We have had heavy rain for most of the night and early morning although as we wait for the bus there is the last of some light drizzle. Heavy drops of water are still falling from the trees. The sky should be overcast for the first part of the day, brightening up a little later. Sue was supposed to be coming along with us but the wet weather has ensured that she is well tucked up in the warm.
Wondering what we could possibly see this week to ‘top’ last week, Leon and I arrived at the site bang on half past nine and made our way to the ‘Wildside’ hide. Although a lot of the birds seemed to be having a snooze, there was still enough ‘action’ to keep us busy scanning the area so as not to miss anything. Most of the Canada Goose pairs seem to be sitting on nests now and all around is evidence of other species doing the same. Leon caught a glimpse of a Sparrowhawk as it flashed by chasing its’ breakfast. Everything had gone very quiet as the raptor sped past but the Reed Warblers were soon in full song again. There was no sign of the Yellow Wagtails today.
At the ‘Headley’ hide the screens were still up protecting the Kingfishers from prying eyes and there was very little going on elsewhere in this area. Outside of the hide was a family of Mallards, Mum and fourteen (!) ducklings.
We had breakfast at the restaurant, neither of us realised just how hungry we had been. The meal was eaten in silence! By the time we had finished the weather had picked up somewhat and the number of people at the Centre had increased greatly.
Walking through ‘Waterlife’ we were treated to a great view of a Kestrel gliding, very slowly, along the path that we were following. The bird was probably no more than about thirty feet above us and seemed totally unconcerned as people turned and pointed, excitedly, at it. It overtook us and disappeared in the direction of the ‘Sheltered Lagoon’. Once again we noticed that the other birds had all but stopped singing, although they were soon in full voice when the Kestrel had vanished from sight.
It seemed as though we were in for a ‘quiet’ day, nearly everywhere that we went seemed to be lacking in action. The feeder area, where we would expect to see all sorts of Finches and Tits, was totally devoid of any type of bird. The path around the ‘back’ of the ‘Sheltered Lagoon’ was to provide the start of the improvement in the number of sightings. We did find that the tips that we had picked up on the ‘Birdsong’ walk were beginning to pay dividends. Knowing some of the birdsongs did help us to look in basically the right direction. Sometimes!
On moving into the ‘Wader Scrape’ hide we were surprised to see just how low the water level was. There were just a few pools and assort of ‘moat’ around the perimeter of the Wader Scrape. Immediately outside the hide a Heron was taking full advantage of the low water level. With almost every lunge of his beak he caught a fish, some of which were of a good size. It was then that Leon saw the Avocets for the first time. He was just as amazed as I had been as to how white they were. They truly are the most majestic of birds.
The air raid siren went off. “LOOK AT THAT!” shouted Leon, steaming up my binoculars and removing my hat in one blast of air! Turning around I could see why he was so excited. There was a Kestrel hanging from the front of one of the holes in the Sandmartin Bank trying to get its’ talon into the hole! It tried several times but lost its’ grip and started to fly away. At once the small birds that were still outside of the nest holes started to harry it. The Kestrel took them by surprise as it wheeled round for another sortie at the nest holes. It failed once again and this time, having gained a little height, swooped down towards one of the ‘islands’ where it made a try for a Little Ringed Plover. It failed again and moved off towards the Thames-side bank. Nobody that I spoke to then, or later in the day, had seen anything like it.
The ‘Peacock Tower’ provided some more excellent views of the Avocets. It would appear that the site staff are quite hopeful that the pair may be going to stay! There have been reports of courtship behaviour and even mating. I, for one, will keep my fingers crossed. We also saw our first Dunlin and Green Sandpiper.
Having had another great day, eventually, we moved off to the ‘Red Lion’ stopping only to get some seed for Leons’ feeders which have now been 're-hung' after falling in recent heavy winds. The ‘office’ was unusually quiet so we were able to get some comfortable seats in which we could discuss the days’ events.
BIRDS SEEN: Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Ruddy Duck, Tufted Duck, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Sand Martin, House Martin, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Starling, Carrion Crow, Lapwing, Great Crested Grebe, Dunnock, Little Grebe, Swift, Blackbird, Magpie, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Common Sandpiper, Wood Pigeon, Mute Swan, Pochard, Kestrel, Goldfinch, Redshank, Pied Wagtail, Little Ringed Plover, Heron, Avocet, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Shoveller, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Gadwall, Wren, Stock Dove, Jay, Whooper Swan, Cormorant, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Teal, Wigeon, Sparrowhawk.
