Much of today was taken up completing a very late Wetland Bird Survey at Ditchford GP. The cold wind remains but for at least some of the day the air temperature rose above freezing and again there was something of a thaw.
Birds at Ditchford included a juvenile Glaucous Gull west of Ditchford Lane between 2.30pm and 3.35pm when it flew east (different to the bird seen in February). Waders were represented with a Curlew, 2 Oystercatchers, 8 Snipe, a Dunlin and a Ringed Plover. Six Chiffchaffs included a couple of 'fluffed up' birds that were clearly not happy with the very cool conditions. Only five Cetti's Warblers were located but for a change they were showy. The drake Scaup was again on pits west of Ditchford Lane (quite mobile with the Tufteds) and other birds included 5 Kingfishers, 4 Goosanders, a Grey Wagtail and a couple of redpoll sp. The Grey Heron colony seems small this year but a pair of Cormorant are breeding on-site. An Otter provided close but brief views.
At Pitsford Res this evening a Barn Owl was hunting Scaldwell Meadow and a pod of six Smew (two drakes) were in the Scaldwell Bay near to The Point. The occupied Cormorant nest count has now climbed to 25.
Regards
Eleanor and Neil
 |
| Muntjac |
 |
| Glaucous Gull |
No comments:
Post a Comment