted Redshanks, a Little Stint, 10 Ruff and a sizeable flock of Black-tailed Godwits. Plus a Hobby gave a cracking display of catching dragonflies!
Eventually the Spotted Crake came out for a bath. I watched it for a minute or so and then the chap next to me started flapping a bit because he couldn’t see it and hadn’t seen one before. I let him look through my scope which he did for a minute or so – the bird then went back into the reeds and didn’t show again while I was there.
Jonathan then arrived. A distant Sparrowhawk flew over the marsh and then Jonathan found a distant Peregrine. A Yellow Wagtail and a Pintail flew over and at least 10 Little Egrets were on show.
Late evening I took Bill to HGF. The Teal is by itself again. Grebe numbers of both species are fluctuating daily. The Great Crested Grebe numbers over the last few weeks have been changing daily between around 18-28 birds. Although the Little Grebes are consistent at 4 or 5 birds, the adult/juvenile mix keeps changing suggesting they are also moving around. The best was when two juvenile Ruffs flew in at the north end at dusk. I almost dismissed them as probably Redshanks when I saw them at distance with naked eye, however I got the scope out to check. These two birds seemed to be clearly agitated and moved around the edge of the pool at speed. I wonder if they had been on the receiving end of a brush with a raptor and this was what had caused them to drop in? Anyway this is a patch tick for me – never seen them at HGF before!
No comments:
Post a Comment