Thursday, 12 April 2012
Still Trickling Through
12th April - a quick post work visit this evening and caught up with the Common Sandpiper that had turned up yesterday. Common Terns numbers continue to rise and I counted 11 this evening, though Mick M had earlier seen 12.
Terning Up
11th April - a quick pre work visit this morning found 2 Common Terns on the spit and a Little Ringed Plover. 15 minutes later and a further 2 Common Terns had arrived. Little else of note though.
By midday, other observers had increased the Common Tern count to 7, so they were obviously on the move today. Other sites seemed to be seeing a similar movement. A Common Sandpiper had also arrived by midday, but that'll have to wait for another time for me.
By midday, other observers had increased the Common Tern count to 7, so they were obviously on the move today. Other sites seemed to be seeing a similar movement. A Common Sandpiper had also arrived by midday, but that'll have to wait for another time for me.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Flushing Meadows!
10th April - a quick mid morning visit en route elsewhere with kids in tow and still managed a year tick!
2 Common Terns were resting up on the spit and a Willow Warbler was singing on the west bank as we made our way down the west side, over the railway and onto the meadow. I spied a couple of wagtails at the far side of the western meadow, one of which looked suitably pale grey enough for a closer look. Sure enough, a nice White Wagtail was happily feeding, allowing a quick record shot just before my daughter managed to become stuck in a muddy pool and fall over, drenching herself and flushing the bird! So we had to bid a hasty retreat to the washing machine.
Hoping for a better record, but this was one of 2 shots taken before it flew off. You can just about see the concolorous pale grey mantle and rump/upper tail.
2 Common Terns were resting up on the spit and a Willow Warbler was singing on the west bank as we made our way down the west side, over the railway and onto the meadow. I spied a couple of wagtails at the far side of the western meadow, one of which looked suitably pale grey enough for a closer look. Sure enough, a nice White Wagtail was happily feeding, allowing a quick record shot just before my daughter managed to become stuck in a muddy pool and fall over, drenching herself and flushing the bird! So we had to bid a hasty retreat to the washing machine.
Hoping for a better record, but this was one of 2 shots taken before it flew off. You can just about see the concolorous pale grey mantle and rump/upper tail.
Monday, 9 April 2012
Wet, Wet, Wet
9th April - I popped down first thing(ish) to see if the rain had grounded any migrants, but no such luck!
A Common Tern was on the end of the spit along with 2 Little Ringed Plovers. 2 Shelduck flew in and the lone male Wigeon remained. 11 Meadow Pipits were seen - a flock of 10 that alighted and fed on the spit for a few minutes before flying off west and a further single bird. A flock of hirundines, about 50 birds, were feeding over the lake - mainly Sand Martins, but some Swallows and at least 1 House Martin.
A Common Tern was on the end of the spit along with 2 Little Ringed Plovers. 2 Shelduck flew in and the lone male Wigeon remained. 11 Meadow Pipits were seen - a flock of 10 that alighted and fed on the spit for a few minutes before flying off west and a further single bird. A flock of hirundines, about 50 birds, were feeding over the lake - mainly Sand Martins, but some Swallows and at least 1 House Martin.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Quick Evening Visit
8th April - I paid a quick visit this evening and joined 4 other locals on site for the last hour of daylight.
Highlight was a Yellow-legged Gull that appeared on the spit in front of the island at c7:30pm. This is the first of these I have seen here for a while and appeared to be a 3rd winter type or possibly older. Quite a small bird, so probably female. The gull roost held about 300 LWHG, split equally between LBB and Herring Gulls, only about 20 Common Gulls and only 2 Black-headed Gulls! How things have changed over the past few weeks. Otherwise, a single Redshank on the spit was the only other bird of note.
Highlight was a Yellow-legged Gull that appeared on the spit in front of the island at c7:30pm. This is the first of these I have seen here for a while and appeared to be a 3rd winter type or possibly older. Quite a small bird, so probably female. The gull roost held about 300 LWHG, split equally between LBB and Herring Gulls, only about 20 Common Gulls and only 2 Black-headed Gulls! How things have changed over the past few weeks. Otherwise, a single Redshank on the spit was the only other bird of note.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Willow Warbler
7th April - my first visit for a few days and with an overcast and grey morning I was, as ever, optimistic of finding something, but almost as ever, I didn't!
A Willow Warbler was new in for me and I think the first reported at the site this year - it was singing in the SE corner - always a great song to hear for the first time in Spring.
