A lovely morning in the park. There were up to 4 Siskins over and a brief glimpse of a Hobby as it disappeared over some trees. There were at least 5 Grey Wagtails in the Canoe Slalom, the best count for some time.
There were ~60 House Martins feeding over the north side of the main lake and the Rough for quite a while during the morning. A few Swallows passed through also.
There were 5 Tufted Ducks on the main lake and on Fingers there were 2 Shovelers and at least half a dozen Gadwalls.
Still plenty of Chiffchaffs about with quite a few singers amongst them. Reed Warblers and the odd Blackcap were also present.
A quick check of Fenlake Meadows proved fruitless as the greenery is still too thick to see much.
Also of note were 2 Hornets on some Ivy flowers in the Long Hedge.
The next guided bird walk is Sunday 23rd, meet at the Visitor Centre at 9am. Please ignore the signs around the park saying the next walk is the 30th, it was brought forward a week.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Recent News
Falling behind with my blogging so here's a quick update on the recent activity in the park.
Last weekend was the monthly volunteer task and we were over on Riverside at the pond clearing the vegetation around the edge. A lot of new growth was cutting down the views over the pond so we coppiced a lot of the pond side trees which hadn't been done for a couple of years. In fact this task was a repeat of the first ever task the volunteers undertook. Everybody did a great job with the group working together well to cut and clear away the cuttings.
Yesterday I had a good morning with DK and JA. It was misty early on but it soon cleared. We had a Coal Tit singing from the scrub around the Visitor Centre, uncommon in the park and our 107th species of the year. There were 4 Tufted Ducks, at least 1 Shoveler and a Wigeon on the main lake. We had 5 Sand Martins over and small numbers of House Martins.
The Great Crested Grebe families are ever present with the noisy juveniles forever making their presence known on the main lake and Fingers.
There are still plenty of Warblers around, feeding on the Elderberries and mixed Tit flocks are coming together. Keep an eye on these as they often harbour a few Warblers and this time of year you never know what you might find.
Last weekend was the monthly volunteer task and we were over on Riverside at the pond clearing the vegetation around the edge. A lot of new growth was cutting down the views over the pond so we coppiced a lot of the pond side trees which hadn't been done for a couple of years. In fact this task was a repeat of the first ever task the volunteers undertook. Everybody did a great job with the group working together well to cut and clear away the cuttings.
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| Shadows in the mist |
The Great Crested Grebe families are ever present with the noisy juveniles forever making their presence known on the main lake and Fingers.
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| Juvenile Great Crested Grebe |
We had a couple of Treecreepers in the Willows as we exited Fingers past the Sedgewick Seat. On the stretch along the old Priory Wall one of the Ivies was completely covered with Honey Bees. It literally buzzed! I've never seen so many Bees feeding in one place.
So a pretty good morning, here's hoping for a few migrants over the next couple of weeks.
Don't forget the next guided bird walk is Sunday the 23rd of September (a change from the advertised date) at 9am.
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