After a break of a few weeks about blogging what I have been up to I thought this week I would bring you up to speed on what’s been going on in my world!
I have mainly been watching the raindrops run down my patio windows from my office, but that hasn’t stopped the garden being full of life. There has been a steady stream of fledglings across the birding spectrum dropping in, and I must confess it has been a little bit hard to concentrate on the “day job” at times.
It’s been quite a roll call of young birds! There have been the usual suspects of House Sparrow (it is so great to read that House Sparrows have reached a six year high of reported sightings in people’s gardens – read the report here), Blue Tit and Great Tit youngsters, as well as the return of the Great Spotted Woodpecker juveniles.
I have recorded some notable garden firsts. I have had a number of Goldfinch fledglings drop in, believe it or not, I saw my first Blackbird chick since moving here, and as you can see from the photograph it is quite developed. The stars of the past few days though have been the two Magpie youngsters with their parents. Is it me, but there seems “something not quite right?” when you see these normally boisterous and bullying birds tenderly feeding their offspring, which are almost the same size as them. It has amused me quite a lot over the past few days.
There was a break in the weather the weekend before last, and by happy coincidence I was back in Lincolnshire visiting my in-laws again for a family party. I wanted to catch up and see what was happening at the Black Headed Gull colony at Freiston Shore in the five weeks since I had last visited. The change was remarkable. There was still the same cacophony of noise and activity and a lot of nest building going on, but the islands on the scrape were now full of beige brown bundles of downy chicks. Dotted in-between these nests were occasional breeding pairs of Oystercatchers and Common Terns. It is thought that these birds can get some extra protection from the colonies group mobbing effect when a predator approaches. I also got some wonderful close up views of a Little Egret as it fished along the shoreline directly outside the hide. The Avocet colony at the same reserve has a healthy number of chicks too. I got some pretty good views of them going about their business too.
I called in Frampton Marshes for a few hours on the way back home. Once again the reserve came up trumps. It was a bit cold and overcast when we arrived, but within an hour the sun came out, the air temperature rose along with the insects, and the sky began to fill with Swifts and Swallows looking for a meal. The highlight of the day was seeing the Black Necked Grebe that eluded us during my last visit. It is such a stunning little water bird when in its summer plumage; its black head with pure golden tufts of feathers over its eyes make it quite unmistakable amongst other Grebes. The reed beds and hedgerows were alive with the sound of Sedge Warbler song and calling. There were quite a few of these pretty little Sylviidae about, their distinct eye stripe a clear clue to identifying them amongst other warblers. They clearly had young to feed and were busy plucking spiders and flies from the fringes of the paths around the reserve.
On returning home, and an imminent break in the weather forecast, I decided to pop down to Newport Wetlands for the day; my mini RSPB tour final destination for the weekend. I struck lucky once more, finally getting a picture of the elusive Bearded Tits. Just as wonderful to watch was a female Mute Swan taking a very young cygnet out for a swimming lesson. She returned to the banking right in front of one of the screens at the reserve, and the whole family began a vigorous preening session. I sat there with the sun on my back for over half an hour watching this simple scene play out before me. It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful few days being immersed in nature!
All Images and Videos © Anthony Walton
Avocet Chick Feeding - YouTube Link
Little Egret Feeding - YouTube Link