Through the week

A few bits from the last week. Last Saturday I went up to East Chevington with Cain to see the Starling murmuration. A bit more impressive than the one over my house, around three thousand birds were preforming overhead as dusk drew closer.

Its amazing how such large numbers of birds can just all of a sudden disappear and then swoop overhead out of nowhere. Before dropping into the reeds on the south pool for the night the Starlings made a strange sound with their wings which I wasn't aware they did before going to roost. Once they had all landed in the reeds a small group of six Starling flew passed including one leucistic bird. Also on the north pool there were plenty of Goldeneye and three Long-tailed Duck.

Whilst on the bus on monday I saw the Little Egret on the Horton Burn and then standing next to the pipe that runs through Shankhouse Bog. Yesterday morning I checked Arcot Pond and the southern stream with SH. Nothing much out of the ordinary but I added a few missing birds to the patch list for 2014.

This morrnig I was back out with Cain this time at Gosforth Park. 100+ Wigeon were on the pools along with a few Shoveler and Gadwall. A Water Rail screeched from the reeds near the boardwalk and we briefly saw a Bittern in flight before it dropped down back into the reeds.