David and Roger were just out
for the morning today but I picked David up and we went to the Egleton Car Park
where we met Roger we walked down the service road to reach the reedbed area,
seeing a several Garden Warblers and hearing a Chiffchaff and Blackcap as we
did so.
Tim then called to say that
there were several Black Terns over Lagoon Three and so Roger and I decided to
go and take a look. David was just
coming out of Plover Hide as we approached Bittern Hide and we felt we would be
better off looking at Lagoon Three from there as the light wasn’t too
good. We soon found several Black Terns
amongst the more numerous Common Terns and were trying to count them when
everything was disturbed but we were confident that there were at least six. As we watched the bird wheeling over the
lagoon David picked up a flock of Black Terns flying together and when I got on
them I realised that there were more than he first thought and we counted
fifteen.
Roger and I eventually went
into Plover Hide to view Lagoon Four and David went off to look at South Arm
Three and Lagoon Three. There were a few
Ringed Plover and Dunlin amongst the rocky area on the lagoon and I counted
eighteen Ringed Plovers and five Dunlin but other than the pair of Osprey there
was little else.
As Roger and I were
approaching the track to Shoveler Hide David appeared and said he had seen very
little from either Lapwing or Shoveler hides.
However after a brief chat we decided to all go to Shoveler Hide to take
a look. After opening the flaps one of
the first birds I saw was a drake Garganey but other than the terns there was
little else and we moved onto Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four.
As we scanned the lagoon we
saw much what we had seen from Plover Hide but then David picked up a Grey
Plover in flight, which then landed on one of the islands. We could see that it was starting to moult
into summer plumage and was probably a different bird to the one seen on
Tuesday.
We walked back to the centre
seeing Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat on route. We all went into the centre to see what was
on Lagoon One but other than a few Common Terns there was little else. Roger and David then went off to Lyndon
whilst I decided to visit the southern lagoons.
I had a Blackcap and a couple
of Garden Warblers as I walked towards Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow, where
there was a summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit and a Redshank on the flash but
other than a Little Egret in flight saw little else and moved on to Tern Hide
on Lagoon Six.
From Tern Hide I could see an
Avocet on one of the islands that was obviously sitting on eggs but there was
no sign of the second bird. I stopped at
Pintail Hide on route to the 360° Hide to get a
different view of Lagoon Six but just added an Oystercatcher.
Shelduck over the Wet Meadow
Oystercatcher from Pintail Hide
As I walked by Lagoon Eight
there were two Oystercatchers on one of the islands and from the 360°
Hide there were three Oystercatchers and a Redshank.
I made my way back to the
Egleton car park for lunch and after speaking to David decided to go to Lyndon
to try and locate a Great Northern Diver.
I spent quite some time in Teal Hide without any joy with the diver but
there was a nice drake Goldeneye. I
viewed the feeders for a while seeing four Tree Sparrows but the hoped for
Marsh Tit didn’t materialise and so I walked east to Swan Hide. This is not an area a visit regularly but I
had four Oystercatchers flying over the South Arm and three Garden Warblers as
I walked towards Swan Hide.
With little from Swan Hide I
made my way back to the centre and then returned to Egleton.
I went into the Bird Watching
Centre and found a female Pintail on Lagoon One and then noticed quite a few
waders on a small island that will soon become part of the long island. There were nineteen Ringed Plovers and nine
Dunlin and also a Greenshank. Another
birder informed me that there had also been a Grey Plover, which we couldn’t
find and I assumed that they were the same waders seen on lagoon four earlier,
although the Greenshank was obviously new.
When I looked a few minutes later the only waders still present was the
Greenshank and I assumed the others had returned to Lagoon Four. There was also five Black Terns over the
Lagoon along with ten Common Terns.
I headed off for Shoveler Hide
and heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and then saw a second bird in
flight over the large meadow. On
reaching Shoveler Hide there were clearly more Black Terns and I counted
forty-three, along with thirty-five Common Terns. Tim then entered the hide with a couple who
he was showing around and he found an Arctic Tern that was perched on a
buoy. The Garganey was also still
showing quite well but with little else I went to Lapwing Hide to scan the
South Arm for the diver but still couldn’t find it.
A quick visit to Eyebrook
Reservoir on route home produced a Little Egret, a Buzzard, an Osprey, a
Kestrel and a couple of Common Terns but the Little Owl didn’t oblige.
I had recorded eight-eight
species with the Black Terns being new for the year and my patch list is now at
139 with point’s score of 167.
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