Had my first trip to West Hartford in a while tonight and was very pleasantly surprised. The sound of Swallows filled the air as I approached the site and as I got nearer to the pools I could hear more and more gathering over ever expanding reed bed. As the sun faded more came until around 2500-3000 birds were swarming the sky. They spiraled downwards and went to roost in the reeds in small groups until they all went down on mass and the "running water" sound could be heard. Truly an amazing spectacle and probably one of the best sightings on my own patch.
Plenty of bats including a Noctule were over swooping over the pools where a Greenshank and 2 Ruff were also present. As I was leaving I saw a Fox scurry accross the road near the entrance in the glow of the street light.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Done more than I can remember
Completely forgot to mention in my last post that I spend a week on Mull last month with Ciara L, Andrew D and Ewan M. Anyway a good week was had by all. Eagles and butterflies were the main highlights along with some good walks.
Last tuesday I headed up to Amble with Graeme B in search of the Caspian Gull. To our surprise instead of having to scan through the gull flock at the harbour we pulled up and saw Jack B and co staring at the chippy roof. It was there and stayed there for the next hour and a bit only moving occasionally to scrap for chips with the other gulls. In flight its wing moult could be seen.
On saturday I traveling down south with Cain, Heather D and Ciara L to Bird Fair. It was the first time any of us had been and we enjoyed some good talks and visited some good stalls. Camping overnight meant that we had plenty of time to do some birding from the multiple hides on site. Distant views of Ospreys were had from the visitor centre and a stack of waders including Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Black Tailed Godwit occupied the mud. From one of the hides as it was getting dark we had brief views of a Badger and three cubs that ran through the long grass under the hide! Also a Long Eared Owl began hunting around the hide and flew straight past along with many bats.
Just remembered that I went to the Hen Harrier Day as well which was good despite the rain!
Last tuesday I headed up to Amble with Graeme B in search of the Caspian Gull. To our surprise instead of having to scan through the gull flock at the harbour we pulled up and saw Jack B and co staring at the chippy roof. It was there and stayed there for the next hour and a bit only moving occasionally to scrap for chips with the other gulls. In flight its wing moult could be seen.
On saturday I traveling down south with Cain, Heather D and Ciara L to Bird Fair. It was the first time any of us had been and we enjoyed some good talks and visited some good stalls. Camping overnight meant that we had plenty of time to do some birding from the multiple hides on site. Distant views of Ospreys were had from the visitor centre and a stack of waders including Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Black Tailed Godwit occupied the mud. From one of the hides as it was getting dark we had brief views of a Badger and three cubs that ran through the long grass under the hide! Also a Long Eared Owl began hunting around the hide and flew straight past along with many bats.
Just remembered that I went to the Hen Harrier Day as well which was good despite the rain!
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