Recently in the park

It's the quiet time of the year as the summer migrants start heading off south and the autumn migrants are yet to arrive. Many of the resident species are going through their moults and keeping their heads down.

On Saturday 8th August I made my first visit to the park after my holiday and had a Cetti's Warbler where the Canoe Slalom empties into the Navigation Channel. The Cetti's we have had in the park recently have been surprisingly quiet for this species and this one was the same with just a couple of partial bursts of song betraying it's presence. There was a Common Sandpiper on 100 Acre.

On the following Sunday I had a Cetti's on 100 Acre where I had set up for another photography session for Little Grebes. This bird was much more vocal singing regularly for the first 3 quarters of an hour and then sporadically thereafter. The Little Grebes are still playing hard to get and despite there being 3 pairs around the bay none appear to have bred so there are still no young to be seen. In fact they still seem to be squabbling over territory!

 

Little Grebe eating a Stickleback

A Cormorant turned up and did a bit of fishing in front of me but only seemed to be catching small fish which were swallowed unseen.

Cormorant

Cormorant

 I had a Green Sandpiper fly over my hide calling and a Common Sandpiper was seen along with a couple of Little Egrets. Juvenile Sparrowhawks were calling from the trees over by Riverside Pond and were seen occasionally as they broke cover to chase around.

This weekend it was very quiet in the park but there were pockets of birds on Elderberries and Blackberries. Blackcaps were the bulk of these but we had Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaffs and there was a Willow Warbler in the car park, a rarity in the park!

Blackcap on Elderberries.

100 Acre was also quiet with a single Common Sandpiper the highlight of the birds. Highlight of the morning was a very fresh Otter Spraint and tracks on the border between 100 Acre and Castle Mill.

There is a bat walk walk coming up on Friday the 28th at 8pm. You need to pre-book this walk as it is very popular and numbers are limited.

The next bird walk is on Sunday 30th starting at 8am outside the visitor centre, hope to see you there.

New Years Eve

Spent a couple of hours in Kramer hide this morning. While there I saw a couple of Sparrowhawks displaying over the Finger Lakes. Approx. 35 Teals dropped in and 11 of those showed well opposite the hide. There were at least 3m and 6f Shovelers showing on and off and I heard a Bullfinch and a Treecreeper somewhere close by.  The Kingfisher paid several visits but did not use the new perch so I had to make do with a much maligned subject:



This Cormorant spent quite a while fishing in front of the hide.



It even had a bit of salad with its fish. There is a fish in there if you look closely.



And finally it departed.

Mallard

The Mallard is another subject often taken for granted, what a beauty:

Aberrant Blackbird

And on my way back to the car I spotted this guy, an aberrant Blackbird. Unfortunately I couldn't get too close so just a record shot. It also had white patches on it's underside.