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| Plenty of activity even at this early hour! |
Showing posts with label Sunrise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunrise. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Saturday 13/04/2013
Another dawn start but no Otter again. It was a beautiful start to the day though. An Oystercatcher was on the New Meadow when I arrived but flew as I walked along the main path.
I set up along the Spit again and the light was great early on. I'd already seen a Water Rail in the Crescent and a party of 8 Redwings dropped into the tops of the Willows over by the Dead Seat, before departing towards the main lake.
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| Sunrise over the New Meadow |
4 Little Grebes were showing across the far side of west Fingers and a couple of them came a little closer allowing this shot of the 2 together.
Up to 5 Gadwalls were on west Fingers although not particularly close this male looked good in the light.
A couple of Grey Herons flew past and I managed to capture one of them.
DK and JA arrived and with DK's reports of new arrivals all week I was hoping for a bumper birding morning as we set off around the park. I'd already had 4 Chiffchaffs and we bagged a few more on our circuit. Blackcaps were a bit slow in coming but we found at least 3 in the Long Hedge by the Woodland Walk. A Willow Warbler was heard further along and we found 3 further along by the Kissing Gate.
On to 100 Acre and a quiet start with a couple of Teal on the small lake but we did a circuit hoping for a few waders and DK told us he had been seeing Red Kites over there during the past week. A couple of Lapwings were first up displaying over the big lake and they were joined by a couple more and a couple of Redshanks. There were a few Wigeons, Tufted Ducks, Little Grebes and a couple of Great Crested Grebes on there also.
Plenty of Skylarks are around so it would be good if dog walkers would stick to the well used trails and keep there dogs under close control as these and other birds are likely to be nesting on the ground soon. A couple more Redshanks were found and a Little Egret was spotted flying towards Willington Gravel Pits. We flushed a Snipe and an Oystercatcher gave us a nice fly past. A Kingfisher flew across the cycle track as we passed the STW.
Back in the park we had four Common Buzzards on a thermal over Kings Mead drifting north west. More Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs were seen and heard. Along the south side of the main lake we came across a male Blackcap and then another which turned into a group of 6, males and females. A Common Tern was passing up and down the south side of the main lake and another was over the Marina.
As we walked up the west side of the lake 3 Sand Martins came in from the west, the only Hirundines we had all morning. A Greenfinch was singing in the north west corner.
So I managed to bag a few migrants that I hadn't seen yet but there are still plenty more. 100 Acre is looking really good and hopefully I'll take the guided walk over there in a couple of weeks time.
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| Little Grebes |
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| Male Gadwall |
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| Grey Heron |
On to 100 Acre and a quiet start with a couple of Teal on the small lake but we did a circuit hoping for a few waders and DK told us he had been seeing Red Kites over there during the past week. A couple of Lapwings were first up displaying over the big lake and they were joined by a couple more and a couple of Redshanks. There were a few Wigeons, Tufted Ducks, Little Grebes and a couple of Great Crested Grebes on there also.
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| Oystercatcher |
Back in the park we had four Common Buzzards on a thermal over Kings Mead drifting north west. More Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs were seen and heard. Along the south side of the main lake we came across a male Blackcap and then another which turned into a group of 6, males and females. A Common Tern was passing up and down the south side of the main lake and another was over the Marina.
As we walked up the west side of the lake 3 Sand Martins came in from the west, the only Hirundines we had all morning. A Greenfinch was singing in the north west corner.
So I managed to bag a few migrants that I hadn't seen yet but there are still plenty more. 100 Acre is looking really good and hopefully I'll take the guided walk over there in a couple of weeks time.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Saturday 8th October
It was pretty quiet this morning with little obvious sign of migration, just 3 Skylarks east. Compared to the last couple of weeks we struggled for ducks with just 3 Gadwall, on Fingers, along with the usual Mallards.
When we reached the Canoe Slalom things brightened up a little with a single Grey Wagtail in residence.
Grey Wagtail
A Kingfisher flew in and perched up on the concrete side of the canoe slalom but didn't hang around for long. Then as I stalked the Grey Wagtail for a better shot a Kestrel flew over flushing it further along. It was then flushed by a couple of dogs going by.
The following images are from previous visits.
Wood Pigeon
This Wood Pigeon was perched up nicely on an Alder branch in the Crescent producing a pleasing portrait.
Snipe
This Snipe was on the edge of the island on the big lake on 100 Acre. Unfortunately it didn't sit tight so I only managed this long distance shot.
Grey Heron
This amused me and brought to mind the phrase "Like shooting fish in a barrel"!
And finally a lovely sunrise photo over East Fingers. I could have done with being a few minutes earlier to catch the best lighting conditions but this one wasn't too bad.
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