May Bank Holiday Weekend 3rd - 5th May

Common Whitethroat (c) Bark

An unseasonably cold weekend and often windy and grey. As I suggested last week there  has been an influx of Hobbies over the last ten days. On Wednesday afternoon last week, there were over twelve of them, circling high over Greenaways and the reedbed. They were clearly feeding on the insects that were being carried up by a thermal. By the weekend there were fewer present, but they were feeding much nearer to  the ground, perching on the posts and gates on Greenaways and heading out to snatch prey.

Peregrine Saturday morning. (c) Bark

Over the weekend there was significant passage of hirundines and the first large parties of Swifts moving through and pausing to feeding over and around the reedbed and the Flood Field.

There has been a smattering of waders showing up on Big Otmoor, with a Grey Plover and both Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers out on the middle scrapes. The Grey Plover was in partial moult into its smart summer plumage. Hopefully we will see a greater variety of passage waders moving through over the next few weeks.

Cuckoo (c) JR

The moor was alive with birdsong on Sunday morning and as the wind had died down the singers were much more obvious in their choice of song-posts. At the second screen it was possible to stand for fifteen minutes or so and both hear and see seven different species of warbler.   

Common Whitethroat with nest material (c) JR

A Common Whitethroat is building a nest out to the left of the screen, coming and going with nest material and stopping occasionally to sing. Further towards the corner a Lesser Whitethroat was singing almost continuously as it establishes a territory.

Cetti's Warbler (c) JR

There has been a Cetti’s in the vicinity for weeks and from time to time it would appear in the hawthorn bush beside the water. Its calling was often stimulatedby the movement of a Dunnock that was gathering small green caterpillars from area.

Dunnock with caterpillars (c) Bark

A Sedge Warbler was shouting from the reeds to the right of the screen and the more measured and regular calls of a Reed Warbler were coming from the reeds on the left where it would show from time to time.

Blackcap (c) Bark

From behind the screen a Chiffchaff was moving backwards and forwards along the hedgerow and a Blackcap was also singing from twenty metres or so down the track.

Sedge Warbler (c) JR

At the first screen a Bittern was booming every five or six minutes from the thick reeds in the south eastern corner. A different, female Bittern flew in and landed clumsily on the closest reedbed directly in front of us.

Bittern (c) Bark

It swayed unsteadily on the top of the reeds stretching his head up and peering about like a periscope, it demonstrated an almost owl-like ability to turn its head and look behind. It descended to the edge of the water with a very inelegant slither and then sat hunched on the waters edge, just occasionally stretching out its neck to lay its bill flat on the surface of the water, a very strange behaviour! It may have been connected with its fishing activities as at one point it plunged its whole head under water. It was certainly aware of the booming from nearby, but its only reaction was to raise its head and look in the vague direction from which the sound was coming. After twenty minutes it simply melted away into the reeds behind it, disappearing almost as if by magic.

Shoveller touchdown (c) Bark

A Little Egret was seen over the lagoons on Saturday and on Monday its big cousin turned up. The Great White Egret was seen initially in flight across Greenaways and then landed in front of the first screen giving excellent views to the visitors there. If any one managed any pictures of it, I would love to have a copy to use on this blog.

Goldfinch (c) JR

We  saw two Wheatears out on Greenaways on Saturday morning feeding on the shorter grass on the eastern edge of the field. The Turtle Doves while present occasionally are not purring from the regular places and are very elusive. There are now only two regular visitors that have yet to appear on the moor, Whinchat and Spotted Flycatcher.

Moorhen and Chick (c) Bark

With warmer temperatures and a more southerly wind predicted for the coming week I would expect to hear that they have been reported in the next few days. There is a good passage of Black Terns going through the county at present and in good years we do find one or two wanderers feeding over the northern lagoon, so it will be worth keeping an eye out for them there. The Tern raft is already occupied by a couple of Common Terns and the raft had only been out for a couple of hours before they took up residence!

Sedgie (c) JR