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| Fleet Snipe (c) JR |
The sun finally came through on Sunday morning at about ten o clock after a
very gloomy, dull morning on Saturday and a foggy grey start to Sunday.
We are beginning to get to the point in the year when the sheer number of
birds creates a spectacle. It is already happening with Starlings, the roost
would seem to have doubled in the past week and now is estimated at over fifty
thousand. They are not often producing a classic shape shifting show but are
mostly pouring into the reedbed like a thick stream of oil. Such a large number
of birds is naturally attracting raptors and on Thursday there were two Merlins,
two Peregrines, the regular two Marsh Harriers, Sparrowhawk and sundry Kites and
Buzzards.
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| Marsh Harrier (c) JR |
There are also reports of up to four Short-eared Owls. We saw one on
Saturday morning being mobbed by several corvids. The crows drove it up high and
eventually, after about ten minutes, they lost interest and once the coast was
clear it made a slow careful descent onto the northern edge of Greenaways.
The other species that shows up in big numbers during the winter is Golden
Plover and there have been several flocks of well over a thousand birds seen.
They are not yet spending much time out on our fields but their distinctive and
evocative call will often prompt a look at the sky. It is then you spot their
large loose flocks high above with their shifting chevrons showing white and
grey against a clear blue sky. When they fly low overhead, as a small flock did
on Sunday, the sound of the wind in their wings is surprisingly loud. Lapwings
numbers are also building with the resident population being supplemented by an
influx from Europe.
There are many small mixed flocks moving about and there are many more Reed
Buntings to be seen, especially around the path to July’s Meadow where the
supplementary winter feeding has recently started. Linnets, Goldfinches and
Chaffinches are also taking advantage of the seed and as the winter tightens
more and more birds and other species will be attracted. A little group of highly mobile Goldcrests were one of the weekend highlights for me.
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| Hedgerow Robin (c) Bark |
The Bittern put in one of its fleeting appearances on Saturday morning
moving from one part of the reedbed to another.It looked to me to be a different
individual to the one that we saw last week, being much paler, more sandy
coloured and less rufous.
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| Cetti's (c) Bark |
The Cetti’s Warbler that has taken up residence near
the first screen is not quite as skulking and secretive as most of its family.
It is often showing in the large bush to the left of the screen and also in the
smaller bush to the right. As well as the more familiar Cetti’s explosive
outburst it makes quite a variety of other different calls and sub-songs. Snipe
are still present we saw at least thirty flushed up from Greenaways as one of
the Marsh Harriers passed low over the field. Others were flying fast and low
over the first lagoon and finding it difficult to find a dry area to land on one
individual perching uncomfortably on one of the kingfisher sticks.
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| Snipe (c) JR |
One Hen Harrier was seen last week and I hope that it wont be the last. The
Great Grey Shrike found last week has not been re-located but these birds roam
over large territories so it still may not have gone for good. It is the optimum
time for irruptive Bearded Tits to arrive and I am still hopeful that we will
find some in the next week or two.
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| Waiting for Beardies |
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