Despite the last fortnights birding extravagansa, I had missed my local patch and headed for Gayhurst Quarry first thing to see what had been going on in my absence.
Truth be told not a lot. The Common Terns had built up to around 25 birds on their island, which has re-emerged now the water has gone down again. There were 2 pairs of Oystercatchers, none of which looked as though they were involved in breeding.
Ducks present were maybe 50 Mallard - some with young, around 20 Tufteds, 8 Gadwall and a drake Shoveler. There were about 10 pairs of Great crested Grebe and 8 Cormorants were on the fishing lake.
Warblers were in the form of Reed, Willow, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff and a Marsh Tit was in the wood.
I saw my first Banded Damesoilles and Speckled Woods of the year here today.
I moved on to Linford Reserve, where the Nightingale was still in full song as was the Cuckoo.
From the hide a lone Little Ringed Plover and a couple of Lapwings were the only waders on the bund. A single drake Wigeon looks as though it is set to spend the summer with us and several pairs of Black-headed Gulls threaten to breed ( but they never do).
A very bizarre event took place in front of the hide, when a Common Tern landed on one of the posts. Suddenly a Great crested Grebe appeared from under the water and then began displaying to it for a couple of minutes. The Tern looked very bemused especially when the Grebe dived and came up with some weed and presented it to it. I can only presume something has happened to the Grebes mate and has now become a bit confused.
No comments:
Post a Comment