With crickets buzzing and butterflies over the meadows, it was another glorious summer’s day at Old Moor. Here’s the summary of the today’s bird sightings…
The Bittern Hide was busy today and no wonder. In the cool of the hide, watchers saw: bittern, kingfisher, tern, peregrine, reed warbler and great crested grebe with their ‘almost adult-sized’ young. There was also a good amount of dragonfly action here today with four-spotted chaser, common hawker and banded demoiselle being seen throughout the morning.
A bittern in flight at 10:43 today
Also seen around the north-western corner of the reserve today were the kestrel family. Four newly ringed young along with their parents can be best appreciated from the ‘back’ of the Wildlife Ponds.
Two young kestrel from Ian Morris.
The Mere was busy with gulls though in among the ‘black-heads’ were forty-four lesser black-backed gull and two herring gull. Even more interestingly, the Med. gull count today was five and those two chicks continue to thrive on Island One.
On the Field Pool, lapwing punctuated the gulls, geese and teal and nearby, Green Lane was eerily quiet today with very little bird song during the time I visited.
Seven shelducklings continue to charm watchers on the Wader Scrape along with oystercatcher, common sandpiper and common tern.
One of seven out there today
Meanwhile, at Wath Ings, the attention of watchers was largely on a family of common tern who have made the near end of the ‘spit’ their home. Here visitors could see two adults and one young preening, bathing and – in the case of that youngster – practising short flights.
Adult and juvenile common tern from Ian Morris. Thanks Ian.
Add to all those, a great spotted woodpecker, a silver teal and a butterfly list that included: comma, small tortoiseshell, speckled wood, gatekeeper, large white, small white, ringlet and small skipper – and the sightings for today are almost complete.
I’ll finish up with a snap of Wath Ings' most reliable songster, the male sedge warbler singing on the brambles in front of the hide as seen today.
Until next time.