Despite the cold and rain I set out for the flash early on, curious of what the overnight rain storms had brought down. I started my travels at Rilshaw Lane where it wasn't surprising to find the spit pretty much waterlogged with high levels of water in the river. However there was still a small gathering of 30 Black Headed Gull, 1 Common Gull and 7 Lesser Black Backed Gull present. A scan of the deeper water was slightly unproductive, with only a smattering of 12 Great Crested Grebe present, however it was good to see lots of Sand Martin and Swallow darting over the water (plus my first House Martin of the year for the flash).
With not to much happening I moved over to Top Side. I steadily began a stroll arriving at a good area to view the rest of the flash. A 20 minute scan conjured my first White Wagtail of the year, 14 Cormorant and a further 14 Great Crested Grebe, many of which involved in courtship displays. More Swallows and Sand Martins were present taking an estimated total of 200 plus of the latter and 50 plus of the former for the morning altogether.
The multiple scrapes didn't have much happening, bar 2 Oystercatcher that were present. 5 Shelduck, 1 Greylag Goose and 4 Teal also made appearances on these pools during the course of the morning.
A walk to High Meadow Pool produced a flyover CURLEW (not a common species here), a YELLOWHAMMER and GREY PARTRIDGE all in a matter of minutes. All 3 of these species are rarities for the flash and in fact the last species mentioned was indeed a new flash bird for the list!
Reaching High Meadow Pool it was good to see a pair of Little Grebe present. These birds will hopefully successfully breed following on from their success last year. I continued my walk to the ploughed field where it was good to get my first Whitethroat of the year for the flash and Garden Warbler (a relatively early record).
I was hoping the ploughed field would of drawn in some migrants, luckily my hope certainly paid off. Present were 5 Wheatear (4M, 1F) and 5 Pied Wagtails. One of the male Wheatear was indeed quite a performer, therefore I managed what I think are half decent shots.
Wheatear
Wheatear
Observers: Findlay Wilde (Images 1&2)
No comments:
Post a Comment