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Amorous Shovellers (c) JR |
The weather forecasters actually got it wrong
this weekend and unusually this time their error was in our favour. Instead of
the predicted grey wind and rain Saturday morning produced patches of blue sky
and odd bursts of sunshine. Sunday however, whilst remaining dry, was very
windy and dull.
On both days the huge numbers of Lapwings and
Golden Plovers present were again the most obvious attraction but with some
notable other players. At times the flushing birds showed right around the horizon,
as one or another raptor passed over spooking the flocks into whirling clouds.
A visitor commented that at times these birds were giving a Starling like
murmuration display. What was driving it however was not a pre roost display
but simply evasion tactics. Again it is difficult to estimate numbers but there
appeared to be no fewer than we had seen last week.
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Goldies and Lapwings (c) Tom Nicholson-Lailey |
The raptors pushing these flocks around were
much easier to see and to count! Two Peregrines are frequently being seen and
they may or may not be a pair. The smaller, assumed male is more juvenile
featured than the clearly larger mature female. We had excellent views of this
particular bird sitting out on a post on the edge of Ashgrave on Saturday
morning. Two Sparrowhawks and up to three Kestrels are spread over the whole
site.
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One of the Kestrels (c) JR |
Red Kites too cause flocks to flush but in their case some of the
Lapwings are now starting to mob them rather than evading them. There looks to
be a territorial dispute starting over an abandoned crow’s nest in the large
oak to the east of the reed bed. Both Red Kites and Common Buzzards are looking
to take over this attractive property. The two resident Marsh Harriers are
almost always visible over the reed beds flying low and purposefully hunting
opportunistically. They frequently flush surprisingly large numbers of Teal out
from amongst the cover of the reeds.
In the sunshine on Saturday the wildfowl were
looking particularly smart. Groups of courting drake Shovellers would take to
the air in close pursuit of unpaired females. The drakes are in their optimal
breeding plumage now.
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Pintail, Teal and Wigeon (c) JR |
Several parties of Pintail were seen and on Sunday when a
major flush of wildfowl occurred from the direction of the flood field one
group of over fifty flew off over to Big Otmoor. They were accompanied by at
least two hundred
and fifty Wigeon a
fantastic sight as they passed low and close over the first screen. The most
spectacular thing however was on Saturday, when perhaps a couple of hundred
Golden Plover flushed from Big Otmoor and flew fast and no more than six metres
above our heads at the screen. The noise from their wings was dramatic and even
the downdraft was perceptible. One of the group remarked “that was the sound of
Golden Plover’s fear”.
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Low Goldies (c) JR |
It is always gratifying when one’s predictions
work out and last week I suggested that Curlew would be along soon. Sure enough
one was heard and seen briefly on Friday and by Sunday there were three. It’s
very good to have them back along with their evocative calls.
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Sunday Curlew (c) Tezzer |
All of the usual finches were still taking
advantage of the food near the hide. The two Bramblings were seen
intermittently over the weekend and the number of Yellowhammers continues to go
up. Most notably this weekend there were a flock of nineteen Stock Doves
feeding on the path on Sunday morning. Surely the most underrated doves and the
most beautifully marked.
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Carpark Field Shorties (c) Tom Nicholson- Lailey |
In the evenings after the now somewhat
diminished Starling roost, Woodcock are being seen moving out from Morley’s to
feed on Greenaways and Closes. Short Eared Owls are also being seen late
afternoon but are not conforming to any predictable pattern. The Starling roost
itself whilst much smaller can still provide some spectacular viewing but the
duration of the display and the number of birds are both diminished. I went
down midweek and found that the display was much more distant and only lasted
for ten or twelve minutes, having said that the shapes and swirls created were
as always stunning but distant.
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Murmuration (c) Tom Nicholson-Lailey |
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Stunning Sunset (c) Tom Nicholson- Lailey |
One footnote to the weekends birds was an
intriguing paler and greyer Golden Plover seen on Sunday. The bird clearly
stood out as being differently coloured to the others around it. It was not
possible to establish its structural features as the birds were hunkered down
in the strong winds and were not moving about or feeding, when the flock
flushed it was not relocated. The chances are that it is still out there
somewhere on the moor and any additional pictures of it would be greatly
appreciated. At present it is regarded as being an oddly coloured “normal”
Golden Plover, but it would be great to confirm it as something different.
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Paler greyer Golden Plover (c) Andy Last |
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