A thick blanket of low cloud lay across Old Moor this morning, keeping airborne insects trapped beneath it. Hunting them were hundreds of swift, hawking this way and that across the reserve.
Here’s what else was seen today…
For me, one of the highlights of a visit to Old Moor today was to stand on Green Lane and watch the skies above it. Sickle-winged rockets swept from horizon to horizon, screaming as they went. It was hard not to be impressed by the swifts’ incredible aerial abilities and a sight that brought a smile to every visitor that watched them.
Black-headed gull chicks are now everywhere you look. If possible, this seems to have raised the volume of their parents’ calls even louder! And no wonder as lesser black-backed and herring gulls are only too eager to take advantage of the vulnerable.
The great crested grebe chicks in front of the Bittern Hide are growing quickly and require a lot of feeding. One of the parents this afternoon caught a carp so large that it could not lift it from the water. Instead it had to drag the fish over to its waiting young.
The little bit of rain we had this morning softened the ground enough to allow starlings and their young the chance to probe the banks of the Mere for grubs. The adult starlings are looking fantastic at the moment, iridescent in their breeding finery. Being so colourful, it’s a risky business feeding with your head pointing to the ground, especially when there are so many predators about.
So, I’ll end tonight with a photo of a bit of starling defensive behaviour. To avoid being picked off, the bird flattened its body and pressed itself into the grass just as one of the larger gulls passed overhead.
Until next time.
Great that the swifts were in action - they really are awesome fliers. I was pleased to see a party of 4 over our house in Darfield earlier today. Fantastic!