We decided to go to shoveler
hide on lagoon three and I picked up a Hobby high over the lagoon before we
reached the hide. There was very little
on the lagoon but we did eventually have two Hobbies over the lagoon.
We had seen plenty of Common
Blue and Azure Damselflies as we had walked to lagoon four and we also had a
single Blue-tailed Damselfly, so it was not a complete surprise when we had our
first Four-spotted Chaser of the year.
We walked back to the car park
and after some lunch went to mallard hide overlooking lagoon one. There were plenty of birds, mainly
Black-headed Gulls, Jackdaws and Rooks feeding on the freshly flooded margins
of the lagoon. We also located a pair of
Teal and pair of Wigeon and two adult Egyptian Geese were still escorting four
well grown young and a Redshank was feeding on the edge of the lagoon. All of the birds suddenly took to flight and
initially al we could see was a Kestrel, which felt would not have caused the
disturbance. A female Pintail was also
observed.
Dave then picked up a
Peregrine, which flew out high over south arm three and away. It had been raining quite heavily whilst we
were in the hide and at the first opportunity we moved off to snipe hide. There was a Little Egret and four drake
Pochard feeding on the wet meadow flash and a number of Oystercatcher were
observed in flight and they were constantly calling and displaying.
Four-spotted Chaser
Shelduck from mallard hide
Oystercatcher from snipe hide
Little Egret on the wet meadow
Pochard on the wet meadow flash
From snipe hide we continued
to harrier hide but there was nothing of note and w continued to tern hide were
we located a Little Ringed Plover and four Oystercatchers, one being well grown
young bird. We also located a second
Little Ringed Plover sitting on nest from pintail hide.
Egyptian Geese from herrier hide
After observing one of the
Osprey in Manton Bay we continued onto shelduck hide on lagoon five. As we opened the flap two Common Sandpipers
flew from under the hide and across the lagoon, which was an unexpected
sight. We also found a Little Ringed and
Ringed Plovers sitting on nests and two other Little Ringed Plovers were
observed mating on another island. It
had been raining very heavily again and as it eased Dave made a dash back to
snipe hide, whilst I remained and waited until it had stopped. However it began to thunder and lighten but I
did manage to get to snipe hide without getting wet. Dave had seen a bird land in front of mallard
hide, which he thought was a Green Sandpiper or possible a Wood Sandpiper. As the rain eased we set off for mallard and
just made it before the heavens opened again.
Male Tufted Duck on lagoon five
Female Tufted Duck on lagoon five
Dave soon found the Green
Sandpiper and the Yellow-legged Gull we had seen earlier was now on the posts
on lagoon one and eventually came onto the meadow and began feeding coming
quite close, to the hide.
Yellow-legged Gull (probable third-summer) on lagoon one
Red Arrows over lagoon one
How did Tim Appleton arrange this for his birthday?
The rain eventually stopped
and we returned to the car park and headed off home.
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