Thursday 12 May 2016

Starting with a Dance

Great Crested Grebes
Today was an emergency change when the original venue was closed due to health and safety reasons. Everyone was pre-warned about the number of speed cameras in the area before they set off.
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There were only native birds singing in the car park which was a little unexpected. The ladies travelled to the nearby pond hide, as I waited for the gentlemen to arrive. From the hide there were no Common Terns for the first time, but a pair of Great Crested Grebes put on a fine display for us.  
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We detoured through a little woodland, but the Jays and Green Woodpeckers seemed to be absent. However, the chasing Treecreepers were a fine compensation.
Treecreeper
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We continued round the lake without adding anything other than a Blackcap, but Reed Warblers could be heard beyond the hedge. There was another Treecreeper on the railway embankment, but surprisingly few summer visitors. A few minutes later the beautiful song of a Curlew burst out. It was singing from a large puddle on the field behind the reserve.
Large Red Damselfly
 Speckled Woods Mating
We took the staircase down the northern bank where another Chiffchaff was heard, and a Willow Warbler serenaded us from just outside the hide - it almost came in the window. The odd Bullfinch could be heard making its sorrowful call, but these were not to be seen today.
Cuckoo Pint
The return journey took us along the lower southern route of the embankment, but failed to add much in the way of new species.
Goldcrest
After lunch, but before the morning crew left, we had excellent views of a male Goldcrest, and it remained long enough for an early arriving pm member to also exceptional sightings of its colourful expanded crest. Shortly afterwards I was sat in my car with the door open, and a male Bullfinch made its melancholy call close by. It was too close for my camera to photograph it!
Great Crested Grebe
 Great Crested Grebes
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