Wondering what we could possibly see this week to ‘top’ last week, Leon and I arrived at the site bang on half past nine and made our way to the ‘Wildside’ hide. Although a lot of the birds seemed to be having a snooze, there was still enough ‘action’ to keep us busy scanning the area so as not to miss anything. Most of the Canada Goose pairs seem to be sitting on nests now and all around is evidence of other species doing the same. Leon caught a glimpse of a Sparrowhawk as it flashed by chasing its’ breakfast. Everything had gone very quiet as the raptor sped past but the Reed Warblers were soon in full song again. There was no sign of the Yellow Wagtails today.
At the ‘Headley’ hide the screens were still up protecting the Kingfishers from prying eyes and there was very little going on elsewhere in this area. Outside of the hide was a family of Mallards, Mum and fourteen (!) ducklings.
We had breakfast at the restaurant, neither of us realised just how hungry we had been. The meal was eaten in silence! By the time we had finished the weather had picked up somewhat and the number of people at the Centre had increased greatly.
Walking through ‘Waterlife’ we were treated to a great view of a Kestrel gliding, very slowly, along the path that we were following. The bird was probably no more than about thirty feet above us and seemed totally unconcerned as people turned and pointed, excitedly, at it. It overtook us and disappeared in the direction of the ‘Sheltered Lagoon’. Once again we noticed that the other birds had all but stopped singing, although they were soon in full voice when the Kestrel had vanished from sight.
It seemed as though we were in for a ‘quiet’ day, nearly everywhere that we went seemed to be lacking in action. The feeder area, where we would expect to see all sorts of Finches and Tits, was totally devoid of any type of bird. The path around the ‘back’ of the ‘Sheltered Lagoon’ was to provide the start of the improvement in the number of sightings. We did find that the tips that we had picked up on the ‘Birdsong’ walk were beginning to pay dividends. Knowing some of the birdsongs did help us to look in basically the right direction. Sometimes!
On moving into the ‘Wader Scrape’ hide we were surprised to see just how low the water level was. There were just a few pools and assort of ‘moat’ around the perimeter of the Wader Scrape. Immediately outside the hide a Heron was taking full advantage of the low water level. With almost every lunge of his beak he caught a fish, some of which were of a good size. It was then that Leon saw the Avocets for the first time. He was just as amazed as I had been as to how white they were. They truly are the most majestic of birds.
The air raid siren went off. “LOOK AT THAT!” shouted Leon, steaming up my binoculars and removing my hat in one blast of air! Turning around I could see why he was so excited. There was a Kestrel hanging from the front of one of the holes in the Sandmartin Bank trying to get its’ talon into the hole! It tried several times but lost its’ grip and started to fly away. At once the small birds that were still outside of the nest holes started to harry it. The Kestrel took them by surprise as it wheeled round for another sortie at the nest holes. It failed once again and this time, having gained a little height, swooped down towards one of the ‘islands’ where it made a try for a Little Ringed Plover. It failed again and moved off towards the Thames-side bank. Nobody that I spoke to then, or later in the day, had seen anything like it.
The ‘Peacock Tower’ provided some more excellent views of the Avocets. It would appear that the site staff are quite hopeful that the pair may be going to stay! There have been reports of courtship behaviour and even mating. I, for one, will keep my fingers crossed. We also saw our first Dunlin and Green Sandpiper.
Having had another great day, eventually, we moved off to the ‘Red Lion’ stopping only to get some seed for Leons’ feeders which have now been 're-hung' after falling in recent heavy winds. The ‘office’ was unusually quiet so we were able to get some comfortable seats in which we could discuss the days’ events.
BIRDS SEEN: Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Ruddy Duck, Tufted Duck, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Sand Martin, House Martin, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Starling, Carrion Crow, Lapwing, Great Crested Grebe, Dunnock, Little Grebe, Swift, Blackbird, Magpie, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Common Sandpiper, Wood Pigeon, Mute Swan, Pochard, Kestrel, Goldfinch, Redshank, Pied Wagtail, Little Ringed Plover, Heron, Avocet, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Shoveller, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Gadwall, Wren, Stock Dove, Jay, Whooper Swan, Cormorant, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Teal, Wigeon, Sparrowhawk.
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