Wednesday 8 May 2013

More Damp Sodium Chloride

Great Crested Grebes - similar to those on Tuesday 
(c) 2013 Maggie Bruce
On Tuesday we went on our 3rd visit this season to a new location.  There were more signs of spring with a Garden Warbler, which sang from the same Hawthorn as a Blackcap before disappearing over the railway line.  There were still no sight or sounds of the Willow Tits, but a distant Lesser Whitethroat at the very western edge, and there was a vocal Sparrowhawk throughout the morning and lunchtime.  The woodland had a Whitethroat right outside the entrance, which showed well for the am crowd, less so in the afternoon.

Elsewhere, it was a day of aquatic youngsters.  There were 6 cygnets from the aggressive Cobb, and his more relaxed Penn.  The Great Crested Grebes had 4 young balanced on their back, and there were at least 3 pairs of Coot, each with 2 young.  There were good views of a Treecreeper, but still no Willow Tit, but new signs of greenery bursting through all over.  There were a lot more butterflies with the usual Peacocks, but a large increase in the number of Orange-tips seen.  
Common Whitethroat
 Whitethroat
 Marsh Harrier - Ancient & Modern
 Heron
 Female Pochard - unusual Reddish brown colouration
 Mute Swan
 Orange-tip [male]
Record shot of Orange-Tip [female]
The 2nd visit can be seen here

The 1st visit can be seen here 

2 comments:

RB said...

Willow Tits (and Marsh) should be incubating now, so will be quite tricky to find - females mostly on the nest and males keeping a fairly low profile.

Michael Flowers said...

Possibly, but locals haven't seen them recently, and they may check the nest boxes. Saw 2 Willow Tits without a problem today, going into a nest at another location. Looked as though they were still nest-building