Otherwise, a Common Tern, not present when I arrived, flew in at about 7:20am and settled on the spit and 2 pairs of Shelduck were chasing each other all around the pit. Wigeon appear to be down to a single male and plenty of hirundines - initially these were feeding over the river, but as the morning progressed they started to move through the lake and north. A mixture of mainly Sand Martins, some Swallows and the odd House Martin.
A pair of Roe Deer were feeding around the reed bed at the base of the spit when I arrived, including a nice buck with velvety antlers and the pair of foxes also gallivanted around for a while putting up the gulls (mainly Herring) time and again.
A Willow Warbler was new in for me and I think the first reported at the site this year - it was singing in the SE corner - always a great song to hear for the first time in Spring.
Otherwise, a Common Tern, not present when I arrived, flew in at about 7:20am and settled on the spit and 2 pairs of Shelduck were chasing each other all around the pit. Wigeon appear to be down to a single male and plenty of hirundines - initially these were feeding over the river, but as the morning progressed they started to move through the lake and north. A mixture of mainly Sand Martins, some Swallows and the odd House Martin.
A pair of Roe Deer were feeding around the reed bed at the base of the spit when I arrived, including a nice buck with velvety antlers and the pair of foxes also gallivanted around for a while putting up the gulls (mainly Herring) time and again.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Some New Arrivals
3rd April - a morning visit in calm, dry and sunny conditions yielded a few new year ticks.
I arrived on site at about 8:30am and a scan of the pit revealed no waders and no sign of anything new in. A pair of Shelduck still remained and a male and female Wigeon were still on site - the Wigeon had been down to 2 males a while ago which were then joined by 11 further birds, 6 males and 5 females around March 25th. These soon departed to leave a single male and a further female now seems to have joined it.
At 8:45am, a Common Tern arrived, presumably coming in off the Thames and began flying and dipping in the SW corner, fairly close to the tern raft. With no hope of getting a record shot in flight, I left for the meadow in the hope that it might alight somewhere whilst I was gone. In the western meadow, 8 Fieldfares were feeding and also 2 Rooks in with the Jackdaws, which is a bird that had so far eluded me this year. In the dried up Spade Oak meadow, I noticed a rather distant pale bird. Just as I was about to scope it, 2 dogs went charging at a small group of geese, scattering them onto the river - luckily my bird remained in its favoured spot nearby and was quickly identified as a Wheatear. I took a couple of record shots into the sun before it took flight towards the river. I didn't see whether it crossed or not, but this meadow is heavily used by dog walkers, so I expect it moved on fairly quickly.
I crossed the railway back to the lake at about 9:00am to find that the Common Tern had departed, so a lucky encounter. Along the railway bank, my attention was drawn to some rustling in a leaf/twig pile and I soon noticed what I think is a Bank Vole scurrying around. It gave a few photo opportunities whilst I wasn't in photo mode and when I was, it became camera shy. This is the best I could manage.
Other than a couple of Sand Martins and a Swallow in the SE corner, the only other thing of note was a build up of Blackcaps since my last visit - I counted 12 birds, with 11 singing males and a female.
I popped back briefly at about 2pm to find no real change, except a build up of immature LWHG on the spit and then left. Dave F paid a visit less than an hour later and found what is presumably the same 2w Iceland Gull that was last seen here on March 11th - ah well, you can't see them all!
I arrived on site at about 8:30am and a scan of the pit revealed no waders and no sign of anything new in. A pair of Shelduck still remained and a male and female Wigeon were still on site - the Wigeon had been down to 2 males a while ago which were then joined by 11 further birds, 6 males and 5 females around March 25th. These soon departed to leave a single male and a further female now seems to have joined it.
At 8:45am, a Common Tern arrived, presumably coming in off the Thames and began flying and dipping in the SW corner, fairly close to the tern raft. With no hope of getting a record shot in flight, I left for the meadow in the hope that it might alight somewhere whilst I was gone. In the western meadow, 8 Fieldfares were feeding and also 2 Rooks in with the Jackdaws, which is a bird that had so far eluded me this year. In the dried up Spade Oak meadow, I noticed a rather distant pale bird. Just as I was about to scope it, 2 dogs went charging at a small group of geese, scattering them onto the river - luckily my bird remained in its favoured spot nearby and was quickly identified as a Wheatear. I took a couple of record shots into the sun before it took flight towards the river. I didn't see whether it crossed or not, but this meadow is heavily used by dog walkers, so I expect it moved on fairly quickly.
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| The pile |
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| The vole |
I popped back briefly at about 2pm to find no real change, except a build up of immature LWHG on the spit and then left. Dave F paid a visit less than an hour later and found what is presumably the same 2w Iceland Gull that was last seen here on March 11th - ah well, you can't see them all!
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